The Upper Memory Block Podcast

Attention Blockers!

It’s time for episode 35, where we talk about the 1993 Simtex 4X strategy game, Master of Orion.

Before that, news time:

Bethesda announces the Elder Scrolls Anthology containing all Elder Scrolls games from Arena to Skyrim: Dragonborn.

John Carmack joins Oculus VR as CTO. He is not leaving id however his work at Oculus will take priority.

The history of Sierra Online film project I mentioned in a previous show did not fund. However the film will still be made.

Finally, Precinct, Jim Walls’ new game has cancelled its Kickstarter before it ended and is now adopting a tiered funding structure. Instead of trying to raise 500,000 dollars they are trying to raise 25,000 dollars to build a prototype.

We then get into Master of Orion where we run through all the usual suspects plus some great emails from listeners.

Buy Master of Orion 1 & 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/master_of_orion_1_2

Buy Master of Orion 3 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/game/master_of_orion_3

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1991 Psygnosis puzzle platformer, Lemmings.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/035-UMBCast-Master-of-Orion.mp3

Stand to Blockers!

It’s episode 34 where we’re talking about the great 1998 Volition space sim, Freespace.

First though, the news:

A new game from the developer of Syndicate had been kickstarted. Satellite Reign promises to be a spiritual successor to Syndicate. Check it out!

The Duke Nukem Platformer pack has been released on Steam. This contains the first two Duke Nukem side scrollers plus the newer Manhattan Project game.

A kickstarter movie project about the history of Sierra On-Line needs our help!

A trailer for the new Tex Murphy game, the Tesla Effect has released. It gives you a good idea of the look of the game.

Finally, the creative director for the new SimCity has left EA to form his own company. He also took two other senior people along with him.

We then read a quick email from Andreas where he talks about a cool blog about a foreigner living in Japan.

We then get to the main event, Freespace. We talk about the game in depth as we always do.

Buy Freespace on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/freespace_expansion

Buy Freespace 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/freespace_2

Next time, we’ll be covering the 1993 4X strategy title, Master of Orion.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/034-UMBCast-Freespace.mp3

Ahoy Blockers!

This week, we’re covering the 1990 LucasArts adventure, The Secret of Monkey Island and its sequels.

I got my hands on Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded. I played an hour or two and so for, I’m luke warm on the game. A more complete review will come later on.

Two items of Steam news:

Firstly, the Steam Summer Sale is on! Lots of old games here to be had.

Secondly, I have created a steam group for the show, join up!

The winner of the retro game music bundle contest announced! I hope Jeffery enjoys his bundle.

Then we get to the main topic, the Monkey Island series. We go through the story, gameplay, tech specs and history for the entire series up to today.

Buy The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/32360

Buy Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edition on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/32460

Buy Tales of Monkey Island on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/tales_of_monkey_island

Buy Tales on Monkey Island on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/31170

Next week, we’ll be covering the great space sim series, Descent Freespace.

See you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/033-UMBCast-Monkey-Island.mp3

Hello Blockers,

It’s episode 32 we’re talking the groovy 1997 Activision game, Interstate 76.

Before that though, we’ve got some news:

DoubleFine Productions has announced two new game projects backed by IndieFund.

Fans of Total Annihilation should check out Planetary Annihilation, now in early access alpha on Steam.

Some more news about Jane Jensen’s Mobeius project has come to light.

The last Larry backer up went out stating the game will be shipping very shortly, on schedule for their revised date at the end of the month.

Finally, the Retro Game Music Bundle contest is ongoing. Just drop an email to podcast@umbcast.com with the subject “game music bundle”. I’ll randomly pick an entry on the next show.

Now on to the main topic of the show, the vehicular combat sim, Interstate 76. We talk all about this under appreciated game.

Buy Interstate 76 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/interstate76

Buy Interstate 82 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/interstate_82

Next time, we’ll be talking pirates with Monkey Island.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/032-UMBCast-Interstate-76.mp3

Hail to the Blockers, baby.

Welcome to episode 31 where we talk about the long running Apogee/3D Realms series, Duke Nukem.

In the news:

E3 week! We heard all about the new XBox One and PS4, in addition to iOS 7 at Apple’s WWDC. Busy week in the tech world!

A few weeks ago, Tim Schafer’s DoubleFine Productions has launched its second Kickstarter campaign for a tactical strategy game called Massive Chalice.

A remake of Shadow Warrior appears to be in the works from 3D Realms for release this fall.

In mobile news, I am totally obsessed with Ron Gilbert’s Scurvy Scallywags. Check it out.

Interplay repurchased the Descent Freespace IP from now defunct THQ. maybe a new Freespace? Hmmm…

Then we talk Duke Nukem. I cover Duke 1, 2, 3D and a little about Duke Nukem Forever. Story (such as it is), gameplay, tech focus, dev story, all of it!

Buy Duke Nukem 1 & 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/duke_nukem_12

Buy Duke Nukem 3D on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/duke_nukem_3d_atomic_edition

Buy Duke Nukem Forever on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/57900/

Next time, I’ll be covering the 1998 Activision game, Interstate ’76.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/031-UMBCast-Duke-Nukem.mp3

Welcome Blockers!

It’s episode 30! This time around we’re talking about the unique 1997 Bullfrog franchise, Dungeon Keeper.

As usual though, news first:

The creators of The Incredible Machine are coming out with a new game called Contraption Maker.

A movie project called Video Games: The Movie attempts to communicate the love of video games from the people that made them.

A unique adventure game project called Armikrog has some cool looking graphics and an interesting voice cast.

Finally, the new Leisure Suit Larry has been delayed by a month due to bug fixes.

Finally, we get on to the main event: Dungeon Keeper. We cover all the bases of this fun and unique game series.

Buy Dungeon Keeper on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/dungeon_keeper

Buy Dungeon Keeper 2 on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/dungeon_keeper_2

War for the Overworld on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/230190/

Next time, I’ll be covering the infamous Duke Nukem series.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/030-UMBCast-Dungeon-Keeper.mp3

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