Author: Mark B.

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Fandom and Fanboyism (w/Nico Blakely)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Fandom and Fanboyism (w/Nico Blakely)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss the touchy subject of fandoms and when being a fan goes too far. We discuss specific examples of fans crossing the line, how fandoms can become insular to the detriment of their fanbase, and Kung Pow. Hosted…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Evolution of Adventure Games (w/Alex Lucard)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Evolution of Adventure Games (w/Alex Lucard)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss the evolution of the adventure game genre over the years, from its highs in the 90’s to the current market, and everything in between. We also discuss the evolutionary offshoots from adventure games such as visual novels…

  • Diehard GameFAN Presents: Unboxing Dark Souls: The Board Game

    Diehard GameFAN Presents: Unboxing Dark Souls: The Board Game

    While the board game side of things has almost exclusively been Alex’s domain on the site for a long while, due to a significant amount of changes that have come into my life as of late, I’ve begun exploring the idea of getting into the hobby myself a bit. While I’m absolutely not the sort…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On General Context in Video Games (w/Matt Yaeger)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On General Context in Video Games (w/Matt Yaeger)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we return after a five month hiatus to discuss the importance of context in gaming, in light of PewDiePie’s assertions that context is important. We ruminate on the potential failing points of context, how developers can accidentally (and purposefully)…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Historical Context in Video Games (w/Paul Wang)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Historical Context in Video Games (w/Paul Wang)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down to discuss the historical context of gaming narratives and how games learn lessons from historical evolution, not all of them good. We ruminate on how characters and franchises evolve relative to the popular storylines in fiction…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the First Twenty Episodes

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the First Twenty Episodes

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we’re without a guest, as the focus is on decomposing the first twenty episodes and discussing current events and updates. We also address what goes into making the podcast what it is, dumb things that have happened to your…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Sudden Success of Persona 4 (w/Nick Tricome)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Sudden Success of Persona 4 (w/Nick Tricome)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down to discuss the sudden and, at the time, surprising success of Persona 4 relative to its predecessors in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and how this came to pass. We discuss the ways Persona 4 brought…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the History of Rhythm Games (w/Joe Tran)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the History of Rhythm Games (w/Joe Tran)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down to discuss the other side of music oriented gaming by discussing the history of the rhythm game genre. We discuss the origins of the genre, its many rises and falls over the years, the current state…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Video Game Musicals Part Two (w/Alex Lucard)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Video Game Musicals Part Two (w/Alex Lucard)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down once again to discuss musicals, and more specifically, the idea of musicals existing within the medium of video games. In the second part of this discussion, we aim towards gaming musicals and why they’re in the…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Video Game Musicals Part One (w/Lola Mendoza)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Video Game Musicals Part One (w/Lola Mendoza)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down to discuss musicals, and more specifically, the idea of musicals existing within the medium of video games. In the first part of this discussion, we discuss some of the core language surrounding describing the mechanics of…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Morality in Video Games (w/Jack Quiches)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Morality in Video Games (w/Jack Quiches)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we sit down to discuss the concept of morality in video games, and how games tend to handle this concept from a narrative and mechanical perspective. We discuss the methods games use to deal with morality, how games are…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Nintendo Switch (w/Aaron Sirois)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Nintendo Switch (w/Aaron Sirois)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to discuss the announcement of the newly named Nintendo Switch (formerly the NX), as well as its initial announcement trailer. We also discuss the known facts, rumors and speculations, as well as the…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Information Security in Gaming (w/Joshua Moore)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Information Security in Gaming (w/Joshua Moore)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss the concept of Information Security and how it relates to video gaming and its players. We also discuss how gamers are unlikely to utilize security tools when playing, security events over the past few years, and how…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Localization and Content Editing (w/Sean Madson)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Localization and Content Editing (w/Sean Madson)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss the concept of Localization and whether localized games or directly translated games are a better option in the majority of cases. We also discuss the concept of cutting content from games, how localization and content cutting have…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Objective Reviews (w/Crystal Steltenpohl)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Objective Reviews (w/Crystal Steltenpohl)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss the concept of Objective Video Game Reviews and whether such things are actually feasible or useful. We also discuss the various possible metrics one could use to attempt to create objective reviews, real world examples (and their…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Day One Patches (w/The Gamer Keith)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Day One Patches (w/The Gamer Keith)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we discuss Day One Patches, using No Man’s Sky as a jumping off point to discuss the practice and its ramifications. We also discuss Rami Ismail’s “Patch the Process” article, the difference between patching for value and pushing broken…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Science of Mass Effect Part Two (w/Zeke R.)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Science of Mass Effect Part Two (w/Zeke R.)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we jump into the second part of a two-part discussion on the science of Mass Effect. The second part deals with the negative aspects of how Mass Effect handles its science, including its discussions on biotics, viral mutations and…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Science of Mass Effect Part One (w/Zeke R.)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On the Science of Mass Effect Part One (w/Zeke R.)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we jump into the first part of a two-part discussion on the science of Mass Effect. The first part deals with the positive aspects of how Mass Effect handles its science, including its discussions on FTL travel and physics…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On MOBAs and Competitive Gaming (w/Greg Johnson)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On MOBAs and Competitive Gaming (w/Greg Johnson)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about the recent expansion of competitive online, E-Sports ready games in the PC and console marketplaces, and whether the current expansion of such games is ultimately sustainable or if the flood may damage the market long-term. We…

  • Neo Kobe Pizza – On Sega’s History of Missteps with JRPGs (w/Robert Hubbs)

    Neo Kobe Pizza – On Sega’s History of Missteps with JRPGs (w/Robert Hubbs)

    Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about the history of Sega JRPGs, from Phantasy Star to Valkyria Chronicles and most everything in between, as well as Sega’s failings to convince the Western marketplace to invest in their games to the extent of Square…