Giant Bombcast Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2010: Day Three

[0] All right, folks.

[1] Day three, Giant Bombs, Game of the Year 2010 Deliberations.

[2] We're here.

[3] It's happening.

[4] I'm Ryan Davis, Vinny Caravella, Jeff Gerstmann, Brad Shoemaker.

[5] I brought a knife this time.

[6] Now you're prepared?

[7] Give me the knife.

[8] I'll give you the knife.

[9] Uh -oh.

[10] I want the knife.

[11] Let's figure out what you were going to stab me over here, Jeff.

[12] What are our categories for today?

[13] Today's categories include best use of FMV.

[14] Best in quotes.

[15] Best use of FMV.

[16] Nice.

[17] Most improved franchise.

[18] Most egregious use of product placement slash in -game advertising.

[19] Worst accent.

[20] And best Wii only game.

[21] Fantastic.

[22] Ryan, you have control of the board.

[23] Who's it?

[24] I'll take semi -square.

[25] One dollar.

[26] Shadow.

[27] Mr. Garrett.

[28] Oh, and best use of Brad Garrett.

[29] That's also.

[30] That's implied.

[31] All right.

[32] What's our first category?

[33] Who do we have up to bat?

[34] For best use of FMV, we have The Fight.

[35] Tony Hawk Shred, Comic Jumper, Enslaved, and Alan Wake.

[36] Remember best in quotes.

[37] Yes, best.

[38] Best.

[39] Best.

[40] Well, Alan Wake is disqualified because it actually makes fantastic use of FMV.

[41] And Comic Jumper kind of is too because the use of FMV in there is amazing.

[42] Well, man, now I feel like we're losing sight of the category because I think we made this for Comic Jumper.

[43] Well, let's just say it's the best because the best use of FMV because the Comic Jumper, F &B.

[44] It's ironic.

[45] Yeah.

[46] They are not.

[47] Yeah.

[48] It's not the best in -game.

[49] Let's just say it is the best.

[50] Is there anything?

[51] Oh, yeah.

[52] Never mind.

[53] I was going to ask if there's anything at Alan Wake besides the talk show.

[54] But there's totally – remind me what it's called.

[55] Yeah, the show.

[56] The TV show.

[57] What is it called?

[58] Midnight Cowboys.

[59] You know what I'm talking about.

[60] Obviously, it leaves an indelible impression.

[61] The actual bits did, but yeah, I don't recall.

[62] Nightfalls.

[63] Nightfalls, there you go.

[64] But the talk show is the thing.

[65] Yeah, that's where it really shines.

[66] It's literally about two seconds of the talk show that matters.

[67] I do feel like the only one on here that uses F &B to, well, maybe there are two, that take themselves seriously are enslaved.

[68] The F &B in that game is not supposed to make you laugh.

[69] But it does anyway.

[70] It makes you scratch your head.

[71] I don't know.

[72] It kind of made me be like, really?

[73] Why is Andy Serkis on the screen?

[74] Are you talking about the flashbacks or just that ending sequence?

[75] Both, but more the ending sequence.

[76] Is there a way we can have this work both ways by changing it to most notable use of FMV?

[77] Or most memorable or something?

[78] I think best still works here.

[79] Like without quotes?

[80] Yeah.

[81] No, no, with the quotes on.

[82] I don't think Comic Jumper.

[83] I think so.

[84] I still think it still plays.

[85] Because it's a difference of intent, but the end result is still the same.

[86] I mean, they're tongue -in -cheek.

[87] They're going for some pretty stupid stuff in there.

[88] I know Danny Trejo is not supposed to be funny, but he's on this list because he stood out.

[89] If he were not ridiculous, then he would not be on this list.

[90] How about most ridiculous use of FMV?

[91] I have to re -render.

[92] Yeah.

[93] I think all...

[94] Oh.

[95] That's fine.

[96] It's okay.

[97] It's a quick render.

[98] Okay.

[99] Yeah.

[100] Most ridiculous use?

[101] Most ridiculous use of FMV.

[102] Because I think all of these are ridiculous in some way.

[103] Yeah.

[104] Okay.

[105] Yes.

[106] Yes, they are.

[107] So what are the categories for today?

[108] So we have The Fight, we have Tony Hawk Shred, Comic Jumper, Enslaved, and Alan Wake.

[109] I think Comic Jumper stays on the list because it's the most ridiculous.

[110] It is the most ridiculous.

[111] Or are you talking about most ridiculous in quotes?

[112] Most ridiculous.

[113] It's most ridiculous.

[114] Most ridiculous use of FMV.

[115] Of FMV.

[116] V, V, V, V, V, V?

[117] No. Okay.

[118] I was confused there for a second.

[119] All right.

[120] So what's up with Tony Hawk's shred?

[121] There's an opening sequence where Tony Hawk's like, hey, you showed up to my apartment where all these dudes are hanging out that are also skaters and snowboarders.

[122] This is going to be great.

[123] It's kind of like.

[124] You wouldn't have gotten invited here if you weren't sick.

[125] It's kind of Johnny Moseley -ish.

[126] Now, is it an apartment that you would believe Tony Hawk would live in?

[127] Or is it like a rundown college?

[128] It is like a nice but small apartment.

[129] I guess.

[130] Are his kids running around?

[131] No. Okay.

[132] No, I don't think so.

[133] And then anytime you finish a course, a little FMV pop -up of one of these pros pops up and says something incredible.

[134] It was hard to see through the mask.

[135] I don't want to fuck with our list, but I just want to say Michael Jackson, The Experience.

[136] It's pretty ridiculous.

[137] Just those demo videos, right?

[138] Right.

[139] Well, even just the dancers while you're playing.

[140] Well, that's not.

[141] We're looking for live action.

[142] Well, those are.

[143] I mean, there is live action.

[144] Like the guys that you are dancing, like the model that you're seeing on screen, those are people.

[145] They're treated, but they're people.

[146] I don't think that counts.

[147] Yeah, but I don't think it counts.

[148] And Call of Duty Black Ops.

[149] For the very end.

[150] I'm just saying, it's pretty ridiculous.

[151] What variant?

[152] Yeah, the stills?

[153] The post -credits JFK stuff.

[154] That's not...

[155] That's just a still.

[156] That's a doctored still photo.

[157] I guess those are just stills.

[158] Yeah, they just put the film strip next to it, right?

[159] Yeah, the FMV is just Emmanuel Shrieky talking into the microphone at the beginning of the game.

[160] Which is pretty ridiculous.

[161] Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous.

[162] Considering...

[163] I'd watch more of that.

[164] You know, how much time they must have spent and money they must have spent getting her and sitting up that shot and doing all that stuff.

[165] She's probably not that expensive.

[166] I didn't even know that was somebody.

[167] Yeah, exactly.

[168] Like for the 15 seconds it's in there, it's kind of ridiculous that they went and did it, but that's not really.

[169] You know what?

[170] I would like to add to this list, and this might actually win.

[171] This is a game changer.

[172] I want to add Gran Turismo 5 to this list.

[173] That might be the most ridiculous use of FMV.

[174] That intro sequence is maybe the most.

[175] That car being built.

[176] Yeah, is maybe the most ridiculous thing I've seen.

[177] So long.

[178] And then there's another intro sequence after that.

[179] But I feel like that – I don't know.

[180] That fits Gran Turismo.

[181] But is it not ridiculous?

[182] Did you not sit there and say – It's not the most ridiculous.

[183] Did you not say this is ridiculous?

[184] At about the three -minute mark were you not like – All right.

[185] I guess it was pretty ridiculous.

[186] It's pretty ridiculous.

[187] It's pretty ridiculous.

[188] I'm going to throw it out there.

[189] I'll write it down because – I watched it during our quick look, and then after I put the game in, I watched it again.

[190] I see where you're coming from, but in the context of Gran Turismo, isn't anything that worships at the automotive altar kind of par for the course?

[191] Sure, but that doesn't mean it's not ridiculous.

[192] But the whole game in that sense is kind of ridiculous.

[193] I still like it.

[194] Danny Trejo.

[195] That's pretty ridiculous.

[196] Yeah, I think the fight needs to be on this list.

[197] I think that Comic Jumper needs to be on this list.

[198] And everything I saw of Enslaved looked ridiculous.

[199] It's the ending that's fucking...

[200] Bizarre.

[201] Those flashback things?

[202] Flashbacks are kind of whatever.

[203] They're more stills.

[204] I don't know if we're counting that.

[205] A, that's not actual video.

[206] And B, those are kind of intriguing, except they don't really ever do anything with them.

[207] It doesn't need to be on this list.

[208] But man, that ending.

[209] It's more just like...

[210] It's not more like the ending is fucking baffling.

[211] It is, but it's...

[212] There's no other video really in the game, and then all of a sudden Andy Serk is just staring you in the face for like 10 minutes talking to you.

[213] Having a conversation with your CG character.

[214] And he seems stoned.

[215] Litted eyes.

[216] I mean, to be fair, where the character's coming from, that makes sense.

[217] But he's just literally looking you in the face.

[218] But the weirdest part about that, because we'll cut this, because I really don't think it needs to be on here, but the weirdest part is you have these real flashback images that pop up for about five frames, right?

[219] But in those images are pictures of Andy Serkis at a ball game with sunglasses.

[220] He's at the park.

[221] There's one of him on a ski slope with his kids.

[222] And then just from Andy Serkis' photo album.

[223] Here is the best part.

[224] It is never established that the guy in the flashbacks and the guy talking to you at the end of the game are the same person.

[225] I actually think they may tie some of that together.

[226] It's likely.

[227] It seems very likely that they are, but they never come out and say it.

[228] So that part's really weird.

[229] what they might yeah I think they kind of imply but also he voices monkey so it's like that's the thing so are you having a conversation with yourself how much suspension of disbelief do you want me to have here like not since Nolan North talking to Nolan North it's just it almost was like a it's like looking at his reel or something like that like how much Andy Serkis can you put in this game all of it pretty good game anyway let's cut it Yeah, it doesn't have to be on the list.

[230] So, Comic Jumper, The Fight.

[231] We've also got Tony Hawk Shred, Alan Wake, and Gran Turismo 5.

[232] All right, I'm willing to cut Gran Turismo 5.

[233] I need to get that off my chest, because that is pretty ridiculous.

[234] I might put Alan Wake...

[235] Well, I don't know.

[236] I don't know.

[237] What do you think?

[238] I like Alan Wake's use of video better than Tony Hawk's.

[239] Did I...

[240] Like, Tony Hawk's is ridiculous, but it's...

[241] par for the course for kind of what that game is at this point to just have.

[242] I mean, it's not like Tony Hawk is even acting out of character.

[243] Yeah.

[244] It's, I mean, that's, it's like the pop -ups where they just come up and go like, your score was sick.

[245] You murked that slope.

[246] Or, you know, whatever.

[247] You've used your allotment to work for this podcast.

[248] You've got a couple of days, yeah.

[249] Come back tomorrow.

[250] They refresh every day.

[251] You've got to memorize it in your spell book.

[252] That's the part where it gets ridiculous.

[253] Did quantum theory have any FMV?

[254] No, right?

[255] I don't think so.

[256] Okay, I'm sure.

[257] I mean, it's just, in Alan Wake, it is, it's really just a one specific scenario, and it's, I don't know.

[258] Night Falls is pretty crazy.

[259] And then there's all that you guys are talking about, the actual Alan Wake on the TVs when he's looking at himself.

[260] The nighttime talk show when it's...

[261] Well, I mean, there's also him, right?

[262] Like when he's at his desk.

[263] Yeah, he's actually...

[264] There's actually an actor who played Alan Wake.

[265] The guy who he's modeled after is on a couch talking, but we can just say it.

[266] Yeah, we have to.

[267] What's the guy's name?

[268] Sam Lake?

[269] Yeah.

[270] Max Payne.

[271] is on the couch next to him as the previous guest.

[272] Like, you know, the guest moves over one seat.

[273] I can't remember how it plays out, but the host of the show is like, and we want to thank Sam Lake, who's something, something, something.

[274] And he's like, make face for me one more time.

[275] And he just like...

[276] He just makes the face?

[277] He makes for like the fucking Max Payne one face.

[278] For like three frames, you just barely see him go into the Max Payne expression.

[279] That like smelly cheese face.

[280] It's almost like, did I see what I just thought I saw?

[281] And it cuts away.

[282] That sounds pretty ridiculous.

[283] It's amazing.

[284] All right, that has to stay on the list.

[285] Okay.

[286] Yes.

[287] I want to cut Tony Hawk.

[288] Yeah.

[289] Should we add celebrity poker?

[290] That's not FMV.

[291] It's like partial motion video.

[292] I think comedy ever wins for just being...

[293] Being what it needs to be.

[294] So fucking over the top in every possible way.

[295] I mean, that game is the intro.

[296] This comic book sucks.

[297] Yeah, that whole scene of everyone hating on the comic and the twisted pixel guys walking around in the background of the lair.

[298] Is there more stuff past that?

[299] Because I only got into the game.

[300] Do you remember the superpower?

[301] When you build up and the guy comes on, all the hands come on the screen.

[302] Oh, that's it.

[303] Headbutts the screen.

[304] Right, right, right.

[305] I forgot about that.

[306] Yeah, yeah.

[307] Okay.

[308] Those guys are bringing video back to games in a big way.

[309] Let's celebrate them for that.

[310] Yeah, totally.

[311] I feel like they almost pulled a Metal Gear -style bait -and -switch with that game.

[312] Yeah, kind of.

[313] They presented it, and they even put out preview builds.

[314] We had one in the office where it was just like this straight, earnest, comic jumper, platformer, action, comic book -driven, whatever.

[315] You didn't know about any of that stuff until you actually bought it and played it in the final version, and you're like, holy shit, this is a different game entirely.

[316] And way better.

[317] Yeah.

[318] As a result.

[319] Yes, way better.

[320] Yeah.

[321] All right.

[322] Dig it.

[323] Sounds like we got it.

[324] Congratulations to Comic Jumper, I guess.

[325] And our runners up the fight.

[326] And Alan Wake.

[327] And Alan Wake for most ridiculous use of FMV in a video game.

[328] Keep it up.

[329] Keep reaching for those stars.

[330] All game developers can fill up all that extra disk space with video.

[331] And cut it together.

[332] Go watch the fight and see.

[333] Yeah.

[334] And do not move your feet.

[335] Do move your feet.

[336] Oh, pendejo.

[337] Punch like this.

[338] Yeah.

[339] Like you're stabbing a dick.

[340] Most improved franchise.

[341] All right.

[342] It's got a weird category because, you know, like, again, we're talking about improvements over the previous game, which in not all cases is the previous game bad.

[343] But it makes it even harder to win.

[344] It's best sequel or something like that.

[345] So we've got Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Red Steel 2, and Kanan Lynch 2.

[346] All right.

[347] Let me see if there's anything else that we need to hit.

[348] It's just leaping out at me. But I think...

[349] I think I know what three we've got here.

[350] What three do you like?

[351] Need for Speed, Red Steel, and Kanan Lynch 2.

[352] Because by the token of most improved franchise, those are bad games that are now good games.

[353] Or better games.

[354] I would like to submit Just Cause 2.

[355] Yes.

[356] Yes.

[357] Yes.

[358] Because I know you guys like Just Cause.

[359] Brad and I are the only people who liked the first Just Cause.

[360] In the world!

[361] We are the two people who played the first Just Cause, too.

[362] I played the first one.

[363] I'm not going to get on that train about liking the first one.

[364] That game had some problems.

[365] Well, it did, but that was the definition of a guilty pleasure.

[366] That's kind of boring.

[367] No, it wasn't boring.

[368] It was fucking awesome.

[369] All those side missions.

[370] Oh, man, that was...

[371] Splinter Cell Conviction.

[372] I don't think it's that important.

[373] I think they made a lot of difference.

[374] They made it a very different game.

[375] Some of it's kind of lateral.

[376] Yeah.

[377] A little faster game.

[378] It wasn't necessarily bad.

[379] I mean, I think I liked Conviction better, but that says more about me not really liking any of the other Splinter Cell games.

[380] Yeah, yeah.

[381] They were good Splinter Cell games.

[382] Red Dead Redemption.

[383] I thought about that, too.

[384] As the sequel to Red Dead Revolver.

[385] Red Dead Revolver was not a bad game.

[386] But this is like scope and execution, like everything about redemption.

[387] You're very right about that, but it's such a different kind of game.

[388] I almost feel like they were just like, well, we want to make an open world Western and we have this IP, so let's use it.

[389] Yeah, I mean, like the connection to the first game is it's in the West.

[390] Yeah, that's about it.

[391] That's really it.

[392] Are you saying it's also a sequel to the Law of the West?

[393] Yes.

[394] And a sequel to Outlaws.

[395] Starcraft 2, Wings of Liberty.

[396] A sequel to Sunset Riders.

[397] Moving on.

[398] Does Elder M count as a sequel?

[399] And is that improved?

[400] It's the most improved franchise.

[401] So, I mean, it's not necessarily a direct sequel.

[402] There's Need for Speed counts, even though you could make some kind of weird argument that...

[403] That Hot Pursuit is not a sequel to Need for Speed Shift.

[404] It's more of like a reboot or something.

[405] Oh, you played a lot of other M's.

[406] Yeah, I'm actually struggling to remember what the last Metroid release was.

[407] I guess it was Prime 3.

[408] It seemed like they were definitely trying a different direction for it.

[409] I don't know if it worked out for them.

[410] Yeah, I think I liked it.

[411] How was UFC?

[412] Similar.

[413] Okay.

[414] Very similar.

[415] Yeah.

[416] Halo.

[417] Halo has been great.

[418] A lot of franchise players.

[419] Is Super Meat Boy better than the Flash version?

[420] Let's not get into that.

[421] You dick.

[422] Do you want to go home tonight or not?

[423] Let's see.

[424] I don't...

[425] I think Assassin's Creed Brotherhood belongs.

[426] No, no, no. I agree.

[427] I agree.

[428] We can get that.

[429] Because 2 was planned, but you guys would all agree it's a great game already.

[430] I think if we're looking at that compared to the leaps.

[431] The leap from 1 to 2 sounds profound.

[432] Yeah, absolutely.

[433] And I think if we're looking at most improved franchise, I don't think Mass Effect 2 really fits.

[434] Probably not.

[435] Mass Effect 1 is a great game.

[436] It's a refinement.

[437] Compared to what we're talking about in these other games.

[438] I think Mass Effect 1, if you released it today, would stick out.

[439] And you'd be like, man. What the hell?

[440] It felt dated and clunky when it came out.

[441] Yeah, I guess so.

[442] The inventory stuff was memorable.

[443] That's what I'm really getting at.

[444] Actually, 2 almost feels like a little bit of a schism to me because it became so much more of an actual shooter.

[445] The first one was all about pausing the action and distributing commands and stuff.

[446] So you've got Need for Speed, Red Steel 2, Canyon Lynch 2, and Just Cause 2.

[447] Now, Canyon Lynch 2, I...

[448] It's kind of a weird one because I don't think Canel H2 is a great game.

[449] No, it's super short.

[450] I have a hard time calling it good, though it gets better every time they cut the price.

[451] For me, I like this being on the list just because that first game, 30 minutes was all I could stand to play of that game.

[452] But they made some choices.

[453] Good choices.

[454] Particularly, like I mentioned it yesterday with the best -looking game stuff, I feel like the look of that game carries so much.

[455] Yeah, it is a competent cover -based shooter.

[456] That's all it is, at best, from a gameplay perspective.

[457] But it also shipped with that kind of crippling bug.

[458] The co -op in it is ugly.

[459] Yeah.

[460] And you kind of get tired of the multiplayer pretty quick, right?

[461] Yeah.

[462] Can I suggest a substitution maybe?

[463] Mm -hmm.

[464] Like Sib 5?

[465] What?

[466] Nah.

[467] What?

[468] Nah.

[469] I thought about it.

[470] Nah.

[471] I mean, nobody's going to say Sib 4 was a bad game.

[472] Not a bad game, but I think where that franchise went.

[473] It's a step up.

[474] All right.

[475] It's a step up, absolutely.

[476] But the underlying...

[477] Civviness?

[478] Yeah, like the core of that game didn't really change.

[479] It's the mechanisms to get you into it that they've refined.

[480] And I think the other games we have on this list are pretty good.

[481] I mean, Red Steel 2, like Red Steel 1 was fucking ass.

[482] Oh, that's right.

[483] I was trying to figure out what I was on here about Red Steel 2.

[484] Red Steel 2, they had a really interesting look to it, and they used the Motion Plus stuff pretty well.

[485] Good for them.

[486] It was a required Motion Plus game.

[487] What's that?

[488] Didn't it ship with it?

[489] It may have.

[490] It may have.

[491] Yeah, I think that they brought that series a long way with that sequel.

[492] And that, again, kind of speaks to how fucked up the first Red Steel was.

[493] I think Need for Speed was rapidly running out of road.

[494] I loved...

[495] I like it.

[496] Nice.

[497] I like that.

[498] Loved Most Wanted, but every iteration from there is kind of like, well, Carbon's not quite as good as Most Wanted.

[499] And then, well, Undercovered kind of sucks.

[500] And then, oh, Shift is, what are you guys doing?

[501] Well, I don't know.

[502] Shift feels like an offshoot.

[503] But, I mean, for the franchise.

[504] We're talking about the franchise was flailing a bit.

[505] Need for Speed was sliding hard for like three or four years.

[506] Headed for the wall.

[507] Yeah, running on fumes.

[508] Uh -huh.

[509] Its registration had expired.

[510] Somebody rubbed the VIN number off.

[511] It had a headlight out and was in danger of running over a small child.

[512] Stuck in line at the DMV.

[513] Someone cut the seatbelts.

[514] Losing traction.

[515] The uncontrolled skid.

[516] But now...

[517] Feels pretty good.

[518] Feels like they're all right.

[519] You might say it's back on track.

[520] Back on track.

[521] That's fantastic.

[522] They put a little criterion in the tank.

[523] So that wins, right?

[524] I like that.

[525] I think it probably does.

[526] I'm okay with that.

[527] And Just Cause, I think, makes more sense than Kane and Lynch.

[528] Just Cause 2 is legitimately a...

[529] Yeah, it's a much, much, much better.

[530] They actually...

[531] delivered on the ideas of the first one.

[532] It still has problems.

[533] I ended up being kind of bummed at the way the mission structure was.

[534] It was more fun to just go and fuck around than it was to actually pursue...

[535] The story, as it were, not to say that necessarily the story was the thing to go to, but the mission structure could have been better, and it had problems.

[536] It did really well for them, so we'll probably see a better version next time.

[537] I agree, and I'm not actually adding this to our nominees, but I'll just say it just because it is another series.

[538] Just Because is a different game.

[539] Just Because is pretty damn awesome.

[540] Did you play through the story part of it?

[541] Pick up those logs.

[542] God of War 3.

[543] I thought about that one, but God of War 2 was really good.

[544] Who's going to say God of War 2 was a bad game?

[545] I'm going to say that they're almost identical.

[546] Wait.

[547] Three and two.

[548] I'm just saying it to bring it up as a game that came out.

[549] Heavy.

[550] Okay.

[551] Yeah.

[552] It was on my list.

[553] So congratulations to Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

[554] And Red Steel 2 and Just Cause 2 are our other two games.

[555] I think Cannon Lynch 2 was better if it wasn't.

[556] Kind of messed up.

[557] Yeah, not better enough.

[558] Yeah, it's just not better enough.

[559] Yeah, it was unfortunate because it seemed like they were poised.

[560] Yeah.

[561] It seemed like, oh, shit.

[562] They had some good ideas that did not go far enough.

[563] No. Most egregious use of product placement slash in -game advertising.

[564] Great category.

[565] Great category.

[566] Also very long.

[567] Also very long.

[568] Title card.

[569] That one broke a line.

[570] Good.

[571] Yeah, that too.

[572] One of the few.

[573] We have Sean White snowboarding, Alan Wake.

[574] Skateboarding.

[575] I'm sorry, yes.

[576] Skateboarding.

[577] I have snowboarding written here.

[578] That game did not come out this year.

[579] Sean White skateboarding, Alan Wake, and Need for Speed, Hot Pursuit.

[580] So I guess we should probably talk about what we're talking about.

[581] Yeah, so Sean White skateboarding.

[582] If you watched that quick look, you saw the bit where...

[583] So the whole game is about you.

[584] Liberating the city from the man. Yeah, exactly.

[585] The man has the city looking all gray and doldrums.

[586] And you skate around and, you know, flowers come out, basically.

[587] You're kind of bringing life back to the world and it's in color and you're adding more skate parts just by skating.

[588] And then there are billboards that say, like, chewing is bad for you.

[589] I'm going to kill you if you chew.

[590] Sign the man. But then you skate near it and it changes to an ad for stride fucking gum.

[591] You know, the man, the actual man. And that's the mere concept of, yes, freedom brought to you by Stride is disgusting.

[592] I think it sounds like the concept of some dude throwing up and what he puts up on a wall is an advertisement for Stride.

[593] Yeah, exactly.

[594] Tagging it up with Stride!

[595] I needed to change the world for a free economy.

[596] Do you know if those ads are dynamic?

[597] No, because the ones that are up there before are clearly about gum.

[598] And also there's an achievement that says, like, stride something or other.

[599] So those will never change.

[600] No, that's not going to change.

[601] Well, that sounds pretty egregious.

[602] It's fucked.

[603] Let's just give it to that.

[604] It's pretty fucked.

[605] And move on.

[606] It's among the worst things I've seen.

[607] Because I thought Alan Wakes was really bad, but hearing that.

[608] So for Alan Wake, he uses a Verizon phone very conspicuously, and Energizer batteries power all of his Verizon slogan in the DLC.

[609] In the first DLC, there is a point where is it he, or somebody says to him over the radio, can you hear me now?

[610] I think he says it.

[611] Is there a full pause, like, get it?

[612] I missed this.

[613] I didn't notice it, but it is in there.

[614] It definitely leapt out at me. But it's bad enough that they will show shots of his cell phone, and you see the load.

[615] very prominently displayed.

[616] But it's not as bad as the fact that Energizer branded batteries are a pickup.

[617] Like, they're a power -up.

[618] In that game.

[619] It's whatever.

[620] It's all you get are Energizer batteries.

[621] It doesn't seem as bad to me, considering that at least they work it into...

[622] That's not the only thing, though.

[623] Ford Sync is in there.

[624] There's a shot of him sitting in the driver's seat with the Ford Sync logo on the dash, very prominent.

[625] But it takes place in the real world, and dude's got to use a flashlight.

[626] I don't buy that argument about product placement, because if that were the case, then everything in the world that you saw would have a realistic logo on it, and not only two or three brands that are always...

[627] pointing right at the camera.

[628] It's bad, but I will say that at least batteries and phones, that makes sense.

[629] The Ford Sync stuff just seems like that's on par with the pause menu brought to you by a licensed cell phone thing that any extreme sports or Need for Speed Underground or anything that's actually used to do.

[630] It's a Microsoft co -initiative.

[631] UFC, doesn't it have, don't you pull up your...

[632] Yes.

[633] Droid or something.

[634] Did you pull up some kind of phone?

[635] So games do have that.

[636] It's pretty pervasive.

[637] The batteries seem pretty bad.

[638] It's a little bit much.

[639] That seems pretty bad.

[640] I just want to say it's not going to make this list, but Mafia 2 with Playboy.

[641] is Dead Rising 2.

[642] They both have Playboy all over the place.

[643] I didn't see that.

[644] Just giant Playboy covers all over the place.

[645] And it's especially weird in Mafia 2 because that game fucking takes place before Playboy magazine existed.

[646] They set that in a fictional city, fictional past, but...

[647] They're getting real...

[648] Those Playmates are very real.

[649] Oh, here's era -specific photos from Playboy.

[650] To be fair, if you didn't know about the chronology, it seems period -appropriate.

[651] Sure.

[652] But that doesn't make it a whole lot better.

[653] But also, it's got boobs.

[654] Yeah, it does.

[655] Most egregious use of boobs.

[656] And then our last...

[657] Bayonetta.

[658] Our last one here.

[659] Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

[660] This is an interesting one.

[661] So the first time you turn the game on...

[662] Unskippable trailer for Shift 2, the sequel to Need for Speed Shift.

[663] Shift 2 Unleashed.

[664] Different game than you bought and came to play.

[665] Right.

[666] Unskippable.

[667] Unskippable.

[668] The first time.

[669] The first time.

[670] One time it goes...

[671] It doesn't come up at all the second time.

[672] It's in the menus and all that stuff, but it's...

[673] Gross.

[674] It's the reason why Blu -rays suck.

[675] Yeah.

[676] You know?

[677] Yeah.

[678] Yeah, absolutely.

[679] Well, you know what?

[680] Most Blu -rays let you skip the trailers.

[681] Do they?

[682] Okay.

[683] Some do.

[684] Not all.

[685] It's the Netflix rentals that they, like, bake that shit into.

[686] I was going to say, like, oh.

[687] EA, print a rental disc and put that shit on the rental disc for Gamefly.

[688] The stuff you get from Netflix, they press a different version.

[689] Sometimes they say rental on it.

[690] You'll sometimes get a rental from Netflix and it won't have any of the special features that you might get in the deluxe retail version.

[691] It's an industry.

[692] They're trying to throttle that stuff.

[693] Yes, for the copy you bought.

[694] It just seems weird.

[695] And it's not that long.

[696] It's probably under a minute, right?

[697] 45 seconds or so.

[698] But it is outrageous.

[699] That's filthy.

[700] Don't do it anymore.

[701] Don't do that.

[702] Come on, guys.

[703] We really like Hot Pursuit still.

[704] But you're pushing it.

[705] It's gross.

[706] It's a real dick move.

[707] I understand.

[708] You've got to get some word out there on shift.

[709] That's not the way.

[710] That's not the way.

[711] That's not the way.

[712] Man. Sean White makes me want to fucking throw up with just how flagrant...

[713] And just even like crass and cynical in the face of the very notion of how that game is supposed to be operating of you.

[714] Yeah, it just seems like it doesn't make sense.

[715] It goes completely against the entire point of the whole game.

[716] Like someone swooped in at the last minute and said, oh, by the way, could you change this to this?

[717] It's like, well, no, because it doesn't really...

[718] Okay, well, we sold it already, so...

[719] So put that shit in there.

[720] Yeah, that's a good winner.

[721] So fuck you, Sean White Skateboarding.

[722] Yeah, basically.

[723] Which is too bad because that game is kind of neat.

[724] It's got some interesting stuff in it, but that's a real souring point.

[725] But hey.

[726] Yeah.

[727] Don't put unskippable trailers in front of your show.

[728] Still.

[729] Still.

[730] For real.

[731] Come on.

[732] We're not funning around here.

[733] Don't do that.

[734] Just because we're not giving you the award.

[735] I have enough problems with unskippable cut scenes.

[736] Knock it off, eh?

[737] Yeah.

[738] Ugh.

[739] All right.

[740] Worst accent.

[741] Yeah.

[742] Oh, man. Okay, we've got...

[743] Yes.

[744] Call of Duty Black Ops.

[745] For...

[746] For Alex Mason, for the main character.

[747] Oh, yeah.

[748] For Sam Worthington's amazing attempt at sounding like he came from Alaska and still sounding like he came from Australia.

[749] God.

[750] It's so...

[751] It's amazing just...

[752] Travels around the world.

[753] Yeah.

[754] Does not make it to Alaska.

[755] No. No, never.

[756] I mean, his voice.

[757] No. No, I know.

[758] It wasn't as bad for me. Like, when he's doing the highs and lows.

[759] When he's yelling, especially, that's the...

[760] Yeah, anytime there's any...

[761] And that's where most people lose it, but like...

[762] But considering he's being interrogated and yelling through most of the game...

[763] He yells the entire time.

[764] You hear it a lot.

[765] Yeah.

[766] You hear it a whole lot.

[767] Also considering that, like...

[768] You could have made other choices.

[769] I mean, this is a game that has a budget.

[770] They could have spent some...

[771] Get that guy back in there and have him redo it until it's right.

[772] Don't ship that game like that.

[773] What are you doing?

[774] They could have just cast an American.

[775] Yes, exactly.

[776] They could have cast around it.

[777] Or someone who's a better voice actor.

[778] Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman last time.

[779] And a lot of great people this time around, too.

[780] You know, that Ed Harris, Ice Cube.

[781] Ice Cube.

[782] Motherfucking Ice Cube.

[783] Gary Oldman again.

[784] Gary Oldman again as the Russian.

[785] Playing multiple roles.

[786] So, yeah, I don't know.

[787] That's the reason why that's...

[788] And I didn't...

[789] I was actually impressed by Gary Oldman.

[790] I didn't realize it was him until I was like, oh, you totally sold that Russian accent to me. Good job.

[791] Best Russian accent.

[792] Yeah, I mean, he's playing the same guy he played in...

[793] I just feel like when I've heard him do accent stuff in the past, I feel like I can still tell, like, oh, there's the Gary Oldman in there.

[794] Well, it's usually because you're seeing his face, too.

[795] Yeah, that's probably a factor.

[796] So is that Babysitting Mama?

[797] Which has some of the most bum -ass English that a game could possibly have.

[798] I don't even know what that's going for.

[799] Yeah, it's a...

[800] All right, keep going.

[801] Heavy Rain.

[802] Oh, dude.

[803] Dude.

[804] That just makes it seem like that game was never supposed to be released in the States.

[805] Oh, my God.

[806] That is almost like babysitting mama level.

[807] We're not making this for Americans, right?

[808] Okay, well, then this will do.

[809] That's fine.

[810] That's fine.

[811] They'll never see it.

[812] People who speak the language will never.

[813] Sort of like the Italian in Assassin's Creed.

[814] Well, that's fine.

[815] But, man. Tell me more about the Origami Killer.

[816] Origami?

[817] Can I pitch one in here?

[818] Sure.

[819] Dead Rising 2 for all of the Canadian ass.

[820] Yeah, it's very Canadian Las Vegas.

[821] There's a lot of Canadian in there.

[822] I think that depends on how you feel about Just Cause 2 because I think Black Ops and Heavy Rain are on here.

[823] Just cause, too, for it's non -placeable.

[824] It's pretty much.

[825] So I've been told, I can't confirm, but I've been told that for people from those regions, that that is, it sounds crazy.

[826] We are talking about bohos on Posi, right?

[827] But I'm told that is, that is, that is, that is, that is.

[828] Like Singaporean or something like that?

[829] Yeah, it's a region appropriate.

[830] Because I think to us, it just sounds like a Jamaican Rastafarian lilt to everything.

[831] Yeah.

[832] But I guess that's.

[833] That's true.

[834] I'm told that's appropriate.

[835] So I agree that that voice is ridiculous.

[836] All right.

[837] So you want to slide a little Dead Rising 2 in there instead?

[838] I don't know if it's that bad.

[839] I don't know.

[840] There are boats.

[841] Every time it happens in that game, it just pulls me right.

[842] I'm like, we're in a sound studio in Canada.

[843] It gets close to the Black Ops stuff because Black Ops, it isn't all the time.

[844] Right.

[845] But when it happens, it's really jarring.

[846] You're right, you're right.

[847] You aren't constantly being hit.

[848] Everyone's not ending every sentence in A. It's not that stereotypical, but it comes out enough out of almost every character.

[849] Who's to say there weren't a bunch of Canadians on holiday when the zombies broke out?

[850] Yeah, it's a resort town.

[851] They could have, who knows, maybe after Canada was overrun by zombies, they all had to move to the American desert.

[852] Who knows what happened in that world?

[853] I don't remember it happening often enough.

[854] to be that bad in that game.

[855] It's mostly Chuck.

[856] It's mostly Chuck.

[857] Yeah, but even he doesn't do it that often.

[858] Rebecca Chang does it once in a while.

[859] Yeah.

[860] And that's about it.

[861] It was support characters I heard it a lot in.

[862] Like the characters that they didn't spend a lot of time getting someone who could cover their Canadian accent.

[863] I mean, over the course of the entire game, it's not that.

[864] But at least that makes more sense over like a, I don't know.

[865] I can believe that more than, like, Heavy Rain.

[866] We're talking, like, winners on this.

[867] Oh, let's be clear.

[868] Heavy Rain wins this category.

[869] Yeah, there is no dispute there.

[870] Hands down.

[871] Yeah, I guess so.

[872] I was going to say Black Ops for sure.

[873] No, no. But, yeah.

[874] Black Ops is one character.

[875] Heavy Rain is terrible, but the...

[876] The kids.

[877] Heavy Rain is every character in Heavy Rain.

[878] The worst.

[879] The kids are the worst, but categorically, every character...

[880] The kids is where I was like, this is...

[881] Am I setting wrong?

[882] So we're cutting Just Cause in favor of Dead Rising?

[883] Well, I feel weird.

[884] I don't want to say Just Cause if we think that's appropriate.

[885] I think it's appropriate.

[886] If there's a question in there.

[887] I don't think Dead Rising is that bad, though.

[888] Well, it's not winning.

[889] Yeah, but I don't even think it's bad enough to be on this list.

[890] It's super noticeable.

[891] It's stuck out to me a lot.

[892] It is super noticeable, but only a handful of times.

[893] It's super noticeable and wildly inappropriate.

[894] Unless you start to invent backstory in your head.

[895] The fate of Canadians after the zombie apocalypse.

[896] I only played a couple hours of it, and even I was getting inundated.

[897] Maybe I just notice it more.

[898] Maybe I'm just...

[899] I just think it tapers off.

[900] Most of the characters don't sound Canadian.

[901] TK does not sound Canadian.

[902] TK just sounds insane.

[903] None of the psychopaths that I can think of sounded.

[904] It's really Chuck and Rebecca.

[905] Those are the two.

[906] They just happen to be on screen.

[907] You know, the two main characters.

[908] I mean, you know, Black Ops is on there and a contender for winning for one character.

[909] So I think Dead Rising is probably even more noticeable than that.

[910] I guess.

[911] So I feel all right about having it on the list.

[912] But yeah, heavy rain.

[913] Heavy Rain by a landslide.

[914] Holy shit.

[915] Oh, man, Heavy Rain.

[916] Yeah.

[917] Never forget.

[918] Oh, gosh.

[919] So congratulations, Heavy Rain.

[920] I thought you were the best runner.

[921] No. You will not catch me. Now you're just talking like South Park over there.

[922] It's cool.

[923] It's, oh, god damn.

[924] Best Wii only game.

[925] Woo, already?

[926] Yeah.

[927] Moving.

[928] Final category of the day.

[929] Here's what I have down.

[930] Let me know if you want to add anything, any WiiWare or anything like that.

[931] I've got Super Mario Galaxy 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Metroid Other M, No More Heroes 2, Red Steel 2, and GoldenEye.

[932] Let's stick Donkey Kong on there, just cause.

[933] Okay.

[934] Wait, just cause?

[935] Yes, just cause.

[936] Man, banner year on the Wii.

[937] Yeah.

[938] Of all the platforms that have exclusive games.

[939] I think that just speaks to a big chunk of this is first party, but if you're going to make a quality Wii game, you have to make it for the Wii.

[940] And that'll change next year with people making it also for PlayStation Move and then making a busted version of Kinect or something like that.

[941] For now, all the developers finally figured it out.

[942] They're like, all right, we're going to stop porting total garbage to the Wii or porting perfectly good controller games to the Wii and trying to make them control.

[943] We're going to stop replacing Press X with shake controllers.

[944] So good on developers, I guess, for figuring it out.

[945] Good year for the Wii, for sure.

[946] I guess at the same time, I don't feel especially strongly about any of these games.

[947] Well, here's the thing that I would say is Super Mario Galaxy 2 played a bunch of it.

[948] It's as good if not better than Super Mario Galaxy.

[949] But it's as good if not better than Super Mario Galaxy.

[950] Well, that's saying a lot.

[951] I guess that wins.

[952] All right.

[953] Thanks for listening.

[954] Let's get it down to our three.

[955] Okay.

[956] So I think that has to be on the list.

[957] Yeah, absolutely.

[958] I think Goldeneye has to be on this list.

[959] Really?

[960] Yeah.

[961] It seemed like it was a good game.

[962] It just never clicked with me. I don't know.

[963] They did what we didn't think they could do.

[964] Someone made a modern first -person shooter on the Wii, and it controls well and is fun to play.

[965] It's kind of the first of its kind.

[966] And Daniel Craig didn't seem especially out of place from what I saw.

[967] The stuff that they did, the script is cool.

[968] I think that the stuff they're doing on television trying to attach it to the old GoldenEye and ads is a little filthy.

[969] But you can't really hold that against it.

[970] They included a ton of different control options that all seem to work well.

[971] So if you want to do that Wii Rote thing, you can.

[972] But the classic controller support is really sharp.

[973] They've modernized it instead of just making it play like the old Rare Blueprint.

[974] It's like for a console that doesn't get a lot of what is still the most popular genre for games.

[975] On consoles.

[976] This is it, man. This is the one.

[977] They did a really, really solid job for it.

[978] And you can't get it anywhere else.

[979] I think it's definitely one of the three best Wii games of the year.

[980] Alright, so that and Kirby?

[981] Yeah.

[982] That's what I'm thinking.

[983] I like that.

[984] Unless you feel super strongly about Metroid or Donkey Kong.

[985] You did review both of those.

[986] I think Metroid is maybe more flawed than Donkey Kong, but at the same time, it's more memorable and there's more to it.

[987] Like, Donkey Kong only does one thing.

[988] Right.

[989] And it does it quite well, but it's just a 2D platformer.

[990] I think Metroid is crazy.

[991] Yeah, I don't know if Metroid could bump any of those.

[992] Yeah.

[993] I like a lot of things about Metroid, but there are some things about it not to like.

[994] All right.

[995] Let's move on.

[996] All right, we're going to cut Metroid.

[997] All right.

[998] No More Heroes 2?

[999] Any strong feelings there?

[1000] I really liked it.

[1001] And they did some smart stuff to make it better than the first game.

[1002] It still balls out crazy all the time the way No More Heroes is.

[1003] But I still like that top three better.

[1004] Okay.

[1005] Yep.

[1006] Red Steel 2?

[1007] No. No. And Donkey Kong?

[1008] No. Okay.

[1009] Kirby Golden Eye on Super Mario Galaxy?

[1010] I don't think it can't be Super Mario Galaxy 2.

[1011] I'm fine with that.

[1012] I'm happy with Goldeneye making the list.

[1013] If I was picking my personal Wii game of the year, I think Goldeneye is the game.

[1014] Super Mario Galaxy 2 is no effing slouch.

[1015] It's crazy.

[1016] Again, I was going back and jogging my memory on this stuff.

[1017] Very rarely has there been – you have to go back to the SNES for there being more than one Mario game on a system.

[1018] And this one, they turned it around in two years.

[1019] They even started it out as like a level, like a 1 .5 kind of thing.

[1020] And they said, shit, we can just blow out.

[1021] And they get more inventive with the level designs.

[1022] And still, I don't think there's any game that discounts.

[1023] The technical limitations of the Wii like Super Mario.

[1024] The smart design.

[1025] The way that that game looks and makes you forget that this is a Wii game, which for what it's worth, it does have certain technical limitations.

[1026] I realize I'm treading dangerous ground here, but if you go online and look at the emulated video of that game running in 720p, it looks fucking amazing.

[1027] It looks like an Xbox or PS3 game.

[1028] Running in that resolution.

[1029] It's depressing.

[1030] I'm just like, man. But, I mean, that speaks to how incredible the art design is.

[1031] Put out an HD Wii.

[1032] Just upscale it.

[1033] I can get behind that.

[1034] Get packed on the phone.

[1035] Let's make it happen.

[1036] The only way that that game would have been better for me is if Kribo's shoe was in it.

[1037] Oh, you didn't unlock that?

[1038] There's just a whole level.

[1039] Congratulations!

[1040] It's the world that is Kribo's shoe.

[1041] Super Mario Galaxy 2.

[1042] Is there a giant world?

[1043] Yes.

[1044] All right.

[1045] There totally is.

[1046] I'm on board with this.

[1047] Yeah, they hit all the Mario notes.

[1048] They made a really, really, really good Super Mario Galaxy game.

[1049] Man, do you guys think if there's an HD Wii, it will run games like this?

[1050] I think we're past the point of an HD Wii being the thing.

[1051] Like, you think they'll just make a new system?

[1052] Yeah.

[1053] Because I want to go back and play these games.

[1054] Well, you know, maybe they'd be backwards compatible at this point, and I'm sure whatever next hardware they put out would do 720p minimum.

[1055] And it's Nintendo, so just wait.

[1056] Nintendo.

[1057] So just wait for the re -release.

[1058] Yeah, it's way for a virtual console.

[1059] Yeah, the compilation pack for $60.

[1060] On the Woo.

[1061] No, it's the Star Cube.

[1062] Woo!

[1063] Go back to that.

[1064] Oh, yeah?

[1065] Star Road for the online service?

[1066] Yeah, exactly.

[1067] You've got to connect to the Star Road and exchange your star numbers.

[1068] Jeff, give us a rundown of today's categories and winners now that we've come to our conclusion.

[1069] Most ridiculous use of FMV goes to Comic Jumper.

[1070] Hooray!

[1071] Keep on reaching for the stars.

[1072] Keep on jumping.

[1073] Star.

[1074] Keep on reaching for that star.

[1075] Yeah.

[1076] That's right there.

[1077] Boom.

[1078] Most improved franchise, need for speed.

[1079] Congratulations.

[1080] Yeah, definitely.

[1081] Most egregious use of product placement slash in -game advertising, Sean White skateboarding.

[1082] Eat it.

[1083] Congratulations.

[1084] Eat it.

[1085] Eat it.

[1086] Chew it.

[1087] Chew on it.

[1088] Worst accent, heavy rain.

[1089] Lay, eat it.

[1090] Do you want me to eat it?

[1091] Yeah.

[1092] And best Wii only game, Super Mario Galaxy 2.

[1093] Just keep doing what you do.

[1094] Yeah.

[1095] Keep on doing what you're doing.

[1096] Nintendo, make great shit for your system because apparently you've got a capacity for it.

[1097] And next time make it in HD.

[1098] Who would have thought?

[1099] All right, gents.

[1100] That's it.

[1101] Another day.

[1102] That's it.

[1103] Another day, another dollar.

[1104] See you, guys.

[1105] Top ten lists.

[1106] Yours, Ryan.

[1107] Oh, snap.

[1108] So you should finish that up.

[1109] Fuck.

[1110] As well as, if things hold according to schedule, a couple of industry luminaries.

[1111] Fascinating folks.

[1112] Some fun folks contributing top tens to our Game of the Year feature, which we'll keep on keeping on tomorrow.

[1113] Day four.

[1114] Look for it.

[1115] Giant Bombs Game of the Year 2010.