The Besties

The theme of this week's Besties is giant monsters. The gang discusses kaiju, space ants and malevolent monolithic mega corps from the not-so-distant future. Like the summer's big films, a number of recent game releases are sci-fi allegories about the way we live now. Or in the case of Attack of the Friday Monsters, the way we lived way back when. We also talk about the week's big news: Microsoft's indie marketplace strategy. But the monsters are the thrust of the episode. I should probably mention there's another large monster that makes an appearance. It's possible you've met him before. He's from New York and has a long neck. I'll let him introduce himself. 3:30 - Best latest strategy update from Microsoft (Xbox One indie self-publishing) 15:00 - Best game you can't buy in the US (Earth Defense Force 4) 22:15 - Halftime! 28:20 - Best game you can buy in the US, unexpectedly (Attack of the Friday Monsters) 37:05 - Best mechanic with the worst implementation (Remember Me) 45:15 - The winner is ... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

It's that time of the year. The Besties gather around the digital fire to share fond memories of their favorite games, some as old as January itself. Yes, it's the middle of July and we're recounting the best games of the year, so far. Some of you might be surprised to know one of the games is Animal Crossing. But what are the others? To know, you'll have to listen. Or I guess you could read the notes below, but why spoil the magic? 3:45 - Griffin (Animal Crossing: New Leaf) 12:20 - Plante (Towerfall) 19:00 - Halftime! 24:00 - Frushtick (The Last of Us) 33:00 - Justin (Gunpoint) 37:00 - The winner is ... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

It's possible you've never noticed this odd bit of Besties trivia. Each week, we invite a new clone of the original Russ Frushtick to discuss the week's best things. The new clone is cloned from the previous week's clone, Multiplicity style. Surely, you've assumed as much. The strange characters. The shrill introduction. The clues have been on the proverbial bottom of the mug all along. This week, we invited the 63rd member of the Frushtick bloodline to discuss Rogue Legacy. After the podcast, we repeated the weekly chore, locking the clone in a tank full of water and filing that tank into the back of a theater alongside its 62 brothers. This will be the last of Russ. Join us next week when the original Russ Frushtick returns to the show for the first time since episode one! 2:20 - Best family tree in gaming (Rogue Legacy) 14:40 - Best turning point of the week (The Last of Us) 30:00 - Halftime! 35:20 - Best way to play a stealth game (Dishonored, Deus Ex: Human Revolution) 42:00 - Best anniversary of the week (App Store's 5th anniversary) 49:00 - The winner is ... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Welcome to the end of days. It's rare that all four Besties find themselves smitten by a single game, let alone one for weeks on end. And yet, that's just what has happened with Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS. It has taken the quartet by storm, sucking up every day with talk of turnip prices and furniture sets. And it seems they're not alone. There have been more than a few requests for an all-Animal Crossing episode, and now we're delivering. Brace yourselves. 3:30 - Best example that Justin is a masochist 13:00 - Best heart-pounding moment of E3 19:00 - Halftime! 23:54 - Best boat ride 30:15- Best narrative in a video game ever Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Allow me one moment to welcome any new listeners who were introduced to The Besties by our recent E3 video spectacular. The podcast is a little different than what you saw last week. For one, it's not filmed. For two, the rules and structure tend to change — regularly. For three, there are, how do I put this, special guests. Yes, this week, Milton Bradley, the grandfather of board games himself, graced The Besties recording studio to inform us of the games he failed to sneak onto store shelves. These games sure are something, and by something I mean morally repugnant! We also talked about the big news of the week: Griffin bought an Android phone! Oh, and Microsoft changed its controversial policy. And Griffin bought an Android phone. You'll hear all that and more on this week's Besties! 4:35 - Best "switcherooniski" (Xbox One game licensing policy) 21:45 - Best gaming device I've bought this year (HTC One) 29:00 - Halftime! 35:40 - Best screenwriting gig for a popular game designer (Ken Levine is writing the Logan's Run remake (and I predict it will take longer than three months to write, despite what Frushtick says, because Hollywood is Hollyweird)) 40:10- Best flashback to shop class (Bridgy Jones) 49:15- The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Is it Christmas in June? Usually the period around E3 is like a desert in which the year's worst games are left to rot under the sweltering summer sun. But as you may have gleamed from the carousel of review scores on the Polygon homepage, we have been submerged by a flood of excellence: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, The Swapper, Gunpoint, The Last of Us, Don't Starve, Remember Me, State of Decay and the list goes on and on. We discuss a few of those games this week, saving others for later this month. What about next week, you ask? Lean closer and I'll tell you a secret: next Friday we're streaming a special E3 video episode of the Besties live from Los Angeles. Before you run out the door and scream thanks to the heavens, be sure to listen to this week's episode. We'd hate for it to go to waste. 3:40 - Best pocket-sized daily vacation (Animal Crossing: New Leaf) 18:40 - Best sound effect of the year (Gunpoint) 26:23 - Halftime! 30:43 - Best way to start a forest fire (Don't Starve) 38:20 - Best way to die (The Swapper) 43:54 - The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

I take a break from the podcast to fulfill my civic duty and Griffin McElroy buys a Wii U. I'm genuinely curious what our listeners think about this decision. At first, I was befuddled. It's like when a man buys an expensive umbrella in the middle of a drought. But I've come to see his point. The logic's charming in a really expensive sort of way. What do you think? Would you buy a console to better enjoy a hype train that may or may not arrive at the station? 03:30 - Best unreliable narration in games this year (Call of Juarez: Gunslinger) 14:00 - Best killer app for the Wii U that I purchased over the weekend for some reason (Super Metroid) 23:20 - Half time: E3 hype and a case of the barfs 33:30 - Best mask simulation in video game history (Metro: Last Light) 38:50 - Best use of life's mondernity mundisnus mundanity to build tension in a video game (Metro: Last Light) 43:20 - The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Throw us an Xbone, why don't you? We're not sure if you heard, maybe you didn't, but there's a new Xbox coming soon. Well, not soon, but this year, for sure. On The Besties this week, we dive deep and come back with the pearls. 07:30 - Best cell phone feature we're excited to use 17:25 - Best use of FMV that may not be 19:00 - Half time: Ghost dog 29:30 - Best news for publishers in the next generation 38:50 - Best feature that only Russ Frushtick cares about 47:30 - The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

The gang is back in action. On this week's episode of The Besties, there's some derisive Snoopy talk, as well as an anthropomorphic helicopter. Griffin has his doubts and Justin changes his pick at the last minute, much to the chagrin of the other Besties. 03:50 - Best reason to hate Snoopy (Sid Meier's Ace Patrol) 10:25 - Best way to waste $20 (Injustice on iOS) 19:00 - Half time: Daft Punk and a new car 24:00 - Best gaming news story of the decade that is getting worse and worse with every passing day (Shadow of the Eternals) 38:40 - Best way to remake a retro franchise (Thunder Wolves) 41:00 - The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Mr. Dave Tach fills in for the absent Griffin McElroy this week. His dulcet tones could melt an ice cap, but are they enough to warm our hearts in Brother M's absence? This episode's a hodgepodge, in which the good is bad, the bad is good and Kickstarter is mediocre. We discuss a handful of video gaming anomalies, like "good bad" games and good games with bad titles. We debate whether rough edges are beauty marks or flaws waiting to be smoothed. We also rap on the reality of Kickstarter projects and the practicality of AAA licensing deals. Whether you prefer one to the other, it's clear that all the money and creative freedom in the world can't guarantee a great game. Also, we talk Canada. Did you know Vancouver is the perfect city? All that and more on this week's Besties. 2:10 - Best reason to be wary of supporting games on Kickstarter (Star Command) 14:30 - Best worst game of the week (Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut) 29:30 - Half time: Chris goes to Canada 33:30 - Best game with worst title (Mars: War Logs) 43:40 - Best billion dollar partnership for things I probably won't end up caring about (The EA/Disney Star Wars contract) 52:10 - The winner is... Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!