Episode 389: Aliens
Added 2021-07-05 13:00:08 +0000 UTCQuite some time back (Episode 221! A lifetime ago!), we talked about the film Alien and its video game descendants as a celebration of that movie's 40th anniversary. Now, the sequel turns 35 this month, and that seemed as good an excuse as any to talk about its history and legacy as well. Though, honestly, Aliens is a film that's always relevant for video game discussions; its influence on the medium has been, shall we say, outsize. I feel like we only scratch the surface in this two-hour episode! But that's fine. We'll probably tackle the Alien3 and Resurrection games some day, so having some fresh Aliens material to retreat back to during that conversation, when we need the succor of a good movie to remind us that life is still worth living.
Diamond Feit and Jonathan Dunn of Our Three Cents join me for a globe-spanning discussion of all things xenomorphic. Apologies for the generic cover art; I forgot to notify the artist that this episode had been rescheduled to coincide with the film's anniversary. The real thing will be along later this week!
As always, edits and tunes courtesy of Greg Leahy:
- 13:12 - Combat Drop
- 26:47 - Ripley's Rescue
- 34:44 - Dark Discovery
- 48:06 - Bishop's Countdown
- 57:39 - Futile Escape
- 1:06:48 - Resolution / Aliens (Activision, C64): Title Theme
- 1:19:31 - Aliens (Konami, Arcade): Stage 1
- 1:29:35 - Alien Trilogy (PC): Med Lab
- 1:36:00 - Aliens Infestation: Call of Duty
- 1:44:48 - Dead Space: Main Theme
- 1:51:48 - Metroid Fusion: The SA-X Approaches
- Closing - Aliens Infestation: Staff Roll
Comments
No mention of the eggs and face hugger enemies from Duke Nukem 3D? Those are straight up lifted from the Alien movies.
Paul Klockenkemper
2021-07-22 00:49:05 +0000 UTCIn retrospect, I regret not starting a metal band in high school named 'Just Another Bug Hunt'.
2021-07-12 07:14:58 +0000 UTCAlien & Aliens did actually make their way to physical pinball too. And the machines are getting re-released again this year by way of a new Eu pinball maker. https://youtu.be/y5NU-kvGrzg
gaijinking
2021-07-09 22:41:04 +0000 UTCThis was SUCH a fun episode! I thought I knew everything about Aliens and this was going to be blah. I was wrong. I listened over 3 days, and each time I put it down, I didn't want it to stop. That's why I love you guys!
VanDiagram
2021-07-09 17:30:35 +0000 UTCRelated: https://youtu.be/iYtQmayyDLA
Luis Guillermo Jimenez Gomez
2021-07-09 06:41:32 +0000 UTCWell cast and well scripted, I find almost no fault with Aliens. It's crazy that Aliens was in cinema at the same time as Transformers the Movie, Howard the Duck, Stand by Me, and Flight of the Navigator.
Cajun Baz
2021-07-09 05:43:33 +0000 UTCSome other Metroid series similarities worth mentioning... The end of the first game and movie feature timed escape sequences. The second game has a queen metroid at the end on planet SR-388, and the second movie has a queen alien at the end on planet LV-426. Metroids latch onto the heads of their prey similar to facehuggers. In the 4th game (Fusion) Samus becomes a metroid hybrid after getting a vaccine that changes her DNA, and in the 4th movie (Resurrection) Ellen Ripley becomes an alien hybrid after being cloned.
Jeremiah Jones
2021-07-07 09:18:33 +0000 UTCThanks to you I looked up the prices to all my boxed with manual DS games and realized I can sell at least 10 of them for $80 plus each, guess who's going on ebay!
SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask
2021-07-07 06:01:11 +0000 UTCOh man, I'll never forget waking up and not getting to sleep as a kid when I was 7 or 8, turning on HBO, and Aliens was on. I had no idea what the hell I was seeing, but I was HOOKED.
Michael Castleberry
2021-07-06 14:34:12 +0000 UTCI preordered Aliens Infestation for DS solely based on Jeremy’s recommendation. The Gamestop clerk said I was the only one that preordered it. Sadly I never got around to putting much time into it and sold my copy 4 or so years ago when it was around the $40-$50 range. Looks like it’s doubled to around $85 since then.
Eric Plunk
2021-07-06 01:34:12 +0000 UTCI had some of the Kenner action figures as a kid.
Rasheen Jordan
2021-07-05 19:22:24 +0000 UTCGame Over Man might be the most quoted video game line in pop culture, and it's not even from a video game!
SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask
2021-07-05 17:45:29 +0000 UTC
