80-Bit Podsmash

Penguin & Termite are taken over once again by Halloween! We "celebrate" the holiday by kicking off a new series, focusing on monsters in video games. This year we tackle Vampires. How do video games represent Vampires? Are Vampires compelling archetypes in video games?

When is it appropriate for video game developers to innovate within a franchise? What about reboots and re-releases? When is it smart to stay the course and make a sequel that plays like the original? Penguin & Termite discuss! Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

The very same day that the news of Blizzard firing Blitzchung debacle happened, some very important information came from Sony. Way more information about the PlayStation 5. So much info, that Penguin & Termite decided to have an entire episode about it! Come listen to us go through the information presented and our thoughts on the future of gaming. Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite release a very important, breaking news development, about the protests in Hong Kong and the recent behaviors of Blizzard Entertainment. We will catch you up on all of what's going on as well as give you our hot take on the issues at hand. Should we indeed #BoycottBlizzard ? Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite do another genre deep dive. This week, we discuss real-time strategy games (RTS)! Walk with us through the history, evolution and influence that the RTS genre has brought to the video game industry. Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite discuss Portable Gaming! We look at how this is different from mobile gaming as well as the history of portable games, our favorite games and consoles, and its relevancy in the industry today. Nintendo has a hit on their hands with the Switch. Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt

Penguin & Termite discuss the fact that video games get cancelled a lot! What does it mean? Why do they get cancelled? We go through some famous cancellations too. What impact do cancellations have on the video game industry? Do you remember StarCraft Ghost? Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt

Penguin & Termite celebrate the two year anniversary of 80 Bit Podsmash with a special live episode. Join us in our retrospection, celebration, and revelry of all things 80 Bit! We run through our most popular episodes and our most memorable moments from the year. Most of all, thank you for your listens and interactions to keep us going for a third year! Music: Ozzed - All for me NES http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt

Penguin & Termite are on hype overload for all things Borderlands but specifically, Borderlands 3!!! Join us in our celebration of the Borderlands franchise. We go through our favorite moments, quotes, characters, weapons etc as well as talk about the influence that Borderlands had in the gaming industry. Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt

Penguin & Termite follow up from our discussion about in game currencies by talking about the larger economy that's present in video games. We talk about all things from single player games to MMORPGs as well as single player games.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_economy https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/05/how-to-build-a-smart-game-economy/ Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite discuss crowdfunding in video games! We compare and contrast that to board games and other industries. Why are video games not as successful with crowdfunding or are they? What avenues of crowdfunding work well or not? Do you believe in the crowdfunding business model? Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ Discord: https://discord.gg/t5hEgKt

Penguin & Termite celebrate 100 episodes! Can you believe it? 100 weeks have flown by. Please join us yet again for a fascinating discussion about how different generations of people play games. We make some blind generalizations, speculations and other exploratory conversation. Hope nobody's offended... https://www.aaaa.org/gen-z-males-say-gaming-core-component-who-they-are/ Music: Ozzed - Superbia http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite discuss all things related to video game cheats, hacks and exploits! We walk through the history of how cheating was done in the past and what it looks like today. We tackle what affect this has had on the industry as well! Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite's third entry in the series of topics analyzing the different decades in gaming history. This time we visit the 1970s, the foundation of the home video game console. We analyze the culture of the time, video game business during this era and talk about notable entries in this decade. Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite discuss how storytelling can apply to an entire franchise. We talk about the struggles of keeping a game succinct, yet connected to other entries. How do franchises maintain a narrative over long periods of time? Music: Ozzed - No Fight But Cool http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/