The Codec Moments Podcast

Our Surprises & Disappointments of 2014

2014 was a strange year for gaming – there weren’t many highs, or too many lows, maybe because in the first full year of the life of our new console generation there weren’t actually that many new games.  Until November at least.  How do you sum up what you liked and disliked through the year?  We thought we’d do something a bit different to review our picks of 2014, we’ve gone for what surprised us for being as good as it was; and what disappointed us because it failed to live up to our excitement.

Cev, Andy and Matt got together at the end of December to record this Codec Call and talk through their picks of the year just past, and with only a little help from Uncle Grolsch and Auntie Baileys, put together 45 mins of chat that you might find at least a bit interesting… at some point.  You can play along as you listen too!  Answer all these questions correctly and there might be a game in it for you:

1. What are our most disappointing games of 2014?
2. Which publisher has upset us more than others?
3. Is a mmfpsorpg a Russian Otter?
4. Will Cev ever buy some WD40 to keep his chair quiet?
5. How many times can we plug our reviews in one podcast?
6. Could Matt possibly say “absolutely” anymore?
7. Will Andy still be married when we get to Easter?
8. What is the correct pronunciation of Passepartout?

Cost of a Coffee - Restaurant Bigwig

On this week’s Cost of a Coffee, the Prof and Brian get all festive and play a restaurant management simulation…

Cost of a Coffee - Release the Hounds

The Prof and Brian have been away for a while, but today marks their triumphant return for the second series of Cost of a Coffee.  Before we let them get away with the bags of cash they are demanding as an appearance fee theses days, we’re making them take a dog run… RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

Cost of a Coffee - Motorsport Manager

This week the Prof and Brian are getting to grips with pole and laying down rubber with the racing team sim, Motorsport Manager from Christian West on iOS.

Cost of a Coffee - Out There

This week’s Cost of a Coffee see’s the Professor and Brian breaking the surly bonds of Earth and heading… Out There… with an espresso machine in space!

Cost of a Coffee - 80 Days

The Prof and Brian are back from an isolation experiment to review 80 Days, where steam (punk) trains and camels are both viable transport choices

Cost of a Coffee - The Monkey Inspired Update Special!

In this Cost of a Coffee special, the Prof and Brian are inspired by an ape uprising to discuss updates to games we’ve reviewed or admired from afar.

Jennifer Hale Interview

It’s time for another Codec Call, and this one features a very special guest joining us to talk about the role of the voice actor within the games industry, and how it is changing with advances and demands of technology.

Our guest this week is one of the most prolific voice actors working today, with credits on animated series including The Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, Johnny Quest and Johnny Bravo, The Tick, The X-Men, Phineas and Ferb and Tamagotchi Video Adventures (if IMDB is to be believed); along with credits in games including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Doom 3, SOCOM, Bulletstorm, Uncharted 3, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us to name a handful. Even if you don’t know her by name, you’ll know her by game as the voice of both Naomi Hunter in the Metal Gear Solid franchise and Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect series. It’s the supremely talented Jennifer Hale!

In this interview we cover:

• Jennifer’s acting history and her career to date.
• The amount of audio recording needed for some games, like Metal Gear Solid.
• Mass Effect: the freedom of relationships and how much the actors know at the recording stage, “Femshep”, and the controversial ending of the third installment.
• The process of voice recording for games and animation.
• Singing!
• What the fans are like and how they differ between videogames and the animated series.
• The skew of male protagonists in games and the effect on available work.
• ‘Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?’
• Character preparation across film, animation and videogames, as well as actor input to the dialogue.
• Motion capture.
• Hollywood actors appearing in videogames, and replacing actors in established franchises.
• And a whole lot more!

Enjoy!

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Cost of a Coffee - Rafting Bears

This week Professor Kelvin Harris and his lab technician Brian, dive head first into fast flowing water to review Rafting Bears on Android and iOS

Cost of a Coffee - Kawaii Killer

This week the Prof and Brian have been discussing woodland wetwork and cartoon critters with the controversial (according to Apple) Kawaii Killer.