Blast From the Past: Reset Episode 5

The first clip of this episode was the season’s most popular. A bunch of girls parading around in bikinis equals traffic. Who knew. Anyway, here’s the show!

Part 1 — I went down to Vegas to catch Sony Online Entertainment’s “Quest for Antonia” modeling contest for EverQuest. I was totally rooting for the gamer girl to win, but she fell just a tad short. Check out these interviews with the contestants, as well as lots of footage of them strutting their stuff. Oh, I almost forgot! Blair Herter was one of the judges in this contest.

Part 2 — Here’s a fun clip for fans of Quantic Dream and Heavy Rain. It’s about the company’s previous title, Indigo Prophecy. I was high on the game from the start and it ended up being one of my favorites for the original Xbox. It’s fun taking a look back at it and seeing how the company’s style has progressed with Heavy Rain.

Part 3 — My pals EGM Mark and 1Up Jane return to Yahoo! Studios. This time we talk about the political heat games were getting at the time. Remember, this was around GTA “Hot Coffee” time. Soon after that, other titles were getting scrutinized. Gettin’ Up: Contents Under Pressure, 25 to Life, and The Sims were just a few of the games feeling the heat (make a Power Station joke please).

Coffee Talk #125: Your Asian Gaming Vacation

Thanks for keeping the site going while I’m away. My trip is almost over and things will be back on a regular schedule soon. For now, I wanted to ask what you’d do if you had one week in Asia. For the sake of context, I’m going to assume you’ll want to include some gamer-related activities in your Asian vacation. Would you want to checked out the Internet cafes in Taiwan? Visit game companies in Japan? Or maybe catch a professional StarCraft match at a stadium in Korea?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, JR’s excellent chipotle ketchup, Gilbert Arenas’ adventures in a halfway house, or Tiger Woods’ return to golf, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Thanks for keeping the site going while I’m away. My trip is almost over and things will be back on a regular schedule soon. For now, I wanted to ask what you’d do if you had one week in Asia. For the sake of context, I’m going to assume you’ll want to include some gamer-related activities in your Asian vacation. Would you want to checked out the Internet cafes in Taiwan? Visit game companies in Japan? Or maybe catch a professional StarCraft match at a stadium in Korea?

There are so many different and diverse gaming activities in Asia. In some countries, consoles are king. In other countries, online gaming at Internet shops is where it’s at. Professional gaming in Korea is one of the most unique phenomenons I’ve ever come across; pro gamers have corporate sponsors, have their own baseball cards, and are pretty big celebrities in the country. So if I had to pick, I’d love to watch a professional train for a tournament and watch him/her compete in it.

Now it’s your turn! What would you do during your Asian gaming vacation?

Blast From the Past: Reset Episode 4

For the longest time, this was my favorite episode of Reset. The first segment is one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s also a little nostalgic since I ended up living with two of the people in the clip. Anyway, please check it out and let me know what you think!

Part 1 — Ah, the “Table of Truth”! At the time of this Midway event, I was annoyed that all the people available for interviews were publisher producers. I was hoping for people from the dev teams. I called an angst-filled audible and decided to talk about these Midway games with my journalist friends…but I waited until they were sauced. Watch EGM Shane Bettenhausen, G4TV Ted Regulski, and super freelancer Christian Nutt talk about games over several drinks. I love this clip and I really hope you enjoy it.

Part 2 — This was a fun Atari trip to Austin. I interviewed Shiny’s David Perry on The Matrix: The Path of Neo and Atari’s Kyle Peschel on TimeShift. I know a few of you are longtime Dave Perry fans. I’m pretty sure my arm was really sore from interviewing two really tall dudes. Ha! That’s what I get for preferring stick mics over lavs.

Part 3 — Here’s a week in the life of me! I went to three press events in a week, starting in Austin, going to Chicago, and ending up in Las Vegas. I got some flack for this segment for being too “insider”. I thought it was kind of neat to show people what it was like to attend a press event and hear some of the stuff I actually say to journalists. It’s a little long, but it’s a different kind of fun too. I vaguely remember a bunch of us getting hammered in downtown Austin. The bus back to the hotel broke down and we had to hang out on the lawn of an office park for a couple of hours until a replacement came. Good times.

Blast From the Past: Reset Episode 3

From San Francisco to Hollywood to Redwood Shores, this episode of Reset has some interesting variety. It starts out at a new developer studio started by former Blizzard employees, goes to the hippest videogame store in America, and ends up EA’s campus.

Part 1 — Kat caught up with Flagship’s Bill Roper (ex-Blizzard) to talk about the company’s debut game Hellgate: London. While we all know how the game and company ended up, it’s interesting to take a look back at it through the old retroscope…and this segment.

Part 2 — Kat and I paid a visit to Acme Games, the coolest videogame store either of us have ever been to. Acme offers a unique experience that’s way different from going to GameStop. Naturally, this stylin’ game store is in Los Angeles.

Part 3 — Three games. Three journalists. Three times the fun! I went to EA’s campus to check out Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, The Sims 2: Nightlife, and The Godfather. Game Revolution’s Ben Silverman, Game Informer’s Billy Berghammer, and GameSpy’s Willy Tuttle weighed in with their opinions on the games.

Coffee Talk #124: Gamer vs. Jet Lag

Technically, it’s coffee time where I am so the column name still applies. Ha! As expected, jet lag is totally kicking my ass. I didn’t believe in jet lag for the first 25 years of my life. I thought it was a sissy excuse for tired people. Then I did a quick work trip to Tokyo and was disoriented for several days after I returned. For all of you younglings reading this, it only gets worse as you get older.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Jim Carrey’s next girlfriend, Fusion Garage’s JooJoo tablet, or the Yankees and Red Sox taking 12 hours to complete three games, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Technically, it’s coffee time where I am so the column name still applies. Ha! As expected, jet lag is totally kicking my ass. I didn’t believe in jet lag for the first 25 years of my life. I thought it was a sissy excuse for tired people. Then I did a quick work trip to Tokyo and was disoriented for several days after I returned. For all of you younglings reading this, it only gets worse as you get older.

Anyway, gaming has been great with trying to deal with jet lag. Some people just stare at the ceiling until they fall asleep. I find EV training in Pokemon productive and repetitive, which usually helps me catch some Z’s. This trip I’ve been playing the hell out of Civilization Revolution for iPhone. Yes, I’ve played the game essentially the same way for over a thousand times, but I still love it. The repetition is soothing and it helps me relax.

When you guys and gals deal with jet lag or insomnia, what do you do? Is there a certain game you play? Maybe a graphic novel you bring with you on the road? How about web browsing on your phone? Let me know (please)! Maybe I’ll incorporate your techniques into my jet-lag fighting regimen.

Blast From the Past: Reset Episode 2

The second episode of Reset is full of anime goodness…with a little bit of western thrown in. Kat Hunter and I checked out cosplayers and games at Anime Expo 2005. Back on the home front, I caught up with Neversoft to talk about Gun.

Part 1Ah, cosplaying. I still think most American cosplayers are hacks compared to their Japanese counterparts, but there were some pretty cool costumes at Anime Expo. You’ll recognize characters from Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Katamai Damacy, Metal Gear Solid, and more in this clip.

Part 2 — Neversoft made it big with its Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, so I was surprised when the company went all western with Gun. I interviewed two peeps from Neversoft in front of two hanging people (they weren’t really people) to learn more about the game. They answered the question that was on everyone’s mind at the time: how is horseback riding in Gun different from Zelda and Shadow of the Colossus?

Part 3 — Kat and I checked out a bunch of anime-based games from Bandai. Learn more about Inuyasha, One Piece, Zatch Bell, and more!

Blast From the Past: Reset Episode 1

The Reset reruns continue! Here’s the first “official” episode of Reset. Joining Zoe Flower and me is the excellent Kat Hunter. At the time, I knew Kat for a few years and found her to be totally charming. She went on to become a great friend that bailed me out of a few drunken situations. Ha! The only hitch was the one time she brought me home, but didn’t know that I had moved. My old roomies were not pleased to have a drunk Raymond thrown upon them. Uh…let’s get to the show!

Part 1 — I interviewed some of my favorite journalists at an EA Sports press event to talk about NBA Live 2006, Madden NFL 06, and SSX: On Tour. Check out what Game Informer’s Andy McNamara, Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Bryan Intihar, and freelance writer Chris Kohler had to say about these games.

Part 2 — I went to New Orleans to attend an excellent launch party for Conker: Live and Reloaded. I had a blast and was a little tipsy by the end of the shoot. Watch me lick a Conker ice sculpture and convince two girls to do the same. Ha! I also talked to several of the developers from Rare as they played their game and partied in N’awlins.

Part 3 — Zoe met up with fashion giant Marc Ecko to talk about his game Gettin’ Up: Contents Under Pressure. In addition to being her always-charming self, she learned some new slang from Ecko. It’s bombin’!

Blast From the Past: Reset’s Pilot Episode

As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be posting episodes of Reset (my old show for Yahoo! Games) while I’m in Asia. Think of it as rerun season. Ha! Seriously though, this was one of the best times of my life. I got to work closely with one of my dearest friends, the amazing Zoe Flower. I adored working with the gang at Yahoo! Studios. Producing video was fresh and new and exciting for me. It was truly the best work experience I’ve ever had. Now here’s the pilot!

(If you only want to watch one of these segmemts, I highly suggest part two.)

Part 1 — Zoe and I hit the show floor at E3 2005. She totally carried me here. At this point, I only hosted a dozen or so videos for GameSpy, while Zoe had a ton of experience hosting The Electric Playground (on real television). I did way too many fae things with my hands. The Scarface gag still cracks me up. You can also see mock-ups of the PS3 and a forgotten handheld known as the Game Boy Micro (did any of you have one?).

Part 2 — This was one of the best times I’ve ever had at work — I got made up as a zombie by a professional makeup artist!!! I’ll never ever forget this experience. It was totally fun walking around E3 as a zombie and goofing off with Zoe. Really…just watch this one. It’s fun.

Part 3 — I love doing man-on-the-street pieces. Those were my best videos at GameSpy. Here I asked a bunch of people (some friends, some randoms) about their E3 2005 experience. One person in this video ended up being my roommate, while another ended up being a coworker. Ha! You can also watch Zoe and I fight with inflatable swords. For the record, I let her win.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m totally into Final Fantasy XIII. I just started chapter eight and I really don’t understand why some people have bashed the game. The music is great; Masashi Hamauzu knocked it out of the park with a ton of pressure on him (mainly for not being Nobuo Uematsu). I started digging the gameplay after five hours and really enjoyed it after nine — I don’t understand the criticism that the game takes 25 hours to get going. The story is confusing at first, but a lot of the people that criticize the story go nuts over Final Fantasy VII’s, as if that story made a whole lot of sense. Plot aside, I’m really loving the characters. They’re different and interesting, dealing with a ridiculous situation in ways I can identify with.

So yeah! I’m completely satisfied with FFXIII so far and I’m excited to play more of it over the weekend. How about you? What are you playing this weekend?

Mafia II Developer Diary: Story and Characters

Here’s a cool developer diary for the upcoming Mafia II. The game is kind of flying under the radar, but I suggest keeping an eye on it. I saw it last spring and was very intrigued by its potential. The video features 2K’s director of creative production Jack Scalici, senior producer Denby Grace, cinematics director Thomas Hrebicek, and associate producer Alex Cox.

Jack is awesome because he likes to drink at my San Francisco dive bar.