Hey everyone, It's Tuesday, August the thirty first, twenty ten, and
you're listening to the Giant Bomb Cast. I'm your host, Ryan Davis,
joined by Vinny Caravella. I'll play with Jeff Gerstman and Brad Shoemaker. Also
joined by very special guest Giant Bomb contributor Brad Nicholson. Hey. That was
that was That was the sinct and effective. That was d Nicholson. Hey,
here we go. Let's looking for a little little energy. Brad.
Good to have you here in the studio and in the office. Oh wait,
you're gonna keep You're gonna play that game all show on pretty much it
okay, all right, I guess I'll just call you Shoemaker. Then I'll
start being that guy call everyone by their last name. Can I change my
last name? Hey? Jeff? Hey, Hi? Sorry? Yeah,
maybe you didn't understand that I was talking to you. When I said sorry,
I wasn't paying attention. I try not to listen to the most things
that you say. So how are you doing, Jeff? I'm doing alright?
Yeah, yeah, doing good? Yeah? Of any how? You
doing also doing alright? Yeah? Yeah? How how are you doing?
I'm great? Right, I'm doing good. It's it's packs week y'all.
Yeah, we're gonna We're gonna packs this weekend. And so I've been kind
of trying to figure out our our panel plans and our meet up plans and
various other plans that we might have during the show. And it's all space
plans. It's all coming up awesome. There are no currently no space plans,
although I understand the Space Needle is in Seattle, so I went there
once. How was it? It was up high, I've never been.
I saw the base of it. I saw the weird experience music that the
other rock and roll Hall of Fame's weird thing, but I have not.
He's gonna eventually just sue the real rock and roll Hall of Fame or some
kind of patent thing. I'm sure I own it all. That's right,
all right, if any care? Actually I didn't, Brad Shawmaker, how
you doing terrible? Oh no, it's going okay. Was looking for some
contrast, Brad Nicholson about yourself. I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay,
excellent. How is it to be out on the West Coast? Where do
you live normally? I live on an island in South Carolina. Really I
saw two oceans and two days. Yeah, I didn't know there were until
West Island. Yeah, I wish, I wish late drastic part Auford,
Buford, Beauford. You and me the only people in this room who know
how to properly pronounce that. Oh Beauford, Budford, Bufford. I mean,
if you looked at it, it looks like Beaufort right right. Oh,
okay, and was I'm sure at one point in the past, until
it was perverted by whatever Southern men, whatever dark forces you know, traditions
down there. Bright Nicholson, is a pleasure and a treat to have you
here in the office out on the West coast. We will get into your
business in a little bit, but first I want to talk to my favorite
person, viny Caravella, my business. I want to get all up in
your business. But I want to know what games you've been playing at,
viny Caravella. So I made it through by Atta this weekending. I saw
you playing some of that. How is that that? You know? How
that is? How did you feel it? I thought that game was great,
It's excellent. It's crazy. I really enjoyed it longer than I thought,
like that game has probably took me about fifteen hours to make it through
it. I thought it was gonna be about eight. I can't recall.
I just I'm thinking all I can recall our specific moments of insanity. It
just keeps going and going and going. It kind of does, definitely from
watching you play it, I seem to remember it going and going and going.
Yeah, that sounds about right. But I really enjoyed it and I
beat it, and then I bought it through Game Fly. I said,
I like this game a lot. I like it enough that I'm gonna even
though I just finished it, So are you gonna play through it? I'm
like, because that's that's where me and Banetta had to part ways? Is
I had I enjoyed the experience a lot, and it's got all sorts of
buck wild shit in it. Yeah, but I don't know. It wasn't
a game that I was like, Oh, I want to now play this
on the harder difficulty. No, I don't think I'll play it on the
harder difficulty, but uh so it gives you other new game plus and it
starts on hard and I just busted it back down to normal, and I
was like, I'm just gonna unlock the rest of these crazy things that they
want to give you, like outfits and all those all those things I couldn't
afford during the game because they're expensive. All the accessories and stuff, really
I had, there's a bunch. I feel like I had a good majority.
Really yeah, huh, And I bought some techniques, but like all
the weird things like wristbands and stuff. Oh, there's a lot of crazy
stuff in that game. And I like it enough. Weird references to Resident
Evil four and yeah, and you know, I was talking a little bit
on the bus and uh, that's a good game to appreciate Japanese development and
like it's it's so crazy it I mean, it has that unique feel like
it is the most Japanese ass Japanese developed game that I've played, but also
kind of like accessible in like a weird kind of It's not Japanese in the
way like weird JRPG way where you're like, oh, it's fucking JRPG conventions
are weird. This is just weird of the dudes, like being weird.
Yeah, it's really hard JRPG conventions like fight and spiky hair, but you
know, all the all the kind of tropes and like things that you're like,
I don't want to play JRPG because I know exactly what's like. You
don't know exactly what's in Badma because it's fucking insane. It's like because it's
after Burner or something, because yeah, because it turns into like weird it's
it's it's got the weird things that metal Gear used to kind of have,
or it's like why would you even throw this weird thing in your kind of
weird serious just a bunch of wild non sits, right, yeah, and
uh, which I'm sure aren't non sequiturs to them. I don't know.
The game has like six end credits start rolling and then like interrupts the credits
and you're like, well, like like six sequential endings, like yeah the
other then you do this, they like interrupt your credits like you're got done,
Yeah, you gotta finish the game. I was like okay, and
then Mike Return of the King like, well, it's a long phades to
black and it's like, oh, I'm just kidding, here's another one kind
of and then there's like a large dance sequence at the end, and then
yeah, it's it's really I don't know, I really could it. I
have blocked out good portion of this stuff. I remember it being very crazy,
and also the story there is one, it's a little weird. On
the strength of our bus conversation, I too, bought Byanetta this morning.
Nice, it's on sale. It's like fifteen bucks. Fifteen bucks on game
flight. So I don't know what comes next. Something awesome, what that's
the next step? I bought Byanetta, and I bought God of War three
this morning. Tell me about your plans to camp as soon as those okay?
First of all, so okay, So I bought Banetta, which has
been sitting on my coffee table since April, yes, September. So fifteen
bucks a month through the math, it's a lot. You paid too much
money or ninety dollars now blatta bat Gotta War three checked my queue to make
sure there was nothing in there. Yep, there was what was brandically cleared
it out so they wouldn't mail me another game. As soon as those games
come in the mail like done, done done, Just can't I mean you
can cancel it now? Yeah, they'll actually run you to like the end
of your cycle. So no, they don't run into the end of your
cycle anymore at least I was canceling. It was like, are you sure
you got four more days in your thing if you cancel now? If you
want to get the maximumount of gaming, like like the cancelation process serious amazing
buttons that's special offers, and like, hey what if, yeah, what
if the next month was only fifteen bucks and you got to keep two games?
What I did? Do that? I did that. They totally got
me with that. You're right, that's exactly how the process was for me.
And it was one of those like if yeah, if it's for cheaper
than yes, I will hang on to it for one more month. And
I hold held on to it for one of more months and then canceled,
and then they bust. Okay, but you actually canceled. I actually actually
sprouting on you to just like forget Nope, nope. I had like a
and then I got I got an email from the you know, like an
automated email like yesterday saying like, hey, what you would you want to
bro We haven't hung out in a while. I should catch up. You
want to maybe sign I'm gonna be in town, but if you want to
you know, like rent some games over the internet. Just give me a
call. No, I'm just gonna be around. No, it's it's cool.
Thanks for yeah, in touch, but don't they have a very uh
methodical system in place at game fly for customer retention, and it's I'm surprised
I was able to even do it from the website all that stuff. Then
it was like, okay, call, but you know, make sure it's
between eight and four Eastern time, Eastern time, Thursday. You know.
I think they offer a valuable they offer a decent service. I think for
some people it's probably a totally fine service. We're not the right people.
We are not they. This is not this is not yet to be clear,
this is not game Fli's fault. Really. I mean it's you know,
it works well for what it is. Yeah, yeah, it's just
that we're like who yeah, Like that was the other thing is they kept
saying like we're faster now. Yeah, we opened up more centers. That's
not bad. The problem is that I just get your games then never play
months at a time, so I'm very slow. I mean Netflix is the
same thing, but at least you've got the streaming option to get some extra
value out of it right, like, oh, you know I've had you
know, that copy of JCVD sitting on my Yeah, that's that's an HD
on the streaming watch that I have cream Zone right now I had I've had
a copy of Memento since April of two thousand and nine. Ye dude,
what yeah? So did you play all of Bayonetta over the weekend or was
it just like you already had a game going and he barreled through. No,
I just got it. Want to sep terminator salvation Jesus. Yeah,
it's fast, leaned up some Bayonetta. Nice, well done again, I
liked it. Good played some Shank. Not not to get you personal as
your wife back. She came back on Sunday. Yeah, man, the
house clean, I did your daily caloric intake is a dropping I hope.
So, Man, I gained like fifteen pounds less she was away. Uh
so, Shank, Let's talk about Shank. Let's talk about it. Let's
talk about Shank. How do you feel about How do you feel about Shank?
Uh? I started burning out about I must be about eighty percent through?
Okay, how many how many hours would you say you put in about
two and a half three? Yeah, it's about your close and so I
can tell just because the achievements are staggered for the each boss, dude,
you kill them and all got one left? Uh? Is it one of
those just play through the story and you've got everything. You got a couple
of other ones. There's there's a few sundry ones. But yeah, uh,
I'm burning out on it. Yeah, yeah, I can feel you
on that. I can see why that game would have a short playtime because
I'm pretty much done at two and a half three hours. I mean,
it's still like, I think they've done some interesting stuff with like the the
way the mechanics work of you have basically like three attacks and how you have
to constantly like you know, mix those up to keep your opponents on their
toes. And it's you know, it's got a good pace, and yeah,
I mean it's clearly mostly a huge, awesome graphical show piece. It's
all that's like the quality of the sprite work, the quality of the animations,
how brutal everything looks like. It's I don't think I have that ever
lost the novelty for me of just how how badass everything that happens in that
game looks. But after a while, like it's still it's still a beat
them up. It's still it's still falls prey to the issues that have always
plagued that that generally, and there are some weird things like with the animation
being so good and aren't stall being so stand out, it does make some
of the rougher edges stand out when they crop up, like what uh like
sometimes the controls feel too prioritize for the animation. Yeah, there's there's some
of that for sure, and you kind of have to be pretty quick on
your feet, so sometimes it feels weird and also just like weird buggy things
like like dudes falling off ledges or you know. I think it takes a
little a little bit of anticipation. I don't think it's I don't think it
grossly over prioritizes the animation, but like want sometimes where if you're like I
need to be doing this other attack right now and hammering the button, but
I'm still playing out my last especially in the switching weapons part, where like
you're like caught in the middle of something and you're like Christ and there I
go. It's kind of hard. It does, absolutely there was I was
paying my head against that last boss for a while last week, and that's
one of the things that kind of bothers I don't I don't love the boss
fights in that game, particularly like the big ones that just like the big
dudes that basically the same. It's like, figure out the weakness, but
they're just gonna run back and forth. The fact that those are so similar
as a little a little this point, I will say that game has way
more story than I anticipated at having. I'm still kind of confused on the
story. I mean, because I haven't yet. I think it'll make seem
making it all up in his head. I think it'll make more sense once
you get there. But it's definitely like it's a it's a Tarantino Rodriguez esque
kind of just okay, gritty tale of badassory. Well because every time it
just seems like he keeps killing people he thinks killed his wife, right,
So like every time you get you go after this one guy, so you
killed my wife, and then you kill him. Then suddenly you have a
flashback and there's somebody and the Brad's in the room. You're like, oh,
I should go kill Brad. He was there, and he killed Brad
and then all of a sudden, Ryan was in the room with you,
guys, like, oh, you were there too, It'll kill you.
So there's some cool story tello, some cool storytelling techniques, like they have
your kind of standard between mission cutscene stuff, but they'll also do cool stuff
where they will like kind of a letterbox like picture and picture something that's happening
elsewhere while you're I thought that stuff was really cool, Like I think it's
it's play throughout the first three levels or so, so like one boss fighting,
and I was kind of burning out on it. So yeah, and
like I'm a I'm a big fan of the the initial impression that game gives,
but it's really hard to keep up over the course of I don't know,
ye four hours. My feeling was just that it felt like the enemies
took too long to die. It was just like, Okay, these like
real basic guys, and I have to sit there and just jack these buttons
for a lot longer to stab these guys like sixty seventy times or something before
they die or and eventually much it is eventually I think you come up with
you figure out which like a combination of buttons will engage you with a guy
until his health bars depleted, So like how long you can string together a
combo on one dude? And I was getting you know, like piles of
guys and stringing together like one hundred and twenty hits and stuff like that.
But just like, yeah, it gets a little tedious. Yeah, very
tedious. Uh, but again I would be fan and supporter. It's just
you know, it's hard to keep it going. It's still it's still beat
them up, you know. I feel like I feel like people have been
trying to like reinvent or modernize the beat them up since they invented the fucking
I feel like we've spent as much time trying to figure out how to make
that stuff work now as it was ever its own stand up genre. So
also some of the weapons that I was not getting into, like the little
submachine guns, it was like the I don't love those. I was just
once I got the shot, the second weapon you get yeah, and I
was like I also I also went to machetes after I got that, after
the chain saw the machetes are a lot. Then I got the katana and
I was like, that's kind of I don't like the katana as much because
I mean, the katana is good because I can engage the big guys with
it, sure, but I feel like it should be stronger. And that's
the problem I had. But it I can't remember what there was. There
was a reason why I went back to the I like, you get these
like you get the chains on your knuckles. Yeah, I use that because
you can then grab guys and use them as human shields, all right,
and that becomes pretty good for a crowd control my uh. I mean that's
all that game is about, is is full crowd control. Okay, I
have to make sure to keep all these guys engaged or also the guy that's
on the other end of the screen it's gonna start shooting at me and messing
me up. Yeah. The only times that I got really frustrated, like
I said, some of the boss stuff. There's also a few sequences where
they would put dudes on ledges above you, and when you shoot, you
can't shoot like straight up, like straight directly up, so you can only
shoot like up at an angle. So it's like you have to put yourself
in this weird position to like I feel like the shooting in that game is
more kin to like a melee weapon than I mean, that's kind of how
I use the shotgun is it's like a medium range melee weapon effectively, there's
a there's a have to do that shit. I just didn't care for it
where like the missiles are coming down that I did not enjoy. Oh on
the train, no pass that like in the villa or something when you're fighting
the priest. Oh yeah, because some of it seems there are some times
we feel like like random death of like I couldn't I couldn't do anything about
that, it happened. But I also think that game is generally pretty good
about checkpointing you, so it's like it's all right, yeah, only only
a few times, and I feel like, fuck, I have to redo
this one part that I've already done multiple times. Give me a break.
So I'll probably finish that last half hour up soon if that. Uh.
And then I just was was kind of refreshing Steam, hoping that they drop
the last episode Sam and Max, which didn't drop, which I guess dropsy
give me the review code. Yeah, I didn't punch it in. I
want to play it on my Steam accounts. Okay, you want to count?
Yeah, fair enough. I finished all the other four on there.
So okay, so yeah, I want to finish. I'm really curious.
I'm dying to see how that thing wraps up. And I understand tell Tale
might have more business at at packs, so we'll have more more Telltale business
for you. Yeah. Real weird teaser image not too long from now,
but that they put out there. Oh well, I didn't see it.
What was it. It's like Tycho from Pine Arcade Adventures. Uh, strong
bad Yeah, strong bad Sam. No, it's Max and like a team
Fortress two. Dude, all silhouetted. I don't know, fighting game.
Yeah, look for it. I don't know. That's weird. That is
weird. We kind of need if they turned all those TF two comics into
an adventure game, because that stuff is way more exciting than two. So
I tend to agree. I think they've for a game that has zero narrative
to it. All of the comic stuff they've made for Keyboards two has been
super entertaining. Maybe valves budding tail Tale. Yeah, it just means Steam
or something. Can they handle three games at once? I don't even I
don't even know. There's like they can handle like a couple of games at
once Plus, like their their labs. They're like weird skunk works operation that's
working on like puzzle agents and stuff that didn't wonder if that's got the Green
ladder or not. Yeah, he's That was the whole point with that stuff,
right with Puzzle Agent. Yeah, there's supposed to be a pilot program.
It's it's still not on iTunes, which is kind of weird. Oh
yeah, they were supposed to put it out for yeah. Oh oh yeah,
I was gonna say it's not an album talking about Oh you mean like
the app store, Yeah, the app store? Excuse me? What were
they gonna put there for iPad? Yeah, yeah, that would make sense
to get the frame rate up. The iPad version of the first Salmon Max
episode was a way different game, though hideous. That's true. That's true.
It's it's it's not quite as as complex from what I understand. It
was built for the iPhone first, but then they just released a PC build
all of us and it's still not even up there for just that platform.
The lead so just a lot of scanning, the scanning, the background,
scan in the background. Hope you'll find U. In the meantime, I
played death Spank. I played through some of that and then finally booted it
up Marvel versus cap Com. It's just something there and yeah I can still
crazy. Yeah game you messed up too? Yeah xpla version of madness.
Yeah, scared to ship out of me? That sounds about right. Were
you like trying to play online? Like no, I didn't even get that
far. It's just like got to like the characters, like people looking what
what do I choose? Exactly? Is a schuma gorrass? I forget.
I was turning this off, like played like two matches like against crazy people
play that game? I said that. Then that was about it. Yeah,
Jeff Gerstman, Hi's going all right, Yeah what you've been playing?
I wouldn't played Hailer Reach. I can talk about portions of it, Yeah,
has it? Do you remember which part you can talk about? Yeah?
Yeah, it's uh some single player stuff and and some multiplayer. I
have the form here. It's really crazy, people, it's really crazy because
it's limited to specific maps, right, So it's like you can it's it's
two missions from the single player and then like they you can just talk about
all the firefight, forge and competitive multiplayer limited to the following maps, Boardwalk,
Bone Yard, Countdown, Forge World, Like, I think this might
be all the maps. It's like you're limited to all of the multiplayer.
So yeah, let me ask you this because we've seen a bunch of it,
or ask me anything about it. Okay, what what jumped out at
you that you could talk about that as new that we haven't seen because you've
been exposed to a lot of it. Well, I think that the I
mean it's in the multiple the well, there's also some single player stuff.
I think it's that those armor abilities are in the single player okay, and
that that kind of changes it. You can kind of swap those out.
You'll find different stuff. It's like the dash and the jet pack stuff like
that. Yeah, and the armor lock and drop shield that sort of stuff.
So you'll be actually using all those or you or teammates us, so
you can talk about any of that. I mean that that stuff is in
these two missions. Okay, So you find them, right, So you
start out with sprint by default in in these missions, and you can find
pickups to swap them out with you choose. They are all like power ups
than like loadouts. Yeah, well, so load doubts and multiplayers in the
campaign. Yeah, there are really load outs, and you're just a spartan.
Ye're spartan. It's just one more thing that you can equip on your
dude, just like the two weapons you can hold in the you know,
grenades like it's it's it's one at a time, So it's equipment basically,
but it's not you know, just deploy one thing and go. So it's
interesting because it's you know, sprint. I think ends up being through these
two missions anyway, uh, the important one because it speeds up the pace
of the game so much. And I feel like, maybe this is just
me, but I've become accustomed to being able to run in shooters, so
like Halo is kind of weird because you kind of can't. So for them
to add a sprint is great because you can like start moving at you know,
like a modern shooter speed or something for for short bursts you have to
let like and stuff. Yeah, it does a bit of a cool down.
Does this throw off my typical Halo strategy of running a dude an empty
clip and then when I get close to me and run out of the clip,
I butt him with the my gun. In fact, it increases the
of that strategy. You can't shoot while you're running, but you know,
so you just kind of run up on dudes, stop just enough to get
the gun out there, and I'm a font of emotion over here. Yeah,
do your business. And then also like a Roman candle shooting shit all
over the shoot and run. So these missions kind of take place in the
first first half of the story and and basically at this point you kind of
know the covenants there, but you don't know how many. So it's kind
of a nighttime sneaking mission where you're going in and trying to figure out exactly
what the hell is going on behind enemy lines. You know, they've started
landing on reach and doing all this stuff, and you get out there and
there there are a lot of them. So the next mission is like this
full on assault, big old cut scene of just like a zillion wart hogs
racing towards you know. Yeah, it's it's it's like a very impactful moment
of just like, dude, they're going like this, they're gonna fight.
But of course, you know, the book being what it is, it
will all be for not right, Like do they do all that stuff in
the engine or do they have do they have like big elaborate like CG cut
scene. It's all an engine. In fact, everything has to be an
engine because you can customize the look of your dude, and that custom look
carries over into the single player. There's some things that are multiplayer only,
like you can customize like the voice of your dude for for firefight, so
you can kind of buy different voices there, and that's only for firefight.
Do you see some of that stuff in the in the missions? H aside
from in the cut scenes, you see like the battles going on, like
are you walking through because you're with other squad mates for some of this,
right, do you see like the war like raging around? Really okay,
so you're kind of doing your own thing. There are parts where you're just
like, oh man, that's you know, there's a part in this this
big assault mission where you're kind of taking down anti aircraft guns and as you
do, then there's you know, dropping dropping and dropping bombs, going through
bombing runs, doing stuff. So there's one hundred dudes on. But yeah,
it's not like like scale wise and like gameplay wise, they made a
Halo game like it's Bungee is very good at doing this, they have done
that. Again, they didn't do something radically different from them, No,
not at all. You know, they talk about the you know, the
squad mates and all this stuff, and now you're part of a team and
all that. And in these two missions anyway, you're kind of like hanging
out with one dude and you know if you leave him behind, it will
teleport him up when you hit a check point, just like any other AI
and any other Halo game. But it's it's not do you give them any
orders, like Pad. Now you are the new Jack on that team,
so you are just kind of being you know, you're just kind of doing
what you're told. What's the what's the manner of their support? I mean,
like does a guy snipe but another guy is the heavy guns? But
like I mean they specialize. You know, there's one guy that has a
gigantic you know, chain gun the whole time, and another guy who is
you know, ostensibly the sniper and stuff. I mean, they've been in
the marketing, they've really been, uh, they've all been talking up like
the team. Here is your team, Yeah, here's all the guys.
I mean, the story ends up pairing you up with different members like a
squad at different times, okay, but it's it doesn't feel like a class
basis for a team. They all shoot the same weapons, and that is
this is not like it Like for a while people were like, is this
going to be another Republic Command? Yeah, it's like it is your demo
guy, and you're heavy guy. It is a Halo game. It is.
It is not that game at all. Yeah, as far as I
could tell that these two missions, they certainly did not die. But this
is not like a revive button where they're like on the ground right now.
There's not like a Gears of War like like bringing dude, where are you
okay? Thing like that. Yeah. Was there anything that I don't know
that surprised you particularly that you can want because it does sound like a question
thank you. I mean I get the sense of like it's you know,
a well made experience or whatever, but that, like you said, Bungee
knows how to make a Halo game, right, and so even like the
minor differences, it still sounds like, well, this is this is going
to have some familiar beats to it. Absolutely. Yeah, I think it's
a it's a better looking game, like you know, these these missions in
particular, are probably two of the better looking things that I can talk about
right now. Anyway, Uh, you know, you've got your kind of
night mission where you're you're doing stuff, You're you're turning invisible. You know,
you're you're stealthing up and sniping guys in this whole kind of nighttime scenario.
And then the second one just has that kind of larger scope, so
parts of it have kind of a bigger battle feel, even if you're not
necessarily seeing a ton of stuff on screen at one time, you see any
odsts drop in. I can't, I can't. This is of that game,
all right, Well this is well, this is this is before the
events of it. Yeah, I mean I have a I have a pretty
question. Does it feel like a game that's set before all the other Halo
games in terms of like the technology, like you're talking about going stealth and
stuff. I mean, does it feel like, oh, we just kind
of read conned a bunch of cool stuff in there because it's a new game,
does it? Yeah? You know, it's yeah, I probably shouldn't
say too much more about all right, about some of that stuff, but
I mean, you know, it's it's it's a new games, they have
to come up with new stuff. But I'm wondering. I think they can
justify that by, you know, the idea of reach being this like testing
facility for spartans or whatever it is. The book probably does a better job
explaining that. Well, I don't want to talk about Halo Reach anymore,
Jeff, I don't talk about Halo four. Well, it's got all this
multiplayer too. You wanted about the multiplayer, It's got multiplayer, okay,
and let's talk about Halo four. Let's talk about Halo after Bungee? All
right? Is that that? I think it was one of the things that
you had said, say this that was that was interesting interesting to you.
Not saying anything about Halo reads necessarily, But what what happens to Halo after
Bungee? Because this is estensibly their last one, right, yeah, unless
something weird happens, Like this is them closing the book on Halo and giving
it over to the three four three team and and saying, all right,
you're gonna go make games for Activision. You guys have fun on the iPhone?
Yeah, right, see one, Windows Mobile seven? Yeah, uh
yeah, exactly, Like where do you go from here? And I think
that you know, I think that it has to be a I think it
should be a dramatic departure from this stuff, because you know, it's like
I said, you know, the multiplayer will feel very familiar to fans of
Halo. I mean, it's got a bunch of great new maps, and
you know, the multiplayers has become even more customizable than it has been in
the past. Firefight I think is a totally viable mode now, whereas an
ODST without the matchmaking, and you know, just kind of this endless grind
I felt kind of came up short. You're saying, they're not just packing
in a copy of Halo right now. They've They've interesting Yeah, exactly.
They they have built a full new game, full of full new, cool
multiplayer stuff forges a lot more customizable now too. You have a lot more
options for you know, building and editing maps. This is kind of their
big finale, Like, yeah, this very much feels like Bungee saying like,
do you do anything right? Here you go. They'll support it with
DLC, and I wouldn't be surprised if a huge bulk of it is old
Halo maps. It's because you need to have these so that everyone can just
play one game. We're not gonna be able to make these once we're gone,
So here you go, see you guys. But yeah, I mean,
you know, for their part, they say they are going to remain
dedicated to supporting Reach with DLC for you know, for some chunk of time,
probably however long it you know, remains relevant for them to do so,
or you know, until they run out of ideas. But I have
to imagine that. Yeah, those Bungee guys, like, regardless of whatever
corporate maneuverings that we've seen, like, those guys have been working on Halo
for a long time, and there's probably you know a yeah, I mean
I was, I was affinity for that stuff. Yeah. I was talking
to to Lars at E three about it and and he was, you know,
just saying like I was like excited too, Yeah, because they were
getting close to finishing the game up at that point, and it's like,
you know, it's it's gonna be really weird when we hand off that like
last disc and kind of hand it's it's it's like, all right, here's
here's our here's Bungee's last Halo game. Yeah, I'm sure it's really scary
as well like being like, well, here's this thing that we know has
done really well, and like let's keep all that up. It starts to
back off. Yeah, let's take another chance. But I think that's the
best thing for them. I think that's that's probably a good thing for the
for the franchise moving forward. Even too, is you know, let's let's
mix things up with Halo. They've they've put out a lot of Halo games
that are you know, that are telling this story arc and and fitting this
kind of multiplayer slot in a very specific way. But you know, there's
only so there's only so much so far you can go with that, right,
and you know, so what I'm basically what I'm saying is Halo Wars
too. Huh. How about that all units? Addition, all units are
units? All right? So I'm gonna say, twenty twelve at the latest
third person action game Halo game I said announced but then canceled, never comes
out, not say store shelves, buy Holiday twelve like playable table, like
you buy it like it's in stores third person the third person, No,
that won't happen. If you want to have a radical departure changed, what
I want, what I think will actually happen or two pretty different things.
I don't know. I think I think they absolutely could do that. I
think it's plays the Halo plays, Yes you Are, You Are, the
Halo Quartana puzzle game the Windows Mobile seven. It's Bejeweled except instead they're Halos
talks to you while you play. It's just things like good job, nice,
nice. And while she talks, she pauses the game, so you
can't play anymore. Yeah, right, exactly. I don't know what they
Maybe they will make other Halo games, right like they have. Yeah,
I mean they've building this team of people, you know, engine programmers and
all kinds of stuff, like they Microsoft is in the Halo business. Something
Farsoft is deeply invested. I mean they you know, they got a crack
squad of people up there. Yeah, so bred young master David Ellis is
up there. I actually know it was running You and I saw the O'Connor
left Bungee to go to the Microsoft side to stay with Halo. Ryan Peyton's
You and I saw that same Space Combat part e three. We did wells
conference, okay, but we saw a longer version of that, so we
saw some of that. So maybe maybe there's a Halo Space Maybe they're just
introducing it and there's a Halo Space combat game coming in the future. I
mean it's I think that they have already, you know, seeing significantly diminished
return on continuing making Halo first person shooters. Well, I like maybe,
but at the same time, I think they've also seen dimission returns on making
games that ain't got Master Chief in them. Yeah. So absolutely, if
I were them, the first thing I would do is Halo and like,
here's here's the planet he landed on. Let's keep going, Spartans. They
can rebuild from a genetic level if there's any part the suit rebuilds them into.
That's why they never die. Yeah, as it turns out, well,
I mean that's not even necessary because they wrote themselves and out at the
end of three I can't remember. He's just out there floating around. So
uh, you know, they could they could send Master Chief to some far
off, far flung location that has nothing to do with the existing conflict and
have him work with natives to fight his way out, and that would be
that would be my ideal, is they land on prehistoric Earth, you know,
like of you know, in nineteen eighty six, he's got to go
save the whales. We already know he lands in Fable two because he can
get that r I forgot about that. It's post credits, isn't it just
like him, Yeah, drifting in Spain's canon. So it's it's it's them
closing out the story art because that's he started Halo one in that stasis state,
so uh, you know, and and they, i mean, I'm
sure they could gin up plenty of good reasons to kick start again, but
they kind of close out like the Halo thing also of like yeah, yeah,
the Halo threat and the Covenant threat and all that stuff is kind of
I'd love to see them like the tumb Rator route of just like this doesn't
I mean, we're just calling it Lara Cross master Chief Adventures Go, and
then you know, we're working on some other Halo thing. Yeah, just
you know, the Continuing Adventures of Master Chief. I think that's that would
be the most interesting thing possible because you know, it lets him change a
lot about the world and a lot about the conflict, you know, because
he's gone it doesn't you know, they could kind of make that up.
And then on top of that, you know, it gives them an opportunity
to roll out a new engine, and you know, if they wanted to
change the pacing of the game, I can move a lot faster. That
would be awesome. I do really like the idea of master Chief as wandering
hero from planet to play, just kind of. I think it was all
this Quake one that we've been playing. Just wanted you can move like any
game I'm playing. Do you get any worried you play any more Quake over
the weekend? Jeff? I did? Yeah, nice. I played a
little bit more quick one, but a lot more Nextius and Zenotic, which
is the forked uh. I bet I bet that starts with an X.
It does do it's not that's not a z Z, that's an ex Z.
Yeah, Zenotic. I'd compile the source for that to get it to
work. Jesus. They have a build system out so I can just use
get to get all the stuff and it's kind of automatic. But it's right
now. It's just a lot like Nextius with some stuff. It's gonna be
interesting because the cryings and three next Says is going to be a pack.
I'm interested to see what that is and ask those guys, so are you
happy? With what you have done? What have you done? What have
you done to the open source community? Brought this world to its knees.
I didn't play a ton of it, but I set up my quake two
server. I joined your Quake two server over the weekend, and no one
was on it. And there's a handful of people that have been rotating through.
Part of the problems that I had it on CTF for the longest time,
and I think you had it set to lithium just debt right or death
match. When I joined, I switched it to that, and then I
also, yeah, I needed to. I am a poor, poor system
administrator to my quake two server and those people who are trying to use it,
I apologize, but you're just running out of here. I'm getting better.
I'm getting better. I'm just I'm tweaking settings more. There's a lot
of things that you could set. Man, there are a lot of crazy
variables. Yeah, uh for for a quake two server, especially when you
start dabbling in and you know weird weird add ons like the the lithium stuff.
Yea, then it just turns quake two into a message board. That's
how weird? Is that lineage? Very very weird, like we're making Quake
and Quake two mods and now we're making message boards and now we that's all
we do. Especially weird because we know some of those people. Yeah,
that's also also I didn't realize that I knew those people before. I didn't
realize those people were those people. I just remember all the time we spent
changing off of the Lithium message board software because it was too messed up to
keep using. Yep, it's because they were too busy playing Quake all but
yeah, I installed and started running my my Quake two service. After Quake,
I was like, I was like, well, for there's no throw
down, the next logical stake is, next logical step is Quake two O.
The next logical steps quick three. But we're gonna we're gonna take a
skip on that for this week. We're gonna be playing m K two and
UMK three on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Li Ricade respectively, respectively. But
it was after looking at and playing and looking at all of that Quake one,
it was super weird to go and check out Quake two because I again
hadn't seen that and probably way longer than I had seen anything Quake one related.
It's such a strange sequel, like just in terms of how different it
looks and feels in a lot of pretty significant ways. It looks like a
real game. It ages, it aged way worse than Quake one. Yeah,
it's like that default blaster. It's even the shotgun. It's like too
many shots to kill guys. Like the weapons just don't feel right. It's
just I don't know. There's some stuff about it that I really like.
The hyperblaster I think is a terrific I think there are some great weapon designs
as far as like, I think it's most of it's fine. And multiplayer,
I just think I played a couple of single player levels and just went
the ai AI and the players glaringly because like they will like duck when you're
shooting at their feet, you know, just because they're programmed to duck at
intervals or whatever. Yeah, And I don't know what the actual logic.
I didn't. I did not touch any of the single player. I went
straight into mold. But it's just it's rough. It's it's just strange because
of how like hard and blocky, Like there's a lot there's a lot more
that's angular about Quake two, and for me, it's a look that's also
more defined by that era of three D acceleration. Like Quake is all for
me, is all about like hard textures and everything looking super flat and super
square. But by the time I got to Quake two, it is like,
okay, my my voodoo cards going on. So I've got a lot
more interpolated textures. So it's a lot more light, yeah, a lot
more color lighting. And I mean that's what I was. That's all I
remember about Quake two. But in that video, is it just it still
looks like that, right, And in my head it looks awesome. But
I'm sure dropping down into that sewer at the beginning of the third map and
your gun turn blue, but like shire gun and I traveled with it,
well, I mean, you know, Quake head like mobile light sources,
but they were not colored. I don't know. The calling people into it
looks like a bad and sixty four game right now. It looks like it
looks like a toy. Yeah it, but but I don't know. I
think some of the like I think that it is not a great rocket launcher,
but I think it's awful. I think it's a great looking rocket launcher.
I think that the design totally looks it looks like something that could fire
rockets, as opposed to the Quake one rocketlaucher that looks like it's a magic
wand it's a magic fucking wand that summons rockets. Nothing. None of the
weapons in Quake one look like weapons. They look like Quake one weapons.
The stuff in Quake two I believe in the like, yeah, this is
this would work as a gun. This is why this is doing like making
this motion and doing this thing, and here is the results. Although the
Quake one weapons all look like they were forged by like some dark elder god
or something like, yeah, be on them. Even when it's right still
looks It's like, why is that this double barrel shotgun just looks like like
I'm eight feet away from the barrels, which also it just looks like a
block of iron. Yeah. I always thought it was like super snazzy in
high tech that the web and some Quick two have the offset. Yeah,
like they came from the side of the strand instead of right at the bottom.
That was one of the things that jumped out of me from playing a
Quake one isn't like man just no off, no bob, no offset.
It was crazy at the time, so futuristic. Yeah, actually you didn't
douke three d ha offset from the weapons. Pretty sure it did, don't
recall, I think it did. They were not the first to do that.
Yeah, anything else post Reach, post quake? H No Bright Shoemaker
hit me with the hotness I play some games? Would you play? U?
Shall we start with Metroid other? M, let's start with Metroid Other
Just that just came out on Sunday. You ever liked it? I liked
it. Yeah, after a kind of shaky first impression. Yeah, how
so it got a lot better. You and I saw that for the first
time together. Yeah, at Nintendo a few weeks back, three weeks back,
close to a month, close to a month. Okay, the controls
takes them getting used to Now, why is that some of our fears about
using a dpad and a three D space? Uh yeah, came to bear.
Yeah, I mean some of that stuff was born out by the game.
But I don't know if you get used to it pretty quick or I
did it anyway, now watching you play, like get deeper into it.
During the review process, I noticed that there was a lot more kind of
the the you know pseudo two D where it's it looks like it's a three
D environment, but there is strictly a two D path that you traveled.
There is there a lot of that. There's a good amount of that stuff.
And yeah, I mean there's literally like these invisible tracks laid on the
floor where you know, she's running through a curved hallway, but all you're
doing is holding right right, and she follows the curvature without you having like
zigzag on the dpad. So that's nice. That stuff is nice at a
certain point. It's kind of makes all like the three D space just like
just for pretty in those instances. Yeah, but those are those are these
sort of in between sequences. Those are like what you do in between the
big kind of set piece like scripted monsters like jumping on the walls at you,
or like a big kind of bat room and then you guide and esku.
Yeah, like three D like combat spaces where guys just come at you
from all sides. That stuff was fine after you know, a couple of
hours. Basically, I was used to it like it's got the it's got
the auto dodge, which seems to be a very man. What a divisive
game, just like top to bottom, Like the review scores are all over
the place, like people are going ape shit on message boards. There are
cries of sexism from some quarters. I mean, it's just space is high
when it comes to Metroid stuff. It's true, It's definitely true. And
this is a weird offshoot for them. I'm still not quite sure I grasp
all of it. But but yeah, the like the auto dodging stuff,
a lot of people have just been like, oh man, that just also
it plays the game for you, right, I mean it's like that stuff
is necessary right because of the is a poor name for it or something,
Uh, it's accurate, sounds like. That's the part that gets me though,
Like it's necessary because of the deep It was like, well the wh
Yeah, I don't know that that should be in there as like I was
saying, we were doing the quick look like as the operation mode and then
give people like a real way to control it, I guess, but it's
just yeah, but there are ways you can there are ways you can use
it to your advantage because if you if you hit the shoot button at the
right time as you dodge, you get a full beam charge immediately. So
if you're dodging and like timing that button press properly, I'm saying take out
the dodge. I'm saying make it more difficult to do, and I guess
rewarding you know, like a problem with it. You can obviously still get
hit, right, Yeah, I mean, let me put it this way.
The combat is plenty challenging even with that all right, Like it's there's
still especially when you're having to go to first person often to do things like
it feels like a pretty good balance back and forth, I think, but
it's you know, it's it's a metroid game. Still, like you,
I feel like I must have played like the I mean, I just yeah
from here, and you say that it had a rocky start. I think
I played right up until yeah, where you just said it started getting better.
Told me where you left off. I was like the one mode that
I played something like months ago. Yeah, like ended like literally right before
you say, oh, it gets way better after that's right about the part
where really started. I left that that emos going like, what the fuck
is this game? I don't even game tell do you think Team Ninja will
be invited back to the Metroid party. Uh. I guess it really comes
out of sales, right, I mean it's the ultimate determining factor, I
guess. But like I always got the sense that Metroid doesn't really traffic in
the same business outside of the US, right, Yeah, that was that
was part of it, is it was much bigger than the US. That
like that was my understanding that that's why like retro was given. Yeah,
so the prime stuff to begin with. It's kind of weird that they would
backpedal to a Japanese developer. Then if I agree, if they went with
a Western developer and it did Gangbusters chair got Bob Man, what are they
canna do? Yeah? Yeah, has the narrative stuff and as the it's
always and again like upfront, pretty poor impression, like just a lot of
kind of sort of nonsense call cut scenes and like pretty flat voice acting and
some she's not great. I don't like that what this game does to her
character. That's that's kind of where the accusations of sexism. Uh wait,
accusations of sexism are coming towards Team nawards whatever. Crazy. Yeah, I'm
saying, like not sexism towards like reviewers or something. No, no,
no, no, no, talking about the game zone. Okay, I've
never seen those guys, Yeah, we get it. I don't. I
just figured that all of the that had been weeded out when team didn't just
split up. I don't think that was left or something that was all coming
from. Apparently that's just inherent. That's just that you need picture. I'm
giving like a press cut. It's part of our DNA. I just love
bitches, man. I've never seen those guys do like narrative and it kind
of like cohesive, like compelling way, like even even the all the Ninja
guide and stuff, that's all super goofy and crazy, right, like something
fucking messed up just happened. Go and fight demons now. Hopefully that's in
the other end, absolutely top to bottom. Yeah, I mean she does.
She does like metroids. It's got boobs on it. Well, yeah,
she's see her sextra and you see her in the in that spandex body
suit. Yeah, she looks disproportionate like a Team Ninja character would. But
I think people's problems are coming more from or at least the you know,
the review of referencing, Like the problems come more in her character. What
they do to her character, you know, like they they ascribe like a
frailty to her psyche in some situations that just doesn't make sense. For like,
you know, this is like a hard ast nails bounty hunter who's like
cleared entire planets full of monsters, you know, but all of a sudden,
she's like terrified of she's got all these like euroses that she's trying to
work through or whatever. Like it doesn't make a lot of sense, feels
very out of place. But it's been through a lot, man. Yeah,
But but also she hadn't been through a ton of stuff at that point.
It's you know, this is a little earlier on early you know,
early point midpoint career. I think this is towards the end. Actually,
I think this is before what you ever read my fan fiction we have.
She keeps on gaining all this stuff and then loses it at the beginning of
every new adventure, and then she collects it all again and loses it.
To mess with your head, man, the cycle of law, Why don't
even do it? Why don't even do it? Sure? And all of
the creatures she had to murder to get that stuff at the first place,
and then it all goes and she has that stuff in this guy. You
know, I don't know. I think I think it's I haven't seen the
reviewing question that you were referencing here, but I don't know. I feel
like it's G four's right, Okay, Yeah, that's the sexism one.
I mean, it's it's a valid complaint. It's a matter of you know,
taste, It's entirely subjective. But you know, I guess it's when
you start getting conversation like, well, do you want like character depth or
do you want like you can't just throw the sexism claim out there like that,
And I don't know, it just seems it seems like wanting it both
ways, but right, because otherwise she's just a Yeah. It's like otherwise,
make sure a woman, you just give her all these male characteristics and
then there's nothing feminine about her. It's like, well, I think that's
even worse. You give Team Ninja fucking break. I mean also, yeah,
well, like expecting Team Ninja to be able to handle any kind of
emotional depth I think is asking a lot so and you know, you could
argue it's also not a reasonable expectation for the Metroid series. Maybe well,
I don't know that. That's only because they haven't really gone super crazy on
story stuff up until this point, you know, so this was their shot
to make like make it good, and it sounds like parts of it maybe
not the stuff they do outside of trying to develop her as a character really
cool, like the like what they add to scenario and stuff. Yeah,
I mean what they add to like the Metroid mythology or whatever, you know,
like the kind of greater universe and all the stuff that was going on
back in the first game, and then that kind of thing like that.
That stuff is neat if you're in the Metroid, it's it's pretty sad.
Then they pronounced its zevis zebis what I always said, zebus, not ZEBs.
Yeah, some guy even said zbs. Some guy in the comments said
ZEBs. I was shocked. I want to say, I think it was
probably what I heard they say. Sam SAMs Aaron is how they say in
the game. I always that was Iran or Iran or whatever. I don't
know. Man made up the controversy. I don't know. It's it's a
weird, devisive game. A lot of people will like it, a lot
of people will not it's I will simply just not play it, all right.
That's that's nothing, nothing to do with the brelative quality of that game
one where that's a valid course of action. Uh So I can sit on
my coffee table forever. That's the most effective way to not play games.
Is anybody in this room besides me to play it? I'll probably play to
play it. Yeah, I got it my bag. If you want to
play it? Sure? Is that the other M? It's the other other?
Okay, yeah, you got that other M? Word is it?
Does the other M make sense once you beat the game? Is there?
Yeah? Kind of yes, there are there, certainly are there even more
after the end of this game, you could Marvin could do? Is you
you could interpret it more than one way? I mean, whatever, it's
a name. No, it wasn't me, it was mel other always gets
you too mixed up. I appreciated it when Metroid like I appreciated it as
a Metroid game before anything else really, And that's that's what I liked about
it the most, Like the that's that's cool that that can even be said
about that game? Yes, yeah, because from what I played, that
seemed like the part it was not going to Oh, it totally cool.
How long is it about? M I had like nine and a half hours
on the clock when I finished it up. Ten Maybe do you think you
could speed run it in like a half hour? Mmm? Some of those
better So she's not naked if you do awesome. I really you know,
I'm not a big Metroid fan one way or the other, but I really
really dislike how often this zero suit ship has started coming up over the past
few years. Like I I think Nintendo, more than anything that Team Ninja
could have done with this game, is to blame for the what what has
happened to the Sama's character? Whatever? Man, she's got a body,
she can use it. I don't know. It's it's it's like, here's
a character that has always just been like, yes, she is a woman,
but that is not her defining characteristic, And all of a sudden,
it's like she's just jumped around in this skin tight sexy suit all the time.
It's like, it's not it's not the sammas. I know solve that
problem by not playing Smash Brothers out there. And it's and it's and it's
becoming like the dominance become the like default samas for some people, you know.
Yeah, it's just and I don't know that bums me out. In
this game, when you die, the robotic suit or whatever like evaporates from
you, and she's lying there in the in the in the cat suit.
Basically you almost were there, Champagne, I'm not like sexy writhing Yeah a
cat Yes, that's it. Can you do that again for me? Thank
you? Save that for later, Bright Maker. Anything else that you would
care to talk about sees rising to you? Case zero hell Yeah, dude,
drill bucket, Dude, drill bucket. I suddenly a really bad porno
mag It's a really good I'll lend you a copy of drill Bucket. Yes,
of other drill bucket shrownd uh. Sam has showed me your drill bucket.
I showed her my other m. Dude, that girl's just a drill
bucket. You don't want none of that shaking. I'm shaking my head.
Tell me about your drill buckets fault. You set that up. I set
that up. Alogized Dead Rising two K zero zero Yeah, the downloadable thing.
Yeah, this sounds maybe coming out this week, and I'm pretty sure
it's coming up. Yeah, they havenfirmed it is coming out in the US.
It is coming out almost almost out by the time you hear this,
five bucks. Did they give a time? I would think it would be
actually out by the time you hear this. Well, I mean it's next
bla game. Those go up like super early Wednesday morning, except that they
said Tuesday for this. Yeah, but whatever, it could be Tuesday night
late whatever. You can watch our quick look you could, that's all.
That's not not so quick. Look, I'm impressed that you were able to
spend that much time with There's a lot and not finish it. And not
finish it, Yeah, we were going out of the story. Were screwing
off there? How many put drill bucket on dude ted and then try and
combine the shotgun with everything. That sounds ridiculous hyperbole, but I suddenly could
not be more excited for Dead Rising to you. I dude, they did
exactly what they must have set out to do with this thing. Because before
I played that so I started playing it this morning, I forgot that that
game is even coming out this month, And now that I played through it,
I'm just like, dude, give me that game. It's so an
effective piece of marketing. Absolutely, five Bucks of the progress rolls over into
the real game. Yeah yeah, yeah, what a pakee pake quel Yeah
yeah, yeah good. Then you have to fire Drew now no, it
was good. Sorry, this is now my boss. You can deal with
all this shit now I'm done. It was weird starting to back up because
it's been right about what four years since that first game, Like that's probably
at least for me, that was enough time to kind of forget what made
a Dead Rising game. And then I got out. I got in there
and it was like Pepe, yeah, sure that it was, you know
it was it was like a quasi real time clock. It was like having
a deadline to do all this stuff. It was being able to start the
game over with a higher level. So even even in case zero, all
of those all it was saving in bathrooms concepts like everything. It's zombies.
Oh yeah, right, it's weird. It's weird. You're finding professional wrestlers
at this time, which is well, I didn't really appreciate them. Infected.
We don't like to say, is the Z word around here? The
mean zbs the other So this is this is uh, like hours or days
prior to the events of We'll get a load of this right, if one,
If one Brad Nicholson is to be believed, it's actually three years before
the forthcoming retail disc Brad Nicholson, Yeah, who told you that? Wikipedia
and our giant bomb Wickie at least one of those is trustworthy. It's weird
though, because is playing it. It seems like, I mean it has
the appearance of taking place like, yeah, hours or maybe a day before,
because like when he first rolls up in the truck, he's got like
the suit, he's not wearing the suit. What is the suit? He
doesn't have the jacket, doesn't have the jack similar colors as wear shirt.
Yeah, okay, so obviously three years the rings three years, that shirt
grows into a jacket. Yeah, so he's wearing like a ball jersey and
jeans or yeah. But the point is, I mean, the game is
set in Vegas, and this takes place city actual Vegas. Oh there's all
that bullshit with the city of Las Vegas or whatever, although they do say
at can't I can't wait to play that game just to figure out how comes.
Sometimes I've heard Las Vegas mentioned in Dead Rising to swear everything says fortunes
like in the game. Yeah, like mentioning. Actually in case here is
specifically they're talking about last I would swear the words Las Vegas are spoken in
that game. I swear I heard that. You're absolutely correct, which makes
all of the fortunes of the stuff that much more. Maybe it's just like
outside of Vegas. I mean, this is you know, it wouldn't be
unheard of for them to have Vegas and then also create Vegas somewhere else in
the two. But you're right outside the city limb. Yeah, you're in
this like tiny little town of Still Creeks, population like seven fifty or something,
by any little desert town fifty three or whatever. Plus two. What's
your daughter? The premises you roll up in your truck. You've got your
like little four year old daughter. She is infected. You got to keep
feeding her zombire x to keep her from turning into a little girl zombie.
But it should be a first because there aren't nough kids zombies any of this.
I don't know if they can get away with it, Like it seems
not there yet. It seems like the logical conclusion for this thing. But
can can What do you think I can't? I think if you let that
happen you lose, like let her become a zombie the mission objective. The
mission objective says, if you don't get back to her with a zombirex,
she'll die. It doesn't say she'll turn into a zombie. It just says
she will die. Maybe maybe kids can't turn into zombies in this universe.
I don't know, but I haven't been following this whole all the weird viral
zombirex stuff they've been coming up with too. I just think you can,
as a developer, be shooting little kids. Oh well, that's it.
That's I mean, those are two different questions of whether you can have kids
zombies and whether you can murder kids zombies. Sure, here's a better question.
Ken zombies love Do we know that? That's absolutely They love to gamble.
They actually do. Yeah, So, I mean it's it's just like
it's just like the Vegas Airport, where like everywhere you go there are slot
machines, Like there are slot machines in the lobby of the movie theater in
this town. Zombies love slot machines like they actually will wander out, like
when they see a slot machine they go over and play it instead of trying
to kill you. It's a nice touch. It's pretty funny, brand Niolson.
So maybe Chuck and you know, the daughter, even though she's a
zombie, they can still like each other, right, I mean, if
she can love him, then they have a relationship. Maybe, right,
maybe can go out and help her get brains. Yeah, you know,
I'd imagine much easier to get ahold of than zombrex. Yeah. Problem,
it's probably a lot easier to get a hold of if you're not already a
zombie. And maybe she could be civil about it, like Louie and uh
that vampire stuff by an Rice. Remember Louie only ate rats, right,
so maybe maybe she can just eat raccoons or something like nobody likes Yeah,
nobody likes us anyway, Right, This seems like a really antilimactic direction to
take, like zombies age, would she eventually grow up to be an adult
zombie? Or I want to borrow the car? And yeah, teen issues.
I don't know. I think. I think when you start poking at
zombies, much like time travel, if you start meddling with the like,
don't don't worry about these questions. Oh wait, this is all stupid.
Zombies are bad. You should shoot them, don't worry about if all their
people wants, or hit them in the head with the baseball back covered nails,
or drop a bucket full of drills on their heads. I don't know.
I love the drill bucket. So that was one of my favorite things
I've seen in that game. That's pretty good. Basically like it is dead
rising mechanically top to bottom, like all the same ship, except they've traded
the photo mechanic for the item combining stuff and out of combining stuff is hilarious,
really good they've gotten it seems like they've gotten some terrific mileage. There's
probably what would you say, ten items and this is zero. There's probably
like I've seen ten items or so that can be combined, and there's only
eight combinations that you can make in this game. I keep wanting to call
it a demo, but it's not. It's so not a demo. So
how much time would you say you've you've sunk into that so far? And
have you started over totally like just overall in the game. Have you gone
through like the story mission? I haven't finished at all because I got to
level two and I was like, oh, we're fun if I started over
with a higher level, so I did, and then I hit level three
and I did the same thing. So I'm actually saved at the very first
save point because I just keep starting over. Nice because you take your experience.
Take everything you take, even like the stupid clothes like I'm wearing overalls,
the cowboy hat. Rights. You take the cards with you that you
find. Yeah, so it's a weird mechanic with the item combining stuff.
If you figure out an item combination before you find the card for it,
you get a scratch card, which is basically good for nothing, But if
you find the combo card for it, you get like a bonus when you
use that item, a pp bonus. Well, sometimes I think, didn't
you say you could also get like a damage bonus. I think it depends
on it. It depends on the card. I think it depends on the
item. But like you, there are strong attacks that you can only do
if you have the card right, right, right, So it almost feels
a little backwards to me because should be rewarded for right. It's almost like
they should reward you for figuring out the combination before you find the card.
But it's not really a matter of figuring it out like it is for you
right now. But that's easy fact. And if you were going to,
you know, then reward people for using a fact, then I mean,
I get I get your point, but I see why they would want to
do it that way. Some of some of the combinations are very esoteric though,
I mean drills and buckets, like, yeah, I don't know unless
you wouldn't you wouldn't just clue into that, like baseball that nails, Sure
it's itself, but or nails and propane tank. Yeah, okay, so
all right, I'll give you that one. Sure. No, I mean
I kind of assumed there was such a limited list of items that each one
would only be used once in this game. No, but then yeah,
nails and propane tank that and that makes an Yeah, that's what it's called.
I just like that's a description on the scratch card. It's called I
E ED. I'm pretty excited about rising. I'm really excited about it this
week zero forty three minutes. I can't think of a person who shouldn't just
get that once you hated the first Yeah, sure, so I guess the
demo for it must just be timed, right, I don't know, it's
such a it's weird because you can't save from the demo. I said,
just run as long as you can, I guess, or get achievements.
It's not timed. We didn't look like it was weird, No, but
I mean looks like the story you could finish in like ninety minutes. But
there's all these optional survivors to get. There's all the outfits you can do,
all item combinations. Their stuff fantastic. I'm pretty pretty, pretty uniformly
impressed with what I've seen in this products. It's good. Good on them
for making it five bucks and making it easy to get a hold of them.
Yeah, like it seems if it is at all representative of the full
product of Dead Rising two, that's going to be like a pretty gas game.
Yeah. I mean, you tell me if I'm inflating the controversy in
my mind over this. I don't know if there's anybody out there crying,
like paid demo or not. You know, probably somewhere, But I think
this is probably one of those cases where it best justifies itself. Yeah.
I could have seen this being kind of like a prolog chapter in the game
or something, but not after they've I can see it have been like,
oh, this is a small town that you drive through and you see some
of the stuff, and you're here for a little bit, and this is
tutorial and then you go. I think it would have fell out of place,
but not having played the full game, seems I doubt it would be
as fleshed out as they have since made it. I think it justifies it's
five it seems like at least so it justifies five bucks several times over you
get to level five and that's caps a level five, but you can carry
that over into the full game. That's a that's a nice bonus five bucks.
Like just it's totally worth it. Drop a drill bucket, good on
the buckets. So gnarly, so weird. Although I think my favorite part,
Brad, of watching you play the demo was when I picked up the
gumball machine and I declared that I said, I was I think I said
that I really want I said, is it wrong of me? Is it
too much of me to ask that when you hit a zombie with this gumball
machine, that gumballs go spring everywhere? And absolutely as I was saying,
like, oh, that's probably technically asking, and then you hit a zombie
with it and gumballs and spring everywhere. But then did they start slipping on
the gumball? They didn't know, they didn't and then the gumballs disappeared?
Are you sure that was then? My next hope would have would have really
liked cued up in that quick look again, that's have sworn they were doing
a little. The gumball is very quickly fade away. I don't think they
actually because they slip on vomits and stuff like that. So the animation,
yeah, oh man, they should have done that over you gotta wait for
the four version for slipping's let's see. I would like to talk a little
bit about Canaan Lynch to multiplayer Jeff. Yeah, I played some some Fragile
Alliance this weekend and I came that's pretty neat. Yeah, it's it's a
cool idea. I had a fair amount. I think some of the things
that you said about it are are pretty spot on about the length of the
levels eventually becoming an issue because it's like four minutes on the outside of how
long these things are. But I was also thinking, like, at the
same time, if you were in one of those maps, and it were
to take a lot longer than that and you died early on, like the
chances of you hanging out and waiting for the next round would probably be pretty
Yeah, round to be fast. I think it's a situation where they needed
to vary up like enemy placement and some other things like that. That didn't
bother me so much, just because like, Okay, that was kind of
if you had played it for another day or so, you would be like,
oh yeah, I was just kind of finding that the constant like that
was the constant, but it was how the players I was playing with would
behave that kind of made those scenarios interesting. Yeah, you know who's going
to wig out on us or you know who's actually going to be dependable?
Are people going to run? Because there's kind of multiple routes in most of
those levels, it seems like you can kind of run when you first approach.
It's like, okay, wanting to provide support from up here or I'm
gonna you know, run straight through on the ground and here. But yeah,
a good weekend. I definitely not see playing that for I think Undercover
Cop mode it is probably the best thing that game I was going for it
because in that mode, you know someone's gonna have to turn on you.
But horrible edge the entire time I had never like fragile alliance is the regular
mode I think gets kind of frustrating because there are people that just like turn
on you at like dumb times for them to do. So, it's like,
oh, so while a cop is shooting at you and everyone is standing
right around you, this is when you decided to shoot a player and then
immediately die. So now I am sitting out this round and so are you?
Like? Thanks, Hey, I guess I didn't run into too much
of that. Yeah, I think at this point maybe that that crowd has
shook out some. But anyways, moving on, bred Nicholson, I'm sorry.
I was gonna ask you this earlier. What have you been playing?
Man? I haven't been playing a lot. Actually, I knew I was
going to be traveling. I got this problem. I'll tell all you guys.
I go to the gym a lot. I went twelve times in the
last four days. That's too much. That's a lot. Yeah, I
know, But yeah, I knew I was going to be able to work
out until Thursday, like this Thursday. So I was trying to pack it
in. Yeah, it doesn't work that way. I wouldn't think. I
wouldn't think that that you can live twice a day every other day. Okay,
all right, so science, Yeah, I know, I know.
And so as far as what I've been playing, it's a it's lot of
the elliptical machine and free weights. Okay, how's that going? It's going
pretty good. I heard the back end of that gets a little boring.
Oh you're telling me you gotta have a good book or an iPad. I
find that it's terrible doing it so much. It's just that grind, you
know, say anything like that. You just got out in the level grind.
It's right, terrible, level up your tries. I did. I
did try the Lower Croft XBLA game I heard I heard you talking about Lasting.
Yeah, I really liked it. I played about twenty minutes and said,
now I loved it. Yeah, I'm done about that game very quickly.
Yeah, that's kind of It's kind of where I was at with it.
Sexism just rampant, terrible. It's really I hate to see it invade
this office. My question is she wasn't cooking at all? And did I
miss something? Why she's not pregnant, but shoes on. If your job
is the raid tunes, as I propose, I had imagine that hers is
why why wouldn't you wear pants? Right? Because it's hot, I mean,
but because it's hot and it's all around on the rocks all day.
Your knees got took terrible, but they're perfect if you notice. Yeah,
but he also need you know, the mobility afforded of extremely short shorts.
And I think she rolls him up an extra inch too, right, didn't
like there's a little short tough like these aren't short enough. I get the
knife out, but you know what if I need to roll him down later,
that's right. Now are a partner, though he's even less dressed than
her. If you notice, he just has the flappy thing, that's right.
He's like an ancient god. He doesn't need really anything. That's that's
for Lara's benefit more than anyone's. What does god need with a pair of
revolvers. Well, he's jumping around a lot too. Yeah, yeah,
I'm sure that thing's flapping up. That thing probably sticks. Oh yeah,
he's been sealed in an Aztec tomb for thousands of years. That's probably that
needs that. Who knows. It's like he's been going to the gym forever
on that. This was what it was racing through your mind as you were
like, you know what, this doesn't all makes sense you No, well,
okay, that was the first thing that hit me, right, this
is the way I played games. But I shot a couple of what are
they like, demons, like demonic alligators or something some of those two.
There's just different kind of demons. And then the first thought that pop in
my head was, Yo, this is Diablo, but with lower craft.
I do not want to play this. That's it. You're selling me more
on the pitch from the beginning, right, just didn't just did't hit me
right. I need Elves at the least, or dwarves. I'll take an
orc. It's my favorite LL cool J song. I need elves. Yeah.
On this Christmas album, Oh so filthy filthy record. Oh god,
I know, Uncle el at his worst makes Christmas and Hollis look like Christmas
and Queens. Well we're off, well, we're off subject that. Where's
that spider at? There? So much about it? Don't worry about it,
were spider. We're gonna be okay, they're gonna make it. However,
we will instead touch on a topic that you might know a thing or
two about. Brad Nicholson. How do some news about Xbox Live subscription costs
as of Monday morning, or at least the announcement was on Monday morning that
they are being raised effective November first. Yeah, and I guess you know.
The reason they gave is, you know, to keep providing you this
world class service, blah blah blah, we have to do this, which
I don't. I don't. I mean, so, really, what have
they done to to Xbox Live. The problem is that the things they've done
are things that you have to pay for in addition to Xbox Live anyway,
So it's it's stuff. Hey, it's cool that it's gott Netflix, but
you have to subscribe to Netflix, and it's not like Microsoft servers are serving
those movies other than them probably developing the Netflix application. H that's kind of
I don't I don't know. I don't think it's outrage of them to to
bump it up ten bucks after it's been as much as it's been since the
start of Xbox Live. But I think that they're they're reasoning, like on
the public side has been very poor. I don't think yeah, they're they're
they're spin on. It has been shitty. This to me, if not
none exists. This to me seems like them kind of sitting back watching what
Sony does ye to figure out, you know, like how Sony's gonna play
this out with this whole PlayStation plus thing. And after they watch them come
out with this thing, they're like, oh, yeah, we could totally
raise it whatever how much as Plus? But I mean you can play games
for free, and you can use Netflix for no additional charge and and all
that stuff, and that I'm guessing that that probably didn't move the needle enough
for Microsoft and go like, oh we got to move our Netflix outside the
paywall or oh we gotta do something to get people into They just like,
yeah, raise it, dude, come on, we'll be fine. What
what do you get now for your here paid subscription? Is it? Uh?
Playing games like like get to play multiplayers people? Yeah? Okay,
that messaging, Yeah, the voice messaging. I mean there's tons of like
demos and stuff you can only get as a gold number, Okay, at
least at first usually wait time, Netflix ESPN whenever that launches. Yeah,
speaking of which when that's coming on, I don't know my friends October has
been using it. Oh yeah, but it's still like a cable thing,
right, like, yeah, but people are covered. I don't have it.
Sp does not good for ESPN. They're living in the boonies whatever.
Using a privately owned I SPP has their own US net server. Everything will
be fine. You've come out ahead. Comcast drops using that like two years
ago, so you win. So yeah, it's sixty bucks a year now
in the US, which I think is in line with what a lot of
the rest of the world has been playing. Paying for a Xbox Live Gold.
It's still a divisive issue that has people's blood up all over the place.
It's like when you increase the you know, when you increase that fee
without attaching to it, like and here's what else you'll get. I think
this one it might have been a good time for them to break out like
tiered levels of service. Yeah, and say like if you just want to
play online and do like the game related and like voice chat related stuff,
here's like a lower fee. But you know, if you it'll be seventy
a year. If you want Netflix and ESPN and all this other stuff or
like give give it good people, unlimited friends, you know, like some
roll out some new features that yeah, like unlimited friends. Talk about things
that I would pay for, like a bigger friends list coming. Well should
I shouldn't have said that. Now they're going to charge for it? Man.
Well, well, just like you know, like when you you know,
here all the new features that we're adding, like we're working on it.
I guess they have added features in the past, and you know,
it's like the service give you more than it did when they launched it.
I don't like a lot of the things they added, like ads. How
about an AD free dad, that'd be nice, yea. Yeah, like
the ability to opt out of any one thing like I don't want to see
yeah, or patios on Twitter. Yeah, like they're actually you know,
so you know how they boot you up to the spotlight. Yeah, there's
actually there's a there's a hack to get around that. Well, there's an
audio ad as the first unit on the Yeah, I thought it doesn't give
you audio until you leave it and come back. I'm pretty sure this Halo
Reach. It's Halo Reach audio as soon as if you turn a console on
and don't touch anything. Their sound coming out. I was almost I kind
of agree with Jeff. I remember booting it up. I'm pretty sure maybe
because you heard it. Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure I heard,
like you know, actually it might have been like dumping back from a game.
But even when it's like yeah, I don't know's I don't know,
I don't care. I don't yeah, I do not care if the ads
the point. The point is the advertising is getting more prominent and not less,
right, and then raising the price of this service also doesn't Yeah,
if they were to offset it by saying like and will let you opt out
of and it like these you know, we've broken up these ads into game
related not game related, movie TV. You know, just let's say,
like I don't want to see promotional units for any of your videos or any
of your content partner videos because some of that it's like like the Microsoft videos
yes, the other stuff no, and then turn off all the car ads.
But let me see stuff for movies and for video games like that's you
know, like that would be cool. All it would take that stuff I
don't use at all, Like I use like the library stuff, and I
sometimes brows the arcade stuff, but usually I know exactly what I'm looking for,
so like, yeah, because it's the newest thing that came out.
Yeah, So like ninety percent of that stuff I don't even use, so
like on that system, on that dashboard, it's kind of just clutter.
It's yeah, like currently with the NXC stuff, like I am very unclear
as like what what purpose, like what is it supposed to serve? And
it sounds like the refresh for Connects doesn't necessarily fix any of that stuff.
It just is rejiggers it, yeah, rejiggering some stuff to make it more
connect friendly. But and like the the stuff I do use a lot of
I get through through the guide button, like checking friends or stuff like that.
I've come to rely more and more on that thing. And it's it's
nice. I mean, let's you circumvent a lot of that crap. Yeah
we quick launch. Yeah, yeah, I didn't use that as much as
I should. I've never used it. Launch is great. You can be
anywhere in the dashboard and like launch whatever game. I think it's like the
last ten games that you played. Yeah, just like launching by popping that
thing up and hitting that bad I've used it when I've used it I've been
happy. I remember, I think you could be in Netflix and launch like
whatever game is in your drive or a bunch of arcade games. M cool,
right, and never what else is going on in news Man Monday?
Night Combat is getting a free DLC pack at some point, Yeah, in
a big patch that's will balance up dates, balance up dates. I'll dude,
there's StarCraft update. We can talk about StarCraft. You assholes. The
opening I've never said, don't talk about it, but now we have something
to talk about, Brad. What's going on in the balance update and StarCraft?
It's weird they I mean, typically, you know, their balance changes
are a pretty closely guarded secret that comes out when they put the pass out.
But for some whatever reason, they went live with like, here's a
bunch of the stuff we're doing in the one point one patch. I thought
you'd like to know when does it come out? They haven't given a date
yet. They still run bidas servers for people to not for not for StarCraft.
It's not I don't think that's necessary. I mean, you know,
it's not like, Wow, it's not that large scale. I'm sure they
do their internal testing and sure, and it's probably stuff that I'm I guarantee,
I'm the only one in the room that really gives a shit. But
you're but you are pissed about it. Oh well yeah, they actually,
yeah they really they really, I don't want to say messed up, but
they changed the Pro Toss early game dramatically. Has this has this screwed up.
This screw up your build order, but you can't build Pilot. It's
definitely gonna change. It's just like depending on whatever. It's definitely depending on
who you're playing against, it's absolutely gonna change it. Like you're gonna you're
gonna see six Pool against Pro Toss a lot after this patch, I can
promise you. So what would be the new way to stop it? Fronto
boosting cell. It's out faster. I mean what they did was change the
build time on Zelots and also this baffles me. Also the cool downtime on
warp Gates, which is how you get Zelots out after you get war Gate
Tech. But that also affects every other unit that comes out of Warp Gates,
which is a lot. Yeah, so that seems kind of weird to
me. This is all just multiplayer, right, This goes back to nothing
to do with single player. Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah,
whatever, it takes you longer to get your units out, that means that,
I mean, Zeric has an advantage in getting units into your base faster
than it didn't do anything for ZERI Uh, the ultraisk is being impacted,
which is weird because people will hardly use ultra leaks anyway. But wasn't it
seemed like the general, uh consensus was that the Zerg was fairly underpowered all
things, because the consisus in the pro community is the Terrens are overpowered.
Terrans are imba or what as they say, imbalanced? They what have they
done the Terrens? That's a really really terrible appreciation things. Got it?
You know, we're amazing all these language barriers. Yeah, totally. I
guess the biggest the biggest change for Zerg is that they have weakened the siege
tank. Okay, but the see shank was just fucking dominating the Zerk ground
forces, like I mean, as well it should to an extent, but
it's realized Teric stuff. They change the way that it does damage versus different
units, but it's it's probably going to change a lot of stuff in the
the meta game. I think everyone had to expect that a lot of that
stuff will change, a lot of it will change again, you know,
absolutely, yeah. I mean how long did they balance broud War? I
mean years? Yeah, I was like just stopped like a couple of years
ago. And it's crazy. I mean, if there are these perceived like
major injustices between the factions, like you kind of expect people to wail about
it a little bit. But people were screaming about this like it was set
in stone and it was never going to change. Is It's crazy? Maybe
that's why they felt the need to respond early. I don't know, I
really want to go play that game, No thanks. I played it on
a forty six inch TV this weekend, like sitting at computer monitor distance.
I was gonna ask like about a foot and a half away, like physically
turning my head to see everything. It sounds like it would make it a
lot harder actually about I don't know. Thirty seconds into a match, I
just forgot what I was looking at it just like played it was closed eyes.
Think about it like that thing. It could I could play it on
a thirteen inch screen if I had to, if I could read the numbers
or whatever. It's like it's the same game. Whatever. I like this
challenge. How far can play? All right? Vin? He gets a
scanned converter. Do this back? Maybe, like when you knew you couldn't
build something? Maybe could you play StarCraft two at twenty odds? Stamp?
Oh man, I mean I've seen you guys play blind MK two three three
Jeff blew up the World without seeing Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a
heavy metal album, blow up the world without seeing. Yes, I think,
I think what I'm sorry, I got lot world. Okay, I
distinctively remember you doing that fatale, and then I picked that one because it's
easy to do at any range because it's and then Monday Night comment, Yeah,
there's a bunch of pad or a bunch of bounce fixes. You'll only
be able to hack enemy turrets if you're hacking as at level three. Really
yeah interesting, that's the only one I remember from that big long Go look
at the news store if you want more details. So I'm not gonna go
through this because say, yeah, there's a ton Also, d hardware price
drops are happening. Uh. The ds I and DSi Xcel are both being
dropped twenty bone. So it was one eighty nine ninety nine for the the
Excel, so it's now one sixty nine and then the light and I'm sorry,
the regular DSi was one s nine, one forty nine. The DS
light remains unchanged. So h you know, it's kind of out of the
blue. Price drops definitely make it sound like, hey, stuff's ready to
go. I gotta get these out of here. Yeah, we gotta get
rid of these things. Every day must go. We have a new thing
we have to sell you. Shortly, they gave like a quarter release for
Japan, but they didn't haven't really said anything about us release said did they
say? I forget what they said, but they said something fiscal something fiss
my favorite time of year. So it's like by March the fiscal quarter.
Uh March eleven, yes, no, yes, last March I think maybe
like March twel we had already out. We have to build we have to
build a time machine to go buy the three DS. Yeah, I'm a
little lean on on news. Great, all right, so it's been a
little lean. Games are going gold and getting ready to come out for the
holidays. That's something where everyone is at right now. It's so yeah,
not really time to announce games. It's time to finish them and ship them.
That's right, it's time to play stark. Yeah, well nobody,
somebody must have said something. It's time for cridiculous out there. Nobody opened
their mouth and said now, I think I think jess point is accurate.
There. Everybody's behind. No one's got time to open their mouths. We
discussed we discussed the great used game debate last week. We didn't, but
I feel like we've had that debate. Yeah, twenty times. It comes
and goes. Yeah, I can't remember I did Penny Arcade, didn't It
was Corey Ledesma from THHQ. That's right, Yeah, SmackDown dude. Yeah,
he said that it was like the out of context the way that everyone
is saying is that you know, you're cheating if you It's not quite exactly
what he said, I guess, but it's uh yeah, I mean,
you know, he's just kind of reiterating the point that when you buy games
used, none of that money goes back to the people that actually made the
game, which is why they're doing these one time use codes, which like
is the wrong thing to get upset about. Like that's like some people are
like, oh, these colds are terrible, like like, well, imagine
PC games, you know, and how they've been for the last forever with
much cereal numbers and all that other stuff. Like that's just kind of where
they're going with this stuff. But the difference is it's only going to apply
to the online side and way more annoyed at pre order bonuses. Yeah,
that's that's way worse. Yeah. Yeah, it's like here's the you know,
there's exclusion and SmackDown is doing that too. If you want to play
the Tribute A True Tribute for the Troops Arena, you've got a pre order
from someplace specific. And because eventually I thought all that stuff would understand,
Yeah you got a pre order from afghan only Afghani game stops are gonna have
that. Yeah, at some point I thought all that stuff a trickle into
DLC. But some of it hasn't, some of it does, some of
it doesn't. Yeah, it's just like a lot of it's like, oh,
we're gonna put it out for real. I think the Candle Innch two
stuff is some of it was pre order bonus and they're gonna put it out
as packs for sale later on, which is even worse because it's all right
on the disk and you're just like going through the menus and it's all listed
right there down alottle content to play these three maps, Well how about fuck
you instead? How about I'm done playing it? And that's way worse because
like currently, there is no way to get it right. It's just right
now. If you were like cana Innch two super fan, yeah, but
only because you just bought it and they're super psyched, You're just like,
ah, well I guess some yeah, I hate that stuff. Nothing to
no, no, no proposition on offer at all. It's terrible. Wherever,
like how much the weird ship we went through just to get two costume
stuff and that, you know, we were lucky enough to be in the
position that we're into get hold some of the stuff. It is pretty cool,
but it's yeah, it's like you can't. So much of it is
retailers specific as like, well, I can only buy this at one place.
I can only pre order, you know, buying seven copies of the
game, you know, Craigslist or something used. Yeah, no, that
money goes to that. Oh yeah, as I heard, Well, you
know you paid all the money up front, you would be selling you because
like you open the mall, enjoyed them, and then passed them along.
I would probably passed that money along myself, write a check. And you
know it's like some people some people like to to bring up like oh,
you know, if I buy a car, I can sell it used.
I don't have to go again. That's the whole games as goods versus games
as a service, all right, Yeah, which is evolving over time,
so it's hard to address. Yeah, it's hard to see exactly where the
stuff is saying I need to write you a one dollar receipt on a pizza
like notebook papers, so you can go show it. Yeah, exactly,
going to show it to core La Desmonds. I see one dollar tax me
on a dollar. I mean you could gifted it. You could see the
day coming in far off in the far flowing digital future where everything is like
Steamer, Xbox Live, right, yeah, everything, we'll see every single
game, regardless of you know, online offline, start coming with a serial
number like PC games right before we go all digital, you know, because
that's you know, if people really do perceive the used game thing is is
a huge threat. Like that's where it kind of has to go. Well,
the other things stopping them right now is internet connectivity in the home right
in the console. Yeah, like people people to buy a disc, they
need internet connection, and you know, people like game stop, like people
still like their retailer arrangements and you know, market marketing dollars and all that
stuff. All right, Jeff, all right, I gotta go, Thank
you for your time. I'll see you guys later. I'll see in a
little bit. Yeah, take her ease. That was Jeff Grismin, folks.
He's gonna sell all those games, video game crap. No one wants
to write about anime new releases. Let's talk about it. Yeah, yeah,
all right, so I got another news. Wait, unless you guys
can think of anything moving on. Yes, we know that for a fact
because Brad received a canvas version of the Metroid Other aims art that wasn't the
box art. That actually random character arts, like random CG art. I
embver play around on the issue. Actually, I know for sure games are
not art on canvas. It was like art. That's that's the weirdest thing.
It's like CG animated, but it's on a canvas. Alright, let's
talk about some new releases for this week. All right, you guys ready,
wait, hold on, I could probably guess, all right, what
do you think the new releases are Vinny Years the PSP? They are probably
I'm gonna say at least two. One would be Volca Chronicles too, that's
accurate, and the other one would be I know what that one is.
Oh, Brad, you're gonna finish it off getting some clair void vibes from
over in the Caravel direction. What do you think? I'm gonna say?
It's Ace Combat Something Something now Something Something came out on the on the DS.
Yeah, that's that's that's a different subfranchise. Yeah, it's actually Ace
Combat Joint Assault close though with the Something Something. Also out this week Disney
Guilty Party, which quick look, go watch it. We have one James
really good. It does if you're It's very clever and filled with lovable stereotypes.
I could probably go on about that game for at least seven minutes,
but we'll start back on that quick look. Also this week is Metstroid other
m for Nintendo we which we have video we have spoken about at length already,
and Xbox Libricade's release is Dead Rising two Case zero for five dollars and
without further ado throwing this over to mister Jeff Gershman for your Nintendo down releases
for the week. Jeff taken away. That's right, I'm here, hey,
Jeff. Hi uh a banner week this week. I'm very excited stretch
it out for Drama one We Wear release We Wear threes starting with We Wear
Tales of Elastic Boy Mission one. How so it's episodic from lexis New Gay.
It's French the Gay six hundred points. Tales of Elastic Boy offers a
totally innovative and unique style of gameplay that takes full advantage of the WE remote
DM controller. Has there ever been anything good that has taken quote quote full
advantage? She need to take like half a like quarter advantage metroid other end,
You're a planet. You'll have to travel through mini lands, defeat various
enemies, meet unexpected friends, and solve tricky puzzles. Play in single player
mode or with your friends, and discover funny games. This just sounds like
Yo. It's a video game. It has things in it and places and
other things. Use your stretching arms to swing and punch, roll as fast
as you can, or jump onto your enemies there. Now that's there's something
actually about real abilities. Based on a powerful physics engine, Tales of Elastic
Boy offers a truly original, entertaining gaming experience that's easy to learn by challenging
to master. Like all the best games, are we at the point where
we can stop touting physics engines. It's got physics and it's easy to pick
up and play by challenging to master. Okay, like every game ever made,
like Othello Lifetime. Oh no, man, Havoc does not license itself
or reversing. It's true. Next you're gonna say, like, oh,
all these games with trees not turn on its bee tree on me? Not
here, I wouldn't be able to take it. No, no, I
have no problem with it. But no one's ever said like, yo,
and we got speed tree. We have three. Yeah. Yeah, it's
like, well you bought trees. Dsiwear Cosmos X two two times the Cosmos
from Saturnine Games. DSi points rated E for everybody pilot the Cosmos X two
to defend your planet against an alien invasion. Battle your way through the Cellar
System to the alien whole world to defeat their army. There quit your ship
with two weapons of your choice, and switch between them at any time during
the battle. Your active weapon takes damage when your ship gets hit. Defeating
enemies regenerates energy and your inactive weapon. It's like instruction manuals. The key
to your Survivalize in finding a balance in your weapon, yours edge, battle
your way through six levels of action. Attest your skills with three difficulty levels.
Three bonus motes provide additional challenges. Didn't we establish last week that some
of these are in fact taken from Church Man at least that one was.
That's what percentage of them are? All right? You thought it wasn't possible.
Oh I did, Jeff, I thought it wasn't possible. I knew
it was, Man, I looked at the sheet. I knew in my
heart my notebook boom pearls. Yes, all the people that bought my notebook
Carbon just said, I hope it has like double the pages. This is
from no at it's five hundred Nintendo DSi points. No. My notebook allows
you to say notes wherever you go. Just pop up in your Nintendo DSi
system and jot down your thoughts. What about what about my notebook? Thought
your notebook Maga, listen, cross it off, or play your favorite pen
and paper games. Games not included what You can even personalize your notebook by
drawing on the cover and changing the paper type with twenty four different unlock paperit
style. What do I have to do to unlock papers styles? Yo,
I don't get to tell you what you got to unlock paper styles paper styles,
I'll tell you all about. Okay, you need a pat and then
under another pat, use the pencil to make your notes or doodles, and
then erase the bits you don't like. With five ink colors, you'll always
be able to make your notes and doodles look stylish. My notebook also includes
one hundred and twenty eight pages to ride on and the ability to export your
pages here in Nintendo DSi photo Album. I'm pretty sure that's the exact same
block attacks from my note book car that is, So, what's what is
like the practical difference between the different different papers? Yeah, it's like this
one's got squirrel, But what like is that just like literally like the front
of the notebook is a different color, five in color? That's worth it?
Maybe it's five different ones, right, that's it's five bucks. But
it doesn't can play that. You can get My Notebook or Dead Rise in
case zero, what's your choice. I am baffled. I am baffled by
the multiple my notebook products. What do you think Ballpark? What do you
think it's gonna give us? Somewhere in the two? Well, I think
they'll give the exact same score they gave My notebooks seven points. They probably
should give it a lower score. Oh yeah, they did give it like
a seven five. Yeah, give it a crazy score. Like again,
heart goes out, Yeah, heart, heart goes out to the the men
of the trenches. Reviewing DSWare games, you're fighting the good fight or the
seven people that read those. You are, especially like a week later,
our fallen heroes. You changed too much. You lose the whole crowd.
This is true. Well, it's comp I mean, for a game that's
so competitive online, you changed. Yeah, you can't change that down,
you know, a quarter circle forward and Penn has to do the same thing
in every game. That's not my notebook anymore. Music on Colon learning Piano
from Abbey Light two hund Nintendo DSi points. An entire orchestra follows your performance
of fifteen great classics by playing each day, your ability may increase. I
don't want to go out of the limit. Let's say you you might earn
the Bronze, silver, and gold medals for each song completing each different level.
Also might just have it on its own. A SIMP of five music
score is shown on the upper screen, and a full piano keyboard appears on
the touch screen. Got in beginner's note by note on their first steps learned
works by famous composers including Beethoven, puck a, Bell, bock Strauss,
and Verdi. Also the Chopsticks Guy Chopsticks, Due Johnny Chopsticks, Lil Wayne
Key, I, Biz Marquis. Is that it? That is? It's
all, That's it, and that's all. That's it and that's all.
Thank you Jeff for something. Yeah. Sure, let's gentlemen take it to
the emails. How do you feel about that? You know how I feel?
How do you feel? Oh? Emails? BombCast at giant bomb dot
com is the email address. First email comes from Andy Gorman and Cincinnati.
Oh hey, giant bomb. Oh. I feel like although Microsoft is really
hoping for Connected Dwell as a product, I'm not sure they are marketing it
very well. Most of my friends whose product is aimed at, are not
very intense gamers, who mainly only play we party games and the Call of
Duty series. However, none of them have even heard of Connect. When
I asked them of their opinion on it. Many of their younger siblings also
responded with confusion. How do you feel Microsoft's advertising campaign is working? And
have you noticed the things I have? I guess I don't really feel like
like an ad campaign has really started in Earnest yet. Yeah. No,
they've They've been kind of showing it to people like us and that sort of
stuff, but they're big, mainstream pushed. I don't think it's really gotten
underway. I mean they're just starting the mall stuff and you know, Best
Buy appearances and all that, so it's kind of underway. The morning show
circuit is right, Yeah, they're big, you know, gift guide push
for the holidays and stuff that'll be where you see it everywhere. Too early
to gauge, yeah, I guess it's still I don't know, it's still
too early to try and create that sort of big awareness. I would imagine
that they would try to put this thing everywhere, like mainstream stuff, like
try and get it on your your morning shows and on all that just it
is so it is like such a like that sells very easily to the mainstream.
Like you look at that thing. You're like, oh, that's the
future. It's like the wave. But that's the thing. That's the thing
that you start selling to the mainstream the day that it comes out. Yeah,
yeah, if you show it to them now, they're just going to
forget about it. But you're like, oh that sounds neat. Is kind
of get that No, what when coming out well enough ahead of like Christmas
for you know it to just serve It's it's great because video games have been
getting so complicated. It's so complicated. Might nephew has one of those I
can't even hold the controller anymore, and this is great because I could just
move, I could just connect. Would be a really great escne On TV
product, or at least that's how they should do the ad campus do informercials
like oh, couple it with those HD glasses, get a free shake weight,
sing a lot of like has this ever happened to you? And then
he's like black and white funnel controller in the air, like all these complicated
controllers no more, throwing them all in the garden. That's right. And
then in full brilliant technicolor comes the Connect Microsoft Connect see the world with the
color and clarity of HD. Speaking of which Chris h from Philly writes in
to talk about high definition madness, and he references the HD vision sunglasses,
which are already like high definition as a term has has rapidly lost any and
all. Me. You know a thing or two. I want to do
anything for DP, I mean enhanced. Nobody ever said that was D my
eed TV? What do what? Doorke everything? Lets you see the world?
It was. I think it was like a Brad Nicholson. Maybe you
can back me up. I believe there was a like Men's Health issue recently
that on the cover advertised HD abs. I've not heard of this, but
I like seven hundred and twenty abs. How do you get them? I
know you have to tire to my SD absurder that's right. More importantly,
my sd abs are tired of me? Yes HD? Uh? And then
and then also uh, I guess it's valves bar is introducing HD paint,
High Definition house paint, make your walls hide? You know what company name?
Sounds like they should be like selling high definition herpies metic. I do
not take valspar if you are in any high blood pressure medication seven twenty her
p. There's a there's definitely been a high HD audio around, like I've
seen that. Yeah, this D audio, I think that's actually there's a
standard with that. That's not necessarily all fake. It's what is that it's
like to apply that. It's like audio only, so it's like CDs that
are recorded in surround sound or audio that's recorded and HD audio. So it's
like, here's an album you can buy and listen to on your surround sound
gear via DVD player. But that's at least closer in the realm of something
that would be high definition, not paint at least that's yeah, that's a
technical spec like I don't believe. I don't believe that exists for glasses or
abs or paint. So whatever. It's just it's just I'm just saying it's
getting if you if you're gonna complain about audio, there are far far bigger
fish to fry and the the evaluation of the words HD. Next email comes
in from Chase Martin, Bellevue, Washington. Hey, John Bomb, I'm
supercited for the new version of NBA Jam when it was a WEE exclusive,
I thought the day had come for me to finally cave in and buy that
silly system. So, as you can imagine, I was happy to hear
that it would be included in new versions of NBA Elite eleven for the three
sixty p S three, so I immediately rushed out and pre ordered NBA Elite.
Here's where you lot come in. I am super confused about what that
NBA Elite version of NBA Jam will be. I've looked looked for info but
have found it to be pretty scant. I know it will not have the
Remix Tour, but what about the weird mini games like Domination. Do you
think the Elite version of Jam will be totally stripped down and therefore just plain
shitty. I think I believe it's just Classic Mode, which is just yo,
you want to play some basketball. I don't think it has any of
the other stuff. So like Domination, like all those other modes are modes
that come out of the Remix Tour. Okay, so the EAPR was very
specific, like they wouldn't even all this version a game. They called it
three modes out of NBA jam we Yeah, so I'm still struggling with a
guy from the Pacific Northwest referring to us as a lot Okay, it seems
like a pretty specific angloism to me. Calum O'Neill in Sydney, Australia.
Yeah, hey, bomb cast Hello. I have only recently gotten into consoles
after mainly using PCs and was kind of confused after trying to get my saves
off my Rose console and onto my own that instead of using a cloud to
story your progress, it's just local. While it's not horrible, I'm trying
to that make sense that you looked at me weird, Vinnie. Yeah,
he feeks it's weird that that he had to move saves around on a physical
thing, that it's not using cloud computing totally, because like how long has
cloud computing been doing saves on PCs? And like how many PC games actually
do that? Like not a huge number. I think that's a lofty expectation.
Yeah, we will get there someday. I'm sorry. I mean that's
what threw me off, was the expectation. Basically, the question is,
hey, what's up with cloud saves all around? And it's like a five
game, you know, however, many Torchlight I've still got a torch Light
character that I can't get into the cloud, like if I don't know,
I mean, steam Cloud is weird. If it gets out of sync with
like your local files or whatever, it can be tough to get them to
update properly. Maybe we'll see it on the PS three. Ever, I
don't know. It'd be cool. I mean, whatever it'd be, it
would be a cool thing, especially for us who we carry around our saves
around just three needs it? Yeah, I mean, how many people are
realistically moving between causoles. But yeah, like Xbox column here is and Xbox
is nice because you can save directly to a thing. Yeah you know,
yeah he has three. You have to copy stuff back and forth and some
files will go and like if one compair of time stamps to figure out which
ones are which, and no, it's it's problematic, and you know,
you think back, it's it wasn't that long ago that that was the opposite.
I mean, you know, you're you're metroid we madge. God,
that was the worst worst example of that. Yeah, it's a real specific
case that normal people never would do. Most people aren't going to have to
do a video review and take footage of most of the game after they buy
it. But Jesus, I employed three separate SD cards and backing up save
files, and I watched two different weeds at one time. It's right,
you had to. You had to borrow my Wii, oh god, because
you needed more. And at one point I saw you just I thought you
were losing your mind just staring at your desk. I couldn't figure it out
a pile of cars because I had I had a sixteen megabyte, a one
gigabyte, and a two gigabyte card. They all had files across them.
There's no way of looking at the memory management screens tell which files which.
There's no timestamp, no numbering scheme, no fucking anything. You have to
load the get you have to copy the file to the Wii and then load
the game and then check what's in it in the game. But if you
don't know what files are on the cards and you need to back up the
one on the system, like you risk overwriting your progress just to see what's
on the fucking cards. So I had to get your Wii use that copy
to that one console future, Oh my god, awful. But you know
it's maybe not our lifestyle that much, but you know, it wasn't that
long ago that you'd go to your friend's house to fucking play games together or
to show him some part of some game or whatever. So I don't think
it's too unreasonable to expect it to be fairly portable when it comes to your
save files. So yeah, I see the expectation, and I understand it,
especially if you know you're a younger cat. You don't cloud cloud saves
on PCs seem like they've been going on for a really long time. Really,
I'm saying, if you are that young dude, and for whom that
seems like it's been going on for a really long time, no matter of
perspective. Jesse from Germany. I have recently have been working on my final
achievement in Fallout three. I have never gotten an S rank on Giant Bomb,
though I held the one thousand point mark in Halo three, but that
was before the DLC. I thought to myself. I thought to myself,
of a way to describe this subjective S rank I once held over a Halo
three and S rank I will soon hold over fall three, And I propose
that achieving an S rank on retail versions of a game be called a primitive
S rank, and that achieving an S rank on a game after all DLC
is released be called a final S rank. We've talked some about trying to
break up some of that stuff, but I think it just leads to madness.
Yes, rank is an S rank. Yeah that's right. Either get
them all or don't get them. But yeah, yeah, that's how the
system is set up. Is you got to You had to buy a thing
to get the S rank in the first place, and some cases they're gonna
make you buy some more. That S rank nine times out of ten.
I mean, if you like the game enough to get all of them,
you're probably not gonna mind getting a few more. Arty five is the one
weird outlier that fucking sucks is that DLC, That first delC they put out
the multiplayer stuff, Like who in their right mind? Yeah that sucks.
Next, Emil comes in from David Kerr in Sunderland, England, with Microsoft's
Game room a flock, when with Chrome Studios laying off staff, do you
think we will ever get to see the Dreamcast games that they said would come
to Game Room? No, because Sega is putting out Dreamcast games directly for
Xbox Live Arcade. Oh is that what's happening? Yeah, so Adventure in
Crazy Taxi are just coming out as XBLA games. Maybe somewhere down the road
you could see something like that. But would you if they were just like
fuck game room, right, and they were like, well, let's did
we have this code? Think? Yeah, well that they're just like,
let's fuck Jeff. And they were like, well, we have this code,
and then we have people who bought it. We'll let you launch games
or something like let you pick your arcade games that you bought through Xbox.
I haven't like set up a game room there. Would you be interested in
that, like some kind of like virtual interface to launch stuff? No,
I mean like destination arcade. I don't know, something something, something a
little bit more useful. I don't want. I don't want elaborate launchers at
all. I think better game game room did not have all that avatar crap.
It would be better. Can't you launch everything from the menu? You
can, but in cases where you have bought all the games, there's no
easy indicator to figure out where the new ones are. So so I just
placed the machines in my virtual arcade as I buy them again. We are
we hear are exploring usage patterns that the typical person will never experience. Yeah,
such as buying all of the games, such as buying any game room
games. Right, it would be like last maybe you'll wait something like right.
This was just big social experiment. Yeah. At the end, I'll
be a master of arcades. You'll go to space, master of all you
survey, great, go and here you go. It's a beat up berserk
machine. I don't really have room for this. I'll take it. Put
it next to my beat up mister command. Get trapped in, suck you
in. There'll be that dude, all the arms out, arms out forever.
Terrible nightmare. I've lived that nightmare. I want to be there.
John from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Hey, guys, Well familiar this
time not using the hi the formal bomb cast. Hey guys, I find
that when I play Super Street Fighter four with my dual shot controller, the
quarter circles I need to do for a lot of moves are easier if I
am on the left side of the screen facing right. Then if I am
on the right side of the screen facing left. For some reason, my
thumbs move a lot slower if I'm moving the joystick left A Am I the
only person that has this difficulty? Or is this fairly common? B with
getting a fight stick solve this problem, Brad You you seemed to be nodding
knowingly during this question, not in reference to this specific scenario. But that's
why I always played MK two on the right side of the machine, like,
just yeah, I have the same problem, and getting a fight stick
that does not help you, and he doesn't make you better or make you
play the game anymore. It's just now you have a fight stick. Yeah,
uh yeah. I was always better from left facing right than right facing
left. And I always got really afraid too when somebody jumped over me and
I was on the episode, Oh shit, I just gotta work to get
back on the other side. I just gotta curl up into a ball until
he like jumps over me again. That's really It's something I'd never considered.
But yeah, I guess that's a total It's all just execution. You just
need to practice. Yeah, I'm just bad. That's pretty much what it
is. But don't but you're saying, Vinny that buying a stick is not
necessarily the best first step here. I think if, like Jeff said,
if it gets you to practice more, then you'll probably get over it.
But it's not like a it's just a motion thing. Just do more hurricane
kicks. When you're on the other side. It's the same, but it's
different. It's weird, all right. Last email, This comes from Landon
Smith on the July first, two thousand and eight podcasts to use the road
and asking what's up with Vinny? It's been two years since Vinnie left us
with I'll get back to you on that. Has Vinnie or anyone at Giant
Bomb figured this out yet? So what is up with Vinny? He's still
working on it. I'll go back to you, all right, check back
in a little bit later. Landon, Ah, that's a free emails.
Thanks everyone who wrote in BombCast at giant bomb dot com is once again that
email address and thus brings us gentle them to the end of our show.
I would like to thank mister Brad Nicholson for joining us again. Brad,
I hope you enjoy your time out here on the Westy's actually and uh and
yeah, and keep making news and Vinnie keep squishing your face. We have
a Packs this week, Paxes this weekend. Giant Bombs Packs panel happening Friday
night, Pegasus Theater, starting at eight thirty pm and then go eight thirty.
Yeah. I've been telling people, let's probably want to show up.
Get in line. It is, it is. We are off site.
We are not in the convention center. We are in the hotel near the
convention center. Registration and all that stuff happen. I think it's a Hyatt,
but I can't remember what that packs looks like because all I can remember
is packs East. Now I'm like, oh, I know where that hotel
is this attached to the Oh wait, you will be You will be reminded
soon enough. Jeff, We're leaving here Friday morning, bright end early.
Yeah, crash on some bean bags for the day always and then the following
week is Yes, Thursday is September the ninth, the Whiskey Media Big Live
Live Show Live. Holy crap is right, Vinny, So stay tuned for
that and T and T This week again is UMK three for the Xbox Live
Ricade and MK two for PlayStation Network. If you want to get on that,
play some rib Cage Assassins with Flying Back special to play that. That's
right, Jeff is Jeff is leaving and then coming back. I go play
Call of Duty Black Ops multiplayer. Oh snat in Los Angeles. We'll come
back and tell us all about it. I guess if you can. Yeah,
there's no I will probably telling people about it while I'm there. Okay,
So I feel like Wednesday night I should mention on Thursday for our big
live live show live you could you can come join us after six o'clock.
I think upstairs there's gonna be a big street party happening on in the neighborhood.
We'll have more information on that. That's right. So that's coming.
But just so you know, if you want to come and party with us
and our twenty one, I think you might be able to get in.
If you're not, I don't know. There's no in right, it's just
on the street. It is a block party. But there will be alcohol
there. I think have beer gardens and stuff like that. Probably. There's
so many permits. Yeah, try to do something in San Francisco. Crap
or having to go to like hearings. Just say, Melissa have a podcast
about permits. When we talked to her about that later. But for now
we're gonna sign off and this podcast. Thanks you guys for sitting with me,
and be sure to come back next week for another edition of The Giant Podcasts