The one and only Norm Caruso, also known as The Gaming Historian, stops by the Boomzies HQ as our special guest. We start things off with a Q&A session with the man himself to find out what makes him tick. Then in our main topic address the dreaded subject of emulation. Is wrong, right, or is there a fine line in the middle? All this and more in Issue 29 of Boomzies!

Many a year ago, Erik and I had a little tradition. We didn’t really have a name for it. It was just a night of gaming. Each week we would go over to my house or his and do some gaming till the wee hours of the morning. From these gaming nights came the inspiration for Substance TV.

Since he moved out of town, those days are in the past, but from time to time we’ve managed to take a trip to one or the other’s respective town of residence (I know, that was such a smancy fancy way of saying it). Interestingly enough, we’ve never recorded our gaming nights.

On the weekend of August 7th, I took the four hour drive from Wichita, KS to Springfield, MO to visit my good friend, and co-creator of Substance TV, Erik Neal. The whole weekend we played every video game from old to new. It came to our minds that we should record our killin’ for posterity’s sake. The following video is a collection of the best clips from our night of gaming. Footage is from Street Fighter Zero 3, Urban Reign, Mario Kart Double Dash, Soul Calibur IV, and Bionic Commando. Enjoy! Maybe someday, when and if Erik moves back into town, these gaming nights will be a bit more frequent.

Well them there varmints over at the Pineconeattack corral have put together a mighty fine podcast about cowboys in video games. It’s a showdown between the boys to see who’s the quickest draw, and after the dust settles, only one outlaw will leave with all the gold as he rides into the sunset. So what are you waiting for ya yellow bellied, gutless, no good snake in the ground, click your mousy thingy on the link thingy below.

Pinekast 21: Cowboys

Pineksat numero 13 is out, and this week we cover the games of Treasure. Why do I say we, as if to imply me? Well, the boys as Pineksat were kind enough to allow me a guest spot on the show this week as a few of the regulars were M.I.A.. This episode also saw the return of Badly. There were also some techincal issues that made Jango and Tenno sound like freaky intergalactic robots from time to time. Although the audio may be a bit out of whack, it was still a blast. We cover a little bit of everything, and nothing too!

Thanks again to the fine fellas at www.pineconeattack.com for thier hospitality. Make sure to subscribe to them as they are one of the better podcasts out there in my opinion.

Pinekast 13

Whew, it’s finally finished. The premiere episode of Pixel Pill is up and ready to go. This episode, or dose as we like to call it, we cover the video game company Cave, one of the finest makers of shoot em ups (shumps). Not sure who Cave is, then listen to this podcast. Heard about Cave but know very little about them, then listen to this podcast. Do you know everything about Cave and love them like the son you never had, then listen to this podcast.

This took a little bit longer then I expected, but the process should be faster as time goes by. So lay back, relax, get yourself a tall glass of water, and enjoy the smooth goodness of Pixel Pill.

UPDATE – iTunes link is up!

[podcast]http://www.substance-tv.com/pixelpill/PixelPill1.mp3[/podcast]

Pixel Pill: 1st dose

So I’ve been a little absent from the site as of late, but it’s all for a good reason. Now I’ve teased you all with some sort of announcement in my last update. And, as promised, I’ll let you in on my little secret.

From the creators of Press Start and Substance TV comes your bi-weekly dose of gaming goodness that you won’t get anywhere else, it’s Pixel Pill! We’re kinda like video game fiber. Though I’m not sure if I want to see anyone taking a pixelated video game dump.

That’s right, I’ve teamed up with Nick and Gerard from Press Start Comic to create a new podcast about all things gaming that not many people talk about. We had some much fun BS’ing over Live that we decided that we should just record it and maybe people will listen to it. Plus the need for quality podcasts is much needed. Our friends over at Pineconeattack are one of the few podcasts I listen to on a regular basis, so we hope to bring more goodness to the table.

We’ll be recording the first show tomorrow night (Friday) and have it up to download soon after. We’ll cover some gaming news that interests us, introduce ourselves and then jump right into our first topic, The Games of Cave. If you’re a fan of Bullet Hell SHMUPS, this is the show for you. We’ll be talking about our favorite games from Cave, and then talk about their newest game set to release on the 360 in Japan, Death Smiles.

Below is the new fancy smacy logo. Keep it tuned here for the link to our first show!

Well the boys at Pineconeattack are back in action…..yo! This week I’ve been patiently waiting for Pinekast 9, and it has finally hit the nets as they say. This episode the cover a few interesting topics including the Resident Evil series. Follow the link below for more goodness.

*WARNING – THERE BE RESIDENT EVIL 5 STORYLINE SPOILERS AHEAD YEE MATEYS!*

Pinekast 9

THEY SET US UP THE BOMB!

The servers for Pineconeattack got a nasty virus, from what I hear the server had been interfacing with some old virus ridden Apple II’s. But as their song remix so poetically and perfectly phrased, “WISE FROM YOUR GWAVE!”, they came back to life. I’m not sure how much work was involved in said recovery, but as a Wordpress user myself, it would not be any fun.

I have to say my work week was empty without a Pinekast podcast to get me through the day. STREET FIGHTER IV WOOOOOO! Glad to see them back in business.

Pineconeattack is back baby!

I’m very thankful for all the fans of Substance TV. You fine folks make this whole ride much more enjoyable. But of all my fans, I have a new favorite. One who rises above the rest. That would be none other then gameidiot.

Who’s this gameidiot you ask? Well he’s an interesting character. Simply put, he’s my father-in-law. Yep, you heard me, my wife’s dad is a fan and member of Substance TV.

It all started this week. My mother-in-law was visiting from out of town. She is a florist and agreed to come and help at a local flower shop for Valentines Day. Though my father-in-law was still out of town because he had to work, but he was going to be in town later this week. One evening my mother-in-law tells me she heard about Substance TV from my wife. We have a little chat about it and I think nothing more. Unbeknown to me, she proceeds to tell my father-in-law, Gary, about Substance TV. So Gary, being the resourceful guy he is, looks up the phrase “Substance TV” on the internet. He finds my show, and watches it. He watches it again. Then he shows his co-workers. Like a proud papa who sees his kid on the evening news, there I am.

Now please understand, Gary is about sixty years old, but he’s young at heart. He’s got a collection of of Mr. Potato Heads. Yes indeed-y. From Darth Tater to his newest acquisition of an OSU Mr. Potato Head, it’s pretty impressive if I do say so myself. And that’s what I love about the guy. He couldn’t play a video game to save his life, but he enjoys watching them like you wouldn’t believe. And every time he’s in town, we usually gather around the old TV and play some games. Well I shouldn’t say we because it’s me playing and him watching, but the experience is the same.

So when he arrives in town later this week, one of the first things he mentions is Substance TV. He just goes on and on about how he really enjoyed watching the show and all the descriptions and banter. He was honestly interested about the how it was all created and came together. And even though he had never played Mega Turrican, or Strider 2, or Power Stone, we had a conversation about it all. Throughout the day, the show would get brought up again, and we would talk about it more. It just made me feel good. Knowing that the show got a guy who is more then twice my age interested in video games is pretty cool. Ha, and who says people over 50 only play games on the Wii. One of these days I’ll get him playing Power Stone. You just wait.

So because of all the above reasons, gameidiot will always be a special member here at substance-tv.com. If for no other reason then the fact he could fill me full of lead and bury me where no one would ever find me.

BTW: On a side note, I’ve never been one of those guys who mentions every project he does to family and friends. It just always felt pretentious. It’s like that episode of Siefeld where George’s fiancée is going to meet with Jerry and co., but George can’t allow ‘Independent George’ and ‘Relationship George’ to meet. “A George divided against himself, cannot stand!”.

Many of you have seen the great interactive Street Fighter video on Youtube (if not, here’s the link: Youtube Street Fighter). As many of you may or may not know, I’m a stop motion junkie. Was as a kid and still am to this day. So this kind of stuff is near and dear to my heart.

The fella that does these videos goes by the name PatrickBoivin, which I can only assume is his real name. This time around he’s done something pretty cool with Batman figures. It’s almost cool enough to erase the memories of the 36 people I saw dressed as the Joker from the Dark Knight last Halloween.

Almost.

While I could go into length about what this is, just click on. It’s pretty slick and brings together stop motion, Youtube, and interactivity in a very slick package. Think of it as a choose your own adventure book but with Batman figures and break dancing.

******BBoy Joker******

My Spanish may be incorrect. Not really sure. What I am sure of is the pure unadulterated awesomeness of the boys over at Pineconeattack. This go around, the crew is missing some of the usual suspects. Though Jango and Tenno do their best to fill the void left by the other members absence. It gives them a good chance to discuss the finer points of PC gaming. They even talk about the new R-Type Dimensions on the 360! Check it out.

Pinekast episode 4

I know, some of you are saying, “What in tarnations is OGNS?”. Well it stands for “Old Games New Sound”, the series previously covered here on the site. For those of you who haven’t checked this out, it’s a show that takes old games and takes all the audio out and inserts new music and sound effects. This episode he has taken on the classic shoot em up (or shmup) Life Force for the NES. So I’ll dispense with the small talk and let the video do it’s thing. Enjoy!

O.K., so this past week has been a little devoid of posts on the old website. Had some family in town and from what I understand, they like to spend time with you. And being the good guy I am, I spent some time with them. Anyway, over this past week our friends over at www.pineconeattack.com have not only come out with episode 2 of their podcast “Pinekast”, but now episode 3. I meant to post episode 2 up earlier, but I’m a bum. A big bummy bum.

Jango, Tenno, Ancient Flounder, and Decepticreep talk about what games they’ve been playing lately and shooting the breeze about all sorts of stuff from the new Street Fighter IV, Steel Battalion, Metal Gear Solid 3 online, Lost Planet, and one of them even bags on Astro Boy (you know who you are and SHAME I SAY!). Though they do mention Substance TV episode 7 so all is forgiven. And now Jangofatt has been exposed to the radiant glow that is Strider 2. Welcome to the light friend.:)

It feels like I’m there with them, but then I realize I’m not and it makes my heart sad. Listen and hope the sound of their voices warms the black crusty void of your soul.

Pinekast episode 2 and 3

Eirk, or as he’s known on them there internets “Cavetreasure”, has been a big part of Substance TV from the start. Even before it was created, he’s the guy who got me back into gaming after years of being out of it. The idea of Substance TV was sparked from our Friday nights of gaming. And now that the show has actually become a reality, Erik has been the backbone of many aspects of the show. From the graphics, intro, outro, and everything in between, I couldn’t do it without him.

But he’s no one trick pony. As was covered in an earlier post, Erik created a show called “Old Games, New Sound”. Like the title says, Erik takes old games and puts new sound effects and music to them. The results are fantastic. As you can imagine, it’s quite a bit of work.

It seems I’m not the only one to notice this as Screwattack has featured him on their weekly Sunday Submission for his work on Castlevania III. Again, this is a great honor and just all around full of awesomeness. I hope to see him continue this series down the road. For those that have already seen it, well, watch it again. For those that haven’t, behold the beauty that is Castlevania III.

P.S. You rock Erik!

Screwattack feature

Sunday morning I’m awaken by my alarm. I turn it off and after I get up and around, I go check my e-mail. Once I log onto my Gmail account, I am greeted by quite a sight. Over 40 e-mails over the course of the night. Now as much as I’d love to say I get that many e-mails that aren’t spam or penis enlargement ads, I can’t. This was an unusual thing indeed.

The e-mails were subscription notices from YouTube, and if you’ll recall from last time I experienced this, it was from a feature on a website. So I go to the first likely suspect. Good old ScrewAttack. And what do you know, Substance TV episode 7 is featured! I gotta say, that made my day. I even got a chance to call Erik up and tell him the good news.

So yet again, I heart Craig. Well, in a strictly non-sexual way. I mean he’s a good looking guy and all, I just don’t see us together in that way. Maybe if things were different and…….oh yea, sorry, got a little off track.

It’s good to see ScrewAttack still featuring content by average joes. Because of the g1 Sunday Submission, shows like 2-bit Gaming, Still Gaming, and many others have been thrust into the limelight and given some much deserved attention. I’ve been exposed to a lot of great videos, podcasts, and just plain awesomeness thanks to ScrewAttack’s Submission Sunday. I also enjoyed reading everyone’s feedback and comments. I’m grateful you folks enjoy our little show. It means a lot to know that people out there appreciate the work you do and honestly enjoy it. To all the old and new fans of the show, thank you so much. It’s been said a million times by a million people, but without you, we wouldn’t be where we are. Sure, we’d still do the show, it’s what we love to do. But to have fans that come back every episode is an honor.

So enough of the sappiness, it’s back to work on episode 8.

www.screwattack.com

It’s no secret that I do loves me the boys at www.pineconeattack.com. Why’s that you ask? Well, they play a mean game of Left 4 Dead co-op and versus (that is when the other team isn’t using t4h haxors!), they heart pinball, they have some great articles about anything and everything, but most importantly, they were one of the first websites that gave Substance TV some lovin’.

Now the boys have gone into the land of podcasting with their show “PineKast”. Even in the first podcast, they cover some interesting topics from Street Fighter 4 and one of the member’s obsession with multiple consoles. So enjoy!

EDIT: Now the show is up on iTunes and ready for your listening pleasure.

www.pineconeattack.com

So I’m taking a quick break from work today, checking my e-mails and such. And I happen to see an e-mail from John Delia. Who’s this John character you ask? Well, he’s the host of Retroware TV among other things. He sent me an e-mail to let me know Substance TV episode 7 had been featured on their front page.

What’s Retroware TV you ask? You and all your questions. In their own words:

Retroware TV is a classic video game review, and information website that is comprised of the Retroware TV online show as well as various independent artists such as Video Game Take-Out, The Gaming Historian, The Happy Video Game Nerd, From Pixels To Plastic, Destroy The Humanoid and Retrobeats. The site also contains other shows such as Video Game Knowledge, Sold Separately, Game Quickie, and Retro News Today that are done by the various hosts of the shows mentioned earlier. The websites goal is to provide viewers with knowledge, insight, and exporsure to the games of yesteryear.

Pretty much they heart games of the past. Even better, they heart Substance TV. In turn, I heart Retroware TV. I tell ya, relationships are so complicated these days. I’ve been watching Retroware TV for awhile now and enjoyed the variety of shows they have. So it’s nice to be recognized by not only folks who enjoy games, but peers who make shows themselves. Plus, any show and/or website with “TV” at the end is pretty much full of win no matter what.

A big thanks to all the staff over at Retroware TV. Go check them out at:

www.retrowaretv.com

From time to time, Erik and I have a few side projects we enjoy doing. One of Erik’s newest projects is “Old games, new sound”. The title pretty much sums it all up. He takes footage from an older video game, mainly those without the capability of CD sound, and completely strips the sound from the original and replaces it entirely.

Think of it as a re imaging of the games you love, but with a small upgrade in the sound department. The first episode featured the much beloved Shinobi 3. This time he’s back with another third. Castlevania 3 to be exact. As always, I am extremely impressed with the quality and painstaking detail this project demanded. Only this time it’s an entire level! Just hearing and seeing this all come together makes me wish this could be a reality is some form.

The music is from Shadow of the Colossus, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Castlevania Chronicles and Final Fantasy Advent Children. All sound effects and speech is completely original.

So, without further ado, enjoy!

P.S. A high quality version of this will be available for download in the weeks to come.

Video games are a lot like a never ending war. As a soldier, you go through all sorts of emotions and experiences everyday, and anyone who is in this “war” alongside you is a comrade. Instead of bullet wounds, you’ve got blistered thumbs. Instead of army rations, you have ramen noodles. You share stories and your glorious accomplishments. Part of gaming, in my opinion, is this integral community of gaming war stories. As many of you know, Erik (co-creator of Substance TV) has been a long time friend of mine. Since the dawn of time, a.k.a. 8 years ago, we’ve played all sorts of great games from A-Z. And as any wartime gaming soldiers do, we enjoy shooting the breeze about the games we play, bosses we beat, levels we conquered, and so on. That all changed one fateful day.

One of our favorite game series of all time is Metal Gear Solid. Since the first one, we’ve been hooked. As such, we would talk about the game with great adoration and detail. This continued with Metal Gear Solid 2, and then Metal Gear Solid 3. These were day of games we gladly put money down for and played to our wee little hearts content. Each of these games were amazing, and being able to talk about the same experiences with a bud made it all the more enjoyable.

Then the fateful day came when Metal Gear Solid 4 was released. The only difference being, both Erik and I were on two sides of the wartime fence. He owned PS3 and I owned a 360, but neither of us owned the other. Actually, he owned a 360 at one time, but once he got the RROD, he rightly said screw it and bought a PS3. My excuse, well, money isn’t easy to come by, and the $500 price tag for another next gen console just wasn’t in the cards for me.

Instead of us both plowing through the game and sharing our war stories, he went to war, and I stayed home. Everyday he played the game, he would call me up and and it took all the will power within him to hold his tongue. He could tell me all the amazing things that happened in the game, but since I had not touched the game, he respectfully didn’t spoil things. I tried many avenues to try and play the game, but to no avail. Months went by without so much a peep about the game and it was killin’ me. One of the biggest video games of all time and I can’t talk to my friend about it.

I know, you’re saying just get it all out, but MGS is one of those few games I have to experience for myself with no forewarning or spoilage. It’s just how is has to work.

Here it is, over 3 months later, and still nothing. So here I sit, alone in my own self afflicting box without my Gear. Maybe once day I’ll play the game. Then life will have meaning, and my war buddy and I can meet in battle again to talk about our war stories.

Since the start of Substance TV, I’ve been exposed to a wide array of video game review shows. Though most have been terrible, and still some have been downright eye melting, there have been a few gems. One of them is “Still Gaming” by Lee (or as he’s known on Youtube “SashaNein”).

What makes the show good? First, he reviews some amazing games, many of which are not even covered by the mainstream media. Second, he has a knack for good reviews that cover the finer details with just the right amount of humor and wit. Third, well, he’s an average guy just like myself reviewing games for the love of it all. From games like Arcana Heart, to Double Dragon, to MLB Power Pros, and many others, he covers it all.

Check out his Youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/SashaNein

His latest review covers the highly anticipated Soul Calibur 4.