The Upper Memory Block Podcast

Howdy Blockers!

Time for episode 29 of the podcast where we’re discussing the 1993 Cyan adventure/puzzle game, Myst.

As usual though, the news:

Disney and EA have entered an exclusive multi-year deal to develop a series of new Star Wars games.

Maxis has announced The Sims 4 and opened up registration for a mailing list.

Bethesda has announced a new Wolfenstein game taking place in an alternate version of the 60′s where the Nazis won the war.

We then get to the main topic, Myst. Gameplay, story and get a little deeper with tech focus and dev story.

Buy Myst on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/myst_masterpiece_edition

Buy Myst on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/63660/

Next time, I’ll be revisiting Peter Molyneux with 1997′s Dungeon Keeper.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/029-UMBCast-Myst.mp3

Hail Blockers!

This week we time travel to the present day and cover EA’s newly released SimCity 5.

In the news:

Jane Jensen’s new game, Moebius, will be out by the end of 2013.

Chris Roberts’ Cloud Imperium Games opens a new office in Santa Monica, CA.

The X-COM FPS has undergone some changes and is now being developed as a realtime tactical shooter called The Bureau.

We then get into the review of the new SimCity 5 (or SimCity 2013 or whatever you’d like to call it). I talk quite a bit about gameplay and how the guts of he game work. I also discuss some of the continuing issues with the game and finally give you my verdict on whether it’s worth buying or not.

Buy SimCity 5 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Arts-41018ted-Edition2-SimCity/dp/B007VTVRFA/

Buy SimCity 5 on Origin: http://store.origin.com/store/ea/html/pbPage.SimcityNA

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/028-UMBCast-SimCity-5.mp3

Hello Blockers!

For episode 27, we talk about the 1993 Origin Systems flight sim, Strike Commander.

Before that though, the news:

In light of the closure of LucasArts, Raven software has released the source code for their two great Star Wars games, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy.

The Two Guys SpaceVenture released a short alpha preview video.

I sat in on an episode of the Elder Geek Game Club where we talked about the indie adventure game, Primordia.

We then chat about Strike Commander. Genre, story, gameplay, tech focus, dev story, all the usual stuff.

Buy Strike Commander on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/strike_commander

Next week, a bit of a different show, I’ll be talking about the new 2013 release of SimCity By Maxis/EA.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/027-UMBCast-Strike-Commander.mp3

Happy anniversary Blockers!

Yes, it’s the one year anniversary show where we are talking the great 1997 Interplay game series, Fallout.

First though, lots of news this week.

A cool film kickstarter focusing on the history of the UK gaming scene.

Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Adventure has an actual name, meet Broken Age.

Retronauts is trying to reboot themselves outside of 1up.com.

Larry reloaded is scheduled to release in May!

Telltale Games is no longer working on their previously announced King’s Quest game.

In business news, Disney shuts down Lucasarts.

Father Beast points out some fun Star Wars based arcade games found at http://www.bruneras.com/

Finally, we get to our main topic, the Fallout series. I get deep into the gameplay, dev story and all the rest.

Buy Fallout on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/fallout

Buy Fallout 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/fallout_2

Buy Fallout 3 on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/22370/

Buy Fallout New Vegas on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/2028016/

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1993 Origin game, Strike Commander.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/026-UMBCast-Fallout.mp3

Hi Blockers!

This week, we’re talking about the incredible space sim series, X-Wing.

Before we talk about that, the news:

The team that brought us the original Planetscape: Torment are kicksarting a new game, Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Lord British told us what he meant to. Check out his new game on kickstarter, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.

Finally, the developers working on the new Shadowrun Returns game, which raised 18 million dollars last year, released 20 minute of alpha gameplay footage. Looks like they’re on track.

Next, a quick email talking about Humungous games and where you can get them today.

Finaly we get to X-Wing. We talk about the story, gameplay and tech focus. In dev story, we go through the history of the series and a bit about each of the sequels. Then we hear a few listener memories of the games.

Buy X-Wing on eBay

Buy X-Wing on Amazon

Next time, not only is it the podcast’s 1 year anniversary, but we will also be discussing the awesome Fallout series!

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/025-UMBCast-X-Wing.mp3

Howdy Blockers!

This time around, we’re talking about Dynamix’s 1992 puzzle game, The Incredible Machine.

This week in the news:

Death Inc Kickstarter

Mage’s Initiaition Kickstarter

Back in February, the Guys from Andromeda podcast interviewed Jim Walls, creator of Police Quest and he announced his intention to kickstart a new Police Quest style game.

Finally, Lord British has something to say at http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/

A few links from listener emails:

BJ Used to read this interesting eductionial software magazine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Kidsoft

King’s Quest fan remakes from Father Beast:
1, 2 and 3 from AGD Interactive:
http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/games.html
Episode based remake:
http://www.tsl-game.com/episodes.php
IA King’s Quest 3 remake:
http://www.infamous-adventures.com/kq3/

Finally, on the The Incredible Machine. We discuss all the usual suspects and cover the whole series of games.

Buy The Incredible Machine on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/the_incredible_machine_mega_pack

Next time we’re going to cover the awesome LucasArts space sim: X-Wing. I’m super excited for this one!

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/024-UMBCast-The-Incredible-Machine.mp3

Hello Blockers!

Welcome to episode 23. This time around we’re talking about the huge Sierra adventure series that started back in 1984, King’s Quest.

Before we get into this huge topic, we have a few small items of news to cover:

Ken Allen put out a very interesting podcast where he discusses how he came up with the music for Space Quest 4. Also, it turns out that he will be able to rearrange his own creations despite the fact the rights are owned by Activision through mechanical licensing.

Secondly, big news on the GoG.com front. System Shock 2 is now available for purchase for 9.99 USD. I definitely need to give this one a whirl since I didn’t get a chance to play it when it originally came out.

So that’s that for the news, now we get on to our main topic, Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest series. I talk about the history of the series and cover some interesting points of each of the eight games in the series.

Buy King’s Quest 1, 2 and 3 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/kings_quest_1_2_3

Buy King’s Quest 4, 5 and 6 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/kings_quest_4_5_6

Buy King’s Quest 7 and 8 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/kings_quest_7_8

Next time around, I’ll be covering my first puzzle type game, Dynamix’s The Incredible Machine.

Enjoy the show!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/023-UMBCast-Kings-Quest.mp3

Howdy Blockers!

Welcome to episode 22 where we talk about the 1999 Microprose game, Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Before that though, there’s quite a bit of news this week:

Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded’s Greenlight campaign was a success. It was approved along with other games in the fourth round of Greenlight inductees.

In addition, Leisure Suit Larry’s Greatest Hits and Misses is now available on GoG. This compilation includes Larry 1 – 6 and is a mere 10 dollars.

Back to Greenlight, a cool game called Pinball Arcade is trying to get approved. Looks like a very cool reproduction of some classic pinball tables. Check it out!

In SpaceVenture news, former Sierra star composer Ken Allen is now confirmed to be on board to do the music for the game. This is awesome news.

n addition, Ken Allen himself has launched a Kickstarter. Under the Half Dome will be a modernized compilation of some of Ken’s best game music work.

Finally, in beta news:

The Elder Scrolls online beta signup is open.

SimCity 5 closed beta has begun.

After all that news, we get into our main topic, Microprose’s 1999 game, Rollercoaster Tycoon. We talk about the game, dev story, listen to a voicemail and all the rest!

Buy Rollercoaster Tycoon on GOG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/rollercoaster_tycoon_deluxe

Buy Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/rollercoaster_tycoon_2

Buy Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/rollercoaster_tycoon_3

Next time, I’ll be covering a big series, Sierra’s King’s Quest adventures. This series is a cornerstone of gaming history. I’m looking forward to covering it!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/022-UMBCast-Rollercoaster-Tycoon.mp3

Hi Blockers!

Time for episode 21! This time around, I’m covering the great 1995 Lucasarts adventure game, Full Throttle.

But first, a bit of news:

It’s the new year which means it’s time for CES. I talk a little bit about some things announced there and my hopes for the upcoming Steam Box.

A kickstarter campaign who’s aim is to remake the original space trading game, Elite successfully funded. Check it out!

Finally, it seems the remake of Leisure Suit Larry is on schedule for a Q1 2013 release.

A quick voicemail from Rick Moyer all about the creation of the show’s intro song.

Then on to the main topic, Full Throttle. I cover all the usual topics and play a lot of clips from the game.

Next time, I’ll be talking about the 1999 business sim, Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/021-UMBCast-Full-Throttle.mp3

Happy new year Blockers!

Welcome to 2013 and episode 20 of the show where I discuss the 1997 Particle Systems/Infogrames space sim, Independence War.

Not much in the way of news over the holidays aside from Steam and GoG both having their holiday sales. Check them out if they are still on!

Then we read some emails including a fun one from Martin where he tells us about an attempt to release Wing Commander 2 on the SNES.

Then on to Independence War, I cover all the usual suspects and give my verdict on the series!

Buy Independence War on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/independence_war_deluxe

Buy Independence War 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/independence_war_2

Next time, we’re going to discuss the great 1995 LucasArts adventure, Full Throttle.

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/020-UMBCast-Independence-War.mp3