In our biggest episode yet we start things off with a special look at the Video Game Awards Show. Which essentially is Brian drolling over the epic and amazing Metal Gear Rising Revengance trailer. Then we talk about the rumors surrounding Shigeru Miyamoto stepping down from his position at Nintendo. What does this mean for the future of the company and Miyamoto? Finally in our main topic we talk about the science of video game sound. From sound effects, music, and voice acting, sound plays a huge role in video games. How has sound evolved and where is it going in the future?

After decades in print, Gamepro is going away. We talk about how this happened and our memories of this once great gaming journalism juggernaut (try to say that three times fast). This is our main topic we talk about the video game graphic ceiling. What will happen if we hit this fabled fidelity and how will it change the industry? Join us as Brian and Landon battle each other for the crown of geekdom!

So what would happen if Monsters Inc. made hot sweet lovin’ with Tron? Well besides the awkward love scene between Mike Wazowski and Master Control, you’d get something very close to one of my new favorite web series ‘Level 20-Something’!

The series is about two guys who work at a place called the “Animosity Agency”. They spend their nine to five as the CPU. They are the characters who play against or with the human controlled players. It’s a downright dirty job with lots of pain and little pay. Along the way they meet up with a fiery bartender and get thrown into many of your favorite games in pixel form.

I found these guys through well, uhhhhhh honestly just screwing around on the web searching for new videos. But this is when screwing around on the web pays off. Though I was surprised to see how few subscribers these fine lads had. It’s funny, well produced, and doesn’t suck. So I’ve done my part and subbed and ask, nay demand you subscribe to them as well! Here’s the first episode for your viewing pleasure.

It’s the Boomzies Halloween Horror Cast! We talk about the nerd megafest that is Blizzcon. The changes in WoW that have people up in arms plus all the other big news. Then we gather ’round the campfire and talk about our Halloween memories. The video games that made us wet ourselves, the movies that made us weep like little babies, and everything else that frightens us. Plus watch us botch both of our contests because of our own incompetence. Oh yes it’s that bad.

A few weeks ago I beat Donkey Kong Country Returns. At least the main part of the game. After the final boss was vanquished, a golden temple rose from the jungle floor. So I made my way to this golden temple to reap my reward for beating the game! Only there was one issue, the door was locked! And since Donkey Kong doesn’t have opposable thumbs, he’s not the greatest lock picker. Looks like I would have to go about this the hard way.

As with all good things in life, this wasn’t going to be easy.

It seems I needed eight colored orbs, called “rare orbs”, in order to unlock the secrets of the Golden Temple. Great, but how the heck was I supposed to do that?

See in every level except for boss levels there are letters to collect that spell out K-O-N-G. Collect the KONG letters in every level in a world to unlock a bonus level. Beat the bonus level and you’ll get a rare orb. There are eight rare orbs to collect, one in the bonus level of each World. Once you have them all, The Golden Temple will be unlocked.

Here’s the thing, you must collect all of the letters in the word KONG at once. Meaning if you die in a level, and haven’t yet reached a checkpoint, you have to collect those letters again. You can’t collect one or two levels and then come back. It’s either all or nothing.

I had already obtained six of the eight rare orbs and was only missing two. Now each of these bonus stages had no checkpoints meaning you have to go from start to finish in one run (a.k.a. break your controller after dying for the 500th time). So I set my sights towards world eight’s bonus stage “Five Monkey Trial”.

Now only one rare orb stood between me and the golden temple. Next was world six. After obtaining all the KONG letters in each of the stages, it was on to the bonus stage “Perilous Passage”. I had already faced this level previously and just could not beat it, but I was bound and determined to beat this final challenge.

Finally, all eight rare orbs were in my possession. I made my way to the Golden Temple to finally unlock the surprise hidden inside. With all eight orbs put into place, the door to the Golden Temple opened. What happened next was a surprise.

Yes indeed, the Golden Temple wasn’t the reward but a gateway into the bonus ninth level. My reward for beating this final stage? A silver mirror which unlocked mirror mode. Well it’s certainly not what I was expecting. In fact it just makes more work for me! I thought when DK peeled back the banana and took a bite, maybe he’d turn into Super Kong (that would have been awesome). I’d have even been happy with a new character, color, or even a new level.

Just like in Bayonetta there was no achievement or real prize for my trouble, but hey I did it. I unlocked and beat the Golden Temple baby! Yet another gaming milestone beaten and done. I guess next is trying to find all the puzzle pieces, and if I don’t hate my life after that, a few time attacks and maybe mirror mode.

Though like they say, the journey to the destination is half the fun…or some crap like that.

BTW: If you’d like to see the entire journey to the Golden Temple, check out the videos from our stream on justin.tv.

This week has been jam-packed with great videos popping up, and in case you missed them we have you covered. Some are just plain entertaining and some so impressive my jaw dropped. Tron Guy is brilliant, that is all I can say. Check out all the videos on the jump.

Official Duck Tron- theduckbrand

I love advertising when it is good, and it rarely is. This one is so perfect, it is a wonder why we didn’t see it a few months ago when Tron was blowing everyone’s minds. Can’t complain, I get to enjoy it still. The only issue I find with this is that there is absolutely no way that Tron Guy would be able to snag that woman as his wife. Maybe she is his caretaker…I mean, he is wearing a helmet?

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Razor Blade True Gaming Laptop with i7 Processor - mazterFreeman

Holy Ridiculous Laptop, Batman! This video might be too epic for its own good. With the music, all the accents, the way they display the machine, the Asian Steve Jobs. Skip to around 2:15 in the video and check out that sweet trackpad/lcd display. Reminds me of the Optimus Maximus keyboard from a few years back. The biggest issue here is the price tag on the damn thing, nearly $3,000! Good luck Razor, you need to find a way to drop that quite a bit. Is there really that big of a demand for high quality portable gaming?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jedi Kittens- finalcutking

These are the kittens you are looking for. I think the title speaks for itself, this is a brilliant only 16 second long video. This will make your day infinitely better.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Portal: No Escape (Live Action Short Film by Dan Trachtenberg)- dantrachtenberg1

Wow. Just Wow. Saving the best for last. This has got to be expanded further, I need to see more, you need to see more. Please, someone fund the brilliant people behind this to expand!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seriously Konami if you don’t hire this guy, I will. If for nothing more than to provide my eyes more sweet visual candy.

But one creative fellow from Japan took the phrase “bigger is better” to heart.

That reminds me, I haven’t played Team Fortress 2 in forever. Loved that game. Though no updates for us consoles folks. *sad face*

I have a rabid love for all things Platinum Games. Their latest outing, Bayonetta, is one of my favorite games this gen. So it’s no surprise when a game by the name of Vanquish hit the scene, I was as happy as a little school girl.

Until now, we’ve only been treated to still screen shots. Gametrailers just released the world premiere trailer of Vanquish in action. And wow, just wow. It looks to give the 3rd person shooter a good kick in the pants. Jetpacks, sliding on the ground into back flip kicks, shooting in slow-mo, thousands of missiles, and action galore make for a tasty mix. Just as Platinum Games perfected the 3rd person action game, I’m betting they’ll perfect the 3rd person shooter game. We’ll see when it’s released for the PS3 and 360 later this year. Until then, enjoy the mayhem.

P.S. PatrickBoivin has some amazing stop motion videos and has been a favorite video creator of mine for some time now. Check out his YouTube page for more goodness.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. So I won’t. As always, you rock GoodieBag.

This was a fact I was not aware of until just recently. I never really thought about it, but after seeing this compelling evidence, it’s hard to deny it. Maybe it’s an East Coast vs. West Coast thing. Maybe a culture clash. Possibly the fact that L.A. doesn’t have as many dead bodies floating in the water. Who knows. Watch and see for yourself.

Thanks to Goodie Bag for the video

As you may have heard, Hideo Kojima’s Policenauts received a English fan translation in April of this year. Although I am a part of RetroWare TV, it in no way colors my judgement towards their newest video series covering this coveted and highly regarded game. This three part series covers many aspects of the game’s creation, storyline, and much more. Part one has just been released exclusively on RetroWare TV’s website. As an avid fan of Kojima’s work, I am excited to see this game not only being translated, but also the proper attention and coverage it deserves. Even in part one, you can see a lot of care and detail went into this retrospective. I would highly recommend you check it out.

I personally have not had the chance to play the game, but rest assured, as soon as I’m able to, I’ll be right in the middle of it all. For now, this will wet my appetite until I can fully savor the awesomesauce that is Policenauts.

Policenauts: A Video Game Odyssey

You may think you are, but are you sure. Thankfully the good folks at the Onion have good news for us. Due to the recent trend of violent video game, it seems we are indeed ready.

BTW: If the new expansion “The Pit” for Fallout is any indication of the post apocalyptic future, then we’re gonna be assaulted by more exclamation marks then Hideo Kojima can shake a stick at!

As promised, Substance TV episode 8 is finished and ready to go. To be honest, it’s been done for a few days. So obviously you’re asking why isn’t it uploaded? Good question indeed.

About a week ago, Erik and I were contacted by John D. over at RetroWare TV. Long story short, he asked us if we would like to be a new show on the site. I talked to John over e-mail and even on the phone about all the details. Afterwards, Erik and I talked it over, and a few days ago we we accepted their offer.

Now what does this all mean and what has changed? Nothing really. The only major change will be that all future episodes of Substance TV will now premiere on RetroWare TV’s website www.retrowaretv.com. Then after a few days, the show will be on our website, Youtube, and all those other places. So you’ll still be able to download high quality versions of the show, watch episodes through the podcast, and even Youtube. It’ll just be a bit delayed.

And no, there’s no big cash payoff or exchange of money in some secret Swiss bank account. And there’s no change of ownership or change in what we can and can’t review. This joint venture is good for both sites. For RetroWare TV, it gives them another show to add to their lineup and another reason to check out the site. For Substance TV, it gets the goodness out there to more people. We’ve always enjoyed RetroWare TV’s stuff, and they’re a good bunch of guys who just enjoy playing video games. So we’re honored to be a part of it all.

I’ll be the first to admit that episodes of Substance TV have not come out as fast as Erik and I would like. All that will change with this move as we will be putting out a new episode of Substance TV every month. Substance TV will still be committed to putting out the same quality review show each and every episode.

Episode 8 will premiere over at RetroWare TV’s website on Tuesday (3-10-09). I would have loved to get it out this week, but both us and RetroWare TV needed time to make the changes and get things ready.

Both Erik and I want to say how much we appreciate our fans and folks that have given us support over the years. I want to say a special thanks to Borman over at http://superiorversion.com/ (previously Past to Present Online). Back when I was first starting this show with no website, and no know how, Borman personally hosted my videos on his site. It was very gracious of him and he gave me my first real break. I also want to thank Jangofatt and the crew over at www.pineconeattack.com. They always throw some lovin’ our way whether it be in the form of articles on their website or mentions in the podcast. They were one of the first websites to give Substance TV notoriety. Plus they themselves have great content as well.

And this news is exclusive to you few fine folks who visit our little site. We wanted to give you a heads up and let you know what was going on.

Well, that’s about it. Remember to check out episode 8 on Tuesday at www.retrowaretv.com. And we’re already working on preparations for episode 9.

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******

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

Another episode means another lineup of games. Now for the faithful and diligent viewers who watched all the way till the end of episode 7, you got a little bite sized Metal Gear treat wrapped in gooey gaming innuendo. Three small clues about each game were given. Some of you figured it out, while others were left scratching their heads. The three clues given by our friend Ocelot were:

“A flying kid who shoots lazer beams”
“A winged girl with a crystal spear”
“A boy who battles evil with the help of a bird”

As cryptic as some of those clues were, a few of you guessed correct. Want to see if you were right? Then click on!

Here is the list of games up for review in episode 8 of Substance TV.

Title: Astro Boy
Developer: Treasure
Platform: Gameboy Advance

Title: Odin Sphere
Developer: Vanillaware
Platform: Playstation 2

Title: Astal
Developer: Sega
Platform: Sega Saturn

So there you are folks. Things are underway and we’re hoping for a release very soon. And remember, Eye. Have. You.

Over the past few months, I’ve had some folks wondering if there were any plans to release Substance TV on DVD. And to be honest, I’ve had the thought every now and again. If the demand is there, then I’d be more then happy to give out the lovin’ on DVD. As far as cost goes, I would only charge what it cost me to produce it. Pretty much the cases, printing, and discs themselves. They would be relatively cheap (I’m guessing under $10).

So, simply put, would any of you fine folks be interested in a DVD for Substance TV? Post comments, questions, or concerns below and cast your vote.

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

Here at Substance TV we enjoy reviewing games, but from time to time we like to switch it up. This was a video my friend Erik and I did way before Substance TV. Waaaaaay before.

Back in college, we were tasked with doing a collage of videos that covered a topic of our choosing. So, as any good students would do, we choose something we both enjoyed. No, not pretending we’re Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles battling the evil Shredder with crudely fashioned weapons made from wood (though we do both enjoy that). We choose video games. Below is the result.