Electric Playground Network - EPN
HOW TO OUTLAST - EP Visits Red Barrels! - Special Feature - Electric Playground
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This week’s episode of The Electric Playground is packed with cool exclusive moments!
We start our journey with a trip to Electronic Arts, where Tommy Tallarico, Victor Lucas and Kelly Benson dive deep into the history of the company and its EA Sports division.
At EA’s headquarters in San Mateo, California, Tommy sits down with Scott Orr, the lead designer of Madden NFL Football. Kelly visits the groundbreaking ceremony for the new headquarters for Electronic Arts Canada in Burnaby, British Columbia and meets up with EA marketing manager, Keith Dundas and EA’s Head of North American Studios, Don Mattrick. Kelly also chats with fans and passersby and collects their thoughts about EA.
Next we hear from Duncan McGee at ECTS 1997 in London about the EA Sports line up. Then we are whisked back to Vancouver, Canada to hear from soccer star, David Ginola about doing motion capture work for FIFA. Back in San Mateo, we connect with Ken Balthasar, the producer of NCAA Football ’98 and in London at ECTS, FIFA Producer, Marc Aubanel chats with us about his new game. Back in San Mateo, Cody Murray, assistant producer of Nascar ’98 fills Tommy in on his racing game and then Tommy chats with the producing team of March Madness ’98 led by Mitzi McGilvray. Then a quick jump to Vancouver and Victor hears from Keith Dundas about how video games have changed and we also catch up with Evan Hirsch, the manager of EAC’s motion capture facility and then EA PR guru, Charlie Scibetta, who talks with us about the realism of NHL ’98.
After the break The Electric Playground is back at Nintendo of America headquarters chatting with Ken Lobb about Nintendo’s decision to stick with cartridges for the Nintendo 64!
When we return from the break, The Electric Playground visits SEGA Of America and chats with Mark Subotnick about the incredible Panzer Dragoon Saga for the SEGA Saturn!
And then at E3 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia and ECTS 1997 in London, England, we dig into the incredible games that acclaimed PlayStation developer, Psynogsis is working on, including Colony Wars and G-Police! Victor connects with Colony Wars Product Manager, Lisa Cheney and Game Designer, Mark Ellis. Then we chat with G-Police producers, Graham Davis and Ross Thody.
After the break, “The Reverend” from Heat talks to us about how games can curb our nastier impulses and our question of the week, “Why are some games so difficult?” is answered by Ken Lobb from Nintendo!
In Reviews on the Run, we look at:
Paraapa The Rapper for the PlayStation
Last Bronx for the SEGA Saturn
Mass Destruction for the Nintendo 64
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
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Victor Lucas reviews Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest film from writer director, George Miller and a prequel to the events of Mad Max: Fury Road. The movie starts Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.
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Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch The Electric Playground S1E9 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=jZK_5wao6Cs
Watch The Electric Playground S1E8 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SkY-VpMoJ68
Watch The Electric Playground S1E7 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=RJva1szCe0Y
Watch The Electric Playground S1E6 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDzKgi_R7s&t=877s
Watch The Electric Playground S1E5 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=MCvcdcwL7r0
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
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Victor Lucas reviews Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut for the PC from Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sucker Punch and Nixxes. It's one of the best games for PS4/PS5 but can the PC port live up to the epic PlayStation game? Find out...
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Victor Lucas reviews Senna's Saga: Hellblade II for the Xbox Series X. Is this beautiful game worth the wait?
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This week on The Electric Playground we jump into our spinners and Victor Lucas heads to E3 1997 in Atlanta to talk with senior producer, Donny Blank, from Westwood Studios about their iconic Blade Runner video game. We learn that many of the original actors from Ridley Scott’s movie masterpiece are also included in the game and make cameos in our piece, including Joe Turkel, William Sanderson, Brion James and Sean Young!
After the break, EP heads to Nintendo of America in Redmond Washington to catch up with the one and only, Alan Belardinelli, who breaks down all of the features and some of the secrets of Bomberman 64 for the Nintendo 64! Then Kelly Benson chats with Alec Empire, Hanin Elias and Carl Crack (Rest in Peace) from the rock band, Atari Teenage Riot about their music and their love of games.
When we return from break, Tommy Tallarico catches up with the president of SEGA, Bernie Stolar (Rest in Peace), who gives The Electric Playground an epic overview of his incredible career and contributions to video games, as well as a look forward to future SEGA Saturn games with a tease of what’s to come for the company…
When The Electric Playground comes back from break, Heat.Net’s “The Reverend” breaks down how people can participate in tournaments and Bill Roper from Blizzard Entertainment answered the Question of the Week: “How is the artwork prepared in Adventure Games?”
IN Reviews on the Run we look at:
MDK for the PlayStation
Postal for the PC
Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
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Victor Lucas is joined by Danny Peña and Paris Lilly to discuss the recent studio closures Xbox has made, what it means for the Xbox brand, the state of the AAA gaming industry and how Xbox and its competition will operate and pivot in the face of these dramatic changes. These three veterans of game coverage have a lot to discuss. Enjoy!
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Victor Lucas has been playing some pretty damn cool Indie Games on the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally and he's got some quick reviews of Animal Well, Hades II, Little Kitty, Big City, Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Another Crab's Treasure! Plus how did things get so crazy in AAA game development?
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Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch The Electric Playground S1E8 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SkY-VpMoJ68
Watch The Electric Playground S1E7 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=RJva1szCe0Y
Watch The Electric Playground S1E6 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDzKgi_R7s&t=877s
Watch The Electric Playground S1E5 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=MCvcdcwL7r0
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
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Victor Lucas welcomes Naomi Kyle from This Week In Gaming to chat about her path into the game industry and the many twists and turns her career has taken her. From modelling in Montreal, to hosting early online gaming shows, to her long run at IGN, to going out on her own and becoming a prolific producer, Naomi has a very unique voice in the media sphere and it's a treat to find out more about her in The Basement!
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In this episode of The Electric Playground we kick things off with Kelly Benson’s question: “Who Is Lord British?” and then EP visits Origin Systems in Austin, Texas where Victor Lucas catches up with Lord British himself, and the creator of the Ultima series, Richard Garriott. Victor also chats with Ultima Online director, Starr Long, Paul Sage from the Q.A. department and Chris Yates, the chief technical officer, about this incredibly complex and groundbreaking online experience.
Then Tommy Tallarico takes EP to the European Computer Trade Show in London and we learn about the making of FIFA 98 with producer, Marc Aubanel (incorrectly labelled as Nick Malaperiman—sorry Nick and Marc!), as well as soccer star, David Ginola. Then Tommy chats with the founder and president of Interplay, Brian Fargo. Then Tommy gets into all kinds of trouble at the show—check out the rad Psygnosis Wipeout XL motion pod!
After the break EP heads to Iguana Entertainment where Victor chats with Darren Stubbington about the formation of the studio, the sale to Acclaim and the development of NFL Quarterback Club for the NIntendo 64. Victor also speaks with Dave Dienstbier, the project manager of Turok for the N64 and Darren breaks down how the tech for the dinosaur shooter helped them make a state of the art football game in 1997 for Nintendo’s console. Then Kelly sits down the rock band, Skunk Anansie and talks to them about Lara Croft and their take on video games.
When The Electric Playground returns from break it’s back to the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically to a houseboat in Sausalito, home of Illusions Gaming, makers of Necessary Evil (unfortunately never released). Tommy chats with creative director, Darren Bartlett, while Victor has a conversation with James Coliz, the technical director for the game.
For the Question of the Week, David Perry from Shiny Entertainment answers “Why are European developers producing such great games”
In Reviews on the Run we look at:
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for the PlayStation
Croc; Legend of the Gobbos for the PlayStation
Mischief Makers for the Nintendo 64
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch The Electric Playground S1E7 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=RJva1szCe0Y
Watch The Electric Playground S1E6 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDzKgi_R7s&t=877s
Watch The Electric Playground S1E5 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=MCvcdcwL7r0
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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Victor Lucas reviews Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon and William H. Macy and directed by Wes Ball.
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Victor Lucas reviews The Fall Guy, starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, directed by David Leitch and based on the 1980s TV series starring Lee Majors.
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Victor Lucas interviews Naughty Dog co-founder, Andy Gavin about his years building a game studio that has become recognized as one of the world's best. From the early days working with Jason Rubin, to launching the Crash Bandicoot and Jack & Dexter franchises, to watching his game dev baby grow up with Uncharted and The Last of Us, this is an illuminating discussion with one of the brightest minds from games.
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Welcome to one of the most fun episodes of Season 1! The show kicks off with Tommy Tallarico and Victor Lucas visiting with Atari founder, Nolan Bushnell, as well as veterans at the company (and game industry legends), Jerry Jessop, Don Thomas, Dan Van Elderen, Mark Pierce and Larry Kaplan!
After the break, Victor heads to Boss Game Studios and catches up with tech director, Rob Povey, lead artist, Brian Johnson and artist, Gabe Garcia, to talk about the terrific Top Gear Rally and to get a sneak peek at Twisted Edge Snowboarding.
When we return from break Tommy visits with Naughty Dog to get a look at the process of creating Crash Bandicoot 2, with reflections on the incredible success the character's debut title meant for the company. We chat with founders, Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin and meet up with Dave Bagget, Rob Titus, Greg Omi and Erick Pangilinan.
Heat.Net's The Reverend kicks us off into the next act of the show with an answer to the question, "How is Quake different on Heat?"
Activision's Larry Kaplan tells us where the computer term, "Bug" came from.
And in Reviews on the Run we look at:
Nuclear Strike on PlayStation
Steel Reign on PlayStation
and Mace: The Dark Age on Nintendo 64
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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Victor Lucas takes a look at Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for the Nintendo Switch and wonders where the rest of the awesome GameCube ports are!?
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch The Electric Playground S1E6 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDzKgi_R7s&t=877s
Watch The Electric Playground S1E5 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=MCvcdcwL7r0
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EP on Facebook: Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Victor Lucas reviews the brand new Razer Kishi Ultra, the company's foray into crafting a premium game controller for phones and smaller tablets...did they succeed on this difficult mission? Watch the review and find out!
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Victor Lucas welcomes SEGA video game veteran, Erik Wahlberg to the Basement to discuss his long and winding career in games. From his earliest days testing SEGA Genesis games, to joining the production teams of games like Garfield Caught In The Act and Eternal Champions, to launching the SEGA Saturn, to pivoting to EA and the Knockout Kings franchise and evening working on the ill-fated (but still awesome) Marvel Heroes, we go over it all with Erik! Enjoy the journey.
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Seatbelts are mandatory for this episode featuring EP’s first ever Racing Video Game Extravaganza!
First up Tommy Tallarico visits with Shiny Entertainment’s David Perry and the pair discuss their favourite video racing games before things get heated and the guys take their challenge to the streets.
At the same time Kelly Benson catches up with pro racer, Greg Moore (Rest in Peace) and finds out his history in racing and his thoughts on racing video games.
We also hear from Nintendo’s Alan Belardinelli, Midway’s Michael Gottlieb, Ubisoft’s Jason Cohen, pro demolition derby racer, Steve Thomson and Gabe Garcia from Boss Game Studio and we ask them all about their favorite racing games.
Also a variety of people answer our question: Will racing games make you a better driver?
After the break EP’s John Shaw heads to Calgary to meet the team at H20 Entertainment that made the Nintendo 64 game, Tetrisphere. John interviews Chris Bailey, Gord Novak, Roland Longpré, John McBane,
Then Tommy heads to Namco’s Arcade Division and speaks with Jason Mimosa about the company’s fantastic forays into building arcade experiences. We’re also introduced to Craig Ward, a technical support engineer at the company.
Then Heat.Net’s “The Reverend” about the code names at the company and how “The Reverend” handle came to be.
After that, acclaimed visual effects artist, Steve “Spaz” Williams, who worked on Jurassic Park offers advice for budding computer graphic artists.
And in Reviews on the Run, we look at
Test Drive 4 for PlayStation
Top Gear Rally for Nintendo 64
Dark Reign for PC
Saturn Bomberman for SEGA Saturn
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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Victor Lucas reviews Stellar Blade for the PlayStation 5!
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Victor Lucas reviews the brand new (and recently renewed!) Fallout television series created for Amazon Prime Video and in partnership with Fallout's game makers at Bethesda Softworks.
Showrunners:
Graham Wagner
Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Starring:
Ella Purnell
Aaron Moten
Kyle MacLachlan
Moisés Arias
Xelia Mendes-Jones
Walton Goggins
Executive Producers:
Jonathan Nolan
Lisa Joy
Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Graham Wagner
Athena Wickham
Todd Howard
James Altman
Margot Lulick
James W. Skotchdopole
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch EP S1E5 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=MCvcdcwL7r0
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EP on Facebook: Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Victor Lucas connects with Alan Belardinelli, a recurring presence in The Electric Playground's early years , representing Nintendo for many of the latest games of 1997-1998, like Goldeneye 007, Pokémon, 1080º Snowboarding, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pilot Wings 64 and many more! Alan was part of some of the biggest moments in Nintendo history but what he does these days is even more extraordinary!
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Get ready we’re doing a little bit of everything in this classic episode of The Electric Playground!
We’re peering into the future of video games as Victor Lucas and Tommy Tallarico take a trip to SegaSoft’s Heat.Net and chat with Sarah Mason about Heat’s vision to get people playing games online. We also meet Heat’s president, Garry Griffiths, and Net Fighter producer and Sega vet, Erik Wahlberg. Even in 1997 Heat’s engineers were working on addressing lag in online fighting games on primitive low-bandwidth modems. And they were also looking at the permanence and inherent value of collectible digital objects—NFTs in the 90’s! Incredible!
Then Victor visits Crystal Dynamics to speak with Jeff Zwelling, producer of Gex: Enter The Gecko and we get the scoop on this ambitious amphibian’s sequel game. Next up Vic chats with Zak Krefting, the lead designer of Pandemonium 2 and we learn about how the game improves on the trippy original.
After the break EP Secret Agent, Kelly Benson hits the streets to dig up info on Nintendo’s Mario franchise. And then EP heads Nintendo of America and catches up with Nintendo Super Agent, Alan Belardinelli who tours us through the sensational Nintendo Museum at the facility. It’s very cool to showcase this 1997 perspective of a company’s already incredible achievements knowing how much Nintendo has accomplished since.
When we come back from the break we hear from EP’s Roger Earl as he lets know what Mario’s last name is!
In Reviews on the Run we look at:
Treasures of the Deep for PlayStation
Tetrisphere for Nintendo 64
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II for PC
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee for PlayStation
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
Save $5 on your purchase of $100 CAD or more* on http://PNPGAMESONLINE.COM with code SATURN97 until Apr 21st 2024. (*PRE-TAX)
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Victor Lucas discusses his favorite reveals from the Nintendo Indie World Showcase and he's also got a review of the brand new game for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation and Xbox, Harold Halibut. Check out EP's thoughts on Europa, Cat Quest III, Yars Rising, Antonblast, SteamWorld Heist II, Valley Peaks, Lorelai and the Laser Eyes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, Bzzzt and more!
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Victor Lucas is joined by game industry legend, David Doak to chat about his years with Rare working on Donkey Kong Country 3, Goldeneye 007 and starting and leaving Perfect Dark; then his years at Free Radical and inventing the incredible, TimeSplitters franchise; and we also hear about his time spent working on Star Wars: Battlefront 3, Haze and his thoughts on the cancellation of TimeSplitters 4 at the hands of Embracer Group. Sit back and enjoy this definitive conversation with a game maker that has seen and done it all!
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Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch EP S1E4 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=SxnR2tzePi4
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EP on Facebook: Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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We start the show with a trip to Radical Entertainment in Vancouver Canada to talk with the team working on NHL Powerplay ’98 for the SEGA Saturn, Sony PlayStation and Windows PC! Victor Lucas chats with Ferdie Espidido, Justin Sheffield, Colin Cameron, Emmanuel Soupidis, William Ho, Mike Biddlecombe and Alan Blouin about what makes this brand new hockey game feel so authentic.
Then after the break, Kelly Benson hits the streets to get peoples’ honest thoughts about Lara Croft and Tomb Raider.
Our feature piece this week is on the massive success of Tomb Raider and Tommy Tallarico chats with president of Eidos, Keith Boesky at Eidos headquarters in San Francisco. Vic catches up with Adrian Smith from Core Design at E3 1997 in Atlanta and then EP jets to Darby, England to Core Design HQ where Adrian introduces us to the team working on Tomb Raider II! We meet Peter Barnard working on cut sequences, Nathan McCree working on sound effects and music, and Neil Boyd and Heather Gibson working on the game’s level design!
When we come back from break we head to Milpitas, California, home of the fabled Atari Games and the birthplace of San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing. This is an interesting story because the arcade team behind San Francisco is working side by side with the Nintendo 64 team at Midway. We meet game designer, Cameron Petty; producer John Ray; artist, Rob Adams; and David Macias from the arcade team. For the N64 port we chat with programmer (and creator of Asteroids and Centipede!) Ed Logg; artist Kirk Young (who also worked on the arcade game); programmer, Michael Alexander; artist, Todd Papy (who later became a huge part of the God of War team at Sony Santa Monica)!
In Reviews on the Run we check out FOUR hockey games! Remember when they use to make multiple versions of the same sport every year? Remember competition?
NHL FaceOff 98 for the PlayStation
NHL 98 for the PlayStation
NHL PowerPlay 98 for the PlayStation
NHL Breakaway 98 for the PlayStation
And we end this episode with a special sneak peak of a game that has a very interesting history and a complex legacy, Shiny Entertainment’s Messiah.
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
Save $5 on your purchase of $100 CAD or more* on http://PNPGAMESONLINE.COM with code STARFOX64 until Apr 12th 2024. (*PRE-TAX)
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch EP S1E3 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ja6UppcsbhA&t=12s
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EP Live on YouTube (Sub if you'd like more live streams here): youtube.com/channel/UC5IZGHwDpkUw_WWs1setiag
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Victor Lucas has a monster machine to check out courtesy of Intel Canada. How will this PC Gaming Beast, equipped with a Intel’s new 14th Gen Core i9-14900K processor, a NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU, an ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Motherboard, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a Corsair ICUE Link liquid cooler going to handle a bunch of the best PC games on the market? Find out!
EP on Facebook (contests & updates!): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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Victor Lucas reviews Civil War, the new very topical and frightening film from writer/director, Alex Garland.
Starring:
Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith
Wagner Moura as Joel
Cailee Spaeny as Jessie
Stephen McKinley Henderson
Sonoya Mizuno as Anya
Nick Offerman as the President of the United States
Jefferson White as Dave
Juani Feliz as Joy Butler
Nelson Lee as Tony
Edmund Donovan as Eddie
Karl Glusman as a spotter
Jin Ha as a sniper
Jesse Plemons
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ProbablyMonsters' Mark Subotnick joins Victor Lucas in Vic's Basement to discuss his long career in video games. Fresh from Mark's appearance in S1E3 of #EPClassic, Mark details his years at SEGA working on Genesis, SEGA CD, Saturn and Dreamcast projects, then his transition to Xbox and launching the original platform and Xbox 360. Afterwards Mark details his time working with Intel and catches us up with a tease of the cool new projects on the way from Probably Monsters. Enjoy this deep dive conversation about one of the most storied, intriguing and prolific developers in the game industry.
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Spring is in the air and it’s time to take the field! EP heads to Oakland Coliseum to hang out with New York Yankees greats like Andrew Pettitte and Kenny Rogers and Carlos Reyes from the Oakland A’s. We also get a tip about the motion capture technology being used in sports video games from Brett England at Atari Games.
Turns out MLB players and baseball fans really like video game and EP really likes MLB games!
Tommy Tallarico and Victor Lucas go Head-To-Head with EA Sports’ Triple Play ’98 and Sony Computer Entertainment’s MLB 98 both for the PlayStation.
After our baseball double header, Kelly Benson rocks out at the 1997 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Ontario. Kelly’s mission? To chat with rockstars about video games and so Agent Benson connects with John Kastner from The Doughboys, David Usher from Moist, Bruce Gordon from I Mother Earth, Tyler Stewart from Barenaked Ladies, Jeff Martin from The Tea Party and Ken MacNeil from Rusty.
EP takes a dramatic turn and heads to 3DO in San Mateo, California to chat with Cyclone Studios founder, Helmut Kobler about their brand new hybrid first person shooter and strategy game called Uprising.
After all that combat it’s time for more baseball and so EP heads to SEGA of America’s headquarters for a chat with Product Specialist, Mark Subotnick, to find out about World Series Baseball ’98 for the SEGA Saturn.
Then it’s time for the highlight of this episode a look at the making of Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64. We hear from Nintendo’s Alan Belardinelli and the “KLOBB” himself, Mr. Ken Lobb. We also hear from Bond Girls, Maud Adams (“Octopussy” & “The Man With The Golden Gun”) and Grace Jones (“A View To A Kill”)
After the break we hear from Heat.Net’s “The Reverend” who comments on the subject of violence in video games.
For our Question of the Week: Tommy answers, “Why can’t we buy more videogame music (like the WipEout XL soundtrack)?”
In Reviews on The Run, Tommy and Vic look at:
World Series Baseball ’98 for the SEGA Saturn
Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
Save $5 on your purchase of $100 CAD or more* on http://PNPGAMESONLINE.COM with code STARFOX64 until Apr 12th 2024. (*PRE-TAX)
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
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If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Victor Lucas reviews Monkey Man starring and directed by Dev Patel and produced by Jordan Peele!
Monkey Man is a 2024 action thriller film directed by Dev Patel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. The film marks the directorial debut of Patel, who co-produced the film and stars in the lead role, alongside Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, and Makarand Deshpande.
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Victor Lucas reviews Dragon's Dogma 2 for the PlayStation 5. Is this one of the best action RPGs and best games of 2024? Find out!
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EP Live on YouTube (Sub if you'd like more live streams here): youtube.com/channel/UC5IZGHwDpkUw_WWs1setiag
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
Watch EP S1E1 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=7X1rcBvcTps&t=856s
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EP Live on YouTube (Sub if you'd like more live streams here): youtube.com/channel/UC5IZGHwDpkUw_WWs1setiag
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Victor Lucas sits down with Kelly Benson to celebrate the launch of #EPClassic and to catch up on all of Kelly's adventures over the years in television, video games, new media and beyond! Enjoy this long overdue catch up convo with the wonderful Kelly Benson!
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In this week’s episode of The Electric Playground—our second episode ever—Victor Lucas travels to Nintendo of America in Redmond Washington to chat with game industry luminary, Ken Lobb about the eternally delightful Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64!
Then Tommy Tallarico visits with Dreamworks Interactive in Los Angeles, California to chat (and break things) with Patrick Gilmore, Producer, and Sunil Thankamushy, Animator, of The Lost World: Jurassic Park for PlayStation and SEGA Saturn.
After that Kelly Benson heads to a bustling arcade to catch up with guitar gods, Steve Vai and Joe Santriani, and asks about their work in video games!
After the break, Tommy makes a mess visiting Doug TenNapel and the Neverhood to discuss the production of the claymation PlayStation classic, Skullmonkeys. Also in this piece watch out for game industry veterans: Kenton Leach, Mark Lorenzen, Joseph A. Sanabria, Mike Dietz, Luis Gigliotti and Brian Belfield.
When EP returns after the break Victor chats with Heat.Net’s Sarah Mason about their plans to create multiplayer games for up to 1,000,000 players and we hear from “The Reverend” who tells us about the potential of multiplayer games.
In the second ever Reviews on the Run, Tommy and Vic review:
- Porsche Challenge for PlayStation
- Fighters Megamix for SEGA Saturn
- 3D Ultra Minigolf for PC
The Electric Playground episodes are digitized and upscaled by the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. The wider EP Media Ltd. archive is located at the Library where it is preserved and digitized for long term access. Inquiries regarding the archive and the wider digitization process can be sent to utml.cds@utoronto.ca.
Classic Episodes of The Electric Playground are brought to you by @PNPGamesOfficial
Support EP Classic by shopping at: pnpgamesonline.com
Save $5 on your purchase of $100 CAD or more* on http://PNPGAMESONLINE.COM with code STARFOX64 until Apr 12th 2024. (*PRE-TAX)
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EPN Shorts: tiktok.com/@theelectricplayground
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Victor Lucas reviews Felix The Cat and the Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection from Limited Run Games for the Nintendo Switch!
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EP Live on YouTube (Sub if you'd like more live streams here): youtube.com/channel/UC5IZGHwDpkUw_WWs1setiag
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
If you'd like to support the EPN team by becoming a member and sponsoring our content, click the JOIN button! Thanks so much for your support!
Watch classic episodes of The Electric Playground every Saturday at 9am PT / noon ET!
Watch EP S1E2 right here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cc-uZRssDiI
EPN Live: Twitch.tv/EPN
EP Live on YouTube (Sub if you'd like more live streams here): youtube.com/channel/UC5IZGHwDpkUw_WWs1setiag
Official EPN Merch: EPN.tv/Merch
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Victor Lucas reviews Princess Peach: Showtime! for the Nintendo Switch and also has some help from his daughter.
EP on Facebook (for contests): Facebook.com/ElectricPlayground
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