Ep. 27: Popular Music in Video Games

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-egvds-10c2654

Joey and Ron have a robust discussion about popular music in video games. You may have known that Aerosmith has been in two video games, but did you know that you could shoot hoops and throw hands as Chuck D or Queen Latifah in Rap Jam: Volume One for the SNES? You’ll find little gems like that alongside games like Rock n’ Roll Racing, Max Payne 3, Rock Band, GTA V, Emily is Away ❤ and many, many more. It was a really fun chat! We also touch on the upcoming Twitch protest taking place on September 1^st, the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 patch, and (as always) what we’ve been playing. Thanks for listening, and hit us up with some of your favorite examples of popular music in video games!

Contact us: prettypixelspodcast@gmail.com

We’re on Twitter: @Losperman (Joey) and @bigbadron (Ron)

00:00:33: Joey gushes over the gamers in his new fall composition course

00:03:45: Twitch streamers plan walkout to protest the platforms lack of adequate response to recent (and ongoing) hate raids

00:11:36: New Cyberpunk 2077 patch includes hundreds of fixes and a few bits of free DLC

00:14:20: Ron has not, apparently, been playing “Everybody’s Balls” but he HAS been playing Everybody’s Golf

00:20:37: Joey’s Persona 5 Royal adventures continue, as have his aerial escapades in Microsoft Flight Simulator; he’s also just started the new Quake remaster and is still playing Overcooked! with the homies

00:31:37: Popular music in video games! From Rock n’ Roll Racing and Revolution X to Red Dead Redemption 2 and Death Stranding, we talk about some notable instances of popular music (and artists) in video games

00:43:57: A brief rant about OnlyFans banning sexually explicit content

Theme song by lovers.tiff: loverstiff.bandcamp.com

Ep. 26: Multiplayer Memories

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-yz5ud-10b982b

Joey is joined by two of his dearest and oldest friends this week, as both Ron and our friend Gari Hart sit down to reminisce about our multiplayer days of old. We’re mostly just shooting the proverbial shit, but we revisit some of the games that were pivotal to our earliest years of friendship – games that made us laugh, pound our legs in anger, or eat dog food. Don’t ask, just listen! We cover some N64 classics like GoldenEye and Mario Kart 64, marvel over the character creators in early WWE games, fondly recall the weird animal sounds old Madden players made, and much, much more. We also briefly discuss Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll, the GTA trilogy re-re-remasters, and what we’ve been playing. Special thanks to Gari for joining us!

Contact us: prettypixelspodcast@gmail.com

We’re on Twitter: @Losperman (Joey) and Ron (@bigbadron) and Gari (@garihart)

00:07:05: Sony purchases Crunchyroll for $1.2 billion

00:10:25: Rockstar is re-re-releasing the 3D GTA series

00:14:00: Ron’s not falling for Joey’s FFVII traps, but he’s still playing the game; he’s also been popping some zombie heads in Back 4 Blood with Joey

00:17:45: Joey’s still chipping away at Persona 5 Royal, and has discovered the thrills of Microsoft Flight Simulator

00:24:36: Gari’s been eating bananas and replaying The Last of Us and poking around in GTA Online

00:26:33: Multiplayer Memories!

00:31:30: It turns out you could have up to 16 bots in Perfect Dark!

Theme song by lovers.tiff: loverstiff.bandcamp.com

Ep. 25: Mass Effect Legendary Edition

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-qhy96-10b0677

This week, Joey’s joined by Paul Grosskopf: friend of the show, friend of Joey and Tab, and massive fan of all things Mass Effect! Well, I didn’t verify that for sure. There may be a plushie or body pillow that he’s not a fan of, I can’t say. But I do know that he loves the original Mass Effect trilogy, which we both played from front to back with the recently released Mass Effect Legendary Edition! We dive deep into each game in the series, talk about favorite scenes, characters we love, who we romanced, and much, much more. It’s four and a half hours of in-depth gushing and semi-serious analysis. Feel free to take some breaks, because I wish we had! Seriously, I was a sweaty bag of meat by the end. Anyway! We also touch on recent updates in the Activision Blizzard case, Steve Gaynor’s fall from grace at Fullbright, new Ghost of Tsushima: Legends content, and what we’ve been playing.

Special shout-out to Ron for cleaning up my seriously messed-up audio track. I’m still learning the ropes and things sounded very rough on my end this time, but he was able to salvage it and it sounds much, much better thanks to him. So, thanks again, Ron!

Contact us: prettypixelspodcast@gmail.com

We’re on Twitter: @Losperman (Joey) and Ron (@bigbadron)

00:11:10: Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will also be standalone, have extra content

00:14:17: Steve Gaynor asked to step back from role on Fullbright’s upcoming Open Roads due to numerous allegations of toxic management

00:19:15: Activision Blizzard investors are concerned about financial impact from recent lawsuit; big sponsors are putting partnerships “on hold”

00:26:50: Paul’s been hacking away in Hollow Knight and slingin’ burgs in Overcooked: All You Can Eat with Joey

00:32:00: Joey’s loving his way through Persona 5 Royal, somewhat liking his way through the Ariana Grande Fortnite concert, and really digging the Back 4 Blood beta

00:45:40: Mass Effect Legendary Edition! We set the proverbial table here, then make our way through each game

00:58:52: Mass Effect

01:42:52: Mass Effect 2

02:39:45: Mass Effect 3

04:00:10 Final thoughts, Mass Effect Andromeda, and what we want from a new ME game after the teaser that BioWare dropped in December

Theme song by lovers.tiff: loverstiff.bandcamp.com

Ep. 24: “Game on” with Kimberly Shotick

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-zk589-10a8396

We have our first Very Special Guest™ this week! Ron doesn’t count. He’s just regular special, not Very Special. Don’t tell him I said that. Kimberly Shotick, librarian and assistant professor at Northern Illinois University’s Founders Memorial Library, joins us to talk about the upcoming exhibit “Game On: The History of Video Games and Gaming Consoles,” which she’s curated and will run from August 15 through September 15. She tells us what we can expect to see at the exhibit, how it came to be, her favorite piece on display, and much more! If you can’t check out “Game On” in person, take a look at the (still in-progress) website, which has lots of great info and resources: https://libguides.niu.edu/retrogaming. We also go through some gaming news and what we’ve been playing. Can you believe Stardew Valley came up again? I swear we’re not being paid to bring it up every other episode (though we will accept a bottle of your finest Melon Wine, Chucklefish *winking emoji*). Thank you again to Kimberly for joining us, and if you’d like to reach her you can hit her up on Twitter (@KShotick) or via email (kshotick@niu.edu), and we hope to have her back on soon!

Contact us: prettypixelspodcast@gmail.com

We’re on Twitter: @Losperman (Joey), and @bigbadron (Ron), and @KShotick (Kimberly)

00:04:03: Joey’s oddly hyped about Ariana Grande’s Fortnite concert this Friday (Aug 6)

00:07:44: Horizon Forbidden West all but confirmed to be delayed to early 2022 L

00:11:44: Blizzard president J. Allen Brack steps down in wake of toxic workplace lawsuit

00:13:00: The Stray gameplay trailer is cuuuuuute

00:19:25: Ron’s been wrecking demon’s shit in the PS5 upgrade of DOOM Eternal

00:27:52: Kimberly’s playing Octopath Traveler and still loving Stardew Valley

00:34:20: Joey’s still on his Persona 5 Royal bullshit, playing Everybody’s Golf, and discovered a potentially cool and useful podcast about game studies (Game Studies Study Buddies)

00:36:29: Interview with Kimberly!

00:48:23: Joey was thinking of Rebecca Heinemann, who was a developer, not a composer. Apologies!

Theme song by lovers.tiff: loverstiff.bandcamp.com