What Makes a Good Snake Oil - Ep. 117

A magician stands on stage, staring at the crowd as they uproariously applause at his entrance, filled with fireballs and explosions. He revels in the audible praise, feeding his ego to near-unsustainable levels. He raises his hands to quell the cheering. The applause and shouting slowly dies down, as the audience becomes more eager to see what the magician will do. Silence overtakes the hall as the magician proudly stares at his fans.

“You want to be amazed? Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

“We love you!!!” a fanatical fan shouts, eliciting more wild cheers and thunderous clapping. The magician quiets the audience once more.

“First, I will show you the most influential games of my time, driving me to become what I am today.”

The audience looks perplexed, but remains impassioned and hopeful for the best show of their lives.

“I will also discuss games, such as Red Dead Redemption 2, Destiny, Monster Hunter World, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Witcher 3, Spiderman, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Diablo Infinite.”

At that moment, another man walks on the stage, and some people clap, as they are confused by what is unfurling before their eyes. There is something familiar about this man, but they cannot pinpoint it.

“Last, my usual assistant is gone for the week. He is a drunkard, so he is nursing his health in an ice bath. In his place is one of the most respected magicians on the other side of the country. Give it up for Cosmic Poptart!”

Recorded November 10, 2018

The Moral Choice - Ep. 111

TGS! Spiderman! Playstation Classic! Moral choices! All that and more are featured in this week’s episode of the Chompcast. We discuss some of the most difficult moral choices that we have made in gaming to date. With the return of Shea, we finish the Playstation Classic conversation as we eagerly await subsequent announcements of what games will be on the system. We manage to fit in some last-minute Spiderman conversation. We catch up with Shea, as he spent last week at Tokyo Game Show. We end the show with the Patreon shout-outs to our lovely subscribers. Thank you to you, the listener, and chomp on!

Intro: 0:27

PS1 Classic discussion: 11:01

Moral Choices in Gaming: 31:56

Social Media: 1:03:18

Spiderman: 1:23:15

Patreon Shout-outs: 1:56:56

Tokyo Game Show discussion: 2:04:03

Recorded September 28, 2018

Old Faithful Switches Things Up - Ep. 108

There comes a time in life when change happens. It is inevitable, as the universe continues to expand and increase in entropy. Some people attempt to avoid it at all costs. Other embrace change and dive headfirst, looking for new opportunities. What’s for certain is that it cannot be stopped; change happens.

The turn of the seasons, aging, sublimation. Change is constantly occurring. What about change makes some people resistant and others ecstatic? Is it the thought of a new start is both comforting and frightening? Is a change to the norm really that terrible? Are the opportunities offered by change that enticing and valuable? Are we sounding pretentious enough by asking these pseudo-existential questions?

Change is the name of the game of this week for the Chompcast, as we discuss changes in video game franchises, having been prompted by the recent announcement of boss battles being introduced in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. We change the format up a bit this week as we decide to have a friendly 2-on-2 debate about whether change is good or bad for video game franchises. Next, we reach into our proverbial media bag and yank out some responses to the week’s question, along with results from the polls. Morgan and Shea briefly discuss their time with No Man’s Sky. Last, we had the pleasure to get early access and work on the entertaining Flamberge, a not-yet-completed game from developer HYDEZEKE.

We want to give a special shout-out to Michael Savage-Benoist to giving us early access to Flamberge. Be on the lookout for this game as HYDEZEKE continue to work on it and get it out as soon as possible!

Show Sections and Times

Intro - 0:27

Show Topic: Change in Video Game Franchises - 21:10

Community Comments - 1:25:10

Morgan and Shea talk NMS – 1:43:40

Flamberge - 1:50:40

Recorded September 7, 2018