Hot Button

You have seen the logo on every game. M for Mature. T for Teen. E for Everyone. But do you know where they come from? In our biggest Hot Button undertaking to date, we look into the formation of the ESRB. Follow along on part one of our epic three part journey, as we look into how people's spines being ripped out, girls in their panties, and a couple of blue plastic guns forced the government to intervene, and forever changed the way games are developed, sold and played.

Melania Trump, Shia LaBeouf, Led Zeppelin. What do you think of when you hear these names? That’s right, plagiarism! On this episode, we rip into the career of ex-IGN editor Filip Miucin and what looked like his endless quest to steal as many words from other writers as he could... that is until 2018 when his now infamous review of Dead Cells finally backfired.

Our story of Danny Ladonne’s controversial title continues! Including an entry into the world of indie game competitions, beef with another fellow creator, and of course, push back from outlets all across the country. Will his message regarding the outcomes around Columbine be secure? Time for us to analyze and reflect on what many today still call the most offensive game ever made.

What would you say if we told you that a video game about the Columbine High School shooting exists? Now what you say if we told you that it also featured Pikachu and Friedrich Nietzsche? Well today we’re not only going to talk about how that game is somehow real, but also the story of how it came to be and how the public reacted to it. This one is a bit of a sensitive topic as well so listener discretion is advised.

This week on Hot Button, we breakdown ambition vs. reality with the announcement and release of everybody’s most hated game of 2016, No Man’s Sky. Can this small team of five turn this massive space exploration game around into a success? Or will the fans just keep relentlessly hammering it down into a swarm of bad reviews and lawsuits? We’ve got all the answers here!

The year is 2013. Forget about the PlayStation 4, forget about the Xbox One, cause today it’s time we discuss everybody’s favorite failed Android-based micro console... the Ouya. How could this massively funded Kickstarter product built to revolutionize an entire industry fall just flat on its face? We’ve got all the answers right here!

Continuing after our episode on the original Xbox (Go check it out if you haven't yet!), we take an exhaustive look into the development of Microsoft’s crowning achievement, their follow up console, the Xbox 360! Can Microsoft learn from their past mistakes and finally pull ahead of Sony in the console war? You may already know the answer, since you probably have an Xbox 360 sitting in a closet somewhere. But how did they do it? Come listen and find out!

On this episode of Hot Button, we are joined by our first ever guest, esports 'expert' and crime aficionado Chris Neuteboom, as we take a journey into the seedy underbelly of 'legal' Counter Strike: Global Offense skin betting and gambling. Tune in to find out just how many lawsuits can pop up next time you decide steal your mom's credit card!

Anyone else remember the time that Call of Duty had you participate in a mass murder? Cause we do. Today we discuss the development and controversy around Modern Warfare 2’s infamous 'No Russian' airport mission. Warning: Some graphic content is discussed and listened to in this episode.

David vs Goliath. Rocky vs Ivan Drago. The 1980 US Men's Hockey Team vs Russia. History is full of stories where the underdogs come out on top. This is not one of them. Today on Hot Button, we are looking into the legal battle between Silicon Knights and Epic Games, over the use of Epic's Unreal Engine 3. Listen in to find out how David died, and Goliath went on to make Fortnite.

Listen right now criminal scum! This week we discuss the re-rating of a title in Bethesda's SKYRIM series, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. We learn once again the cost of alienating your community and how a few mods of exposed private parts can do more damage to gaming than any amount of gratuitous violence.

It’s time we take a deep dive into the development of the Xbox! Can Bill Gate's disdain for a certain Japanese tech company really change the video game industry forever? Would the PC Master Race really exist without Disney's The Lion King? We explore the answers to these questions, along with many more you never thought to ask about Microsoft's first game console.