CastMedium

The Totally Rad Show – Episode 155: Depp It Up

Ross Adams — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:38:19 +0000

A mixed bag of reactions for Tim Burton’s take on Alice in Wonderland this week. Alex wonders if he is starting to dislike Burtons style after all these years but that being said he still really enjoyed the film. Jeff liked it but doesn’t seem too enthused by it. he seems slightly hung up on the fact it’s so different from the old Disney animated film which is his only Alice reference point. Dan confuses everyone by opening his review with a “joke”, the gist is that he isn’t sure he enjoys the Wonderland story and he disliked alot of the look of the movie especially it’s reliance on CGI.

Thoughts on Bad Company 2 are much more consistent, all three of the guys loved it. They all cite the single player as being alot of fun, not only from a gameplay perspective but also in terms of the narrative and dialogue. Dan was a big fan of the fact the game changes up the gameplay all the time, with many levels having a hook or gimmick unique to that stage. Not alot of talk about the multiplayer other than Alex exclaiming how awesome he thinks it is, specifically having the Battlefield multiplayer experience properly on a console.

The guys are extrememly excited about the announcement on Portal 2, they didn’t have many details to go on at the time of taping however. The fact it will feature co-op has Alex sold, Dan looks forward to perhaps having more enviroments outside of the labratory setting of the first game. Jeff hopes and suspects Valve will keep the portal gun as your only weapon, making you rely on your wits rather than your skill at shooting bad guys. Another twitter question segment rounds out the show.

Should you follow Alice in Wonderland down the rabbit hole? Does Battlefield Bad Company 2 out-Modern Warfare Call of Duty? What will Portal 2 entail? Plus, your twitter questions!

Runtime – 45:21

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CastMedium Podcast 027 – 03.08.10

Jonathan Downin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:35:31 +0000

It finally happened, Erik has upgraded his mic– and it’s glorious. The news of David Ellis leaving 1UP and 4 Guys 1UP for 343 Industries starts the cast and we touch on what the future may hold for the next flagship 1UP podcast. In games, we touch on the PS3 leap year issue and Activision/Infinity Ward. We have plenty to say on both topics, but we aren’t too happy about either.

Moving into more positive territory, Jon covers the Portal ARG that resulted in the announcement of Portal 2. We all enjoyed the way Valve handled the slow reveal and this leads into a discussion about the apparent forthcoming announcement that Steam is coming to Mac. Whether it will be just Steam, or all of Valve’s Source-based back catalog, is yet to be seen.

Alice in Wonderland has been doing massive numbers at the box office and the reviews have been pretty positive. Jon closes things out with a disastrous update on issues facing the new Ubisoft DRM model that we talked about last week.

Covered topics and games: David Ellis leaves 1UP for 343 Industries, ApocalyPS3, IW+Activision, Portal 2, Steam on Mac, Alice in Wonderland, Ubisoft DRM disaster

Runtime – 34:57

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Filmspotting #294: Alice in Wonderland / Un Prophet Interview / 2010 Oscar Picks

Jon Cole — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:22:52 +0000

Filmspotting dives in the rabbit hole this week with their review of Alice in Wonderland. Adam starts things off by putting his total lack of Alice experience on the table, never having consumed the film before in either it’s previous written or cinematic outlets. Unburdened by expectations, he does say that many of the elements of the film feel familiar, but he ultimately enjoyed the film and specifically Johnny Depp’s performance. Matty gives due favor to the brilliant visuals of Tim Burton’s latest, but puts most of his praise into the performance of Helena Bonham Carter, who played the Red Queen. In the end, both of the guys enjoyed the movie, despite Matty’s dissatisfaction with the lack of suspense in the last couple acts.

The middle segment is a short review of Un Prophet, an Oscar-nominated foreign film that was very well received on the film festival circuit. The review leads into an interview with director Jacques Audiard and lead actor Tahar Rahim that he conducted at Sundance.

The cast closes out with Adam and Matty’s Oscar Picks, giving high praise to a lot of the films and performances they’ve covered over the past year. If you’re new or prospective to listening to Filmspotting, this episode can help give a lot of context to the general likes and dislikes of the show’s hosts.

:13-19:13 – Review: “Alice in Wonderland”
Music: Sad Brad Smith, “Sure”
19:54-23:15 – Massacre Theatre (Winner: A. Rich)
23:16-25:51 – Notes, Polls
25:52-31:44 – Short Review: “Un Prophet”
31:45-42:24 – Interview: Audiard/Rahim
Music: Sad Brad Smith, “Help Yourself”
42:56-51:47 – New DVDs / Donations
51:48-1:10:48 – Oscar Picks
1:10:49-1:13:17 – Close / Next Show / Outtakes

Runtime – 1:13:22

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Player One Podcast – Episode 176 (03/08/10) – Is It Martika That Sang That Song?

Ross Adams — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:19:58 +0000

Phil is out this week so it’s a 3 man show, with Greg Ford taking on hosting duties for the first time. Only a few games discussed this week as everyone has only played a couple each. Greg Sewart finished his Heavy Rain story, his thoughts from last week stand. He now looks forward to discussing the game with other people just to hear how their stories and actions differ.

CJ picked up Sonic & Sega All-stars Racing and by all accounts it’s a very solid Mario Kart clone.The nostalgia/fanservice seems to be a big factor too. Greg Ford finally got his hands on BioShock 2, he takes Sewarts side by saying he thinks it’s a very good game. He doesn’t seem very taken by the story as yet though and what he has played of the multiplayer has failed to impress.

As the guys go into listener tweets they hit some of the big news stories from the past week. The “PS3 Apocalypse” is the first story up with the conclusion being that while it was a big deal at the time in the grand scheme it doesn’t matter. They also talk about the Infinity Ward drama some, while there’s not much new discussed the Gregs do say they look forward to when the full story is revealed some day.

Covered games and topics: Heavy Rain, Lunar, Toy Soldiers, Sonic & Sega All-stars Racing, Robot Unicorn Attack, BioShock 2, Leave Home

This week! Action! Drama! Comedy! And games! We discuss game tapes such as Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, Lunar Silver Star Harmony, Leave Home, Toy Soldiers, Sega All-Stars Racing, and much more. Plus: PS3-pocalypse, Infinity Ward stuff (though isn’t that going to be run into the ground by every other podcast? We don’t spend a ton of time on it) and more.

Runtime – 1:23:05

Links → | web | mp3 | iTunes | rss |

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Engadget Podcast 186 – 03.05.2010

Jonathan Downin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:43:50 +0000

Get ready for some legal talk at the beginning of this one. Joshua and Nilay spend the first 25 minutes discussing some of the intricacies of Apples filings against HTC, and they are not holding back. Nilay puts his lawyering hat on and at one point asked Joshua to define the word “obvious.” There is some good stuff in here and both provide valid points.

Paul had a chance to see the newly announced TiVo Premiere a few days ago and he was not exactly blown away. The do agree that TiVo is still the best DVR around though, so if you can look past the lack of on demand programming from you cable provider, it will probably be a great product. Engadget also has a presence at CeBIT and the guys are excited about NVIDIA’s Ion 2 and Optimus technology.

The ApocalyPS3 gets a few comments before the group moves onto more Microsoft phone news, this time about the oft-rumored Pink Phone. The Palm OS 1.4 update and leaks of a BlackBerry slider close the show.

RUSH to download the latest episode of the Engadget Podcast – before the lawyers beat you to it!

00:02:21 - Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents
00:03:30 - Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown
00:26:54 - Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit
00:27:56 - Google responds to Apple’s HTC lawsuit: ‘We stand behind our Android operating system’
00:31:12 - TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL usher in a brand new interface, optional QWERTY remote
00:31:25 - Live from TiVo’s ‘one box’ press event
00:33:00 -TiVo Premiere hands-on (update: video!)
00:42:07 - Engadget is live from CeBIT 2010!
00:42:44 - NVIDIA Ion 2 now official; Acer, ASUS and Lenovo at the ready
00:45:10 - NVIDIA’s Optimus technology shows its graphics switching adroitness on video
00:47:30 - Acer Aspire One 532G with ION 2 priced at an aggressive 379 euros
00:50:55 - Sony: Don’t turn on your PS3 until PSN bug is fixed
00:55:45 - Project Pink QWERTY slider ‘Pure’ found in the wild, headed for Verizon?
01:01:53 - Exclusive: First Windows Phone 7 Series partner device unveiled (with video!)
01:05:10 - HTC HD2 and Windows Phone 7 Series: Just tell us no, Microsoft
01:06:30 - Microsoft sending mixed signals on Windows Phone 7 Series upgrades, HTC HD2 still in limbo
01:10:10 - Palm webOS 1.4 update hits Verizon’s Pre Plus and Pixi Plus
01:19:06 - BlackBerry slider photos leak out!
01:20:02 - More BlackBerry slider pics appear — is this the next Bold?
01:26:25 - The Engadget app for BlackBerry gets updated to 1.0.1

Runtime – 1:29:15

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Game Scoop! Podcast, Episode 155

Jonathan Downin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:01:56 +0000

Special guest and winner of the Game Scoop! IGN for Haiti auction, Ryan de La Rosa is on this week, and that results in a rather erratic show. It takes over 20 minutes for the guys to get into the real game talk and they start with the recent issues between Infinity Ward and Activision. The Game Developers Conference is next week and it sounds likes IGN will have some serious coverage of the show. They discuss what they expect to see there and Valve announcements cause the most anticipation.

After touching on the launch of Rock Band Network, it’s time for Knockin’ Boots. Greg again promotes a breakup, but the second entry for the segment may have been a proposal– it’s hard top tell. Emails finisht show.

Covered topics and games: Industry event, Pokemon, Lost, IW+Activision, GDC, Portal 2, Steam on Mac, Rock Band Network, Knockin’ Boots, emails, PSN activation issues

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, your weekly dose of gaming news and massive LOLZ. Your shepherds this week will be Daemon Hatfield, Charles Onyett, Craig Harris, and Greg Miller. We are joined by one Ryan de la Rosa, winner of the Game Scoop! IGN for Haiti auction. Part of the package was a seat on a future podcast, and he’s here to claim what is rightfully his.

Obviously, the biggest news of the week is the Activision/Infinity Ward debacle. It’s a giant mess and we’re struggling to make sense of it all.

The Rock Band Network Music Store is open for business, so you can expect to be playing “Made from Lava Ryan” very soon.

Valve has confirmed Portal 2 for this holiday.

There is a little show called the Game Developers Conference happening next week. We’ve got predictions for what we expect to see.

Boots will be knocked: Former fattie is now a stud. Should he dump his girlfriend for someone hotter?

Plus we answer a bunch of reader mail about Final Fantasy XIII, spoilers, and the PlayStation Network. Don’t forget, we’re available on iTunes, along with episodes of Game Scoop! TV. Remember to rate the shows while you’re there.

Runtime – 1:14:20

Links → | web | mp3 | iTunes | rss |

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Retronauts Episode 88: 03/05/2010

Ross Adams — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:04:17 +0000

Ray Barnholt is in the hosting seat this week for an episode dedicated to Data East. Inspired by the recent release of Data East Arcade Classics for Wii. First off the guys touch on the weeks retro news, starting with the released of Megaman 10. Jeremy reviewed it and while he liked it he doesn’t seem overly excited about the game, it seems the retro styling may have lost its gmmicky appeal.

Activision made a point of making themselves look as bad as possible this week, aswell as the Infinity Ward drama they decided to shut down a Kings Quest fan remake that was in the works. This is notable because Vivendi had previously given the makers permission before they merged with Activision.

There’s not alot of structure to the Data East talk, the guys just sort’ve hit on games that come to mind as they think of them. If you’re a fan of Data East’s games there’s probably some discussion you’ll enjoy here.

Ray Barnholt takes the mic as Game Developer’s Brandon Sheffield joins the crew to talk about the arcade legacy of Data East…and Data West!?

Runtime – 1:34:43

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4 Guys 1UP: 03/05/2010

Jonathan Downin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:35:34 +0000

The massive week of news starts with discussion about the recent PS3 leap year issue. The guys then move on to a lengthy segment of speculation on details surrounding the issues between the former Infinity Ward heads and Activision. Portal 2 has been confirmed and the crew covered the ARG-like events leading up to the announcement and touch on the possibilities of Valve bringing more than just Steam to the Mac side of things.

In the second segment, Ray talks about his experience at the Nintendo Media Summit, but the conversation quickly moves to Mario as a franchise and how Nintendo has been so successful. Love developer Eskil Steenberg is in this week and he has a lot to say about technology and the importance of software as factors of Nintendo’s success. Matt and David finish the game talk with their impressions after seeing Vanquish in Japan last week.

The last segment is devoted to Eskil talking about his MMO Love and his approach to the development and economics of the game. He is a big proponent of dynamic content and makes a great case for it here. David closes the show by touching on his approaching move to Microsoft.

Covered games and topics: ApocalyPS3, IW+Activision, Portal 2, Steam on Mac, Shank and DeathSpank, Socom 4, Lara Croft, Nintendo Media Summit, Mario, Vanquish, Love, dynamic content, David’s announcement

This has been one of the most bizarre weeks for gaming news ever. First Playstation 3 systems started shutting down around the word, then all Hell started breaking loose around Infinity Ward and Activision. Now we have the official announcement that Portal 2 is coming this year. We break down all those stories plus first-hand look from Nintendo’s press summit, first impressions of Shinji Mikami’s new shooter Vanquish, and we’re joined by the developer of Love to talk about how procedural design could change the way we make games. Finally stick around for the end of the podcast for a look forward to GDC and a very special announcement.

Runtime – 2:12:28

Links → | web | mp3 | iTunes | rss |

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The GameSpy Debriefings #116

Jon Cole — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:58:12 +0000

For the past few weeks, Anthony has been asking a question of the listeners for some audience participating, last time soliciting stories about some of the hardest games you’ve played. Many of the mentioned games are either older, NES-era games or games lacking proper checkpointing or level design. In a similar light, Ryan has been playing a lot of Mega Man 10, admitting that it’s hard but with the caveat that most of the game is easily memorized.

Anthony hits on the Portal 2 ARG content, pointing out that Valve is one of very few companies that could actually pull something like that off and have an attentive enough fanbase to get valuable PR out of such a niche offering. In the news vein, the ApocalyPS3 comes up as well, which ultimately boiled down to boring console fanboy wars after the issue was swiftly resolved.

Since the guys didn’t record an episode of the show last week, they briefly hit on the Nintendo Media Summit, mostly discussion Metroid: The Other M and some of the strange sexual tension in some of the game’s footage. The show closes out with some breaking news about the Infinity Ward scandal (not really breaking at this point, though enlightening nonetheless).

Covered games and topics: difficult games (Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Battletoads, Runescape, Back to the Future (NES), Earth Defense Force, Demon’s Souls), Heavy Rain, Mega Man 10, Portal 2, Metroid: The Other M, Infinity Ward Scandal, Battlefield: Bad Company 2

The Brians, Ryan, and Anthony found some time to get into the studio this week, taping a little bit longer show in order to appease the hordes who we disappointed last week with our failure to record. Okay, you probably didn’t even notice we were gone, but we still feel bad about it… kinda.

Join us this week as we talk about Mega Man 10, a little Battlefield Bad Company 2, and read most of the letters you’ve sent in the past two weeks. Thanks so much to everyone who wrote to us!

Runtime – 1:02:47

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/Filmcast Ep. 89 – The Crazies

Jon Cole — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:34:09 +0000

As per usual, Dave starts off the show with movies he’s been watching, beginning with a film called Triangle. He makes the argument that it has a lot of plot holes but ultimately pays off in many ways, practically “demanding” a second viewing. Adam got a chance to watch Cop Out, deeming it almost unworthy of criticism considering its aspirations are so lowly.

News is short but very comic-centric, the first piece underwhelming the crew by revealing David Goyer’s involvement in the upcoming Superman, Man of Steel screenplay. Next up is the fact that Angelina Jolie has turned down the chance to appear in the Mark Millar comic-inspired Wanted 2, likely leaving the film franchise to die. The segment closes with some speculation as to who is going to star in the next Captain America film, moving on to a review of The Crazies.

As this week’s guest, Laremy starts things off by saying the film doesn’t drag its feet and does a few things new, more than enough reason to recommend a horror film. Adam agrees, comparing the film to an theme park ride as far as pacing and complexity go. Devindra comes out most negatively on the film, calling out the unbelievable setting and boring setpieces. Dave disagrees with Devindra on almost every point and praises Timothy Olyphant’s performance.

Covered films and topics: Laremy Legel from Film.com, Triangle, A Prophet, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Cop Out, Avatar: The Last Airbender, David Goyer hired to write Superman, Man of Steel?, Wanted 2 not happening, Who will be Captain America?, The Crazies

In this week’s episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley try to figure out what Kevin Smith was going for in Cop Out, assess the career of David Goyer, and shower praise on Triangle, The Last Airbender, and the Muppet movies. Special guest Laremy Legel joins us from Film.com.

Runtime – 1:32:30

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The Oddcast: 03/04/2010

Ross Adams — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:47:56 +0000

Alot of this weeks show is taken up with news discussion, interspersed with the usual joking around the Oddcast crew partake in. Six days in Fallujah, the controversial title that Konami decided not to publish, has apparently been finished. The guys discuss how and if the game should be released. Sharkey thinks it depends on how the story is presented and dealt with. The reality of actual warfare is in stark contrast to videogame warfare. The guys discuss how this could an issue when translating a real event to the medium.

The drama at Infinity Ward gets some airtime as one would expect. Concrete details of what actually happened leading up the the studio heads’ dismissal are still few and far between but a few things have come out. It would seem the IW heads were talking to rival publishers, presumably with the intention of splintering off from Activision. This apparently led to people at IW being interrogated, everyone agrees it’s all pretty messed up.

The guys hit a few random indie games to round out the show, including Shoot 1UP which Sharkey says is the best buck you’ll ever spend on a game.

Covered games and topics: NHL 2K10, Boom Blox team layoffs, 6 days in Fallujah, Socom 4, Infinity Ward, Dead or Alive, Shoot 1UP

We unofficially renamed this week’s show the “waaah cast.” The apocalyps3 brought out the worst whiners, and Activision creates some drama. Sam rants about PR, Chris thinks “Cowboy” is dead, and Sharkey’s recession game couldn’t be played. Oh, and Tina brings more community WTF comments to the table. Throw your hankies away, you won’t cry too much.

Runtime – 1:07:44

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David Ellis leaves 1UP for 343 Industries

Jonathan Downin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:08:41 +0000

David Ellis has announced that he will be leaving 1UP after over 2 years at the outlet. He will be moving on to Microsoft’s Halo team, 343 Industries. In his departing 1UP blog, he states that he will be part of the Halo Waypoint team. Halo Waypoint is an interactive Halo franchise front-end for Xbox Live that was launched late last year to track individual stats and achievements across games in the franchise.

Ellis’s stint as the front man of 1UP’s flagship podcast, 4 Guys 1UP, was short lived. He mentions that he will not be going away immediately and to expect to hear a bit more from him through GDC. With his departure, 1UP may again be in the difficult position of maintaining the popularity of 4 Guys 1UP’s predecessors, 1UP Yours and Listen UP.

We wish David the best and look forward to his work on the development side.

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Joystiq Podcast 130 – March Into Positivity edition

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:48:06 +0000

It’s a completely packed shows this week with the guys starting off on Battlefield Bad Company 2. The opinions are positive on the game, but not overly so. Heavy Rain is receiving some DLC and Ludwig touches on AvP and Resident Evil 5 DLC.

Portal 2, which will be a full-fledged sequel with a full game sticker price, kicks off the jammed news segment and the excitement level is understandably high. This leads into the almost confirmed news that Valve is bringing Steam to Mac. The guys speculate on the possibility that Valve may be bringing the complete catalog to the Apple platform as well. Infinity Ward and Activision commentary leads into some love for the recently released Halo Reach Beta trailer, and the “ApocalyPS3” closes out news.

More Visceral game pitches and emails finish the show with another Spoiled Rotten segment covering Heavy Rain at the end.

Covered games and topics: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Heavy Rain DLC, Aliens vs. Predator, RE5 DLC, Portal 2, Apple+Valve, IW+Activision, Halo Reach Beta trailer, ApocalyPS3, Let’s get Visceral, voicemails/emails

After a week so chock-full of news and notable happenings, you had to be looking forward to this Joystiq Podcast, right? Well we don’t disappoint (or at least, not as much as usual) with discussion of Infinity Ward, the ApocalyPS3, Portal 2 and a Spoiled Rotten on Heavy Rain at the end.

You’ll also be able to get in on the ground floor of our brand new feature “Professional Voice Actor Bob Ball Reads Your Email.” Seriously, you’re just going to love it. A super special thanks to Ste Birks for the legitimately breathtaking art. Oh, you want a bigger version as well as more of Ste’s work? We suppose we can manage that.

Runtime – 2:18:17

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The Game Informer Show: Episode 19

Derek Lavigne — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:23:16 +0000

This week’s GI show starts off with a discussion on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and how much it has taken over the office. It seems that Andy Reiner and Matt Bertz have even taken time off from work specifically to play the game, which they both agree will probably end up eating up more of their time than Modern Warfare 2. There seems to be some disagreement among the staff about whether or not the game is more friendly to new players, but all seem to agree that it is a great overall game in need of a few bug fixes.

The second segment deals with the on-going Infinity Ward/Activision controversy which has been the top story for the better part of 4 days now on every major gaming website. Because of this I don’t feel like details need to be put here, but Phil Kollar adds an interesting point that in their press release, when mentioning litigation, Activision didn’t specify who they expected to sue who.

The third segment tackles the Starcraft II beta, which several GI editors are taking part in. The first thing they mention is just how beautiful the game is — unless your are playing as the Zerg, when it becomes a little disgusting. There seems to be an agreement among the staff that Blizzard has evolved the game enough to keep with the times while still retaining the identity of Starcraft.

Buckle up, because this is a highly controversial episode of the Game Informer Show. Things kick off with one of the best military shooters on the market, EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Andy Reiner, Matt Bertz, and Jeff Marchiafava join host Matt Helgeson to break down the game’s explosive multiplayer and solo campaign action. Things heat up in the second segment with a freewheeling discussion of the battle between Activision and recently ousted Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Andy McNamara, Phil Kollar, and Adam Biessener voice their opinions on the ugly break-up, and question whether game developers really get the respect they deserve. We wrap up with a less contentious Activision title, StarCraft II. Adam and Matt Miller have been playing the beta and let us know how the legendary RTS is retooling for its massive comeback.

Runtime – 1:07:24

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Podcast Beyond, Episode 128

Jonathan Downin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:25:33 +0000

News starts things as always and there is a lot of it. Rock Band Network has officially launched with over 100 songs, including some indie favorites like Jonathan Coulton, so check those out if you are still playing the Rock band. The guys avoid it, but have to mention the recent PS3 leap year issue and end news with their takes on the recent Infinity Ward situation. Roper thinks that West and Zampella are in a perfect situation to start a new studio right now.

After covering releases the crew gives the results of the month long Trophy Whore War and none of the Beyond crew won out, but they have a slew of excuses as to why this is. Roper rants about PS3 dynamic themes before they move onto emails. One email concerning worst lost save file experiences yields some fun stories.

Covered games and topics: Rock Band Network, ApocalyPS3, IW issue, releases, Trophy Whore War, dynamic themes, emails, epic save losses

Chris, Greg, Colin and the one and only Sam “Gin Makes Delicious Breakfast Shakes” Bishop are in the house this week, leaving our intrepid “JRPG review factory” Ryan Clements to tackle one of the biggest titles of the first quarter.

Though they are without Clements (his flaxen mane billowing in an unfelt wind, sinewy biceps always at the ready), the boys soldier on, discussing a news-packed week, the conclusion of the Trophy Whore War and the wasteland o’ crap that is Sony’s Dynamic Themes lineup. Yes, it is thrilling and yes, you will need new pants. Or not.

Runtime – 58:34

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CO-OP Live: Heavy Rain

Derek Lavigne — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:05:52 +0000

To start off the show this week, Cesar and Matt discuss their time at the Nintendo press summit from last week. They both seem very excited about WarioWare D.I.Y. The game seems to have a very unique take on the old mini-game collection formula, letting you created and “ship” your own mini-games inside of a prepackaged world. They also highlight Sin and Punishment: Star Successor on the Wii which is a completely new take on the rail shooter convention and a few of the upcoming Wii Art Style games. They wrap up the Nintendo segment showing off Photo Dojo, an odd little peice of DSiWare that that allows you to put yourself into a fighting game.

A quick recorded segment with Matt and Cesar discussing Just Cause 2 is spliced in between the live segments. They both seem to be looking forward to how much chaos you can cause with the different game mechanics, although not much about the actual game is known yet.

The second live segment covers the recently released Heavy Rain for the PS3. While offering their comments on how nicely what you are doing on the controller translates onto the screen, Cesar plays a few sequences live. Full disclosure, I skipped most of this segment as I haven’t gotten a chance to play the game yet and I felt that revealing scenes of a story heavy game live would very much spoil things for me.

A huge event in gaming for those paying attention, Matt and Ryan are going to talk in-depth about Heavy Rain. Nintendo had a media day last week and we got hands on with a ton of stuff. We take your questions and offer up some previews concerning Nintendo’s latest announcements

Runtime – 53:38

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GWJ Conference Call Episode 177

Jonathan Downin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:20:33 +0000

Sean “Elysium” Sands is back and he has quite a backlog of games to cover, but he pears it down to just a few. He has been putting some time into Star Trek Online, and after not completely feeling it at first, he has come around to enjoying the game. Elysium also touches on Everquest 2 and Titan Quest before the group moves on to Heavy Rain. Shawn and Julian praise the game for its use of contextual and subtle control prompts within scenes.

The topic of the week is tension in games and there are many different ideas explored here. Having a sense of consequence is an important factor for the guys with the opening sinking boat scene from the original Modern Warfare cited as a successful approach. Sound and pacing also come up as key factors.

Emails and contest announcements finish the regular show, but stay tuned for a 40 minute, spoiler-filled Heavy Rain discussion at the end.

Covered games and topics: Star Trek Online, Heavy Rain, tension in games, emails, Heavy Rain spoiler section

This week Shawn, Julian and Elysium hold down the fort and talk about building tension in games, Heavy Rain and quite a lot more. Later in the show we do a 40 minute Heavy Rain spoiler section! It’s the very last segment, so if you’d like to avoid spoilers it will be easy to skip.

Runtime – 1:46:59

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Drunken Gamers Radio 02.27.2010

Derek Lavigne — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:17:21 +0000

Moe is out this week for undisclosed reasons, so Hilden and John have brought in two of their friends, Scott and John, who are working on this year’s Shmopera. Drunk Dials and emails start off the show and lead into a new contest for a prize submitted once again by a listener.

First up for review is the Xbox Indie game Shoot1UP which is only a buck and the guys find no reason why it shouldn’t be purchased. Next is Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing which John says is right up there with Mario Kart for him, which is big praise for anyone who was a fan of those games. Heavy Rain is the third game up for review this week and John tries not to stray too far into spoiler territory while describing how your actions affect the story. Hilden has the retro review which is Dungeon Explorer for the TG-16 which he describes as a great Gauntlet-style game.

Feature Presentation returns this week with an interview with Steve Lycett from Sumo Digital who developed Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing. It’s an interesting interview and Steve is very frank about how Mario Kart influenced the development. Five Things is the last segment of the show like usual starting off with talks of the Nintendo summit and the numerous release dates announced there. Closing things out the guys talk about what they have been playing.

Covered games and topics: drunk dials, prizes, Shoot1UP, Sega Kart, Heavy Rain, Dungeon Explorer, Steve Lycett, Bioshock, Mario Kart

XBL Community Game Review: Shoot1UP, 360 Review: Sonic and Sega All Star Racing, PS3 Review: Heavy Rain, Retro Review: Dungeon Explorer (TG16), Feature Presentation: Interview with Steve Lycett-Executive Producer, Sumo Digital, Five Things, Drunk Dials, DGR Mailbag

Runtime – 1:38:37

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The Idle Thumbs Podcast Episode 3: “Your Buddy, Space Marine” or “The Capper”

Jonathan Downin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:48:36 +0000

Are the guys going weekly again? We can only hope. The recent situation at Infinity Ward is the obvious big topic this week and it starts the podcast. The guys then move on to talk about the recently formed Indie Fund, an angel investment group put together by indie developers for indie developers.

As Chris was following the Activision debacle, Jake followed the Portal ARG. This all began with a mysterious update to Portal through Steam that has lead people to a BBS using Morse Code that revealed some mysterious Apature Science images and the number 3.11– an allusion to a forthcoming GDC announcement, maybe? Valve is one of the only companies around doing this sort of thing and the guys point out the approach to Left 4 Dead DLC as another shining example of this.

Ubisoft held a Splinter Cell Conviction event and Chris shares his impressions on the game. Flotilla, the latest from the developer of Gravity Bone, gets some attention and emails finish the show.

Covered games and topics: Activision situation, Indie Fund, Portal ARG, Splinter Cell Conviction, Flotilla, StarCraft 2, emails, Stalker

Video game news explodes, as two unrelated sentient robots — one good, one evil, both out of control — battle to the death for headline dominance. Amidst the wash of corporate power-plays, decapitations, and ASCII art, we also talk about the Indie Fund, and play some games.

Runtime – 1:27:18

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at1UP: 03/02/2010

Jonathan Downin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:19:56 +0000

The cast starts with a special emergency segment this week with Sam, Tina and Alan discussing the recent news of a shake-up at Infinity Ward. The two studio heads/co-founders have been let go in what is assumed to be “difference in opinion” between them and Activision. The group gives an overview of the situation and discuss their takes.

At1UP proper starts with some more Olympics/Canada talk before the group touches on a couple recent 1UP features including one about fanfiction with some great Kirk on Spock art by Travis. Lord of the Rings Online gets some time with Travis and Jade fellowshipping their way back to Middle Earth. Mike touches on Miles Edgeworth and Jade is entrenched in a Dragon Quest VIII blind box obsession.

Zombie Action News makes its triumphant return and TV talk closes out the show.

Infinity Ward vs. Activision news occupies the first quarter of the show before we delve into the at1UP proper. 1UP’s Fanfiction and The Decade That Was features get some love and the gang updates us on their gaming situations. Plus, Zombie Action News! Check out this episode’s show notes.

Runtime – 1:04:14

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Giant Bombcast 03-02-2010

Derek Lavigne — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:18:22 +0000

This week’s Bombcast starts off with a late addition segment focusing on the recent Infinity Ward/Activision controversy. All of the guys have their unique perspectives but seem to agree that Activision holds all the legal rights and that IW may have tried to go rogue unsuccessfully. They also feel, barring litigation, that there will be a new studio very soon from the former IW heads.

Ryan starts off the actual podcast by discussing his trip to Liverpool with Vinny to see Blur, which he says looks and feels much better than it did the last time it was shown to the public. Jeff steps up next to talk about the Nintendo event from last week and spends much of the time on Metroid: Other M and his mixed feelings about it. He also mentions Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Ryan discloses his hatred for Yoshi. Brad quickly talks about the lamb he ate while seeing God of War III before Jeff takes the reigns again to talk about Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

News starts off with the obvious topic of the PS3 outage and how vague the statements from Sony were about it. They move on to the recently purchase of Rocksteady by Warner Brothers and whether they will be forced to pump out super hero games. New releases and emails close out the show like usual.

Covered games and topics: IW Drama, UK trip, Bad Company 2, Metroid, Mario Galaxy 2, Blur, God of War III, Bad Company 2, Rocksteady, loud WiiWare music

We break into our regularly scheduled podcast to talk about today’s Infinity Ward news, then it’s on to a sleepy discussion of Metroid: Other M, God of War III, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and something that qualifies as much, much more!

Runtime – 2:34:43

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The Geekbox: Episode 55

Jon Cole — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:07:57 +0000

Alice Liang joins the Geekbox since Karen is out this week and kicks things off by asking Higgins about Nick Simmons’ (son of Gene Simmons) blatant plagiarism of manga like “Bleach” in his personal comic book series, “Incarnate”. Things move on to the weekly discussion of Lost, covering last week’s Jack-centric episode “The Lighthouse”. Again, if you have some catching up to do on the series, check out the spoiler timestamps at the bottom of this post.

Video games come up next, with some discussion of the ApocalyPS3 (®), spearheaded one of Ryan’s conspiracy theories which quickly gets disproved by a Sony press release. The Geekbox forums are hosting an achievement competition (which I happen to be participating in), which unfortunately ends at the end of March and thus doesn’t allow for playthroughs of the March 31 release of Mega Man 10 on XBLA. Ryan has been playing the latest retro-inspired Capcom game and the conversation devolves into making fun of the game’s ridiculously named antagonists.

Burn Notice, Smallville, and a short listener mail segment wrap up a pretty good episode of The Geekbox.

Spoiler timestamps: Lost (15:30 – 30:30), Burn Notice (57:00 – 1:01:30), Smallville (1:02:00 – 1:04:00)

Wherein we discuss comic artist Nick Simmons’ rampant plagiarism, Lost 6×05, PlayStation 3 meltdowns, the Geekbox’s Xbox 360 Achievement Point contest, Mega Man 10, baseball videogames, exceedingly insane auctions, Burn Notice 3×15, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, listener mail, and violet proto-drakes. Starring Ryan Scott, Mike Cruz, Andrew Fitch, Ryan Higgins, and Alice Liang.

Runtime – 1:18:07

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The Totally Rad Show – Episode 154: Ah-Mazing

Ross Adams — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:38:10 +0000

Cop Out is the first feature Kevin Smith has directed which he didn’t also write, perhaps that’s a bad thing as the TRS guys didn’t like it very much. For a comedy they didn’t laugh too often, they do enjoy the idea of a throwback to the 80s buddy cop movies, so much so in fact they end up chatting about them for a while. It doesn’t sound like Cop Out is particularly bad, as a comedy it just seems to fall flat and the guys are fairly indifferent to the rest.

After briefly playing some head games it’s onto this weeks video game. It is praise all round for Heavy Rain, with the three universally agreeing if you play games you need to play Heavy Rain. Alex admits were he not reviewing the game he would’ve shut it off after the first hour, that being said he was blown away by how the game effected him. Dan lays on the hyperbole as always but for once it seems somewhat warranted. Jeff is extrememly pleased with the game and feels it has moved games forward in a meaningful way.

You can certainly tell how much love there is for the game by the length of the video game segment. Jeff praises the game for not having any kind of save system. The fact you can’t just load a save from before a decision to see what could have happened makes every choice really matter. The guys go into spoiler mode for a while, time stamps: 40:07-42:30.

We adventure out in the Heavy Rain to see if it changes video games forever. Does Kevin Smith’s Cop Out revive the buddy picture? Plus, fun with sticky notes, inspired by Quentin Tarantino!

Runtime – 55:34

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The Engadget Show – 006: Avner Ronen, the first Windows Phone 7 Series device, Dell Mini 5, and more!

Jonathan Downin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:52:29 +0000

It’s a packed show this time around with an interview with Avner Ronen of Boxee kicking things off. He is refreshingly candid about the curent state of the company and where they hope to be in the future. He touches on the Boxee Box, which is due in Q2, and plans to expand their hardware partnerships within 2010.

Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman is the second interview and he talks at length about Windows Phone 7 Series. There are plenty of dodged questions with him pointing to MIX10 for further details, but he does whip out a previously unannounced and unseen prototype from LG. In what is an amazing sight to see, Nilay and Paul proceed to live blog the hardware with pictures being taken and a post being written while they are on stage– Engadget is hardcore.

The show concludes with the usual podcast-type discussion.

Truly our craziest show yet. In case you didn’t tune into the livestream of The Engadget Show on Saturday (and if you somehow didn’t hear about the news), then you’re in for a real treat. The crew gets especially wild on this episode while talking Hulu and plans for world domination with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, revealing the first partner handset for Windows Phone 7 Series with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, and playing around with the Dell Mini 5, as well as the forthcoming Engadget app for Android. Oh, and there’s also a fascinating short piece on chiptune music and visuals and the folks who make the magic happen. If you do one thing today, make it The Engadget Show. You won’t be sorry. The full video is available to stream after the break, or you can download it below.

Runtime – 1:16:35

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The Modcast – Students of Game Design

Radenska — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:20:55 +0000

(Editor’s note: This post was written by the podcast provider)

Welcome to The Modcast, where collaborative students of game design & art from the Cleveland Institute of Art gather and cover topics pertaining to their process and projects. Between topics on modding practices, aesthetics and design of a particular game, student game projects, game design education and guests from modding communities, The Modcast offers insightful discussion on the initial steps available towards game development.

In Episode 5, to announce their new game, ChromaWaves, in collaboration with student programmers from Case Western Reserve University, The Modcast has produced a mini-series exposing the process of developing a student game from start to finish, the perspective of their mentors, team building, and much more.

The Modcast is written, produced, and engineered by Andrew Kuhar.

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