Hot Button

Episode 58: From Russia With Fun! - History of Tetris Part 4

We made it y’all. The final piece of our Tetris saga! Hear the results of every win, loss, deal, lawsuit, and death. No thread left undone. Take our hand as we guide you through it all. From it’s changes over the years, to it’s use in scientific research, to the legacy that it left behind. A legacy that would change the world forever.

Episode 57: From Russia With Fun! - History of Tetris Part 3

The race to finally get Tetris on the NES and Game Boy is on! On part three of our epic saga, we run through deal after deal and try to separate those that wish to team up from those that just want to screw each other over. Who will come out victorious? Only one way to find out.

Episode 56: The Last Temptation of Pidgeot - Twitch Plays Pokémon

What happens when 100,000 people try to play a video game at the same time? Fan art? Political struggle? Religion??? Today we take a look at the journey and legacy of the phenomenon Twitch Plays Pokemon! A massive social experiment that ignited an entire culture of lore the likes of which the internet will never forget.

Episode 55: From Russia With Fun! - History of Tetris Part 2

And we’re back with some more Tetris talk! Today we dive deep into the confusing and tangled web of licensing in order to find out just who exactly owned what in the battle to acquire the rights of what would soon become the best selling video game ever made. Nintendo, Atari, Maxwell, Sega. Everyone is here!

Hot Button 2020 Update

Join us for a few short minutes this week, as we give you a quick update about where Hot Button is going in the year 2020, what changes we're making, and what new content we're working on.

Episode 54: From Russia With Fun! - History of Tetris Part 1

Time to kick off 2020 with diving into the history of one of gaming’s biggest phenomenons ever, Tetris! On the first part of our series today, we go back to 1984 Russia and find out just where exactly it all got started along with who was involved in the ensuing battle that would bring Alexey Pajitnov’s groundbreaking title off of just single Soviet computer and onto platforms all over the world.

Episode 53: Minecraft Takes Down the Internet - Mirai Botnet

What happens when online squabbles over a video game get so powerful that they take down the entire internet? Well, that’s a question we don't need to ask since it actually happened! On our last episode of 2019, we cover the Mirai Botnet. A hacking tool invented to hack servers for a small indie game called Minecraft. Join us as we tell you about how small fights over independently run game servers led to billions if not trillions of dollars in corporate damages.

Episode 52: Microtransactions #2

And we’re back with not only one story this week, but three! Join us on our second Microtransactions episode as the team brings a few more interesting small topics to the table. Topics that revolve around war, poop, and even AIDS research. Find out how all these things are connected to video games here and only here!