Hot Button

Episode 46: Kowloon’s Curious Kusoge - Hong Kong 97

Our Hot Button Halloween series trucks on with one of the greatest mysteries of the retro gaming underground, Hong Kong 97’! An unlicensed Super Famicom title that featured terrible gameplay, stolen artwork, gross politics, and the inclusion of an actual dead body to boot. Who made this? Why did they make this? Was the corpse real? It’s a full investigation here on the show today as we dig through the entire history of the infamous title, beginning to end!
 Note: This episode was recorded a month ago and is not related to the current controversies surrounding game company Blizzard and their stances on the state of Hong Kong’s ongoing fight for independence. We do plan on covering these such events in the future.

Episode 45: Superstition Bowl - The Madden Curse

Its the second week in October, which means it’s time for more spooky Hot Button episodes! And with football season in full swing, what better topic to cover than the infamous Madden Curse? Is being on the cover of America’s most popular sports game a career ending decision? Or is football just an incredibly dangerous sport with a ton of superstitious fans? Follow along as we check in on some of the former cover athletes to find out.

Episode 44: Sinneslöschen's Ladder - The Polybius Conspiracy

It’s Halloween time y’all! And what better way is there for us to celebrate here at Hot Button than by doing an entire month of topics connecting video games with the world of horror. Our first entry this week is about one of the industry’s biggest urban legends, Polybius. A mysterious arcade cabinet said to have plagued children back in the early 1980s. Was it a top secret government project to control their minds? Or was it just a harmless rumor born out of the days of early internet trickery? The truth might actually be scarier than you think.

Episode 43: Hatred

It didn’t take long after the invention of games for many to be centered around the idea of killing enemies, but what happens when a questionable developer makes one so grim, so tasteless, and so nihilistic that it risks even being able to be released at all? Find out how Hatred, an isometric shooter where you indiscriminately murder as many innocent people as possible, found it’s way for sale. Despite its 18+ ‘Adults Only’ rating and just awful critical response. NOTE: This episode was intended to be released on August 9th, 2019, but due to tragic circumstances around its release date, we decided that the best course of action would be to delay it for a later launch. Please see our previously shared statement for more details. Statement Here: https://www.hotbuttoncast.com/statement-8-9-19

Episode 42: Pandora's Gearbox - History of Gearbox, Borderlands, and Randy Pitchford Part 2

Our two-parter on the life and times of Randy Pitchford and company Gearbox concludes! This week, guest Melanie Grear returns to the studio and joins the crew in the rundown of where Battleborn went wrong, what took Borderlands 3 so long, and why Randy should probably not be allowed to have a Twitter account or visit Medieval Times.

Episode 41: Pandora's Gearbox - History of Gearbox, Borderlands, and Randy Pitchford Part 1

Borderlands 3 is out today! And what better way is there to celebrate its launch than to dig into the history behind the franchise as well as the man most credited in bringing it to the world. This week returning guest Melanie Grear joins us in chronicling the life and times of eccentric game developer Randy Pitchford and how his studio Gearbox put themselves on the map, for better and for worse.

Episode 40: Microtransactions #1

This week we are launching a new series! One that will host collections of shorter more bite-sized stories out there in the world of games. For our first batch of topics, we get into some noted crazy uses for the Playstation 3’s Cell Processor, talk about Australia’s cracking down on video game weed, and even cover what is universally called the biggest comeback in all of professional esports!

Episode 39: Play [Space] Station - Development of the Playstation Part 2

With Nintendo's ultimate backstab out of the way, Sony makes it move into the games industry. And we make our move into the final part of our Playstation series! Join us as we look into how that hot little gray box from the Walkman guys would be a vital tool for developers to help create games that’d shape the world for years to come. All while simply dominating the 5th generation of consoles in the process. Also, stay tuned at the end for a surprising update on the fate of the once thought abandoned Nintendo Play Station!