For those of us that grew up with the NES, Metal Gear was a fun -- albeit strange -- game that kinda just came and went. It wasn't until 1998's Metal Gear Solid, about a decade later, that we understood the full ramifications of what creator Hideo Kojima was really trying to say and do. A tale of politics, espionage, and warfare, Metal Gear Solid is a beloved franchise today, and although it didn't technically begin here... it kinda, sorta did. So let's chat about one of PSone's very best tit...
2018-12-27 17:00:59 +0000 UTC
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I don't know if you've noticed, but I really like talking religion here on Fireside Chats, and today's guest is incredibly well equipped to do just that. Michael Steinmetz is pursuing his PhD in theology, and has a ton of insight into Christianity, and all that entails. Our conversation delves deep into the life and times of Jesus Christ, and right on up 'til today, and challenges believers and non-believers alike to think critically -- and scholarly -- about something many people know to exi...
2018-12-26 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Before we get into our Game of the Year awards in a couple of weeks, we wanted to clear our plates (so to speak) by touching on some of the greatest (and worst!) PlayStation-related moments of the last calendar year. For instance, God of War, Detroit: Become Human, and Spider-Man gave us a trio of amazing PS4 exclusives that lifted our spirits, but the likes of the PlayStation Classic and Sony's initial attitude towards cross-platform play left us a bit sour. Then there's the nebulous stuff -...
2018-12-25 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hey All,
I hope you and yours are well.
I just wanted to take a moment to tip my cap, and to wish you, your families, your friends, and other loved ones a Merry Christmas (or a belated Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate, if anything at all).
Oh, and a very Happy New Year, too.
Colin's Last Stand is only a few months away from entering its third year, which is truly crazy to think about, and it's ultimately because of the thousands of you here on Patreon that CLS i...
2018-12-24 21:42:03 +0000 UTC
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For a podcast about all about nostalgia, we'd be crazy to skip the so-called Holiday Season, the section of the annual calendar perhaps most rife with memories. Today's episode of KnockBack is dedicated to Christmastime (or whatever you might celebrate), and all of the amazing remembrances of festive times past. Presents. Family. Food. Togetherness. And that time Colin knocked down the tree, and claimed he had nothing to do with it. So let's explore all of the grand memories this time of year...
2018-12-20 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Today, Dr. Greg Jackson -- professor of history at Utah Valley University and host of the wonderful podcast History That Doesn't Suck -- makes his valiant return to the show. I'm excited to have him here, because I wanted to pick his brain about one thing in particular: National division. The political rhetoric and behavior on display in contemporary America suggests that the US is being pulled apart at the seams, and I was curious if Dr. Jackson agreed. We delve deep into history and pull us...
2018-12-19 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Colin is just about near death with some sort of winterborne illness, but he and Chris gather for their weekly ritual -- bestowing upon you some PlayStation goodness -- nonetheless. Kingdom Hearts III doesn't come out until late January; yet, the game has leaked, and spoilers are abound. We discuss the fiasco in spoiler-free fashion. Also: Metro Exodus has gone gold and gotten a bumped-up release date, Detroit: Become Human hits a sale milestone, Uncharted guru Amy Hennig is set to receive prest...
2018-12-18 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The ultimate pack-in.
2018-12-17 19:14:57 +0000 UTC
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In the early '80s, the home console vanished as quickly as it arrived. But only a few years later, a new champion emerged -- Nintendo -- and gaming on your television has only grown since. Nintendo was a force to be reckoned with during the NES era, with no real competition, but as the decade turned and the Super Nintendo appeared poised to continue NES' dominance, a fresh-faced challenger arrived on the scene: SEGA. A corporated afterthought in the '80s, SEGA's Genesis console rose to the ch...
2018-12-13 17:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It's been a good, long while since we've talked about video games here on Fireside Chats, hasn't it? Well, let's stop the streak. Today's guest is Will Goldstone, a Product Manager at Unity. What is Unity? It's an incredibly important, versatile, and popular game engine that many a video game is created on. So let's pick Mr. Goldstone's brain about game development, the tools of the trade, and what it takes to make a living doing this hard (and dare I say important) work. For the many million...
2018-12-12 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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2018 is just about behind us, and 2019 lies just around the corner. To celebrate the coming year, we sat down and sifted through our most anticipated games of the next 12 months. Chris came packing 10 games; so did Colin. Through some very complicated mathematics (not really), we made a solid list of 16 games, cobbled together to represent our collective excitement. The rules? The games in question have to be playable on a piece of PlayStation hardware, and have to be aiming (at least somewhat) ...
2018-12-11 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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All too real.
2018-12-10 18:50:27 +0000 UTC
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In the early-to-mid '80s, Michael J. Fox was a household name because of his work on Family Ties, the beloved American sitcom. But by 1985, Fox was catapulted even further into the stratosphere by Back to the Future, a film about time travel, and the unexpected -- and often fun and zany -- results of utilizing such advanced technology. Today's episode of KnockBack is dedicated not only to the original Back to the Future, but to its two sequels, as well, and was voted on by Colin's Last Stand'...
2018-12-06 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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I don't know if you've heard, but Russia Hacked the Election. Well, kinda. The entire fiasco has become more of a nebulous talking point designed to score political points than anything we can focus on and sink our teeth into. But here's the thing: Russia really did launch a coordinated operation to disrupt our system, and through all the muck and mess, we still have to deal with it. Today's guest is an ex-US military Psychological Operations Specialist with an incredible amount of insight in...
2018-12-05 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Should video games be censored, or should anything go? The PlayStation ecosystem has recently found itself having to answer this important question, one framed around a peculiar (and often distasteful) grouping of fan service-heavy games. Some niche devs are claiming that they're being stymied, the consumers of those games aren't happy about it, and Sony itself has admitted that the rules are shifting. So, let's chat about where to go from here. Plus: December's PS+ games have arrived, GameStop ...
2018-12-04 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Ruining lives.
2018-12-03 18:55:28 +0000 UTC
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Hey All!
You guys liked last month's Patreon-exclusive episode of Sacred Symbols so much, that I decided to immediately do a sequel. =)
Presenting Long Lost Letters II, a set of asked-and-answered questions from CLS Patrons that were solicited for Episodes 19, 20, 21, and 22 of Sacred Symbols, but weren't (initially) used.
Thank you for your support! I appreciate each and every one of you. -Colin
2018-11-30 22:01:02 +0000 UTC
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It's not terribly uncommon for Nintendo fans to feel that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the best Zelda game ever released. The third title launched in the series -- coming to stores in 1991 in Japan and 1992 elsewhere -- A Link to the Past marks the fledgling franchise's first jump to new hardware, and represents a serious retooling of the original's winning formula. Of course, it's also impossible not to connect it to today's games, too, both in and outside of Zelda's continuity...
2018-11-29 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Hey All!
I hope that this posting finds you and yours very well.
It's that time! I'm pleased to reveal the next 9 topics that will be covered on CLS: KnockBack. Dagan and I will be recording this wave between December 6th and December 10th in Philadelphia, and we're stoked to reconvene.
Here's what we're thinking, topic-wise. Episode numbers are tentative, and don't necessarily reflect the order in which the episodes will be published.
Episode 45:
2018-11-28 23:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Christianity is full of different sects and divisions. One such sect is Mormonism -- also known as the Church of Latter Day Saints -- founded in the United States in the 19th century. Unlike many Christian offshoots, however, Mormonism is misunderstood at best, and ridiculed and joked about at worst. To give some perspective into the religion -- into what it means to be a Mormon, what their beliefs are, and more -- an everyday Mormon named James asked to come onto Fireside Chats. Naturally, I...
2018-11-28 21:47:29 +0000 UTC
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The holiday gaming season arrived with a massive dud with the launch of Fallout 76, the online-centric Fallout game that's being poorly received both critically and commercially. What does it all mean for Bethesda as a publisher, its world-famous Bethesda Games Studios dev team, and fans alike? We delve in with our thoughts, and plenty of listener questions, too. Plus: PS4 continues its sales domination, Media Molecule's Dreams is getting a beta before year's end, Rockstar has abandoned its PS3-...
2018-11-27 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The 10 Best RPGs of the Last Decade!
2018-11-27 07:00:59 +0000 UTC
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Time sinks.
2018-11-26 19:17:11 +0000 UTC
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In 1937, Walt Disney and his fledgling animation company executed a quantum leap when they released Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the first animated feature film of its kind. The rest, as they say, is history. Today's episode of KnockBack is dedicated to those early days of Disney features, from Pinocchio and Dumbo to Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, as well as many others. And who better to learn about it all from than a professional animator with more than two decades of experience, w...
2018-11-22 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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From CLS to you and yours, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. (And if you're not American, I hope you celebrate with us vicariously.)
2018-11-22 09:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Being grateful.
2018-11-21 18:47:26 +0000 UTC
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Socialism -- particularly of the Democratic Socialist variety -- comes up fairly often on Fireside Chats, and not typically in the most glowing of terms. More than a few listeners have taken issue with that since the the show began, but only one -- Sean Clinton -- offered to come on the show and make a spirited defense of the political ideology. Better yet, Sean, who was born to an American soldier and a German mother in Europe, and lived in Germany for most of his life, benefited a great dea...
2018-11-21 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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E3 began way back in 1995, and each and every year since, Sony has shown up with its PlayStation brand, often in a major way. But in 2019, that all changes. Sony has announced that it won't be at E3. At all. No press conference. No show floor offerings. Nada. This is a huge deal, and it gives us an enormous amount to chat about. Plus: PlayStation 4 turns five, Square Enix is toiling away on a PS5 title, THQ Nordic has an astounding 55 games in development, and much more. Listeners also chime in ...
2018-11-20 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Red Dead Redemption 2 is -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- one of 2018's very best video games. Indeed, you could rather easily make the case that it's 2018's Game of the Year, period. To celebrate Rockstar's brilliant new Wild West experience, we decided to do an episode dedicated entirely to RDR2, in Spoilercast form. You know what that means: We're going to spoil the heck out of the game, so don't listen if you haven't beaten it yet! We talk about the characters, the setting, the story, the ga...
2018-11-16 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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There are a lot of classic sports films, from the somber and serious to the wacky and insane. Caddyshack squarely falls in the latter camp. Released in 1980, Caddyshack tells the story of a midwestern American country club via the antics of its most colorful patrons and employees. With an all-star cast including Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight, and with Harold Ramis helming the film as both writer and director, Caddyshack's cult status isn't happenstance. It's the...
2018-11-15 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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