Colin's Last Stand: Side Quest, Episode 41 (Audio)
Guacamelee! 2 Review!
2018-08-22 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
LastStandMedia posts
Side Quest, Episode 41: Guacamelee! 2 Review
For the Mexiverse!
2018-08-21 18:22:15 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 8: PlayStation VR Purgatory
Sony recently announced updated sales figures for PlayStation VR -- 3 million and counting -- which raises an interesting question: Is that actually good? After all, only one in 27 PS4s sold have a PSVR unit hooked up to it. We discuss what that means. Meanwhile, there's news galore to cover, including DICE's long-abandoned Genesis game coming to PS4 and Vita, Until Dawn developer Supermassive's all-new IP trademark, the cancellation of Bloodstained on Vita, Bethesda's aggressive attitude toward...
2018-08-21 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostFireside Chats, Episode 50: A Conversation With Colin
Nearly a year ago, CLS changed directions: It became a brand, and not just a show, and that all began with Fireside Chats. Originally designed to be a short, weekly spoken op-ed about something random, Fireside Chats quickly morphed into the eclectic interview series it is today, and has since exposed dozens of interesting, unique, intelligent, and diverse voices to the world. To celebrate its 50th episode, though, it's time to turn the formula on its head, because today, Colin is the guest. ...
2018-08-16 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostKnockBack, Episode 27: Mad Men
The 1960's in the United States was a turbulent time of upheaval and reform, and Mad Men -- which ran on AMC from 2007 to 2015 -- gave viewers a glimpse into that world from an unusual perch: Madison Avenue. Widely considered one of the greatest television shows of all-time, Mad Men introduces audiences to a wide-ranging cast of characters all revolving around one man: Don Draper, the Creative Director of a New York City advertising agency. With so much to talk about, we structured our two ho...
2018-08-15 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 7: Red Dead Doom
In just the last few days, we were treated with the first gameplay footage ever for both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Doom Eternal. So naturally, we take the time to discuss what we thought of both demonstrations. Meanwhile, Chris is worried that Insomniac's Spider-man is being shown way too much, and so we dive deeper into his concerns. IGN's plagiarism scandal also keeps us busy, with a nearly half hour conversation about that alone. News ranging from a new PS4 Pro and God of War's New Game+ to B...
2018-08-14 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostColin's Last Stand: Side Quest, Episode 40 (Audio)
The IGN Plagiarism Fiasco!
2018-08-14 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSide Quest, Episode 40: The IGN Plagiarism Fiasco
Collateral damage.
2018-08-13 16:31:21 +0000 UTC View PostKnockBack, Episode 26: Nintendo GameCube
In 2001, Nintendo followed up the poor-selling Nintendo 64 with a console that would barely do 60% of N64's total sales. It was called the GameCube, and when compared to its contemporary PlayStation 2, it was largely looked at as a children's toy, and an unpopular one at that. But for those who ignored the haters and delved into its rich catalog, Nintendo's GameCube arguably offered the best pure gaming experiences of its generation, and left a surprisingly positive legacy in the wake of its ...
2018-08-09 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostFireside Chats, Episode 49: Understanding eSports
I've never been a fan of eSports. Or esports. Or Esports. Or however you want to type it. Yet, I also acknowledge that it's a gigantic blind spot in my gaming knowledge, and I want to do something to rectify that. So I figured, why not bring my old friend Leah Jackson by for a Fireside Chat? Leah and I worked at IGN together back in the day, and in 2014, she joined the ranks of Riot Games here in Santa Monica, the massive developer behind League of Legends. Leah's entire professional life rev...
2018-08-08 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 6: PS4's March to 100 Million Sold
At 82+ million sold, PlayStation 4 is still lighting the gaming world on fire, and will sell in fewer than five years what PlayStation 3 sold in nine. Indeed, it's all but assured -- barring a mega meltdown at Sony, or within the gaming industry itself -- that PS4 will sell 100 million units, a number only three other home gaming consoles (two of them PlayStation-branded) ever reached. So naturally, we discuss what that means. We also take the time to chat about the Metroidvanias that are curren...
2018-08-07 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
KnockBack: Wave IV Topics Revealed (Get Your Questions/Comments/Memories In!)
Hey All!
I hope that this posting finds you and yours very well.
It's that time! I'm pleased to reveal the next 10 topics that will be covered on CLS: KnockBack. Dagan and I will be recording this wave between August 7th and August 10th in Santa Monica, and we're stoked to reconvene.
For Wave III (and Waves I and II, for that matter), I gave you a ton of time to answer. I feel like that might have been counterproductive, though. Sacred Symbols' weekly thread...
KnockBack, Episode 25: The Lion King and the Animation Revival
Few animated films are more important than The Lion King, released in 1994 towards the height of the Disney Renaissance. An unlikely hit, the movie was animated by what was at the time considered a b-team, with the so-called "Top Talent" toiling away on 1995's Pocahontas. Turns out both movies are awesome, but The Lion King is considered the better product. Go figure. Today's episode of KnockBack is framed around The Lion King, but really, the podcast doubles as a comprehensive look back at t...
2018-08-02 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostFireside Chats, Episode 48: Trump, Russia, and The Nebulous Future with Jeff Cannata
Last October, Jeff Cannata -- well-known online personality, podcast and video host, and actor -- joined me on Fireside Chats to talk about Donald Trump and the political landscape of the United States. I invited him back, 43 episodes of Fireside Chats later, to revisit our conversation. What does Jeff think about Donald Trump and the whole Russia fiasco now? And, most importantly, what are his solutions to fix the serious problems we now face? Let us show you yet again how two people who don...
2018-08-01 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 5: Ruining PlayStation Trophies
Developers are getting less and less stingy with their games' Trophies, almost to a comical -- and dare we say destructive -- degree. So this week, we discuss the Trophy ecosystem in-depth, and reflect on how Sony can better protect and nurture the ecosystem. But of course, we also get nitty-gritty with the games themselves. Chasm is out, and Chris has played it extensively, so we chat about the newest entrant to the Metroidvania genre. Old video game website The Escapist is returning, but is it...
2018-07-31 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostColin's Last Stand: Side Quest, Episode 39 (Audio)
The Escapist, Politics, and How Games Journalists Ruined Games Journalism!
2018-07-31 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSide Quest, Episode 39: The Escapist, Politics, and How Games Journalists Ruined Games Journalism
Time to look in the mirror.
2018-07-30 16:28:13 +0000 UTC View PostPatreon-Exclusive KnockBack (July, 2018): Ranking the TGIF Shows
For those of us who grew up in the '80s and '90s, TGIF was a rite of passage, something to look forward to in more analog days. TGIF, which stood for Thank God It's Funny, was a Friday night bloc of television on ABC that officially ran from 1989 through 2000, and some heavy hitters of the era -- from Full House and Step by Step to Boy Meets World and Family Matters -- all found fame within those two weekly hours. For this month's exclusive podcast, I brought my best friend Ramon Narvaez into th...
2018-07-27 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostKnockBack, Episode 24: The Early Internet
The Internet began as an academic and military experiment in the post-World War II United States, and decades later, the World Wide Web built on top of it changed the world forever. In the mid-'90s, the Brothers Moriarty gained Internet access at very different moments in their lives. So let's explore what made those dial up days so special, and what it was like being on the Internet during the moments when people realized what it could be, and what it would become. Looking around the Interne...
2018-07-26 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostFireside Chats, Episode 47: Blake Harris and the Politics of Entertainment
Blake Harris is a world-renown writer best known for Console Wars, the written authority on the Nintendo-SEGA drama of the early-to-mid '90s. You may have also seen Blake and his work on ESPN, IGN, MSNBC, BBC, CBS, NPR, and other acronym-obsessed news outlets. But for this episode of Fireside Chats, Blake came through SoCal to talk about, well, whatever! Our conversation veers in and out of games, entertainment, and the politics engulfing just about everything these days. I'm a pessimist. Bla...
2018-07-25 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostColin's Last Stand: Side Quest, Episode 38 (Audio)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection Review!
2018-07-25 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 4: Expanding the House of Killzone
Sony-owned studio Guerrilla Games, the minds behind Killzone and Horizon: Zero Dawn, recently announced that it's expanding its roster from 250 employees to 400. This is huge news, indicating that Guerrilla is going to start releasing games at a far greater clip. So naturally, we discuss. Of course, there's other pertinent news to chat about, too, including expectations that the battle royale genre is set to gross $20 billion next year, Fallout 76's newly announced beta, Spider-man's exclusive P...
2018-07-24 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSide Quest, Episode 38: Mega Man X Legacy Collection Review
It's damn good.
2018-07-24 07:25:10 +0000 UTC View PostKnockBack, Episode 23: The Video Store
In the late 1970s, something amazing happened: People didn't have to go to the movie theater anymore to watch films. Crazier yet, they didn't have to be home at specific times to watch TV. The same device made both revolutions possible: The VCR. But the VCR didn't reach its full potential until the advent of the video store in the early '80s, and it's here that we begin our tale, reminiscing over stories about our shops. What did we rent? What kind of people worked there? What was it like wat...
2018-07-19 16:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostFireside Chats, Episode 46: The World Traveler
For many, traveling the world is a luxury, but for Jacob Spellman, it's a passion he's willing to sacrifice and work for. From Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, to Australia and India, to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and beyond, Jacob hasn't only seen many of the world's sights. He's actually lived for a time in many of these cultures, and has a lot of stories to tell. Before he makes his next trip to Spain and elsewhere in Western Europe, Jacob swung by Santa Monica to regale us with tales of his e...
2018-07-18 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostSacred Symbols, Episode 3: The Kinda-Sorta Uncharted Movie
Nathan Fillion, an actor beloved in nerd culture from his Firefly days, released a movie-quality Uncharted short film, and it has the Internet abuzz. So we chat a bit about it. But in reality, news is pretty light this week, so we rely on a ton of awesome listener inquiries to fill our 100+ minute run-time. Should Sony's studios have Nintendo-level clout? Will we ever get a sequel to The Order: 1886? Is games journalism failing? How can Sony make PSN better? Will we ever do Sacred Symbols Spoile...
2018-07-17 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostColin's Last Stand: Side Quest, Episode 37 (Audio)
Why Did PlayStation Vita Fail? (And Why Does Nintendo Switch Succeed?) !
2018-07-17 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSide Quest, Episode 37: Why Did PlayStation Vita Fail? (And Why Does Nintendo Switch Succeed?)
Wipe away your tears.
2018-07-16 16:22:12 +0000 UTC View PostKnockBack, Episode 22: Transformers
Between GI Joe and Star Wars -- not to mention all of the other competing toy lines of the time -- the early '80s were a busy era for little boys across the west. But then, 1984 rolled around and brought with it a revolutionary new toy line: Transformers. Transformers' three-pronged approach -- action figures, cartoons, and comics -- saturated the landscape for several years, years Dagan remembers fondly. So sit back, relax, and allow us (well, him) to regale you of stories of toys past, toys...
2018-07-12 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post