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ehind all of the larger-than-life voices, brands, streams, and memes, the video game industry is made of people—it seems more folks in high places are forgetting that.

In an effort to deliver better content, at a more consistent pace, we'll be continuing the format we introduced last episode, and it's one that’s going to be different from the one we’ve done for the last ten years. Instead of catching up on all the news and games that have happened between shows before the chosen featured topic, we have decided to release each of these segments as a dedicated episode in their own right, including the featured topic, with a projected weekly schedule in mind—so this week, it’s a featured topic.

One that we felt was important to discuss—the ever-growing toxicity of the game industry in terms of its operation, and the harmful culture that’s been unavoidably seeping from it as a result. Between Jason Schreier’s recent coverage of the work environment of Nicalis behind the scenes, to the Nathalie Lawhead’s harrowing account of her time with Smoking Gun Interactive, and the traumatizing experience of working with Jeremy Soule—the industry has just been so shitty lately…

We share our thoughts and ideas for what kind of solutions that we, as a community, and a force (however humble) in the industry can serve to fight back against the ugliness shown this past months or so in video games. Just a heads up; we get pro-union real quick, and could give a shit less if you disagree, so save that energy for something more productive than a stupid comment yeah? Oh, and also, on a lighter note, if you were hypothetically involved in a tragic accident that mutilated your genitals in attendance to a TV broadcast of a game show, how much of a settlement would the studio need to pay out to you to resolve the whole thing?

This is the question that we leave with you for the nest show…enjoy the show!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: Save Me Mr. Tako!

 bought my first Game Boy when I was eight years old…I guess labor laws weren't what they used to be, because I was on the payroll for a paper route with the Barrie Advance in the third grade. Anyway, I loved my Game Boy back then more than I like some of my family today, and the old black on the green screen will always invoke a certain nostalgia for days long past. 30 years is a long-ass time.

However, as it turns out, Nicalis' Save Me Mr. Tako! instantly brings me back to my childhood as no other game has in a long time. It has the look–It has–the sound–it has the gameplay, and best of all, it's on a portable system.—kind of.

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QCF: Redout: Lightspeed Edition

he futuristic racer is a subgenre that has quite a few different series, each one featuring a signature spin or twist on the category in an attempt to separate them from the others. Wipeout is certainly the first series to come to mind, as does F-Zero and others such as Jet Moto and Extreme-G Racing. Of course, many others have joined the fray in recent years with one of the most recent, Redout, doing an admirable job of both providing an adequate racing experience as well as a decent host of features.

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QCF: Remilore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore

oguelike games in various genres are a fixture in the gaming landscape more now than ever before. It's no surprise that a lot of these games have made their way to the Nintendo Switch, given that the platform allows for these kinds of games to be played anywhere and Roguelikes, in general, have a very pick up and play quality to them, to begin with.

Nicalis is one of the latest publishers to make a Roguelike happen on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4; developed by Pixelore, and Remimory, Remilore: Girl Lost in the Lands of Lore is a lighter version of this punishing subgenre –known affectionately as a “Roguelite”, which is much more approachable than many other hardcore titles available in the Roguelike subset. So what makes this a game to check out? Let's take a closer look.

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QCF: Crystal Crisis

n the short time since its release, the Nintendo Switch has obtained a fantastic selection of third-party games for almost every genre, but only Nicalis has really striven to have at least one quality game from every genre on the platform. Crystal Crisis is their recent entry in the Puzzle arena, and boy, does it do a good job of filling that niche.

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QCF: Blade Strangers

ighting games are a staple here at PPR. Capcom, SNK Playmore and Arc System Works still reign supreme in the genre, there's no denying that, but it sure would be nice to have a decent fighting game from a completely different studio—something with high-res sprites, decent backgrounds, maybe a crossover of some kind. Like, if there was a game that took a bunch of obscure but cool characters from a slew of cult classics and indies and threw them into a super-Japanese story involving a bunch of computers and a super-strong deity. It would be cool if it were created by Studio Sai Zen Sen, the creators of Code of Princess EX, and published by Nicalis too.

Eh? Whazzat? This exact thing exists, in the form of Blade Strangers on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4? Oh, neat. And, as it turns out, it's a pretty fun versus fighting game, too? Well, sign me up!

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QCF: Code of Princess EX

utside of the XBLA re-release of the Treasure classic, Code of Princess is the kind of game that players pining for some of that Guardian Heroes gameplay have been able to find their fix in recent years. With its original release on 3DS, it offered players the ability to play a Guardian Heroes-style game anywhere they might be without having to resort to the vastly sub-par Advance Guardian Heroes on Game Boy Advance.

For those looking for some Code of Princess action on more powerful hardware and on a bigger screen, Degica's re-release on Steam was primed to be the answer. However, not only did it suffer from blurry textures on 3D elements, all of the characters and enemies were the same resolution as their 3DS counterparts, making for a jarringly ugly time. So where can players find the best of all worlds with proper, high-def visuals and extra features? The answer: the Nintendo Switch's Code of Princess EX, developed by Studio Saizensen and published by Nicalis!

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PPR Presents The Golden Zonkies: Class Of 2017-Part 1

emember when we said the year 2016 sucked? Apparently the year 2017 sat back, and was all like “Hold my beer” and stuff, because man there were a lot of moments in it that just boiled it down to a 12-month shit show as well.  If there was one thing that 2017 did get right though, it was most definitely the video games, and let us tell you, it made for one of the hardest Golden Zonkey panels yet.

So hard in fact, that for the first time in Press Pause Radio history, we had to split the show up into two different parts! Our trademark Game of the Year podcast is special multi-part mega cast where we give our prestigious mark of excellence, a Golden Zonkey, to the game deserving of recognition towards that respective recognition.

Everything from games to events that saw the light of day in 2017, across fourteen different categories, and we have that very list for you here now. We’ll be plowing through an incredible catalog of choices, debating with one another from beginning to end in this epic podcast, each voicing our vote for the winner of its corresponding category.

The only stipulation in the Golden Zonkies, is that any point, a wild card can be suggested by one of the hosts if majority vote dictates that another nomination is more deserving of the award instead of the choices presently casted.

So without further ado, we present to you all Press Pause Radio’s Golden Zonkies, class of 2017! Enjoy the show!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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