Garnett On Games

Time to catch up on this summer's gaming and there's plenty to talk about. The International put DOTA 2 and professional gaming on center stage. It got my attention and helped me over the hump to finally trying MOBAs. But would you believe I wound up playing more League of Legends? Along with talking about MOBAs, the Destiny beta demanded time and you had a few thoughts to share about your experience with it. There's also time to work in a couple calls with of course one of them being the call of the week. Get your call on the show by visiting the Garnett on Games page on Speakpipe.

Wrapping up E3 2014 coverage Nintendo takes center stage with a surprisingly strong presentation that left more than a few people ready to go out any buy a WiiU. From Super Smash Brothers to Splatoon, Nintendo satisied its faithful with a lineup of games starting this holiday and stretching into 2015. It's the first sign they may be on track to get their swagger back. We wrap up E3 with a few closing thoughts of yours and mine on what went down at the show. And I get into the growing spectre of content and preorder exclusives casting a shadow over multiplatform games. And we get some of your comments on which version of Destiny will be finding its way to your screens this September. Want to get your call on an upcoming show? Head over to the Garnett of Games page at Speakpipe.com.

E3 2014 found Sony's Playstation back on top in the eyes of many gamers. How would they maintain that momentum? A lineup of impressive games like 1886: the Order, No Man's Sky, and a new Uncharted set some of the highest highs of the show. But a funny thing happened in the middle of their presentation. The pace slowed and many gamers tuned out as presenters stood on stage to talk about things rather than show games. How much did it derail the proceedings? Opinions varied and we've got all of yours here in this episode as we look at everything PlayStation from E3's press conference. And since it's been a while, I also sneak in a little talk on Watch Dogs. As always, get your calls in for future episodes on the Garnett on Games Speakpipe page.

Microsoft came into E3 promising it would be all about games, games, and games for the Xbox. It delivered in a two hour press conference that literally held nothing else. No talk about the Live service, no mention of Skype or other chit chat, just a non-stop parade of game after game. So how did they fare? A solid performance to be sure, though one that seemed to many to lack a knockout punch. Your calls get into all the big titles on display including Sunset Overdrive, Ori and the Blind Forest, Halo the Master Chief Collection, Inside, Crackdown, and more. Want to get your call in on a future show? Use the Garnett of Games Speakpipe page to record your message. E3 specials continue this week.

E3 starts next week but there's plenty to talk about before it arrivies. Looking at Watch Dogs gets into the subject of how challenging it is for a game to live up to its hype and the need to balance the conceptual aspects of game with its play mechanics. Your Happy Place games remind us all of some great titles that give us good feels and are sure to become timeless classics. The matter of technical performance of games comes up from Total Biscuit's YouTube video on the great framerate non-debate, and of course many calls including this week's call of the week. Get ready for a full schedule of shows next week during E3. You'll be able to call in with your take on each of the conferences and all the news from E3 on the Garnett on Games Speakpipe page.

E3 draws nigh and playing the technical alpha of Blizzard's in development MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, sparks some thoughts about how cumbersome applying the term video game to such a broad entertainment has become. Callers finalize some thoughts on the Xbox One's future without Kinect being packed into every box. Don't count the WiiU out because one listener may just change your mind on how it fits into your gaming mix. Several other conversations come up, including the relationships between media, social media, and kickstarter campaigns. There's a quick look at Evil Within and more. Want to be part of the show? Record your call on the Garnett on Game Speakpipe page!

Microsoft made a surprise move announcing that the Xbox One would be available in just a couple weeks without the Kinect. Everyone wanted to talk about the decision and not all of the feedback was positive. Your calls and comments from the show page raise a number of good points. Also on this show you have more to say about role-playing games and next generation storytelling. And there's even time at the end to catch up on a couple other items and make sure everyone is ready to get their Super Time Force on. To get your calls on a future episode head over to the Speakpipe page at speakpipe.com/GarnettonGames or leave a comment on the show Facebook page.

After a second strike for Lightning Returns and an interesting interview US Gamer posted with the Final Fantasy developers, Garnett stops to break down the design of the Japanese role playing game. Your fantasy developer crossover projects come up with several intriguing ideas, more than a couple of which were for Zelda. And a full slate of calls including the call of the week and next week's question on expections for next-gen storytelling coming at you. Get your calls in on the Garnett on Games Speakpipe page.

With E3 drawing near and some panic over first impressions of Destiny, Garnett dives headlong into the world of previews, what they're all about, and how much we really ought to read into them. Along with a deluge of listener response to Hearthstone, he offers up a good primer for anyone wanting a few starting tips to help them to success with Blizzard's addictive new collectible card game. He also takes another go at sharing the psychadelic music puzzle game FRACT OSC after having time to get reacquainted with it over the past week. Plus there are loads of new calls including the Call of the Week and a new question to get your take on for the next show.

With Hearthstone now demonstrating its Death Star-like fully operational power, Garnett takes a closer look at its design and roots in collectible card games. And let's be honest, he can't stop playing it either. He also offers an early look at Habitat, a very cool indie game he saw at PAX that tasks players with cobbling together junk in orbit around the earth to create a massive space station capable of saving humanity. Of course your calls form a big part of the show with feedback from last week in Patch Notes and a variety of interesting subjects including this week's call of the week. Remember to get your calls in on Speakpipe or comment on the show on the Facebook page.

PAX East held a couple of surprises including the announcement of another PAX to join the schedule next year in San Antonio. Like music festivals for gamers the shows get tremendous love but could we get to a point of having too much of a good thing? Your games you come back to bring back many fond memories and an appreciation for the classics. Callers come strong again this week led by an awesome Call of the Week. Garnett lays out his comparo of Forza 5 vs. GT6 vs. a real Ferrari, and there's plenty more packed into this episode.

Amazon unveiled and released its video streaming and gaming machine, the Fire TV. At $100 plus $40 for the controller, it could radically expand the marketplace for indie games, perhaps even having as much penetration into the mainstream as Nintendo's Wii enjoyed in its living room hayday. Garnett also examines the implications of Phil Spencer taking the top spot at Xbox and Amy Hennig leading a new Star Wars game. A number of excellent callers bring a variety of subjects to the rest of the show. Get your call in on a future show using our speakpipe link. And there's also a look at Mercenary Kings, your thoughts on what happened to golf games, and a couple other things to round out this episode.

Facebook stirred up a lot of emotions with its purchase of KickStarted VR headest company Oculus Rift. Garnett offers his take on why it's a little early for gamers to panic that they're losing a new toy before they even get to play with it and that it may in fact work out in everyone's favor. Besides, it's really just a distraction that's keeping him away from the new Diablo 3 expansion, Reaper of Souls, which has him firmly in its addictive grasp. Your calls also debut in this episode along with the comments and questions from the official show threads and of course a few other things the popped on Garnett's radar this week.

Virtual reality headsets and indie games brought a positive outlook for the future of video gaming to the 2014 Game Developers Conference. Garnett returns from the San Francisco with his report on Sony's Project Morpheus for the PS4 and experimental eye-tracking technology. He also digs into the significance of Unreal and Cryengine becomming available on new low pricing models that open up access to small developers. Of course he gets into some of his favorite games from the show including Narcosis and Rollers of the RIng. There's much more including yes, he took his Vita on the trip to play Tearaway.

Titanfall drops and hits hard enough to break down Garnett's resistance, landing a shiny Xbox One in his living room thanks to the bundle deal. He gives a full breakdown of the game along with first at home impressions with the new console answering the question of whether you really need a PS4 and an Xbox One yet. Your takes on Titanfall, Dark Souls 2, and questions from the show's Facebook page also get into the mix along with the usual look at the stories and other stuff from around the Net on this week before the Game Developers Conference.

Garnett gets back behind the mic to launch his new show Garnett on Games and the timing couldn't be better because there's no shortage of things to talk about. South Part: the Stick of Truth came out this week, Watch Dogs got a release date, a new Batman game is on the way this year and it's next-gen only, tons of audience questions already queued up, and a whole lot more.