Gaming Steve Episode 63 - 03.27.2007

So what happens when two of the most anticipated games of the year -- Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars and The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles -- come out on the same day? Well I guess I'll just have to feature interviews with the developers of BOTH games on my show!

Oh yeah, and don't miss the cameos by Billy Dee Williams, Tricia Helfer and Joe Kucan (Kane himself!) throughout the show. Enjoy!

Gaming Steve Episode 63 Program

• 00:05:53 Game News:
• February US games sales up and everyone wins!
• Take-Two takes the fight to Thompson.
• Take-Two for sale?
• Xbox 360 becoming Elite?
• You Don't Know Jack moves online for free!
• Microsoft probes possible Xbox Live fraud.
• New Wii browser incoming.
• PS3 finally hits the UK ... and does really well.
• 00:26:30 Interview: Amer Ajami, Producer for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars from EA.
• 00:42:52 Interview: Bruce Nesmith, Design Director for The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles from Besthesda Softworks.
• 01:22:17 Game Preview: The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for the PC and Xbox 360.
• 01:26:03 Review: Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars for the PC.
• 01:37:21 Show Mail: I answer your email questions (send me some new audio questions!).
• 01:50:56 Final Thoughts: Oh yeah, I forgot to do Name That Game this week, sorry about that!

Download the show (115 minutes): Gaming Steve Episode 63 (MP3).

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Yeah Obscure Japanese Nintendo DS Import Titles!

One of the most popular/obscure games for the original GameBoy was strange little puzzle game (and the black sheep of the Mario family) called Mario's Picross. The game was sort of a combination of sudoku and minesweeper where you start out with a blank grid and by cross-referencing numbers you slowly fill in the grid. When complete the grid would revel a hidden Mario-related picture ... ah it's sort of hard to explain so just give it a try and you'll see what I mean.

Mario's Picross came out way way back in 1995 I know of very few people who actually played this game (about the same number who played the CD-i versions of The Legend of Zelda), but everyone who did truly loved this game. The difficulty scaled well, the puzzles were fun, and it was the perfect portable game. Plus you were making pictures of Mario characters, what couldn't be more fun?

I was hoping that a DS version of Picross would come out as the touchscreen and worldwide success of sudoku puzzles it would only make sense for a Picross game to appear on the DS. And my prayers have been answered ... sort of.

Picross DS has been released! But only in Japan (of course, why can't we get decent puzzle games in the States?). Thankfully the DS doesn't have region protection and Play-Asia is awesome when it comes to imports, so I'm quite excited about getting this one. The reviews have been quite good and there is hardly any reading necessary, so this is about as good as it gets when it comes to an import title.

If you enjoy sudoku puzzles you might want to give this one a look and make sure to try one of the many online versions of these picross/nanograms a try. Yeah import titles!

New Spore Evolution Video

New information on Will Wright's Spore has been hard to come by, but this new video nicely summarizes the evolution process within Spore and shows off many of the editors. Particularly I enjoyed watching the building editor (all 5 seconds of it!) and the city building portion.

It's been nearly two years to the day in which Spore was first reported to exist (by yours truly) and yet we seem to be no closer to the release date. Supportively coming out "sometime in 2007" I have a feeling it's going to be closer to "sometime in 2008", if not "sometime in 2009" (please no). Of course, waiting for new games is half of the fun ... but I don't think I can take another two years of waiting fun.

Gaming Steve Episode 62 - 03.09.2007

As GDC 2007 comes to an end I sit down with Christopher Grant from Joystiq to recap the conference.

In addition, I reveal new Spore information straight from Chaim Gingold (Spore Game Designer), the Spore development team gives the Gaming Steve Spore community some love, and I sit down with Chris Satchell, General Manager of XNA, about their wacky competition where four game designers created four games in four days. Crazy man, enjoy!

Gaming Steve Episode 62 Program

• Game Developers Conference Day 3 Recap
• Chris and I discuss his group panel at GDC, Ten Games You Need to Play: The Digital Game Canon.
• How are past video games being preserved for the ages?
• We discuss several upcoming games shown on the show floor.
• I reveal new Spore information and we discuss the importance of Spore for the gaming industry.
• Why we're skipping the E for All Expo.
• I interview with Chris Satchell about the four games in four days competition.
• Wrap up the show and the conference.

Download the show (63 minutes): Gaming Steve Episode 62 (MP3).

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Gaming Steve Episode 61 - 03.08.2007

Can you believe it ... another brand new podcast? Are dogs and cats living together? Well they must be because I'm back with day 2 coverage from GDC 2007.

Today I recap the day's events all by my lonesome because everyone else had to go party the night away. So you get to hear little old me speak about Shigeru Miyamotov, Chris Taylor, Peter Molyneux, the annual video game design challenge, Eiji Anouma and lots more on a jampacked show. Enjoy!

Gaming Steve Episode 61 Program

• Game Developers Conference Day 2 Recap
• Shigeru Miyamoto is really really really popular.
• Why were so many people disappointed with the Nintendo keynote ... except me?
• Is it possible that the best video game designers in the world have the same family issues as you and me? (Yes they actually do!)
• Recap of Chris Taylor and his Supreme Commander talk.
• Can Peter Molyneux make you care about Fable 2?
• Give three famous game designers a needle and thread as their interface and what type of games do they come up with?
• Eiji Aonuma reflects on ten years of creating Zelda games and what challenges he faced, and still facing, keeping the franchise alive and fresh.

Download the show (59 minutes): Gaming Steve Episode 61 (MP3).

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Gaming Steve Episode 60 - 03.07.2007

I'm Not Dead Yet! Yes everyone, I am back and I figured that since I started doing the show at GDC 2005 it was appropriate to resume with the start of GDC 2007.

Today I recap the day's events and the pivotal Sony keynote and just like last year I am sharing the mic with a fellow blogger/podcaster Gamer Andy from Gamer Andy. Enjoy everyone!

Gaming Steve Episode 60 Program

• Game Developers Conference Day 1 Recap
• Andy and I talk about the excellent Sony keynote and the new Home system.
• Will a great keynote be enough to turn the press to Sony's favor?
• We discuss the incredible-looking LittleBigWorld game as well as SingStar Online.
• Why are publishers looking for a strong leader and why do they hate the Wii so much?
• And where does this all leave Microsoft and the Xbox 360?

Download the show (52 minutes): Gaming Steve Episode 60 (MP3).

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