We have a special supersized double-length episode for you this week with lots to talk about.  First, I visited Verse, an augmented reality experience that uses the Microsoft Hololens to allow players to explore a surreal garden of animals and the outer reaches of our solar system.  Next, Blake tackled Sega's recently released Sonic Superstars with his son and just had a terrible time of things.  Third, I spent a weekend with Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. Wonder and smiled the entire time.  Finally, we have a teaser for our next show in two weeks where we discuss Sony's Spider-Man 2.  That's a lot to cover.  Let's do it!  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

I wouldn't have expected to enjoy PowerWash Simulator as much as I do, but it's become one of my favorite games of this generation because it's just so relaxing.  I turn on a podcast or an audiobook and wash the hours away with mindless fake accomplishment.  Sure, I could go outside and wash my real fence, but I'm much too sick for that anymore, and my recliner is a lot more comfortable and dry.  There's a new expansion coming to PowerWash that I think I may have willed into existence somehow, as on November 16, 2023 the Back To The Future DLC will release, allowing players to clean up iconic Hill Valley locations such as the famous courthouse where lightning struck the clock tower in 1955 and the holomax theater showing Jaws 19 in 2015 plus vehicles such as the DeLorean, the time train, and Doc's van.  New achievements/trophies are part of this pack, too. 

Publisher Square-Enix has an information page about the DLC, but fitting for a time travel expansion, the page says the DLC is available now when it's not yet released.  Incidentally, in what I'm certain is not a coincidence, November 16, 1955 is the date that Marty drove the DeLorean to 1885 to rescue Doc from being shot in the back by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen in Back To The Future Part III.  Nice bit of timing on that release date.

This week's podcast is a hodgepodge of smaller topics that don't have the structure needed for a full hour of discussion, so it's a lot more easy-going and breezy than the average show.  Join us as we flit around for 75 minutes through Sea of Stars, Magician Lord, Starfield, simulators for mowing lawns, simulators for power washing, and whatever else is on our minds as we clear out some mental baggage.  Also, I have an important update about my health and how it will impact the recording of upcoming episodes.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

We've been playing a lot of games lately as we come out of the summer season, so before the holidays hit with all of their big new releases, we're spending an hour discussing what we've been playing lately as we clear out the backlogs and sample new releases.  Blake Grundman and I both have some harsh words for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge DLC, I finished the World Tour storyline in Street Fighter 6, Blake is on his way in Starfield, and I'm just setting out in Sea of Stars.  Honorable mentions to Baldur's Gate 3 and Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.  Join us!  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

Jordan Mechner was a man with a dream: a dream of making a game for the Apple II about a karate man who punches and kicks his way past minions to save a princess.  Forty years ago he created Karateka, and now Digital Eclipse has partnered with Mechner to create The Making of Karateka for modern platforms.  This digital documentary exhibition features video interviews, design document scans, and playable prototypes of Karateka as well as a modernized remake.  On this week's podcast, we spend an hour discussing this first in Digital Eclipse's new Gold Master Series of making-of titles to see what all the fuss is about.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

Lately I've been thinking about strength, mostly because when playing Street Fighter 6, the game won't let you forget about it.  Capcom has found a way to modernize the classic series and add some new tricks to the experience, and on this week's podcast episode I convince Blake that he needs to play this game.  It has an RPG mode now!  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard is becoming more and more likely by the day, so on this week's show we discuss what that means for the video game industry.  We also dip into the Activision Blizzard catalog and talk about some forgotten games that Microsoft could do well with reviving once they own them.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

We all make snap judgments from time to time, and sometimes those quick decisions take us in the wrong direction.  On this week's podcast, we're discussing games that we immediately dismissed for one reason or another and then later tried only to discover that they are actually fantastic.  Would you believe that we initially passed on such classics as Mega Man, BioShock, and Sly Cooper?  There's plenty more where those came from in this supersized episode. Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way. 

As I said on our most recent podcast in which we tore into the re-release of GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo Switch and the Microsoft Xbox platform, replaying the classic Nintendo 64 game has sent me down the rabbit hole on all things GoldenEye.  I rewatched the movie, listened to the soundtrack, watched making-of videos both deep dive and high level, and much more, so I knew I had to put the best of these things together here to share. It's a collection of retrospective videos, re-orchestrated music, technical breakdowns, and alternate versions. Enjoy!

The first video above is a post-mortem of the game's development presented by Director Martin Hollis in which he spends an hour on a deep dive of the game's inception, initial planning, development, testing, and release. There's some fun stories in there including how the game was initially reported to be a Super NES title, how the game was too ambitious for its own good, its Virtua Cop origins, and a last-ditch attempt to fix a critical bug during lot check. The second is a short documentary produced but cut from the original release of the Rare Replay compilation, but was leaked online some time ago after GoldenEye was cut from that package. It's only appropriate that it lives on now that the game has been included after all these years.

Nintendo, Microsoft, EON Productions, and who knows who else finally made a deal to bring the 1997 shooter GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 back for a re-release on Nintendo Switch and the modern Microsoft Xbox platform.  On this week's podcast, we're shooting in and out through post-Cold War Russia to explore which version of the game plays better today, which cheats are still available to the skilled player, how much fun we're still having with this game more than twenty-years later, and so much more.  Join us for 0075 minutes of discussion.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes, Amazon Music Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way.