The Upper Memory Block Podcast

Episode 85 – Hangout #4 – Feelings About Feelies

January 17, 2016

Hey Blockers!

Time for our long overdue fourth Patreon hangout! This time, Brian, Tomer, Craig, Martin and Troels chat with me about feelies, manuals, boxes, vibrators from games we loved.

Here are a few links that cropped up over the course of the hangout (in no particular order because I don’t plan well):

Kotaku article about Martin getting his Starfox cart signed by Miyamoto:
http://kotaku.com/5730274/marios-creator-doesnt-have-a-super-nintendo

The “Rez vibrator” (possibly NSFW):
http://www.gamegirladvance.com/2002/10/sex-in-games-rezvibrator.html

“Gameplay” by Jim Cuomo:
http://www.discogs.com/Jim-Cuomo-Game-Play/release/2675355

Tomer’s collection Flickr album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomergabel/sets/72157602738138806/with/1774790725/

Next time, I’ll be chatting all about SimTower from Maxis, see you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/085-UMBCast-Hangout-4.mp3

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Episode 84 – UMBNews January 2016

January 5, 2016

Happy 2016 Blockers!

steam

Time for a quick news show to kick off the year, here are some of the topics I cover:

Christmas Day Steam outage:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/3y7maa/something_is_really_wrong_with_steam_be_careful/

Day of the Tentacle Remastered:
http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/23/9605322/day-of-the-tentacle-remastered-screenshots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kgj_rPON80

Wolfenstein 3D re-recording by Rich Douglas:
http://richdouglas.wix.com/wolfenstein

Night Dive Studios FastCompany article:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3053050/app-economy/how-one-company-is-bringing-old-video-games-back-from-the-dead

Boxes, feelies, and the good old days of PC gaming:
http://www.pcgamer.com//boxes-feelies-and-the-good-old-days-of-pc-gaming/

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak pre-order:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/281610?beta=0

Total Annihilation on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/298030/
http://www.pcgamer.com/total-annihilation-invades-steam-at-last/

Outtro: Wing Theme Surf ReMixed by Team Fat
http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01296

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1994 Maxis construction sim, SimTower.

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/084-UMBCast-UMBNews-January-2016.mp3

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Episode 83 – Indiana Jones

December 18, 2015

That belongs in a museum, Blockers!

Here’s episode 83 where I delve into the world of the 1930’s with Indiana Jones. I touch on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Adventure Game and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

Fate_of_Atlantis_artwork

Indiana Jones and the Seven Cities of Gold fan game:
http://binarylegends.cbm8bit.com/

Buy Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/32310/

Buy Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/6010/
On GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/indiana_jones_and_the_fate_of_atlantis?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Buy Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/indiana_jones_and_the_emperors_tomb?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

YouTube playthroughs:
Last Crusade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xNHzeAod1g
Fate of Atlantis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7mZ6KTbwvw&index=1&list=PL2whCuUnKwYD_yBXcPZ3gxGszdnA3ph3o
Ending music and bumper from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis – Orchestral Cover Album

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/indiana-jones-fate-atlantis/id677440416

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1995 Maxis building simulator (literally!), SimTower.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/083-UMBCast-Indiana-Jones.mp3

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Episode 82 – Homeworld

November 18, 2015

Reporting!

Here we are with episode 82 wherein I dive deep into the 1999 Relic space RTS series, Homeworld.

As always, we run through some emails, then dive deep into genre, story, gameplay, tech focus and development before I hear from you and then render my verdict as to whether or not the game holds up.

Buy Homeworld Remastered Collection on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/244160/

Watch some of my Homeworld research on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI5KzhTfrHA&index=1&list=PL2whCuUnKwYC9_oq6i-H-5TO2O34gYMN4

Next time we’ll be talking Indiana Jones with Fate of Atlantis and more!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/082-UMBCast-Homeworld.mp3

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Episode 81 – System Shock

October 26, 2015

Blockers,

Welcome to episode 81 where I uncover the secrets of the 1994 Origin action RPG series, System Shock.

As always, we dive into the story, gameplay, technical aspects and dev story of this monumental series. We then hear from some listeners and I give my opinion of whether or not the game holds up.

Watch me play a bit of System Shock: Enhanced Edition:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2whCuUnKwYAUvbqovUG9lpiDNAzCYl9K

Buy System Shock on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/system_shock_enhanced_edition?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Buy System Shock on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/410710/

Buy System Shock 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/system_shock_2?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Buy System Shock 2 on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/238210/

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1999 Relic space RTS series, Homeworld.

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/081-UMBCast-System-Shock.mp3

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Episode 80 – UMBNews October 2015

October 8, 2015

News time Blockers!

Hello everyone, time for a long overdue news episode. In n effort to further play around with the format of the news shows, I’m joined by my buddy and fellow retro game enthusiast Brian Demodulated (https://twitter.com/demodulated). He is the host of the ever-amazing Square Waves FM podcast (http://squarefm.demodulated.com/) and I thought it’d be fun to get some of his thoughts on recent happenings in the world of retro-ish game news.

Here’s the rundown of stories we cover:

Star Citizen:
http://www.pcgamer.com/chris-roberts-star-citizen-will-speak-for-itself/

New Wacky Wheels:
http://wackywheelsracing.com/

How GOG.com Save And Restore Classic Videogames:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/16/how-gog-com-save-and-restore-classic-videogames/

13 years after release, Age of Mythology gets a new expansion:
http://www.vg247.com/2015/09/21/13-years-after-release-age-of-mythology-gets-a-new-expansion/

The Red Baron prepares to fly again:
http://www.polygon.com/2015/9/22/9354153/the-red-baron-is-ready-to-fly-again

BATTLETECH by Harebrained Schemes
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (AGI) – Adventure remake is in the works!
http://www.indieretronews.com/2015/09/leisure-suit-larry-in-land-of-lounge.html

Armikrog:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/334120/

Recent SpaceVenture update:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spaceventure/two-guys-spaceventure-by-the-creators-of-space-que/posts/1367531

Video Game Story Bundle 7:
http://storybundle.com/games

Next time, we’ll be covering the Looking Glass/Origin combat RPG series, System Shock.

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/080-UMBCast-UMBNews-October-2015.mp3

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Episode 79 – King’s Quest 2015

September 23, 2015

Hail Blockers!

In episode 79, I’m covering a modern take on an old classic. This time around we’ll focus on the newly-released first episode of King’s Quest, developed by the Odd Gentlemen and published by the revived Sierra.

Before we get to it, we go through a few emails and voicemails.

Then, the main event where we give this new take on the series the full UMB treatment, genre, story, gameplay, tech foucs, dev story and even more emails along with some clips and music.

Buy King’s Quest (2015) on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/345390/

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/079-UMBCast-Kings-Quest-2015.mp3

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Episode 78 – Hangout #3 – Experiences that shaped you

September 13, 2015

Howdy Blockers!

It’ time for episode 78! We’re not talking about a specific game this time around. As I’ve done in the past, I got together with some of my Patrons and had a really fun chat about “Experiences that shaped you”.

We chat about our experiences relating to either computing or gaming that affected us for the rest of our lives. We get silly, we get serious, we get deep and we talk about Sound Blasters.

As always, these Hangouts are not swear-free, so if you’re offended by bad language, you may want to wait for next week when I cover the new King’s Quest that came out a short time ago.

Enjoy!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/078-UMBCast-Hangout-3.mp3

Posted in Group Discussion, Podcast | 1 Comment »

Episode 77 – Baldur’s Gate

August 19, 2015

Greetings Blockers!

Here’s episode 77 where I dive deep into the 1998 BioWare RPG, Baldur’s Gate.

We get into the details of not only the history of the game, but also the creation of the Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting that hosts it. This is a big one!

Buy the original Baldur’s gate on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_the_original_saga?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Buy the original Baldur’s gate 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_2_complete?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Buy Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition…
on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_enhanced_edition?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/228280/

Buy Baldur’s Gate 2 Enhanced Edition…
on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_2_enhanced_edition?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/257350/

Next time, we’re moving into 2015 with coverage of the new King’s Quest developed by The Odd Gentlemen and published by the revivied Sierra!

Enjoy!

Stream the show live: