Hot Button

Episode 74: Xinnie the Pooh - The Story of Devotion

What happens when Disney’s pantsless honey-loving teddy bear makes it into a Taiwanese psychological horror game? A lot actually! On our second episode of Hot Button’s 2020 Halloween special, we dig into just what the hell happened last year with cult-favorite Steam darling Devotion and why it continues to be banned from sale across the world.

Episode 73: The Story of The Story of Kamikuishiki Village

Hot Button’s 2020 Halloween special begins today! In our first entry, we take a look at a lesser documented Japanese PC strategy title that shares quite a disturbing connection to a murderous cult. A group also known for it’s recruitment of young people interested in pop culture as well as it’s horrific coordinated attacks on the public. How does a video game come into play in all this? You’ll just have get into the spooky season with us and find out!

Episode 72: Lights! Action! Acclaim! - The History of Acclaim Entertainment

Ever wonder what happened to some of the old third-party publishers of yesteryear? This week we look into a heavy hitter as we pour one out for Acclaim Entertainment! Find out how running a company based around arcade ports and licensing The Simpsons, Batman, Cool Spot, and many more can only last for so long. Especially when combined with a bunch of questionable business practices and a whole lot of crazy PR stunts.

Episode 71: Rules of N-Gagement - History of the Nokia N-Gage

Modern smartphones have really streamlined quite a bit for us here in 2020, so it can be easy to forget what it was like back in the early 2000s when your pockets had to be loaded up with multiple different electronics to get through the day. Cell phone, MP3 player, game console. It was time for one device to finally come along and unite them all! This week we discuss Nokia’s short venture into the world of handheld gaming and side-talk about one of the industry’s most notorious failures, the N-Gage.

Episode 70: Eat, Prey, Love - The Development of Prey

We already covered one 3D Realms game stuck in development hell, why not a second one? That's right! We're talking about Prey! Find out how a game that started as simply a "dark sci-fi themed title with a focus on alien abduction", turned into a cult hit shooter in just a decade of development. Also learn how it's planned sequel went from Mirror's Edge to System Shock in the same amount of time.

Episode 69: It Came From The 3rd Dimension - Development of the Virtual Boy

Oculus...Vive...Index...Boy? What happens when a veteran Nintendo engineer with a passion for re-purposing cheap tech gets swept up in the 90s VR craze? Join us as we discuss Nintendo's foray into the world of "virtual reality" for better or worse... OK fine, much worse.

Episode 68: Criminal Actions Per Minute - Starcraft Match Fixing Part 2

And we are back again with part II of more StarCraft crimes, featuring guest Chris Neuteboom! Except now it’s time to explore the corruption found behind some of the top competing players in Blizzard’s most anticipated sequel ever. Does that mean more high-profile arrests? You betcha!

Episode 67: Criminal Actions Per Minute - Starcraft Match Fixing Part 1

Guest Chris Neuteboom is back on the podcast this week as we run through the early beginnings of e-sports as well as the various scandals exposed in both the Starcraft and Starcraft II professional scenes. It’s a tangled web of match-fixing, broadcasting disputes, blackmail, Korean politics, and lawsuits, all culminating in one of gaming’s most expensive controversies yet!