In this edition of Push Start to Continue the boys don’t spend any time at all talking about the newly announced Xbox One and Microsoft’s “One Device to Rule Them All!” market strategy…wait, that’s actually the opposite of what happens here.

So get to listening, and let us know what your thoughts on the upcoming generation are in the comments section below!

Press A to jump, press X to hit, press RT to shoot, press B to put me to sleep, am I right?  So many games use buttons all the time and they just do the most boring things you can imagine. You have to use them to finish levels and beat opponents and whatever, but what about using them for the really important stuff?  Very few games use buttons to do things that are truly unique and appeal to our darker, immature inner selves, but when they do it can be excellent, sophomoric fun.  So, turn on that middle school brain of yours and revel with me in the best uses for game buttons of all time.

Now that Microsoft has revealed the Xbox One, the stage is finally set and all the players have taken their places. I already talked about how excited I am at the prospect of a new knockdown, drag out console war, and it’s already begun thanks to some snarky comments by Sony on the big Xbox day. In just a matter of months, gamers will either be voting for their console champion of choice or taking a Switzerland approach and waiting on the sidelines to see who comes out on top. With all of this in mind, I think it’s important to talk about this next generation, and what it means to you as a gamer.

Sure, if you’re a regular visitor to PixlBit it pretty much goes without saying that you know gaming, and you know what to expect during this transition from the 7^th generation to the 8^th. Still, this has been the longest console cycle in gaming history, and it’s likely to continue for a few more years at least. Consider this sobering fact: a kid that got a launch Xbox 360 for Christmas is graduating high school this year. There’s a whole generation of gamers—hardcore gamers like you and I—that haven’t experienced a true console change. I think we all need to take a step back from all the hype, hyperbole, and negativity that’s oh-so prevalent these days and really discuss what’s coming in the very near future.

This week's PB & Jason is split into two parts. Why? There's just too much to talk about. The Xbox One alone takes up more than an entire issue! That means today, you'll get some perspective on the entire Xbox One reveal press conference. PB & Jason covers the entire stage reveal: The TV parts, the all-in-one parts, Kinect, the gameplay footage that lacked gameplay, and the cross-generation and multiplatform games shown. The verdict? Things aren't looking so good. Tune into tomorrow for the second part, featuring discussion about the news revealed after the press conference on the Xbox One, Denis Dyack, the most recent Nintendo Direct, and those game ideas I've been promising for a little while now!

Microsoft's Xbox One is now revealed and our users here at PixlBit have a lot to say about it. People in our community have been showing tons of negative feedback with only a handful of positive comments towards Microsoft's gaming future. Most people are concerned that Microsoft's focus is on TV programming instead of video games. Here's a quick guide to some of our Xbox One user blogs.

Yargz let out all of his rage, wanting games instead of an interactive TV guide. He’s also not too fond of the name Xbox One nor its lack of backwards compatibility.

If you’re even tangentially involved in gaming, you likely heard at least something about Microsoft’s new system yesterday. Previously referred to as the Xbox 720, Nextbox, and Xbox Infinity by gamers, has now materialized as the Xbox One. Confused? I know I was, considering this is more like the Xbox 3 and we kind of already have an Xbox 1. However, that’s simply something we’ll have to get used to. What might be a little harder to swallow are the details about the system and the role it wants to play in your living room.

It’s been happening fairly gradually, but it should be abundantly clear at this point that your gaming device is not just for gaming any more. Microsoft is taking this pretty seriously with the Xbox One, now offering an all-in-one entertainment device that brings many different functions to your living room via your television, hence the “One” in the console name.

More stunning confessions from me to you! I didn’t get into the Metroid series until Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, and didn’t even play Super Metroid until maybe two years after I played Metroid Prime. While the first Prime title took many design inspirations from Super Metroid, I didn’t enjoy Super Metroid at first, mostly because I played it through less than reputable means. Once I got to play it on the Wii Virtual Console, I finally understood why this game is considered an SNES classic. Super Metroid sports great game design, with a wonderful atmosphere unparalleled on any 16-bit system. At only 30 cents on the Wii U eShop until June 16, there’s little reason to not give this excellent title a shot.

Unlike the second Metroid game on the Game Boy, which was a slightly more linear quest to eliminate Metroids, Super Metroid follows and expands upon the non-linear exploration that was found in the first game. Various areas on Zebes are inaccessible unless you have certain power ups at your disposal. While classic Metroid items like the Morph Ball, Ice Beam, and Missiles return, the power-ups Samus can collect have doubled. Famous Metroid items like the Power Bomb, Super Missiles, and Grapple Beam made their debut in this game, and they are used constantly in exploring new areas.

As I was moving into the end game of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, I was tasked with finding three power couplings to unlock a door. It was a simple enough job, but in a game that had been almost entirely a linear affair, I was glad to have the rails taken off if even for a small section. It turned out that this wasn’t the case; any time I got remotely close to one of the power couplings Doktor would chime in on my codec to inform me that I was near my objective. Frowning, I destroyed the coupling and repeated the task with Doktor telling me exactly where to go and what to do. It made me realize just how much game design has changed in recent years, and what needs to be done to combat the need for constant hand holding that game designers have developed.

Hi there. We're all nerds and geeks here, right? We're passionate about our hobbies, but why does that passion so often turn to rage and complaining? Can't we all just have fun and enjoy each other's thoughts and company? Well, this week on Nerds Without Pants we're joined by a couple excellent guests to talk about just that. Enjoy the beautiful voices and even-handed opinions of Erika Szabo and John Gholson!

We kick things off with introductions. Erika is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the realm of games and tech writing. John has started a new comics blog, acted in a movie, and been on VH1 since last we heard from him. After that we move into Consumption Junction. We talk about Iron Man 3, comic book back issues, Fire Emblem, anime, and the proper language needed when reviewing vibrators. Yes, you read that right.

Nintendo made waves in the gaming industry recently when they announced that they wouldn’t be participating in a traditional press conference at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Right off the bat, people started in with the doom and gloom. Oh, Nintendo is fading fast! Nintendo doesn’t have anything to show! Rhetoric like this was prominent --as was talk that the entire E3 conference is a dinosaur -- and perhaps Nintendo is reading the writing on the wall and is beginning to part ways with the trade show. This sentiment has been circulating for years, and even though I believe that E3 is vital to the gaming industry, it’s high time that the show evolved.

Does the world need another match-three puzzle game? Most definitely not! But, hey, Dungeon Hearts got made anyway, and it’s actually pretty cool. Conjoining a fast-paced action RPG with the heretofore played out match-three puzzle concept is a pretty slick way to innovate on two formulas we’ve had our fill of. Mixing the two together adds extra tension to the color matching bits and a real need for skill and practice in the combat.  This well balanced combo makes for an addictive puzzler that I keep coming back to even though I am terrible at it.

I’m very pleased to tell you that Dungeon Hearts comes with an easy mode (alongside normal and hard), which is the only reason I was able to get beyond the first few battles.  Yes, battles.  The game is set up as a series of encounters with your party of four RPG stalwarts (fighter, healer, archer, and mage) dealing damage based on the matches made among the colored tiles flowing across the screen.  The stream of colored tiles starts off slowly, allowing you to combine three matching discs to create a single gem that can be clicked to unleash an attack.  Among the oncoming colored shapes, there are also tiles from the enemy that damage your characters if they should reach the end of the stream before you are able to destroy them.

That's right, this week's PB & Jason is mostly about people NOT developing things for the Wii U. It isn't a big surprise, since that seems to have taken up most of this week's headlines. It's also about hopes that EA's Star Wars exclusivity license is more limited than we believe it is. Interspersed throughout the discussion of games that aren't for the Wii U are a few thoughts about the trouble ahead for the PS4 and the next XBox, as well. Follow all of this with some discussion about the relationship between US gun violence and video games, and we've got ourselves a delicious PB & Jason.

A reminder: If listeners submit TV shows, movies, books, or virtually anything else, I will likely brainstorm a way to turn said subject into a video game in the next PB & Jason. Leave suggestions in the comments, private message me on PixlBit, or email jason@pixlbit.com to make sure I get them!

Last June, EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said the publisher's objective for Dead Space 3 was to increase accessibility without upsetting established fans. To give credit where it's due, EA was half successful—the first half. But with its compromised and uninspired design, Dead Space 3 is streamlined almost beyond recognition. And I'm upset.

Alone and clearly traumatized after Dead Space 2, Isaac Clarke is abruptly called back into action to rescue Dead Space 2 survivor and ex-girlfriend, Ellie Langford, from her investigative mission on frozen planet, Tau Volantis, home world of the marker and origin of the necromorph phenomenon. Isaac is antagonized by Jacob Danik, Alfred Molina doppelgänger and leader of a militant Unitologist branch. If you’ve played any of the previous Dead Space games you’ll remember the Unitologists as the fanatics that believe the mutated necromorphs are actually the next step in human evolution.

I’m not sure who the target demographic is for Dead Island: Riptide. It’s more than an expansion but far less than a sequel, so it provides more of what the first game had with few enhancements. With that said, I’m probably Deep Silver’s dream audience. I didn’t play the first game, but even less than glowing reviews didn’t stop me from being interested in it. Now that I’ve played Riptide, I can’t help but scratch my head and wonder what went on behind the scenes that resulted in this, another full-priced Dead Island game that seems to offer very little to set it apart from the 2011 original.

The premise for this game is almost laughably bad. The four survivors from the first game escaped the island of Banoi in a military helicopter. Upon landing on a freighter the survivors are taken into custody so that their zombie virus immunity can be studied. Chaos ensues when a zombie outbreak occurs on the freighter and our “heroes” end up marooned on the island of Palanai. I can see the movie tagline in my mind: “Yo, we gotta escape a zombie island again, dawg!”