The Cabinet Podcast

You're not alone on your Xbox. There's a ghost hiding in Halo 2, and he's hunting you. Stalking you with no mercy across the snowy corridors of Lockout. Join the Cabinet Podcast as we search for the origins of the white armored, spectral Spartan hiding in the Halo franchise.  

They live to play their video games. The most extreme cases die during extended play sessions. They are the Marathon Men, young men who binge on their desired digital worlds for hours or even days on end. However, one country's answer to the problem is more dangerous than the behavior it tries to fix. On this episode of the Cabinet, you'll find that reality can some times be more frightening than any ghost story we can tell.

A tragic plane crash claims the lives of six video game developers. It seems like their game will be lost to the sands of time. All they want is for gamers to acknowledge their last earthly deeds. Can they convince executives at Sony's Playstation headquarters to release their last four levels with a ghostly message from beyond the grave? On this episode of the Cabinet, the story behind how a burned letter signed by six spirits lead to the release of Twisted Metal Black's Lost Levels on PS2.

An old, dusty Ms. Pac-Man cabinet was the perfect addition to their family room. However, a Boston couple learned their retro video game came with an unexpected feature, a literal ghost in the machine. You may know Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue, but it’s time to gather around the Cabinet to meet Ms. Pac-Man’s Fifth Ghost in this chilling ghost story.

Stone walls. Green acidic pools. Names written in blood. Not exactly what you would expect to find in spreadsheet software. Inside Microsoft's Excel 95 hides this digital room of horror. Was it just a clever video game hidden inside the program for marketing purposes, or was it, as some claimed, a representation of Hell itself and its dark ruler? The Cabinet is taking you on a journey through time, gamers, back to 1995, to find Microsoft's dreaded Hall of Tortured Souls.

We're safe. The monsters in the game will stay on the other side of the screen. That is until they don't. Gamers who have been experimenting with a mod for the PC version of the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind are being stalked by something sinister. Is it hallucination, a figment of a disturbed imagination, or did the players will this creature into the real world? Take a deep breath, gamers, as you look inside the Cabinet for the Assassin from Morrowind's JVK mod.

Shall we play a game? How about Global Thermonuclear War! The opponent: Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein. In his arsenal, about 4,000 Playstation 2s to build his nuclear arsenal. How was he planning to use Sony's video game console to conquer the planet? Time to look inside the Cabinet to find out.

Pokemon is one of the most kid-friendly video games out there. Trying to catch and collect Pikachu and his little monster buddies on Nintendo's Gameboy is designed to get kids hooked. Then you have the merchandising: stuffed animals, t-shirts, action figures, card games. However, the franchise may hold a dark secret in its soundtrack, a song that can cause illness and insanity in children. Time to listen to the Cabinet, gamers, to see if you hear Pokemon's mysterious Lavender Tones.

You have one play-through. Once you beat this obscure, Cold War video game, there's no going back to learn about its secrets. That's because it deleted itself. Nothing left but a blank floppy disk. Step up to the Cabinet to learn about Killswitch, a self-destructive game with a dedicated fanbase.

The high score. In the 1980s, three letters were the mark of a champion at local arcades. However, some paid the ultimate price to be legends of their favorite video game. A life for a score. Step up to the Cabinet to hear the tale of Berzerk, the first killer app in gaming.