Video Game Take-Out Blog

Good News, Bad News.

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:25:00 +0000

Bad News first. I am once again closing this blog. You may have notice I never update it and for that I am sorry. Making the many shows hasn't left me with much time and when I do have some I seldom find myself thinking about my Blogger account.

I originally started this blog as the home of VIdeo Game Take-Out. In the years since then I have moved on to bigger and better things on RetrowareTV. Sadly that left this blog in Limbo. That leads me to the good news. Much like my shows moved over to Retroware, so too has my blog. That's right, This blog may be dead but long live my new (and hopefully more frequently updated) Blog on RetrowareTV. So if you want to see what I've been up to or what strange things I've seen at thrift stores, then click the link below and join me on my new adventure.

http://www.retrowaretv.com/home/BensBlog/tabid/433/Default.aspx

Thanks for all the support over the years

-Ben

Ben Around Town #2

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Ben Around Town is a fun little blog thing I'm doing where I take pictures of things I see around town that are either odd or funny and then I post them all for you guys to see. Most of these pictures are from my camera phone (since that's what I always have on me) but they should be good enough for this application. (click them for larger images)

Picture #1

I was at a local Salvation Army looking for some new games to add to my collection. As I got in my car a huge freight train passed by and I snapped this shot. I think this is the only full sized train I have ever seen in my area. Pretty neat and definitely unexpected while I was on a game hunt.

Picture #2

I saw this at a local Target and it made me laugh. It's kinda like a super advanced Slip n' Slide or Crocodile Mile type toy. Basically you get it wet and slide on it. The part that made me laugh though is that it comes with sweet 3-D goggles so it looks like the shark is eating you. If I was a kid I would so love this.

Picture #3

This picture was taken at another local thrift store. It's a tractor that must have been there for a while because if you look at the tires you can see that they are over half buried in the dirt. This one isn't particularly funny or anything, but I just thought it was kinda neat looking.

Picture #4

Near the Tractor from picture #3, I was leaning against a hand rail waiting for the thrift store to open, when I felt something fuzzy touch my hand....Turns out it was a huge spider. I know the picture doesn't really give you any sense of scale, but it was bigger than a quarter and slightly smaller than a silver dollar. In any event it was more than big enough to freak me out.

Picture #5

This one definitely goes in the weird pile. I was driving down the street on my way home from grabbing a bite and I saw a small pick-up truck who's bed was filled with lemons. The trucks suspension looked like it was going to give out but the guy was still driving crazy fast. Luckily he hit a stop light and I was able to snap this pic from the safety of a complete stop.

Picture #6

Last but certainly not least is this persons license plate. usually I wouldn't post someones license plate online, but this one was kinda asking for it. If you can't make it out it says "BOTOXME". Ahh southern California, you never cease to amaze me.

That's all I have for this blog post type thing, but it's pretty much a sure thing I'll see more weird stuff around here, so expect more blogs in the future. :)

-Ben

It's so hard to say goodbye

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:06:00 +0000

I know I said this blog was dead but I saw some funny stuff around town today and this post was too big for Twitter but also not game related, so it wouldn't fit on RetrowareTV. That being the case I decided to bring this bad boy back to the old school blog.

Here is some silly stuff I saw around town today: (These are camera phone pictures, so they are not the greatest quality)

The bumper sticker reads "Kids Need (Heart/Love) and Child Support". The and child support part just made me laugh, I mean what a strange thing to put on your car. why not just get a bumper sticker that says "My Baby Daddy don't pay me". Very strange.

This one is a van I saw in front of a local gas station. It's promoting some indie rap label but the pictures on the van were hilarious. I'm afraid they may have lost a bit in (camera phone) translation though. lol

Last but not least, a Mormon kid on a bike. There must be a ton of these churches in my town or something because I see these kids in a shirt and tie on bikes like every weekend. They often stop me and give me a book of Mormon. This time I was in the car so no book of Mormon for me. lol
I don't know why these guys always make me laugh, I think it's the bike helmet + tie combo, something about it is so odd. It's like they are dressed up for something important, but then they are riding a bike with a goofy helmet on.....it's just so random.

I do want to say that I have no hate on the Mormons (or LDS if you prefer) I just think they look funny on their bikes. :)

That's all for today, but I'm sure I'll see more strange things around town, in fact it's pretty much a sure thing. lol

Goodbye blog

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

No this is not a blog of me saying goodbye. Instead it's a post saying that this blog is basically dead. My initial need for this blog was to post my show, Video Game Take-Out, somewhere on the web and occasionally give people updates on what's going on behind the scenes with the show. Blogger was a free (and easy) way to do that, but since that time I have: joined RetrowareTV, Gotten a Twitter account, started another show and created a Podcast. So with all of that going on I really have no lack of avenues to let you guys know what's going on with me and the shows. Since that's the case this blog really seems unnessicary. As such this will likely be my last post here. But that's not a bad thing. In fact if you follow me on twitter or any of that stuff I tend to update much more frequently than I ever did here simply because it's so much easier and there's just less I need to write in order to keep you guys up to date.
So follow the links on the right hand side to all my other projects and I'll see you around the web. :)

Peace out blogoshpere

-Ben

Blog Time!

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:46:00 +0000

It's been ages since I put anything on here, but that's at least partially because I setup a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/VGTO) that sort of does the same thing (keep you updated on the show) but in a much easier way (for me lol).
at the same time I have also been really busy with the actual making of the show. Between Video Game Take-Out, Game Quickie and the new Audio show that I do with the HVGN called Ben and Derek's Totally Random Show, I really just haven't had much free time.
In my free time (what little there is) I have been watching the Office with my wife as well as playing a fair amount of Street Fighter IV and Retro Game Challenge (both of which I would highly recommend).
But that doesn't mean I forgot about this Blog. Not at all. I considered doing some text reviews on here (mostly about PSP games I can't do on the show) but I've just run short on time. I'll figure something out, but in the mean time catch me at any one of the like 5 places I linked above. That should be more than enough Ben for anyone. lol

Thanks for a ll the support

-Ben

Blip Fest Promo video

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:46:00 +0000

I've never heard of Blip Fest, but apparently it's a festival for gaming related musicians. If this trailer is any indication it might be worth checking out.

To quote the poet Ice Cube "Today was a good day"

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:58:00 +0000

I hit up some thrift stores and a retro gaming store today (probably yesterday as you read this) and I found a bunch of great stuff. Check it out in picture form. It's likely that you will see at least one of these games in a future show at some point.

Embed Your Youtube Channel?

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Quick Update

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:44:00 +0000

Things are going good on my end. I posted my Top 10 of 2008 yesterday (which you can see here) and now I'm back to writing more old school reviews. Right now I'm working on 3 different ones. I don't want to spoil what they are but I will say the systems they are on are: The Gameboy, SNES and 3DO, so they cover a pretty broad spectrum. I just wanted to touch base with you all and let you know that I'm still working hard to bring you more videos. It seems like everyone on the site is really kicking it up a notch to get new stuff out, so keep an eye on RetrowareTV for more from the guys and I.
Thanks for the support

-Ben

Time Flies....

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:08:00 +0000

I know it's been ages since I updated here, but I've been busy. Don't worry though, the show is still being made and I have been working on the biggest video I have made so far. I think it's going well and I hope to have it done in the next few days. I wanted to have it done before new years, but I got too busy and wasn't able to complete it in time. Thanks for your patience and hopefully you'll see something new from me before Monday. :)

Wise Fwom Yow Gwave

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Well, the surgery was a success. I'm still on soft food for a while longer and I can't talk much, but overall I'm feeling much better. I'll probably get back to editing the videos either tomorrow or the next day. So look for more Video Game Take-Out (and my other shows) on RetrowareTV soon. :)

-5 to Wisdom

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:06:00 +0000

Tomorrow I'm having my wisdom teeth removed (and one impacted molar, bringing us to a total of 5 teeth). I'm kinda nervous about it, but I figure people have them out all the time, so it can't be that bad. It does however make it so I can't do the show for a while. I have one Quickie done which will be out sometime next week (as soon as I feel well enough to put it out) and I'll resume work on the show just as soon as I feel better. I just wanted to let everyone know, so if I don't respond to your message or accept your friend request it's not because I'm ignoring you, I'm just down for the count.
Hopefully I'll be better in a few days, but until then this will probably be my last message. See you on the other side. :)

Things are looking up

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:26:00 +0000

My vacation is almost over, but it's been a pretty good break. First off the Mother 3 translation was released, which is awesome. Also I got to see my sister for a few days which was cool because I basically only get to see her about once a year.
Another big thing is that I was finally able to get the Mega Man II episode up on all of the video services, So that's good. And last but not last I'll be done with my vacation soon, so that means more VGTO in the coming week. :)

See you in a few days

Some problems and an update

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:58:00 +0000

Well it's been a crazy week. For whatever reason I can't seem to get the show (Mega Man II) to upload to either Revver (old problem) or Youtube (New and annoying problem). I'm hoping to have it up soon, but in the mean time RetrowareTV will have to do.
Also Yesterday was my Birthday. I didn't really do anything special, but it did kick off a week long vacation that I plan to enjoy to the fullest. So far I have to say I'm off to a bad start lol. Today when I was eating something (I think it was a taco) one of my back teeth broke. So I had to spend a large part of the day at the dentist's office getting it repaired. :(
Hopefully the rest of my vacation will go better. I plan to record some audio for the show once my mouth feels better. I just wanted to keep all of you up to speed on where the show is at and let you know why I may not be as fast with my Email and stuff. Thanks for reading this and I'll be back to posting videos and answering questions in no time. :)

All the best,

-Ben

The Long Wait

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:44:00 +0000

I know it's been a few weeks since the last episode, but I just wanted to take some time off and gather my thoughts. I should have something out this week, so stay tuned. :)

That New Toy Smell

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:17:00 +0000

My buddy Dan has just opened a new site all about toys and action figures called That New Toy Smell. If you get a chance head over there and check out the new site. Here's a video that should give you some idea of what the site will be like.

Be sure to Let Dan Know what you think of it. :)

Taking the Week Off

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:46:00 +0000

I've been running full speed ahead on the show lately, but I must admit that I'm feeling kinda burnt out. So I've decided to take a week off and just relax, and by relax I mean Play Civilization Revolution. I've always loved the Civ games, but lately I haven't had enough time to really get into them. CivRev is like the perfect solution to my problem. It's a quicker more streamlined version of the game I love. I've really been enjoying it.
Well, I just wanted to let you guys know where I was. Now I'm off to Listen to Retronauts (this weeks show features my good friend Andy) and play some CivRev. Have a good week everyone.

Site Update Update

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:04:00 +0000

It looks like everything went smoothly. As far as I can tell everything is back up and working. It seems faster for me and with fewer videos on a page, I'm not getting the annoying Revver errors. If you guys find anything out of place please let me know, but I'm gonna call this update finished.
Now I can get back to making the show :)

Remember to update your iTunes feed if you didn't already.

Site Update / Maintenance

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:01:00 +0000

My main site over at RetrowareTV is going to be changing a bit. Nothing drastic (in fact you may not even notice), but it does have the side effect of killing the old video links on the page. So if you follow an old link on a message board or something, it'll probably end in a error message. I know it sucks, but from here on out things should be faster and every video will have it's own page (making them easier to navigate and getting rid of those Revver errors I hope).
The big thing that does effect some of the viewers though is that the iTunes feed will be changing. Up till now I've been doing it manually, but I need to find more time to make the show and less time to update the feed, so I'm switching it over to the Revver feed. i know it's kinda a pain to switch it, but on the up side now all the Game Quickies (that I make) will be on there too.
I know it sounds like a bunch of complicated stuff, but it's really going to make it all easier in the end.

So two main things:

1. The site may have some hicups for the next few days (please report them)

2. The iTunes feed is changing and you need to change with it if you want to continue to get VGTO on your iPod. (btw the iTunes feed looks great on an iPod, but the flash version looks better on PCs. Just a little tip)

click here to subscribe to the new iTunes feed

Fable II Pub Games

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:49:00 +0000

I've been addicted to this game lately. Admittedly I got it for free so I may not be so happy about it if I had to pay $10, but as a free game that goes along with my eventual purchase of Fable II, I'm enjoying it.

My favorite by far is Fortune's Tower. It's a simple card game that focuses more on betting and knowing when to get out, rather than knowing specific hands or complicated rules. For some reason I'm super addicted to this mode. The other two modes are alright, but neither one has held my attention for more than a few rounds.
Plus the money and items you earn through playing transfer over to Fable II (once it's released).
I'm not sure it's worth $10, in fact I'm almost positive it's not, but I do think that it's a cool idea to have a mini game outside of a bigger game and I'd like to see more games use it. I'm almost positive you can get this game for free by pre-ordering Fable II, so if you're at all interested in Fable II I'd suggest you get it that way and save your Microsoft bucks for some of the other games that are coming soon like Castle Crashers or Galaga Legends.

Hey You Pikachu!

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:02:00 +0000

The show's going well and everything seems to be on track for a new VGTO and a new Quickie in the coming week. But I was talking to some of the guys on the forums and they reminded me of an old VHS tape I had from Nintendo Power. I couldn't seem to find a copy of the video online anywhere so I thought I'd share with you guys. It's the hilariously bad promo video for Hey You Pikachu, enjoy!

Progress Report

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:00:00 +0000

It looks like I'm finally getting the show back on track. Ever since the wedding I've been struggling to keep my head above water as far as the show was concerned, but now things seem to be back to "normal".
I can't promise regular updates forever, but I can say that for the next few weeks there should be stuff to keep you entertained (well, it'll be there, I can't promise it will entertain).

I recently posted a Review of TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan over at RetrowareTV and there should be something new up tomorrow as well. I haven't had time to update the blog much, but that's sort of a good thing since I've been spending that time on the show itself.
Thanks for staying with me through the drought. Hopefully there won't be any more breaks for a while. On that same note the whole crew seems to be firing on all cylinders, so be sure to check the site for tons of new stuff.

-Ben out

More delays and some news

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:02:00 +0000

Well I don't know how to say this, but I'm sick again. I think I need to start taking some vitamins or something lol. Anyway I'll record the shows audio just as soon as it clears up. In the mean time though I want to see your videos. Please watch the video below for more information. Thanks and don't worry I'm still writing a lot during this break, so eventually that will transfer in to more episodes being released on a steady schedule. So hang tight and I'll be back soon.

Update and Wario Shake

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:24:00 +0000

I know it's been a while since there has been any word from me, but I've been busy. First off I've been working on a few reviews at once, so I can try and get them all out on a more steady basis. Second my wife and I are on vacation this week, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I can before we have to get back to work.
So while I haven't forgotten about the show, it will still be a little longer before the next episode is out.
Thanks for your patience guys. In the mean time here's some gameplay from the new 2D Wario game on the Wii. I think it looks pretty damn good.

Crap Digging Investigation

videogametakeout@gmail.com (Ben1842) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:57:00 +0000

A friend of mine (The Half Blind Gamer) from the forums has been making his own show for a while now called Crap Digging Investigation. The show covers games that you would assume are crap and tells you if they are good or not. It's not the highest budget show and he does have an accent (which I know turns some people off) but I think it's a fun show that's worth checking out.
Give it a look. :)

Also I hope everything goes well and he recovers quickly from his surgery. Good luck man.
Send your well wishes to this thread on the forums