Hart & Usagi #92: Disgruntled CEO

In episode 92 we discuss Randy Pitchford doing a bad, Mortal Kombat is entered into the Video Game Hall of Fame, and more CEO multi-meltdowns than you’d ever want in your life.

Enjoy and remember to subscribe via RSS or iTunes and follow the Hart & Usagi Podcast on Twitter!

TOPICS:
* Castlevania Anniversary Collection to receive Japanese title variants post-launch
* Capcom Confirms Devil May Cry Switch is a Port of PS4 HD Collection Version, No Price Set
* Loot Boxes Could Become Illegal In US If New Bill Passes
* Claptrap Voice Actor Claims Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford Physically Assaulted Him
* Gearbox CEO Calls Original Claptrap Actor “Bitter and Disgruntled” in Latest Borderlands 3 Twitter Controversy
* Randy Pitchford Tweetstorms Game Informer Over Borderlands 3 Microtransactions
* Mortal Kombat inducted into Video Game Hall of Fame
* “[Crunch] Is Killing People. Something Has to Change”
* Apex Legends is Sticking With Seasonal Update to Not Overwork the Team, Respawn Founder Says
* Igarashi Explains Bloodstained Switch Demo’s Poor Performance at PAX
* Mortal Kombat 11 Is a Good Game Shrouded in a Fog of Tedious Grinding and Microtransactions
* Report: Fortnite Developers Say They Regularly Crunch “70-Hour Weeks”
* Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini Includes Sonic 2, Shinobi III; More Classic Games Revealed

Listen or Download (1:26:02)

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Hart & Usagi Podcast at the Internet Archive

Matt: @HartKnight | HartKnight’s Archive

Mike: @usagi704 | Domain of Usagi704 | Instagram

@HartandUsagi

Hart & Usagi #91: The Becky & Jennifer Show

In episode 91 the new Mortal Kombat 11 shows that loot boxes aren’t needed to have a fun game, Google’s expectations for Stadia don’t live in the real world, and Becky and Jennifer stop by to chat for a bit with each other.

Enjoy and remember to subscribe via RSS or iTunes and follow the Hart & Usagi Podcast on Twitter!

TOPICS:
* Sega Stops Sales Of Yakuza Spinoff Judgment In Japan After Actor Arrested For Alleged Cocaine Use
* Google’s New Game Streaming Platform is Called Stadia
* Konami Announces Three Classic Collections: Arcade, Castlevania, Contra
* GDC 2019: Google Confirms Stadia Won’t Allow Offline Downloads
* Google Stadia Boss Is “Absolutely, Unequivocally” Sure Latency Won’t Be An Issue
* Judgment actor Pierre Taki will be completely scrubbed from game’s western release
* Sega Genesis Mini Will Release in September With 40 Games
* PlayStation Store Now Offering Refunds, But There’s a Catch
* Borderlands 3’s expensive editions come with boost mods for loot drop rates, XP
* Valve Stops Borderlands Review Bombing Over BL3 Epic Store Exclusivity
* Mortal Kombat 11 Has No Loot Boxes, Neo From The Matrix Won’t Be Added
* Blind Squirrel was indeed working on Mortal Kombat Remaster but it was cancelled, first screenshots
* Capcom Home Arcade is an Outrageously Priced Plug-and-Play Retro Console
* Exclusive: What to Expect From Sony’s Next-Gen PlayStation

Listen or Download (1:15:58)

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Hart & Usagi Podcast at the Internet Archive

Matt: @HartKnight | HartKnight’s Archive

Mike: @usagi704 | Domain of Usagi704 | Instagram

@HartandUsagi

Hart & Usagi #90: THQ

Episode 90 is here with THQ’s lack of research. They could learn from others like Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

Enjoy and remember to subscribe via RSS or iTunes and follow the Hart & Usagi Podcast on Twitter!

TOPICS:
* Bungie splits with Activision, keeps control of Destiny
* How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wound up on a Donkey Kong 64 Twitch charity stream
* Capcom said Hideaki Itsuno could make Dragon’s Dogma 2, but he chose to make DMC5 first
* Pennsylvania considers a tax on violent videogames to help prevent school shootings
* Activision’s Plan to Cut Hundreds of Jobs Caps Tumultuous Week
* Capcom just added a buttload of its games’ soundtracks to Spotify
* Wrestler Booker T is suing Activision for allegedly putting his alter ego in Black Ops 4
* Tetris 99 is the Crucible That Will Make You a Better Tetris Player
* Xbox’s corporate vice president says criticism of game with exclusive Microsoft marketing deal is “whining”
* A single-player-only game like the original Uncharted “wouldn’t be a viable pitch today,” says Amy Hennig
* THQ Nordic Apologizes For Interview On Website Banned By Google

Listen or Download (1:07:51)

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Hart & Usagi Podcast at the Internet Archive

Matt: @HartKnight | HartKnight’s Archive

Mike: @usagi704 | Domain of Usagi704 | Instagram

@HartandUsagi

SF AE & More

Since my Super Nintendo King of Dragons purchase in September, I ended up getting Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition in that time. I plan on likely buying the season 3 pack of DLC just to get G. After all, when the power of Gaia commands, you must obey.

I don’t buy much wrestling on media these days, but after watching an okay Hell In A Cell show, I had to have a way to easily watch that show’s Raw Tag Team Championship match of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. It was an amazing 24 minute match with one of the best finishes I’ve seen in a long time. I also added NXT: Best of 2017. It’s not actually full of the “best of” because of the inclusion of non-match segments and a number of good, but not great matches. Overall, however, it’s worth it for what it is.

I loved the Avatar: The Last Airbender series when I originally saw it. I never did get any of the DVDs because I was always questioning why it wasn’t on Blu-ray for higher quality video. Well, now it is and here it is.

Hart & Usagi #89: Phone Club

On episode 89 of the Hart & Usagi Podcast we chat about a variety of topics like Telltale breaking labor laws, breaking and entering to play the NES, and more.

Enjoy and remember to subscribe via RSS or iTunes and follow the Hart & Usagi Podcast on Twitter!

TOPICS:
* Only ’80s Kids Remember: Breaking Into Houses to Get an NES Fix
* Sony Says It Has Fixed the PlayStation 4 Message Bug That’s Been Causing Consoles to Crash
* Red Dead Redemption 2’s 100-Hour Weeks Are Nothing New for Rockstar
* Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition update will improve the speed of the game’s inputs
* Castlevania: Symphony of the Night On PS4 Won’t Have The Iconic “What Is A Man?” Scene
* Telltale hit with class-action lawsuit for breaking labor laws
* PS Vita Production in Japan Will End in 2019, No Successor Planned
* Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle Smashes its Way to PlayStation 4
* The PlayStation Classic is Going to Have a Much Harder Time Selling its Nostalgia Next to the SNES Classic

Listen or Download (1:09:39)

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Hart & Usagi Podcast at the Internet Archive

Matt: @HartKnight | HartKnight’s Archive

Mike: @usagi704 | Domain of Usagi704 | Instagram

@HartandUsagi

No Dough Spared

About a month ago I added three games to my collection. One was a Super Nintendo game and the other two were from the PlayStation Store. The latter two first.

They are Galaga and Windjammers. Both were heavily discounted at $1.59 and $1.49, respectively. I don’t play that many games as old as Galaga, but, of them from that era, this is one of my favorites.

Up to this point I’ve never played Windjammers before. I mainly knew of it through podcasts that Jeff Gerstmann was on over the years when he would briefly mention the game. It does look to be one of the many SNK classics!

Finally, I bought King of Dragons on the SNES. This was the final of the three medieval beat-’em-ups made by Capcom that I didn’t have ported to the system. The easiest one to find is Knights of the Round with Magic Sword being a bit more rare. It was $70 for only the cartridge, but I haven’t bought many games in a long time so I had the dough to spare on this purchase.

Hart & Usagi #88: “Coked out of his mind”

On episode 88 of the Hart & Usagi Podcast we chat about a variety of topics like Dotemu bringing back two classics, Yakuza series turned down by video gaming hardware companies, and more.

Enjoy and remember to subscribe via RSS or iTunes and follow the Hart & Usagi Podcast on Twitter!

TOPICS:
* Fighting EX Layer is getting a physical release in Japan, to be shown at Konami’s booth at the 2018 Tokyo Game Show
* In Japan, a Beloved Deaf Composer Appears to Be None of the Above
* Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Originally Started As A Tenchu Game
* Streets Of Rage 4 Is Finally Happening, 24 Years Later
* Report: Multiple Fatalities in Mass Shooting at Madden NFL 19 Tournament in Florida
* Stormdivers is a sci-fi battle royale shooter from Resogun and Nex Machina’s Housemarque
* Neo Geo cult favourite frisbee-fighter Windjammers is getting a sequel
* Bloodstained for Vita is Cancelled Because the Vita is Dead, Also Delayed to 2019
* The Yakuza Series Was Pitched To Both Nintendo And Microsoft, But Neither Wanted It
* Bethesda blocks resale of a secondhand game
* Capcom is “proud” of DmC, but Devil May Cry 5 will “expand more on the combat philosophies established in DMC1-4”
* Van Damme was “coked out of his mind” during filming of Street Fighter movie, says director

Listen or Download (1:46:21)

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Hart & Usagi Podcast at the Internet Archive

Matt: @HartKnight | HartKnight’s Archive

Mike: @usagi704 | Domain of Usagi704 | Instagram

@HartandUsagi