Inside The Console: 2007

They're Still Here?

Yep. Sorry for the big delay and barren wasteland devoid of blog entries, but we most certainly are still here. We finally were able to record Episode #096, although we had to do it over Skype, and the sound quality isn't all that great.

Thanks for sticking with us as we wrap up our second season here at Inside The Console. As usual, we ask that you take a few minutes to try our Number One Fan Survey, and the Best Of 2007 Survey, both available on the sidebar of this page.

Oh, and I finally beat Metroid Prime 3, and am working my way through the (creepy) Bioshock.

Game On!

-Phil

WTF?!?!

Umm... Activision Blizzard Entertainment? Yeah. It actually happened.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/02/activision-and-vivendi-merge-in-18-billion-deal/

-John

One Console World

So yeah. Our next episode is: What about a one console world? And Episode 95 is up. And we forgot to blog it. Yeah... Sorry.

-John

Random Thought

Okay. So every once in a while I have these random video game thoughts. Usually just off the wall sort of stuff. These "thoughts" are kinda how the podcast came about. I'd have one, Fil and I would talk about i, and it'd go on for hours. Well I've decided to share these on here now. My most recent thought:

How come the term "fanboy" only seems to apply to gamers? I mean what about all those people out there who won't buy anything but Abercrombie and Fitch or AE? Why aren't these people also universally reviled by other shoppers? Isn't that the whole point?

Just a thought.

-John

Happy Thanksgiving!

John and I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week, and get to spend some quality time with family and friends who you may not see on a regular basis.

Be sure to check the first comment on this post for Timothy's email mentioned in Episode #094. It was too long for us to read on the show (we're trying really hard to hit that one-hour mark for you guys) so it's being posted here instead.

Don't get killed trying to get Mario Galaxy from Circuit City on Black Friday!

-Phil

The End is Nigh...

...of the year, that is. And your time is running out to submit your answers for out Best of 2007 survey, as well as our #1 Fan Quiz. I know it sounds like we push these all the time, but we've only had a few listeners participate so far, and we know that there are plenty more of you out there who we would love to hear from.

In the mean time, enjoy Episode #093, where we had a very good discussion on companies making games for fun and making games for profit. Who knows, you might even learn something.

Game on!

-Phil

Best of 2007!

If you haven't already, be sure to submit your answers to our "Best of 2007" survey. There is a link to it on the tippy-top of the sidebar on the right-hand side of this very blog. Really couldn't be easier to get to. You can even leave your answers in the comments, that'd be greeeaaat...

Keep the show topic suggestions coming in too! We've had suggestions from a great number of our fans and we love getting them. A big thank-you to everyone who has already sent them in, including Travis, Simon, Timothy, Robert and others.

-Phil

Chugging Along

Episode #091 is up and a few of you are already downloading it. We know it may not be the greatest (read: it's kinda boring) but we encourage you to listen anyway, because you might pick up on something about either the DS or the PSP that you didn't know before.

I've got a few links for the episode that I'll be posting here a little later, so keep watch for that. Also, be sure to check out the first annual "Inside The Console's Best of..." contest, which is linked in the sidebar. It's where you, the fans, get to send your submissions for the best of (in several categories) for the year 2007. Check it out.

Next week we're doing yet another fan-submitted topic (keep 'em coming!) this time from Simon. We will be taking a "Devil's Advocate" approach to the PS3, and looking at it for everything it has to offer. This is a complete turn-around from our usual take on Sony and the PS3, but we think it will be good for us and good for you guys as well.

Game on!

-Phil

Don't worry, we're here

A two-day delay is what happens when both hosts manage to get sick at the same time. But we got a new show up, our 90th (man, that sounds like a lot) and we've actually had several fan submissions for show topics, including this one.

While you're here, here's a link that's on-par with episode #090, on why we need game saves.

Robert Feinburg's is up next week, when we talk about the life of the DS and the PSP. As always, send your comments and questions to insidetheconsole@gmail.com.

Game on!

-Phil

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today's my 25th birthday, so, Happy Birthday Phil!

Check out that sidebar over there --> -->

It's been cleaned up and I've added a schedule that links directly to our five most recent episodes, and will always have the upcoming topic right on the top of the page. That way we don't have to mess with putting the topic here in the blog.

Also check out the Screenshots link, where we have some new pictures courtesy of our listener Sara Abbott.

Check out John's Sony Video from the candle.

A'ight. I'm out. Keep sending us those listener map locations and photos!

-Phil

Game On!

Re-Subscribe in iTunes Here

Check out our new host, Switchpod, Here

Now that that's over, we are back on track! If you haven't already, (we know for sure that some of you already have) click on that link to get subscribed to our new feed. Episode #088 is finished and waiting for the taking. This week we talked about what has changed over the years to distract people from playing videogames purely for their own enjoyment. Not a bad show, and not a bad show length either...

Next week:
We'll be talking about how single player gaming has changed videogames. We did a show a few weeks back talking about how multiplayer gaming has changed things, and it was suggested that we do the same for single player.

As always, send us your thoughts on any of it. And keep your eyes here on the blog for some changes and updates (like the Lan Party bar on the right).

Game on!

-Phil

New Feed Official - Oh yeah, and a topic...

First of all, for upcoming episode #088, we'll be talking about what happened over the years to just being able to buy and play games. When (and why?) did people stop playing for fun and start playing just to scrutinize? Here's a link that got my mind running on this in the first place:

Halo 3 Resolution

Now, for the news! Our new feed is up and running, although you might get (hopefully optional) ads in the feed for a short while, they won't be there for long. And thanks to this new place (and no thanks once again to GoDaddy) we now after only 87 weeks have an image in the feed which shows up in iTunes. Click the link below to check out the feed in iTunes.

iTunes Link

-Phil

Goodbye GoDaddy!

*Sigh*

It's time once again to get up, pack your bags, and move to a new RSS feed for Inside The Console. I'd been getting used to GoDaddy not letting us do the simple things that we wanted to do with our RSS feed, but this "sorry, we're not giving your storage space back" has put me over the top. That, and we simply can't add anymore episodes to the feed.

A new feed has been created with a new Podcast Hosting Company, Switchpod, and you can subscribe to it with iTunes by clicking under "Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast." Here's the feed address for subscribing:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/insidetheconsole/feed.xml

Episode #087 is already in there. Be sure to let us know if there are any issues, and keep your eyes here for any more information.

Thanks for sticking with us.

-Phil

Random Things

Download Episode #086 Here

I have something very, very important to tell you all. Please sit down and take a deep breath.

I got Metroid Prime 3 and Bioshock!

My wife got me Metroid as a graduation gift (I just finished college) and I got Bioshock with a Best Buy gift card I also received. Awesomeness abounds.

In other news, there has been one (quite successful, actually) attempt at the Number One Fan Quiz. Take a shot at it and see how you do.

Episode #086 is coming very shortly, and for Episode #087, we'll be talking about new game release days, such as, oh I dunno, Halo 3.

Game on!

-Phil

Number One Fan Quiz! - And Episode #085

Click Here to see our new quiz!

Click Here for Episode #085!

Episode #084 and Updates!

Download Episode #084 Here.
Alright! Alright, alright. The train is (almost) back on the track. Sorry for the barren blog posts as of late, but John's been fending off old women who think he's a racist, and I've been plowing through my last few weeks of school (evar!) and we've got that whole GoDaddy podcast feed clog still pulling us down.

Rest assured, though, that we're still alive and kicking, and we've even got some new stuff coming down the pipe. So bear with us for a few more weeks until we can get our podcast feed from GoDaddy back like it should be (until we find something better. Ideas, anyone?) and we can stop posting each episode here.

We're also on track to catch up at least one, if not two, of the lost episodes from a little while back. You're getting this one almost three full days ahead of time, and we're hoping to have another this coming Sunday/Monday in order to keep up.

Enough babble. Watch the blog for updates of all kinds, send us your location and name for the listener map, and as always, game on!

-Phil

Public Service Announcement

Download Episode #083 Here.

Episode #082

Download it here.

Labor Day Delay

Hey folks. The new episode #082 of ITC has been taped, a little behind schedule due to Labor Day, but GoDaddy's giving me issues trying to post it. I do apologize, and I will have it available one way or another as soon as I can.

For next week:
Listener Simon sent us an idea for next week's show: Game Difficulty. Here's one paragraph from his email, the rest of which we'll read next week, to get you thinking on the topic:

"This one is tricky, because hard can mean so many things. First off,
it's important that a game be challenging, because it gives the
player a reason to keep going. If a game like Monkey Ball was easy
through and through, like the first five levels, it wouldn't give
players much of a reason to play through. There would be no sense of
accomplishment, which is what drives developers to make their games
difficult. But it's important that a game not be too difficult,
because the sense of accomplishment is replaced with a sense of anger
and frustration. The Ninja Gaiden series, on Xbox, was
excruciatingly hard for me. I bought it, played it for a while, and
gave up because I no longer cared about the game. It was too hard,
and for someone like me who just wants an entertaining challenge, I
did not want to spend hours beating a single boss or particularly
hard level."

Here's a link he sent us also regarding the topic:
Gamasutra.com

-Phil

New Show, New Map, New Trivia!

Hello Consolers! Episode #081 of Inside The Console is up and running, though be warned, it runs just shy of an hour-and-a-half long. Sorry about that... We try to stop with our main topic at about an hour, but we ran a little over and still had to do our emails from the previous week as well as the trivia. We'll try to keep the length a little more manageable in the future.

Moving on, we once again have a listener map. Check the link over to the right side of the page. We would love to hear from everyone who currently listens to the show about where they are, and maybe even have a picture. Email us your name, location and a photo (if you don't mind) to insidetheconsole@gmail.com and we'll add you to the map.

For Next Week:
We'll be discussing The Importance of Graphics vs. Gameplay. This has always been a hot topic, and is coming up again with the release of Metroid Prime 3, and the whole Wii being "two GameCubes duct-taped together" vs. the 360 and the PS3 thing.

Tell us what you think about graphics vs. gameplay by emailing insidetheconsole@gmail.com.

Peace out, and Game On!

-Phil

Guess Who's Back? Back Again...

Back from the dead! After two full weeks off, John and I finally crawled back into the studio and brushed the dust off the recording equipment.

Uh, the Chipotle is here, gotta run.

-Phil

Update: Links from the show, and another "coincidence" story...
Warkawk Server Farm
Mexican Playstation 3 Price
New Indie Dreamcast Games

Don't Worry...

My apologies for the unannounced lack of shows lately, but John and I are taking a little time off in order to step back and look at "the big picture" of Inside The Console. When we do return, and believe me, we shall, things will be (hopefully) much improved overall and allow us to continue to "power down the console" for a long time to come.

Game on!

-Phil

3... 2... 1... Fight!

Episode #079 is available, get it while it's hot. You've never heard squealing, whimpering and gnashing of teeth like you'll hear in this episode, where John and Phil argue about cinematics in videogames.

Do you think that cinematics need to be pre-rendered (as in Final Fantasy VII) in order to make you feel more drawn into the game, or can cinematics be rendered on-the-fly by using the game's engine and still manage to draw you in just as much? Comment on this post with your thoughts on the matter, we want to hear 'em!

Next week, we will be doing another System Focus episode, focusing on the short-lived Sega Dreamcast.

I'm out, game on!
-Phil

Ok now this is just WRONG

Another website listening to our show and stealing our topics...

http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/what-for-art-thou-283021.php

8-Bit on Bone Error

So our Band Leader contacted me and told me that his latest rendition of 8-Bit on Bone for Episode #078 was cut short. There is a fixed version of the episode in the feed and the original episode has been removed. If you want to hear the whole 8-Bit, you can either re-download the episode or wait until next week, when we will run it again.

GarageBand sincerely apologizes to Paul Ahlemeyer for the inconvenience.

-Phil

Episodes #078 and #079 - "What are we Doing?"

So in a strange turn of events, John and I went in to the studio yesterday to tape Episode #078, sat down, and I told him that I didn't have anything to talk about this week. Nothing. Now wait a minute, you say, I thought the guys were talking about E3 (again) this show? Allow me to explain why that didn't happen, courtesy of Timothy Sundberg:

"Very little to say about this show. I don't really care about big announcements, just news in general. I did like the week format of past shows better as I prefer my news spread out instead of in large lumps. Honestly, I don't care a whole lot about E3; I haven't, and I probably won't."

This was the sole email that found its way to us for this show. Keep in mind that Mr. Sundburg usually writes us an entire novel each week. But all is well inside this console, because it took about fifteen minutes (intro, candle, drinks and all) for a topic to spontaneously present itself: Sequels.

We spent about 45 minutes, unprepared, talking about the different types of game sequels, comparing them to the movie industry, discussing everything from Harry Potter to Metal Gear Solid to Super Mario and more.

And that, my dear fans and friends, is why I like doing Inside The Console. Because more than a year and a half ago, John and I realized that we spent so much time randomly discussing videogames in-depth, that we might as well make a show out of it. And I think this episode proves that we're still not half-bad at it...

But enough mushy-mush. Next week we're moving on to a new category of show here at ITC; "The Importance Of..." Episode #079 - for next week- we will be discussing The Importance of Cinematics in Videogames.
I'm out. Game on.
-Phil

Holy Crap Batman!

Wow..

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161357

The New E3, Episodes #077 and #078

The first of two episodes going over the new E3 is available for download. Here are the links that Phil referred to during the episode:
Barker Hanger Video
PS3 60GB RIP and 80GB Backwards Compatibility
Sony and Europe

Remember that we're still covering both the format and the news from this year's E3 for next week, Episode #078. Post your thoughts about E3 and its news in the comments.

-Phil

It's a Poooooodcast!

Episode #076:
The show is available, and it's a doozy. We try to define exactly what a Gamer is, and we had a lot of listener input for this one. Good stuff.

Upcoming Episode #077:
We plan to tape #077 on time - meaning Sunday the 15th - so send your emails and post your comments soon. We will be discussing The "New E3" and how well it compares to what the E3 of yesteryear had become. Is it really that much better? We'll probably talk a little bit about the news that comes out too, I suppose...

Game on!

-Phil

Our Listeners are the Best

I thought this was worthy of its own post. As a response to my halfway-joking post asking for a picture of Inside The Console being listened to on an iPhone, we got this from our listener Jim Park:

ITC on iPhone

Seriously, what more could we ask for?

-Phil

Upcoming Episode #076 - And #075 is Available!

Hit the feed, Episode #075 has finally been recorded, and we have a good excuse, so don't kill us please. Simon Ringsmuth guest starred on this episode to help us attempt to define whether or not videogames are a legitimate form of art. Good show, you should listen...

Coming Up: Episode #076 - What Defines a Gamer?

Next week's show, which will be recorded about one day late to help ease us back on track, will focus on what really makes a gamer a gamer? We toss the term around pretty much ever week on the show, but seriously, what really is a gamer?

Gamer gamer gamer gamer gamer gamer, ... gamer!

Sorry, just reminded of the "Console Exclusivity" episode there, my bad.

So that's it, just tell us what you think it means to be a gamer, and game on!

-Phil

First person to show us a photograph of Inside The Console being listened to on an iPhone wins a cookie!

-Phil

Preview for Episode 5^2+5^2+(2^3*3)+ln(e) or 75 if you prefer

Yeah so I'm a math nerd, wanna fight about it?

So we are debating the question of whether or not video games are an art form. Let's here what you have to say!

-John

Champion of Cyrodill

I'm proud to say that after nearly 140 hours of playing, I have finally completed Oblivion's main questline. I've spent the majority of that time completing the factions and various sidequests, but I think now that I can actually start playing something else... finally.

I'll come back to Oblivion from time to time and continue to work out sidequests until I have all of the gamerpoints available, but in the mean time I've got Tiger Woods '07 on the Wii that needs some attention, as well as Need For Speed Carbon.

It feels good to finally be free :-).

-Phil

#74 Pre-show Thoughts

Well here's your chance. If you hate e-mail, don't like AIM, and aren't lucky enough to be able to call us... BLOG! That's right here's another avenue to comment on our upcoming episode about the Nintendo Wii: 6-8 Months Later!

-John

Episode #073: The Playstation 3 "Six to Eight Months Later"- How is it really doing?

Hello all you consolers out there in console land! This week's show is all about the Sony Playstation 3 and how we think it's performing in the market six to eight months after its release. Last year, John and I did a "six months later" episode on the Xbox 360, but it was actually eight months after it was released before we realized we should have done a "six months" episode. In the spirit of that show, which we actually titled Six to Eight Months Later, today we revisit the Playstation 3 and talk about how we think it's doing.

This week's introduction music is a long-lost classic that John wanted to hear a few weeks ago called "Jesus is Still Alright" by DC Talk. It's a hip-hop techno-rap remix of a song called "Jesus is Just Alright" by the Doobie Brothers. The exit music is something our Band Leader Paul Ahlemeyer (aka "Burping Paul") found, and I think it's called 72 Trombones. I'm hoping he'll jump in the comments and clarify that for me.

For next week, we're going to look at the Nintendo Wii Six to Eight Months Later and talk about how we think it's performing. In a few days we will have a post just for that show, but feel free to comment here on how you think the Wii is doing. And don't forget to check out some of the LAN Party sections to the right, especially the Screenshots.

Game on!

-Phil

Input

Hey listeners. John here. Gotta question for you all... What do you want? What would you like to hear from us and what would you like to see changed? We've had some input recently and we'd love to have some more. Like we've said in the past, this is about you. We need to know what we can do to make the show better for you!

Thanks a lot Consolers!

John

Episode #072: The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta, Questions and Answers

Awesome man, just awesome. John and I were able to successfully get two listeners on today's show via Skype, and it worked out just wonderfully. Huge thanks go out to Jim Park and Justin Spanbauer for participating in this episode.

We start things off by reading emails and such as usual, then Jim Park comes on for about twenty minutes for a little Q-and-A. He had emailed us about three weeks ago with some questions regarding the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta, and we asked that he hold off on them until this show. It was very cool to be able to answer questions one-on-one like that with a fan.

After Jim's departure we call up Justin Spanbauer for another twenty or so minutes of just open-ended talk about the multiplayer beta. Both of these guys really knew what they were talking about, and I'm just really glad we were able to get them on the show. Aside from a little bit of muffling, they both sounded quite good as well.

Before Jim and Justin came on, we even had two phone calls this week, one from our Band Leader Paul Alhemeyer, and another from listener Simon Ringsmuth. They were both taken over speakerphone, but eventually I hope to be able to run phone calls into our sound board to improve the quality.

We also got an email from Jeremy Knudtson in St. Louis with a few YouTube links regarding thing's we've recently talked about here on the show. Here they are for you:

The Entire History of Video Games in 4 Minutes
Video Game Console Pictures in Release Date Order
Punch Out Live Action Trailer

Alright everybody, I hope you enjoy the show!

-Phil

Upcoming Topic for Episode #073:
The Playstation 3 "Six to Eight Months Later": How is it really doing?

Episode #072 Details - Listen Up!

Hey there everybody. If you are participating in the Halo 3 Beta show, Episode #071, we are taping on Sunday, June 10th at 4:00pm, Central Time. If you're not in the Central Time Zone, here is a good link to figure out what time you'll need to be on Skype.

If you haven't told us that you want to be on the show and would still like to participate, please let us know in the comments, and please provide your Skype name.

Game on!

-Phil

WII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Upcoming Episode #072 - Halo 3 Beta

The upcoming episode will focus on the newly-released Halo 3 Beta. We are looking for listeners who have played the beta to join us on this show via Skype. We are planning to tape this episode Sunday, June 10th, in the afternoon or early evening.

If you are interested in participating in this episode, please reply to this post with your Skype name. I will be doing some testing this week to ensure that this show will run smoothly, and let you know what's going on with it right here in these comments.

Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to this one...

-Phil

Episode #071

This Week's Topic: Machinima

Welcome to the blog! In Episode #071, John and I talked about something called Machinima. It's essentially where mini-episodes of "TV shows" are made using videogames and published on a regular basis. Even full-length films have been made by recording pre-scripted actions in a game.

The most popular Machinima Series is Red Vs. Blue, found at www.redvsblue.com. Several other machinima shows are mentioned during this episode, but to be honest I can't remember any others at the moment. Check the comments and maybe I can get John to link to some other ones. Who knows, maybe he'll even log in and put up his own post?

Enjoy the new blog. Give it some time to grow, and hopefully we'll have the LAN Party and everything else good about the old website back here soon. In the mean time, feel free to comment on our posts, and we'll surely get back to you quickly.

Game on!

-Phil

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