Archive for the ‘General’ Category

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Episode 114 – Links

February 24, 2019

Fore!

Welcome to episode 114, where I dive into the prolific Access Software golf sim series, Links.


Links:

My video research sessions:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2whCuUnKwYBC6SHvfn6c5yf0RTk9z9s1

French PC game magazine archive:

https://www.abandonware-magazines.org/index.php

Buy Links online:

https://www.linkscountryclub.com/

 

Next Episode:

Next time, I go back to my comfort zone with a Lucasarts adventure I’ve never played before, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/114-UMBCast-Links.mp3

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Episode 110 – Wing Commander Round Up

June 19, 2018

Hey there Blockers,

In a very special UMBCast, for the second time ever I have a live guest! I dragged my friend and fellow podcaster Brian “Space Game Junkie” Rubin to sit with me and talk Wing Commander.

Specifically, in light of my recent complete playthrough of Wing Commander 2 on the YouTube channel, I wanted to sit down with someone to discuss that game in particular. Of course, we couldn’t just limit ourselves to JUST WC2 so of course we discuss the entire series with a bit more of a focus on the second game then on the others. We also get into a discussion about successors to Wing Commander, what made it special compared to other famous space combat sims and of course, we couldn’t avoid talking a bit about Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous.

Links:

Find Brian and all his content at https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/

My YouTube “UMB Plays” of Wing Commander 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-AMpSWJpYY&list=PL2whCuUnKwYC8rXzdIQT2rU4RkysbF3Nm

Digital Antiquarian article on Wing Commander II:
https://www.filfre.net/2018/03/wing-commander-ii/

Buy Wing Commander 1 and 2 on GoG:
https://www.gog.com/game/wing_commander_1_2?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Wing Commander CCG:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3842/wing-commander

Next Episode:

Next time, we’ll be covering the 1994 Diversions Entertainment fighting game, One Must Fall: 2097.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/110-UMBCast-Wing-Commander-Round-Up.mp3

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Vote for UMB Games!

March 30, 2017

In an effort to get more organized and transparent about the show (mostly on account of the UMBaby), I’ve created a public Trello board to show you all where I’m at in podcast production!

So what’s so great about this? A few things:

  • See where I’m at in production
  • Due dates for show releases
  • “Short List” column shows the schedule for the next few months

…and most importantly, if you create a free account:

  • Vote for what games you want me to cover in the Backlog column!
  • Add thoughts or help me in my research by adding links via comments!

I hope this new approach to making the show more collaborative will both help you guys feel like even more of a part of the UMB community and help me get out more shows more consistently!

Check out the board at https://trello.com/b/PphikPE4/umb-podcast-board

Also, don’t forget you can still follow the show on Twitter, join the Facebook group, chat on Discord and of course support the show on Patreon!

I’m so excited to be back at it!

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I’m guest hosting Treks in Sci-Fi!

September 10, 2012

Every other week, Rico over at the Treks in Sci Fi podcast has willing listeners take the reins of his venerable show to talk about a genre topic that interests them.
Treks in Sci Fi 401 album art
This week was my third turn at the helm and I decided to mash up TrekSF and UMBCast. To that end I talk all about the two really great 1992 and 1993 Interplay games Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgement Rites.

I may still cover these games on UMBCast in the future, but for now enjoy this fun look at two really awesome Star Trek adventure games!

So enjoy this pseudo-bonus cast and get ready for some Mechwarrior talk this Thursday!

Check out the show notes and listen or download Treks in Sci Fi episode 401!

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Next week: Mechwarrior

September 6, 2012

Just thought I’d drop a little teaser post in here for next week’s show! I’ll be covering the Mechwarrior franchise, focusing mainly on Mechwarrior 2, one of my favorurite games of all time.

If you want to know a bit more about the Battletech universe, I did a guest podcast over at Treks in Sci Fi earlier this year on the short-lived Battletech animated series. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bonai7PXfUM

As usual I’d love to get your memories and comments on any games in the Mechwarrior franchise (or anything else you think may be relevant to the show in general) to podcast@umbcast.com, the show is only improved by your contributions!

See you next week in the block!

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Next week: Loom

August 8, 2012

I’m gearing up for next week’s show on the very cool and unique 1990 adventure game, Loom.

Loom Screenshot

If anyone wants to give it a whirl, you can grab it on steam alone for 5 bucks or as part of the LucasArts adventure pack with 3 other amazing games (including 2 Indy games) for 10 bucks.

Looking forward to talking about this very interesting game from our friends at Skywalker Ranch.

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The origins of Warcraft

July 26, 2012

UPDATE – 17 August 2012:
Part 2 of the article is up: http://www.codeofhonor.com/blog/the-making-of-warcraft-part-2

Warcraft 1 box artPatrick Wyatt, former Blizzard exec, is guest blogging over at Kotaku. Today’s article is talking Warcraft (that’s the Orcs vs. Humans edition, not the World of edition). He gives incredible insight into the initial inspiration for the game, development, art desgin, gameplay and much more. Here’s a small excerpt:

The developers at the startup company I worked for – then named Silicon & Synapse but later renamed Blizzard in a nod towards our tempestuous development methodology – played a great many games during our free time. And from that game-playing came the spark to create Warcraft.

We were inspired to create Warcraft after playing (and replaying and replaying) a game called Dune 2, by Westwood Studios. Dune 2 was arguably the first modern real-time strategy (RTS) game; with a scrolling world map, real-time unit construction and movement, and individual unit combat. It isn’t that much different in design than a modern RTS like Starcraft 2, excepting perhaps a certain scale and graphics quality.

I know a lot of us have a long history with the Warcraft series. I may cover it in the future, but I couldn’t resist blogging about this incredible insight into what is probably the most successful game series of all time.

Enjoy!

Read The Inside Story of the Making of Warcraft, Part 1 at Kotaku

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Hear me talk Avengers on Treks in Sci Fi

May 14, 2012

Over the weekend I took part in a group Skype chat on the Treks in Sci Fi podcast.

Treks in Sci Fi logoTreks in Sci Fi and the community surrounding it was one of the main motivations for me to start my own show. A good group of knowledgeable and opinionated TrekSF forum members (yours truly included) got together and talked, argued and laughed about upcoming summer movies and had a great spoiler-filled discussion about The Avengers.

If you have even a remote interest in sci fi TV and movies, you NEED to be listening to Treks in Sci Fi, the granddaddy of genre podcasts. If you’re just interested in some summer blockbuster talk and a great chat about Avengers check out Treks in Sci Fi episode 384.

Check out Treks in Sci Fi episode 384

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A brief history of Sierra On-Line

May 1, 2012

Sierra is one of my favourite defunct game companies. In the early 90’s it seemed to me they could do no wrong and I have many fond memories of their games. In my travels on the web, I came across this fun little write up covering some of thier major game franchises. Stay tuned as I plan on covering most of these over the course of the podcast.

From King’s Quest to Leisure Suit Larry: A Brief History of Sierra On-Line via MentalFloss

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I’m on Stitcher Radio!

April 18, 2012

Big announcement here!

The show is now available on demand via Stitcher Radio!

Stitcher is a great service that allows you to discover and stream lots of awesome audio content in addition to many of your existing favourite shows.

So if you don’t feel like syncing and downloading your podcasts or maybe just want a cool new way to listen to the Upper Memory Block, check it out at the Stitcher link below (or click the screenshot).

http://stitcher.com/listen.php?fid=22759

Also, right now the show is being featured on Stitcher’s Welcome page, which can be accessed from any of their mobile apps. Thanks guys!