Stephen on Stuff

Steveats: Good Sonic brunch burger, bad food quality

2020-02-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

This feature went away for a while, but now... IT'S BACK! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

Before I moved to Texas, Sonic was really pushing its brunch burger. For $2.99, you got an order of tots and the burger, which was topped with an egg, bacon and cheese. And let me tell you – The burger was a delight!

An egg on a burger is always a delicious decision, but many other places screw it up by keeping all of the other fixings, like lettuce and tomato, on there. The result is typically a slippery burger mess. But the Sonic burger was surprisingly put-together, and it was great value, as far as fast food burgers go. Because I've been such a slacker with this feature, the burger debuted in March 2019 and I'm only writing about it now, but my lethargy means its probably returning soon!

Now that I've recommended the burger to y'all, let me also share – On my last trip to Sonic, well, they served me a moldy bun.

This was in November, at the Cinco Ranch branch in Texas. I was looking for a quick bite after a football game – one of the few they didn't offer food at – and decided on Sonic, since my last experience with the brunch burger was so positive. I got a standard burger, and a hot dog.

The service was slow, and on top of that, I got about halfway through my burger when I saw that there was mold on it. GREAT. Obviously, I survived, but I was grossed out. To make matters worse, I tried to get a refund for it, and basically hit a dead end with Sonic's customer support. I even had a picture of it, which I have not put on this entry, for reader benefit.

Sooooo. I will probably go to Sonic again at some point. Like, stuff happens. You get a shipment of items late, you get an employee that doesn't care or notice, and so on. Steve gets served a moldy bun. But, I'm probably not going to go to THAT specific Sonic anytime soon, plus, there are so many other options in Texas that I need to check out that a return visit to Sonic isn't high on my list.

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! Or, you know, check the show out! If you have a request for a future Steveats, leave it in the comments on here or on my Facebook. To check out some of the past Steveats, go here!

Steveats: Taco Cabana

2020-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Obviously, Texas is more well-known for its Mexican food, and especially TexMex, than New England. When I first moved here, I was delighted to see all of the options, and as I search on Yelp, it returns me 90(!) options within five miles. Wonderful!

While I've really enjoyed some of the higher-end options, there is also a chain that is all over the place out here, even more so than Taco Bell. Since you've read the title of this entry, presumably, you probably already know that its Taco Cabana. Per Wikipedia and company press releases on the web, they had 176 stores as of 2017, and man, there are a TON of them in the Houston area.

As far as the food goes? Eh, it's fine! Here's the thing – My first time there, I went inside to get takeout, but I didn't realize that most of the toppings, you're supposed to put on yourself at a little bar in the store. When you look at the basic, bare taco they give you, it's... very, very bare.

I've been back a couple times since, and I'm happy to report that the product is a bit better with the salsa and sauces you can add in at the toppings bar. We're still not talking about Chipotle-level, five-pound burrito creations, but it's a nice, light meal in comparison to there or Taco Bell.

The other draw for Taco Cabana and my schedule is that they're open somewhat late. There is one less than a mile from my house that's open until 11 on Fridays, and it was a godsend during football season because it offered free wireless Internet too. That's a leg-up on fellow Texas chain Whataburger, although that place has much better food options.

Taco Cabana is also somewhat budget-conscious. I say “somewhat,” because you don't get a ton of food, but you can also eat and drink fairly cheap. After a couple trips, my go-to order is a meal that has two cheese-and-bean tacos, with chips, queso and a drink. The total is about $4.50, and the calorie count is substantially lower vs. the $5 Taco Bell box meals. The queso isn't anything special, but its better than the “sauce in a jar” from the usual grocery stores.

Taco Cabana also offers $3 to $5 frozen margaritas, although annoying, the staff seems to waver on whether or not you need to order food with them. Half the time, the server tells me yes, while the other times, they don't give a crap. (My sample size is only two, here, though.)

Anyway! Taco Cabana is by no means an essential spot to visit. But it's great if you're trying to fulfill a very narrow niche – sports reporter looking to file a story late before deadline – and you're sick of the usual spots like McDonald's and Whataburger.

Steveats: Cici's “Pizza” Buffet

2020-01-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Two lifeless pizza slices, but surprisingly OK cheesy bread.

For some reason, one commercial we would get quite a bit in Rhode Island would be for Cici's Pizza Buffet. Sure, it's not weird that they advertise on national television programs, but I'd also hear radio ads for them on HJY. It's strange, because the closest one is about 200 miles away in New Jersey. Although, as I'm about to get to, that might be appropriate.

In Texas, they have plenty of Cici's, so of course I had to go. And let me tell you – They aren't selling pizza, they're selling cardboard. I've had plenty of low grade pizza in my day, and I'm on record as kind of liking Sbarro. In the past, I've even had a breakdown of gas station pizza, and I compared a couple of those pizzas to cardboard.

The “pizza” at Cici's is worse than all of those places. It's not entirely surprising, since the margins for the business must be incredibly small, at a price of about $5 per buffet participant, depending on where you live. It is a sort of bizarre middleground between a thin crust and a pan pizza, without the positive qualities of either. The sauce and cheese don't really have much taste either, so the low-grade toppings are doing a lot of the “work” here.

I tried a wide variety of pizza at Cici's, and it all sucked. They also offer salad (hard to screw up) and pasta, which is... fine. They're likely using the same marinara sauce for the pizza and pasta though, since it's a mostly inoffensive pasta mush that they serve. They also had an Alfredo sauce pasta when I was there, which was a bit better, although strangely, the spinach Alfredo pizza was still complete garbage.

If you must eat at Cici's, I can only recommend one thing – the cheesy / garlic bread. According to the Cici's website, it's only 140 calories per two slices, which seems impossible to me. Mine was loaded up with a crap-ton of butter and garlic, which made it much more tolerable than the rest of the menu. If, for some sick reason, you need to order takeout, just load up on the cheesy bread.

My friend and fellow podcast co-host Todd Brisket warned me that Cici's was strictly a cheap place for 'za that you bring the kiddos, but man, I don't even think it clears that bar. The Pizza Hut buffet is 1.5-2x the price, but that's worth it for the jump in quality you get. Any place there might be a Cici's, there is likely a Chinese buffet, and even the weird pizza they have there is a better option than this.

Steveats: Steak 'n Shake garlic and regular steakburgers

2020-01-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Garlic steakburger.

While making the drive from Rhode Island to Texas, and during a scouting trip to Houston, there was one fast food chain that consistently caught my eye – Steak 'n Shake.

We don't have any in Rhode Island, and frankly, I hadn't even heard of it until regularly listening to the Doughboys podcast. The “commissioner” of the show, comedian Evan Susser, is always stumping for the chain, and I do love me an affordable fast food burger. Once we moved out here, there was one I passed constantly on i-10, and even when we traveled to Missouri for a wedding, there was one right next to our hotel!

So, it was clearly FATE that this is my first non-New England food item to write about. I've been twice, getting a regular burger one time, and the second time, a garlic burger. And you know what? They were good!

Now from the photos, you probably know that these are not life-changing burgers. They're just really well-done, simple fast food burgers. The meat does taste like a clear step up from the McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King level, even though it it as their price point vs. Five Guys or a fast casual place. I didn't get a shake either time though, because I'm now An Old and I can't handle the calories. (I've now found a regular basketball game though, so maybe a third visit in is order.)

One thing though – The fries are garbage. I had them plain, and I had them Cajun style, and both times they disappointed. I'm not sure if it's more of a Southern / Texas thing or just random, but I've now run into several places that go with the shoestring fries, instead of a “normal” or a steak fry. Every time I get a shoestring fry, it just reminds me of the cheapo ones you'd buy from the freezer section of the grocery store. (But even now, they have plenty of fuller-sized options available.)

I'm focusing a bit too much on the fries here, though. The steakburgers alone made my Steak 'n Shake visits enjoyable, and I'd definitely go back. That... will not be the case with several other places I've visited out here. BUM BUM BUM!

Normal burger, with hand for scale.

Steveats: Cracker Barrel's country fried turkey

2020-01-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

Somewhat surprisingly for a man known for questionable food decisions, I hadn't ever been to a Cracker Barrel before embarking on this little (ir)regular writing venture of mine. It would seemingly be right in my wheelhouse – a chain of questionable quality, with weird, gravy-coated offerings? – but it is quite awkwardly placed in my old stomping grounds of Rhode Island. It's right off of Route 95 in Coventry... but so is Popeye's, and if I'm going along that stretch, you can bet I'm going to Popeye's instead of Cracker Barrel.

However, this feature always leaves me looking to try things to write about, and I was finally enticed in during the Thanksgiving time frame with an offering that may or may not be seasonal – country fried turkey. I sometimes have a hankering for the “country fried” variety of food, although with steak, I usually take two bites and go, “Why yes, that is what it tastes like, and I'm quite satiated, thank you.” I was expecting a similar experience with Cracker Barrel.

But here's the thing... It was shockingly good. By this, I mean that the skin had a nice, fried crisp, and the meat was succulent and tender. Like, as far as a fried bird tender went, this was one of the better ones I've had. Typically, whether you're talking KFC or Applebee's or McDonald's, if you're getting the chicken tendies, you're getting a dipping sauce, because they're dry. Not the case here! The white gravy on top was quite unnecessary, because the turkey was moist on its own, and because white gravy is a disgusting-looking food substance.

Let me be clear though – This is not the start of a love affair with Cracker Barrel, because the rest of my meal was utterly and completely flavorless, and the total came out to around $15. This is more in line with what I was expecting, basically, bland food for the family. I got two piles of mush that they called mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese, but they were hard to tell apart except by color. Some cranberry chutnuy added a third color – crimson – to my plate, and it had enough “kick” to be mixed into the mashed potatoes. Lastly, I got two biscuits, which were pretty big and flavorless.

All in all, I got one good food option out of five at the Cracker Barrel. From hearing other friends describe their past experiences with the chain, this seems like a good percentage, and I shant risk lowering it with another visit anytime soon.

Steveats: Burger King (and Jack in the Box) tacos

2020-01-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

This is a BK taco.

My consistent nemesis on this blog, Burger King, has been hyping yet another one of their culinary flailings lately – the $1 taco. Now, I'm not as fundamentally opposed to this as one might think! It is a low price point, and hey, it's not like Taco Bell is using grade-A meat in their offerings, which scratch at my lizard brain in a delightful way. Burger King's products theoretically are made of meat, so the King offering a taco doesn't strike me as too outlandish.

However, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, the product was nearly a 1:1 copy of another disappointing food item I tried during my first week in Texas, when I was desperate for some cheap fast food – The Jack in the Box taco. In fact, I'm going to describe BOTH of them at the same time in this entry, because I'm almost positive they were created by the same culinary master.

Firstly, the shell. It basically tastes like a Frito, and I don't mean this as a positive. I mean that the taco shell is oddly crispy and crunchy, like they double fried the thing or something. Until tasting the Jack taco, I didn't even know a shell could be “too crunchy.”

Secondly, the “meat,” quote usage intentional. I don't know what this sludge was, but it didn't really taste like any normal ground beef. Both Burger King and Jack use a type of meat I would classify as a slurry. It tastes highly pureed, which probably causes all of the good stuff in the batch to sink to the bottom of whatever disgusting urn they're using to cook it in. (I'm picturing something akin to a witch's brew pot.) Jack has a squirt of some red, tomato-y kind of sauce in there, which basically tastes like watered-down ketchup.

My other bulletpoints here: I give the slight edge to Jack, because while the tacos are awful, their version is priced better at two-for-$1. Both had a decent amount of lettuce, but too little cheese, which would have helped to cover up the awfulness of the meat. At both places, I got some other items – mozzarella sticks at BK (very meh, but OK for $1), and the double burger at Jack (standard burger, not bad, but behind the cheapo burgers available at McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King).

As I've noted here, it seems like BK has been casting about for successful items for years now, mostly with limited success, except for the Cheetos mac and cheese items that probably require a hefty licensing fee. According to Restaurant Business Online, BK is in a kind of weird spot. The chain is closing around 200 to 250 low-volume stores a year, but it is also opening 1,000 stores a year. The article notes that the company is growing in Russia, China and Latin America; I'd be shocked if much of the growth was in the U.S.

Steveats: KFC's Chicken and Waffles

2019-04-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, how have you beeeeeen? Good, I hope? Annnnyyywwaayyyy. I've been squirreling away these meals over the past couple of months, but a combination of some writer's block and lack of time has been loosened by another journalism industry-related downturn in employment status. (That's a nice way of saying that I got laid off again, as I often have done to me.)

So, let me instead focus on more pleasant things, or at least, more mediocre things. That being, the KFC chicken and waffles. I actually tried these out for the first time when they were introduced in November, but they've resurfaced in advertisements tied around MARCH MADNESS 2019 and its amateur athletics basketball tournaments.

If I pitched to you, “Chicken and waffles from KFC,” the product and taste that inspires in your mind is probably exactly the same as the experience I had. By that, I mean it is exactly average KFC-like food. I might be mistaken, but I think they even use the same exact boneless chicken as they use for their tenders.

And the waffles... Well, they're kind of bland and flavorless. They come with a little individual package of syrup, and you'll need to douse those waffles in it, or pair it with a bite of chicken each time, because they are disappointing. My were pretty gummy, and tasted like a product that had been microwaved, but oddly, they weren't as good as an Eggo.

Since they've returned, they are now a “proper” part of the KFC value menu, meaning they're in the $5 to $10 range, depending on how many you'd like and the sides you want included. Also, by the way – the basic chicken-and-waffle “sandwich,” with syrup, runs about 1,100 calories, according to their nutrition calculator. It definitely rates toward the bottom of my desired fast food items when you factor that in as well.

(Scheduling note going forward: I have a couple more of these in the queue, in terms of things I took pictures for or bought with the idea of doing a Steveats. Karen and I are kind of busy this month and next though, so I'm not entirely sure when they will end up on the site. As usual, I'll push them out on my Facebook and other channels when I remember.)

Steveats: Papa Gino's Buffalo chicken mac and cheese “pizza” monstrosity

2018-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

According my notes, the last Steveats I did was in honor of Valentine's Day and my birthday, and for that, I had the Naked Chicken Chalupa from Taco Bell. Obviously, it left such an impression on me that I did not bring this feature back for 15 months! (The boring, real answer though – Man, life sure does get busy sometimes, huh??? Plus, when you're living with another human being as I am now, you manage to eat a lot better.)

With my significant other gone for a month, well, that has left me with some free time to really explore the studio space of Steveats. You know... EXPLORE the studio space. So, without further adieu, I bring you... The Papa Gino's Buffalo chicken mac and cheese pizza.

I had somewhat high hopes with this one, because, hey, it's kind of hard to screw up Buffalo chicken! It is one of the world's most magical and wonderful substances. You can use it in a wide variety of delicious things, whether you're having it straight-up or mixed with blue cheese. Or ranch, if you're a soulless monster.

I was expecting Buffalo chicken dip, or small chunks of chicken, mixed with some mac and cheese, on top of a pizza. Instead, what I got was probably breaded Buffalo chicken sandwich meat, thrown on top of a mac and cheese pizza. No sauce. Scandal! Outrage! What kind of fool do they take me for?

Apparently, a fool they thought would pay $18 for a pizza. Thankfully, I had a coupon, so the total damage was just $13. Still, this was disappointing. The mac and cheese was also really bland, which surprised me, since the Papa Gino's all you can eat pasta is usually serviceable, as is their pizza.

Anyway... I still ate the god damn thing over the course of two and a half days. It was still tasty, but disappointing. Missed potential, like watching a high draft pick flame out on your favorite team. As of right now, the plan is to have one Steveats a week, but we'll see how that goes, and how motivated I'll be to keep eating (mildly disappointing, usually) junk food.

YPB: Episode 099 – Blast Corps (1997)

2017-03-20T10:30:00.000-04:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are using bulldozers, dump trucks and robots to destroy everything in our path! From 1997, we’re playing Blast Corps by Rare for the Nintendo 64.

You can manually download this week’s destruction-filled podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the excellent title theme from the game.
1:45 – Today's sponsor, along with a shoutout!
21:00 – We get soooo many letters! It's the email portion, of the show!
30:00 – It's the return of a popular segment! The ToddBitSkit!
32:30 – We help someone out, with... Ask The Sweet Boys.
38:45 – Our next show is #100, and we have the funkiest fresh commercial from that game!

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, Blast Corps is still quite affordable! The loose N64 cart is only $8, and you can get the box and manual thrown in for $29.

- Blast Corps is one of the games included on the excellent Rare Replay for the Xbox One, along with past show subjects R.C. Pro-Am. You can listen to our previous show on that here!

YPB: Episode 098 – Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1994)

2017-03-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are getting killed by bats, rats and traps in one horrible game! From 1994, we’re playing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft for the Super Nintendo.

You can manually download this week’s tale-as-old-as-time podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which is the trailer from the 1991 movie version.
19:00 – Todd performs his magic, as he unearths more gold for another segment of… Video Game Theater. (WARNING! Strong language.)
24:30 – We have a Most Best Game of All-Time segment! From the Most Best Gift Giver!
27:15 – Emails!
40:00 – Next week, we’re playing a deeeeeep, story-driven game for the Nintendo 64.

YPB: Episode 097 – Willow (1989)

2017-03-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are questing and earning XP as a humble little person! From 1989, we’re playing Willow by Capcom for the arcade and NES.

You can manually download this week’s heroic podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the well-done but incredibly repetitive main theme from the NES edition of Willow.
25:00 – It’s the segment for shout-outs! Comments, Concerns and Questions.
32:00 – Emails! The alternative relationships of some co-hosts are none of our business.
43:00 – We help some more people this week in… Ask the Sweet Boys.
48:00 – It’s the segment we didn’t even know existed! It’s so unexpected we don’t have bumper music for it! We get a Voicemail from a friend.
55:30 – Snifferoo. Beauties and/or beasts next week!

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, Willow is a pretty affordable game. It’s about $10 for the loose cart, and $25 if you want the cart, box and manual. However, it’s not popular enough to be on the various re-release carts or emulator packages Capcom has done.

YPB: Episode 096 – Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

2017-02-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are hunting down creatures with our explosive bow and arrow! From 1997, we’re playing Turok: Dinosaur Hunter by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64. We’re joined by friend of the show Dale!

You can manually download this week’s interdimensional podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which is the title theme from Turok.
39:30 – We find out who thought this game was the… Most Best Game of All-Time.
43:15 – Comments, concerns and questions, from two listeners this week!
48:30 – Emails! How are the kids?
1:03:30 – We can’t let an opportunity go by without helpin’ some people. It’s… Ask the Sweet Boys.
1:09:30 – Snifferoo. We’re playing a game based on a movie that totally didn’t steal everything from The Hobbit.

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, most of the Turok games are quite affordable! Except for a rare variant of Rage Wars, everything is between $5 and $20 for Turok.

- Dale has a website! Check out Dale Is Great here!

YPB: Episode 095 – Command and Conquer: Red Alert (1996)

2017-02-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are turning aside the Soviet threat, or, working as double agents! From 1996, we’re playing Command and Conquer: Red Alert by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts for the PC. We’re joined by our special friend, DTR!

You can manually download this week’s ore silo-focused podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the DEATH MARCH theme from the game!
35:00 – It’s a sometimes-feature! Comments, Concerns and Questions.
42:15 – Emails! Someone just wants to say HI.
50:00 – Ask the sweet boys about allllll of your problems.
57:00 – Snifferoo. Next week, we’re huntin’ them dinosaurs really well!

SHOW NOTES

- As mentioned on the show, Red Alert is now officially freeware! And it’s well-supported by fans. You can easily download a self-installer for it, as well as other games in the series and Dune 2000, here.

YPB: Vidya Game News – February 17, 2017

2017-02-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

- Those wonderful people on Reddit have managed to get Primal Rage 2 working on MAME. Read more here!

- Polygon and other sites are reporting that the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy will hit stores on June 30. You can listen to our Crash Bandicoot show here!

- On Twitter, via US Gamer, some lucky journalists back in the day got promotional t-shirts for Project Reality, the early name for the N64. And, they’re gloooorrrrrious.

- Unholy Night, a new SNES fighting game by the makers of Samurai Showdown and King of Fighters, is looking for Kickstarter backers for a physical release. You can find more info here.

- Achievement Oriented, the video game podcast on Bill Simmons’ Ringer network, had an interesting episode on the future of sports video games – and how bad NBA Live has been lately – and how damn successful Grand Theft Auto 5 has been. You can listen to it here!

- Den of Geek has a good story on the weird approval process for the bad… well, worse versions of Moonwalker. You can listen to our show on the “good” Genesis one here!

- EXCELLENT! Keanu Reeves confirmed that work is continuing on Bill and Ted 3. Hopefully it doesn’t spawn another horrible vidya game though, as we discussed on a previous show.

As always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Steveats: Taco Bell’s Naked Chicken Chalupa, not really for Valentine’s Day

2017-02-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Debuting a new, semi-regular feature! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

It’s Valentine’s Day! And while that means it’s my birthday – happy 33^rd, me! – it also means that you might be looking for a romantic meal for you and your significant other. And, if you’ve suffered significant brain trauma, you might think that you’ll find that dish at Taco Bell. When Taco Bell announced the Naked Chicken Chalupa in January, it was sent to me by at least five loyal readers. I’m glad that I’m being fed this information, in turn to feed my gut.

I finally got a chance to give it the ole Steveats try last week, and let me say… It’s not bad! The main “selling point” is the fried chicken shell. The chicken itself wasn’t bad. Fairly moist, and unlike what I first thought, there wasn’t beef in the chalupa. Just the normal lettuce, tomato, cheese and, according to Taco Bell, a creamy avocado ranch dressing.

However, much like the monstrous KFC Double Down, this chalupa is a “solution” to a non-problem. One of my favorite parts of any taco is the hard or the soft shell, whether we’re talking normal versions or special treats like them Doritos tacos. Why do we need to replace that with chicken? There isn’t any real benefit to a greasy taco “shell,” instead of just having the chicken inside of a normal shell.

The only real benefit to the Naked Chicken Chalupa right now is that it’s in one of the irresistible value meals. For $5 and tax, you get the chalupa, a regular taco, and a Doritos hard shell taco, plus a drink. And thank god, none of those horrible cinnamon twists anymore! It’s not a horrible overall deal for $5, so if you’re still curious about greasy chicken shells, knock yourself out. It’s a great Valentine’s Day experience, if you’re looking to leave someone horribly depressed and downtrodden about their situation.

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! If you have a request for a future Steveats, leave it in the comments on here or on my Facebook. To check out some of the past Steveats, go here!

YPB: Episode 094 – Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers (1990)

2017-02-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are lifting huge apples and boxes to save our scantily clad mouse friend! From 1990, we’re playing Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers by Capcom for the NES.

You can manually download this week’s chiptastic podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the excellent title theme from the game.
29:00 – Emails! How ARE your wife and kids?
44:30 – We can’t end the episode without helping some people, in… Ask The Sweet Boys.
50:00 – Snifferoo. Can we save Professor Einstein in next week’s game?

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, and mentioned on the show, the first Rescue Rangers game is affordable, at $17 for the loose cart, although it’s $55 for the box, manual and cart. But the sequel? Much like DuckTales 2, it was another Capcom-Disney collaboration that came out toward the end of the NES’ lifespan. So, it’s $217 for the loose cart of Rescue Rangers 2, and $593 for the box, manual and cart.

- You can read more about Rescue Rangers here. As mentioned on the show, the title themes are done by the same guy, and they’re both fantastic.

- As the often do, Uproxx’s Lindsay Kimble has five facts about Rescue Rangers here.

- Also, from Disney’s Twitter account, Rescue Rangers with real chipmunks.

Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Review: Final odds and ends

2017-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

R.I.P. Lindsay Lister, Dean's ex.

Warning: Spoilers follow for pretty much all seasons of Gilmore Girls, but mostly the Revival series.

Now that I’ve reached the end of my Gilmore Girls watching, at least until the inevitable season nine, here are some random, stray thoughts I had while watching the Revival, or earlier seasons, that I couldn’t find room for to cram into another entry…

- Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel were allegedly paid $750,000 per episode, according to information obtained by Variety. That seems like an incredibly high price to pay for one of the actresses, and her name doesn’t rhyme with More In Sham. My assumption is that one actress did a solid for her fellow actress, and wouldn’t agree to the show unless their salaries matched. I’m saying this because one of them has worked regularly and solidly for the decade since the show has been off the air, while the other has mostly been relegated to straight-to-video or straight-to-streaming work.

- The most glaring omission to me from the Revival series? Madeline and Louise! They were both seemingly available, unlike some others on this helpful list from Insider. I thought for sure we would see them when Paris and Rory went back to Chilton, but instead, we got a weird cameo from (a new actor playing) Tristan. Madeline and Louise weren’t even mentioned!

The second (well, third) most glaring admission would be Liz, Luke’s sister. She would have brought some levity to the revival, plus, Luke didn’t really get much of the floor to himself in the revival. Just a really brief scene with Jess.

Quick hitters on missing cast members: It’s understandable that Lucy wasn’t there; Kristyn Ritter is a much bigger star now, and eh, she was only in half of the last season of the show, along with Olivia. (Also, Rory is awful and can’t keep friends.) The same thing goes for Dave Ryjaski, a.k.a. Adam Brody – He was awesome on the show, but he was barely on it in the grand scheme of 100+ episodes. While I stumped for him at times, Marty was 1) ultimately sleazy and 2) not that critical to anything plot-wise for the show, so who cares that he’s not in the revival? Max Medina is also absent, but again, he ultimately didn’t have much influence.

- The show made a big deal of finally “revealing” whether Mr. Kim was alive, and who he was. It’s unfortunate, because it disrupts a pet theory of mine; that Mr. Kim was there all the time, and you just never noticed him. In Luke’s Diner, there is Luke, and Caesar is the sous chef / back-up chef. Buttt, if you pay close attention to the show, there is a third guy, an Asian one, and he shows up quite often. I’m assuming it’s just a staffer that filled in as an extra when they needed someone; I don’t even think he gets a spoken line in the show. But he is clearly Lane Kim’s real father.

- So, I usually harp on minor character Lindsay Lister, a.k.a. Dean’s ex-wife, and her tragic murder / just not being on the show anymore. While I kind of do it to be funny, there is another reason I’m firmly in her corner: She’s one of the few characters on the show that exhibit positive change.

When she’s first introduced, she’s barely developed, and seems kind of whiny. And it doesn’t help that Dean is basically awful, and then cheats on her, and then gets weirdly aggressive and is a major prick in ensuing conversations. But she makes efforts to improve, and her second-to-last scene is her successfully cooking a steak dinner for Dean. (And hey, I do like me a steak dinner.)

In Gilmore Girls, my basic test for whether I like or dislike a character is whether they manage to change for the better. When it comes to this standard, Lane and Zach are the best examples, with Jess also being high on my list, although much of his “improvement” is seemingly off-screen. Emily, Luke and Lorelai have regression at times, but ultimately come out improved after 157 episodes. Firmly in the negative on this scale? Logan and Rory. That’s why they deserve each other.

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! To read all of Steve’s past Inexplicable Movie Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable TV Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable Video Game Reviews, click here! And for Inexplicable Book Reviews, go here!

YPB: Vidya Game News – February 9, 2017

2017-02-09T12:30:00.000-05:00

- Netflix has confirmed that an animated Castlevania show will be hitting their service in 2017! You can read about it on GameSpot, and a bunch of other sites. Its creator has called it “R-rated as fuck,” and based on Castlevania 3. You can listen to our ‘vania 1 show here.

- Enshrined in Stuff’s Hall of Fame now: The Sega Mega Drive. Read more here!

- From Tristan Jurkovich at GameSpew, a good read on the “bizarre localization” of a fun adventure / platform action game, Power Blade.

- Sweet sassy molassy! Source codes for NBA Jam Extreme and Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter were found on some auctioned computers, according to this Kotaku article, which is based on the fine work of the folks at YouTube channel Silicon Classics.

- On Ars Technica, World of Warcraft gold can now be used on other Blizzard titles like Overwatch and Hearthstone. Also, by the way, we’ve covered a bunch of their games – the original Warcraft series, Starcraft and Diablo.

- A slew of Star Wars games are available in this week’s Humble Bundle, including Knights of the Old Republic and Shadows of the Empire. Check it out here! We haven’t covered those excellent games, but we have played and reviewed Rogue Squadron 3D (included in the bundle!) and Super Star Wars (not including, but you don’t wanna murder jawas anyway).

As always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Steveats: The Dunkin’ Donuts Pop-Tarts grand experiment

2017-02-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Karen's hands aren't enormous. This is just a super zoom.

Debuting a new, semi-regular feature! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

For years now, the Kellogg company has been taking audacious risks with its toastable breakfast treats, Pop-Tarts. Walk down the grocery aisle, and you can find the classic flavors like strawberry, chocolate fudge and brown sugar cinnamon, mingling with abominations like Orange Crush and Mug Root Beer flavors. Disgusting.

So, I was on the fence when I learned that there were Dunkin’ Donuts Pop-Tarts, available in vanilla latte and chocolate mocha varieties. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any of the latter, but the former were still available for ordering on Walmart.com. (My other high quality purchase to qualify for free shipping? Why, a Sunbeam bread maker replacement part.)

Because the only ordering option was a family pack of 16, Karen and her friend Jordyn got recruited into some taste-testing this week. Plus, they both have way more experience with Pop-Tarts than I do. Karen’s remarks on the ole Dunkin’ Donuts vanilla latte Pop-Tart are similar to what mine would be:

“Can’t you just remember what you talked about when we ate them?”

“No.”

“Okay, well, this is just me and you having a conversation. We each tried one cold and one hot, and the hot were better. We were disappointed they didn’t have more filling, but I didn’t know if that was for this particular Pop-tart or if the Pop-Tart company has cutback in general. For all I know the strawberry ones don’t have much filling either. And then, I also said that they reminded me, it was like eating a Cumby’s cappuccino. They were pretty good. I would continue eating them if they were available, but I wouldn’t buy them again. Brown sugar cinnamon still wins the Pop-Tart race. That’s all I have to say about it.”

Reached for comment at a later point, Jordyn said, “I thought they were great! I'm probably not the toughest critic in the world but I'd eat the heck out of them if they were a little healthier, haha. I mean, true, they're not jumping up to the top of the Pop-Tart list because it's actually impossible to beat brown sugar and hot fudge sundae. But still delicious? Yes.”

So, there you have it. These Pop-Tarts are pretty tasty, according to three different people, two of which go to Brown University. They’re Ivy League-approved. But they need more filling, and they aren’t the best Pop-Tarts you can purchase. Stock up on those brown cinnamon sugar ones instead. (Which, admittedly, I haven’t tried yet.)

YPB: Episode 093 – Lode Runner (1983, 1987)

2017-02-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are digging holes, and climbing ladders and shimmying across ziplines, to avoid enemies! From 1983 for the PC and 1987 for the NES, we’re playing Lode Runner by Broderbund.

You can manually download this week’s puzzling-platform podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which covers the jaunty tunes in the first 30 seconds or so of gameplay.
22:15 – This week, we hear from some people about why Lode Runner is… The Most Best Game of All-Time.
27:00 – Emails! A lady thinks that Donnie guy from last week sounds really sexy.
41:30 – We can’t end the show without helping some people in… Ask the Sweet Boys.
47:00 – Snifferoo. An early guess, but next week’s game is going to score high on the DuckTales meter!

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, the NES version of Lode Runner is pretty affordable, at $9 for the loose cart and $28 for the cart, box and manual. It’s been released on a bunch of other platforms as well, and god-knows how many times for the PC, so you can easily score a copy for less than $10.

- The license for Lode Runner is held by Tozai Games, and their website is here. They also hold the license for Spelunker and R-Type now.

- As we are sometimes wont to do, we talk a lot about Fallout on this episode, and specifically, New Vegas. The trophy guide Steve mentions is available here.

- You can see Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, which has similar gameplay, in this YouTube video.

Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Revival Review: Fall (4 of 4)

2017-02-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Warning: Spoilers follow for the fourth episode of the Gilmore Girls revival. And the picture of Lorelai in a wedding dress comes from this cheeky article on the Martha Stewart Weddings website.

Despite some trepidation about the series as a whole, and lowered expectations because of how godawful the third episode was, the Gilmore Girls Revival finale, “Fall,” mainly manages to stick the landing.

Things rebound quickly for the low, low, lowwwww of episode three, which saw Lorelai leaving Stars Hollow behind to go WILD. That was laughable, and thankfully, it’s abandoned after about 10 minutes, as she realizes 1) she absolutely doesn’t have the skills to survive in the wild and 2) she’s not actually heartbroken, like the other women hitting the trail. (This portion of the show apparently has cameos from Lauren Graham’s other show, Parenthood, and her lover, but I never watched it and thus was in the dark about this aspect.)

After Lorelai gets her groove back by going WILD with the secret power of the help, or something to that effect, she quickly mends things with Luke. And they finnaaaalllllly set a wedding date, and then, get married. Huzzah! Their eloping is sweet, although, somewhat annoying. There is a storyline justification for it, but it also felt like they couldn’t possibly get everyone together to film things, so this was a good way to sidestep that issue.

And oh yeah – Rory is still awful. The big shocker at the end of the revival is that she’s pregnant. The show ends at that point, so it’s unclear for the father is. The odds-on favorite would be Logan, with smaller odds on Jess or Paul, since we never actually see Rory coitus the latter two.

Karen smartly pointed out that the show subtly foreshadows her pregnancy announcement at the end. We think that we finally get a Christopher cameo because Rory is interviewing him for the book project, not because she’s gauging her ability to raise a baby on her own. (Although, to be fair, it’s hard to imagine that Emily and Lorelai wouldn’t have a substantial hand to play in this.)

Oh, and also, Sookie finally comes back! It’s clear they only got Melissa McCarthy for one scene, because she is a Bright Shining Star now. Still, it was good to see her. She’s gotten substantially better as an actress, too, if you compare her work in “Fall” to her other appearances in previous seasons.

Other thoughts on the “Fall” episode:

- Emily is straight up baller. Unlike Lorelai, who kind of gets her groove back in a lame way, Emily is a total boss. She kicks out the weird and mooching post-Richard boyfriend, she gives the DAR the high-hat, and she’s using her Smith-earned history degree to lecture about whales.

- I’m glad Dean is doing well, even if he hasn’t been brought to justice yet for the diabolical murder of Lindsay Lister. We do not see Dean’s sassy little sister, which is a little disappointing.

- I’m ultimately on Team Logan when it comes to who Rory should end up with. Not because I think he’s better than Jess, but because Rory is so awful, she doesn’t deserve Jess. Rory ultimately decides to cut Logan out of her child’s life completely, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, and I can’t blame her.

We get yet another Life and Death Brigade thing, and they’re still fucking awful. All of these people are now in their 30s, and they’re still acting like petulant children. Arrested development, the concept, as opposed to the wonderful show. Logan seems to be friends with all of these people still – and hey, also conceiving a baby in a cheating relationship – so, okay, cut him out.

- Gilmore Girls is the name of the show and the name of Rory’s manuscript! Ha ha ha! It was nice of Lorelai to sign off on Rory’s work, but meh, I’m still of the mindset that she didn’t have to at all.

- Lorelai’s money management skills remain awful. She just ditches all the camping equipment on the side of the road! She couldn’t return any of it?!? And she basically just dropped everything to go to the West Coast, booking a plane and renting a car while out there. The finances of the Revival and the show itself never really made sense though.

Future scheduling stuff: I’m still on a partial writing schedule, because I just moved into a new place with Karen, and I should really be unpacking things and listing old crap on eBay instead of writing about Gilmore Girls and other things. But, I’ll have one more entry on Gilmore Girls odds and ends, and hopefully a Steveats next week.

YPB: Episode 092 – Rush’n Attack (1985)

2017-01-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are saving America by invading other countries, seemingly! From 1985, we’re playing Rush’n Attack by Konami for the Arcade and NES.

You can manually download this week’s shootin’ podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the title theme from the game.
27:30 – Emails! We hear from some star-crossed lovers, and the man of the previous half-hour.
43:45 – We love to help people, so… Ask the Sweet Boys.
50:30 – Snifferoo. What are we playing next week? Who knows!

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, Rush’n Attack is pretty affordable nowadays, as long as you just want the cart. It runs $7 for the game only, to $25 for the cart, manual and box. New, boxed copies go for $200.

- As mentioned on the podcast, the sequel looks… less than impressive.

- Hey, it’s Dabney Coleman on The Tonight Show!

YPB: Episode 091 – Final Fight (1989, 1991)

2017-01-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are punching our way to peace! From 1989 and 1991, we’re the arcade and Super Nintendo versions of Final Fight by Capcom.

You can manually download this week’s podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Intro, which features the character select screen from the arcade version, and the awesome laughing of a bad guy.
37:00 – Emails! We hear from an important diplomat, and others.
53:45 – Ask the sweet boys! Got kicked in the balls extremely hard two hours ago?
58:45 – Snifferoo. A special guest returns to the show next week for a super cool NES game!

SHOW NOTES

- According to Price Charting, pretty much all of the Final Fight games are worth money. They range from $14 for the loose cart of the original, to $172 for the NES spinoff.

Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Revival Review: Summer (3 of 4)

2017-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Warning: Spoilers follow for the third episode of the Gilmore Girls revival. The image comes from Nerdist’s write-up here.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy.

The third episode is, by far, by leaps and bounds, by miles upon miles, the worst of the Revival series. It’s full of Rory and Lorelai acting awful, and when they aren’t acting horrible, we instead have outlandish scenes with the folks of Stars Hollow and the other side characters. “Summer” is basically a 90-minute fever dream of an episode, and like plenty of other folks on the Internet, I desperately wanted to fast forward through several parts of it.

Let’s start in reverse order: Lorelai leaving Luke for a few weeks to go “wild” seemed like the most absurd bullshit ever. I had a similar reaction to Luke’s – you mean that movie thing? I wasn’t aware it was a thing that people actually did. If anything, it seems like the show’s creators were overestimating how popular Wild is or was, because I’ve pretty much never heard of anyone deciding to “find themselves” in such a fashion.

And, by the way, if someone were to do that, Lorelai Gilmore would be really fucking low on the list. To spoil the fourth episode a bit, we find out that isn’t that sort of person, but I also think she would have come to that realization way, way, wayyyyy before she bought a shitload of stuff and booked the flight out to the Pacific Northwest, or wherever they shot that. The whole exercise felt like the producers learning Lauren Graham had a vacation planned, and they thought, “Hey, maybe we can use this for the show!”

Lorelai is clearly stagnating with Luke. The best place for her to work these issues out would probably be therapy, except that the show has already portrayed her therapist as a doddering idiot now performing in a Stars Hollow musical. This is also when the show’s lack of access to side characters shines through. The original run, the only consistent friend of Lorelai is Sookie, who’s now unavailable because Melissa McCarthy is a big god damn star. Without Sookie, Lorelai has no friends. (And honestly, being friends with Lorelai seems like it would be exhausting.)

Meanwhile, Rory continues to flounder and suck. She graduated from Yale a decade ago, roughly, but seemingly never has any decent ideas of her own, despite being a writer with a journalism degree. So, she’s now (poorly) running the Stars Hollow Gazette, and trying to pitch her mother on the idea of a book about them, except that that’s not really her idea either – it’s Jess’ idea.

Quick aside – Jess! Man, he’s only more of a beautiful bastard as he ages. And now, with the hindsight of time, I will confess two things: 1) He’s by far the best of Rory’s boyfriend options and 2) He is way too good for her. Along with Lane and Zach, and a few other characters, Jess is the only one who grows and seems to learn from past mistakes. He’s shown longing for Rory a little bit, but I think his mindset would change pretty quickly if he learned that she had been cheating for years on her forgettable boyfriend with Logan, who in turn has been cheating on his heiress.

Anyway, Rory can’t get Lorelai to sign off on the book idea in this episode. I’m Team Lorelai on this one – It should be her right to protect her own privacy on this, especially since the first few years of raising Rory sounded pretty hectic and lean, from past episodes. As an outsider, just knowing what we know from previous episodes, Lorelai’s decision to raise Rory completely absent Richard and Emily, and Christopher, seemed unnecessarily harsh to me at times.

Rory’s going to plow ahead with the book anyway though, because that’s easier than going back to grad school, or just working at a shitty journalism or normal job for a while. That’s because whenever presented with a hard choice, Rory’s default is usually to take the easiest option, whether it’s continuing her comfortable affair, or half-assing it with her forgettable boyfriend instead of breaking up, or not preparing for an interview.

If it’s tough, simple work – like delivering the paper – then she’s fine, but anything with nuance seems beyond her, and she’s usually not willing to hurt. The counterpoints would be Lane, who willingly moves out of her mom’s house and slings coffee at Luke’s, or Paris, who tirelessly and exhaustively ponders alternative options. Paris is obviously too extreme at times, but shit, at least she has a plan or plans at all times. Instead, Rory is like a shittier version of Hamlet.

Anyway, I seem to be swearing a lot this entry. Episode three did that to me. Here’s some other shit that happens:

- THE STARS HOLLOW PLAY! Good god. Karen told me this was her least favorite part of the entire Revival series. I mostly rolled my eyes through it. It’s outlandish, stupid and unbelievable, but I didn’t find it to be any more stupid than the usual Stars Hollow bullshit, like Taylor opening / seizing an ice cream shop next to Luke’s by eminent domain. The play is also so stupid that I couldn’t help but laugh at a few portions, which is what they were probably going for with most of the Stars Hollow BS, but it usually comes off as annoying to me.

- April makes a two-scene appearance, as a sort-of rebel MIT grad, and then in the privacy of Rory’s room, more of a Grade-A Nerd you’d expect her to be. I seem to be one of the few April fans on the Internet, but there really isn’t much to go on her from her brief appearance in the Revival.

By the way though, if there is one thing the Revival wants to stress to you, it’s that younger people are the fucking worst. Between the somewhat flippant portrayal of April, and the “ohmygod what is this a CBS sitcom?” running gag about the 30-something gang, there are plenty of potshots at young people. It’s kind of distressing to see Gilmore Girls turn into a “Not in my yard!” kind of show, since the early seasons showed young people (Rory, Paris, April, Lane) mostly as intelligent, somewhat rational people.

- Jess mentions that TJ and Liz have joined a vegetable cult, which seems like an unnecessarily cruel way to yada yada yada them off the show. I never really cared for TJ, but Liz the Space Cadet was a nice sort of balancing act to Luke’s gruffness. In a four-episode series that already has a decent amount of fluff, one heart-to-heart between Liz and Luke wouldn’t have hurt.

- I’ve never watched Bunheads, but apparently, everyone from that show was in this episode. The blonde girl in the 30-something gang, etc. I totally recognized Sutton Foster though, because she’s basically Lauren Graham 2.0. Much like the original, but with improved dancing and singing abilities! Also, both are dynamite late night guests, especially with Craig Ferguson.

YPB: Vidya Game News – January 19, 2017

2017-01-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

- Inexplicably, the director of Die Hard is back with his first project since 1990, and it’s… a trailer for Ghost Recon: Wildlands? Well, there is a long and tangled story behind that, but you can check out the (awesome) trailer here. Also, listen to our Die Hard Arcade show here!

- BOOOOM Shaka Laka! Some fans have updated the old NBA Jam: Tournament Edition ROM for the Super Nintendo. Now included are 2017 rosters, all the league’s new teams since 1993, and new secret characters. (Long live Harambe!) Download it here, before they get a cease and desist here. (And, listen to our NBA Jam episode here!)

- Speaking of NBA Jam-like properties… Honest Trailers and Screen Junkies has a takedown of Space Jam, which leads to an AV Club article. And hey, the game is bad too!

- Mark Wilson of Stuff has a good summary of the 3DO, along with a couple short reviews of decent games for the system.

- Kyle Orland has a piece on Ars Technica about how the illusion was created that Super Mario 64 and Portal were “run” on a Super Nintendo system.

- Via Game Informer, and popular on Facebook, there was once a Darth Maul game planned. And, it looked kind of bad ass! Like, a much darker take on the usual Star Wars stuff. And speaking of s’wars, check out our episodes on the SNES game and Rogue Squadron.

- On pretty much every news site, more information about the Nintendo Switch has come out. The good: Price tag under $300, a Zelda game out on release day! The bad: shortages are already being reported, all of the extra devices are overpriced, and Nintendo still has issues with online.

- Via the AV Club, Nintendo had some big band (as in jazz) performances at their Switch presentations. Listen to them here.

- From the Huffington Post, a new kitchen device can turn your radishes into Super Mario Bros. mushroom-shapes. Unfortunately, the Ravanello Radish Shaper still keeps them as radishes. Disgusting. Listen to our Super Mario Bros. episode here!

As always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.