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PODCASTS ARE REAL!!!! https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/craig-hubbard In this episode of Tone Control Steve visited Seattle to talk with one of the creative minds behind classic the series No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R., and now co-founder of Blackpowder games. Hear white-knuckle tales of checking in code for a new weapon on ship day and other wild west reminiscences from one of game development's veteran creators. Discover which famous Video Game Ladies are voiced by the same actress. You'll be shocked and aghast! I know I was. Well maybe just kind of surprised and think it's cool. Anyway, games!

I looked around, but couldn't really find a catch-all thread for sharing books and other writing about games. StoryBundle is currently doing a big bundle of great books about games. It's all DRM-free and sold in the same beat-the-average price structure as Humble Bundles. Oh, and you can donate a portion of what you spend to Pixelles, a non-profit initiative for women in games. I picked it up last night. There's some stuff in there that I'm really looking forward to reading (having peered just a little bit into the abyss of Wisdom Tree, I'm very interested in jumping into that), but the real standout here is Ray Barnholt's Scroll magazine, which I'd been wanting to nab for years now after hearing him talk about it during his many appearances on Retronauts. If you beat the average, you get all 12 issues for half the price of the ebook edition of the magazine, so it's great value anyway, and I love Barnholt's dedication to covering very off-the-beaten-path games and companies. You want an interview with the My Summer Vacation guy? Got it. You want to know more about Japan-only original Xbox games? It's covered. You want to read about Artdink, the developers of No One Can Stop Mr. Domino for the Playstation? There's a whole dang issue about it. Really great stuff.

This topic came up on the latest Crate & Crowbar Two that spring to mind are playing Liar's Dice in real life after playing it a ton in Red Dead Redemption and traveling to Morocco partially because of the Hitman level. I was trying to decide on somewhere to travel to and Hitman 2016's Marrakesh level reminded me of a desire to travel to North Africa. A friend learned how to play an ocarina because of Zelda, i assume this was pretty common. What about yall?

In the past few years I've taken a much greater interest in 'retro' games, primarily trying to reassemble my childhood collection. I tended to keep most things anyway, though a few games fell through the cracks. For example, Star Wars fever has reminded me of the fun times I had with Episode 1 Racer and Rogue Squadrons 1 & 2. I gave them away (I think I was tired of being fobbed off with pods and X-wings when all I wanted was a lightsaber) but I have some great memories of them all so I hit ebay. These ones certainly aren't in the pristine condition my other N64 games are in, but it's nice to have them back. Likewise Mario Sunshine, Wave Race: Blue Storm and F-Zero GX. I'm also poking around trying to assemble a few choice NES games. I never had one until a few years ago but I spent hours playing my brother's. So far I've got SMB3, Probotector (Contra), Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, Battletoads Vs Double Dragon and Dragon's Lair (yes, a regretful impulse purchase, that one). Ghostbusters nostalgia triggered a purchase of HAL's New Ghostbusters II, which I've never played but it's supposed to be one of the three 'good' Ghostbusters games. Looks a lot like Pokemon. I'm on the lookout for a zapper with Duck Hunt, and all the usual suspects but NES games in decent condition are at least the price of a brand new AAA release. Slow progress. I know emulators and VC and remasters, etc. make all this seem like a needlessly expensive pursuit but there's a lot of pleasure to get from having a little library of the 'real' things. The older I get, the more the idea of a study appeals. I tracked down a SNES pad and an adaptor so I could play Super Metroid on VC with the proper pad. I also picked up Konami Arcade Classics for DS for next to nothing last week. It was made by M2, the same guys responsible for the awesome Sega 3D Classics on 3DS, and is a beautiful little compilation. I'm playing arcade Gradius, Contra and Track & Field for the first time. Although DS (and Wii) games are hardly retro, it's probably best to nab them now while they're cheap and plentiful. Wireless, single-cart multiplayer Bomberman for a fiver? Yes, please. Anyway, this can be a catch-all thread for retro purchases or ponderances. Pics might be good. Anybody got a nice collection or been to a retro festival (I've got one coming up this weekend near to me)? Jonesing to pick up a decent Atari 2600 (woody) or a CIB Game Gear? I'm off to fire up Rogue Leader and relive the 2 months when I had a Gamecube and the game, but not a memory card.

Hot damn, I was surprised to not see a thread specifically about this! Yeah yeah, there is a a whole thread dedicated to music recommendations, and there is a thread about video game music albums. But a thread solely about video game music and nothing else? No where to be found! Lemme fix that. Here are basic guidelines: - It has to be video game music. From Dear Esther to Gears of War and everything in between. Don't let base definitions of "WHAT IS GAME?!1/!?1?" stop you from posting a song. If you think it's a video game and like a song from it, go ahead and post that goddamn song. - You can also post video game music fan remixes and covers. - Three songs max per post - I-I-I-I-I uh...oh, uh, erm, exuberance? And that is all! Lemme commence this train(wreck?) of excitement. I shall start with the FPS national anthem: Now something majestic, epic in scale and grandeur: And finally, the only song in the whole world that makes me sing-along like a nutcase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_q2JsMTwK4 I'M STIIIIIILL IN A DREAAAAAAAAAAM! SNAKE EAAATEERRRRRRRR!!!!

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I, evidently, love listening to podcasts and find them an excellent form of entertainment for their convenience. I listen to podcast when walking, exercising etc but also find that playing particular video games while listening to podcasts can be enjoyable. Spelunky, Just Cause 2 and FTL are my go tos currently which is kind of a shame because of Spelunky and FTL's excellent soundtracks but their minimal narrative and dialouge allow for a focused listening experiances without detracting from my extreme gamer level. Do you do this? (I know Chris has while playing Zumas Revenge) Do you have any suggestions of games to play while pods are being cast?

I have been working as a freelance games writer since 2005, in fact my first review was Resident Evil 4 for a local magazine. However my true passion, is to make games and from the research I have done over the past three years there is no typical way of getting into the industry. So I thought why not make a game? Well I am currently working a full time retail job and am in the process of applying for University. So this terribly written paragraph is leading to one question, should I focus on going to university to get a game design degree? or should I take the next four months or so to finish the game I have been working on?

Hey guys, there has been talk about making games on here and you all seem really capable at making games! If you are like me you may have some cool ideas so why not share them and get some feedback? I will start by pitching the game I have been working on for the past 6 months (which I have like nothing done) So it is a single screen Adventure Game that takes place at a bus stop. The main goal is to explore the aspect of meeting new people and using your observation skills to get a sense of what kind of person they are and what matters to them. It is all about the dialogue and what the player gets from it. I would love to hear your feed back. and lets hear what ideas you have for a game!

To quote the top youtube commenter: SHUT UP AND TAKE MY CREDITS! I haven't played any of the previous games, except the very first one (which at the time was a nice enough Elite-Alike), but this just looks... magnificent.

Out of curiosity, how many people do we have here that would be interested in a casual Thumbs fantasy football league? 8 teams is kind of the minimum for an enjoyable league, and 20 is the maximum possible.

I was looking at the schedule for PAX East and I noticed that Chris is listed as a panelist for the Double Fine Adventure Adventure! panel. I've been lied to by the PAX schedule before (video games and famous were listed as panelists for the Telltale panel at PAX Prime 2011 but that proved to be false). Are any of the Thumbs going to Boston this year? Also, any readers going to PAX? Want to meet up? Or maybe attend some panels together?

Because of this: For some reason I didn't notice the same problem with Resonance. I think it was actually 320x240 instead of 320x200? Or maybe I just didn't try it in windowed mode.