Giant Bombcast 01-03-2012

[0] Hey, everyone.

[1] It's Tuesday, January the 3rd, 2012, and you are listening to the Giant Bombcast.

[2] I'm Ryan Davis.

[3] 2012, y 'all.

[4] It's a new year, and so we have a fresh, brand -new baby Vinnie Caravella here.

[5] 2012.

[6] I'm baby New Year.

[7] It touched my bottom.

[8] Vinnie Caravella is here for the 20 dozen.

[9] 20 dozen.

[10] Wow.

[11] 20 dozen?

[12] The 20 dozen or the Deuce Dizzy.

[13] Deuce Dizzy.

[14] What was last year?

[15] Nothing.

[16] We didn't have any good ones for 2011.

[17] That's tough.

[18] 2011 rhymes something with 11.

[19] It's tough.

[20] Heaven.

[21] All right.

[22] Well, there you go.

[23] We didn't bother with 2011.

[24] 2011 didn't order it.

[25] 24 plus 7.

[26] Kevin would know.

[27] Patrick Klepek is still on vacation somewhere in the Midwest right now, I believe.

[28] Probably like drinking something fried somehow.

[29] Go Bears.

[30] Yeah, go Bears, I guess.

[31] And that's the sweet sound of Dave Snyder.

[32] Dave, you haven't been a guest on this podcast in a while.

[33] I am.

[34] I'm doing physical stretches just to get myself ready for sitting in a chair.

[35] As opposed to other kinds of stretches?

[36] I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

[37] Mental stretches?

[38] I sit over here.

[39] You do.

[40] There's all this paperwork around from last – whenever you guys were here last.

[41] Oh, is that game of the year paperwork?

[42] It is.

[43] It's game of the year.

[44] Don't remind us of that.

[45] Is that a coffee filter next to you?

[46] That's a coffee filter.

[47] Will Smith has started eating stuff out of coffee filters, like using those instead of paper towels.

[48] Oh, for like M &Ms or something?

[49] He was sitting there with a handful of popcorn at his desk in a coffee filter.

[50] It's actually a brilliant idea.

[51] It's already shaped.

[52] It's kind of bullish and you're not – What's wrong with a bowl?

[53] What's wrong with an actual bowl?

[54] If you find me a bowl in this office, you go ahead and let me know.

[55] Where the bowl is at?

[56] There was on Kessler's head, but he's since left.

[57] That was what I called for.

[58] Oh, come on.

[59] Bold hair is the least we could do.

[60] It's the kindest thing you could do if we're going to tear down Matt Kessler.

[61] Jeff Gerstmann also still on vacation enjoying his time off, but Brad Shoemaker is here.

[62] I'm here, and I am so excited.

[63] I know you can tell how excited I am that I just ate some iceberg lettuce.

[64] It was okay iceberg lettuce, though.

[65] Yeah, it was just a chicken Caesar wrap or something.

[66] Gets the job done.

[67] Something refreshing after the last two weeks about eating some straight -up lettuce.

[68] So, yeah, we took a little holiday break.

[69] Brad, you went back to the homeland, back to the motherland.

[70] How are the cackle acts?

[71] Not bad.

[72] Yeah.

[73] Okay.

[74] Yeah.

[75] Yeah.

[76] Two visits to Chick -fil -A and one to Bojangles.

[77] That's how we measure the quality of the visits now?

[78] Yeah.

[79] Well, I mean, those things are important.

[80] Trashy southern fried food.

[81] Hey, there's nothing trashy about Chick -fil -A.

[82] There's nothing trashy about Bojangles.

[83] Bojangles is a little, yeah.

[84] It's a little.

[85] I would say it's like maybe one step up from Waffle House.

[86] Maybe two.

[87] And Waffle House is...

[88] Waffle House is about as trashy as it gets.

[89] Waffle House is like a gunshot wound at three in the morning.

[90] Self -inflicted.

[91] The Waffle House near my school had a gunshot, like a bullet hole in the window.

[92] Yeah, and they didn't fix it.

[93] Just there.

[94] Yeah, it was just there.

[95] Are they all 24 hours?

[96] I don't know if there are any non -24 hour ones, but...

[97] Any vacation highlights?

[98] You got anything cool?

[99] You know what I got was earthquake preparedness stuff.

[100] Oh, yeah?

[101] Yeah.

[102] Oh, he's got a bug eye bag?

[103] Fantastic.

[104] I'm sure like all of you guys, I'm well into my adulthood to the point that like, what are you going to buy a gift for me?

[105] Yeah, you bought it already.

[106] It's like, if I want it, I'm going to go buy it.

[107] So what I got was a solar -powered and also optionally crank -powered AM FM radio.

[108] Anton Bauer.

[109] Oh, somebody contributed to PBS.

[110] That's right.

[111] Did that come in a tote?

[112] No, just in a box.

[113] It's an attractive tote.

[114] And a little sack of MREs.

[115] Oh, nice.

[116] Meals ready to eat.

[117] Nice.

[118] Good.

[119] I'm glad.

[120] So I'm going to go to Costco and get a big old thing of bottled water.

[121] And this is for your home kit?

[122] I'm going to sock all that stuff away in a closet somewhere and then hope that when the big one comes, that closet does not get sealed off.

[123] That closet still exists.

[124] Yeah, they said on the news the other day, they said the next 30 years, like a six to seven.

[125] Oh, we are absolutely due.

[126] Once a century or so.

[127] We are due for a nice big shake.

[128] I was actually thinking over the break there was a day or two where I'm like, this is feeling like earthquake weather.

[129] Sense it in your bones.

[130] You can.

[131] We're all transplants.

[132] I don't think we have the native.

[133] Yeah, none of us have had like a big one.

[134] Yeah.

[135] You've been through it.

[136] I know.

[137] I've lived through it.

[138] Smell it in the air.

[139] It was pretty – There is a specificity to earthquake weather.

[140] It's not just a – It's like hurricane weather.

[141] I can smell when the hurricane is coming.

[142] Yeah.

[143] Static in the air.

[144] Left ears tingling.

[145] You know, Karen's first one was in a movie theater.

[146] She thought it was the movie theater.

[147] Like it was like the rumbling of the movie?

[148] Yeah, she was like, what was that?

[149] I was like, oh, that was an earthquake.

[150] She's like, yeah, I finally got one!

[151] First one, I was kind of freaked out.

[152] I realized just how imposing they can be.

[153] Oh, yeah.

[154] That is nature getting ready.

[155] It's like, oh, hey, hold on a second.

[156] Yeah.

[157] But you kind of can't describe it because it's like...

[158] All right, we're done.

[159] It's so powerful.

[160] Like you realize that like, oh, my God, this is not going to – this isn't a car going by.

[161] This is not going to stop.

[162] And you immediately freeze.

[163] Yeah.

[164] No, I ran over to the bookshelf to stop the books from falling and then realized after it was over.

[165] That's dumb.

[166] That's the worst place you could possibly be.

[167] That's like literally the opposite of what the earthquake preparedness people would tell you to do.

[168] I don't screw them into the wall.

[169] What I've been told is you don't want to get underneath something.

[170] What you want to do is there is the triangle of safety next to – Your pocket?

[171] Yeah.

[172] Basically, you want to be like down and next to a heavy piece of furniture because when stuff falls – If it falls and hits the thing and crushes it, you're just going to be crushed underneath it.

[173] So it'll break the fall.

[174] It'll break the fall and it'll fall and create basically a little zone right next to the thing where you can conceivably be safe.

[175] See, I've thought a lot about this.

[176] Because it's like beams and shit that you've got to worry about.

[177] I don't want to be trapped in the pocket.

[178] I think I'd rather just go out.

[179] You'd rather just get crushed?

[180] I don't want to be like...

[181] Then why are you fucking around with all this preparedness stuff?

[182] Well, because it's, you know...

[183] Because guess what it's going to be if you actually need that stuff?

[184] It's going to be pretty bad.

[185] Yeah.

[186] I told my parents that.

[187] I was like, if it comes to the point that I need this radio, like, it's going to be pretty bad out there.

[188] Koi Tower.

[189] Remember, that thing's going to collapse.

[190] That's where we go.

[191] Koi Tower.

[192] I've always heard go under a...

[193] Doorway?

[194] Doorframe.

[195] It's structurally more sound.

[196] Yeah, but the pocket stuff.

[197] Create that pocket.

[198] Under concrete in a pocket.

[199] Crushed leg.

[200] You're kissing your kneecap or something and you're just trapped and you're like, this is it for the next three days until I die or they find me. It's a fucking terrible idea.

[201] I should have just died.

[202] I can't kill myself.

[203] They said on the news, if it's on the San Andreas and not the Hayward, that we could be talking about a quarter million people.

[204] in San Francisco who can't return to their homes.

[205] Like homes basically destroyed.

[206] I've got a bug out bag in the car and my bug out bag here.

[207] Well, have you strapped your water heater?

[208] Strapped?

[209] I don't have my own water heater.

[210] I do now.

[211] My new apartment.

[212] I was going to say.

[213] I've got water.

[214] No, but your water heater, you've got to strap it.

[215] You've got to make sure it's strapped.

[216] What's strapped mean?

[217] Well, water heaters tend to like to come loose and then spew natural gas everywhere and then start amazing fires.

[218] Whoa.

[219] So that's why there's like major laws in California that you have to keep your water heaters like specifically safely strapped.

[220] Like secured?

[221] Yeah.

[222] I hope it's strapped.

[223] You've got to strap them to the fucking wall.

[224] I don't know.

[225] Strap it on?

[226] No, check your strap.

[227] Okay.

[228] Tell the water heater I'm coming in doing a strap check?

[229] Yes.

[230] Strap check.

[231] Don't worry.

[232] I'm not looking.

[233] Eyes referred to strap check.

[234] Dirty head cough.

[235] No, you're good.

[236] That's good.

[237] I'm genuinely concerned now.

[238] Yeah.

[239] This is – Well, that's – I mean like when the 89 quake hit, the marina basically burned down.

[240] Really?

[241] Well, I mean there were fires and shit down in the marina and a lot of that was because of like – Natural gas fires.

[242] That sounds bad.

[243] Yeah.

[244] Like, everybody always used to joke about the big one.

[245] Like, yeah, I can't wait for that thing to hit.

[246] I'm going to ride that thing.

[247] But it's always the fires.

[248] It's never the quake.

[249] Like, the quake itself will do enough damage.

[250] Like, you know, there was obviously huge structural impact in the Bay Area when that quake hit.

[251] But it's...

[252] I've also heard...

[253] It's the secondary stuff that always...

[254] Water contamination, too.

[255] Gets out of control.

[256] It's the water thing.

[257] I haven't experienced that, but I can see that being a thing for sure.

[258] I don't know if that's a California...

[259] It might just be a flood thing, so I don't know if it's...

[260] I have no idea.

[261] Shotguns.

[262] I want to bury...

[263] I want to put a shotgun or a rifle in...

[264] I don't really like guns, but I want to put one in a waterproof container on like a 20 -foot chain and drop it off the side of like the cliffs over here into the water, like about five feet under, and then when the shit goes down, I want to pull it up...

[265] You'll pull it up and say you've got your underwater shotgun.

[266] Because I'm not so much worried about – Well, that's what I'm saying.

[267] Just like five feet under and attach it to the side.

[268] I think the tide is probably more significant than five.

[269] That would be real dumb.

[270] Put it in five feet at that high tide and you're like, yeah, good.

[271] Tide rolls back.

[272] What's that chain in that gun?

[273] Why is there a chain wrapped around a shotgun wrapped in a plastic trash bag?

[274] Why is it red on the tip?

[275] Because I'm not worried about the earthquake so much.

[276] In like a major city – I suspect, uh, it was a three days.

[277] You're worried.

[278] You're worried about the zombie scenario.

[279] People turn on each other.

[280] It's not the zombie.

[281] Forget the zombie part, but I'm worried about like, you know what I mean?

[282] But that's the true thing in any zombie story.

[283] It's not the zombies.

[284] It's the other people.

[285] Build the team.

[286] So the more prepared you are though, like you're now prepared in some way.

[287] Well, they don't know that though, but they will, as soon as they see that you're there with like, I'm not going to be like, I'm not going to be sitting out on my front step with that stuff.

[288] I'm going to kick your door in.

[289] I'm going to, I'm going to hide somewhere.

[290] Start looting.

[291] Cause that's, Wait, we got four people.

[292] What are the roles?

[293] What are we all filling?

[294] Me?

[295] Yeah, let's say we just got four people.

[296] I'll be the hero.

[297] You're a tank.

[298] You're probably up front.

[299] No, I was injured in the initial combat, so I'm the liability.

[300] You're the hobbling guy?

[301] Yeah, you got to leave me behind.

[302] I'm the first to get that behind.

[303] You're the one that's bleeding out.

[304] So we made a makeshift stretcher for you?

[305] I'm the problem causer.

[306] Like, just leave him behind, man. He's dead weight.

[307] We've got the tourniquet on you, but you can't walk.

[308] I can't walk.

[309] I'm kind of taking up a lot of resources.

[310] I'm bad.

[311] I'm bad news.

[312] Got like a branched, like hastily wrapped to your thigh.

[313] But I'm the only one who knows where all the bug out bags are, and I can't tell you, but I have to take you there.

[314] So I'm the star of your movie.

[315] Yeah, you're worried about us leaving you.

[316] I'm the first act.

[317] But every day you look a little bit worse.

[318] Yeah, it's getting bad.

[319] And then you're in and out of consciousness, and then the delirium comes.

[320] And Dave, I feel like you're the hard choice maker.

[321] Just kill them.

[322] But it's like even living in California my whole life, it's always.

[323] the most exciting thing when an earthquake starts is past the initial realization of, oh, okay, hey, an earthquake is happening.

[324] Oh, no. But then it's just like, all right, how long is this going to keep going for?

[325] And how hard is it going to shake?

[326] It's like, oh, is it going to shake a little more?

[327] And you're like, well, well, this could keep going.

[328] This could get worse.

[329] Because it doesn't just like necessarily hit, just like bam, immediately you're shaking at fucking, you know, 6 .0 or whatever.

[330] It'll start rumbling and then – Well, that's what I was saying.

[331] The first one I had when you suddenly realized there are no rules.

[332] There's not like – this isn't fair.

[333] Like this is not like – Well, yeah.

[334] Well, it's not even just like hurricane or tornado stuff where it's like 20 minutes out that's coming.

[335] You better like batten down the hatchet.

[336] Yeah, like you have time to tape up your windows before hurricane comes.

[337] I will take the whiskey media emblem off our wall and use it as a shield to protect.

[338] And the dawning of this new post -apocalyptic – That's right.

[339] How many people were crushed in the 89?

[340] Like just in their homes or in an office building?

[341] A lot less than there would have been if the World Series wasn't happening.

[342] because it happened on the day of day three, and everyone at that hour would have been commuting and would have been on the freeway that collapsed.

[343] Oh, you're talking about crushed by the bridge.

[344] Well, not on the bridge, by the Embarcadero Freeway.

[345] It used to be a double -decker freeway where the Embarcadero is.

[346] Yeah, not the bridge, but the highway fell in.

[347] Yeah, it was double -decker, bam, it collapsed twice, and so a bunch of people got smushed in there, but not as many as would have otherwise.

[348] Right.

[349] What about in their homes, though?

[350] That's the thing I worry about.

[351] Not that many.

[352] I mean, the Merino was where most of that structure was.

[353] like serious structural damage was.

[354] There was a lot of stuff in Santa Cruz as well, but I don't think a lot of people were dying in that stuff.

[355] It was mostly the Embarcadero falling.

[356] See, I'm thinking like ground yawning.

[357] style earthquake where the bridges are collapsed.

[358] There's a giant chasm opening up in the earth.

[359] See, I feel like if we're at that point, fuck your Bug Outback.

[360] That doesn't even matter.

[361] I'm going to Marine Headlands.

[362] I'm camping out.

[363] How are you going to get there?

[364] Across that Golden Gate Bridge that doesn't exist anymore?

[365] So I'll be fine then.

[366] You don't know what's in my Bug Outback.

[367] A jet ski?

[368] Do you have a jet ski in there?

[369] I've got paddles and an inflatable raft.

[370] I've got a kayak.

[371] I'm making my way to Alcatraz and I'm holding it down.

[372] Yeah, I mean that's really the scarier thing is the idea of – because we're very dependent on bridges and stuff to get around in this city and in this area.

[373] I'm just worried about looters.

[374] Like literally I'm worried about – because when it comes – like push comes to shove, if it's the question of your survival or mine, like of course I'm going to kill you.

[375] Like why would I?

[376] Seriously.

[377] That's why I just go straight to the country.

[378] And just get it alone?

[379] Let's go out to my dad's.

[380] He's got property.

[381] He's fairly remote.

[382] He's got guns.

[383] Like, why would you live?

[384] If you prepared, why would I let you live and me die?

[385] Why?

[386] Because it's fair?

[387] But I think you're maybe overestimating how quickly it would turn.

[388] I don't think it's just earthquake and then, bam, looters.

[389] Complete lawlessness.

[390] I'll say this about the 89 quake.

[391] That wasn't your fucking, you know, the earth yawning open kind of thing.

[392] But everyone was, it was the most...

[393] cordial, and together I have seen residents of the San Francisco Bay Area.

[394] I think it could turn in a week.

[395] Because...

[396] Okay, so over some time, if, like, care isn't coming in and there is...

[397] Yeah, that's when it gets bad.

[398] Yeah.

[399] But that's not going to happen.

[400] That's not going to happen.

[401] No, that's like a week.

[402] Finger snap.

[403] But you better have your shotguns and your milk ready.

[404] Otherwise, you are in trouble.

[405] The milk's gone bad.

[406] Not in Koi Tower, right?

[407] That's right.

[408] Yeah, shotguns and milk.

[409] That's what Dave always tells me. Well, I'm not going to Koi Tower because I'm going to blow up Koi Tower.

[410] Oh, man. That's my first plan.

[411] That's at least it.

[412] Your power grab?

[413] Yeah, it is.

[414] Who's down?

[415] Dropping Koi Tower.

[416] Who doesn't want to sit on the top of a castle?

[417] With a shotgun?

[418] I can just sit there and snipe people.

[419] It'd be great.

[420] This is what I'm worried about.

[421] Yeah, that's why you've got to get the fuck out of the city.

[422] Just get out of the city all together.

[423] You already made the right decision, Vinny.

[424] You moved to the birds.

[425] already like 10 times safer.

[426] We don't even know the earthquake hit.

[427] What?

[428] What's going on?

[429] You guys can leave.

[430] I'll be the potentate of San Francisco.

[431] Perfect.

[432] I'm the only one here that actually still lives in the city, you know?

[433] I'm starting to feel a little paranoid.

[434] Yeah, now you're stuck here.

[435] It's like the bay is closing in around me. And you're right next to the park, too, and that'll be a hot spot.

[436] Oh, God, that's a hot spot.

[437] Well, that'll just be where immediately all of the...

[438] Everybody without a home.

[439] Yeah, everyone who's been displaced.

[440] You know, like, females set up tents and shit out there.

[441] It's the one open spot.

[442] It'll be disgusting.

[443] It'll be terrible.

[444] Is this what you guys do?

[445] What?

[446] What happened to the video game stuff?

[447] We're getting to it.

[448] Yeah, all right.

[449] Brad got stuff for the Earthquake.

[450] Do you have a lot of super interesting video game stories to tell?

[451] Because...

[452] I don't know.

[453] We were doing fine here.

[454] All right.

[455] So you had to go and mention video games.

[456] All right.

[457] Geez.

[458] Aren't there like energy drinks or something around?

[459] I'm glad.

[460] That's so...

[461] Wait, dude.

[462] Come on.

[463] It's 2012, y 'all.

[464] Okay.

[465] Now it's Earthquake Scenario.

[466] That's right.

[467] It's Tragedy Scenario.

[468] Near the quake.

[469] All right.

[470] So your entire family dies.

[471] All right.

[472] Well, awesome, Brad.

[473] Anything else?

[474] I do feel a little bit better.

[475] No, that's pretty much it.

[476] You say you feel better having it there?

[477] It's actually not here yet.

[478] They have to ship it to me because I don't have room to bring it back.

[479] I was going to mention the MREs, they go bad.

[480] Not for a long time.

[481] I think it's like you're supposed to replace them every two years or a year.

[482] Really?

[483] I think so.

[484] I'm not 100 % sure.

[485] I'll have to check the packaging.

[486] So mine, Jesse and I have decided.

[487] Oh, you have some?

[488] Oh, yeah.

[489] We have decided that before Thanksgiving, we will always eat our MREs and then restock.

[490] So I'm actually really looking forward to that.

[491] Have you ever had an MRE?

[492] No. It's like chalk, right?

[493] I've had a couple.

[494] Well, it depends.

[495] I mean, it depends on what you have.

[496] Like, I have stuff that's just like protein.

[497] It's just a block.

[498] It's just like protein sustenance.

[499] It's just a high -caloric thing.

[500] Just eat it, and it will taste awful.

[501] Like Mayflower MREs.

[502] These aren't like military ones.

[503] Yeah, yeah.

[504] I know what Brad's talking about.

[505] I mean, I've had proper MREs, which are like...

[506] Those ones would fall apart in like a second.

[507] What's that?

[508] Mayflower.

[509] They're really old.

[510] I think the brand is Mayday.

[511] You should have already eaten those, I'm going to say.

[512] If those were for the Mayflower.

[513] It's Mays.

[514] Yeah, I think they expire.

[515] I'm not 100 % sure.

[516] Water also expires too.

[517] Unless you put the drops in it.

[518] I've got books.

[519] You were way into the survival thing.

[520] Yeah.

[521] I don't have my shotgun yet.

[522] Bradley.

[523] Yes.

[524] Did you play any games?

[525] They had her start with me. Yeah.

[526] Right on the spot.

[527] It's 2012.

[528] 2012.

[529] Played a lot more Batman.

[530] Did you?

[531] Yeah.

[532] I'm warming up to that game.

[533] Yeah.

[534] Initially, you were very like, I don't like what they changed.

[535] Yeah.

[536] Well, the more that I force myself to just go through the story and ignore all the side stuff, the more I like it.

[537] So I think that's what you did, right?

[538] Yeah.

[539] Well, so the thing is, I got to the point where I think a lot of the side stuff just didn't...

[540] trigger for me or it wasn't...

[541] That's kind of where I fell off a little bit.

[542] I got through the story, loved the story, just enjoyed everything that that game had me do for the most part.

[543] But there was some side stuff where just what the objective was or where I needed to go just wasn't clear.

[544] It's not presented well.

[545] There's stuff that's just like, alright, you have to go to this area and find a corpse or something.

[546] I'm like, this area is super dark.

[547] Oh, like that Deadshot stuff.

[548] Yeah, so the Deadshot stuff is where I got...

[549] Because I'm like, I'm not...

[550] I'm not saying that what you want.

[551] It's not being super clear on where I need to go.

[552] I'm kind of just wandering around, but I don't feel like I'm making any progress here.

[553] So, yeah.

[554] I can see...

[555] Play it like Arkham Asylum.

[556] And it's a great game.

[557] Yeah.

[558] I actually picked up the PC version of Arkham Asylum.

[559] Because that was like a dollar over the break.

[560] Or something disgusting.

[561] That's a great game.

[562] Batman's pretty good.

[563] That's a good game.

[564] Yeah.

[565] Let's play that.

[566] Played some of that Oddworld Stranger's Wrath high -definition remake.

[567] That's available now.

[568] On the PlayStation Network.

[569] Is that just on PSN right now?

[570] Yeah.

[571] It's not on the 360 for whatever reason.

[572] Or PC, which is probably the greatest tragedy because they put out that awful busted version of the original game on the PC.

[573] Oh, was that really fucked up then?

[574] Like real bad.

[575] Like unplayably bad.

[576] Some people have extremely fond memories of...

[577] Like a few people.

[578] Of Stranger's Wrath.

[579] Not many people played that game.

[580] There were things about that I remember thinking were pretty cool at the time, and I played just a little tiny bit of it before the break.

[581] What did you think of it?

[582] It's kind of showing its age a little bit, but it's got some unique stuff.

[583] Yeah, it looks fun.

[584] It seemed to scale up well.

[585] Yeah.

[586] Mainly the way it's put together.

[587] Through the lens of the last seven years, my memory of that game was like, oh, it's a big open Western environment to roam around in, but it's totally not.

[588] It's very narrow.

[589] It's like a hub town with little spokes coming off of it that are just straight linear levels.

[590] It was the cool stuff with the ammo.

[591] It was at least novel.

[592] The ammo, yeah, very unique.

[593] But I might play some more of that.

[594] Cool.

[595] What else to play?

[596] right now.

[597] Yeah, there's not much.

[598] I don't know.

[599] Digging into that back catalog.

[600] You got anything else in there that you're eyeballing your back caddy?

[601] Played a little bit of Pushmo.

[602] Yeah, that's pretty good.

[603] That's a great game.

[604] Right?

[605] That makes me feel better about the 3DS.

[606] It's like, you guys are doing it right now.

[607] At least something is happening here.

[608] This game's only $7 and it's really cool and unique and it looks nice.

[609] And you don't have to put anything in your system to play it.

[610] Yeah, it's just...

[611] I wish it didn't have to exist exclusively in the ghetto of the 3DS e -store.

[612] Yeah, getting to it is not great.

[613] Although now they at least let you save your credit card information.

[614] And also let you buy points in the exact amount that you need.

[615] Nice.

[616] Which I realized because I had like a dollar on my 3DS account.

[617] And there's nothing you can buy.

[618] Fuck yourself for a dollar.

[619] How about that?

[620] Nintendo e -shop.

[621] Okay, sounds like a good deal.

[622] That's not available yet.

[623] I'll undercut that.

[624] 50 cents.

[625] Come on.

[626] Fuck yourself for...

[627] A smile.

[628] 25 cents.

[629] It takes us two bits.

[630] Two bits.

[631] But yeah, so I had that much on there.

[632] I'm like, I want to buy a push mode.

[633] It's like, well, you can either just buy preset amounts or exactly however much you need.

[634] I'm like, that sounds great.

[635] So no balance on there anymore.

[636] Yes, push mode is great.

[637] I think that's it.

[638] Awesome.

[639] Yeah.

[640] Fantastic.

[641] Yep.

[642] What are you looking forward to in 12?

[643] What do you want out of 12?

[644] What do you want?

[645] What do you want, Brad?

[646] To make it through the year?

[647] Like, if I am still alive this time next year, do not use your MREs.

[648] Yeah, if my MREs are still in their boxes at this time next year, then I will consider this year a success.

[649] 2012 should be fun.

[650] I hope so.

[651] I like GDC.

[652] CES is happening.

[653] Got a new Mass Effect.

[654] Got a new Mass Effect.

[655] Oh, man, I can't wait to hear about new TVs.

[656] My parents got a 55 -inch TV right before I came home.

[657] Now my TV is woefully inadequate.

[658] I need a new television.

[659] Yeah.

[660] Yeah, I know the feeling.

[661] Let's see what they announce.

[662] Dave Snyder.

[663] That's me. Dave, thanks for coming and sitting with us today.

[664] Hey!

[665] I'm here.

[666] It's awesome.

[667] I know.

[668] I've been here a while.

[669] Yeah, you haven't.

[670] We've been busy site architecting.

[671] Yeah, we've been having fun.

[672] And designing, or I guess co -designing our amazing Game of the Year stuff.

[673] Yeah, that was pretty dumb.

[674] Once again, I want to thank Vinnie Caravella and Dave Snyder and the rest of the creative team.

[675] That stuff came out.

[676] so much better than I even ever could have possibly imagined.

[677] Yeah, I want to thank everybody for the amount of trust they put on us.

[678] Dave and I would just kind of be going off and go to a costume store and then come back and be like, this is for you.

[679] This is for you.

[680] Here's your outfit.

[681] You said Space Egyptian, so this is what we got.

[682] You were supposed to be a cowboy.

[683] Here's a sombrero.

[684] This guy looks like a sheik.

[685] Space Egyptian really turned out a lot better than I think anyone could have anticipated.

[686] Yeah, the funny part with Vinny was He was very much buying little pieces to outfits.

[687] And I was like, oh, so that's for the cowboy.

[688] And he'd always be like, no, that's Space Egypt.

[689] Everything.

[690] It didn't matter what it was.

[691] It was like a bag full of Space Egypt.

[692] All right.

[693] Like everything that went into the other pile.

[694] That's for the wizard, right?

[695] No, that's Space Egypt.

[696] Is this the wizard staff?

[697] No, that's a Space Egyptian.

[698] Oh, man. As the wizard, I was very jealous of that staff.

[699] Yeah.

[700] Well, because I wasn't quite sure what was going to make a Space Egyptian.

[701] Yeah.

[702] Just that hat to the head.

[703] Like, I don't know if this is as Egyptian as it gets in the store.

[704] I thought the robot monocle really brought it together.

[705] I think you saw that, right?

[706] The steampunk thing?

[707] That was what it needed.

[708] It made everything else make sense somehow.

[709] Because otherwise he's just an Egyptian.

[710] I'm still kind of bummed, though, because his headpiece covered the very carefully crafted ankh that I put on the side of his face.

[711] You can see it a little bit.

[712] Yeah.

[713] Yeah, and the headband didn't fit, so he wasn't wearing the gold headband, but the sash you found with the amazing color.

[714] The old lady sash.

[715] It's like a scarf.

[716] Talk about things not fitting.

[717] Fate.

[718] You guys handed me my costume, which included a women's extra small t -shirt.

[719] Well, that just comes from Dave's version of comedy, which is like, buy everything way too small.

[720] Well, we were in the thrift store for that, and then he said, oh, he has stars on it!

[721] He did have stars on it.

[722] Perfect!

[723] Oh, my God.

[724] Don't even look at the size.

[725] Put it in the bag.

[726] Tag and bag it.

[727] I ended up cutting it down the middle in the back and pinning it to my real shirt.

[728] Really?

[729] So you still wore it underneath?

[730] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[731] It was on there.

[732] Fucking fantastic.

[733] You can see the stars.

[734] I'm not actually wearing the shirt.

[735] It's just a shirt dicky?

[736] It's just hanging on front.

[737] We had a budget, and we came in under our budget, and we were very happy.

[738] It wound up having to be piecemeal and everything else was really expensive.

[739] The best line of it was us going in there and Vinny being like, all right, so we're trying to – do you have anything like cheaper?

[740] And the guy who was running the store was like, sir, we don't sell anything cheap.

[741] I was like, we need – OK, so we need a wizard.

[742] He's like, OK, I need a space Egyptian.

[743] All right, I need a knight.

[744] No. Not going to happen.

[745] I was like, really?

[746] The guy's just like straight.

[747] He was like, no. Not going to happen.

[748] How much?

[749] Nope.

[750] Not going to happen.

[751] I was like, okay.

[752] No, that's what I said.

[753] I did a knight, space magician, cowboy.

[754] He's like, knight's not going to happen.

[755] I was like, wizard?

[756] Okay.

[757] The wizard one was good, too.

[758] So when you guys went in, was the plan that Brad was going to be a knight?

[759] Yeah.

[760] Oh, yeah.

[761] Oh, really?

[762] Just on the fly, like, all right, he's a wizard now.

[763] No, then we saw that hat, and the guy was like, yeah, you know, you could cut the ears off this hat.

[764] And we were like, no, you don't.

[765] We are keeping those ears.

[766] It's funny, because Brad and I had that same conversation of, like, should the ears?

[767] They're like, nope, ears should probably stay on.

[768] No, you were going to be a cowboy, and the cowboy hats were really expensive, so you got a sombrero.

[769] I think the sombrero and the blanket with the hole cut in it.

[770] Which was from Dave's truck.

[771] Did that go back into your truck?

[772] No, I don't know where it is, but it will.

[773] It'll work for whatever.

[774] Did you cut the hole?

[775] Yeah.

[776] Oh, wow.

[777] Yeah, because we were with Vinny, and Vinny was like, I was like, fuck yeah, it'll look great.

[778] It matches that.

[779] I felt like it worked perfectly.

[780] And then Convict, the jumper with the jumpsuit was too expensive.

[781] Yeah, you cheated on yourself.

[782] I bought that on my own.

[783] You bought stuff like after the fact.

[784] And so then we got the wig, and the wig was supposed to be like Elvis.

[785] I know, you bought Elvis glasses.

[786] Jailhouse Rock.

[787] Because I was thinking of the guy from Shawshank.

[788] Like the guy who comes in late in Shawshank.

[789] Right, the kid.

[790] Oh, the greaser.

[791] Yeah, like the doo -wop greaser.

[792] So I was like, Vinny can play that.

[793] And then we got the glasses, and then I was like, this isn't going to play.

[794] Then we got an extra small shirt for me, and then that didn't work.

[795] Extra small shirts for everyone.

[796] Even Drew was a pretty svelte dude.

[797] That shirt was hugging him hard.

[798] Yep.

[799] His was a lady's shirt, too.

[800] It was a lot of fun.

[801] That was goofy fun.

[802] Yeah, that was – and again, the finished product, we are now apparently on the hook for making a FMV game.

[803] Don't throw away your costume.

[804] Yeah, keep that stuff.

[805] We're going to need these to bring these characters back at some point.

[806] No, most of them are dead.

[807] That's true.

[808] That's right.

[809] Everyone died, huh?

[810] Prequels.

[811] Yeah.

[812] That's right.

[813] Origin stories.

[814] Origin stories.

[815] Exactly.

[816] How did you become the sheriff of that town?

[817] I wasn't the sheriff.

[818] I had no sheriff's start.

[819] He was just like a rancher.

[820] I was just there.

[821] I was just the old rummy.

[822] Going back to kind of like asking everybody for kind of their patience, it was like, okay, here's all your stuff.

[823] Just come up with like a five -step short story about a new player.

[824] It was like day of, like standing on the screen, like, all right, now invent all of your dialogue and come up with how you're going to say the name of the next thing.

[825] Okay, next one.

[826] Go.

[827] Which I have to admit kind of shows, but it's also kind of what I love about it.

[828] Yeah, luckily it fits.

[829] Yeah, and I actually watched a little bit of Mad Dog McCree to get into, to find my character.

[830] Down by the mail.

[831] Down by the old bank.

[832] I do think we missed an opportunity with the helmet, though, to do a sewer shark impression.

[833] It's always next year.

[834] Yeah, it's true.

[835] I don't want to look too far behind the curtain.

[836] But how did you do that hat flying off shot?

[837] Did you have a pulley rigged up somewhere?

[838] Did we film that?

[839] Yeah, it was electrical tape.

[840] Did you film it?

[841] I've got it.

[842] No, it was the blue tape.

[843] It was the blue tape.

[844] Oh, was it the painter's tape?

[845] It was the painter's tape.

[846] We're using blue painter's tape.

[847] It was attached to the little, like, neck string.

[848] Okay.

[849] The strap.

[850] And it was...

[851] He was on a...

[852] Thomas.

[853] Thomas was on a...

[854] Thomas was on, like, a little step stool off to the side.

[855] Because he had to pull it pretty much straight up or else it would knock the little hat underneath it off.

[856] Okay.

[857] And the little hat had this very thin little string that was keeping it attached to my head.

[858] Also, I have to say, give credit, Halloween Star Guys idea.

[859] For the little sombrero.

[860] Oh, really?

[861] And he was like, it's only $8 more.

[862] And we're like, well, that's still on the budget.

[863] I was like, that's worth the joke.

[864] That's worth it.

[865] Did he say, like, it could be on underneath?

[866] Yeah, he did.

[867] He pitched the whole gimmick?

[868] He's like, little sombrero under the big sombrero.

[869] Yeah, you know, post -Halloween, he was probably happy for the business.

[870] I guess.

[871] It was a rental store, too.

[872] His off -season, right?

[873] I also wonder why, like, guys that work at costume shops don't dress in a costume.

[874] He's kind of dressed.

[875] Well, but that was his natural.

[876] He had, like, purple hair.

[877] I imagine it's, you know, they're like theater techs.

[878] That's like where theater techs go to die is costume shops in San Francisco.

[879] Next to a great sausage place.

[880] This place is good.

[881] Yeah, so Thomas pulled it off.

[882] Funny part, though.

[883] It's like seven takes.

[884] Yeah.

[885] Oh, really?

[886] It took a bunch of takes because we had to figure out like, okay.

[887] And you're shooting.

[888] You're shooting.

[889] You're shooting.

[890] You're shooting.

[891] And bam.

[892] Pull.

[893] Yeah.

[894] Best music.

[895] Best original.

[896] Best original music.

[897] Most takes throughout the whole thing was complicated shoot.

[898] Yep.

[899] And then you came back and had to do more stuff as the convict and you lost your convict voice and picked up my western guy voice.

[900] Yeah.

[901] For talking to Drew.

[902] Yeah, talking to Drew.

[903] Great.

[904] Great.

[905] It's like an old Louis C .K. bit where he does a thing about a southern guy who thinks he's from New York and it's.

[906] These two accents.

[907] Oh, I can't find it.

[908] It's kind of the same, but it's...

[909] It took me about a minute and a half to find, like, two minutes to, like, find it again and be like, God damn.

[910] Nope.

[911] Nope.

[912] Hey, you fucking...

[913] I think I remember Vinny saying something along the lines of, okay, back to the dinner table.

[914] Like he was just channeling the family again.

[915] Like he had to bring himself.

[916] It was my dad and like Ray Liotta in my head.

[917] Drew, what did you do?

[918] Why did you do that?

[919] That was goofy.

[920] And yeah, thanks everybody again for the patience.

[921] You know, the trust.

[922] Well, it came out awesome, so God bless you.

[923] That was a real cast in the wind there.

[924] Hard, hard work there.

[925] That got done.

[926] Dave Snyder, how was your break?

[927] It was good.

[928] I went back east.

[929] Yeah?

[930] Went to New Jersey, went to Maryland.

[931] How's the family?

[932] Got myself some cheesesteaks.

[933] Nice.

[934] Can you get cheesesteaks in Maryland?

[935] No, in Philly.

[936] You did the tour?

[937] I did.

[938] I went to Geno's and Pat's.

[939] So you were on the Philly side of Jersey?

[940] Yeah, South Jersey, which nobody likes to remember exists.

[941] Everybody's all North Jersey, New York.

[942] South Jersey.

[943] That's like getting close.

[944] There are good cheesesteaks in South Jersey.

[945] Wawa's fell in love again because I forgot about Wawa's.

[946] Poured over the Wawa's website before.

[947] It's amazing.

[948] I'm fascinated by Wawa's.

[949] Best hoagie.

[950] It looks amazing.

[951] It's really good.

[952] Italian hoagie.

[953] Yum. Yum. Did some good eating.

[954] Italian hoagie.

[955] Yeah, did that.

[956] Got some yingling.

[957] Had some yingling for the first time since Marino sent us that case.

[958] Ah, yes.

[959] So, yeah, good times.

[960] You know, family times.

[961] Oldest brewery.

[962] In the country?

[963] Yeah.

[964] East Coast or in the country?

[965] Yeah.

[966] Well, East Coast, country by default.

[967] That's right.

[968] So you had a good time?

[969] Cavemen were making beer in California.

[970] That's right.

[971] Yeah, I had a good time.

[972] 2 ,000 years ago.

[973] Is it snowing out there?

[974] I met my fiancé's father and it turns out he's 86.

[975] It turned out he was an old quasi -hacker.

[976] Back in the 80s.

[977] Really?

[978] Yeah, just tell me about his guilt about downloading games off PBS boards.

[979] Wow.

[980] On, like, old Atari systems.

[981] Jeez.

[982] Which I thought was amazing.

[983] That's pretty amazing.

[984] Yeah.

[985] And this was after he was trading me stories about, like, learning to box on, like, naval ships.

[986] I thought you were going to say on Atari.

[987] I was going to say, did you get father -in -law approval then?

[988] I did.

[989] Good.

[990] I feel like I did.

[991] I hope so.

[992] Who knows?

[993] Did you not say, hey, check out these Game of the Year videos?

[994] Yeah.

[995] I was like, yeah, yeah.

[996] What do you do?

[997] I do nothing.

[998] I'm a doctor.

[999] Yeah.

[1000] I work in sanitation.

[1001] It's an honest job.

[1002] It was good.

[1003] But yeah, it was good.

[1004] Saw some snow.

[1005] Western Maryland.

[1006] Touched it.

[1007] Yeah, I felt good about that.

[1008] You always got to see snow when it's Christmas time.

[1009] It's not Christmas otherwise.

[1010] So, Dave.

[1011] Yes.

[1012] We did not have a Game of the Year top ten list from you.

[1013] I know.

[1014] On the feature this year.

[1015] Why is that?

[1016] Mostly because I always feel guilty when we do all those things because I know how much work it's going to be.

[1017] You could have been the sewer shark guy.

[1018] Yeah, I could have been the sewer shark guy.

[1019] Or the butcher.

[1020] I think that's what it was.

[1021] Last year I didn't do it because I...

[1022] Didn't like enough games, I felt, in 2010.

[1023] But this year is mostly just because I was like, oh, God, we're doing so many of these things.

[1024] And they all have individual sets and individual things.

[1025] Gates.

[1026] Yeah, I was like, I'm happy just making people play dress up.

[1027] Dave, I need a Periscope.

[1028] All right, I'll get it to you in an hour.

[1029] That was fine.

[1030] Yeah.

[1031] Yes.

[1032] Yeah.

[1033] Periscope.

[1034] That was hard to find.

[1035] It's very hard to find things.

[1036] I need a gate for Patrick.

[1037] I don't know.

[1038] He's in, like, space.

[1039] He's in, like, virtual space.

[1040] What?

[1041] I'll figure it out.

[1042] All right, all right.

[1043] Yeah.

[1044] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1045] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1046] Sure, I got it.

[1047] No, I got it.

[1048] No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1049] Let me do another Google image search.

[1050] Space Egypt.

[1051] Just nothing coming.

[1052] Zero results.

[1053] This year, I think, has the best story of how this all just came together.

[1054] It's not really for this podcast, but just really...

[1055] Because Space Egypt was kind of the...

[1056] That was the start.

[1057] That was the jump start.

[1058] You made the background.

[1059] They made that play.

[1060] No, it started as most things do, where Jeff...

[1061] fucking dares you to do something dumb.

[1062] And you're like, well, fuck you.

[1063] Well, I don't fucking, well, you want fucking Space Egypt?

[1064] All right.

[1065] It wasn't even that at that point.

[1066] It was like, when I come back from break, you had the castle in space and the whole background and you had the wooden gate and you guys were telling me like, it's going to come down, it's going to do this.

[1067] And then we did, long story short, we were like, well, Jeff, you're going to use this, what do you want to be if you would dress up?

[1068] And he just looked at the background and said, I want to be Space Egypt.

[1069] And he was like, okay, done.

[1070] It's like this stupidity brinksmanship where everyone is like, well, fine.

[1071] No, well, then here's your space Egypt background.

[1072] Great.

[1073] Where's my costume?

[1074] I'll do it.

[1075] Who's going to blink?

[1076] Yeah, exactly.

[1077] No one.

[1078] No one will.

[1079] And then no one blinks, and then we get fucking space Egyptians giving you...

[1080] Top 10 games.

[1081] Kanye West quotes.

[1082] 2011, yeah.

[1083] With Patrick doing a dubstep in the background.

[1084] That's exactly what that was.

[1085] It was like, what if he just does dubstep?

[1086] Okay.

[1087] Yeah, okay.

[1088] That sounds good.

[1089] Should we leave in his voice?

[1090] It would be cool if we could put in some actual stuff.

[1091] Okay.

[1092] All right.

[1093] Got reason.

[1094] Pull it up.

[1095] Man. Dumb.

[1096] Clep talk.

[1097] Very dumb.

[1098] Super dumb.

[1099] So what are your, in a more casual, lower stakes setting here, Dave Snyder, do you have top 10 games?

[1100] It was Skyrim.

[1101] Skyrim is your top ten all through?

[1102] It's all ten?

[1103] I can tell you.

[1104] I understand it provides an experience you can't get anywhere else.

[1105] Looking at the lists, which you guys have here, the ones that I can think of offhand that I really liked.

[1106] Loved Skyrim.

[1107] Loved.

[1108] I loved Space Marine.

[1109] I was playing some Space Marine on the break.

[1110] I really loved that game.

[1111] Loved Space Marine?

[1112] I did.

[1113] Really?

[1114] That's a great game.

[1115] The single player of that, I breezed through in like two sittings.

[1116] Oh, yeah.

[1117] Just like ran through it.

[1118] Saints Row, I dug.

[1119] What else we got on here?

[1120] Portal 2.

[1121] I mean, they're all, you know, whatever.

[1122] The bigger ones that I didn't like at all, L .A. Noire, I could do with, and nobody's going to be able to visually see this, but I'm just turning my hand back and forth.

[1123] That's what I thought that game was.

[1124] Just examining.

[1125] Yeah, it was.

[1126] Fake examining.

[1127] I don't agree with you, but I liked it.

[1128] I liked Battlefield 3 a lot.

[1129] I thought that was a really fun multiplayer.

[1130] And I didn't really get to check out any of the Star Wars stuff.

[1131] That doesn't really fit in year -end stuff.

[1132] What, the...

[1133] Old Republic stuff?

[1134] Yeah, isn't it kind of funny how, you know, when you're an MMO, you can't kind of fit it in there.

[1135] It needs six months.

[1136] Especially the time of year.

[1137] People were posting reviews of that game within the first week of it being up, and I'm like, that's...

[1138] Which is silly.

[1139] I'm not sure...

[1140] Well, even reviewing MMOs in general.

[1141] Yeah, because it's service -oriented.

[1142] Yeah.

[1143] Right?

[1144] Like, that's the shift for the MMO.

[1145] The concept is, like, you're not, it's not really about the fucking boxed game.

[1146] It's about the continued access and the online, you know.

[1147] And it changes so much.

[1148] Also, Deus Ex.

[1149] Never would have thought that game would have been good.

[1150] Like, you would have told me, oh, they're making, like, a new Deus Ex game.

[1151] Yeah.

[1152] Yeah, fuck that.

[1153] And it was great.

[1154] Like, worked.

[1155] That seems like either the ultimate Dave game or the ultimate anti -Dave game, depending on how it came out.

[1156] I thought it did pretty well.

[1157] Cool.

[1158] I didn't get to play enough Witcher 2, mostly because I got scared of it.

[1159] Like, you know, you die just, like, immediately.

[1160] I was like, oh, God.

[1161] They patched the holy hell out of that game.

[1162] I know.

[1163] So I'm going to go back to it.

[1164] But you like those rogues -like games.

[1165] You like dying.

[1166] You ain't afraid to die.

[1167] Yeah, I do.

[1168] And that's what I played over break.

[1169] I was playing that Binding of Isaac.

[1170] Which is fantastic.

[1171] That's a fantastic game.

[1172] Are you playing on a keyboard or did you go through the hassle of setting up a controller?

[1173] I played on a keyboard because I was playing on a Mac and I just needed something to play.

[1174] So I was playing that in Revenge of the Titans.

[1175] But I really liked Binding of Isaac.

[1176] It's that same sort of thing, but it's a lot easier to play.

[1177] Cool.

[1178] So there you go.

[1179] Dave liked Skyrim.

[1180] Yes.

[1181] I felt a lot better after our heated discussion in here.

[1182] Then you asked me what we had picked the next day.

[1183] Oh, yeah.

[1184] I told you in your response.

[1185] I was like, all right.

[1186] My commentary to Jeff was like, if you don't pick that game or the game that you like, you guys are idiots.

[1187] I think that's what I told you.

[1188] For Skyrim?

[1189] If you didn't pick Skyrim?

[1190] Yeah.

[1191] I was like, and my only evidence for it was that Sean Kuntz had put in 50 hours on Skyrim.

[1192] Geez, really?

[1193] And I was like.

[1194] Sean Coons put 50 hours in an RPG.

[1195] I think your exact words to me were it's beyond discussion when you said that.

[1196] Did he enjoy putting 50 hours into it?

[1197] Yeah.

[1198] Okay.

[1199] I mean, like, I don't know.

[1200] That game was just too, it got all the points.

[1201] The only thing that could be really faulted for it were maybe some of the combat stuff and really you couldn't even comment, you know, you couldn't.

[1202] Make any commentary on that until Dead Island came out for me. So, like, it was almost as close to a perfect RPG as I've seen.

[1203] I think you're crazy.

[1204] Big open world.

[1205] Yeah.

[1206] Big open world.

[1207] Games easy to play.

[1208] Like, easy to play.

[1209] Got rid of all the crap that the other ones had.

[1210] So, I don't know.

[1211] Very easy for me to pick that one.

[1212] I don't think it was even close this year.

[1213] All right.

[1214] Well, there you go.

[1215] Dave Snyder's favorite games from 2011.

[1216] What do you care, fella?

[1217] Crazy.

[1218] How was your break?

[1219] I'm good.

[1220] I played a lot of Skyrim.

[1221] I heard you bought a grill.

[1222] I did buy a grill.

[1223] You got a grill?

[1224] When's the party?

[1225] Oh, he's got grill scars already.

[1226] I don't know if I could fit people into my apartment for a party.

[1227] Wait, is it an apartment or house?

[1228] You got a grill while it's outside.

[1229] Really?

[1230] Yeah.

[1231] I thought you were in a house.

[1232] Well, it's a townhouse, but it's like I have the floor.

[1233] So a townhouse is not a duplex, right?

[1234] Mine is a duplex, yeah.

[1235] But not all duplexes are townhouses.

[1236] There are people underneath me and I have shared walls.

[1237] Oh, wait.

[1238] So what?

[1239] So what's the difference between a townhouse and an apartment?

[1240] You can own a townhouse.

[1241] Townhouses are like condos.

[1242] It's a condo.

[1243] Okay.

[1244] Yeah, I'm renting a condo, basically.

[1245] Kind of blurry lines between some of those.

[1246] Well, so apartment building, someone owns that entire building.

[1247] Right.

[1248] A condo, you can own a unit.

[1249] And a duplex is two units.

[1250] Yeah, I know what a duplex is.

[1251] Okay.

[1252] I didn't know if it had to do with external entrances.

[1253] So I have a back patio.

[1254] Okay.

[1255] I'm on the second floor rabbit back patio.

[1256] Grill time.

[1257] Grill time.

[1258] Got like a kettle grill.

[1259] You using charcoal?

[1260] Yeah.

[1261] Actually, so it's one of those like Weber, you know, like the pretty much grill, right?

[1262] It's a kettle thing.

[1263] It's a Weber.

[1264] It's a grill.

[1265] Big grounded thing.

[1266] Yeah.

[1267] It's a barbecue grill.

[1268] It's a barbecue grill.

[1269] It is a charcoal grill.

[1270] So continue to chill.

[1271] So we bought – we didn't buy the typical Kingston briquettes for our first grilling.

[1272] Bought this – it's basically charcoal wood.

[1273] Yeah, the fancy shit.

[1274] Is it fancy?

[1275] It was the same price.

[1276] Oh, yeah.

[1277] That's the fancy shit.

[1278] And gosh, I was telling Drew this story.

[1279] So it was about 8 o 'clock at night in the winter, so it's pitch dark on our patio.

[1280] Wow.

[1281] Grill up a fucking Omaha steak I got for Christmas.

[1282] Nice.

[1283] And those things are real good.

[1284] They are.

[1285] So I bought one of those chimney steeper things to light the charcoal faster.

[1286] And I put that on the grill and I put the wood in there.

[1287] And I've never used charcoal wood before.

[1288] And the way the chimney thing works is it sucks up air from the bottom to ventilate it and blows it out the top.

[1289] So it's like a wind tunnel in there.

[1290] And at 8 o 'clock at night on my back patio is like a Roman candle had gone off.

[1291] That was just spraying hot ash from the wood as it's heating up.

[1292] into the air, and the back of my apartment or condo faces like a trail where people walk down, and they're just walking by, kind of looking over at these sparks flying out.

[1293] And I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to have a grill, so I grab the top of the thing.

[1294] Is there open air above you?

[1295] Yeah, I'm on the second floor.

[1296] There's nothing above me. Okay.

[1297] But, you know, there's stuff around me. Sure.

[1298] And I'm walking over with the lid kind of shielding the ash back down onto the concrete because it's a concrete patio.

[1299] Because I was so nervous that somebody was going to be like, what are you doing in there?

[1300] But it worked.

[1301] It was fantastic, man. I used it three nights in a row once I started getting that thing going.

[1302] Oh, yeah.

[1303] I've talked to Will Smith about it a lot.

[1304] He said that they cook like six nights out of seven on that thing.

[1305] Oh, it's so good.

[1306] It just makes me want one.

[1307] That's what I want.

[1308] Yeah.

[1309] They have big green egg things.

[1310] Smoker.

[1311] Is that a smoker?

[1312] I thought that was a grill.

[1313] Ah, it's a smoker.

[1314] Big green egg.

[1315] Yeah.

[1316] Yeah.

[1317] If I had a bigger place, I would have gotten a smoker too.

[1318] That's a weekend investment.

[1319] That's like you have to spend like eight hours.

[1320] Yeah, that's a like get up early on a Saturday.

[1321] Yeah, start smoking.

[1322] Any thought about a gas grill or you just went straight to the charcoal?

[1323] I thought about it for a second, but I don't really want one.

[1324] I think they actually might be illegal for the apartment.

[1325] Those are basically bombs that explode.

[1326] I firmly believe in the gas grills.

[1327] That's what I'm thinking about.

[1328] I mean they're cleaner and they're easier.

[1329] And the propane is just not that expensive.

[1330] Charcoals actually will add.

[1331] I almost went through half that bag.

[1332] Yeah, yeah.

[1333] And it's just the setup time.

[1334] I just like the – That's the main thing.

[1335] All right.

[1336] I want to grill something.

[1337] Boom.

[1338] I've got heat.

[1339] Let's go.

[1340] I use like the volcanic rock or whatever in there to – I can't beat that smoky taste though.

[1341] The meat just – the charcoal just puts off that kind of – It's the extra carcinogen.

[1342] Even I just smell like cancer.

[1343] It's – Yeah.

[1344] It smells delicious.

[1345] So that was great.

[1346] That was a grill.

[1347] Nice.

[1348] Nice.

[1349] Get any other cool swag?

[1350] For Xmas, I bought myself a bunch of stuff.

[1351] My wife and I kind of said we weren't going to buy each other a bunch of stuff.

[1352] And then we wound up buying each other a bunch of stuff like grills and iPhones and stuff like that.

[1353] So that was a lot of fun.

[1354] I canceled my cable.

[1355] Oh, wow.

[1356] 2012.

[1357] 2012, cable -free.

[1358] Cable -free.

[1359] Cupboard, man. Going to see how that goes.

[1360] Yeah, interesting.

[1361] I think it's an interesting year to try.

[1362] So what are you using for your sources then?

[1363] So my computer is hooked up to my TV in the living room.

[1364] So I don't really need any of the boxies or Hulus or Apple TVs or Hulu devices.

[1365] Well, all that stuff is like in your consoles now.

[1366] Like as a console owner, it's like.

[1367] But it's also on your PC.

[1368] Yeah.

[1369] So it's like – I've used Amazon's movie stuff already.

[1370] That stuff is great.

[1371] Yeah.

[1372] It's a lot cheaper than Comcast, DirecTV.

[1373] They were charging $6 or $7 a movie in HD.

[1374] My mom freaking loves the Amazon stuff.

[1375] It's like $3 for a movie.

[1376] She uses that shit constantly.

[1377] And the quality is really good.

[1378] Yeah.

[1379] I'm trying Hulu Plus.

[1380] See how that goes?

[1381] It's gross.

[1382] No. I don't like the – Don't pay for ads.

[1383] Yeah, pay for ads.

[1384] It's the worst.

[1385] The ads are terrible.

[1386] It doesn't bother me that much.

[1387] It should be bothered.

[1388] I understand that stuff is so expensive to license that I don't care if there are some ads in there.

[1389] Well, my problem has never been the – Well, my problem is that there's ads, but more so that it's the same ads over and over again.

[1390] They do not have the ad inventory to sustain it.

[1391] Yeah, but it's $8 a month, and that stuff is probably really expensive to try and get.

[1392] Well, the problem that I had was that I felt like there wasn't enough differentiation between that and Netflix.

[1393] Most of the stuff that I would want to watch on Hulu, for the most part, is on Netflix.

[1394] Yeah, the thing for me was The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which came out the day after.

[1395] If you are a daily watcher of those, then...

[1396] Yeah, the daily stuff.

[1397] Because on iTunes, the season pass for that stuff is I think it's like $10 for 16 episodes.

[1398] So that would be $10 a month.

[1399] Whereas Hulu is per Daily Show or Colbert Report.

[1400] Also not in HD.

[1401] So Hulu for $8 you get.

[1402] Okay.

[1403] Well, then that's worth it for you.

[1404] Yeah.

[1405] So it was a lot of – that's what I've learned since cutting cable is you're going to have to go out at this point and pick and choose what – like Apple is going to have some stuff that you're going to want.

[1406] Hulu is going to have other stuff.

[1407] Amazon, Netflix.

[1408] There's no one stop right now.

[1409] Not right now.

[1410] So that's a little difficult.

[1411] The other thing is – and this is more my wife than me. There's no just sit down and channel surf.

[1412] You have to know what you want to watch.

[1413] Yeah.

[1414] Sit down and watch it.

[1415] Yeah.

[1416] Or you need to just – There's no, like, random on Netflix that's just like, I don't know.

[1417] I need something on in the background.

[1418] It's like, I'll put this shitty documentary on.

[1419] I don't know.

[1420] So more for her because she kind of just puts TV on when she comes home sometimes.

[1421] It's like, I just want background noise.

[1422] And it's like, no, you got to sit down.

[1423] Go put, like, an episode of V's on.

[1424] I've had that with the girlfriend as well.

[1425] It's that she still would rather watch shitty TV.

[1426] Whatever's on.

[1427] Like, AMC.

[1428] Like, throw something on.

[1429] I don't care.

[1430] Just something.

[1431] I can't make that distinction.

[1432] My girlfriend does the same thing.

[1433] She wants background noise to fall asleep to, but she just plays something on Netflix and just goes.

[1434] It seems to work fine.

[1435] I think this is just the extra step.

[1436] Yeah, and there's no play all button or a randomize.

[1437] If you could just say, hey, play 10 things in a row, I don't care what they are, that might work.

[1438] Right, so just a button that's just like, think.

[1439] All right, I fell asleep in two seconds anyway.

[1440] Yeah.

[1441] But I am just so excited.

[1442] I am so excited.

[1443] I am so excited to not be under the thumb of big media.

[1444] Yep.

[1445] You choose.

[1446] You choose.

[1447] Oh, gosh, man. That bill.

[1448] Don't watch TV on the man's schedule.

[1449] Holy crap.

[1450] Not having that bill, man. That bill's crazy.

[1451] I was up to like $200 a month.

[1452] Jesus Christ.

[1453] And the things they charge you for are just – I mean you guys have all heard it probably from me before where it's just like $10 a month just for HD, another $15 for a DVR, like $7 to rent your cable modem.

[1454] Like $15 in FCC fees and stuff.

[1455] Like $3 because it's Tom's kid's bar mitzvah this month.

[1456] It's like what are you doing?

[1457] Kick into the coffee can, why don't you?

[1458] Come on, why don't you?

[1459] And it's just like, what?

[1460] I watched four things on television.

[1461] I watched The Daily Show, I watched Colbert Report, I watched Top Chef, and I watched Mythbusters.

[1462] That's all I want.

[1463] It just so happens that most of the things are on cable, so fuck.

[1464] What are you going to do?

[1465] I'll be bummed out when Game of Thrones comes back on because there's no good way to get that right now without having HBO or knowing somebody who has HBO so you can get HBO Go.

[1466] So that's the only thing right now.

[1467] I'm going to try the over -the -air HD with an antenna.

[1468] See how that goes.

[1469] It's kind of like my year of testing it out.

[1470] I used to have the phone.

[1471] It's funny how you both are going in this process, how you both go forwards and backwards.

[1472] You're both like, all right, we're getting off of cable.

[1473] We're getting onto the internet.

[1474] But also just radio waves, man. I'm going to put up my bunny ears.

[1475] Well, it's like they're broadcasting really good over -the -air HD signals, really crisp.

[1476] It looks nice.

[1477] Better than better.

[1478] It was better than cable because it's not as compressed.

[1479] And then Comcast is charging you for just HD.

[1480] And it's like, fuck you, it's just in the air.

[1481] There's HD all around me, right?

[1482] Yes, I'm surrounding my mouth.

[1483] I'm collecting HD.

[1484] So we'll see.

[1485] This conversation is cloaked in HD signal.

[1486] And then talking to people, like I was talking to Brad and Drew and Joey and Thomas.

[1487] We all kind of have the same thing.

[1488] Brad, you don't have cable either.

[1489] And Drew doesn't, and then Joey doesn't.

[1490] But we all have a similar package and we're all from Comcast all paying like wildly different sums for like basically the same thing.

[1491] Oh, really?

[1492] Oh, yeah.

[1493] It's all just like when you signed up and what deal you got.

[1494] Who's getting what?

[1495] Like how fast is yours?

[1496] Like, wow, yours is faster than mine, but I'm paying more than you are.

[1497] Yeah, like I'm paying $75 just for internet.

[1498] And I think you said you're paying like $69 for internet and basic cable.

[1499] And basic cable.

[1500] I've been off for four years.

[1501] Nothing?

[1502] No cable?

[1503] No cable.

[1504] I don't have to pay the internet, right?

[1505] Yeah, I pay the internet.

[1506] The internet, pay as much as you need.

[1507] Well, yeah, I've been probably about a year no cable, maybe a little more.

[1508] But yeah, same thing where I signed up for just internet because they're like, oh, it's like five bucks cheaper for your internet if you get the cable TV too.

[1509] I'm like, yeah, but I have to spend like 80 bucks to get that.

[1510] So that's not really a deal.

[1511] So no, just charge me. Yeah, charge me 60 bucks a month for it.

[1512] I don't care.

[1513] It's fine.

[1514] Fuck you.

[1515] And at one point, some dudes came to my door, and they're like, dude, it's like free if we give you basic cable.

[1516] And so did you get it?

[1517] It was just like some package upsell.

[1518] Like, we'll tell them that you said that you were going to go switch to DirecTV, and we'll get our fucking sale, and you'll get free basic cable.

[1519] I'm like, yeah, all right, that sounds – I'm like, you know what?

[1520] That is the amount of commitment to cable television I'm willing to make is free.

[1521] Wait, did that involve a box?

[1522] Yeah.

[1523] So they sent me a box.

[1524] So that's basically what happened to me. I actually canceled the cable and everything.

[1525] And then talking to Drew, he's like, I got basic cable in this package and it's cheaper than what you're paying.

[1526] So then I called him up and was like, what the fuck?

[1527] Can you give me this?

[1528] And they're like, yeah.

[1529] I was like, why didn't you say that on the phone?

[1530] I was canceling.

[1531] Why would you charge me $80 and this one's $70?

[1532] And I get, what is wrong with you?

[1533] So at one point they basically bumped up the cost of my cable like by $10.

[1534] And they said, well, that plan is now $10 more.

[1535] I'm like, that is not worth, cancel it.

[1536] They're like, really?

[1537] It's just a promotional thing still.

[1538] You're still getting it.

[1539] It's cheaper than anyone else.

[1540] I'm like, I don't care.

[1541] $10 is literally more than I'm willing to pay for this service.

[1542] Cancel it.

[1543] And they take it back down?

[1544] Well, yeah.

[1545] And they gave you the price again?

[1546] What's that?

[1547] Yeah, and it went back to $60.

[1548] It's like fucking used car salesman stuff going on.

[1549] It's so crazy.

[1550] It's not the industry that you think there's like – Oh, no. It's all about you yelling and saying, I'm going to cancel.

[1551] Like, well, let's give it to you if it's cheaper for a year.

[1552] Like, who are you?

[1553] What authority do you have?

[1554] Are you Bob Comcast?

[1555] Like, who am I talking to?

[1556] No, Bob Comcast was my father.

[1557] It's like, what is – wheeling and dealing?

[1558] Like, that's what you're – I'm Robert Comcast III.

[1559] That's the authority you have, Comcast guy?

[1560] Well, what do you want to pay?

[1561] Really?

[1562] I don't know.

[1563] Less than what I'm paying now.

[1564] I moved to a new unit in my building and called them to let them know about the address change.

[1565] And, like, while I was on the phone, they were like, we're going to go ahead and cut your bill in half for the next six months.

[1566] I'm like, what?

[1567] I didn't even ask for that.

[1568] It's so weird.

[1569] It's so weird.

[1570] There's these weird things of just, like, there are, like, internal promotions.

[1571] And I feel like there's got to be some sort of, like, commission or quota for dudes where it's like you've got to upsell at least blah -de -blah of these things.

[1572] Because the dudes that came to my door to, like, upsell me on the cable.

[1573] We're not Comcast employees.

[1574] These were just more contract field dudes.

[1575] These were a couple of shady looking dudes.

[1576] Driving around in an unmarked van.

[1577] Remember the days of the shady cable guy?

[1578] I've got a pair of flyers and I'll get you every channel you want.

[1579] Just give me a letter.

[1580] I lived out in the sticks.

[1581] We had to fight to get basic cable run to our house.

[1582] Never had the sweet shady.

[1583] I just think this whole cable thing is so crazy right now.

[1584] I hope more people realize it takes a little more work to do what you're doing.

[1585] But ultimately you find out like, man, I can spend so much less money to get exactly what I want.

[1586] So I've gone from a $200 bill down to what hopefully is around a $70 bill.

[1587] Yeah.

[1588] And I also bought my own modem now.

[1589] So I had the triple play, which was the phone and everything.

[1590] So I got rid of the phone.

[1591] I'm going to use a different phone thing, a different solution, which should be free.

[1592] And then.

[1593] By doing that, I'm able to buy just the modem now that doesn't have the voiceover IP in it for myself.

[1594] You just go buy that shit.

[1595] That's what I did.

[1596] And I just bought it, and I don't have to pay the stupid rental $7 a month.

[1597] I did that when I first signed up.

[1598] I just went and said, like, Motorola Surfboard, go find one of those.

[1599] Yeah, that's exactly what I just said.

[1600] My Dotsys 3, and it's like, ah, damn it, I'm still paying the stupid rental.

[1601] Just get on eBay.

[1602] $144 a year for the modem rentals.

[1603] To rent their stupid...

[1604] It was literally the first thing I did.

[1605] Modem's like $67 to $80.

[1606] I probably paid like $300 to them in the last three years.

[1607] I forgot about...

[1608] Think about the craziest thing that happened.

[1609] I bought my family like a Roku box.

[1610] And so we're on there, right?

[1611] Yeah.

[1612] We're the fourth top -rated app on Roku.

[1613] Yep.

[1614] Guess the top three above it.

[1615] Now, top -rated, not most downloaded.

[1616] Top -rated?

[1617] Top -rated.

[1618] Netflix?

[1619] No. Not Netflix?

[1620] No. Tested.

[1621] The Mormon channel, the Catholic channel, and...

[1622] Damn, what was the third one?

[1623] Some other political thing.

[1624] So it was like we looked like some weird religious cult.

[1625] Then Giant Pop.

[1626] So we are not yet bigger than Jesus.

[1627] Or John Smith, apparently.

[1628] But Tesla was on there, too.

[1629] I know they're pretty high on there.

[1630] We're represented well.

[1631] I felt fairly nice in front of my family.

[1632] So thanks, everybody, for rating us.

[1633] No, seriously, like Roku, legitimizing this job to immediate family, it has been working wonders.

[1634] It's like, look, see?

[1635] It's on your TV right there.

[1636] So you press that button.

[1637] Yeah, that's me. I'm shocked what mainstream inroads Roku seems to be making.

[1638] That's why I think this year is going to be pretty big.

[1639] When Roku in particular came out, it seemed like it was going to cater to the do -it -yourself Android crowd.

[1640] Like the bootleggers.

[1641] Like people that like to update firmware and compile kernels and stuff.

[1642] But it seems like everybody is getting into this stuff.

[1643] Well, they figured it out first, and you see everyone else.

[1644] Like Apple TV fell in line super quick.

[1645] Boxy kind of does it too.

[1646] It's just so stupid and simple.

[1647] It's just like the box itself is like you can't really screw much up with the box.

[1648] It's like it's got an HDMI port.

[1649] Plug it into the HDMI port.

[1650] It's got an Ethernet port.

[1651] You don't have Ethernet?

[1652] Use Wi -Fi.

[1653] Whatever.

[1654] It's fine.

[1655] Power.

[1656] Good.

[1657] And then you pull it up and it's like, oh, yeah, just like four buttons on this remote.

[1658] The amount of overlap in those services is staggering.

[1659] So my parents got that new TV.

[1660] Instead of getting a cable box, they bought an HD TiVo and had a cable card put in that.

[1661] So they got that stuff.

[1662] That has like Roku.

[1663] So yeah, that's kind of where I'm going.

[1664] My dad bought a PS3 over Black Friday because it was cheap and he likes buying stuff.

[1665] And I bought him the remote for that thing.

[1666] And I was like, well, now you got this remote that'll do all your PS3 stuff.

[1667] I get there.

[1668] The TV has Netflix built into it.

[1669] TiVo has a Netflix app in it.

[1670] The PS3 obviously has Netflix.

[1671] Everything does everything.

[1672] I've got like four devices attached to my TV right now that can stream movies.

[1673] Yeah, they all do the same stuff.

[1674] But not just the Apple TV is the only one that will do the store, right?

[1675] The Apple store.

[1676] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1677] Their walled garden stuff is in effect.

[1678] See, that's the only bummer is the Apple TV stuff has actually pretty good access.

[1679] Pretty good library stuff there.

[1680] A little expensive, but pretty good.

[1681] But, yeah, like when I was looking at the Roku stuff, everything has.

[1682] Like I was looking at a Blu -ray player and I was like, yeah, it's got Amazon and Roku and, you know, whatever else you want.

[1683] I don't know.

[1684] We'll just throw it in there right now.

[1685] 3D did not sell the units that we needed to.

[1686] So, oh, God.

[1687] People are talking about boxy.

[1688] So, I guess, I don't know, apps.

[1689] So, I'm hoping that with an install base now that like little.

[1690] flesh out a bit, the whole Roku and Hulu experience.

[1691] I'm still trying the Hulu stuff.

[1692] I don't mind the commercials.

[1693] My wife minds the commercials.

[1694] I think if you are, like, going for a specific piece of content.

[1695] That's on there, yeah.

[1696] That totally makes sense.

[1697] It's a day later, but whatever.

[1698] Like, I get it for, like, I want these shows.

[1699] They're only available this way.

[1700] I still wish that they, you know, you're paying them, whatever, eight bucks a month.

[1701] Give me something for Christ's sakes.

[1702] Yeah.

[1703] Well, like I said, I understand.

[1704] It's whatever.

[1705] It's better than the $130 that Comcast was showing.

[1706] Right.

[1707] That's how phenomenally bad the cable model is, is that paying $8 a month for two shows.

[1708] I just need to convince my parents to get HBO so they can send me their HBO Go code.

[1709] You guys should really get HBO.

[1710] There's a lot of – I'm curious to see how that's going to end up looking on the 360 when that finally rolls out.

[1711] If HBO would sell me directly like $60 a year – Because a lot of people in the Bay Area are going to be fucked with that.

[1712] It's horrible on Boxy.

[1713] What is?

[1714] The HBO Go stuff because it basically just launches up the browser of HBO Go.

[1715] Well, that definitely won't happen on the 360.

[1716] But the problem with that in the Bay Area is that Comcast does not have a TV deal with HBO.

[1717] They only have a mobile deal with HBO.

[1718] What does that mean?

[1719] So part of the thing is like you have to be signed up with HBO.

[1720] Yeah.

[1721] They don't have Comcast as a carrier of HBO.

[1722] It's like usually you go and you punch in your cable credentials to launch the app and it verifies like, okay, you're an HBO subscriber.

[1723] Here's all our stuff.

[1724] You can do that on like an iPad or whatever mobile devices.

[1725] Yeah, that's what I did.

[1726] Yeah, through Comcast.

[1727] Yeah.

[1728] But if you try to do that on your TV, it will not work.

[1729] I didn't know that.

[1730] It does not work on.

[1731] Huh, like TV -ready devices or whatever?

[1732] Yeah, they are able to see, nope, that's attached to a TV.

[1733] No, you can't use HBO Go here.

[1734] So that's a weird thing on Hulu because on some of the Hulu shows, they're like – because Hulu Plus, basically, their big sell is like you need Hulu Plus for devices and that's not a PC.

[1735] Yeah, that's what their justification is.

[1736] And so some shows are just like we don't want to be on Hulu Plus because we don't want to be on a device that can be hooked up to a TV.

[1737] Right.

[1738] Who are you?

[1739] Like, dust the cobwebs off.

[1740] It's weird.

[1741] It's just old media, man. Yeah.

[1742] It's a real weird time.

[1743] We're drawing them out slowly.

[1744] We're making it make sense.

[1745] Like, look.

[1746] See, look.

[1747] People will pay for content here.

[1748] It's like rusty wheels grinding.

[1749] Like, oh, you need to move just a little bit.

[1750] Nope.

[1751] Nope.

[1752] Nope.

[1753] Nope.

[1754] Nope.

[1755] Nope.

[1756] Just take it off the TV.

[1757] That's okay.

[1758] The earthquake will solve all of it.

[1759] Wipe the slate clean.

[1760] The dysphoria that happens.

[1761] Reset everything back to zero.

[1762] Yes.

[1763] We'll go back to verbal mythologies.

[1764] That's right.

[1765] on Vinny Plus, I'll tell you the good story.

[1766] He's the only one he's got Lord of the Rings memorized.

[1767] Shit.

[1768] Are you playing a game?

[1769] I did.

[1770] I played a ton of Skyrim.

[1771] Still waiting for it to seep in.

[1772] To click with you?

[1773] I'm playing it oddly.

[1774] I don't know.

[1775] Tell me about your character.

[1776] You want to know about my character?

[1777] Tell me about your dude.

[1778] Let me tell you a story about my character.

[1779] Okay.

[1780] My character walks around the towns of Skyrim.

[1781] Tamriel?

[1782] Sure.

[1783] That's part of Tamriel, right?

[1784] Yeah.

[1785] That's the bigger world.

[1786] That's the bigger world.

[1787] So I wasn't sure if that was like a kingdom or – And so I've got surround sound set up in my living room because now my PC is hooked up there, right, onto the big TV, and it's got the surround sound.

[1788] And I guess it's either Skyrim or my setup, but my center channel is real low, right?

[1789] So every time I walk up to a guy and you initiate a conversation, it locks you into pretty much like 45 degrees on each side that you can turn.

[1790] And it exponentially slows down as you try to turn your head.

[1791] So looking directly at Brad, trying to talk to him, it's super low.

[1792] It starts talking like this because it's my center channel.

[1793] But as I turn over to the side, it starts getting a lot louder.

[1794] Oh, yeah.

[1795] That sounds like an audio problem.

[1796] Every time I had a conversation with a guy, I literally had to like talk into my Goodyear style, like lower my head down.

[1797] What?

[1798] What?

[1799] Maybe your character just lost their Goodyear.

[1800] It could be your speakers are also – Well, so I think my center – because I can do independent volume.

[1801] I never noticed it before.

[1802] It was only in Skyrim, but it was just like – My wife is watching me play, and she's like, why – every time you talk to a guy, you drift over to the side and, like, lower your head down.

[1803] And it's like, I think I got a bad ear.

[1804] Keep talking.

[1805] Keep going.

[1806] What's going on?

[1807] But as I'm doing that, the people around me in Skyrim are, like, the most socially unaware people in the world because all they do is run up behind you and, like – Good job with cabbages.

[1808] I love tomatoes.

[1809] Looks like rain today.

[1810] Like, don't talk to, like, keep telling me about the daughter and the dragon.

[1811] No, no, I'm not trying to talk to these other people.

[1812] And so it's just equally as loud as everything that's coming in over here.

[1813] So it's, like, impossible to, so finally I just blasted up to center channel and it blocked out everybody else.

[1814] I don't know what's wrong.

[1815] Everybody wants to make eye contact with you in Skyrim.

[1816] It's almost like walking with your head down.

[1817] Don't talk to me. Just don't talk to that guy.

[1818] You look kind of sick.

[1819] I'm fine.

[1820] I'm fine.

[1821] Just keep going.

[1822] It's good.

[1823] I love to play songs.

[1824] I'm a bard.

[1825] I don't want to hear about it.

[1826] Just keep your head down and walk straight.

[1827] Thousand yard stare, man. And then everybody, I don't know why, but everybody in the world.

[1828] Keep your wallet in your front pocket also.

[1829] It's terrible.

[1830] I hate walking around towns because it's just, and you know, I'm taking every quest I can.

[1831] So everybody who runs up to me, it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I wish you could put your arms out and be like, just later.

[1832] How's the Vinnie hoarding going?

[1833] I'm playing on the PC, so my carry weight is now about 3 ,000.

[1834] So I just maxed it out.

[1835] You modded it?

[1836] Yeah.

[1837] Give Vinny carry weight equals like 300 ,000.

[1838] All the fun is putting all that stuff in your home.

[1839] I don't have a home yet.

[1840] I didn't buy a house.

[1841] I went off on like side quest land.

[1842] Yeah.

[1843] I put 50 hours in that game.

[1844] I haven't gotten anywhere in the story arc. Did you guys at least open up dragons?

[1845] Yeah.

[1846] I mean, to kill them?

[1847] Yeah.

[1848] Oh, yeah.

[1849] I'm like basically the dragon hunter.

[1850] I just run around scaling vertical cliffs on my billy goat slash horse and finding dragons.

[1851] I'm playing Thief 4.

[1852] You've invented a new Thief game?

[1853] Yeah, I've created it.

[1854] Inside of Skyrim.

[1855] It's great.

[1856] I'm like, oh, this is perfect.

[1857] It finally got being a thief.

[1858] So my guy is, I'm using one -handed.

[1859] And a one -handed weapon and basically switching my left hand between magic and a shield occasionally.

[1860] That's how I started out, and I didn't really start enjoying the combat until I focused on one of those.

[1861] So which one did you focus on?

[1862] In general, you can't really be a jack of all trades in that game.

[1863] You can have a lot of fun with any one of the disciplines.

[1864] I'm trying to figure out what I like more.

[1865] So you're using dual wielding?

[1866] Yeah.

[1867] See, that's the thing.

[1868] He's going straight thief.

[1869] I ended up going with the shield.

[1870] So I started buying some shield perks.

[1871] Yeah, some blocking perks.

[1872] So I've got like – I'm getting up there.

[1873] My level is getting pretty high.

[1874] I think I'm like 20 -something.

[1875] And it's like I've got about four points I'm just sitting on at this point because I just – you're waiting for your skill to hit like 50 or something because you want to drop those points in.

[1876] And there's just stuff I don't want to – I don't have – there's like seven magic trees.

[1877] And I'm like I'm not – I'm only using destruction and restoration.

[1878] Like the block I'm not really putting points into right now.

[1879] But I want to get all those one -handed skills.

[1880] Train.

[1881] Getting that up.

[1882] Gotta train.

[1883] So I have tons of money, and I just keep trying to train, but that's five per level.

[1884] I don't know.

[1885] I'm having a tough time deciding what to put points into, what I like using for combat.

[1886] And I die so damn quickly.

[1887] I'm heavy armor, and I die so quickly with guys with two -handed weapons.

[1888] Like, two hits, and then one hit will take me down to, like, 75 % health, and I'll be like, shit, that's a big...

[1889] Whoa!

[1890] And then the animation goes in, and it's always, like, a question of, like, am I gonna...

[1891] Nope.

[1892] No, you decapitated me. Like, okay.

[1893] All right.

[1894] I don't know why.

[1895] Is it like they're critting me?

[1896] Is that what's happening?

[1897] If they're two -handed, they do a lot of damage.

[1898] Most of those guys, they're kind of like the bosses of each little dungeon.

[1899] Most of the time I've seen them, they've been two -handed.

[1900] My guy, I get one shot.

[1901] Like, I'll get one shot.

[1902] So it makes it, like, really tense for me. Yeah.

[1903] Because I can take out, like, three guys with a bow and then have to deal with that big guy.

[1904] But once you get spotted, you're kind of screwed, right?

[1905] But you've got, like, pretty much a pause mechanic in the game.

[1906] So you can, you know, you strategize.

[1907] It's fun.

[1908] I don't find it fun.

[1909] That's why I like it, though.

[1910] The combat to me is satisfying.

[1911] I just have the controller in my hand since I'm on a PC.

[1912] I have the controller in my hand, keyboard next to me. And just F5.

[1913] Oh, see, I'm using a controller.

[1914] Yeah, I'm using a controller.

[1915] And then just F5 -ing after kind of like every guy.

[1916] I killed that guy.

[1917] F5.

[1918] Because you could die really quickly.

[1919] In the world, there's no autosave unless you've been in the menu or something like that.

[1920] Yeah, you can set that interval when you go into the character menu.

[1921] So you'll run around the world and then all of a sudden, I don't know why, but it must be the same for you guys.

[1922] Everybody's a bandit.

[1923] That's a cool town over there.

[1924] Hey, it looks like there's somebody over here.

[1925] Like, ah, fuck.

[1926] Like, go the other way.

[1927] Look at that, like, cool cross thing over there.

[1928] Well, like the ruins.

[1929] Don't hurt somebody.

[1930] Like the ruins and stuff, yeah, are all occupied by unsavory types.

[1931] Yeah, I guess they're the orc camps, which aren't hostile out of the gate.

[1932] If you do, yeah, there's a quest you can do that makes the orcs friendly to you.

[1933] But, yeah, it's just like, so at this point I'm just on a horse just, like, trying to uncover everything.

[1934] Yeah.

[1935] But, like, basically, like, getting close enough to it where it goes ding and then, like, running the other way because I don't want to, like, fight all those dudes yet because you could spend hours in a random tomb.

[1936] And so it's weird.

[1937] I'm having a weird time.

[1938] You can spend hours in a random tomb.

[1939] Like when I get to the end of the random tomb, it's kind of easy to go through.

[1940] And there was this one where I was just like fighting my way through it.

[1941] I don't know why.

[1942] Jesse was like, go in that tomb.

[1943] And I was like, OK, I'll go in that tomb.

[1944] And it was like an hour later.

[1945] It's like, I don't know what the hell is in here.

[1946] Like, I can't pick up any more goddamn cabbages.

[1947] Like, I don't know what I'm doing in here.

[1948] And then I get to the end and there's this dude laid back in a throne.

[1949] This, like, undead guy laid, like, kind of in a throne.

[1950] He gets up and, like, kills me in one shot.

[1951] And I was like, well, fuck you.

[1952] Of course I'm going to fight you because, like, I'm not going to run away.

[1953] So what I've been doing for most of the game is finding the traps that are in the dungeons.

[1954] Like, those...

[1955] Things that the doors with the spikes on them that just slam on you.

[1956] And they're pressure plated.

[1957] So what I do is I just kite the guys back to the pressure plate door and then I smash them in the door.

[1958] So I was like, I'm going to bring this guy back to the pressure plate door.

[1959] This is why I love this game because I've never heard of anybody playing that way and it sounds completely broken to play that way.

[1960] Yeah.

[1961] I was like, well, I'm just going to bring you.

[1962] This has worked for 90 % of the guys in this dungeon, so I'm just going to kite you back.

[1963] He hits his invisible bounding at the end of his string and just stops at the end of his bridge.

[1964] Maybe he was too smart for that trick.

[1965] I'm not coming back.

[1966] I'm not falling for that.

[1967] I know it's over there.

[1968] I set those traps.

[1969] So who do you think put that there?

[1970] Idiot.

[1971] Come on.

[1972] If you're going to stand, I've got about 200 arrows.

[1973] Fine.

[1974] Shoot me with arrows.

[1975] Okay.

[1976] And so about an hour later, after he died with his 200 arrows, I was like, all right.

[1977] Well, how does he have on it?

[1978] He's got kind of a cool sword and that was cool.

[1979] So I was like, wow, that was really hard.

[1980] Walk upstairs.

[1981] And then there's this – it was like the tomb of Voldemort or something.

[1982] It was like walk upstairs and like there was a dragon word.

[1983] There was a word there but no dragon.

[1984] And then this tomb opens up, this catacomb opens up, and this super hard dude comes out and just starts rusting me with fire.

[1985] So I boosh him to, like, the end of the cliff, like, foosh, foosh, foosh.

[1986] And then he falls outside of the cliff.

[1987] So I just hit him with the other 200 arrows I have.

[1988] And I got a mask that lets me breathe out of the water.

[1989] That was one of the dragon priests.

[1990] Okay.

[1991] Those guys are fixed level.

[1992] They're supposed to be really hard.

[1993] They're really hard.

[1994] Yeah, they're supposed to be.

[1995] And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing here.

[1996] Sounds like a RPG to me. But I had no idea what I was doing.

[1997] And so that's kind of what I've been doing is like.

[1998] Well, I kind of know it's a Bethesda game, so I know there's a way I can beat this guy.

[1999] I just need to get behind the rock in the right way and have enough arrows.

[2000] Or I know that he's not going to come past a certain point.

[2001] So everybody I find, there's always a way to beat him.

[2002] It's just a matter of how much time do you want to spend and how much you feel like you're just going to cheese the game out.

[2003] Which is kind of what it's come down to, unfortunately, for me. You get kind of like cool loot, and the mask is kind of cool.

[2004] Unfortunately, it's light armor, and I'm all heavy armor, and I get that perk for heavy armor.

[2005] Doing the Thieves Guild stuff now is actually really fun.

[2006] Those quests are well done.

[2007] But it's just not – I'm still just getting frustrated with parts where I'm like, I think I'm doing really well, but I'm still having a tough time in certain spots, really easy time in other spots, and it's just completely uneven.

[2008] A couple of you I'll talk to is like, you should go through the story more to kind of move things along.

[2009] So maybe I just need to do that.

[2010] And then I tried the shield because it was like two -handed guys would kill me. I used a shield.

[2011] I mean, you can mitigate most or all the damage if you block properly.

[2012] I think I need to put points in the block, though, because it's staggering me too much every time I get hit with a shield.

[2013] Oh, yeah, see, I never get staggered anymore.

[2014] I would recommend spending those six points or whatever that you're hoarding.

[2015] Yeah, you should.

[2016] Well, that's the thing, right?

[2017] I should, right?

[2018] Because I keep thinking there's going to be...

[2019] Ah, the game's hard.

[2020] The shield combat really got interesting for me when I got the perk that slows down time when they're about to do a power hit on you.

[2021] Oh, that sounds pretty good.

[2022] Because then that gives you the chance.

[2023] chance to shield I don't know if you even know how to shield bash yeah like just basically pull the right trigger like if they're in the middle of a power attack and it slows down you just bash them with the shield and it interrupts it which is the same with a bow when you get the slow -mo with the bow yes that sounds cool I should try that stuff when you develop the combat more it gets really fun it sounds a lot better than like hiding behind a tree shooting 300 arrows into dude yeah that sounds Well, it's cool when you think you're going to get something awesome.

[2024] Like I said, those guys, as far as I know, are fixed level, so you can just come back.

[2025] I beat two of them the same way.

[2026] If anyone wants my strategy guide of how to hide behind it.

[2027] My wife started cracking up every time.

[2028] Why do you have to yell boosh every time?

[2029] I think it's boosh, but it sounds like boosh.

[2030] And so every time I would kill a dude with a trap, I would just trigger the boosh sound just because the door closed.

[2031] Boosh!

[2032] It was funny.

[2033] It was a funny household.

[2034] That was fun.

[2035] Excellent.

[2036] I played Old Republic.

[2037] What do you think?

[2038] Where are you?

[2039] I got bored of that.

[2040] Yeah.

[2041] Vindigo.

[2042] Where's Vindigo?

[2043] Skylancer or whatever.

[2044] Vindigo.

[2045] What server are you on?

[2046] I can't remember the name of the server.

[2047] It's not the one that you guys said.

[2048] It's not Mind Trick.

[2049] It was like way too high.

[2050] Yeah, Mind Trick's a really high population server.

[2051] Actually, I jumped on there a couple times last weekend and no wait whatsoever.

[2052] It's just if you get lucky.

[2053] Really?

[2054] It's like peak hour.

[2055] Is that the GB community one?

[2056] Yeah.

[2057] I'll probably make a character on it, but I just wanted to jump in and try it.

[2058] If you do, Let me know, because I'm only level 7, and I would like to play, but I have no way to play with.

[2059] Are you an Imperial?

[2060] I have both on there, but I guess Sith is what everybody's playing.

[2061] There is a GB Republic.

[2062] Kesslerun?

[2063] No, Kesslerun is the Imperial.

[2064] I can't remember.

[2065] Oh, there's a...

[2066] There's a separate guild.

[2067] Good luck have Bothans is the name of it.

[2068] That's right.

[2069] Good luck have Bothans.

[2070] Is it weird that they let you do Imperial and Rebel on the same server?

[2071] Yeah, I thought that was kind of strange.

[2072] It's because the WoW doesn't, right?

[2073] I thought it was like MMO Standard not to let you do that.

[2074] You know, whatever.

[2075] It was actually interesting and then...

[2076] And then it wasn't.

[2077] And then it wasn't.

[2078] You know, it was interesting until you realized that you're...

[2079] Doing the fetch quests and working your way up.

[2080] The story stuff was okay.

[2081] I'm playing a rebel.

[2082] The Jedi rebel.

[2083] I think that there are some better than average MMO quest designs.

[2084] Still qualified as these are MMO quests.

[2085] This is the format.

[2086] We're not breaking any crazy rules here.

[2087] But I felt like it was worth cracking those bones open for the story stuff.

[2088] You're right.

[2089] There are some neat objectives there.

[2090] And I really do think, say what you will about what Bioware this is, there's some solid writing in there.

[2091] I'll tell you that I didn't play too much of it over the break, but the Imperial Agent stuff just goes in really cool directions.

[2092] I need to dig in a little deeper.

[2093] My story as a Sith.

[2094] He's interesting.

[2095] What is he?

[2096] Sith Warrior?

[2097] Sith Warrior, I think.

[2098] Yeah, that stuff's getting a little...

[2099] With the different masters kind of competing with each other and stuff.

[2100] That stuff's interesting because you get into the Darths and just realize how fucking insane all of the Sith are.

[2101] Yeah, there's a definite Bioware field.

[2102] Because in all these early levels, I'm sure it opens up some, but in all these early levels, you're dealing with zero Republic stuff.

[2103] It's just all like...

[2104] Everything's all fucked up inside the Empire, man. Like, internal?

[2105] Well, there's, like, there's the separation of, like, there's the Empire, which is, like, you know, Star Destroyers and Stormtroopers and shit, and then there's the Sith, and...

[2106] They are aligned, but the Sith priorities are not the same as the Imperial priorities.

[2107] Wait, there are Imperials?

[2108] Because Sith is actually also a straight -up race.

[2109] It's not just like, hey, if you're a bad Jedi, you're a Sith.

[2110] It's like, no, there are people who are genetically called Sith.

[2111] It's just that anyone else that decides to get down with the dark side of the Force becomes called a Sith at some point.

[2112] Space racism in that game is phenomenal.

[2113] It's right in your face.

[2114] I should try the dark side stuff.

[2115] I think that stuff, from what I saw, I saw just a little bit during the beta of the Republic stuff, and it didn't grab me. The Imperial stuff, I think, is...

[2116] It seems way better.

[2117] It just seems way better.

[2118] Brad, have you gone through the Republic stuff a bit?

[2119] Very little.

[2120] Okay.

[2121] I got kind of up to the part.

[2122] You have like a wooden lightsaber or whatever for the beginning.

[2123] Do you guys read the books and stuff?

[2124] What?

[2125] Like the fan fiction?

[2126] Well, not the fan fiction, but like Timothy Zahn stuff.

[2127] Wait, are you talking about the expanded universe?

[2128] Specifically the Heir of the Empire stuff?

[2129] Well, just like any of the books.

[2130] Did you guys ever go outside?

[2131] I read that trilogy back when I was like 15 or whatever.

[2132] That's where Leia and Han have kids.

[2133] Oh, yeah.

[2134] They have twins.

[2135] He starts a new Jedi Academy.

[2136] That Zahn trilogy is fairly well regarded, but most of the recent Expanded Universe stuff is the stupidest shit you have ever seen.

[2137] Ever.

[2138] Isn't that where the Chiss come from?

[2139] I don't even know what that is, but probably.

[2140] There's the weird, whatever, the gecko things that block the force.

[2141] I had to stop looking at anything about it when I found out that the Emperor has a grandson with three eyes.

[2142] And his name's like Triclops or something.

[2143] Like literally has like a third eye in his forehead.

[2144] And then like at some point they go find the glove of Darth Vader.

[2145] Oh.

[2146] And it's, like, some kind of, like, immensely evil Darkseid artifact that gives you all this power or something.

[2147] Like, it just sounds like the worst.

[2148] I have not indulged.

[2149] My little brother likes some of that stuff.

[2150] Who's the guy with the blue face?

[2151] Blue face?

[2152] Well, that's Thrawn, right?

[2153] Thrawn.

[2154] Oh, it's great.

[2155] There's, like, Lando Calrissian Chronicles where you find out, like, who that, like, fish -looking dude is.

[2156] And the guy with the weird thing around his head is in Cloud City.

[2157] It's great.

[2158] It's glorified fan fiction.

[2159] Yeah, of course it is.

[2160] But it's fun.

[2161] Yeah.

[2162] What else are you going to do?

[2163] I don't know, man. I've never read any of that stuff.

[2164] I'm sorry.

[2165] Is that G -canon or S -canon?

[2166] I don't know.

[2167] Oh, jeez.

[2168] I don't even know what that means.

[2169] There are like five sanctioned levels of canonicity.

[2170] I'm a Jedi.

[2171] I'm a would -be Jedi.

[2172] My guy's like Ubered like the best Jedi in the farm system.

[2173] Did you get a lightsaber?

[2174] How do the healers work?

[2175] I still have my wooden one or whatever.

[2176] I don't have a lightsaber.

[2177] I think most classes can heal.

[2178] They're all healing classes?

[2179] I think there's maybe one or two classes.

[2180] I just want to make a holy priest again.

[2181] I mean, the Sith Warrior that I'm playing, you have to specialize at level 10 when you pick.

[2182] I will either become a DPS or a tank, but even I have an innate stand still and get all your hit points back in 10 seconds.

[2183] And as the Imperial Agent, I can straight up just cast heal spells.

[2184] But is there a dedicated healer?

[2185] I bet the Jedi has.

[2186] It's when you start specializing.

[2187] There's like one of three paths that you can choose.

[2188] And once you start committing down that, then you can decide like, okay, I'm going to go.

[2189] Like I even have it just a straight up like it's a healing tree for the Imperial Agent class.

[2190] You know what I was actually really surprised by was the intro movie, which is kind of fairly long.

[2191] We've all seen it before.

[2192] I feel like just maybe coming from Blizzard, I feel like the WoW intro movie, even for every expansion, kind of shows you like here's what your mind's eye thinks your character is going to look like and what you're going to do and like check out everybody.

[2193] They're all awesome.

[2194] And in the Old Republic one, it was like here's what Jedis do and they are going to be way better than every other class out there.

[2195] So why would you want to pick this Republic commando?

[2196] Because he would die if it weren't for Jedi.

[2197] And it's like.

[2198] Okay, pick the Jedi.

[2199] Don't play as a smuggler or anything else because according to your intro movie, they kind of suck.

[2200] I would totally pick one of those subclasses.

[2201] I don't want to be the Jedi.

[2202] Why?

[2203] Don't you want to be the hero of a universe?

[2204] No, that's what I like.

[2205] I like playing console.

[2206] Honestly, I think it's the fallacy, the idea of like, well, everyone just wants to play as the hero.

[2207] I think if you're interested in playing an MMO, like you want to – You want to be like, I want to be the every dude.

[2208] Yeah, Luke Skywalker's running around having his heroic adventure in this universe, but I don't have to be that dude.

[2209] But I don't want to be a dude that I run up against somebody else and I'm like, hey, Jedi, you want to help me on this quest?

[2210] Because I'm just a smuggler.

[2211] Jedis need smugglers.

[2212] For what?

[2213] They can't run the Kessel Run in less than 10 parsecs.

[2214] They don't have to run.

[2215] They walk it.

[2216] But that's – I mean that's my point.

[2217] Everyone has a position to play.

[2218] I guess.

[2219] I should try the different classes.

[2220] I'll go back in.

[2221] I mean whatever.

[2222] I'm sure it's balance.

[2223] I guarantee it's not what I think it is.

[2224] I mean I'm just using – I've got like close range.

[2225] I'm basically – Are you a smuggler?

[2226] I'm basically a rogue.

[2227] Imperial agent, which is – Like the bad guy smuggler?

[2228] Yeah, I can go into cover and I can backstab and – All kind of the roguey stuff that you would expect to do.

[2229] It's all good.

[2230] The storyline is all good cloak and dagger stuff.

[2231] Maybe the Jedi stuff I'm doing is just kind of a little boiled up.

[2232] I think the space combat stuff is pretty good.

[2233] I haven't seen that stuff.

[2234] It's on rails.

[2235] It's like a point and click.

[2236] Jeff compared it to a Flash game, which I think is maybe a little harsh, but I don't know.

[2237] It's somewhat Rebel Assault -y.

[2238] Oh, MMO.

[2239] Yeah, I'll go back in.

[2240] It's still interesting.

[2241] I'm still poking at it with sticks.

[2242] I think Jeff is in deep.

[2243] I'll be curious to see what he has to say when he comes back.

[2244] Oh, yeah, he's got break time.

[2245] Does he still play?

[2246] Yeah, I think he's been playing hard.

[2247] Wow.

[2248] And he's still off for another week.

[2249] He was already in the 20s or 30s or something.

[2250] Yeah, he hit 20 before the break.

[2251] Yeah, he played crazy that first weekend.

[2252] Yeah, he was pushing 30 by the time I left.

[2253] Yeah, I'm real, real, real low.

[2254] I think I'm 17 or 18.

[2255] I think Jeff doing raids in MMOs is probably just about the scariest.

[2256] That'll never happen.

[2257] That's what I'm saying.

[2258] There's no way.

[2259] Well.

[2260] Could you imagine it, though?

[2261] I highly doubt it.

[2262] Could you imagine Jeff coming in and talking about, like, taking down, like, some raid boss?

[2263] For, like, four hours?

[2264] Yeah, he's like, oh, I bought a bunch of gold or whatever the equivalent is.

[2265] What is the currency of the Star Wars?

[2266] I think it's credits, isn't it?

[2267] It's just credits.

[2268] Creds?

[2269] Yeah.

[2270] Man, that'd be nuts.

[2271] It would be bonkers.

[2272] Well, there's that Flashpoint stuff, which is just, like, the small instance party stuff, and I don't know if he's done a fair amount of that, but he just overlevels.

[2273] His solution is just...

[2274] be way too powerful for the encounter and then just breeze through it.

[2275] He's not interested in strategizing and wringing the most out of the MMO combat.

[2276] He is about pressing one and then pressing two and then pressing five.

[2277] I mean, that is the MMO combat though, isn't it?

[2278] I guess, but he just, you know, when people talk about strategy and MMO combat, they're talking about like team coordination.

[2279] Oh, right.

[2280] brute force my way through this.

[2281] Yeah, yeah.

[2282] He's just like, I'm just going to hit it with hammers until it's dead.

[2283] He's going to solo everything.

[2284] That's kind of how I do it, too.

[2285] He rolls like, you know, Adam Boyce from Beefy Media is also deep into that game and way overleveled.

[2286] Also, I'd like to thank Adam Boyce for sending us his top five games of 2011.

[2287] Thank you for following that assignment super well, Adam.

[2288] I might have to just read that derisively at some point.

[2289] Did it not go up?

[2290] No. I didn't put it up.

[2291] I didn't ask for it.

[2292] Good for you, man. Top five lists.

[2293] Here's the thing.

[2294] I actually rejected submissions from people, good industry people, people who would have been awesome to have lists from because they're like, I can't come up with ten.

[2295] I can only come up with five.

[2296] You let a lot of that tie shit in, though.

[2297] There are so many ties in there.

[2298] Number eight tie between two games.

[2299] I'll let them.

[2300] That's too much.

[2301] That's double the work.

[2302] I guess so.

[2303] It's hard.

[2304] It's hard.

[2305] It is hard.

[2306] For the people that chose the ties, I was willing to let that slide.

[2307] But, yeah, then a list came and said, oh, I couldn't pick ten, so here's five.

[2308] Also, I'm going to Canada.

[2309] See ya.

[2310] I actually kicked it to Johnny.

[2311] He acknowledged that he only picked five.

[2312] Yeah.

[2313] He's like, oh, I couldn't pick ten, so I picked five instead.

[2314] Hope that works.

[2315] You should have just filled with the other five.

[2316] Now I'm leaving the country for two weeks.

[2317] Oh, thanks, Adam.

[2318] So I actually kicked it to Johnny.

[2319] I said, hey, Johnny, if you could finish Adam's top ten for him.

[2320] Put whatever you want there, man. I just need a top ten list.

[2321] Number six through ten, Tron Evolution.

[2322] So, actually, I do want to thank everyone who submitted a guest's top ten list.

[2323] That stuff's fantastic.

[2324] That stuff was awesome.

[2325] Those were awesome.

[2326] Thank you for putting all that stuff together.

[2327] We've had people who have submitted in the past.

[2328] You know what?

[2329] Biggest props to two people.

[2330] First off, to Mr. Eric Wolpaw.

[2331] Because he actually approached us.

[2332] We had already started rolling out the feature.

[2333] I had never asked him.

[2334] I never thought to ask him.

[2335] I actually felt really bad about that after the fact.

[2336] He said, hey, I saw that you're doing these lists.

[2337] Can I get in on this?

[2338] I'm like, yes, yes, you're Eric Wolfoff.

[2339] You don't need to ask.

[2340] Are you fucking kidding?

[2341] I treasure every time I get to read anything.

[2342] So he just came in.

[2343] He's like, yeah, give me a couple days.

[2344] I've got some stuff I want to get off my chest.

[2345] And you awarded him with a completely silly deck about himself.

[2346] Yes.

[2347] Well, just reading his, I'm like, this is just such a – I mean, Brad can relate to the – The giddiness when Eric Walpaw was freelancing reviews for GameSpot.

[2348] Whenever a Walpaw review would come down the pipe and it's like, all right, we've got to peer edit this review before it goes up.

[2349] It's like, ooh, Eric Walpaw reviews are always going to be awesome because it's going to be the worst game and it's going to be the funniest review.

[2350] Even the email thread where he wrote in asking if he could do a list.

[2351] Yeah, the stuff that's in that thread.

[2352] The email thread is funny.

[2353] It's goddamn funny, and he delivered on that.

[2354] So I'd like to thank him.

[2355] I would also like to thank David Jaffe's assistant Q, who has the heart of a champion as far as I can tell.

[2356] She managed to make sure.

[2357] Jaffe was basically touch and go for the entire time that I was talking about having him do a top ten list.

[2358] But she was able to wrangle.

[2359] Her name is Q?

[2360] Her name is Q. Well, her full name is something else, but she goes by Q. That's cool.

[2361] Yeah, and she's awesome.

[2362] and she really helped make that come together.

[2363] I thought that was awesome to finish off with Greg and with Jaffe.

[2364] Yeah, and all the lists were really entertaining this year.

[2365] So many indie games.

[2366] Yeah.

[2367] And you know what?

[2368] We actually have a few stragglers as far as top tens.

[2369] Paul Barnett still wants to come in here and yell about 2011.

[2370] It was one of the things my wife really loved this year about it.

[2371] It was just like, these are interesting perspectives on what games.

[2372] people are playing so i think next year i may i may trim it down to five because there were some some good lists that i had to say ah you know we really want to do we get to do five hmm do we get to do five no it's so hard uh well because you know a lot of the times it's it's developers who are shipping games in that year and you know it's i i understand yeah your job to play games it's not your job to play games so i can see how you might not have 10 favorite games to talk about this year um That stuff is great.

[2373] Some folks did.

[2374] So thanks to everyone.

[2375] You guys were all totally awesome, and those lists rocked, except for the people who flaked out.

[2376] You know who you are.

[2377] I finished Skyward Sword.

[2378] Yes.

[2379] I put it back on Patrick's desk.

[2380] I saw that.

[2381] Yeah.

[2382] You're done.

[2383] Should someone else pick it up?

[2384] Go play it.

[2385] Yeah.

[2386] I mean, the deliberations are coming up.

[2387] We really should put some time together.

[2388] May the grace of God be with you.

[2389] Oh, yeah?

[2390] Holy crap.

[2391] What's going on with the – You remember Dragon Ball Z?

[2392] Yes.

[2393] Remember like in the Frieza saga where you're like, what the fuck is going on?

[2394] You're pairing up for like seven episodes and then you don't do it.

[2395] You wink.

[2396] What the fuck are you talking about?

[2397] Ryan, you know what I'm talking about.

[2398] I know what you're talking about.

[2399] That's like Zelda.

[2400] That's like the – that's what happens towards the end where you're just like, what am I – even doing like three times in a row anymore like I don't even know what this is like padded out to be 50 the game took like over 50 hours for me to beat wow and I'm like but what am I like filler you didn't have a great sense of like I'm on this epic quest and I need to go get this next piece it was like go back here you forgot to do something and then do it three more times and I was like why I don't know because we need to add 20 hours in here and like okay well I did that you know what, though?

[2401] You know what would be awesome if you did three more times?

[2402] This other fight you did before.

[2403] And I was like, come on, really?

[2404] Guess he's back.

[2405] Is it Ganon?

[2406] This guy.

[2407] Kill him three times.

[2408] Is it a large octorock?

[2409] Might as well be.

[2410] By the end of that game, I was just like, damn it, boy.

[2411] This is padded out.

[2412] This is too long for its own good.

[2413] Interesting.

[2414] It's not a perspective I've heard on that game.

[2415] There were great parts in it, but I was...

[2416] I was struggling to make it through.

[2417] If it were a book, I probably wouldn't have finished it.

[2418] I would have been having a tough time.

[2419] And at the end, did you win?

[2420] I did win.

[2421] Good job.

[2422] Everybody won.

[2423] Yeah.

[2424] So what happens?

[2425] Everybody.

[2426] And, you know, the stuff that Patrick was talking about, about I didn't want to spoil, whatever, whatever.

[2427] I don't think it's that.

[2428] Well, it feeds into that idea of there being some greater Zelda continuity, which...

[2429] Get the fuck out of my face with that.

[2430] Guess what?

[2431] There's not one continuity?

[2432] Yeah.

[2433] There's three.

[2434] Did you see this?

[2435] Once you see that official...

[2436] Officially, they had been like...

[2437] It branches.

[2438] There are parallel universes.

[2439] Then you just forget it.

[2440] Oh, well, so it doesn't matter.

[2441] You could have just said it didn't matter.

[2442] Instead of acting like it matters, you could just say, it doesn't matter.

[2443] Each one has its own story.

[2444] Just whatever.

[2445] Right.

[2446] Just play games and enjoy them.

[2447] Once you're officially like, well, it branches.

[2448] It's all going on.

[2449] Like, no. Okay.

[2450] I don't need to pay attention anymore.

[2451] Got it.

[2452] So you don't know either.

[2453] I would have really just appreciated it if you had just said that.

[2454] Just admit that you're making it up as you go along.

[2455] Just say that.

[2456] It's fine.

[2457] It's okay.

[2458] It's not bad that you're just...

[2459] You don't need to put this one in.

[2460] It came out on the Game Boy.

[2461] Hardly anybody remembers it.

[2462] We understand.

[2463] People like these games.

[2464] It makes sense for you to keep making them.

[2465] Right.

[2466] That's good enough.

[2467] I was actually one of those people that was like, I really...

[2468] At one point in my life, I was like, I'm going to play every Zelda game in chronological order and I'm going to make it through because I kind of want to understand where this is coming from.

[2469] Fool's errand.

[2470] Yeah.

[2471] And now for them to officially acknowledge that, I feel just...

[2472] and being like, whatever.

[2473] And so this one, the succumbing athletes from playing the majority of the Zelda games out there, not all of them because there are a ton of them, I really did think this was dragging on way too long and was not very entertaining.

[2474] Yeah, that's my opinion.

[2475] Interesting.

[2476] Yeah.

[2477] I don't like motion controls.

[2478] Any non -Sky games?

[2479] Nope, Skyrim, Sky...

[2480] Word, Sword.

[2481] Skyward Sword.

[2482] Pick up Skylanders.

[2483] Sky Republic.

[2484] No Skylanders.

[2485] I'm trying to think if I played anything on the consoles besides...

[2486] I thought I turned my 360 on, but I guess not.

[2487] I played the very littlest bit of Space Marine, which...

[2488] A little clunky, but I like – there's stuff I like about it.

[2489] Dave, I'm still surprised at how much you like that game.

[2490] Dude, just run.

[2491] All you got to do is run and just – That running animation looks so silly.

[2492] Blow your shoulder into like 100 dudes.

[2493] I just really do – like it's – when I first saw it, I was like, man, this game looks amazing.

[2494] These fights are awesome and everything just explodes constantly.

[2495] But yeah, I really do wish there was a little bit more to the melee combat because I like doing that.

[2496] I like just like running headlong into the groups and then it's like – all right, once I'm here, there's not really a ton.

[2497] It's more just like life bar management of like, okay, they're starting to knock.

[2498] Oh, okay, I need to do a combo to regenerate my health.

[2499] Story is worthless.

[2500] Worthless.

[2501] Well, my biggest complaint is definitely...

[2502] If I hadn't played a little bit of like with the quick look with Vinny, I would have no fucking idea what's going on.

[2503] Because Vinny, you're the one who told me like, all right, so Titans are this and Forge Worlds are that.

[2504] And like, oh, okay.

[2505] These are important.

[2506] I actually understand a little bit about, you know, the Warhammer 40K universe going into this.

[2507] If I didn't have that little primer from you playing the game on my own, I'd have...

[2508] Fucking no idea what's going on.

[2509] I really like that game too.

[2510] But I do think the melee stuff is where it falls apart because the mechanic in it where you get your health back from doing those melee kills is vital to playing that game.

[2511] Oh, yeah.

[2512] But there's only like three animations.

[2513] I think the reason I liked it all so much was because it was made by Relic and because I liked the RTS game so much that it felt like it fit in those games really well.

[2514] Like you were at ground level in one of those games?

[2515] Yeah, like when you use the jetpack in that game, you're like, oh yes, it's the same exact feeling from that RTS.

[2516] It is reminiscent of that.

[2517] I was going to say that the jetpack sequences, I don't know how many there are, but those were my favorite parts of the game.

[2518] When you're that mobile and you can do the hover and then do the ground pound and stuff like that.

[2519] Yeah, you just feel like a god.

[2520] That was one I was really having fun in that game, so I thought it was kind of a shame you didn't have access to that very often.

[2521] They come up like maybe five times in that game.

[2522] It's like once every three levels or something.

[2523] Yeah, that game's fun.

[2524] I'm glad you jumped back in.

[2525] Yeah, I'll probably finish that now.

[2526] Did you get up to the Space Marine and the Chaos stuff?

[2527] No, I'm about to get to that, though.

[2528] It actually changes a bit.

[2529] I met the dude.

[2530] Okay.

[2531] Yeah.

[2532] Okay.

[2533] Yeah.

[2534] Because it goes from the dude in the tower or the dude with the super weapon or whatever.

[2535] Yeah.

[2536] I think I left off right before that.

[2537] You're pretty close to the end of the game, then.

[2538] It's a short game.

[2539] It can't be that short.

[2540] It's short.

[2541] It's pretty short.

[2542] What chapter are you on?

[2543] I don't know.

[2544] Like eight.

[2545] Eight.

[2546] The Chaos stuff is only about two levels, two or three levels, but the combat changes a bit.

[2547] Okay.

[2548] Well, whatever.

[2549] I met the guy who was clearly going to become the evil guy at some point.

[2550] I'm like, you're even for an Imperial scientist guy?

[2551] Yeah.

[2552] He's an Inquisitor, isn't he?

[2553] Yeah.

[2554] Well, he looks evil.

[2555] He's an Inquisitor.

[2556] He's called an Inquisitor, and also he has...

[2557] He's got like exposed metal on his face or whatever.

[2558] Yeah.

[2559] Ordos.

[2560] Oh, dude, that's my favorite thing about all that stuff is, like, the Latin -y sounding.

[2561] Like, I don't know what the Adeptus Astartes are, but it sounds awesome.

[2562] I know it is, but, like, it's like...

[2563] I like when they talk about the Codex.

[2564] I also like the stuff that the Codex talks about, about, like, you know, not...

[2565] whatever, not, you know...

[2566] jumping into, not using jetpacks to jump into a battle or whatever.

[2567] I'm like, that's kind of weirdly specific things for like this religious, this supposedly religious text to.

[2568] It is interesting kind of going back and some of the fiction leading up to it.

[2569] Warhammer stuff is actually kind of interesting.

[2570] And they talk about just like, oh, you interpret the codex so narrowly.

[2571] I think the Ultramarines are the ones who wrote the codex after the Horus Heresy.

[2572] So I think you are an Ultramarine, aren't you?

[2573] You are an ultramarine.

[2574] You are.

[2575] Yeah.

[2576] I just really like not having to hide behind barricades.

[2577] That was the big win for me in that series.

[2578] That was it.

[2579] Just like you said, the weight.

[2580] I just love the weight.

[2581] I love that everything weighs too tight.

[2582] Everyone is tough.

[2583] Relic does shoulder pads very well.

[2584] Yeah.

[2585] Nintendo don't.

[2586] But more than that, I played a whole lot of Ms. Pac -Man.

[2587] Because I got a Ms. Pac -Man machine.

[2588] What?

[2589] You did?

[2590] I did.

[2591] What?

[2592] I did.

[2593] Who just did that first?

[2594] What?

[2595] Yeah, my girlfriend basically won Christmas.

[2596] Forever?

[2597] Retire.

[2598] Just whipped my ass at Christmas.

[2599] Because I was broke as shit, so I didn't get a ton of stuff.

[2600] And then comes around.

[2601] That is bananas.

[2602] Here is a full -size Ms. Pac -Man cabinet.

[2603] Stand up?

[2604] Stand up.

[2605] Wow.

[2606] Clean.

[2607] Crazy clean.

[2608] You actually got to come up and see it.

[2609] Again, shout out to Mr. Steve Lin.

[2610] Because, like, early, early on, like, months and months ago, girlfriend asks, like, hey, what do you want for Christmas?

[2611] And I'm like, I don't know.

[2612] Like, a fucking Ms. Pac -Man machine.

[2613] That would be cool.

[2614] That would be a cool thing that I wouldn't buy for myself.

[2615] Right.

[2616] Because it would be crazy.

[2617] And she started looking at it.

[2618] She's like, I don't know if I could do that.

[2619] I'm looking on, like, Craigslist.

[2620] And I'm like, oh, okay.

[2621] Don't.

[2622] First off.

[2623] Stop.

[2624] Don't do that.

[2625] I'm, you know, I'm going to kind of.

[2626] Point you in the direction of this dude and, you know.

[2627] Walk away.

[2628] I will walk away.

[2629] I will turn away from that.

[2630] And I did that and I had completely forgotten about it.

[2631] I figured that it was dead in the water.

[2632] But my girlfriend teamed up with Steve.

[2633] Where did you put it?

[2634] It's right in the middle of the living room.

[2635] Just like you walk in.

[2636] Like not against a wall?

[2637] It is against a wall.

[2638] Oh, okay.

[2639] Not all the way middle.

[2640] That is.

[2641] That's some serious business.

[2642] That's a lady.

[2643] Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

[2644] And I guess she got a screaming deal on it.

[2645] Apparently there are collectors out there that are pissed that I have this thing because there was interest in this.

[2646] And some negotiations happened.

[2647] I don't know the exact story.

[2648] No one will tell me. It's best you don't know.

[2649] Enjoy it.

[2650] Enjoy it.

[2651] No one would tell me about that.

[2652] Was it wrapped?

[2653] No, it had a bow on it.

[2654] Well, she's got a bow on it.

[2655] Because I had to coordinate with Steve because he had to come and deliver it.

[2656] Okay, so it wasn't like in your house waiting for you.

[2657] No, no, no, no. It was like she told me and was like, all right.

[2658] Because she had been telling me before like, hey, you need to be home one day this next week.

[2659] What day works best for you?

[2660] Hey, can I ask you guys a question?

[2661] What's up?

[2662] Okay, so let's say you sell something on Craigslist.

[2663] So I was the seller in this case.

[2664] And I sold a desk.

[2665] And a person comes with like a Jetta to pick up a desk.

[2666] Yeah.

[2667] What do you do?

[2668] You say, how are you going to get this out of here?

[2669] Yeah, that's what I said.

[2670] Yeah.

[2671] And what do you say?

[2672] And they're like, oh, no, it'll fit.

[2673] And I'm like, what?

[2674] Yeah.

[2675] There's no way that's going in there.

[2676] And then so I leave.

[2677] I get the money.

[2678] Yeah.

[2679] Wait, what did you do with the desk?

[2680] I was giving them the desk.

[2681] I sold the desk to them.

[2682] Well, where was it?

[2683] Is that in your apartment or your house?

[2684] It was – I had taken it down to the street so that they could easily put it in this Jetta.

[2685] So you got the money and walked away?

[2686] Yeah.

[2687] So I was like, yeah.

[2688] Did you walk from your window?

[2689] Do you need any help or something?

[2690] And I was like, there's no way they're fitting that in that car.

[2691] Yeah.

[2692] And of course they don't.

[2693] And it's like 30 minutes in and you can hear like boyfriend, girlfriend yelling at each other a little bit.

[2694] So what do you do?

[2695] And you own a truck.

[2696] You say, hey, guys, is there something I could do?

[2697] What if they live in Santa Rosa?

[2698] How far is that?

[2699] Two, three hours?

[2700] No, it's an hour and 20 minutes maybe from me. From you, depending on traffic.

[2701] Sure, like hour 15.

[2702] I think what you say is like, hey, guys, we can either rent a truck.

[2703] I can give you a lift down there and end it like that, the dot, dot, dot.

[2704] And then hopefully they'll be like.

[2705] You drove that desk to Santa Rosa.

[2706] I drove to Santa Rosa.

[2707] Did they give you more money?

[2708] No. That's weird.

[2709] You wouldn't ask.

[2710] The girl was like 19 or so.

[2711] You shouldn't ask, but they didn't offer to you.

[2712] She's really excited about the desk.

[2713] With the boyfriend?

[2714] Did you make her sit in the truck with you and the boyfriend drive to do that?

[2715] No, I followed behind them.

[2716] She drove like 45 miles an hour.

[2717] So it made that trip take extra long.

[2718] Oh, it was worse.

[2719] Oh, it was terrible.

[2720] How can we make this work?

[2721] Well, I have to sell a bed and a frame, so I'm going to have some Craigslist adventures shortly.

[2722] I had to get rid of that TV, that giant TV, and a kind of similar thing happened to me. I was explicit.

[2723] In the email.

[2724] Oh, I always am about that.

[2725] It's 400 pounds.

[2726] Bring a big car.

[2727] Bring a whatever.

[2728] And I still have to carry that TV down because the guys who became couldn't carry it.

[2729] So, I don't know.

[2730] You'd be a nice guy.

[2731] You're a nice guy.

[2732] You'd be a nice guy.

[2733] I'd rather just have gotten rid of it.

[2734] You overextend it.

[2735] Well, that's what you do for Craigslist, right?

[2736] Because you're like, I don't care.

[2737] It's $2.

[2738] Just fucking take this off my hands.

[2739] I don't want to deal with it.

[2740] I'm like, best, fastest offer gets it.

[2741] I don't care.

[2742] It's just I have a giant thing I need to get rid of.

[2743] And it sucks when you wind up being like, I still have to deal with this.

[2744] I'm trying to give this away for free so I don't have to deal with this.

[2745] Yeah, it sucks.

[2746] My roommate, when I lived in San Francisco, had this similar 300 -pound giant old municipal desk that was impossible to move.

[2747] We could barely fit it out of the apartment door.

[2748] And for free, you couldn't get rid of that fucking thing.

[2749] Like the head of the Board of Education sat behind it?

[2750] Oh, yeah.

[2751] It had the wood -paneled surface but then metal drawers underneath it.

[2752] It was just – you could shoot fucking tank bullets at it.

[2753] Well, at least when the earthquake comes.

[2754] That's the thing that's going to drop through the floor immediately and crush the person underneath.

[2755] That will form the bubble.

[2756] Yeah, it's going to start the triangle from above.

[2757] You'd be a nice guy.

[2758] I'm sure they were nice people, right?

[2759] They were all right.

[2760] The TV guys were super nice.

[2761] Somebody who just shows up with like a small car for a desk.

[2762] I just have to wonder a little bit.

[2763] Did you put the dimensions or a picture on that?

[2764] Yeah, we had dimensions and pictures.

[2765] I was like, it's a desk with a Jetta.

[2766] What were you thinking?

[2767] Yeah.

[2768] You put the Jetta in the desk and then you guys could figure out how to get that home.

[2769] It was just so dumb that I felt like I was scammed a little bit.

[2770] Oh, like she's going to start crying on your lawn?

[2771] Well, no. I mean, they sat out there.

[2772] They gave us the money and let me walk away.

[2773] I was sitting there eating dinner, like listening to people argue.

[2774] And you came back outside?

[2775] They never came back to you?

[2776] I came back outside.

[2777] What do you think would have happened?

[2778] I think it probably would have...

[2779] They would have had to rent a truck or something.

[2780] Maybe or maybe they would have called or something.

[2781] Oh, that's right.

[2782] The girl was trying to trade hip -hop dance lessons to one of her friends to come pick it up.

[2783] And then you should have taken that.

[2784] Have you declined?

[2785] In Santa Rosa?

[2786] No, right now.

[2787] So at the moment, like, show me a move.

[2788] Give me a move.

[2789] Show me what you got.

[2790] I want to know what I'm getting into.

[2791] First lesson here.

[2792] Let's go.

[2793] On the street.

[2794] If you can't hip -hop dance on the street, you can't hip -hop dance anywhere.

[2795] What good are you?

[2796] Write me a coupon.

[2797] Prove yourself.

[2798] I want to give this away to one of our users.

[2799] Free hugs.

[2800] I'm more amazed you got your machine shipped to you.

[2801] That always seems like the biggest hassle in getting an arcade machine.

[2802] Well, it was part of the deal, right?

[2803] It was part of the gift.

[2804] It's amazing.

[2805] How many quarters did you drop in?

[2806] What's that?

[2807] How many quarters did you drop in?

[2808] Oh, I don't have it set to free play.

[2809] It is quarter -operated.

[2810] I'm actually thinking about getting token coin mechs so that I can get – so there's like one – I can't remember which one, but I think they actually have a Flynn's Arcade at Disneyland right now.

[2811] And they use tokens that say Flynn's Arcade on them.

[2812] I think I have one from you.

[2813] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[2814] They look fucking radical.

[2815] I want to change the coin mechs to operate on that.

[2816] But right now it's just on quarters because the – The attract screen doesn't play when you have it on free play.

[2817] It just flashes the maze.

[2818] So I want the full attract thing.

[2819] And it's fun putting quarters in.

[2820] Yeah.

[2821] Clunky, clunk, clunk.

[2822] Here, hit the bucket.

[2823] And then when you run out of quarters, you got to act like the arcade operator and pull out your keys.

[2824] I keep my arcade keys on my regular key chains.

[2825] All right, get the keys out.

[2826] Yeah, good.

[2827] It feels authentic.

[2828] But God damn it, is it.

[2829] In good, crazy, crazy good shape.

[2830] Modern is nice and – So sides are original, like original.

[2831] Like it's got that spray -painted stenciled look to it so you can see a little bit of like overspray on certain elements of it.

[2832] You can also see a little bit of like hand wear, kind of like where you'd stand up and you'd put your hand up on the side or kind of down near – because it's just a joystick game.

[2833] You need the other one for pizza.

[2834] Your other hand is – your offhand is free.

[2835] So it's got a little bit of wear there but not too much.

[2836] The coolest feature on the cabinet for me, though, is the top of the machine itself.

[2837] You have to either be tall or get up around the back and look at it.

[2838] You could tell that it was originally supposed to be the side to a Sinistar cabinet because it has the first pass of a Sinistar.

[2839] On the lip, on the top?

[2840] On the top, but it got bossed, and they're like, ah, fuck it, just use that piece of wood, cut it this way, and put it on the top.

[2841] How you can tell, no, this is the original damn cabinet.

[2842] Some stuff has obviously been reproed for the front panel stuff.

[2843] That would have been worn away.

[2844] You can also tell because it has the Namco copyright on it, which Ms. Pac -Man was not a Namco game.

[2845] Weird.

[2846] Ms. Pac -Man was originally a pirate -ass...

[2847] bootleg ass.

[2848] Even all the arcade machines?

[2849] So I did a little bit of research about this.

[2850] I didn't know the full story.

[2851] I knew that it was basically, you know, Midway was the U .S. licensor of Pac -Man from Namco.

[2852] So Midway was making all their crazy Pac -Man bucks when that stuff was happening here in the States.

[2853] And so they were, you know, jonesing for a follow -up from Namco and weren't getting one.

[2854] Meanwhile, there's this other company, Galactic Galaxy, I can't remember the name of it, Global Communication.

[2855] Coin Ops, something, that they had been making bootleg upgrade kits for other cabinets.

[2856] Like they had made – you saw some of this at California Extreme, like Super Missile Attack.

[2857] Yeah.

[2858] So that stuff, those were basically like upgrade kits made by people that were not the copyright holders.

[2859] So it's like this game isn't Missile Command, but it basically is Missile Command.

[2860] Right.

[2861] So that's how they had started.

[2862] And so they had done Super Missile Attack, and they had started making a conversion kit for Pac -Man that was called Crazy Auto.

[2863] So it would be like, you know, same basic idea as Pac -Man, but none of the same sprites, none of the same assets.

[2864] And they had just made a deal with Atari saying, all right, Atari is not going to sue you into oblivion, but you have to stop making these bootleg.

[2865] You know, these non -licensed upgrade kits.

[2866] So, like, well, we already started work on Crazy Auto.

[2867] We can't do anything with it.

[2868] They go and show it to Midway.

[2869] Midway's like, great, give us that.

[2870] We're going to turn that into a new Pac -Man game and put it out there.

[2871] And so they bought this thing from these guys who had been working on Crazy Auto, turned it into Ms. Pac -Man, and shipped it.

[2872] And recognized it's the best Pac -Man.

[2873] Yeah, it's great.

[2874] It's fucking awesome.

[2875] Jokes aside.

[2876] The difference is – Well, there's a few.

[2877] Well, there's always fruit.

[2878] Fruit moves in Ms. Pac -Man.

[2879] Moves and then the extra ghost?

[2880] No. So fruit would – in Pac -Man stays in one spot on the maze.

[2881] In Ms. Pac -Man, it just moves around the maze in a pattern.

[2882] Same number of ghosts but the – But one of them becomes Sue.

[2883] It goes from Clyde to Sue.

[2884] And there's a story.

[2885] There's a little story of how Pac -Man and Ms. Pac -Man meet.

[2886] and come together that's played in the act breaks.

[2887] I think there's more mazes.

[2888] I believe there's three.

[2889] Different mazes as well?

[2890] Different mazes and I believe more mazes.

[2891] There's three or maybe four mazes.

[2892] Is it a little faster too?

[2893] I don't know about speed, but ghost behavior is much improved.

[2894] That's like really the big thing that separates Pac -Man and Pac -Man is there is some randomness that's been added to the ghost routines.

[2895] Oh, so you can't just run your pattern?

[2896] You can't just run straight patterns.

[2897] Like you have to be...

[2898] It's all about grouping, and there's still kind of specific behavior concerning how ghosts act.

[2899] Right, but I can't ask a super Pac -Man or Ms. Pac -Man player where Clyde's going to be at 225 into this maze because it might be different.

[2900] Right.

[2901] Okay.

[2902] Exactly.

[2903] So there's those differences.

[2904] There might be some other stuff, but those are the main ones.

[2905] Also, she has a bow in her head.

[2906] Thanks.

[2907] I had to get that in there.

[2908] Yeah.

[2909] Well, she does.

[2910] It's true.

[2911] It's true.

[2912] It is a fact.

[2913] So I'm currently posting.

[2914] I don't want to hear about you anymore.

[2915] This is crazy.

[2916] You just destroyed everybody else's Christmas.

[2917] It's great.

[2918] I just like to leave.

[2919] The king of Christmas right here.

[2920] Did you set your high scores for yourself?

[2921] Yeah, yeah.

[2922] So that's kind of the bummer is that it does not retain any high score information.

[2923] There's no leaderboard.

[2924] There's no putting in your initials.

[2925] Is the battery dead?

[2926] It's just high score.

[2927] No, it's just when you turn it off.

[2928] Just put a chalkboard.

[2929] There's no battery.

[2930] You've never had that?

[2931] No. Really?

[2932] Wow.

[2933] It does not retain.

[2934] That's a shame.

[2935] Really?

[2936] There's no?

[2937] Sure.

[2938] There's just no, I mean, I don't know for sure.

[2939] Did some operators just like leave it on all the time?

[2940] Yeah.

[2941] They were just, yeah, that stuff was just staying.

[2942] Also the monitor is super fucking clean.

[2943] That's maybe the biggest.

[2944] I know.

[2945] I know.

[2946] And also the inside, I posted a picture online.

[2947] I should show them to you.

[2948] The inside of the, cause when we first got in, I'm like, all right, I just want to see just so I'm a little bit familiar with the back.

[2949] Let's pop it open and see where everything is.

[2950] So I know like this is the main board.

[2951] There's the edge connector of things go weird or there's where the, you know, Pac -Man ROMs are.

[2952] And if you want to, we've been lucky with arcade stuff lately.

[2953] Everybody's still playing that one.

[2954] Yeah.

[2955] Warlords is still good.

[2956] Do you know what year that is?

[2957] 81.

[2958] Oh, okay.

[2959] Maybe it was too early before the battery kits.

[2960] I don't know.

[2961] Might be.

[2962] I don't mind.

[2963] I'm just going to get a little whiteboard and that's where you post your Ms. Pac -Man scores.

[2964] Right now, my best is around 33 ,000.

[2965] which I feel totally okay about.

[2966] I can do better.

[2967] I want to see more.

[2968] I still haven't gotten...

[2969] When do you start putting a cellophane and a marker on top of the screen?

[2970] See, the thing is, I don't think that works.

[2971] And I don't want to deconstruct Ms. Pac -Man too much.

[2972] You want to enjoy it.

[2973] Yeah, I'm still just sort of enjoying it.

[2974] Like, all right, I have my strategies, and I understand things, and I've passed this information along to the girlfriend, and she plays more Ms. Pac -Man than I do.

[2975] Herse is like a sailor.

[2976] She deserves it.

[2977] Oh, yeah.

[2978] No, I'm not saying no, she shouldn't play it.

[2979] Also, she goes through her games a lot more quickly than I do.

[2980] Sick bird.

[2981] In the same time that she can play like two games, I'll play like one game.

[2982] For now.

[2983] She still does.

[2984] Her best, I think, was like 25 ,000.

[2985] So she's not too far off my best.

[2986] Get those fruit and those ghosts.

[2987] But, yeah, it's all about just score maximization of getting both fruit, getting as many ghosts as you can per blue time.

[2988] That's fun.

[2989] Yeah, it's – yeah.

[2990] I love that gift.

[2991] God bless you, girl.

[2992] Thank you for the best Christmas present ever.

[2993] So yeah, but that's mostly what I was planning.

[2994] I'd just get up every once in a while and I could go throw some quarters.

[2995] Fucking marquee is super clean.

[2996] Like all original stuff there.

[2997] I had to go buy a bulb for the marquee and I had to go buy like a security bit set so I could get into the marquee space.

[2998] But other than that, it's – Uprights.

[2999] Yeah.

[3000] Man. I know.

[3001] I know.

[3002] Between everybody, there's a few arcade machines in the possession of Whiskey Media.

[3003] A couple.

[3004] A couple.

[3005] I'm surprised this took me this long for this to be my first.

[3006] No, you had half a xenophobe.

[3007] Yeah, I own half a xenophobe machine somewhere.

[3008] Boy, that one.

[3009] I couldn't use much.

[3010] No, and Street Fighter.

[3011] We've got to get a new monitor on that Street Fighter.

[3012] Street Fighter is just in bad shape.

[3013] And again, yeah, who knew?

[3014] The TVs, that was going to be the thing.

[3015] The monitors, yeah.

[3016] Yeah, because everything else on my machine is like, yeah, that's actually the thing that I'm happy about having a Ms. Pac -Man machine is how easy parts are for that thing, generally speaking.

[3017] Other than sets.

[3018] There's nothing exotic about what is on or in a Ms. Pac -Man machine.

[3019] It's like this is a standard.

[3020] You need a four -way fucking joystick.

[3021] You need one or two buttons just for one player, two player.

[3022] Go.

[3023] And a monitor that works.

[3024] Go.

[3025] Does it have the original power supply in it?

[3026] Hard to say because there's a lot of like – there's stuff in there that's like that is original, just really well taken care of.

[3027] There's some stuff like, okay, clearly someone – But it's not like a switching power supply, like a PC power supply in there.

[3028] Not that I saw.

[3029] It looks like a big old hunk of wire.

[3030] It's far away from everything else, so I don't go down there.

[3031] Okay.

[3032] I did have – I did, and then I had my first like arcade owner panic attack of turned it on one morning, went and played a game.

[3033] Walked away, was making tea or something, came back, and suddenly Red Ghost was invisible.

[3034] And the colors were slightly off.

[3035] And I was like, oh, fuck.

[3036] There you go.

[3037] I'm like, oh, god damn it.

[3038] Is one of the guns going out on the – because my first thought is colors aren't coming in correctly.

[3039] One of the guns is going out on the monitor, and that is just your fucking nightmare scenario for arcade ownership.

[3040] Did you kick it?

[3041] What did you do?

[3042] No, I panicked, and I – contacted Steve Lin and went, Steve!

[3043] I don't know.

[3044] What should I?

[3045] And he first tips.

[3046] And he's like, ah, just go poke some ROMs and reseat the edge connector.

[3047] And I'm like, okay.

[3048] I know that's fine.

[3049] I went and did that and powered back it up.

[3050] I'm like, yay, it works again.

[3051] I win at arcade ownership.

[3052] That's right.

[3053] It's an age of when you can elbow the machine and it suddenly works again.

[3054] Right, you can Fonzie that machine back into service.

[3055] That's kind of the fun thing about arcade machines is like, ah, it's not working.

[3056] Ah, I'm blowing it.

[3057] I don't know.

[3058] Or I found in the process of trying to figure out what was up with the monitor, I found the monitor control panel, which has just like those weird little knobs on it.

[3059] And that's like some real analog control that you have over the signal.

[3060] I'm like, oh, let's tweak this a little bit.

[3061] Like make that a little more narrow.

[3062] Like, oh, wait.

[3063] Or it's like it's in a weird position where it's just kind of like hanging in the middle of the cabin.

[3064] Like you open up the coin door and it's just kind of – like clearly it was supposed to be adhered to the wall.

[3065] But that stickiness gave up years ago.

[3066] And so it's hanging there.

[3067] And every time I touch it while it's hanging, the monitor just kind of freaks out and just spazz all over the place.

[3068] I'm like, all right.

[3069] Well, I got to get in there and adjust stuff.

[3070] When I get my hands off of it, just leave it in just the right spot so that it doesn't wiggle too much.

[3071] and everything stays good.

[3072] So now you get to take this sought -after collector's Adamus Pac -Man machine and gut it and turn it into a 64 -button main machine.

[3073] You're like, yeah, great.

[3074] Oh, perfect.

[3075] This is exactly what I need for my main cabinet.

[3076] It's got the Tron sticks on it.

[3077] I put a racing wheel on there.

[3078] It's got 77 buttons.

[3079] There's a USB port down here if you just want to plug in the 360 controller.

[3080] I don't know.

[3081] Just in case, you know, I don't know.

[3082] There's Atari sticks on it, paddles.

[3083] What else we got on there?

[3084] You fucking snobs.

[3085] It's just not the point of buying a damn cabinet.

[3086] I don't know.

[3087] I agree.

[3088] Well, especially not like an original.

[3089] original that was always the thing too and they had the raffles at california extreme there'd always be like a perfect pinball machine or you're like and you're like that pinball machine is like a three thousand dollar lord of the rings like stern handmade awesome like don't get me wrong i have nothing against like a main cabinet like i'd build one myself if i had the room it's the taking things that will no longer ever be built like this mispacking you're right that's terrible yeah and people do it which is crazy yeah that's so mean Congratulations.

[3090] Yeah, no, and it will be cherished in my house.

[3091] You're welcome now.

[3092] I sometimes just go and sit and look at it.

[3093] I've got a couch that's right across from it.

[3094] I'll just sit there and just – Oh, yeah.

[3095] Oh, yeah.

[3096] The glow is nice.

[3097] Yeah.

[3098] The light from a Ms. Pac -Man marquee is all pink and yellow.

[3099] It's warm.

[3100] It's inviting.

[3101] She does have a bow.

[3102] I played Vanquish.

[3103] And that was my – did you?

[3104] Yeah.

[3105] What did you think?

[3106] It's kind of like a two -year -old game at this point.

[3107] Yeah.

[3108] Bosses are hard.

[3109] It's dumb.

[3110] It's kind of hard.

[3111] I also forgot I'd put Dark Souls on my list.

[3112] Yeah.

[3113] You would.

[3114] It's good.

[3115] I don't know.

[3116] Whatever.

[3117] I'd put Dark Souls.

[3118] Give me Dark Souls in the Skyrim world.

[3119] Give me a jetpack in Skyrim.

[3120] That would be psyched.

[3121] I'm sure if you get the PC version, I'm sure it'll be there soon enough.

[3122] Somebody will put a jetpack in.

[3123] Did any news happen?

[3124] You want to talk about news?

[3125] I think so.

[3126] I fixed the 360 controller I was telling you earlier.

[3127] That was news.

[3128] Breaking news.

[3129] We're just getting here in the Giant Bomb newsroom.

[3130] I cut open with my Leatherman a 360 controller cord and resoldered wires.

[3131] By the way, you guys freaked me the hell out with that lockpick kit that you put on.

[3132] my computer oh you left it on his desk yeah I thought because we've had like stuff disappearing and I was like the time he's leaving you a message no I thought somebody was like fucked up and had like left that there and it's like super conspicuous spot right on top of your monitor whoever's doing it is like some master thief with a leather lock pit like whoever's coming in to like swipe stuff from the office is like I'm a master yeah but it's like you play so much video games you think that that's actually possible that's like the only person like we have no real locks around yeah you couldn't get in here with a fucking old -fashioned lockpick set.

[3133] You need like an electronic...

[3134] But that's why I thought it was awesome because I was like, oh, we have a master theme for this.

[3135] It's done this.

[3136] So funny.

[3137] Somebody from the guild has come in here.

[3138] I was so weirded out.

[3139] Freaked me out.

[3140] That was a weird package.

[3141] That was.

[3142] Thanks to that guy, though.

[3143] There was awesome, awesome shit in there.

[3144] We'll figure out a way to give away that other Eisenhorn book, that copy of Eisenhorn.

[3145] I've got a ton of stuff we need to give away.

[3146] Oh, yeah.

[3147] We should gather up for the new year and just clean it out.

[3148] I've got a ton of t -shirts that I really want to give away, but I thought that was weird.

[3149] What's that?

[3150] T -shirts.

[3151] It's fine to give away t -shirts.

[3152] Is that fine?

[3153] What's weird about giving away?

[3154] Maybe I don't know if I've worn them before.

[3155] I don't care.

[3156] Okay.

[3157] People will love that shit.

[3158] Just like video game t -shirts.

[3159] I mean, I guess unless you're afraid of...

[3160] I've worn them.

[3161] People making voodoo dolls out of them.

[3162] I'm saying I've worn them.

[3163] I get it.

[3164] Yeah.

[3165] I know.

[3166] Oh, man. Some people might want that.

[3167] That's what I'm saying is as long as you're okay with.

[3168] Like finding my DNA.

[3169] The fact that I really wore this.

[3170] As long as you're okay with that being the appeal to some people.

[3171] I didn't wear them that much because I don't really wear anything that has like prints on it so much.

[3172] But like prints.

[3173] As long as you're afraid that, you know, you're not afraid of people like going to sleep with them.

[3174] Yeah, that's fine.

[3175] I said, man, I'll bring them in.

[3176] They've got boxes.

[3177] I don't have room for them.

[3178] No more room.

[3179] No room for anything.

[3180] No. No room for stuff.

[3181] You want this Bion Commando t -shirt?

[3182] No. It's yours.

[3183] No. You don't want it?

[3184] No. Why not?

[3185] No. Get that away from me. I don't need any more black L's.

[3186] There wasn't really any other news.

[3187] There was that Cristoforo stuff with the Avenger.

[3188] That's kind of blown over at this point, I feel.

[3189] One guy was a dick on the internet, and then a bunch of people were dicks on the internet.

[3190] Yeah, now everybody's a dick.

[3191] On the internet?

[3192] On the internet.

[3193] Yeah, everybody's a dick on the internet.

[3194] That's a bold step.

[3195] That's a tough one.

[3196] Yeah.

[3197] Just let the earthquake do it for you.

[3198] Can't get rid of that hose.

[3199] It's coming.

[3200] Just yet.

[3201] Yeah, stuff doesn't happen.

[3202] How's the...

[3203] Do you guys know how the PSP is doing?

[3204] The new...

[3205] Yeah, that came out.

[3206] Not great.

[3207] Not great?

[3208] It did okay the first week, and then the second week, the old PSP beat it in sales.

[3209] Wow.

[3210] I wonder if because it's discounted.

[3211] As did the 3DS and PS3 and some stuff.

[3212] I don't know.

[3213] That's looking kind of iffy.

[3214] That's March here?

[3215] February.

[3216] Or wait, is it March?

[3217] God, I've totally forgotten.

[3218] I think it's sooner than March.

[3219] It's February.

[3220] It's late February.

[3221] It's like 22nd or something.

[3222] But soon.

[3223] Yeah, we'll see.

[3224] We will see.

[3225] Yeah, it's...

[3226] That's news.

[3227] That's frigging all I got for news, man. Man, if you think there was news.

[3228] You want to talk about some new releases?

[3229] How about some new releases?

[3230] Yeah.

[3231] Fuck you.

[3232] Why?

[3233] No, those are the new releases.

[3234] Is that out finally?

[3235] Finally.

[3236] Is that on the DS store?

[3237] No. Fuck yourself?

[3238] Yeah, exactly.

[3239] Go fuck yourself.

[3240] And then sequel hot follow -up DLC, fuck you.

[3241] Is now available only on the 3DS eShop.

[3242] Send spam ad -on pack.

[3243] To my knowledge, we have perused digital and physical retailers.

[3244] You just can't find anything.

[3245] There's fucking nothing coming out this week.

[3246] When did Postal not come out?

[3247] That did not come out last year.

[3248] And that was like...

[3249] And it's still not out now.

[3250] Okay.

[3251] So, technically.

[3252] What's up this week with downloadable stuff?

[3253] Oh, I believe Blitz.

[3254] It looks like NFL Blitz might be out, but I'm not even.

[3255] My understanding is Blitz is out.

[3256] Okay.

[3257] And we'll probably do a TNT with that next week when Jeff is back.

[3258] Yeah, we can't cover that game without Jeff.

[3259] No, no. No one here just literally cannot do it.

[3260] It's like you have one of the best Blitz players in the world.

[3261] Proven.

[3262] Yeah, we're not going to sit here and try and cover the game while he's not here.

[3263] We would do that with other stuff.

[3264] Yeah.

[3265] Do that with Postal 3.

[3266] Look for that.

[3267] That game's shit.

[3268] It's up now.

[3269] Just not watch it.

[3270] Holy crap.

[3271] No, it's not up now.

[3272] It's not up now?

[3273] This goes up before then.

[3274] It's Tuesday.

[3275] Oh, that's right.

[3276] Yeah.

[3277] That's going up tomorrow.

[3278] Yeah, look for that tomorrow.

[3279] Actually.

[3280] Or whatever.

[3281] It's garbage.

[3282] Don't get your hopes up.

[3283] That game...

[3284] It wasn't even a good time.

[3285] There's no redneck crampage.

[3286] No, at least that's...

[3287] Sometimes it's a bad game and you have a good time doing it.

[3288] I didn't even have a good time.

[3289] It was just disappointing.

[3290] No, it wasn't great.

[3291] Blitz maybe this week.

[3292] I think that's correct.

[3293] I think that's actually for real.

[3294] But...

[3295] Otherwise...

[3296] Wasteland.

[3297] All those 2011 games.

[3298] There's plenty to play.

[3299] Are bullshit now because it's 2012.

[3300] Yeah, you can't play those anymore.

[3301] Get your old man games out of my fucking face.

[3302] They'll catch on fire if you try to play them.

[3303] It doesn't work anymore.

[3304] I'm going to fall into an MMO hole.

[3305] I know what I can feel.

[3306] Let's do it.

[3307] Let's do it.

[3308] Roll on mind trick.

[3309] Imperial side.

[3310] I need to make sure I get on my mind trick before this goes up.

[3311] Before it's flooded with more people.

[3312] It's already very full.

[3313] I need people to play with or I'm not going to play it anymore.

[3314] I'll roll this.

[3315] So you said Imperial on as a way to go.

[3316] I kind of want to try Imperial.

[3317] All right.

[3318] Let's do it.

[3319] Yeah.

[3320] Imperial seems to be where the party's at.

[3321] Okay.

[3322] And where the Picard is at.

[3323] All right, let's take this home with some emails.

[3324] Really?

[3325] Yeah.

[3326] Bombcast at JohnBomb .com.

[3327] First email comes in from Greg.

[3328] Hey, Bomb Squad.

[3329] Just before Christmas, I had to go into the hospital to get my appendix out, and with the result that I spent the last week before Christmas trapped on the couch with only my 360 for company.

[3330] On one of these days, I was watching Scrooge to pass the time.

[3331] Good call.

[3332] And when it ended, I did not want to have to go through the five -minute post -surgical standing -up ritual to change the discs.

[3333] So I picked up my controller, and three button clicks later, was playing Bastion.

[3334] As late in this generation as it may be, this was one of the first times I actually felt like I was playing.

[3335] on the cool futuristic consoles that we imagined many years ago.

[3336] This got me thinking, what is or was there ever a moment in this or any other generation where you actually felt next generation?

[3337] When the Kinect voice stuff worked, that felt cool.

[3338] It's like, oh, this is kind of the future here.

[3339] Right, and then after that when nothing was integrated.

[3340] Sega CD.

[3341] That felt like the future.

[3342] I thought I was playing the future of video games.

[3343] The first time you saw live action video in your game, you're like, holy, what the fuck is going on?

[3344] Blew my mind.

[3345] It was worth it, washing all those cars that entire summer in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

[3346] That's a hot summer.

[3347] That is a hot summer.

[3348] It's hot.

[3349] That thing was like $300.

[3350] It took all summer for me to save up to play Sewer Sharks.

[3351] Brad, did you have a...

[3352] Hello.

[3353] Did you have...

[3354] Yeah, I'm sitting here thinking about it.

[3355] I guess for this generation, I guess it's the same thing as this guy.

[3356] Just like the immediacy that you can access new games now.

[3357] Like last month I was home with some stomach flu or food poisoning or whatever it was.

[3358] It was the same day that Trine 2 came out.

[3359] Right.

[3360] And in between instances of throwing up, I was like, Trine 2 is out.

[3361] I can click four buttons on my computer and it's downloading and my internet is so fast enough that even though it's like three and a half gig or whatever, it will be here in five minutes.

[3362] Ten minutes.

[3363] Fast internet is definitely...

[3364] The speed of the internet and the ease of the purchase process and all that stuff.

[3365] That still kind of amazes me. Yeah.

[3366] I was like, I didn't have to leave the house.

[3367] I feel like absolute dog shit, but I can still access this cool new game that just came out like an hour ago.

[3368] I remember my first like...

[3369] original PlayStation experience.

[3370] That was pretty...

[3371] That felt pretty fucking futuristic.

[3372] Yeah.

[3373] I thought the SNES was pretty...

[3374] The first time I saw that dinosaur demo in Circuit City, I was just like, holy shit.

[3375] For me, it was like I went with a friend and we rented one from the local video store and just got a handful of whatever random games like Ridge Racer.

[3376] No, Rage Racer.

[3377] And like the ESPN...

[3378] Extreme sports game, whatever that compilation was called.

[3379] And just the idea of, like, you can play this game or you can just listen to the fucking CD audio soundtrack for it.

[3380] Like, what the fuck?

[3381] I can just listen to this soundtrack.

[3382] It's actual instruments.

[3383] Like, that was enough.

[3384] It just blew my fucking mind.

[3385] Yes, I guess from then.

[3386] Are you saying SNES?

[3387] It was just Super Mario World.

[3388] It was just crazy.

[3389] I remember putting that in and feeling like, I mean, I was a little kid.

[3390] But, like, that was magical.

[3391] It was magical.

[3392] It was maybe more magical than technology.

[3393] I was just like, I'm in a bubble.

[3394] I'm in a joy bubble here.

[3395] Don't burst it.

[3396] A really raw technical example for me was in Quake, the first one.

[3397] Looking down at a guy after I'd killed him, corpse on the ground.

[3398] Like, looking down at the mouse and then turning off mouse looks so I could move back and forth.

[3399] I'm just, like, slowly panning my view around this guy.

[3400] And, like, I'm looking at this guy from, like, every angle.

[3401] And I can see him from the side.

[3402] Team Fortress.

[3403] And now from the front.

[3404] Like, just having 3D characters in games was completely mind -blowing.

[3405] Getting a voodoo card and looking through the water so I can snipe to it.

[3406] I was going to say, OpenGL was a pretty technical.

[3407] Like, Quake with the closed lighting.

[3408] It was crazy because you just went from, like, it was all the same stuff that you had.

[3409] It just went from just.

[3410] like all right now we support your hardware directly and so we can we can look at the magic shit we can make this machine do now it's not all grainy and big giant chunky particles everywhere usually i don't think that could i don't even know if that could happen again where you're just like replace this one part and like it's like you have a new game and it's like wow holy crap like software drivers versus hardware drivers with like you can't even tell that like barely noticeable as the same game That was, yeah, firing shots from, like, whatever gun you had.

[3411] And seeing the light.

[3412] And seeing the light source fall in the hole.

[3413] Oh, yeah.

[3414] Yeah, that stuff was great.

[3415] God.

[3416] And I've definitely had, you know, like, arcade moments like that as well.

[3417] You know, the first time that I saw a Neo Geo cabinet in the world after watching the GamePro TV special about...

[3418] The Neo Geo.

[3419] Ninja Combat and Super Spy.

[3420] We're just laying out.

[3421] So I had watched this thing, the GamePro TV thing about Neo Geo before I'd ever seen one.

[3422] And it was laying out like, okay, there's this home system, right?

[3423] And it's fucking crazy expensive.

[3424] It's got these giant cards and whatever.

[3425] But then there's also the arcade machine.

[3426] And it's the exact same.

[3427] It's not.

[3428] Slightly – it's not like a – no, it's the exact same game in both locations.

[3429] Like, what are you talking about?

[3430] You heard the same thing.

[3431] Oh, check this out though.

[3432] You can play it at home.

[3433] Take this card out.

[3434] Put it in the machine at the arcade.

[3435] Keep your progress.

[3436] What?

[3437] That's – what?

[3438] Why?

[3439] Why would you ever come here?

[3440] In retrospect, why?

[3441] But, you know, it was besides the point.

[3442] But that sounded so cool.

[3443] Tell that to the man who just put a whiteboard next to his Miss Pac -Man.

[3444] I think we know why.

[3445] That sounded so fucking cool.

[3446] And just, like, you know, the first time that I saw MK, after, like, buddies came home from the arcade and, like, dude, there is this new game in the arcade.

[3447] You have to see this fucking game.

[3448] It is like Street Fighter, but way crazier.

[3449] Virtua Fighter was like that.

[3450] And I remember, like, when they were describing what was happening in Mortal Kombat.

[3451] combat I'm like you guys are liars and you're just making yeah that sounds like something people would just lie about yeah like you're just making this game up like no dudes like guys explode and they all look like real dudes and like rip the guy's head off Virtua Racer was like that too I remember that even before like Virtua Fighter where it was just like 3D yeah where you were sitting in that cockpit and it was like 3D and I remember it had that bridge moment where it like pulls back and you're like oh my god It's a weird relative thing.

[3452] You can't look at that stuff now and think it was like, wow, this is mind -blowing.

[3453] But when you're first seeing polygons move on screen, you're like, this looks amazing.

[3454] This is magic and voodoo in here.

[3455] And then you kind of look at it and you're like, ah, these graphics are all right.

[3456] Uncharted 3 is pretty good looking, but it's like I was blown away by a six -sided dude fighting.

[3457] It was this monumental.

[3458] It was just this – you had no standards to judge it by because everything else that you had seen was flat 2D sprite -based stuff.

[3459] Or that you were even directly controlling it because what you had seen on 3D was like on the Lawnmower Man or like you can't control that.

[3460] That took like seven hours and there's a special on PBS about how long it took to render each frame or whatever the fuck that means.

[3461] It was revolutionary and like 17 giant cray computers are doing this one scene that looks terrible.

[3462] And you're like now it's like I can directly punch this guy and then – And do a split.

[3463] His face explodes.

[3464] It's awesome.

[3465] It is pretty awesome.

[3466] Magical.

[3467] Video games.

[3468] What a lifetime of memories.

[3469] Yeah.

[3470] Hopefully that, yes, of punching dudes.

[3471] Remember in Kung Fu?

[3472] I punched that dude and it flew off the screen.

[3473] So you're on the SNES.

[3474] Final Fight, I was punching dudes.

[3475] I remember Genesis.

[3476] I was punching that dude.

[3477] That was pretty good.

[3478] It's here on my...

[3479] Nintendo 64 came out.

[3480] Even Mario could punch dudes.

[3481] That's right.

[3482] Mario punching Goombas in the face.

[3483] Clay Fighters were punching some dudes.

[3484] Punching some dudes.

[3485] I got my PlayStation.

[3486] How was I punching dudes in my PlayStation?

[3487] Tekken.

[3488] Yeah, Tekken.

[3489] I was punching some fucking dudes in some fucking Tekken.

[3490] And in PlayStation 2, you were tagging and punching dudes in Tekken.

[3491] I didn't like it.

[3492] take a tag.

[3493] Oh, you skipped that one?

[3494] No, no. But still, everything was punches.

[3495] You got Halo and you're punching guys with the butt of your rifle.

[3496] Whatever, it's fucking Grand Theft Auto.

[3497] I'm punching dudes all over the place in that.

[3498] How about in your Virtual Boy?

[3499] Did you punch a dude in that?

[3500] I did not ever own a Virtual Boy.

[3501] Really?

[3502] Did you ever play one?

[3503] Yeah.

[3504] Okay.

[3505] I didn't own one either.

[3506] That did not qualify as one of those moments.

[3507] No, that was like, well...

[3508] This is kind of...

[3509] This sucks, Joey.

[3510] Who bought you this?

[3511] Everything is red and black, and my head hurts.

[3512] I punch dudes in Demolition Man on my 3DO.

[3513] Yes!

[3514] Yes!

[3515] We've got to get that in here at some point.

[3516] That's a great game.

[3517] You and I might have to redefine great with Demolition Man from the 3DO.

[3518] Oh, come on, man. What's this?

[3519] Sapsesblee!

[3520] Sapsesblee!

[3521] Sapsesblee!

[3522] Sapsesblee!

[3523] Those prison pants he's wearing?

[3524] Sapsesblee!

[3525] Vertical stripes?

[3526] Dude, just...

[3527] Looks like a clown.

[3528] Dude, just the fucking...

[3529] Specifically recorded FMV sequences with Sylvester Stallone doing fucking jungle rules on a green screen are amazing.

[3530] Holy...

[3531] You know what?

[3532] I'm not going to talk about it anymore because we need to hunt down a copy of Demolition Man from 3DO.

[3533] We can do it.

[3534] Get a 3DO in here.

[3535] Jeff doesn't know if his 3DO works.

[3536] We're going to need two 3DOs because you guys will be doing that.

[3537] And on the other set, me and Jeff will be running a Way of the Warrior Scrub League.

[3538] Because holy shit, Way of the Warrior is an incredible game.

[3539] You know, kind of like that.

[3540] The multimedia era, for me, there was just a ton of futuristic feeling moments.

[3541] CDI, you remember?

[3542] We were just talking about...

[3543] It didn't really ever pan out, but it was just when you looked at it and you sat down with it, you're like, this feels like the fucking future.

[3544] It's the Kinect all over again.

[3545] It's the same thing of like, wow, that's crazy.

[3546] I've never seen anything like that.

[3547] And then you kind of dig in and you're like, well, this isn't that great.

[3548] It was the Jurassic Park video game.

[3549] medium for me it was it was it was the like they were too busy being excited about the fact that they could that they never stopped to think that they should that's true they were definitely overdone I just always felt like that's the rich kids had that like oh my god Do you want to go over to your house, Dave's house?

[3550] And I'm your new best friend, man. Let's go check out the 3DO.

[3551] I love it.

[3552] I always like the Dave.

[3553] Dave's a cool guy.

[3554] My actual best friend got a 3DO, so I didn't have to feel bad about it.

[3555] About befriending somebody for a 3DO.

[3556] Because I already was, and he just happened to get one.

[3557] My cousin got a 3DO, and they were definitely like, wow, she got a 3DO.

[3558] Fuck.

[3559] But was it the $700 Panasonic 3DO, or was it the lower -priced Gold Star 3DO?

[3560] Mine was a Gold Star.

[3561] I think it was the cheaper one.

[3562] My friend got the original Panasonic with the motorized drive and everything.

[3563] I don't think it was this.

[3564] I can't even remember what we played.

[3565] She only had, like, three games.

[3566] How about this?

[3567] Drive caddies.

[3568] Oh, God, yeah.

[3569] Drive caddies.

[3570] What's a drive caddy?

[3571] A little caddy that you've got to put the disc into before you put it into the drive.

[3572] It's not a tray that pops out.

[3573] It's almost like a suitcase that goes in there.

[3574] Yeah, shove this jewel case with a CD in it into your...

[3575] It's like effectively turning the CD into a floppy disk.

[3576] Yeah.

[3577] All right.

[3578] I think we've exhausted that topic.

[3579] Yeah, lots of magical times.

[3580] It doesn't even...

[3581] It can feel like the future without being there.

[3582] Every time.

[3583] It always feels like the future.

[3584] Tape.

[3585] Pole position on a cassette tape.

[3586] The first time that I played both a PC game and a console game online on the internet.

[3587] The first time I played a PC game, direct dialing someone else.

[3588] Yeah, playing one -on -one Doom and Warcraft 2 over the phone against somebody.

[3589] Yeah, that felt completely magical.

[3590] As antiquated as it could possibly be right now.

[3591] Or offensive.

[3592] Just the idea of playing a game against somebody that was not in the same house.

[3593] And heartbreaking when your parents would pick up the phone.

[3594] Yeah, my friends and I used to fuck with each other and you'd pick up the phone at their house when they're on the BBS or wherever and just scream errors into the phone and watch as their client fills up with garbage for a second.

[3595] Fuck!

[3596] It was also the shittiest way to get caught playing a game when it's like 1 in the morning and then your mom or your dad.

[3597] It would always ring once.

[3598] Somebody would pick up the phone.

[3599] Yeah, you'd have to be like, fuck!

[3600] And then somebody would be like, your connection would go out and you just knew you were fucked because it was like...

[3601] And then...

[3602] The fuck are you doing out here?

[3603] I gotta wake up in two hours and get in traffic and you're fucking allowed to go to sleep.

[3604] You're fucking dead tomorrow.

[3605] You're dead tomorrow.

[3606] But these days you get to hear it all over the microphone that the kid has.

[3607] Right.

[3608] You get to hear the parental.

[3609] The other side heard that.

[3610] Yeah, thankfully it was just you.

[3611] It was just me. All right, this next email comes in from Rusty Jamar in Odessa, Texas.

[3612] Rusty writes in to say, Is it me or does this Steve Jobs action figure look like Vinny?

[3613] I think it kind of does.

[3614] There's a Steve Jobs action figure?

[3615] Let's do a comparison here.

[3616] I'm going to hold this iPad up to Vinny's face.

[3617] That's the one on the left -hand side?

[3618] Yeah, the one on the left -hand side.

[3619] It looks very scary.

[3620] Why would you make a Steve Jobs action figure?

[3621] Because, I don't know, National Hero?

[3622] Why does anyone do anything?

[3623] I don't know.

[3624] Because someone will buy a Steve Jobs action figure.

[3625] What do you guys think?

[3626] It looks like Steve Jobs mixed with Ben Kingsley.

[3627] A little bit gray, yeah.

[3628] Give him some glasses.

[3629] You have to gray up a bunch.

[3630] There's a slight resemblance.

[3631] If you had a postage stamp, would you want an older Steve or a young Steve?

[3632] I want mustache Steve.

[3633] That's my favorite Steve.

[3634] Yeah.

[3635] Long hair.

[3636] Shaggy, but not super shaggy.

[3637] I like corduroy business jacket.

[3638] I like Noah Wiley, Steve Jobs.

[3639] That's the one that I like.

[3640] Have you ever seen the video where it was like a Macworld or some similar conference?

[3641] 98, 99.

[3642] They had Noah Wiley come out instead of Steve Jobs and start doing the presentation.

[3643] And then the real Steve Jobs walked out behind him.

[3644] And people didn't get it for a while.

[3645] So thank you, Rusty.

[3646] I don't know.

[3647] All right.

[3648] It's good company.

[3649] This next email comes in from Sean Koontz.

[3650] All right.

[3651] Sean Koontz.

[3652] You know, he asked me what the email was.

[3653] I had no idea why.

[3654] I thought he was looking up something like checking.

[3655] Yeah, exactly.

[3656] Can you verify this?

[3657] What is it?

[3658] Skyrim just killed my poor 360.

[3659] With new consoles just around the corner, 2013 -ish, would you recommend buying another Xbox or building a new PC and hooking it up to my TV?

[3660] Well, I think they're much different investment levels.

[3661] Yeah, that's for sure.

[3662] If you're building a new PC from scratch, even if you aren't going to go crazy over the top, you're going to have to spend more than $200 or $300 to get something good.

[3663] You can't break that wall.

[3664] He's got to listen to his answer.

[3665] No, he doesn't.

[3666] Dude, no. No, no. I don't care if he's just outside there.

[3667] We've got to record it first.

[3668] Silly.

[3669] Put it up on the site.

[3670] Then he can get to this point in the podcast.

[3671] Absolutely silly.

[3672] I'm sure he'd prefer it.

[3673] Now you've alerted him.

[3674] No, he doesn't hear anything past his techno ears.

[3675] There's no way.

[3676] Is he playing backgammon over there?

[3677] What's going on?

[3678] See, now when he listens to this, it's going to be a lot weirder, too.

[3679] Yeah, because he's going to know that we were sitting here looking at him and talking about him.

[3680] Outing his playing a board game.

[3681] Several hours later.

[3682] I can't tell what's going on over there.

[3683] I have to retrace his step.

[3684] Like, fuck, what was I doing?

[3685] No, you were looking.

[3686] I can tell you what you're looking at right now.

[3687] Yeah.

[3688] Yeah, I think it's a different investment.

[3689] Yeah, it is.

[3690] If he really wants to do it on the cheap, I would say buy one of those $200 Xboxes.

[3691] Because you can get the 4GB onboard, no hard drive.

[3692] Yeah, you can bust the hard drive out of your old one and just stick it.

[3693] Not even recover.

[3694] The new one has a bare SATA connector inside it.

[3695] So you can literally just take that hard drive out of his old one and just shove it into that console.

[3696] So he won't lose his saves or whatever he had on that.

[3697] Right, and it'll all be there.

[3698] And even though there's a change in format, you're saying he won't necessarily need to buy new.

[3699] A new hard drive.

[3700] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[3701] You just have to be willing to crack open the old one.

[3702] And you will spend a lot more than that on a PC.

[3703] Yeah.

[3704] So it's a matter of investment, but that PC is going to – And you get cheaper games than the PC.

[3705] It's true.

[3706] You get cheaper games than the PC.

[3707] Probably most of the same ones.

[3708] Well, if you're willing to wait it out a little bit on the Xbox, they drop in the same way.

[3709] Yeah.

[3710] But if you're talking day one, it's always so much cheaper.

[3711] And that PC will last you.

[3712] Like that PC is going to stay relevant at least for – A few more years.

[3713] A few more years.

[3714] Longer than probably that Xbox.

[3715] And at this point, those games will look better on that PC than they will as long as the port is reasonable than anything that's going to come out in the 360 next year.

[3716] The question is, who is going to be Sean Kuntz's support buddy when he starts running into problems with this PC?

[3717] Will.

[3718] Good call.

[3719] Yeah.

[3720] I also nominate Will Smith to be Sean Kuntz's.

[3721] So, Sean, if you have any problems, go build a PC.

[3722] Yeah, it's a PC.

[3723] And pick Will's brain on that stuff.

[3724] He's got all that figured out.

[3725] Whatever.

[3726] We'll make a feature out of it.

[3727] Something.

[3728] So thanks for writing in, Sean.

[3729] Though, you know what?

[3730] I'm going to say go 360 because you probably won't get tricky on any PC in the future.

[3731] Or the new SSX.

[3732] Yeah.

[3733] Yeah, that's probably...

[3734] I mean, yeah, a quick and easy solution is just to pick up another Xbox.

[3735] Next email comes in from Joel in Washington, D .C., District of Columbia.

[3736] Dear Bombcast, during the third day of award deliberations, Ryan stated that Drive 3er, or Driver 3, was the original offender for using the awkward 3 for an E in a game title.

[3737] I may have.

[3738] Did you mean it?

[3739] This is incorrect.

[3740] He believes that Wipeout 3, or Whip 3 Out, was the first to do this back in 1999.

[3741] Unlike Driver 3, however, Wipeout 3 was an awesome game.

[3742] I will agree with that.

[3743] Yeah, but it made sense within the Wipeout milieu.

[3744] What is it, the futuristic -y?

[3745] That whole Designer's Republic, kind of European...

[3746] house.

[3747] Sure.

[3748] Futuristic everything.

[3749] Sure.

[3750] It made sense.

[3751] Like, Driver had no business putting a three in there.

[3752] But yeah...

[3753] So I read this email, and I was trying to think of, like, yeah, because I remember when Wipeout 3 came out and didn't care that they did that.

[3754] And then I remember when Driver 3 came out, and it was a shitstorm, and it was, like, the worst thing ever.

[3755] I'm trying to, like, parse out, like, why was that?

[3756] And is it because it fit, or was it just because, like, Wipeout 3 was a good enough game that it's like, eh, it's like, it's dumb, but you don't really give a shit because this is still a pretty good Wipeout game.

[3757] Whereas with Driver, they were talking in, like, big mess about how fucking cool and GTA -killing their game was going to be.

[3758] And you just weren't seeing it.

[3759] Anything you saw of the game just looked like trash.

[3760] I don't know.

[3761] Just couldn't walk the walk with a three.

[3762] I guess, yeah.

[3763] Didn't have the cool.

[3764] It would just seem like it was unearned affectation, you know?

[3765] Like, yeah.

[3766] Yeah.

[3767] So Joel is correct.

[3768] Wipeout 3, if not necessarily the original offender, is definitely an earlier example of that.

[3769] Do -do -do -do -do -do -do.

[3770] We're going to have a little shorty today.

[3771] That's it?

[3772] Yeah.

[3773] Holiday returning.

[3774] Yeah, whatever.

[3775] Ease into it.

[3776] We're short, man, here.

[3777] Yeah, I don't want to pull a hammy or anything.

[3778] That's it for emails.

[3779] Thanks to everyone who wrote in.

[3780] Bombcast at giantbomb .com.

[3781] Can I ask a question to the room?

[3782] Hold on.

[3783] Breaking news.

[3784] No, it's not breaking news.

[3785] It's kind of a relaxed one.

[3786] Okay, what's up?

[3787] What are you playing right now?

[3788] This weekend, what do you go home and play?

[3789] Old Republic.

[3790] Old Republic?

[3791] Batman.

[3792] I'm going to play that Space Pirates and Zombies game.

[3793] Matt Rory told me he put 40 hours into that game in the span of like three days.

[3794] I heard about that.

[3795] It's like a Moo clone, like Masters of Orion.

[3796] 4X.

[3797] Yeah, kind of.

[3798] It's on Steam?

[3799] It's on Steam.

[3800] It was on sale, and I bought it, but I couldn't play it because I was on a Mac the whole time.

[3801] So I'm kind of worried.

[3802] I'm going to play.

[3803] The Old Republic.

[3804] I've got to check it out.

[3805] I've played pretty much every MMO.

[3806] I feel like I need to...

[3807] Get in there?

[3808] I need to at least put in the 30 hours to figure it out, and then I'll discard it if it's no good.

[3809] Hopefully I won't lose my...

[3810] I'd love to come and check back in with you after you have some time with it, just to hear your thoughts on it.

[3811] Well, it sounds like Jeff's going to have everything.

[3812] Yeah, but you have a much different MMO perspective.

[3813] Oh, I can tell you whether or not that's been done before.

[3814] Yeah, sure.

[3815] Well, you just, like, it's a different perspective, and it's meaningfully so, and I value your opinion on this stuff, so I would love to hear what you have to say about it after some time with it.

[3816] What are you going to do, Ms. Packman?

[3817] Yeah, I've been playing super casual.

[3818] I really didn't play.

[3819] I had a bunch of time off during the break that I wasn't family commitments or anything, just sitting around.

[3820] Well, that's what the break, it's good to take a little.

[3821] Just didn't want to play.

[3822] I've still got that huge stack of stuff that I haven't finished.

[3823] I'm just like, I don't really want to get into anything huge.

[3824] And the thing with Old Republic is, you know, It's an MMO, so every time you go in, there's a certain amount of kind of wind -up time per session.

[3825] Right, you can't jump in for five minutes.

[3826] Yeah, it's like, okay, I'm going to get in, and it's like, well, I can maybe perform a leg of a quest.

[3827] There's a certain time commitment of if I'm going to accomplish anything in this game, because by the time that you want to stop playing, you want to be back in a cantina gaining rest.

[3828] You want to have completed or at least made progress into a leg on a quest.

[3829] So I just never felt like I don't want to put the – I'm not ready right now.

[3830] I don't want to put the hours in that I need to or I don't want to commit to that right now.

[3831] I highly recommend Binding of Isaac.

[3832] That's a great sit there for 10 minutes, put it down game.

[3833] I've got other quickies.

[3834] I've got more Rayman to play.

[3835] I've got to finish – That's what I'm going for.

[3836] Space Man. Rayman is $30 on Amazon today.

[3837] Ooh.

[3838] That's a deal.

[3839] I want to play some more of that.

[3840] All right.

[3841] That's my last question.

[3842] What are you looking forward to?

[3843] I'm going to do the Rayman.

[3844] I'm going to go play Skyrim, too.

[3845] I'm going to finish all that.

[3846] That's going to be a lot of time.

[3847] When does it hit?

[3848] What kicks it off this year?

[3849] Nothing.

[3850] Really?

[3851] I don't know.

[3852] Mass Effect.

[3853] Jack shit, yeah.

[3854] Is that January?

[3855] Syndicate and Amalur.

[3856] And I'm not even looking forward to that.

[3857] That's definitely...

[3858] So we have a couple of games in January.

[3859] Is Mass Effect January?

[3860] Oh, that's in March.

[3861] So Amalur is February, right?

[3862] February, yeah.

[3863] Like, there's not much going on.

[3864] Are you talking about just, like, when's the next...

[3865] When do we have to pay attention?

[3866] I want to know when the next Darksiders.

[3867] Not for a while.

[3868] You get the surprise game that comes out in, like, January or February, and you're like, oh, this game's really good.

[3869] Darksiders is coming, but it's not right around the corner.

[3870] No, but the first one was like that.

[3871] Because the last two years, I think it's been a couple years ago.

[3872] Last year's Capcom has been pretty early in the year with something.

[3873] Nothing enormously huge.

[3874] There's the new Silent Hill game coming out before the end of the month.

[3875] There's Gotham City Impostors.

[3876] Yeah, it's the month of January.

[3877] Pretty thin.

[3878] So with that, I'm going to say tune in since there's nothing really going on here.

[3879] Tested CS coverage begins next week.

[3880] Yeah.

[3881] They will do it.

[3882] They're going to blow it out.

[3883] Going down to Vegas hardcore.

[3884] Stealing my crew.

[3885] You want to know about TVs and shit.

[3886] Oh, I should say TNT this week.

[3887] We're going to play a little Battlefield 3.

[3888] Oh.

[3889] Return to Karkand.

[3890] Are we going to have Team Horn show up?

[3891] Team Horn and Team Chan.

[3892] Norman Chan from Tested apparently lost his holiday break to Battlefield 3.

[3893] So he was chomping at the bit.

[3894] I want to play more of that.

[3895] That's great.

[3896] To answer the other question.

[3897] I never put much time into that.

[3898] It's damned good.

[3899] So we've got about a month, right?

[3900] Another month to catch up on the back catalog.

[3901] Yeah, you've probably got a good month of not a lot of huge releases, so savor it.

[3902] So everybody, stay tuned to listen to more Skyrim for another month.

[3903] Yeah, I hope you guys like hearing about the games that we've been talking about.

[3904] Oh, dude, I want to hear about DLC for that game.

[3905] But for Skyrim?

[3906] Yeah.

[3907] I'm curious to see when they start rolling out their games.

[3908] They said they're not doing $5 or $6, $10 things like they did for Fallout.

[3909] It'll be more Oblivion -style, like one or two big expansions.

[3910] Well, at least we'll find out soon.

[3911] Vidi Caravella.

[3912] Thank you.

[3913] Thanks for coming back.

[3914] Thank you.

[3915] 2012.

[3916] Thank you.

[3917] Dave Snyder.

[3918] I miss you guys.

[3919] It's good to be back.

[3920] Good to have you back in the house.

[3921] Nice to have you on the podcast, checking in with you.

[3922] You are a gentleman.

[3923] And Radio Dave this week?

[3924] Yeah, I think we're going to do it.

[3925] We'll talk.

[3926] We haven't done some stuff in a while.

[3927] We got a bunch of new subscribers.

[3928] We did.

[3929] This last month.

[3930] Welcome.

[3931] Give them something.

[3932] Got to give them something.

[3933] And I think we're going to put up some behind -the -scenes stuff.

[3934] Yeah.

[3935] Yeah, Dave was shooting a bunch of stuff.

[3936] We record some good stuff.

[3937] During the game of the year, not necessarily the deliberations, but during the filming.

[3938] Some making of videos.

[3939] Love behind the scenes stuff.

[3940] Should be pretty good.

[3941] Brad Shoemaker.

[3942] Huzzah.

[3943] Welcome back.

[3944] Thank you.

[3945] And that's going to do it for the first Giant Bombcast of 2012.

[3946] We'll be back next week with the second 2012 edition of the Giant Bombcast.

[3947] Hopefully with shotguns.

[3948] Why shotguns?

[3949] Because Vinny wants a shotgun.

[3950] Because of the earthquakes.

[3951] There's not going to be.

[3952] All right.

[3953] We'll talk about this later.

[3954] Bondcast.