We’ve wrapped up our twelfth podcast and it’s ready for download at benheckpodcast.com. Somehow we keep thinking of new things to talk about – today it’s videogame movies. The worst, the least worst, and the one game, I at least think, would make a hit movie. We also do some listener mailbag again and briefly discuss our trials and tribulations of independent filmmaking. Plus the (in)famous audio intro returns, enjoy…
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Lots of crap for you all today, starting with the Wii laptop!
Wii!!
I’m hoping people have forgotten my “Request for a Wii” back in November so this comes as a surprise but if not oh well. For more photos and a video of this sucker in action check out Engadget (a site I write for) using this link below:
Quick specs, this unit has a built-in close-range sensor bar, stereo sound, Gamecube port, 16:9 widescreen LCD, A/V jacks, port for external stock sensor bar, built-in power supply and even a compartment for the cord. It measures 8.6″ wide, 7.7″ long and 2″ total thickness.
I am also writing a 3-part “Making Of” to cover the process of building this thing. It will be the most detailed web-based “making of” for one of my projects yet and will appear episodically on Engadget starting this Tuesday, AKA January 23rd. Hope you find it insightful.
The Wii Laptop is one of my more “mechanical” looking designs.
Next up is our latest podcast, episode 11. Quite the doozy, we have a guest on from the Benheck.com forums, recap gaming news, talk about our HD-DVD and Blu-Ray first impressions and of course, discuss what we would do during a zombie apocalypse. We also talk about what game we thought kicked the most butt in 2006.
Visit the Benheckpodcast.com web site to download this and other episodes! (On average each episode sucks up about an hour of your life) You can also check out this page to see some companion photos for Episode 11 if you’re listening to the audio-only version.
Finally, Jones and I put together a video for some reason. I don’t really know what to say about it, I guess it speaks for itself. It’s on the front of the podcast or you can download a higher resolution copy below.
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Video – “Wand of Confusion” 640×480, MP4, about 7.5 megs
Benheckpodcast.com Site
Check it out, our first podcast of the year! There’s a video intro to this one, so it’s encoded in MP4 format as iPod video, though it will also play in normal QuickTime on a computer.
In this episode we do a wrap-up of the 3 next-gen consoles now that we’ve played them all. It was a close call to get it in there, only on New Year’s Eve Jones did finally get the play a PS3 for a bit so he could form some opinions on it.
What will take up most of your time on the PS3…
So far we’ve both played Wii sports for several hours, I got about 5 hours into Zelda and also beat Resistance: Fall of Man on co-op. Ah yes and I played COD3 Wii as long as I could stomach it. With that under our belts it’s time for our impressions of the systems and suggestions to buyers. Personally, I vote “36DS” for the win (instead of the off-spoken but not as catchy or realistic “Wii60”) but we have a lot more to say than that so give it a listen.
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Benheck.Com Podcast – Official Site
Direct Download of Episode 10 (MP4 Format, 50 megs)
Note: It might also be interesting to read my old “Future of Videogames” article from 2001, where I made predictions on the PS2/Xbox 1/Gamecube race. Granted I said Nintendo wouldn’t release another console, and thought the 360 would have a drive much bigger than 20 gigs (who didn’t?) but other than that many of the predictions are fairly accurate.
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I’ve been waiting to do this podcast for quite a while now. It has a super-sized intro that is relevant to the holiday season, gaming and the podcast topic (for a change). Enjoy! (Note: As with most of my podcasts it’s intended for older listeners)
The actual meat of the podcast involves the hot coffee-flavored topic of violence and adult material in games, our take on it and the whole “blame game” mentality. We also discuss the ESRB ratings and how effective we think they are, or aren’t.
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After several months of spewing it out 1890’s style you can now actually subscribe to my Benheck.com podcast in the normal way. Amazing, isn’t it? Use the link on the right side column for both it and the Sonic Boom podcast of which I am a co-host. You can also visit my podcasting site at www.benheckpodcast.com.
Thanks to George of the Sonic Boom podcast for setting this up! In other news there is one more portable project coming before the close of the year, based off “the system that started it all”. (And no, not the Altair 8800)
Little did you know there’s a website called benheckpodcast.com, and it’s all about my podcasts (imagine that). It’s all done with CSS unlike this site so you can subscribe to RSS feeds and the like. You can even comment on posts and podcasts to your heart’s content. Get in there!
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Halfway through the disassembly of the Wii we decided to get together and actually play the thing. Finally.
Here I am, bowling for soup.
Jones “gets in there” with the Wii.
Dale, non-gamer extraordinaire, gets a 200 on his first game and beats us both down. Plus he quotes a price at which he’d get a Wii.
Look for our opinions on the Wii in the next Benheck.com Podcast.
e Wii in the next Benheck.com Podcast.