InRetroSpect Podcast » Marconi

Through the Reticle: The Arcade

Marconi — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:12:56 +0000

Inspired by a surprisingly good documentary about video games. This month, Sam talks about what factors may have resulted in the demise of the Arcade and discusses if there is still any virtue in playing games in the full view of the public, away from out plush and comfy lounges.

Freeplay: Episode 24 The Stage, The Sky & The Story

Marconi — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:20 +0000

Food, clothes, housing, electricity and water are a selection of items of everyday living which cost money. Society tells us that we need to buy these so called ‘essentials’ to survive.

The games industry has tapped into this idea and exploited it for their own nefarious schemes and made all gamers believe that if you want to enjoy fun, exciting and innovative games you have to hand over your cold hard cash. But, here at Freeplay we snatch your hand away from the evil retailer and explain that there are games you can play for free.

This month Dan is joined by Kris, Pete and Sam as they tread the theatrical boards with Deirdra Kiai’s The Play. They play Charles Cecil’s seminal sci-fi adventure Beneath a Steel Sky and then they discuss what makes a truly great gaming narrative.

If you want to tread the boards you can try The Play here

If you want to see what is Beneath a Steel Sky click here

Through the Reticle: What Next

Marconi — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:54:50 +0000

It’s the beginning of a brand new year and the excitement surrounding 2011 is still ringing in the ears of many gamers. So was the last twelve months the golden age for the current generation of hardware or is there still more to come from consoles that have pride of place in our homes? That’s what Sam puts through his sights in the latest Through the Reticle…

Through the Reticle: My Plinky Plonky Music Special

Marconi — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:00:19 +0000

You may or may not remember that in August of last year, Sam asked fellow podcasters, Paul, Pete, Kris and Dan to share with him their video game music highlights. This was the Plinky Plonky Music Special. After more than a year and to celebrate the 25th show of Through the Reticle, Sam has decided that it was time to do his own Plinky Plonky Special. Inspired by a recent play through of Rayman: Origins, Sam shares those pieces of music that have stayed with him after over two decades of gaming.

Through the Reticle: What’s in a Number

Marconi — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:45 +0000

Numbers say alot about the world around us. They define our life stlye, our habits and even the legalityof our actions, but do they have any place in video-game crticism? Could there be a time when reviews no longer have to be accompanied by numbers? Or could there be a moment in the future when reviews are nothing but digits? That’s what Sam puts Through the Reticle this month….

InRetroSpect RAW: Top 5 Locations

Marconi — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:26:28 +0000

RAW is a brand new series here on InRetroSpect. The aim of the show is for members of the InRetroSpect to choose their Top 5 of a certain video game topic, all within a certain time frame. Un-scripted, un-edited and put out just as we recorded it, InRetroSpect RAW aims to provide you with quick snappy debates and hopefully inspire you to have your own. You can join in to the conversation anytime at iTunes, the Zune Marketplace or at InRetroSpectPodcast.com. But for now and for the very first time, this is InRetroSpect RAW.

InRaiderSpect Part V: Tomb Raider

Marconi — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:00:59 +0000

No one knows better than Lara Croft that every great adventure must find its conclusion. A journey is not complete without the artifact at the end or the discovery of the truth behind the myth. This week, we bring you the final part of our five week InRaiderSpect Series. All four hosts once again come together to look at the franchise and discuss what influence it has had, and where it is going. Don’t forget as well, that if you have missed them, all the previous InRaiderSpect episodes are still available on iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, or here on InRetroSpectPodcast.com. This is InRaiderSpect Part V: Tomb Raider…

Warning! Contains spoilers!

All music tracks and sound effects featured are the intellectual property of Square Enix and used by us to better convey the tone and feel of the series. If you like what you hear in the short excerpts used you should support the artists that created them by either buying the games, the soundtracks themselves or – better yet – both. You can purchase the games and music right here. At InRetroSpectPodcast.com we don’t make a single penny on the podcasts we produce or on the sale of items we link to, instead we’re passionate about the games we discuss and in ensuring that full credit is given to the fantastically talented people that make them.

InRaiderSpect Part IV: Lara Croft: From Screen to Page

Marconi — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:00:46 +0000

With the success of any gaming franchise comes the exploration into different mediums. Lara has been privileged enough to grace films, books and graphic novels. But what happens to her when you remove her from the game? In the fourth part of the InRadierSpect series, Sam Turner argues that, as a character, Lara is lost when ever she steps away from the controller.

Warning! Contains spoilers!

InRaiderSpect Part I: Origins

Marconi — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:00:36 +0000

It is with great pleasure that we here at InRetroSpect bring you another month of podcast specials. A while back, we took some time out from the regular schedule to bring you thirty days celebrating the work of Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear Solid. This time around we have turned our attention to the universe of Tomb Raider. Spanning nearly two decades of the gaming landscape, Lara Croft and the series have shaped and defined how, why, and with whom we play games. She is the most famous and well recognised gaming figure you could find and over the next month we’ll be examining as much of the Tomb Raider world as we can. It all starts here, with a special group discussion on the legend, myth and fable that is Lara Croft.

Warning! Contains spoilers!

All music tracks and sound effects featured are the intellectual property of Square Enix and used by us to better convey the tone and feel of the series. If you like what you hear in the short excerpts used you should support the artists that created them by either buying the games, the soundtracks themselves or – better yet – both. You can purchase the games and music right here . At InRetroSpectPodcast.com we don’t make a single penny on the podcasts we produce or on the sale of items we link to, instead we’re passionate about the games we discuss and in ensuring that full credit is given to the fantastically talented people that make them.

InRaiderSpect: The Trail(er) Begins….

Marconi — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:00:52 +0000

Through the Reticle: Journalism

Marconi — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:00:16 +0000

If you haven’t already, then it might be a good idea before you bathe your lugs in the latest Through the Reticle, to hear what inspired Marconi to write this month’s episode. Change of Plan . That was then though and this is now and Marconi reports on the indivduality of the gaming press. How come it survives whilst other media struggles to adapt? Marconi investigates….

Through the Reticle: Change of Plan

Marconi — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:01:49 +0000

It was all going so smoothly. Marconi had an episode all mapped out and ready to go and then he went on a trip on a boat, came back and everything changed. In an alternative episode to the one planned by the podcaster, Marconi uses a strange reaction to returning home from sea to start a new episode on a totally different subject.

Freeplay: Episode 19 Tenderness, Tombs and Toilet Tissue

Marconi — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:00:13 +0000

It is the time of austerity. People are on strike, countries are folding like the notes they put their faces on and people are becoming so tight that the pressure is becoming palpable. Here at InRetroSpect we don’t say that we have all the answers, but what we do have is Freeplay. Your regular monthly dose of the best gaming you can do for free. This time Pete is joined by Sam and Kris as they weed out the much loved from the moribund.

To really join in the fun, you can experience each of the games before, after or during the show. All the links can be found below.

Loved

The Graveyard

Warning! May not be suitable for children.

Through the Reticle: The End

Marconi — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:00:13 +0000

Probably one of the most grumbled about parts of our video gaming lives is the focus of Through the Reticle this month. That part when the developer has decided when our experience with a game should finish. Or when they choose to kill off our favourite character. Why do endings bother us so much and with so many different ways to finish a title, which is the best? Marconi finds out if this is ‘The End’.

Through the Reticle: Who Are Ya

Marconi — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:00:23 +0000

This month Marconi deals with the eternal question of what makes us…well…us. After thousands of years of therapy, psychology, and understanding could the one thing that makes us truely know more about ourselves be the online world in which we inhabit? Marconi finds out.

Through the Reticle: Witness the Fitness – Part III

Marconi — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:00:49 +0000

It is the last in Marconi’s three part look at how fitness has pervaded our consoles. In previous episodes he has looked at how the genre has been created, and put Nintendo’s Wii Fit board to the test. Now as his attempts to try and stick to a fitness regime continue. However maybe it is not the board that is letting him down, but instead other games that he has played. Found out in Part III of Witness the Fitness as Marconi portions the blame to why he can’t get slim.

Through the Reticle: Witness the Fitness – Part II

Marconi — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:00:42 +0000

Last month Marconi declared that he was going to test to see if the Wii Fit could be of any benefit to his health. Could games and the pursuit of health really find a place to co-exist or is the genre still finding its feet? Found out in Part II of Witness the Fitness as Marconi puts the world of fitness games in his sights.

Through the Reticle: Witness the Fitness

Marconi — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:00:02 +0000

It is an obsession of our generation. It is literally the weight around our ‘kankles’. Our world is growing, and whilst some get thinner others get fatter. For those that cannot stop the chewing games seem to have come up with the answer. They seem to have found a purpose. The purpose to train you up and get you going. Short of just telling people to put the fork down, games could be the answer to the ‘problem’ and this month Marconi founds out if it works and how it all started.

InRetroSolid Part IV: The New Sun

Marconi — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:00:23 +0000

What might be the final part in the saga of Solid Snake also marks the nearing closure of the InRetroSolid series. Just like how us here at InRetroSpect will within the next few weeks reform back to our natural design, Marconi argues that Guns of the Patriots is Snake’s final purging. That the game is nothing more than the slow process of how an animal, locked and caged in his own body, finds their way to return to a natural path.

Warning! May not be suitable for children!

Contains spoilers!

Through the Reticle: Pile of Shame

Marconi — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:00:28 +0000

It looms over you like the great tower of Babel. Unfinished, unhinged and some of it not even started. Something is holding you back and you can’t quite put your finger on it. This month Marconi explores the reasons behind you Pile of Shame and explains why this time of year is probably the best to get some of it cleared out.

Through the Reticle: I am Going To Learn How To Fly

Marconi — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:00:24 +0000

You really have to question the sanity of that lot in Fame. Jumping all over Taxis maxing absurd statements of immortality and breaking the laws of physics. It might be a hum drum musical to most but there is more in that song that sums up the absurdity of fame more than any other. And it is with lef warmers firmly in mind that this month Marconi examines why games don’t embrace fame like other mediums do!

Through the Reticle: Save Me

Marconi — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 08:00:38 +0000

We all need some time off now and again. We cannot be gaming all the time, even though inside our little hearts I bet we wish we could. There are certain things though that are around that help us take a break when we need to. Slippers, Two Finger Chocolate Snacks and of course the Save File. This month Marconi sees if this essential part of gaming can really effect our experience.

Through the Reticle: Game Over

Marconi — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:00:51 +0000

That is it! There is no more! Life comes to an end and there are no more games to play. Now you’re in trouble! However why are games different? Why do they get to die multiple times and we only once? Marconi investigates.

Through the Reticle: Plinky Plonky Music Special

Marconi — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:00:45 +0000

“Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye” Sometimes music is just weird and other times it is pretty bloomin’ good. Sometimes it attracts our attention and others it is just playful in the back ground. Sometimes it is probably best to ignore music and other times we should be pulling it all apart and interviewing all the members of the InRetroSpect team in a special extended video game music special. Those other times be right now!

Through The Reticle: Let’s Just All Grow Up

Marconi — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:00:49 +0000

Computer Games have an image problem. What you and me try to take seriously others may liken it to wandering around naked, crawling along the floor dribbling. To some it is childish, to others it is adult and to a small minority they are proud to be childishly adult. So is it about time we all just grew up?

Through the Reticle: Findy Findy, Looky Looky

Marconi — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:00:17 +0000

It’s not nice being lost. It wastes your time, my time, and the time of many others as you flap around in a panic. However, there is no reason to worry cause in the world of Video Games getting lost is never an option. Look in the right places you’ll always have a walkthrough to rely on and a friendly hand to guide you. But if you use them are you cheating? Should you be straddled in dishonour for just getting a little help? Marconi finds out.

Through The Reticle: Look At Me, I’m So Smart!

Marconi — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:00:42 +0000

Knowledge is power and a power many of us don’t have the time to access and wield. We could read books, speak to people and download the entirety of Wikipedia, but maybe the solution to the power already lies in our hands. Could the Video Games we play give us the knowledge and intelligence we need to get on in this world? Marconi pulls himself away from the works of Tolstoy to look at the world of knowledge and whether computer games are the next encyclopedias to train up our minds.

Follow Marconi on Twitter! Click!

Freeplay: Episode 7 Courtesy, Community and Continuity

Marconi — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:00:11 +0000

Dry your eyes, pack up for the weekend, celebrate or commiserate, cause the election is over and the bindweed of politics is grasping for your attention no more. However the InRetroSpect crew are still after your ears, so join us for the month of May!

We take pleasure in looking at the games that only cost you your precious time on earth, and also this month we’ll be casting our mouths off at how you behave online! Naughty, Naughty!

Warning! May not be suitable for children!

The mind bending Continuity be here!

Play along to Quake Live here!

Through The Reticle: An Autobiography (Sort of)

Marconi — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:34:47 +0000

It is almost considered cool these days to assume that violence in video games is influencing our youth. Though how come many of us have never been affected by what we have played? Marconi delves into his past to see why many of us sympathise with the industry rather than joining in with the attack!

Join Marconi on Twitter! Clickedy Click!

Freeplay: Episode 6 Rodriguez, Realms and Rascal

Marconi — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:00:48 +0000

Another new month can only mean a few things! More pinching and punching of your close friends and family. A new chance to start that diet and once again the InRetroSpect guys have mashed their heads together and taken a critical eye over the games you can play for free! Separating the wheat from the chaff once again is; Xero (Pete); Marconi (Sam); FrostieD (Dan); Strider (Kris); and Loz (err…Loz)!

This month we’ve been toiling in the fields of;

Just Cause 2 [PS3/360]
Miami Shark

And also recount our adventures on the Freeplay game of the month: Free Realms

Play the Flash game of the month: Miami Shark

Play the Freeplay game of the month here.

Warning! May not be suitable for children!

Through The Reticle: The Gold, Silver and Bronze

Marconi — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:00:04 +0000

It is nice to be rewarded and recognised! Nice to be spotted on the street and hailed as the champion of your field. That same feeling is now in our home, now available with every game we buy! However, are the trophies and awards we get whilst playing games just a case of “all that glitters is not gold”?!

Follow Marconi on Twitter!

Freeplay: Episode 5 Aliens, Adaptations and Apathy

Marconi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:00:55 +0000

Habits can become the root of all genius! The guys getting together to record another Freeplay within a month, is certainly a good habit indeed. Once again Xero (Pete), FrostieD (Dan), Marconi (Sam) and new inductee Stryder (Kris) straddle the burning fence of critical games debate. As usual they will be examining exactly what you can do with all the fluff hanging around in your pocket. It could only be Freeplay!

This week we take a look at the demos for:

Aliens Vs. Predator [PS3/360]
Battlefield Bad Company 2 [PS3/360]
Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing [360]
Heavy Rain [PS3]

And discuss the Freeplay game of the month: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

To play the game of the month for Free just go here!

Warning! May not be suitable for children!

Through The Reticle: We Flail and Fling

Marconi — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:56 +0000

The future of the gaming landscape is nearly upon us. It’s time to take the controller out of your hands and put those inactive limbs into action. Will it be all that though? The peripheral is in Marconi’s sights.

Through The Reticle: Gratification Nation

Marconi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:33:14 +0000

Why do we do it? Why do we make love to the console? Spend hours and hours on the same game, playing it over and over!? Self gratification or self mutilation?

Through the Reticle: Who’s the Boss?

Marconi — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:00:07 +0000

Where have all the bosses gone? Fancy Mochicans., exposed limbs, and fancy smamshy graphics don’t cut any more. I want the old fights back! Who fancies some Rock, Scissor, Paper!?

Through The Reticle: Narrative III – Frankenstein

Marconi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:58:29 +0000

THIS PODCAST CONTAINS SPOILERS. For the final narrative focused Through The Reticle, Marconi examines what might make the perfect narrative driven video game. Looking at Metal Gear Solid, Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Batman: Arkham Asylum for inspiration, can the ultimate story be created, or will he create a monster?

Through The Reticle: Narrative II – Sketch Turner

Marconi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:07:24 +0000

Through The Reticle is the monthly opinion show from Marconi examining various aspects of video games and video games culture. This month, the exploration of narrative continues with cult comic classic: Comix Zone. Pirandello? Pffft. what did he know?

Through The Reticule: Narrative I – Mission To Moscow

Marconi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:12:59 +0000

“Through The Reticule” is a new podcast that aims to cross hairs with the usual perceptions of gaming life and brings you regular features looking at different and sometimes untouched areas of gaming development and gaming life. Examining exact areas of how games have changed themselves and the world around them, and how we have, in turn, changed them!