Giant Bombcast 12-14-2010

[0] it's december the 14th it's 2010 and it's the giant bomb cast i am ryan davis i'm your host i'm joined by vinnie caravella hi good afternoon the beautiful vinnie caravella yeah He's not here today.

[1] You get me. We get any kind of Vinny Caravella.

[2] Also joining us, special guest from PopCap Games, Jeff Green is in the house.

[3] Jeff, thank you for taking time out of your constant commutes to Seattle.

[4] Yeah.

[5] Come on over here.

[6] Taking it off this week.

[7] I'm taking off this week.

[8] It's like the first week I took off.

[9] That's nice.

[10] And I'm spending it with you.

[11] I was going to say, so we're getting you as the check -in.

[12] We got you right before you were about to start your pop cap, your new life with pop cap.

[13] Yep.

[14] And now you are in it.

[15] We will talk about that shortly.

[16] First, let me introduce the rest of our team.

[17] Mr. Jeff's...

[18] Oh, God.

[19] Pull it together, man. I almost called you Jeff Shoemaker.

[20] Mr. Jeff Gerstman.

[21] I can match three as well.

[22] I may have a job for you.

[23] Really?

[24] See you fuckers later.

[25] I know where the money's at.

[26] Matching three, apparently.

[27] Or pegs.

[28] Brad Shoemaker's here.

[29] Hey, hi.

[30] How's it going, Brad?

[31] Hello, it's going pretty well.

[32] Excellent.

[33] We're going to talk, all of us, about video games.

[34] It's time.

[35] Starting now.

[36] Can we talk about Rosetta Stone 2, though?

[37] We certainly can.

[38] After last week, Vinny, check in.

[39] Any new developments on the Rosetta?

[40] Jeff's just pulling out stuff because he recently listened to our podcast.

[41] But I have a hidden agenda.

[42] Oh, okay.

[43] Oh, is it you've got to put Bejeweled into Rosetta?

[44] No, no, it's nothing to do with PopCap.

[45] I was going to say, is it Peggle for Rosetta Stone?

[46] No, no, no, no. I was just hearing you talk about Rosetta Stone last week made me remember that when I worked at Computer Gaming World and we would go to the Metreon.

[47] And we would see the Rosetta guys there.

[48] I thought that was like the saddest person in the world.

[49] I just thought that was such a sad job to have.

[50] What were they next to the dragon, naturally speaking, guys?

[51] No, no, he was just on his own, but it just seemed like just a lonely job.

[52] It's like I'm selling software in the mall.

[53] Yeah, like what a random thing.

[54] I'm selling translation software in a mall.

[55] Do they have a storefront or is this like a little kiosk?

[56] No, it's like a mid -mall kiosk.

[57] It's like a popcorn booth, except it was Rosetta Stone.

[58] Like he was selling toy helicopters.

[59] Exactly.

[60] Toy helicopters that teach you how to speak Italian.

[61] They were $500.

[62] I mean, we'd go there for lunch a couple times a week and there'd never be anyone there.

[63] He can't surf the web.

[64] There's a computer right there, but he can't use it because he's got to be ready to make a sale.

[65] To be fair, that's kind of true of everything at the Metreon.

[66] No one's there buying anything.

[67] You're right.

[68] While you're like, this is a weird place.

[69] Let's get out of here.

[70] Everything here is terrible.

[71] We have to go.

[72] And then everybody did leave.

[73] It's like a ghost town now.

[74] Yeah.

[75] But I actually, my theory was.

[76] They're turning that into a Target.

[77] What?

[78] Oh, shit.

[79] You're right.

[80] They're turning that into a Target.

[81] They're putting a Target in there.

[82] That says it all.

[83] Bring that Rosetta guy back.

[84] Yeah.

[85] Wait, so what's going to happen to, what's it called?

[86] Is that where the walk of game is?

[87] Is that what they call it?

[88] I believe that is.

[89] It's still there.

[90] It's going to happen to that.

[91] It's going to happen to Dover.

[92] Shit.

[93] So my theory, though, about the Rosetta Stone booth was I felt that that was some sort of, like, it was like the penalty box for bad Microsoft employees.

[94] Like, you fucked up, and it's like, you've got to work the Rosetta Stone booth.

[95] Oh, come on.

[96] Jailard, you're going down to the Rosetta Stone booth.

[97] Oh!

[98] Whatever, I'm leaving the tribe.

[99] Oh, the tribe.

[100] Is there anything...

[101] So have you run into any kind of...

[102] Before I start making accusations about the culture at PopCap, how are things at PopCap?

[103] They're pretty awesome.

[104] Okay.

[105] I'm happy.

[106] Good.

[107] I'm happy there.

[108] I am.

[109] Excellent.

[110] Yeah.

[111] When I saw you guys last, I had two choices basically for jobs.

[112] They were both good.

[113] And one of them was back in the media.

[114] And it was really tempting.

[115] I mean, I wanted back in after my last experience.

[116] You had things to say.

[117] Yeah.

[118] I had things to say.

[119] And I was angry about him.

[120] So, you know, I had to kind of be convinced by PopCap to come to PopCap.

[121] Yeah.

[122] And it ended up being kind of an offer I couldn't refuse.

[123] And I don't really just mean money.

[124] It was really the whole thing, you know.

[125] It was the money and the benefits.

[126] And the benefits, right.

[127] Full vision.

[128] Let's do this.

[129] Well, and it was also the chance to, like, sort of.

[130] keep going with the sort of stuff I was trying to do at EA.

[131] And, you know, I'd been doing this kind of thing for a long time in my career.

[132] And the media job was really tempting, and it was a good one.

[133] And I think I would have been instantly comfortable.

[134] And then I may have felt a little bad about myself for, like, sort of taking what would have been sort of the easy way out.

[135] Like, the PopCap job is definitely more challenging.

[136] Like, I'm trying to do things there that they haven't done before.

[137] But the cool thing is, like, they're on board with it.

[138] So it's challenging, and it's hard.

[139] already trying to ramp up i i've seen you've got you've got podcast designs you're doing your your live video chat stuff yeah i've been working actually you've been helping me out you're you're bringing the media to them you're saying look this is kind of um you know what we're trying to do is uh or what i'm trying to do is sort of yeah bring the audience straight to pop cap in a way that um you know they're not going to get the same kind of media coverage that that other big game companies are going to get.

[140] Or Rosetta Stone.

[141] Or Rosetta Stone.

[142] Hey, to be fair, we had no Rosetta Stone people.

[143] We have an actual PopCat employee here.

[144] True.

[145] That's right.

[146] Maybe I should have gone to work for Rosetta.

[147] I could have done a Rosetta Stone podcast.

[148] A different language every week.

[149] Every week it'd be.

[150] Yeah, it's like, well, I can learn how to match three or Japanese.

[151] Match three it is.

[152] Right, so I am going to get a PopCap podcast going, and I'm excited about it.

[153] It's the PopCast?

[154] I think that sort of has to be the name.

[155] It's like everybody thinks that.

[156] It writes itself.

[157] How about the CapCast?

[158] Just to mess people up.

[159] Yeah, just to throw them off.

[160] Or PodCap.

[161] Yeah.

[162] Nobody would ever remember that.

[163] I think it has to be that, though.

[164] Thank you.

[165] That's it.

[166] All right.

[167] Thank you, Jeff.

[168] If nothing, we are good for stupid names.

[169] Yeah.

[170] And with that, like I'm – they're giving me a long lease just in the concept of it.

[171] So it's not going to be us talking about.

[172] bejeweled every week in fact what i'm hoping more is that there's a like a pretty lively uh developer community up in seattle yeah and i'm hoping to get a lot of those folks on to sort of have like open talks about gaming and stuff going on in that area um so of course it's going to be pop cap focused and there's going to be stuff that we're going to want to get across but i'm really hoping to sort of have sort of a bigger dialogue going on So you can ask David Ellis, like, what pop cap game do you think Master Chief would like the most?

[173] Plant versus zombies?

[174] Yeah, right.

[175] What's your favorite pop cap game?

[176] You cats old enough to talk about Jesus?

[177] So, yeah.

[178] So, you know, I...

[179] It was kind of like when PopCap was talking to me, it was kind of like the new nice girlfriend trying to convince you after you were with the harsh, abusive girlfriend that things are going to be okay.

[180] I understand you, Jeff.

[181] It won't be like that.

[182] I was a little bad.

[183] But it was so bad.

[184] It's time for the healing to begin.

[185] Yeah.

[186] And so far, they've been really kind about letting me just tweet whatever the hell I want to say and all that.

[187] I mean, we'll see how far I can push it before I get in trouble.

[188] You'll find a limit eventually.

[189] Yeah, I'm working on it.

[190] I'm working on it every day.

[191] You have to find it eventually because then that lets you know.

[192] Okay.

[193] Every kid needs its limits.

[194] You need to know.

[195] I'm a parent, and the kid has to find it.

[196] Okay, well, this is the line that I will then push from here on out.

[197] Like if I keep calling them poop crap.

[198] I'll see how long I can get away with that.

[199] And all your Photoshop's of AO -rated plants versus zombies.

[200] Like, okay, Jeff, that's the line.

[201] We're trying to expand the market here.

[202] You people have no vision.

[203] People are already making pornographic knockoffs with bejeweled.

[204] We're not getting a sent off.

[205] We make these ones easier.

[206] You only got to match two.

[207] Come on.

[208] Come on.

[209] This one they match themselves.

[210] Hands free.

[211] Come on.

[212] Oh, Kinect.

[213] Bejeweled.

[214] There you go.

[215] So, yeah, so, you know, my feeling as a guy who covered this company for many years was that they must be cool.

[216] You know, their games have always been cool.

[217] I've always felt like there's been this sort of subversive sense of humor.

[218] And my suspicion was it was probably going to be a good place to work because of that.

[219] And so far that has been borne out.

[220] And, you know, as I've been there, like one thing that I've noticed is, to continue my abusive girlfriend analogy, is that when I got in there and, you know, I made a few mistakes or said the wrong thing to the wrong person because I didn't know them or whatever.

[221] So, you know, then there would be an email back to, like, you know, next time, Jeff, maybe you should do this.

[222] From my previous job, that usually meant I was in so much shit.

[223] I would sit down, and this is a podcast, and I would write in reply a 900 -word apology.

[224] Like, I'll never do it.

[225] I'm so sorry.

[226] I'll leave.

[227] I'll go home now, back to Berkeley, if that would make you feel better.

[228] And the reply would always be like, Yeah, it's all right, dude.

[229] Stop overreacting.

[230] We were kind of already over it.

[231] A little drama queen there.

[232] Yeah, kind of.

[233] So it's like, wow, everybody's just actually nice here.

[234] Excellent.

[235] Yeah, so I'm happy.

[236] Although that commute to Seattle, that's no joke, man. That's no joke.

[237] How often are you up there?

[238] Is it once a week or once a week, a couple weeks?

[239] No, it's every week so far.

[240] I took Thanksgiving week off.

[241] And I took this week off, and I started in September.

[242] That's how we were able to get him here.

[243] Otherwise, you'd be on a plane.

[244] I would be up there right now.

[245] I leave Monday night, and I get back Thursday night.

[246] So I'm in the office of PopCap Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

[247] But then I'm at home in Berkeley Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

[248] I mean, when you think it out and look at it that way, it's not that bad.

[249] Those fights aren't that long.

[250] It's an hour and a half.

[251] Yeah, it's not that big a deal.

[252] I'm racking up the miles.

[253] We do that daily.

[254] Our drives is not too far off from that.

[255] My commute to EA was hell, as you guys know, on these highways here.

[256] Yeah, from Berkeley down to there.

[257] That's rough.

[258] Do you have people you recognize now at the airport?

[259] The guy who checks the IDs, do those guys work for TSA?

[260] I think those are TSA dudes.

[261] That guy recognized me. Oh, really?

[262] Because I'm always on the same flight.

[263] You know, it's Monday at the exact same time.

[264] And he's got his shift, and so he's always.

[265] Right, right.

[266] He's like, don't you?

[267] Are you always here?

[268] Yeah.

[269] So as a free flight, do you have opinions about the current TSA situation?

[270] I don't think any of us.

[271] When was the last time any of us were on a plane?

[272] PAX.

[273] PAX for me. Korea.

[274] That's right.

[275] Korea for you.

[276] Packs for you.

[277] I don't remember.

[278] It's kind of no big deal.

[279] No. Honestly.

[280] I mean, I've been put through the scanner thing.

[281] I have not gotten the pat.

[282] I keep trying to get the pat.

[283] When there's like a really nice looking dude.

[284] Please.

[285] Please pat me. Let me know I'm alive.

[286] Any sort of human contact, please.

[287] Someone touch me. I've been married 24 years.

[288] But.

[289] Everyone just thinks I'm like, please.

[290] But I have gone through the machine thing.

[291] And if you don't think about the fact that someone is looking at you naked, which is also kind of nice, it's really no big deal.

[292] You just stand there for a second and then you're gone.

[293] It's no big deal.

[294] I don't want to derouse, but I will say that my concern would be for all of those TSA employees standing right next to the giant X -ray machine that's constantly making radiation.

[295] Exactly.

[296] Or even like the pilots who have to go through it every day.

[297] Just kind of like zip, zip, zip, soak it up.

[298] Because they say it's like, oh, it's like a, you know, it's like a chest x -ray.

[299] It's, you know, it's not.

[300] I want to do one of those every day.

[301] I get those like every few years.

[302] Even that one time it feels like, what are they doing?

[303] Why does that guy have to leave the room?

[304] And they give me that lead apron.

[305] Get back in here.

[306] I'm out of here, dude.

[307] If all the hair falls out of your chest, hey, don't worry about it.

[308] He has to leave the room and I have to hide from Superman.

[309] Clearly something is going on here.

[310] Some bad thing is happening.

[311] But I have learned, you guys all see up in the air with...

[312] Yes.

[313] I'm feeling like him now with the whole packing and going through the security.

[314] It's all down now.

[315] Efficiency.

[316] And I get completely annoyed by it.

[317] You can see the families, like civilians.

[318] I'm a commuter now.

[319] Get the fuck out of the way.

[320] You know, coming through.

[321] The normals.

[322] The weekend warriors.

[323] Do I have to take my shoes off?

[324] That kind of thing.

[325] Yes.

[326] That's what I said.

[327] Take your fucking shoes off.

[328] You always have to take your shoes off.

[329] Good.

[330] So that's what it's like for me. Other than that.

[331] Fantastic.

[332] Well, Jeff, a pleasure to have you here as always.

[333] Pleasure to be here.

[334] Let's talk to the rest of the crew here for a bit, though.

[335] Vinny Caravella.

[336] Hey.

[337] How's it going, buddy?

[338] It's going well.

[339] We are in the midst, for those listening, we are in...

[340] Actually, as you're listening to this, we are fighting right now.

[341] Yeah, probably.

[342] While you're listening to this podcast, we're recording another one.

[343] There's another one that's happening, and we are so pissed at each other.

[344] I probably hate Brad.

[345] No, actually, I think me and you are going to have to form a strategic alliance.

[346] No, because fuck strategic alliances, for one thing, because they never last.

[347] This isn't a reality show where I'm going to get second prize.

[348] I didn't come here and make friends.

[349] By coming in later.

[350] You have your own agenda and you stick to it.

[351] Our Game of the Year deliberations taking place over the course of this week.

[352] And we're going to try and cram as much of it into one day so that...

[353] And I'm just going to keep...

[354] By the end of that, it's just going to be like, whatever game you want's fine.

[355] Vinny's just going to keep playing the games that Vinny likes to play.

[356] See, you can...

[357] God damn it.

[358] Jeff, it either goes that way, it either goes like, fuck it, I don't care, whatever.

[359] Or it's the irrational final, like, no, no, no, I'm not going to let, no. Oh, you mean a year's worth of just like pent up kind of like tangentially related things.

[360] I'm going to stick on this fucking best graphics category and I'm going to hold my ground.

[361] This is so typical of you.

[362] Just wait until I start my StarCraft filibuster.

[363] If the words limbo come out of your mouth one more time, I'm choking everyone in this room.

[364] You're going to be in this room for...

[365] 48 hours.

[366] I will not stop talking.

[367] I was going to say, if you're going to filibuster, you have to stand.

[368] That's right.

[369] All right.

[370] It's the rules.

[371] It's the rules.

[372] And the podium, though.

[373] That's right.

[374] We should film the podium and the microphone.

[375] Are you going to say game of the year?

[376] Overall game of the year?

[377] Starcraft 2?

[378] Oh, I don't think that's a fight.

[379] And you probably shouldn't tip your hand.

[380] Well, I don't think that's a fight I can win in here.

[381] That shouldn't stop me from breaking around the room.

[382] But I'm realistic, though, you know?

[383] We've all...

[384] This is not our first rodeo.

[385] We've all done this enough times that you know, like...

[386] All right, realistically, I'm not going to be able to sell these other cats on this game.

[387] So what's the game that I want that I think will win?

[388] Totally.

[389] Well, it's the one that you bring up kind of under your breath as you go, well, I'd vote for StarCraft 2.

[390] Jeff has already said he would support a vote for StarCraft 2 over a handful of other games.

[391] So are you making backroom deals?

[392] I will say this, and I don't want this to become a Game of the Year podcast.

[393] We'll have plenty of that.

[394] There's nothing that I would not be happy to say.

[395] Yes, that was the game of the year.

[396] I feel like all of our top bids right now, our game's like, yeah, that game was like, maybe that's not my favorite game, but I have my personal top ten list, so that's where I get to vent that shit out.

[397] Yeah, usually by the time it gets there, they are all spectacular games.

[398] It's like, yeah, these are all great.

[399] So it's just sort of like, well, which one is the greatest?

[400] The most greatest.

[401] Which, Vinny, you and I spent some time this weekend trying to figure out what's the most greatest Doritos promotional game available on Xbox Live Arcade.

[402] Well, I'm throwing my hat into the ring of Crash Course.

[403] Doritos Crash Course.

[404] I second the vote.

[405] Yeah.

[406] Anybody else want to challenge that?

[407] Motion carried.

[408] All right.

[409] Winner.

[410] That's not an actual category, just so you know.

[411] We spent some time.

[412] Although, Doritos, if you're listening, if you'd like to sponsor the Giant Bomb Game of the Year feature.

[413] And by sponsor...

[414] It's a little late.

[415] Just send us Doritos.

[416] A sponsorship of some kind.

[417] We're not that cheap.

[418] Don't sell us that.

[419] I will take five.

[420] It's a lot of Doritos.

[421] Send us the money.

[422] We'll buy our own goddamn Doritos.

[423] Dude, what if it's a lot of Doritos?

[424] I take the Doritos.

[425] What if it's a lot of the super small bags so we can make a ball pit out of them?

[426] No, I had a case of small bags at Cheetos.

[427] Don't ask me why and shit, but somehow I came into those.

[428] Did you rob a lunch line?

[429] Okay, keep going.

[430] There's still one taped above my hall bathroom.

[431] Just a sealed bag of Cheetos.

[432] Oh, yeah, there totally is.

[433] I forget why I taped it up there at the time.

[434] It was something.

[435] It might just be good to know.

[436] We were hiding it.

[437] It was me and my roommate.

[438] We're hiding it in each other's shoes and just sticking them in weird places.

[439] Oh, you Cheeto'd him.

[440] Yeah, basically.

[441] He was getting Cheeto'd.

[442] And then I think where it ended up is I just ended up taping it above the door to the bathroom.

[443] And it's been there for like a year.

[444] They're probably still good.

[445] Probably.

[446] Dream catchers.

[447] Ladies come and they stay at the house and then they say, what is wrong with you people?

[448] But it's not the Cheetos.

[449] I don't know.

[450] Come on.

[451] That's just one of my things.

[452] The stolen road cone that's in front of the bathroom door now actually is probably more noticeable than the Cheetos.

[453] An effective warning.

[454] Your Las Vegas Flyers door montage.

[455] Yeah, there's a lot of bad stuff in my house.

[456] Vinny, getting back on topic, I think.

[457] Doritos Crash Course.

[458] Right, they're Frito -Lay, right?

[459] That's a Frito -Lay product.

[460] I'm holding out for the Chili Cheese Fritos game.

[461] Does Doritos have a lot of games?

[462] They've done three of these so far.

[463] They did Dash of Destruction?

[464] That was the Monster Trucks vs. Dinosaurs game that came out.

[465] I recall it not being terrible, but just being kind of like you cranked through it because it was 200 really quick points.

[466] And after you got the points, there was no real reason to keep playing it.

[467] And then Harmsway.

[468] Harmsway.

[469] Which kind of seems like a real video game, actually.

[470] It does, but I don't care for it too much.

[471] I don't know.

[472] That's all right.

[473] We spent some time in there as well.

[474] I just don't like the handling on the cars.

[475] That was turrets versus monster trucks.

[476] That's true.

[477] Are there Doritos in the game?

[478] No. Not at all.

[479] That's the weird thing.

[480] Harmsway especially.

[481] They have a logo up front or something like that.

[482] But even that, it's for snack strong.

[483] Yeah, so this time around they're doing some kind of competition where they put these two games out for free on the same day and people are going to be able to vote which one's better.

[484] And I think it's a real easy vote because Harm's Way is not so good and Doritos Crash Course is pretty awesome.

[485] Yeah.

[486] So Doritos Crash Course.

[487] For a free game that is essentially there to promote tortilla chips.

[488] That one for five bucks I would have said yeah.

[489] This is totally fine.

[490] I think it would probably use some more levels.

[491] Sure, sure.

[492] But you're right.

[493] As a free product, it's like, yeah, this is actually fun.

[494] It brings some – And does not slam the branding down your throat the whole time.

[495] So what if it came out from some indie developer and it had nothing to do with Doritos?

[496] I think some indie developer actually did the development work on it.

[497] But it's all avatar -based, so it's just your avatar, and it's kind of just running through an obstacle course like a – Takeshi's Castle or Wipeout or – those extreme physical kind of game show things and you just, you know, run around and go from left to right and you're going for best time and it gets pretty tough.

[498] Just, it handles well.

[499] I think what it is is there's really good animation on the avatars.

[500] Yeah, some of the best avatar animation I've seen.

[501] And the avatars aren't eating chips.

[502] Yeah.

[503] No chips get consumed at all.

[504] They blew that up an opportunity.

[505] Yeah, it's, you look at it and you're like, why?

[506] why are you doing this, Doritos?

[507] Like when Burger King did it, it's like, yeah, there's Burger King shit everywhere here, so I get it.

[508] It definitely seems like there was a game in development that they then picked up.

[509] I think with Harm's Way specifically, they actually solicited, a lot of the stuff was them soliciting ideas from people, and then they took the best ideas and contracted developers to make them.

[510] I mean, that was Dash of Destruction.

[511] Same deal.

[512] That's exactly what that was.

[513] But here we are talking about Doritos and their game, so maybe it's working.

[514] It's not a bad game.

[515] It's not.

[516] We can't pay for this kind of brand.

[517] It's like, I mean, it's not up to the quality of either of these games, but I am reminded in moments of both Trials and Splosion Man while playing Crash Course.

[518] You get that?

[519] Yes.

[520] The animations from Splosion Man are kind of like...

[521] It's not as insane as either of those games.

[522] Yeah, I'm saying it's not.

[523] It doesn't take it to those levels, but, again, I am reminded.

[524] But they're fun.

[525] They're goofy fun.

[526] We played four -player.

[527] You guys should, like, make this your game of the year just to, like, fuck with it.

[528] Giant Bomb picks a Doritos game for a game of the year.

[529] It's a free one.

[530] Everybody can play it.

[531] I would just say presented by Doritos.

[532] Even if it's not.

[533] The value is infinite because you can't divide.

[534] See, you're already writing it.

[535] You've got the script.

[536] You've got your story.

[537] Already no dollars.

[538] We made it through.

[539] But I feel like I will not play that game.

[540] No, we hit our limit.

[541] We played through every level once in multiplayer.

[542] And that's that.

[543] All right, we're done.

[544] But yeah, it was free.

[545] We did that, and we played enough harm's way to get points.

[546] That one we actually got all the points in.

[547] That was easy.

[548] That was easy.

[549] You don't even need other people for that.

[550] That was just silly.

[551] You get points for looking at the credits and also making a lobby, which I'm just giving it away.

[552] The other thing we played, though, together was Need for Speed.

[553] We played a little Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

[554] How much additional Need for Speed Hot Pursuit were you playing this weekend?

[555] Zero.

[556] Zero?

[557] Yeah.

[558] I played a lot of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

[559] I know, because as I was playing other things, I saw you at 1 in the morning, like, hey, want to play some more Need for Speed?

[560] Dude.

[561] I'm still playing.

[562] this i've been playing since like seven in the morning because that's yeah i think it was it was kind of like it was like noon or 11 when we played that match hey yeah we played earlier i think i don't remember everything's a blur now was that today was that yesterday yeah no i'm not playing blur i'm playing hot pursuits uh Did that dude who was in our game party go out and actually buy the game and come back?

[563] Did you end up playing with him?

[564] We all abandoned him.

[565] I was still playing, but I don't have...

[566] Who was that?

[567] I have no idea who that was.

[568] Oh, okay.

[569] I thought you...

[570] No, wait.

[571] Did Charlie knew him?

[572] I think Charlie brought that guy.

[573] It was somebody who was just in our game party.

[574] He was like, hey, what are you guys doing?

[575] We're playing D for Speed.

[576] It's real fun.

[577] He was playing Black Ops.

[578] He thought we were all going to play Black Ops with him when he joined the party.

[579] I think Charlie invited him at that point.

[580] Then he was like, oh, well, you guys can be around for a half hour and then go buy it.

[581] It literally took like a 30 -second sales pitch, and he was like, all right, I'm going to go pick that game up.

[582] Yeah, we'll pick it up.

[583] And then about 10 minutes later, we were like, everyone else was like, oh, I think I'm done.

[584] Even I was like, so you guys will be around.

[585] I was still playing like a half hour.

[586] Oh, yeah.

[587] To be fair, I was still playing it, but I didn't.

[588] To be less fair, I got booted out of that game or something like that.

[589] You got dumped at some point for whatever reason.

[590] But yeah, that game is fantastic.

[591] Goddamn.

[592] Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

[593] Jeff Green, have you played any of the Hot Pursuits?

[594] I was just thinking I should have waited to leave EA until after it came out.

[595] So I would have got my free copy.

[596] It's goddamn near free, right?

[597] I don't want to keep saying this.

[598] It's like $30 to $35.

[599] They're selling it for crazy cheap on Amazon right now.

[600] Yeah, it keeps getting cut down to $30 and $35.

[601] I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[602] And I was still at EA when it was in beta, and I saw it running, and it looked great.

[603] And like a lot of people, I was a big fan of the first Top Pursuit.

[604] And Criterion, you know?

[605] Yeah.

[606] Guys kind of do no wrong.

[607] Those guys really, I mean, you look at what Need for Speed had been for the years prior to that.

[608] They really turned that whole series around because it was getting grim.

[609] Yeah.

[610] When that announcement came out, it just, like, felt right.

[611] You know?

[612] Like, the hopes were high, and it sounds like they...

[613] I was a little...

[614] Honestly, I was a little worried in that they were announcing it at E3 that year, and then it was coming out later that year.

[615] Yeah.

[616] Granted, I don't know, like, what the actual development cycle was like, how long it had been, but it seemed...

[617] That seemed like quick turnaround, and I was afraid, like, I hope they're not just squeezing this out.

[618] Like, Tritarian's like, yeah.

[619] Yeah, we can do this in between the burnouts.

[620] No, no, no, no. We can.

[621] No, no, no. It'll be good.

[622] No, no, no, no, no. This will be good.

[623] We can do this.

[624] And then just, you know, whatever.

[625] But I think the end product speeds for itself.

[626] Yeah, so a lot of fun.

[627] And then a couple of other things.

[628] $40 right now on Amazon.

[629] Worth it.

[630] Sold.

[631] I think.

[632] I don't know.

[633] Personally.

[634] I think so, too.

[635] It's probably more fun when you have not only friends to play with, but people on your friends list for all that autolog stuff.

[636] It is.

[637] Integral.

[638] It is absolutely...

[639] Yeah, so if you don't have any of that...

[640] Definitely a lot of the issues with the front -end menu stuff become less of a deal when you have more friends playing.

[641] And even when I do...

[642] The big problem with it is just navigating menus and selecting races and that stuff.

[643] I've got, I think, at max, I think I've got 15 people, 16 people on my friends list that have played, aren't necessarily actively.

[644] And even then, like, you start getting to the point, Brad, I know you're there because I see you on the same lap times where there's only, like, two people that have completed an event.

[645] Oh, it's a small draw.

[646] Yeah, you get to the point where it's like, okay, everyone's done this one, and it's really fun, and everyone can kind of compete, and then you keep going and keep going and keep going.

[647] You're like, all right, well, I don't want to just go up against, you know, Dan from Game of the Foreigner and Brad again, so I'm just going to skip it.

[648] So, yeah, it still has issues with that stuff.

[649] But we were playing straight kind of Hot Pursuit multiplayer, and that was real fun.

[650] Yeah, the Hot Pursuit was fun.

[651] Although that's really the only good thing in the multiplayer.

[652] What's the one -on -one?

[653] Interceptor.

[654] Interceptor's all right.

[655] Yeah, it's cool.

[656] Although it feels really weighted against the cop.

[657] Yeah, because at the racer you just turn around.

[658] Yeah, every time I was a racer.

[659] You're not actually doing a lap on anything.

[660] It's just like in the single player, right?

[661] I won every time I was a racer and lost every time I was a cop.

[662] It just feels like the racer.

[663] I've had to go both ways.

[664] Huge advantage there.

[665] I guess I just like the group dynamics you get when it's four on four like that.

[666] It's a fun game.

[667] V, what else have you been playing?

[668] So then just kind of mopping up some of the end -year stuff that I didn't make to you during the year.

[669] Minerva's Den, the Bioshock 2 DLC.

[670] What'd you think?

[671] I thought it was great.

[672] I think you talked a big game about it.

[673] I was a little worried, actually, because another game that you finished maybe didn't deliver on my sales pitch.

[674] Yeah, no, but the DLC for Bioshock 2, that little self -contained piece of content was great.

[675] Fantastic, right?

[676] It's so well -written.

[677] It's, what would you say, two, three, maybe four hours?

[678] Maybe four hours.

[679] Four hours out of it, but it's just such a...

[680] expertly written and paced self -contained storyline.

[681] It's really nice that it's self -contained.

[682] There are some things that you might want to have played Bioshock 2 for, but they don't break anything.

[683] They're using a lot of the assets from Bioshock 2.

[684] There are big sisters in it, so if you haven't played Bioshock 2, you don't even know where did this come from.

[685] Sophia Lamb.

[686] Yeah, who are those people?

[687] But it did make me go and immediately start playing Bioshock 2.

[688] I'm actually kind of enjoying it.

[689] I only played a bit of it, but I don't know.

[690] I feel like I'm back in Bioshock somehow.

[691] I found myself in there.

[692] I'm going to be really curious to see how history judges Bioshock 2 specifically because I think it's – I have not finished it to start off.

[693] I feel like history has already forgotten Bioshock 2 and it's going to stay forgotten at this point.

[694] It just kind of came and went.

[695] But I wonder if that's just due to current expectations of Bioshock and of that franchise.

[696] I don't know.

[697] It seems like it's a fine game that gets a certain short shrift, I think.

[698] I'm not sure what happened there.

[699] Why that is.

[700] Well, I think at the time, definitely, it was like, I'm not ready for more Bioshock right now.

[701] Right.

[702] I don't.

[703] Or I just don't.

[704] Like it came out too soon.

[705] You don't want to go back to Rapture.

[706] It's like, I've had the story there.

[707] Right.

[708] Yeah.

[709] It looks a little too derivative.

[710] Yeah.

[711] Like going in before I played it, you know, it was very easy to get a very negative impression of what that game was going to be.

[712] And, you know, there is a ton of stuff that is just like, welcome back to Bioshock.

[713] And.

[714] But I think at this point I'm just kind of like, well, I can go for some of that.

[715] And who knows if I'll make it all the way through.

[716] I hope I do, but I might just...

[717] Yeah, I think when you look back on it, looking back on it now from when I reviewed it, I remember things like, oh man, it was so linear.

[718] The train map is literally just like, it's the next level.

[719] It is incredibly linear.

[720] And it's the same style of gameplay.

[721] They do a little bit of a better job of...

[722] kind of balancing out the different powers and stuff.

[723] So I think the combat is much better than the first game, but that's not necessarily why people remember the original Bioshock or what people were looking for out of a sequel.

[724] Protection missions, that's what they wanted.

[725] Yeah, there's kind of a lot of that stuff.

[726] Which actually, those are not hard.

[727] I'll give them credit for that.

[728] For as much time as you spend protecting...

[729] uh, things like, like it's, it's really not that difficult.

[730] I'm already actually kind of a little sick of those, like the protecting little sisters and stuff.

[731] Like then you should totally not.

[732] I know.

[733] It's a lot of that.

[734] Right.

[735] They're not.

[736] You need that atomized.

[737] Because in the DLC, which is all self -contained, you don't bring any weapons or anything.

[738] I never felt like I had to really do those.

[739] But I also feel like the upgrades are so worth it.

[740] There's kind of no question.

[741] I mean, they're not extremely difficult.

[742] It does just seem like that game has been set up with the trap rivets.

[743] That was basically all I ever used, or the primary thing I used, were the trap rivets for dealing with...

[744] And it's like, well, obviously we have...

[745] giving you the tools to do all of this stuff uh i just i don't know like some of that stuff seems like it's happening a little too often for me like oh here we go again all right just kind of back it up and let's get into a big fight uh but it's it's different For sure.

[746] And they make you feel when you have the drill and you're all powered up like you're mowing into guys.

[747] I pretty much never used the drill.

[748] Oh, really?

[749] I just thought it was useless.

[750] Oh, I powered it up.

[751] It's not bad.

[752] I don't like the jelly that comes out of everyone when you use it.

[753] It just looks awkward when you use the...

[754] It looks delicious.

[755] I hate the dual wheel thing.

[756] I hate...

[757] thinking about my dude running around looking like that, like, with one hand up and the other hand, like, with a thing.

[758] Like, he's some kind of, like, magician.

[759] Like, every time he does something like...

[760] I'll make this wrench disappear!

[761] Yeah, like, every time he has to, like...

[762] So he's got, like, a giant, you know, machine gun in one hand and the other hand is just up like this and he's got to reload his plasmid in his hand so he pulls it back and pushes it forward.

[763] I just...

[764] I can't help but think in, like, third -person mode, like, man, this must look really stupid.

[765] Like, it looks okay now because I...

[766] two weapons but dude running around like if I had a mirror right now I'd probably shoot myself I don't know if you think about any first person shooter where it's like I got my little gun I'm pointing this around what's over there where you put my gun at him and I'm holding it up high enough that it is clear in my eye line so it's like you know he's holding it like chest level right now I walk up to a dude I'm at his crotch yeah and also yeah also you're two and a half feet tall so alright so Minerva's Den was great and I think it was definitely worth the price so is it just like I just have to play because every time either of you have talked or anyone I've heard talk about it and say that it's good refuses to get into any specifics.

[767] It's a slow build.

[768] I mean, you start off with a bunch of new characters you've never seen before and they really slowly and methodically develop them and make them feel like real people.

[769] Like the writing is just fantastic.

[770] So I mean, but it is...

[771] To be clear, this is Bioshock.

[772] As far as tone and execution and the kind of things.

[773] This is picking up audio logs to kind of build the story, and by the end of it, it is a great piece of short storytelling.

[774] It's just like, this is some really good Bioshock.

[775] I've seen it described on message boards as like, this could be the first installment of a Tales from Rapture.

[776] If they put out a collection of short stories, this would be...

[777] It's very nicely done.

[778] It really is...

[779] A short story.

[780] Okay.

[781] And just a really, really well -told story.

[782] I bought it.

[783] It was like $10?

[784] Yeah, $10.

[785] And like Brad said, you really don't have to have the history of Bioshock 2 to enjoy it.

[786] Well, I played Bioshock 2.

[787] You'll doubly enjoy it or hate it.

[788] Right.

[789] I mean, yeah, it has like a full plot arc from start to finish.

[790] Also, it has an old arcade game in it that you can play.

[791] Yeah.

[792] Totally does.

[793] All my favorite 1940s arcade games.

[794] Yeah.

[795] Sweet underwater arcade classics.

[796] Robotron 1984.

[797] Subrock 3D machine down there.

[798] There's also an audio log that goes along with it where the guy's talking about like, hey, the engineers whipped up this thing.

[799] And what's the main dude from Rapture?

[800] Andrew Ryan.

[801] Yeah, exactly.

[802] Andrew Ryan wants to shut it down.

[803] Ayn Rand.

[804] Yeah, Ayn Rand.

[805] Ayn Rand says we should shut this down because it's not pulling its weight.

[806] So they blow it up.

[807] And then you go play it.

[808] Minor 1949er.

[809] Oh, boy.

[810] Futuristic still.

[811] Also played Undead, Red Dead's DLC.

[812] Undead Nightmare.

[813] Another one that was just like.

[814] Getting your DLC on.

[815] Well, it was one of those things where like, you know, we're going to be talking about this stuff soon.

[816] Let's try it out.

[817] Also great.

[818] Not playing the stuff people aren't recommending, let's say.

[819] That one seems weird to me. I've heard only good things, but it seems so odd.

[820] What makes it work, like, so you played Redemption.

[821] Yep, I loved it.

[822] Like, that's got a very serious Western tone.

[823] Yeah, it does.

[824] This goes, like, as far as the tone goes, same setting, same characters.

[825] But this basically does that, but does a zombie version of that like it was a 70s horror movie.

[826] Okay, so this doesn't exist in the same universe.

[827] No, this is like Twilight Zone.

[828] It's bizarre because it does and it doesn't.

[829] Certain characters are alive that might not be.

[830] Or certain characters coexist that might not otherwise.

[831] Does it start after the end?

[832] No. It's so weird.

[833] But you would benefit from having finished the story.

[834] Absolutely.

[835] But, yeah, it's a very weird expansion.

[836] It's almost like a parody or something.

[837] It's super tugging.

[838] It's got, like, real B -movie sense of humor.

[839] It's really interesting that they did this.

[840] I mean, this seems like an odd move.

[841] It does.

[842] It seemed like it was just going to be, like, bad zombie shit.

[843] Like, oh, just trot out more zombie stuff because zombies are hot right now.

[844] Right, right.

[845] It's really smart.

[846] And the voice work is back again.

[847] All the great voice work.

[848] Same everybody.

[849] And it just reminds you how great a character John Marston is for when he's encountering zombies.

[850] He still works.

[851] Yeah, and he's just like...

[852] kind of semi -serious dude encountering all this ridiculous stuff.

[853] He's got that real matter of fact, but kind of detached, like, resigned to his fate.

[854] Yeah, he observes and acknowledges that all of this is a ridiculous situation.

[855] As it was in, like, the main story.

[856] Like, whenever insane shit would happen, you'd be like, well, that happened, so I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it.

[857] Sir, I think he's always very polite.

[858] He's even polite to the zombies and be like, I'm sorry.

[859] Does he call him sir?

[860] Some zombies.

[861] Full of quips.

[862] I've never heard him repeat him.

[863] Like, every time you kill and loot zombies, he's got some ridiculous...

[864] That was my favorite Rockstar game.

[865] Same here.

[866] By a mile.

[867] It's quite good.

[868] The original, I mean, obviously.

[869] So it's not without its flaws.

[870] I think there are some things in it that remind me what I did not like about Red Dead.

[871] Not to mention, or to mention briefly, some of the weird...

[872] buggy things that happened in red dead which were like like literally riding my horse one of those apocalyptic horses uh i think it was war so it was on fire there's something just dies so i don't know what it did right out from under you yeah i was riding up a hill and just died well he was on fire uh took took uh took pestilence the uh one of the other horses Unhished him, went riding, literally spun the camera, rode him right into a lake.

[873] That was the end of that horse.

[874] That was the end of Pestilence.

[875] You killed Pestilence.

[876] Meanwhile, like a second before that, it's like, oh, you got Pestilence.

[877] His power is he can't die.

[878] You haven't tried drowning Pestilence.

[879] So some weird stuff.

[880] Also, protecting the towns, the fact that they get overrun again is really annoying.

[881] So I'm just kind of trying to critical path and mainline my way through the stories.

[882] I didn't find this.

[883] I had to go back maybe twice.

[884] But at a certain point, I just got tired of the, like, I just don't want to go and clear out another fucking town.

[885] It doesn't really actually impact anything if you let one of the towns get taken.

[886] Oh, it doesn't.

[887] Unless you want that achievement for having all the towns saved at the same time.

[888] Yeah, it will impact that because if you take a town and you let it get taken back and you don't fight it, you lose it forever.

[889] Although I've read even when that happens, you can still get the achievements.

[890] Just do all the story and Stranger Missions.

[891] That's kind of what I'm doing right now.

[892] So the main game that I spent most of my time playing that I wanted to really make it through was Enslaved.

[893] Journey to the West.

[894] Very curious about that one.

[895] So was I. Yeah.

[896] Mixed reactions.

[897] Less so now that he's finished.

[898] Really?

[899] Yeah.

[900] Did you play it?

[901] I didn't play it, no, because I've been waiting for a price drop to get more opinions.

[902] I think it actually has a price drop.

[903] I'm waiting for five.

[904] It's by no means a terrible game.

[905] By no means.

[906] I'd say it's a pretty damn good game.

[907] I would say a really good game.

[908] Yeah, solid.

[909] No, no, I'm saying it's okay.

[910] No, I'm saying that I like the game you like, okay?

[911] No, I'm saying it's a game that was crafted.

[912] Hey, it's a real game.

[913] This is definitely a game.

[914] It came in a box.

[915] There was a disc.

[916] There's a folded sheet of paper that was like a manual.

[917] You can fight and jump.

[918] I don't know.

[919] But it definitely did not hook me in some ways that I think it has hooked other people.

[920] It was that ending.

[921] $36 .99.

[922] It needs to go down a little more for me. It was the ending, wasn't it?

[923] Yes, totally.

[924] Absolutely.

[925] More like perplexing.

[926] It just comes out of nowhere.

[927] It's not only that, it's the story build up to there is kind of non...

[928] It's not very engaging.

[929] So you're doing all these things, waiting for the big payoff, right?

[930] And you're like, alright, we're going to keep going.

[931] This is going to end.

[932] Something messed up is going to happen.

[933] And then you're like, what?

[934] And then the worst part was, and this is, again, this game's okay.

[935] It's not terrible.

[936] You beat this chapter, and then Fades of Black comes back up.

[937] Epilogue.

[938] Totally unplayable epilogue that lasts for a while, gives you the end of the story, and then rolls credits.

[939] So you're kind of just like, it's kind of anticlimactic.

[940] It feels like there should be another hour of it.

[941] I don't know where more gameplay would fit in.

[942] I just feel like the events that follow the end of the gameplay are, And it's hard to talk about it because you totally spoiled this ending, which I don't mind spoiling, really, but maybe some people would.

[943] So here's the weird thing.

[944] So Goku rides away on his cloud and someone with a scouter says something?

[945] No, I have a feeling that there is an issue of the veracity of reality in this world.

[946] Anything like that?

[947] No, it's not the Matrix or anything like that.

[948] I'm going to disagree with that.

[949] The game itself is not the Matrix.

[950] No, you are not in the Matrix.

[951] There is plenty to be compared to...

[952] But you were in Tron World.

[953] You're in VR.

[954] There is a very strong Matrix connection to that game.

[955] Sure, but it's kind of irrelevant to 90 % of the game, which is what we're trying to say.

[956] Tell me about it.

[957] That's why the ending sucks.

[958] Because you get to the ending and you're like, yo, check this out.

[959] By the way.

[960] And you're like, yeah, this is irrelevant to 90 % of the shit we just did.

[961] I don't know if it's an issue with the source material, because it's based on that old ancient Chinese tale, which is essentially a...

[962] I'm pretty sure The Matrix was not a Chinese secret.

[963] Whatever.

[964] The story is basically a rogue.

[965] Enslaved, even soaking in it.

[966] Attach enslaved to the bottom of your feet, and you'll draw the poisons out.

[967] It's basically a road movie.

[968] It's like characters going from A to B to C trying to get somewhere.

[969] It sounds like the issue is just what is it?

[970] It sounds like the issue is between B and C somewhere.

[971] Well, the issue is definitely D when you get to C. If they got to the end of that journey and they were like, shit, what do we do now?

[972] We've got to come up with an ending.

[973] Andy Serkis.

[974] The ending is let's get Andy Serkis in a room and put him in front of a camera and let him talk for about 30 minutes.

[975] Just got to wrap this up for us, Andy.

[976] Fix them out.

[977] Go.

[978] We don't have anything.

[979] Let's talk.

[980] Just freestyle.

[981] We'll cut around.

[982] We got plenty of yards here.

[983] So all of that being said, the characters are exceptional.

[984] The voice acting, Andy Serkis deserves something for this because it is excellent voice work.

[985] It's too late for a VGA though.

[986] Would you say he deserves a circus?

[987] I think the games had to be out by, was it like 1128 to be considered for the VGAs.

[988] So this was then.

[989] Yeah.

[990] It's a shame because.

[991] I don't know that it was considered.

[992] Well, it was considered and didn't make it.

[993] Well, I played it at E3 and thought it was not good.

[994] Okay.

[995] So that's.

[996] Yeah.

[997] So I thought the acting and the characterization, the building of the characters is great.

[998] What they were building towards kind of.

[999] Sure.

[1000] Crap.

[1001] You do kind of run into a brick wall there at the end.

[1002] This isn't really selling me. Now I'm thinking $3.

[1003] Five is seeming too high.

[1004] Actually, I'm enjoying this because it's letting me know, like, okay, temper your expectations.

[1005] I know, like, these parts will be good.

[1006] I know what to expect out of this.

[1007] And it's a fun game to play.

[1008] And I know not to worry about the end.

[1009] It's not going to, like...

[1010] There are parts of it that remind me of Uncharted in the characters.

[1011] This is fun.

[1012] These characters are fun to be around.

[1013] This is great banter.

[1014] Great dialogue.

[1015] Yeah, good dialogue.

[1016] Then the gameplay, some parts just remind me of Uncharted and be like, Uncharted is way better than this.

[1017] This is kind of clunky here.

[1018] There's some weird animations.

[1019] Dudes are hitting spots where you're taking me out of the game.

[1020] You're losing me. From what I've seen, though, I just don't think anyone beats Ninja Theory for...

[1021] They look great.

[1022] Not just for the way they look, but for the animation and the...

[1023] I know a lot of it's performance capture stuff.

[1024] So they're just using tech to get around the hand -animated...

[1025] There's one part, Pigsy, who they do a lot of tight shots on their face.

[1026] And you really can read the kind of emotional trauma and stuff.

[1027] Even when they're not saying anything, you can tell exactly what's going on.

[1028] Which is pretty remarkable.

[1029] But it's tough.

[1030] At the same time, there are only three speaking roles except for...

[1031] Well, Andy Serkis does like 17.

[1032] Okay, there's like five.

[1033] but Andy Serkis has like three of them.

[1034] Yeah, like there's a small economy of characters, but they get a ton of mileage out of them.

[1035] So you think Andy Serkis should just start his own dev studio?

[1036] Well, at one point I was like, you know, he's doing a really good job here.

[1037] His accent's a little weird, but he's pulling it off because he's like this weird future Brooklyn accent.

[1038] And it's like, okay, it's kind of weird.

[1039] But he pulls it off, and like I said, there are things in it that are great.

[1040] He screams when he needs to scream.

[1041] He yells at people when they're far away.

[1042] That kind of stuff really plays well into the game.

[1043] The worst part of any VO or kind of a thing to take you out of game is when dudes are talking normally and they're miles apart kind of thing.

[1044] Hey, come over here.

[1045] Or they're climbing a wall and they're just talking normally when they should be grunting or doing...

[1046] Or they're in a helicopter and they're just speaking at...

[1047] They're in a speaking voice and not trying to yell over the rotors.

[1048] So I feel like all that stuff is actually kind of captured in the game where they need to be quiet, they're quiet, and then when they're exerting their...

[1049] themselves are actually talking like they're huffing and puffing.

[1050] That's what you get when you have an actor.

[1051] Right.

[1052] What am I doing now?

[1053] You're climbing a hill.

[1054] Okay.

[1055] I imagine he also probably had to actually pantomime that climbing.

[1056] He just wears a ping pong ball suit entirely now.

[1057] All the time.

[1058] That's the only thing that was weird for me is I felt like maybe he was trying too hard.

[1059] And that's purely Vinny.

[1060] So who is Andy Serkis?

[1061] He's the dude who played Gollum.

[1062] So I brought that to the table that is not enslaved, that is all the behind -the -scenes documentary stuff of Lord of the Rings and the kind of Andy Serkis show.

[1063] He did that.

[1064] I mean, he's been attached to Ninja Theory.

[1065] He did that for Heavenly Soul.

[1066] But he was their director, and he did some main acting parts for that.

[1067] But it seems like he's just entrenched at Ninja Theory.

[1068] Yeah, he's got a couple of cards.

[1069] So he's Dante is what you're saying.

[1070] I just picture Gollum behind a mic, though.

[1071] That's my problem.

[1072] Right.

[1073] Because I just think of him that way.

[1074] It's kind of weird.

[1075] He kind of looks like that, so.

[1076] Yeah.

[1077] Yeah, so I would recommend that game, but not in the context that I was being told.

[1078] Not by Brad, but by a lot of people.

[1079] This is my game of the year.

[1080] I'm just not seeing that from enslaved.

[1081] I was so surprised.

[1082] I heard the same thing of some people saying, like, this is one of the best games I've played in a really long time.

[1083] Yeah.

[1084] dumbass.

[1085] No, it's just a bunch of idiots.

[1086] Freaking dopers.

[1087] Maybe they had a different experience than I had.

[1088] Thumb out of your ass and try playing games for once, why don't you?

[1089] Also, the frame rate would just drop a lot.

[1090] Yeah, it's got issues.

[1091] It's unreal engine.

[1092] It's like they've never seen a video game before and they've just decided, oh, this is the best one because I've seen one.

[1093] Fucking get out of my face with that.

[1094] So tune in for our game.

[1095] It'll be really good.

[1096] It's the quality discourse you can expect.

[1097] It's like someone smeared poop on the bottom of a DVD.

[1098] Nice work, guys.

[1099] And then wrote StarCraft II on it.

[1100] Oh, man. So, yeah, that was me going through my stack of things I needed to play, and I'm glad I did.

[1101] A lot of big winners there, even with Enslaved being.

[1102] Not living up to the enormous expectations.

[1103] I still really want to play it.

[1104] I still really want to play it.

[1105] It's still at the top of my list.

[1106] It's fun.

[1107] I actually want to ask both you and Brad, how do you guys feel about knowing that these guys are going to be doing the next Devil May Cry, having seen this as Ninja Theory's most recent game, Brad Shoemaker?

[1108] Go.

[1109] Am I more interested in it?

[1110] Yeah, how do you feel?

[1111] Yeah, absolutely.

[1112] I mean, I don't really care that much for Devil May Cry, like that style of...

[1113] character action or whatever you want to call it, but knowing that these guys can bring these kinds of dramatic chops to it, I at least want to see what they do with it.

[1114] Sure.

[1115] Great stuff, guys.

[1116] What was the alternative?

[1117] They're going to ruin it now.

[1118] I'm just wondering if there's anything specifically...

[1119] Devil May Cry has become so...

[1120] About what...

[1121] enslaved does that if they can if they can do the characters as well as they do for everything else that is a great thing for devil may cry because I feel like at this point that series is just making fun of itself like it's I'm not a big devil may cry person but those games seem like they went crazy Mr. Green have you ever we are apparently yeah the four of us just I don't hate it but just like don't care for it one way or the other it's not really my kind of game so yeah It'll be interesting to see old men who don't like Devil May Cry.

[1122] It's never been my kind of game, but you know what?

[1123] Bayonetta.

[1124] I like to match three jewels.

[1125] That's what I like to do.

[1126] Just get a nice tall cup of coffee and have some gems on my rocking chair.

[1127] Yeah, so that's pretty much it.

[1128] I jumped into World of Warcraft for a little bit.

[1129] That game is old.

[1130] That came out a long time ago.

[1131] Does it feel old now?

[1132] It didn't when I first looked at it, like when I first logged in, and I was like, cool, I'm going to subscribe and get my month or whatever.

[1133] And then I played it.

[1134] I made it to level 15 in one sitting.

[1135] 15 minutes.

[1136] Yeah, I was going to say.

[1137] It's fast now.

[1138] But, yeah, it's, man. Some of it looks a little old.

[1139] All of it looks pretty old, and they've done a lot.

[1140] I thought part of the Cataclysm thing was that they were going to redo...

[1141] I think they have pushed the specs up, but I think that just might be...

[1142] Some areas are larger and more taxing that way, not necessarily redoing all the graphics.

[1143] It's not necessarily the fidelity of the graphics.

[1144] It's what they're trying to do now in that engine, and there's weird things like...

[1145] That engine seemed like it was never supposed to do.

[1146] I always thought the first time I saw flying mounts or something like that, I was like, something about this looks like they didn't plan for this.

[1147] Well, it's like, yeah, exactly.

[1148] A few years ago.

[1149] That's precisely why there were no flying mounts in the original world, because the levels were not built to accommodate them.

[1150] So it's all that stuff.

[1151] It's like they have you controlling mortars, aiming stuff, and that stuff just looks super weird.

[1152] They have things like, so when dudes blow up, they don't mist or do anything.

[1153] They just kind of jib into ribs, and it's just like, oh, that.

[1154] That's kind of weird.

[1155] They have, like, a lot of stuff where you're just, like, hopping on the backs of other horses.

[1156] So you're just, like, you know, there are no animations for it.

[1157] So you're just, like, you know.

[1158] Just pop.

[1159] Yeah, whoop.

[1160] Did you play a goblin?

[1161] I was a worgen.

[1162] Okay, because a goblin race has actually, like, a whole joust.

[1163] type quest at one point.

[1164] Just talking about this new engine where you're actually up in some kind of flying machine and you're basically playing Joust there in 3D.

[1165] Does it work?

[1166] Well, yeah.

[1167] It's problematic.

[1168] Of all the things I've done in this expansion so far, and I'm actually really liking it, that kind of didn't work for me. You can't aim.

[1169] I appreciate that they're trying to put some different things in there.

[1170] But it just feels to me like these are not things this was ever meant to do.

[1171] Like the driving controls.

[1172] There are things in the Worgen Quest 2 where you're like, drive this thing around.

[1173] And you're like, oh, God, this is...

[1174] This engine is not built for action of any kind.

[1175] It's built for dice rolls.

[1176] Yeah, and like running around and sitting down and dancing.

[1177] And like this is not...

[1178] There are no physics on this vehicle at all.

[1179] It's mostly built for dancing.

[1180] How does the Worgen dance?

[1181] I think he dances kind of like a human.

[1182] It's in the quick look.

[1183] It's...

[1184] How did the goblins dance?

[1185] I don't know.

[1186] I haven't seen it.

[1187] They have kind of a goofy kind of, you know, like you would expect a goblin would dance.

[1188] It's actually real.

[1189] It's based on a true story of how the goblins dance.

[1190] It's mo -capped.

[1191] I saw that documentary, How the Goblins Dance.

[1192] Yeah, right.

[1193] That kid's book.

[1194] That was on Showtime.

[1195] Andy Serkis.

[1196] It won several awards.

[1197] All the mo -cap for the goblins.

[1198] Yeah, so it was weird.

[1199] And I played to level 15, which was kind of crazy.

[1200] They've changed so much stuff since I was in there in like 1905.

[1201] Things have changed incredibly, and for the better, I suspect.

[1202] But I don't know if I'm going to renew.

[1203] It's weird.

[1204] There's a server for Giant Bomb.

[1205] They've made a server for the guild people and stuff.

[1206] So I might jump in there.

[1207] Always more fun to play with friends.

[1208] Especially in a guild situation like that where you're like, I have 15 minutes to actually play this game so I can rely on my guild mates.

[1209] Give me some cool shit so I can go and actually have some fun here.

[1210] Let's go do something cool.

[1211] It definitely got to that point of like, oh no, I remember this.

[1212] Go get me 15 of those foxtails.

[1213] Okay, great.

[1214] Now go get me 10 of those teeth.

[1215] I'm like, oh, man. Dude, why didn't you tell me that before?

[1216] Just give me a grocery list of all the Fox parts that you need.

[1217] Well, why doesn't everybody get together?

[1218] We'll all talk about what you need for the next hour and a half.

[1219] And then we'll go find it.

[1220] And you can even come with me if you want.

[1221] Everybody come.

[1222] Let's go search it out.

[1223] They do a lot of having these NPCs following you along.

[1224] Yeah.

[1225] They didn't mix it up that way.

[1226] Why aren't there just supermarkets with, like, wolf parts?

[1227] Yeah, because, you know, clearly there's enough demand.

[1228] You're saying you want to basically, like, switch to this weird Eve economy system where you just sell parts to a store and then other players can go buy them.

[1229] I know.

[1230] I run the store.

[1231] It's, like, auction house times ten.

[1232] You should be able to buy quest items.

[1233] Player run.

[1234] You can.

[1235] Can you?

[1236] Well, not all quest items.

[1237] Not all quest items.

[1238] But there are certain cases where you can just go, like, I'm just going to go to the auction house and buy five pelts.

[1239] Get these things.

[1240] I've done that for sure.

[1241] But typically not the quest pelts.

[1242] So, yeah, I spent a bunch of time in there.

[1243] Regents.

[1244] It's always easy to do that.

[1245] It is looking much better than when I left it years ago.

[1246] But it's still World of Warcraft.

[1247] If you were not into World of Warcraft, you probably...

[1248] I'm going to go out on a limb probably will not be that into Cataclysm.

[1249] I already have accounts for MMOs that I'm not playing.

[1250] I don't need to start paying for another one.

[1251] Or if?

[1252] Between Star Trek Online and Warhammer.

[1253] Oh, yeah.

[1254] I reinstalled my Warhammer account so I can...

[1255] So you can go to Gerstmann Crypt and then die there and go like, all right, this is fitting.

[1256] Log out.

[1257] I can be more active in my not playing.

[1258] So I will continue playing World of Warcraft for a bit and then I will re -decide on January 14th or whatever.

[1259] Hopefully before the thing clicks over and auto -renews because there's no way to just do a month.

[1260] You have to do the auto -renew thing.

[1261] That was clever.

[1262] It seems kind of crazy at this point to be paying the $15 subscription a month for a five -year -old game.

[1263] Six.

[1264] Six -year -olds, yeah.

[1265] They just had their six -year.

[1266] I don't know.

[1267] I mean, if you've been playing all along and you've got your friends there and stuff, it's just like any...

[1268] It becomes that social aspect of it that says, well, obviously I'm going to keep playing this game with this group of friends and we're going to keep it going.

[1269] I mean, it's...

[1270] only weird because you expect with tech, with games specifically, you expect diminishing, reducing prices as things move forward.

[1271] But it's only as crazy as people are willing to pay for it.

[1272] They're obviously doing fine.

[1273] I would expect them to at some point release a full graphical update like EverQuest style.

[1274] Was it EQ1 that did that?

[1275] Yes, EQ1 did that.

[1276] I think EQ2.

[1277] It might have been EQ2 as well.

[1278] I can't remember.

[1279] I have to imagine that WoW at some point is going to drag the whole game a few years further.

[1280] They don't want to go too far because they want the game to continue to be accessible for everybody.

[1281] Everplus 1 is still being played, and that game was a fraction of the size of WoW.

[1282] Right.

[1283] So, I mean, what's this game going to be around for, like, 20 years or something?

[1284] Yeah, probably.

[1285] Well, their stuff is...

[1286] People are still playing Ultima Online somewhere.

[1287] Somewhere.

[1288] Somewhere.

[1289] So we're bad.

[1290] Their art style is fantastic.

[1291] They're just baking bread, man. Forever, that's all I'm doing, baking bread.

[1292] Their art style is great, and that carries World of Warcraft really far.

[1293] I mean, even when it came out, it wasn't cutting edge, but it was all like...

[1294] It looked amazing.

[1295] And that stuff looks great, and that has real incentive to go and explore the world.

[1296] And this does look better than anything has looked in the engine before, but you do start seeing, like, oh man, that's like two polygon.

[1297] Or like, you know, that thing is like...

[1298] Those wheels have, you know, five sides on them.

[1299] Like, yes.

[1300] Yeah, I'm fully back in.

[1301] I'm way in.

[1302] Yeah, and I was way out, too.

[1303] I mean, I quit for like 16 months.

[1304] I counted it.

[1305] Well, that just goes to show how deep in you were before.

[1306] They need to start making WoW like the DMV.

[1307] Like if you go sign up, and if you let your shit lapse, they make you pay for all that.

[1308] All right, we stored your character for you.

[1309] It was weird.

[1310] The non -op permit's going to be.

[1311] I had an 80 character, and I forgot how to play him.

[1312] It had been that long.

[1313] Well, they probably reset all your stuff.

[1314] Well, they had reset it.

[1315] The trees had reset.

[1316] All your plug -ins stopped working and all that kind of stuff.

[1317] So I had to basically relearn the game.

[1318] But I got sucked back in by the.

[1319] expansion or the patch that they had before the expansion.

[1320] They sort of previewed the new areas.

[1321] And now I have Cataclysm.

[1322] And they got me back.

[1323] So it sounds like you were in fully, took a break, and then...

[1324] And now I'm in fully again.

[1325] Yeah.

[1326] You got to watch out you don't OD on that first hit.

[1327] I'm trying to monitor it, but I told at least one of you guys before we recorded, I actually got up early this morning to play.

[1328] I got to make some time.

[1329] I mean, I'm working at home, but I wanted to be...

[1330] Or you're testing out the Bejeweled stuff.

[1331] Yeah, no, not at all.

[1332] But I figure like 9 o 'clock, I'm working at home, but 9 is fair.

[1333] I can start working at home at 9.

[1334] So I got up at like 6 so I can play World of Warcraft.

[1335] It's guilt -free.

[1336] It's like that.

[1337] So how far are you with your goblin?

[1338] Well, the goblin is like...

[1339] But then I also have – I replayed The Undead, which is not a new race.

[1340] But that was the appeal to me is they redid all the old – almost all the old zones.

[1341] And they redid the whole – All the quest lines.

[1342] I mean, it's like basically they built a brand new game inside the old world, which is what I think is so cool.

[1343] I just kind of want to go see Van Cleef again.

[1344] That does sound super appealing to me. And the Undead quest line is absolutely fantastic.

[1345] The storytelling was great.

[1346] There's at least three cut scenes right in the middle of this quest line that you're pursuing.

[1347] And it's a really nicely told story.

[1348] I mean, they do tell their story well.

[1349] And, yeah, you could definitely see where it's being pushed in terms of the tech.

[1350] But I feel like they use what they've got, like, so smartly and so creatively.

[1351] I mean, they really, you know, when you go, like, I could never go back to what World of Warcraft was now after playing Cataclysm because, like, the undead storyline is so neat.

[1352] Like, they really put you.

[1353] They do a good job of like, okay, you're a character number one billion in the undead world, but yet we're going to give you Thrall, the main orc dude, right next to you, and you're going to be going around and doing stuff.

[1354] And yeah, sure, there's like 40 other dudes right here, also walking around with Thrall, but whatever.

[1355] Suspend his sleeve for a little bit.

[1356] And by the time that that whole main storyline is done, you really feel like they kind of took you almost through a whole single -player storyline.

[1357] At the point where they release you into the world at large.

[1358] What's interesting, I think we may have discussed this on this podcast in the past, but the idea that it's...

[1359] I think this was something that got brought up back when the Matrix Online was being shut down.

[1360] But with Cataclysm, there is now a significant, well -remembered version of World of Warcraft that simply does not exist anymore.

[1361] Right.

[1362] That's kind of crazy.

[1363] It is crazy.

[1364] I wonder if they'll eventually put up a pre -patch server or something like that.

[1365] I think other games have done.

[1366] You can't opt out of that.

[1367] You're moaned.

[1368] They killed that world.

[1369] And I admire that Blizzard had the balls to do that.

[1370] I think it's what that game needed, for sure.

[1371] Everyone who's playing the game, you don't want to do the same.

[1372] You've been through that stuff with 18 characters already.

[1373] That's genius, really.

[1374] It really is.

[1375] It is absolutely genius, but it's also complete.

[1376] Completely crazy to think like, hey, remember when we would go on that Van Cleef run?

[1377] You can't do that anymore.

[1378] The game still exists, but that part's been gutted.

[1379] What I would imagine the best or easiest way for them to do it is some kind of quest or mission or portal or something.

[1380] Time travel quest.

[1381] Yeah, like remember when, and you go back to the zone before it was ruined.

[1382] Go back to Liberty City.

[1383] Or like maybe – Because Van Cleef is a three guy and he's all young.

[1384] But he still doesn't talk.

[1385] Van Cleef is a high level now, right?

[1386] He is a high level, yeah.

[1387] They made that – actually, I don't know what level it is.

[1388] Do you know?

[1389] I want to say he's like an 85 or something.

[1390] He could be.

[1391] I will never see Van Cleef.

[1392] That's the thing.

[1393] There are no more Defias in that area.

[1394] There are generic bandits now to preserve the quests or whatever, but the Defias have moved on somewhere.

[1395] They're holed up somewhere with Van Cleef.

[1396] I remember years ago when Chris Metzen was talking about how he wanted to figure out a way to change the world for real.

[1397] That was a problem for him as a storyteller.

[1398] Oh, I don't doubt it.

[1399] Has to reset every player.

[1400] It's that contrivance.

[1401] Every 20 minutes someone's saving the world and is like, okay, wait for the reset.

[1402] They approached that goal with the phasing stuff because they gave you a chance to temporarily alter little pieces of it.

[1403] I don't feel like they get enough credit for the phasing stuff because it is amazing how it works in which the world that you're in as a player is actually changing as you're going through these quest lines.

[1404] And the other people who are on the same server in the same area as you aren't seeing the same thing as you if they're not as far in the quest line.

[1405] phenomenal yeah how they figured that out and as somebody like i really appreciate like narrative and stuff in the games and i'm kind of turned off when that stuff is not treated well uh the early stuff in the even the worgen stuff has that in it where you're like you have now changed this portion of the the world right exactly like if they tell you to go set the town on fire and then you go back to the quest giver when you come out you know they've somehow reset it for you on the client side so now the town is permanently on fire.

[1406] You don't just sit there and watch it repop and go un -on fire.

[1407] It's not like they can make dramatic changes because NPCs need to stand in the same place and anything that a player could interact with probably has to be in the same spot.

[1408] No, it does change.

[1409] Isn't that a problem when you're trying to meet someone somewhere?

[1410] You say, meet me over by this and for them it's somewhere else.

[1411] That's why you use Swatch Internet Time.

[1412] Problem solved.

[1413] Fancy Star Online 2 in stores 2011.

[1414] Catch it.

[1415] That is a good point.

[1416] I don't know how that works.

[1417] Good question.

[1418] Magic.

[1419] I did not realize that that's how, because I haven't played WoW since they introduced phase, but I didn't realize that's how far that went.

[1420] What's my understanding that you actually can't see players who are in a different version of the phase area?

[1421] Right, you can't.

[1422] So it's just like a constant instance?

[1423] Yeah, it's like a world instance.

[1424] Yeah, you're like in your own mini instance until you...

[1425] Right.

[1426] With other people who are in that version.

[1427] With other people who are there at that same point.

[1428] It's weird.

[1429] I guess I'm just going to have to sign up and play a whole bunch of WoW over the holiday break.

[1430] Oh, God, no. I know.

[1431] I'll see you guys later.

[1432] Yeah, I mean, I'm playing it and I'm digging it, but I partly feel like this humongous sense of dread.

[1433] You feel it getting deeper into you and you're just like, oh no, not again.

[1434] I mean, I actually leveled up this undead guy to 20 and then I realized I just wasn't happy with the race, so I did it again.

[1435] It's not a long time.

[1436] You can just pay your cash and change the race if you want.

[1437] Is it 15 bucks?

[1438] Yeah, it is.

[1439] You're right.

[1440] Shit.

[1441] Time is money, Jeff Green.

[1442] Damn it.

[1443] Anything else that you've been playing?

[1444] Don't feel compelled to plug anything.

[1445] We have the Bejeweled 3.

[1446] Quick look.

[1447] Of course, I've been playing that stuff.

[1448] But I actually just finished Black Ops.

[1449] I just finished Black Ops.

[1450] Single player.

[1451] I just finished Black Ops.

[1452] No, I just finished Black Ops.

[1453] And I really liked it.

[1454] A lot.

[1455] All the way through.

[1456] We discussed the ending a little bit before we went on.

[1457] There's some kind of hokey stuff in it.

[1458] Oh, it's very hokey.

[1459] It's hokey all the way through.

[1460] It's 100 % pure hokey.

[1461] But it goes for a specific style of hokey for most of it with the conspiracy.

[1462] Hey, Vinny, honey, could you tell me about the numbers?

[1463] Well, let me tell you about what happened about five years ago.

[1464] Stop messing around and just tell me about the numbers.

[1465] Well, let me tell you about how it happened three years ago.

[1466] Okay, well, let's go.

[1467] Actually, tell me about the numbers.

[1468] You won't believe what happened two years ago.

[1469] Wow, that's the story.

[1470] Let me tell you about something that someone told me about World War II.

[1471] Let me go into someone else's flashback.

[1472] Like a dream within a dream?

[1473] Yeah.

[1474] It was all of that.

[1475] was ridiculous.

[1476] Agreed.

[1477] It doesn't hold up the scrutiny, but what I liked was it was just a roller coaster that I paid my money for.

[1478] I will go to the Call of Duty Black Ops theme park, and you may now take me on this ride.

[1479] Now we're in Vietnam.

[1480] Okay.

[1481] I feel like the level of, all the Call of Duty games are roller coasters.

[1482] They are just like, here is your critical path, run down it, shoot dudes, and crazy things will happen.

[1483] I feel like there's a level of quality and a level of ridiculousness.

[1484] that in a lot of ways Black Ops didn't hit.

[1485] I feel like in a lot of ways the Call of Duty games have been better at maybe hiding the scripting than some other games.

[1486] Maybe.

[1487] We wouldn't criticize games like Medal of Honor for having scripting that was noticeably broken in some spots.

[1488] The scripting usually works.

[1489] Yeah, it never broke for me. But I feel like everything that I'm doing is still just in service of the scripting.

[1490] Oh, absolutely.

[1491] These are definitely set pieces.

[1492] There's no push forward.

[1493] I have to either...

[1494] But it's always...

[1495] There's this combination with the pacing of those games where it's like...

[1496] I can't sit still as much as I want to, nor can I run through things as much as I want to.

[1497] My desired speed is either faster or slower than how fast they want you to move through these levels.

[1498] So you're either going to hang back and run out of ammo or run forward and die.

[1499] Well, I'm going to hang back and get killed or run forward and get killed.

[1500] That game has a specific box of if you're outside of this box, you are dying.

[1501] As far as your progress through the levels.

[1502] The other thing that always drives me crazy with these games is it feels like a however many hour tutorial.

[1503] They never stop telling you, you get to a door, press D to open.

[1504] I know by now.

[1505] But it's part of that whole, we're going to take you through this game all the way through.

[1506] We're going to hold your hand from beginning to end.

[1507] Although sometimes it'll spring things on you right when it's the first time they're introducing it, like the Blackbird stuff.

[1508] Where it's like, oh, you need to do this to save these guys.

[1509] Oh, well, you didn't save them, so now they're dead.

[1510] You're right.

[1511] Right.

[1512] You have to die first to learn how to do it.

[1513] Yeah, yeah.

[1514] Which was...

[1515] And there's the part with the barrels.

[1516] Yeah, which we discussed the barrels, which I didn't have any issues with, but there's other...

[1517] Oh, the barrels.

[1518] I think parts of it are a fucking phenomenal -looking game.

[1519] I agree with Jeff.

[1520] I thought that game was fun all the way through.

[1521] To me, it was like Saturday afternoon on a movie, just action movie.

[1522] Like USA.

[1523] Chuck Bronson.

[1524] Yeah, USA cable.

[1525] Charlie Bronson.

[1526] Just enough cheese, just enough taking itself self -seriously.

[1527] But I agree with Ryan that there's that tonal shift in how seriously they want you to take it up at the very end of the game.

[1528] It's just weird.

[1529] Why did you put on your glasses like that?

[1530] Where are we going?

[1531] Why did America break out right here?

[1532] I can't.

[1533] The problem is I can't tell when they're winking and nudging and when they're trying to be serious with their stuff.

[1534] Yeah, like when the tongue is in their cheek.

[1535] Do you guys just think this is badass?

[1536] Or are you like, oh, man, this would be really funny if we threw this in here?

[1537] It just, I mean, whatever.

[1538] That whole game is very ridiculous.

[1539] So I can't fuck too much.

[1540] And it didn't ruin anything.

[1541] I took it that way.

[1542] I played it like this is ridiculous, and I'm enjoying it as a ridiculous game.

[1543] A lot.

[1544] Jeff, can you tell me about the numbers?

[1545] Let me tell you about my high school.

[1546] Okay.

[1547] Can you tell me about Alaskan accents?

[1548] Because Sam Worthington cannot.

[1549] Yeah, no. I don't know what else I should say.

[1550] He should have just talked like Sarah Palin the whole time.

[1551] I enjoyed, though, that if nothing else, even if they weren't 100 % successful with it, the nature of the storyline and where they went with Black Ops just couldn't have been further from anything else Call of Duty has ever done.

[1552] Which is refreshing.

[1553] And I really, really enjoyed that part of it.

[1554] It just felt very confident.

[1555] It just felt like a confident group of developers just saying, we're just going to do all this shit.

[1556] John F. Kennedy is going to be in our game.

[1557] By the way.

[1558] Yeah.

[1559] I admired that.

[1560] It's like, man, they just got a big budget and they just went for it.

[1561] Yeah.

[1562] Yeah.

[1563] I didn't dislike it, but baffling.

[1564] Baffling.

[1565] Anything else, Mr. Green?

[1566] I'm trying to think since I last said you.

[1567] What are you doing on your iPad these days?

[1568] Dude, yeah, I'm playing a lot of iPad games.

[1569] I love that device.

[1570] I got to say.

[1571] What's your thing right now?

[1572] Well, I got Infinity Blade.

[1573] Infinity Blade.

[1574] I keep saying it wrong, which looks freaking amazing.

[1575] Yeah.

[1576] Gameplay, it's okay.

[1577] It's punch out with a sword, right?

[1578] Right.

[1579] It's better than Rage HD, which was awesome.

[1580] But as usual with it, it's like a tech demo.

[1581] Always it's a tech demo with it.

[1582] A great, beautiful looking one.

[1583] I don't know.

[1584] I'm playing the same iPad games that everybody else is.

[1585] Let me turn you cats.

[1586] I don't want to jump turns here, but while we're on the topic, I was turned on to this game by Ollie Moss, and I am obsessed with it.

[1587] It's called WikiHunt.

[1588] It's like two bucks.

[1589] It's for the iPhone.

[1590] WikiHunt?

[1591] WikiHunt.

[1592] And it's fucking genius.

[1593] Okay, go.

[1594] Downloading later.

[1595] Okay, so basically all they're doing is taking the Wikipedia database and the Kevin Bacon game.

[1596] and structuring it into a game.

[1597] It randomly pulls two pages from Wikipedia and says, get from one to the other in as few clicks as possible.

[1598] We were totally going to do that for this website.

[1599] That was on the list of features we were going to do at launch.

[1600] Someone already broke it out and used that.

[1601] Well, we could beat them to it.

[1602] We could make it part of the site feature, and it's fucking fun.

[1603] The only thing that it's missing, honestly, is a timer because you can too easily obsess over like, What is the perfect route?

[1604] Because it's trying to judge you on the shortest route, but I feel what's more interesting is what's the shortest route in the shortest amount of time that you can come up with?

[1605] Because if you have infinite time, you can just very specifically kind of route yourself through the Wikipedia database.

[1606] Think ahead a couple of steps.

[1607] Yeah, exactly.

[1608] But where if it's just like you have to do this quickly, I think it would flourish from that.

[1609] Does it do it competitively?

[1610] Does it give you and somebody else the same two pages and it's like who can do it in fewer steps?

[1611] No, but it knows what the ideal is.

[1612] Okay.

[1613] Oh, it has threaded through.

[1614] The game knows what the right answer is for fastest.

[1615] So that's the metric that you're going up against.

[1616] So it's just like get from this person's personal appeal to this person's personal appeal?

[1617] It's get from this specific page to this specific page.

[1618] So I'll pull one up just to give you an example.

[1619] But it's fascinating as hell.

[1620] Is it hard to do on the phone?

[1621] No, you zoom in and all that stuff.

[1622] And it's using like mobile versions of the pages.

[1623] So we use random.

[1624] There's random and there's clicks to Jesus.

[1625] So the second page is always Jesus Christ.

[1626] So you have to figure out how many clicks from the random page that you're starting on to Jesus.

[1627] Is there some message going on there?

[1628] Everything leads to Jesus kind of thing?

[1629] Because I'm a Hebrew.

[1630] We're starting off on the page.

[1631] Well, he was too.

[1632] We're starting off the page for Bruno Grassi, a Brazilian soccer player.

[1633] Of course.

[1634] Yep.

[1635] And we need to get to the Bandersnatch, which is an alien species in Larry Niven's fictional known space universe.

[1636] I'm always trying to get to that Bandersnatch.

[1637] Who isn't, really?

[1638] I mean, sheesh.

[1639] Tell me about it.

[1640] So he was actually a dev in one click.

[1641] So having to figure out, like, okay.

[1642] What would be the connecting thing?

[1643] So then you just go edit the page to add a link.

[1644] Yeah, exactly.

[1645] So that is how you can cheat it.

[1646] He died for your sins.

[1647] Every time.

[1648] I was just saying bandersnatch to Jesus Christ one place.

[1649] Who else died for my Twitter sins?

[1650] Jesus.

[1651] There was one other game I forgot to play, but I believe you guys have talked about this ad nauseum, I think.

[1652] Pac -Man.

[1653] We'll keep talking about it.

[1654] There's nothing nauseous about Pac -Man.

[1655] It's awesome.

[1656] It's fucking great.

[1657] It's so good.

[1658] I'm saying you've got to be talking about that in your game of the year.

[1659] For something.

[1660] Maybe not overall Game of the Year, because it'd be weird to give it to Pac -Man.

[1661] It's on some lists.

[1662] It's coming up.

[1663] It should be on some sort of list, because that is an amazing version of Pac -Man.

[1664] Oh, it's on a list.

[1665] It better be on a list.

[1666] It brings me great joy to be able to, in not even a nostalgic way, but be able to say, there's excitement in the world of Pac -Man in 2010.

[1667] Pac -Man is somehow fucking relevant.

[1668] They can take those basic rules and flip it into...

[1669] Something so crazy.

[1670] And it feels so modern along the way, too.

[1671] I love the little bullet time thing they got going on.

[1672] Oh, yeah, this little zoom, and you're like, ah!

[1673] I love that it's kind of not really about dying anymore.

[1674] It's more just about your score.

[1675] Well, it's great because I feel like it really represents, in micro, it represents the changes in...

[1676] the game industry and the way we approach games.

[1677] It's not about, like, this really difficult situation that you're trying to squeeze out of.

[1678] It's like, all right, you are kick -ass.

[1679] It's just a question of now how much more kick -ass than everyone else are you.

[1680] Right.

[1681] So it's, you know, and it's interesting to see that stuff and the speed and just the production values and, you know, very smartly taking notes from Geometry Wars.

[1682] It's beautiful.

[1683] That's it for me. I don't have anything else to say about Pac -Man other than I love Pac -Man.

[1684] Fever.

[1685] It's back.

[1686] Oh, that's right!

[1687] I do have something else to say about Pac -Man Fever.

[1688] I have it.

[1689] Yeah.

[1690] Also, Buckner and Garcia's smash hit Pac -Man Fever, the entire album, is being made available on Rock Band Network.

[1691] Really?

[1692] Yes.

[1693] That's Do the Defender.

[1694] The whole thing.

[1695] I think I'm going berserk.

[1696] That's that song about Mousetrap.

[1697] Really?

[1698] That's a whole album?

[1699] Yeah.

[1700] See, I didn't know that.

[1701] Yeah.

[1702] Hyperspace, the song about asteroids.

[1703] Did the ghosts get their own song?

[1704] No, no. Pac -Man Fever was the only Pac -Man related cut.

[1705] How quickly can you get from Buckner and Garcia to Jesus Christ?

[1706] One click.

[1707] All right.

[1708] Pac -Man Fever.

[1709] Pac -Man Fever.

[1710] Such a good song, it could have only been written by...

[1711] Jesus.

[1712] Done.

[1713] Froggy's Lament.

[1714] That's a good one.

[1715] Ode to a Centipede.

[1716] Yep, Centipede's good.

[1717] Do the Donkey Kong.

[1718] Do the Donkey Kong is probably the best non -Pac -Man fever song on that whole album.

[1719] Hyperspace.

[1720] Are these different bands who perform these?

[1721] No, it's all Buckner and Garcia.

[1722] Yeah, it's all them.

[1723] The Defender.

[1724] Uh -huh.

[1725] It's about Iraq, obviously.

[1726] Mousetrap.

[1727] Also about Iraq.

[1728] Mousetrap's probably like the one song on that whole album that doesn't fit because I remember Mousetrap.

[1729] It was a hell of an arcade game, but it is by no means a classic.

[1730] They ran out of games.

[1731] Yeah, they totally just ran out of games.

[1732] What do we do now?

[1733] We got one more track.

[1734] Mousetrap's good.

[1735] I don't know.

[1736] I like it.

[1737] Going berserk.

[1738] Yep.

[1739] Eight -track.

[1740] Eight -track EP.

[1741] Nice.

[1742] Being brought to Rock Band Network.

[1743] Finally.

[1744] So exciting.

[1745] Sounds like they're running out of songs.

[1746] What's left?

[1747] Most of those songs had samples from the arcade machines in them.

[1748] And I wonder if these are going to be remastered to not have that stuff.

[1749] If there's going to end up being sample clearance.

[1750] The guys who are doing it, who are doing the remastering or the programming or whatever, contacted me. So I can ask them.

[1751] Yeah.

[1752] Please do.

[1753] Because if it doesn't have that.

[1754] No longer interested.

[1755] Really?

[1756] Really.

[1757] Really?

[1758] Really.

[1759] Jeff, what have you been playing?

[1760] Gershman.

[1761] Bayonetta.

[1762] So you also, for Game of the Year purposes, going back through some of the missed ones, how do you feel about Bayonetta?

[1763] That game is awesome.

[1764] Wow.

[1765] Yeah, like I was saying, for someone who doesn't like Devil May Cry, it's really weird that Bayonetta is so much better than any of those games have ever been.

[1766] What do you think it is?

[1767] I think that they have taken, they took that style of game and just made it as crazy as they possibly could in terms of just like, you know, you're, I mean, the game opens with you standing on the face of a clock tower that is currently falling out of the sky while you're fighting angels that look like crazy deformed animals and halos pop up with them like sonic rings that you then pick up to buy more stuff.

[1768] But I feel like the combat, you know, it rewards skillful play.

[1769] And it's not as mashy as I always felt Devil May Cry was.

[1770] I was going back because I was thinking about all this stuff.

[1771] I went back and reread my review for that.

[1772] And what I was reminded of specifically is that it's not mashy.

[1773] It's all about timing.

[1774] Yeah.

[1775] It's not about like how quickly can I put in this button combo.

[1776] Right.

[1777] It's all about.

[1778] I've got to time my hit to be just right to, you know, dodge or parry this guy's attack and then get in there with my...

[1779] Get into witch time and then start busting out the other combos.

[1780] And, you know, if you start using the kind of delayed attacks instead of just hitting punch, punch, punch, kick, if you're hitting punch, punch, punch, pause, and then kick at a very specific time, then you start doing, like, way more devastating attacks.

[1781] So it actually rewards you for not just...

[1782] hammering on buttons like a crazy person.

[1783] You get way naked -er.

[1784] And you get way more naked, and that rips.

[1785] And the giant stiletto heel comes out of the sky.

[1786] Yeah, exactly.

[1787] The hair stiletto.

[1788] Guns on her feet.

[1789] I think she's a great character.

[1790] Just as absurd as the whole thing is.

[1791] Which it is.

[1792] Her just proportionally to every word that comes out of anyone's mouth in that entire game.

[1793] To just all the great weird Sega references.

[1794] Right off the bat, they're playing Outrun.

[1795] music, you know, in a cutscene or something like that.

[1796] I'm just like, what?

[1797] And it just goes deeper and deeper and crazier from there into the whole Sega catalog.

[1798] I completely forgot that there was just a straight -up Space Harrier segment in that game.

[1799] I'm like, oh yeah, fuck it, that's awesome.

[1800] It is how they should be making character action games from here on out.

[1801] Basically.

[1802] But they can't just keep doing that every time.

[1803] But they can't just keep doing that.

[1804] You're right, you're right.

[1805] They can't even do that a second time, I don't think.

[1806] But that's, yeah.

[1807] You might be right.

[1808] I think they'd have to come up with some ways to change it up.

[1809] Maybe make a co -op or something weird like that.

[1810] Who knows?

[1811] But yeah, Bayonetta, I think, is a game that people should absolutely play because it is...

[1812] messed up and you know if you don't want to deal with all the timing thing they actually have much easier settings on the difficulty where it'll just make a lot of stuff automatic so if you just want to see something completely insane It totally serves that purpose.

[1813] It will hook you up.

[1814] Yeah, it'll set you up with something completely messed up.

[1815] I don't even know.

[1816] And that's the even better part when you start playing it on very easy or something.

[1817] I don't even know how that happened, but it was bad.

[1818] I'm just going to keep mashing on this until the game explodes.

[1819] She might get all the way naked if I keep in it.

[1820] I don't know.

[1821] Hit it faster!

[1822] Vanquish has got the same thing.

[1823] Yeah, Vanquish has some of that same stuff.

[1824] Now look into that, that casual auto mode and that.

[1825] It essentially does all the aiming for you.

[1826] You just kind of have to generally move the guy in the right direction and pull the right trigger, and it'll shoot everything.

[1827] I've got to give it up for Platinum.

[1828] I feel like those games didn't necessarily get a ton of attention.

[1829] Bayonetta, I think, probably got more than Vanquish did, just because of the time of year it came out.

[1830] Sure.

[1831] Great year for Platinum.

[1832] Yeah, they shipped two solid games in one year.

[1833] Good for them.

[1834] Yeah, pretty much the two bright spots on Sega's whole release list for the whole year.

[1835] Two bright spots in Japan.

[1836] Sure, yeah.

[1837] The way things have been.

[1838] It's been...

[1839] And both of those are games that are...

[1840] We talk a lot, or there has been some talk about the state of game development in Japan and their struggles to deal with the changing market and what have you.

[1841] But those two games, and it seems like Platinum is one of the rare developers that understands not necessarily good or progressive game development.

[1842] They know how to make crazy Japanese games that I want.

[1843] They know how to make like – they know how to evoke what I think of when I think like, man, I want a really crazy Japanese game.

[1844] They're like, then here is what you want is what we make.

[1845] And I don't feel like I get that from a lot of the other stuff.

[1846] It seems like Japan has instead – like everything else has just been like we're just reiterating on the same thing over and over again.

[1847] Or worse, I feel like you have too many Japanese developers that say that they're trying to cater to the Western audience and then not nailing that either.

[1848] Not knowing what that means.

[1849] So, yeah, or kind of cribbing the wrong stuff from popular Western games, and you end up with stuff like Lost Planet 2.

[1850] Quantum Theory.

[1851] Or Quantum Theory.

[1852] There's games that just don't get it, and I can't imagine that they're popular.

[1853] Well, Lost Planet probably, but Quantum Theory.

[1854] No one in Japan is playing Quantum Theory either, right?

[1855] No. These Platinum games, yeah, like Vanquish at its core is a very serviceable.

[1856] Cover -based shooter.

[1857] Yeah, yeah.

[1858] Works as that kind of game.

[1859] Yeah, but they come up with a rocket lake.

[1860] Well, that's the thing.

[1861] They come up with interesting concepts to lay on top of it that give it a completely different feel from anything else out there, regardless of where the development's done.

[1862] And that stuff's really smart.

[1863] I mean, you know, it's like Inafune's been saying for a while when he keeps talking about how Japanese game development's dead, so much so that he had to leave Capcom to do whatever the hell he's going to do now or something like that.

[1864] It's...

[1865] You start looking around at some of the games that are coming out of there.

[1866] It's like, maybe he was right all along.

[1867] It seemed like crazy talk when he first started saying it, but now you're like, well, yeah, maybe, maybe.

[1868] How did this get out?

[1869] How did no one pop up and go like, dude, they don't make games like this, and here's why.

[1870] I mean, Bayonetta has some of that.

[1871] Not the online stuff, but you can see a lot of traditional Japanese.

[1872] collectible and unlock and menu system and currency stuff in it.

[1873] But that game, the thing I appreciated so much about that game was every time there was a decision to do something crazy, they said no. Think about it.

[1874] Make it crazier.

[1875] And then they came back.

[1876] And they came back and they were like.

[1877] The crazy thing you want to do is rote.

[1878] That's so silly.

[1879] Turn it on its head.

[1880] And then like you flip it over and it's like, no, literally turn the head upside down.

[1881] Turn it upside down.

[1882] Yeah.

[1883] And then it's like, that's kind of crazy.

[1884] Once you think about it over the weekend, you can make this crazier.

[1885] What if I added like two more dragon heads?

[1886] That's kind of cool.

[1887] That helps.

[1888] Why even have her earth there?

[1889] Why is it on solid ground?

[1890] Yeah.

[1891] Could we throw this building through space?

[1892] Sure.

[1893] I mean, probably.

[1894] Why is she standing?

[1895] She should be like flying on a bullet.

[1896] Like, okay, great.

[1897] And that's how the level design process went.

[1898] Could she be more naked here?

[1899] I think so.

[1900] Spreading her legs a little wider.

[1901] No, a human can't do that.

[1902] It's funny of me to think back.

[1903] People had conversations about how Bayonetta was sexist at the time.

[1904] And I guess if you took a cursory glance at Bayonetta, I see why someone would say that.

[1905] But that game is equal opportunity in its insanity.

[1906] That it's sexist.

[1907] It's not that it doesn't get women.

[1908] It's that it doesn't get humanity.

[1909] And it's not trying to.

[1910] It's so far gone.

[1911] Plus, all the women are super empowered to a point where I think they are the...

[1912] They're Amazonian, for God's sakes.

[1913] Like nine feet tall.

[1914] Yeah, they're gigantic.

[1915] But they're all running the show.

[1916] The witches are like...

[1917] The women are running everything.

[1918] The dudes are just like the shitty pawns in this.

[1919] Well, that's kind of like...

[1920] Is that what the last 24 years is talking about?

[1921] The male characters in that game, it's the scumbag fuck -ups and the shopkeepers.

[1922] That's the best you get.

[1923] Yeah, that game's crazy.

[1924] Jeff Gersman, anything else?

[1925] I also have been playing Vanquish, so it's been a lot of platinum.

[1926] What do you think of Vanquish?

[1927] I like it.

[1928] It's really neat.

[1929] It's really well done.

[1930] It's not amazing, but it's a pretty serviceable, cool kind of cover -based shooter.

[1931] They do some interesting different stuff with it that you don't get out of many other cover -based third -person shooters.

[1932] But, you know, it is...

[1933] It is pretty similar to a lot of other stuff in most of the ways that count.

[1934] So, you know, hiding behind stuff.

[1935] Except that when you're hiding behind stuff, you can hit a button to make him smoke cigarettes.

[1936] So, you know.

[1937] You also have rocket legs.

[1938] Yeah, rocket legs.

[1939] You can kind of slide up the stuff and boost around, and that's all pretty neat.

[1940] But it's no Bayonetta.

[1941] If I'm picking my Platinum Games game of the year.

[1942] Handily goes to Bayonetta.

[1943] Handily goes to Bayonetta.

[1944] But yeah, that's pretty much it.

[1945] I tried to get into Red Dead again because I know we're going to be talking about it, but it just doesn't do anything for me. This taste for the Western is so profound.

[1946] I think it's clouding your judgment.

[1947] I don't know.

[1948] We're going to have ourselves here.

[1949] A lot of it's just like...

[1950] Go home tonight and finish Red Dead Red Dead.

[1951] God damn it.

[1952] So you can call your best and your favorite game of the year.

[1953] Play this game under duress.

[1954] Go and play the whole thing.

[1955] Are you a Rockstar fan in general?

[1956] Usually, yeah.

[1957] Yeah.

[1958] I mean, I don't think every single game they've put out has been amazing, but I think I loved Grand Theft Auto 4.

[1959] Okay.

[1960] From, like, a storytelling perspective especially.

[1961] I thought that they did an amazing job with that.

[1962] But, yeah.

[1963] Not this one.

[1964] Red Dead is just, you know.

[1965] But not a Western fan.

[1966] I don't dislike Western games, you know, but it's not like there haven't been many good ones lately.

[1967] How about Western movies?

[1968] Not super huge on them.

[1969] So, you know, maybe it is just a style thing.

[1970] But, yeah, I just don't want to.

[1971] I don't want to.

[1972] Also, you just don't like old stuff.

[1973] New guns are better than old guns.

[1974] That's one of the many things that's so amazing about that game.

[1975] They made old guns feel awesome.

[1976] Brad Shoemaker, what have you been playing?

[1977] Vanquish and Bayonetta.

[1978] And I agree with everything he said about those games.

[1979] Bayonetta comes on a little strong, like, mechanically.

[1980] I don't know if you guys remember that or felt that way.

[1981] Too much too soon?

[1982] It's a little overwhelming with the number of...

[1983] You go into the menu and there's six different books that you have to read from.

[1984] They don't explain what any of the information is that they're giving you.

[1985] Then you're picking up eight different kinds of collectibles that you're supposed to combine into ten other kinds of items.

[1986] I just didn't worry about that stuff until the game said specifically, Hey...

[1987] You can do this, you know.

[1988] Right.

[1989] That's when it's hitting me that, like, man, I don't want to deal with that.

[1990] I just want to keep, like, whipping stuff with my hair and jumping in the air.

[1991] I don't remember the combination stuff too much.

[1992] You could do it in the shop.

[1993] You know, there were items you could buy that were just, like, health recovery items and stuff like that.

[1994] You also find things you can use to make those.

[1995] I never felt like I was spending a huge amount of time.

[1996] Some of the cutscenes are long.

[1997] If you want to talk about that.

[1998] That was the other thing.

[1999] It's mechanically dense and too much yapping, even though the yapping is hilarious.

[2000] Oh, I love the yapping.

[2001] I know, it's funny and bizarre and totally mind -blowing, but the gameplay is really good and you want to do a lot of that.

[2002] Yeah, you will.

[2003] Okay.

[2004] Don't worry.

[2005] You'll get your fill.

[2006] I know there's a little bit of a lead up.

[2007] It sucks hearing this because I have to go out of this room after this podcast and go finalize my list.

[2008] It's okay.

[2009] Do you know what?

[2010] I feel like I'm writing that game off because I haven't seen enough of the gameplay because it's super...

[2011] There are plenty of games.

[2012] That list, don't sweat it because that's your personal...

[2013] This seems like it could very easily be in the top ten.

[2014] That is why we keep...

[2015] Had you chosen at the time to make time for Bayonetta and play it, it would have been on your top ten.

[2016] Yeah, I mean, I'm sitting here...

[2017] But you made your choices.

[2018] You fucked up months ago.

[2019] Nothing you do to fix this now, Shoemaker.

[2020] You're already dead.

[2021] I'm not going to get back into Diamond by playing.

[2022] I'm not going to get into StarCraft at all.

[2023] I'm not going to get into Diamond ever.

[2024] Black Ops and Darksiders are a couple others that I wish I had played.

[2025] I think Darksiders is going to be the...

[2026] the game that everyone forgets to put on their list.

[2027] Yeah, because it was the first week of the year.

[2028] Industry -wide, it's going to be...

[2029] It's a shame, because that is a...

[2030] How about Just Cause 2?

[2031] Just Cause 2 is fun.

[2032] That is not making my list, but I was playing with that a lot, because...

[2033] And again, that was another one where I was like, I had to go back and look at it again, because it had been so long.

[2034] This is why we include...

[2035] I think there's another game that you guys all were crazy into that I could never quite get the hang of.

[2036] Because you didn't get into the kiting, the toe thing.

[2037] I never got that quite right.

[2038] Once you could figure out the rhythm for using your parachute and pulling yourself by the ground, you could get anywhere so fast.

[2039] If I hadn't played Bionic Commando, I would probably be better at that.

[2040] Because I keep approaching it like, it's Bionic Commando, but it's upside down.

[2041] I have a theory that you didn't get a handle on the horse riding in Red Dead.

[2042] same sense.

[2043] You've got to psychoanalyze.

[2044] Riding horses is kind of a pain in the ass in that game for the first 30 minutes.

[2045] It's a unique system for handling that stuff.

[2046] You have to figure out the cadence of pressing the button, but once you get it down, you don't even think about it anymore.

[2047] But it's kind of tedious.

[2048] I remember thinking that while doing the undead stuff, I'm like, I wish I could just not press this button.

[2049] And there was a lot of trekking back and forth over the same territory.

[2050] Yeah, for sure.

[2051] It's, you know, not without its flaws.

[2052] Did I play anything else this week?

[2053] I played just an obscene amount of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

[2054] Yeah, a lot of that.

[2055] Just a disgusting amount of that.

[2056] Ah, so good.

[2057] That's a really good game.

[2058] That's a fun one.

[2059] It really is.

[2060] I'm trying to think of what else.

[2061] I played the Doritos games with you.

[2062] Oh, I played through Grubbins on Ice.

[2063] The Costume Quest DLC.

[2064] Oh, how's that?

[2065] Eh.

[2066] More Costume Quest.

[2067] Eh.

[2068] Quick look for that up now.

[2069] It is, I guess I was expecting something and, you know.

[2070] That's what I get for putting expectations on a Double Fine game.

[2071] I was expecting something more explicitly...

[2072] No, no, I just...

[2073] Harsh.

[2074] It's not an insult.

[2075] It's meant that they do things the way they do things, and me saying, like, I want it to be this.

[2076] Oh, it's not that.

[2077] I'm disappointed.

[2078] Like, that's not...

[2079] If anything, it sounds like a compliment.

[2080] I was expecting a more traditional, like, holiday story.

[2081] Like, I thought the way that...

[2082] When Costume Quest was hooked into Halloween, I thought, oh, this is going to be there.

[2083] This is how we hook into Christmas or something.

[2084] Is it not that at all?

[2085] It is incidental that that game takes place when it's snowing.

[2086] It's like you're doing Halloween stuff in the snow.

[2087] Most of what I saw, you weren't even in the snow.

[2088] Well, yeah.

[2089] For one thing, you started off most of the game not in the snow.

[2090] And another thing, you're in an alternate dimension.

[2091] Oh.

[2092] So there is no Christmas or Halloween or anything.

[2093] Bullshit.

[2094] Blasphemy.

[2095] Not even holidays.

[2096] No Kwanzaa.

[2097] There's no Christmas.

[2098] No Hanukkah.

[2099] How many clicks to Jesus?

[2100] Yeah, seriously.

[2101] I know.

[2102] I'm going to call a couple people, and they're going to be very upset about this.

[2103] That would make a great bumper sticker, don't you think?

[2104] Two hours.

[2105] Two hours, three hours.

[2106] Talking, like, K -L -I -C.

[2107] How far away is it?

[2108] There's some new costumes that are delightful.

[2109] The pirate was pretty cool.

[2110] The pirate's pretty cool.

[2111] You get a giant eyeball, and you get a...

[2112] Oh, the giant eyeball is fantastic.

[2113] His, like, super charged up attack.

[2114] So good.

[2115] Nonsense, quick through arena.

[2116] Giant Eyeball has been so well represented.

[2117] It's a good month for Giant Eyeballs.

[2118] I don't want to spoil it, but it's a great little piece of business.

[2119] You know what the insidious thing they did with that game?

[2120] I do.

[2121] They robbed you of your S -rank.

[2122] No, they didn't.

[2123] Well, you got it again?

[2124] They did.

[2125] Well, you got it back.

[2126] That's the thing.

[2127] You have to go get the DLC if you want that S -rank back.

[2128] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[2129] I know.

[2130] It wasn't that hard either.

[2131] There's nothing insidious about adding achievements to games after they've been released.

[2132] Actually, that's not the insidious thing.

[2133] The insidious thing is that that game contains the biggest in -game advertisement for another game since Ask Me About Loom.

[2134] Hmm.

[2135] Stacking?

[2136] There's a giant...

[2137] There's a room, a hidden room in Grubbins on Ice that is dedicated to promoting...

[2138] Stacking?

[2139] Stacking.

[2140] Oh, right.

[2141] The next downloadable double find.

[2142] The speed stacking adventure.

[2143] The speed stacking adventure.

[2144] Stacking cups.

[2145] That's it.

[2146] That's okay.

[2147] But it's not actually like how dare they.

[2148] It's more of like it is in the ask me about loom style.

[2149] Which is in that pedigree.

[2150] Being cheeky and I have to imagine that that was deliberately in their minds when they were doing it.

[2151] There's an unskippable trailer for stacking at the beginning.

[2152] Oh, well actually one of the achievements is finding that room and getting advertised too.

[2153] They do give you incentive to go and hunt down and find this place.

[2154] So I did that.

[2155] I did the Doritos games.

[2156] I did that.

[2157] That's what I played.

[2158] That's what I've been playing.

[2159] Let's talk about news, gentlemen.

[2160] How do you feel about that?

[2161] I understand there was some.

[2162] Well, the VGAs happened.

[2163] The Spike VGAs were this weekend, and Jeff Grossman has a judge on the Spike VGAs.

[2164] Must be a judge.

[2165] Do you feel represented?

[2166] How do you feel about the VGAs?

[2167] It's all your fault.

[2168] What did you do?

[2169] The only judge.

[2170] Who was your favorite human female?

[2171] It was the lady from Mass Effect 2.

[2172] Miranda.

[2173] Yeah, Miranda from Mass Effect 2.

[2174] That was my pick.

[2175] Does anybody in this room know who won what?

[2176] I do not know who the winners were.

[2177] Does anybody know who any of the winners were?

[2178] I know that Red Dead won Game of the Year.

[2179] Yes, Uncharted 3.

[2180] So, yeah, in the desert now.

[2181] He's in the desert.

[2182] Well, or at least for part of it.

[2183] That's what they're pitching.

[2184] But the footage they show of the game is all over the place.

[2185] Just like any other Uncharted.

[2186] What is he going after?

[2187] Do you remember?

[2188] Is that set up?

[2189] No idea.

[2190] The hook diamond.

[2191] Sure.

[2192] The MacGuffin.

[2193] An arc. Yeah.

[2194] I don't know.

[2195] Name any famous.

[2196] No, no, no. It's the Atlantis of the Sands.

[2197] Which sounds totally made up.

[2198] It's a mythical city.

[2199] Sanlantis.

[2200] Yeah, Sanlantis.

[2201] Sanlantis.

[2202] It's actually not.

[2203] It's not far from Bat -Lantis.

[2204] Is that right?

[2205] Yeah.

[2206] It's like right next door.

[2207] It's up the street.

[2208] It's right up the street from Bat -Lantis.

[2209] Two dunes to the left.

[2210] Yeah, so Bat -Lantis is nearby too.

[2211] Bat -Lantis.

[2212] That must have been an awesome brainstorming session when they came out with that.

[2213] It's Atlantis under the sand!

[2214] Big high fives around the room.

[2215] Wicked.

[2216] Make it.

[2217] Someone just running in with a really old volume from an encyclopedia.

[2218] Guys, I've got it!

[2219] I know what he's after!

[2220] Oh, thank God!

[2221] Is there some kind of mystical knife he could find there?

[2222] Probably.

[2223] Not.

[2224] Jimmy one of those up real quick, like.

[2225] Great.

[2226] Done.

[2227] Will there be blue guys?

[2228] No, this time they'll be red.

[2229] Yes, red guys.

[2230] Red guys, great.

[2231] Will there be any talismans, tiaras, or anks?

[2232] You know, we're thinking of going double on the anks and fewer tiaras.

[2233] The tiaras didn't really focus well.

[2234] But we all say that we joke in Jess because we love.

[2235] Yeah, dude.

[2236] I just want more ancient impossible machines.

[2237] That's all.

[2238] I like it when I walk into a thousand -year -old tomb and press my hand gently up against some surface and then suddenly...

[2239] Chapter 7 or 8 in 2?

[2240] Yeah.

[2241] Like a giant, huge statue that you had to climb up and pull arms out.

[2242] And then you say, who would build this?

[2243] Why would you build this?

[2244] You know what?

[2245] I was actually playing some of the...

[2246] the Romulus cave missions in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

[2247] Oh, yeah, there's definitely some stuff in there.

[2248] There's stuff in there where I'm like...

[2249] Well, there's stuff where there is some worker sitting on a platform somewhere.

[2250] But all that's surrounding this platform are these precarious fucking jungle gym bars and stuff that someone has to leap and backflip into.

[2251] I'm like, how did this guy get up here?

[2252] This guy is just trapped on this little tiny thing.

[2253] Does he say anything like help me?

[2254] He's like painting or he's like scrubbing or something.

[2255] Bring me a sandwich, please.

[2256] I've been up here for way too long in this weird stone tower.

[2257] Adventures keep jumping by me. It's even weirder when you're doing stuff like that as Desmond.

[2258] Oh, yeah.

[2259] So it's just like that many hundreds of years older.

[2260] It's like, yeah, yeah, still works.

[2261] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that sequence there.

[2262] But it's extra odd that there's a guy sitting there like, what?

[2263] How'd you get?

[2264] Yes, Uncharted 3.

[2265] They're making another one of those.

[2266] Batman, Arkham.

[2267] But also dated.

[2268] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[2269] 11 -1.

[2270] 11 -1 -11.

[2271] So how many games are we going to get that are either 11 -11 -11 or 11 -1 -11?

[2272] So far we've got one of each.

[2273] But, you know, they'll bump anyway.

[2274] Three?

[2275] It just sounds good.

[2276] 10 -11 -11.

[2277] Oh, you're asking how many are going to go for each date or how many difference?

[2278] Well, like what's your, you think those are going to be the dates?

[2279] Which one's a Tuesday?

[2280] They're both Tuesdays.

[2281] Are they really?

[2282] Oh, forget it.

[2283] No, they can't be.

[2284] They couldn't be.

[2285] They can't be.

[2286] I think the 11th.

[2287] So who's shipping off a Tuesday?

[2288] Yeah, so does Nintendo get one?

[2289] Who is feeling ballsy enough to not ship on a Tuesday?

[2290] Just to make their 11 -1 -11 thing happen.

[2291] Anyway.

[2292] Batman Arkham City.

[2293] Woo!

[2294] Showing off some Hugo Strange action there.

[2295] I guess he'll be the main villain this time around.

[2296] The main villain or just a villain?

[2297] Because, you know.

[2298] He'll be working for the fucking Joker.

[2299] Arkham Asylum had such a great menagerie of villains.

[2300] The last boss will be the Joker.

[2301] Even if it's like, oh, Hugo Strange is running everything, you're going to find out at the end.

[2302] No, the Joker was.

[2303] Don't forget the Joker was in the teaser they put out at the last.

[2304] Right, so it's going to be the Joker in a giant walking tank.

[2305] Not the last.

[2306] He'll be on crazy space gas drugs.

[2307] Last year.

[2308] Oh, eight.

[2309] Last year.

[2310] They had one.

[2311] Arkham Asylum came out last year.

[2312] Really?

[2313] It's only been a year?

[2314] Yeah.

[2315] Man. Game of the year, man. We were nominated.

[2316] What's that?

[2317] It was Uncharted and Arkham.

[2318] Yeah, last year.

[2319] That was the big fight.

[2320] So next year, Arkham City versus Uncharted 3.

[2321] Yeah, that's right.

[2322] Hopefully.

[2323] Hopefully they'll pass that debate.

[2324] Did we go to the VGA's last year?

[2325] No, we went the year before that.

[2326] Where they had Arkham Asylum trailers.

[2327] They didn't?

[2328] Third year Batman trailers.

[2329] Oh, Dumbledore's theme.

[2330] I love it.

[2331] I'm confused.

[2332] Whatever.

[2333] Yeah, Resistance 3, which...

[2334] I didn't watch that one.

[2335] I should watch that one.

[2336] They got a Halo date.

[2337] It's a September date.

[2338] They're out early.

[2339] in the fourth quarter.

[2340] Oh, I did watch that.

[2341] That's a live action one.

[2342] A lot of live action stuff at the start of it.

[2343] Oh, and then the dude pulls out the gun, right?

[2344] And then it's all computer games.

[2345] There was a lot of stuff in this that I thought was live action.

[2346] Check out my cover.

[2347] There were parts of that Mass Effect trailer that I looked at.

[2348] When I was looking at stills from it, I was like, why is there just a dude?

[2349] That screen grab you pulled when you posted the trailer looks like a fucking photograph of a guy.

[2350] That's amazing.

[2351] I'm still there day one.

[2352] Mass Effect 3.

[2353] I'm a little surprised by the import being given Earth in Mass Effect 3 because I feel like Like, yes, humanity is obviously a big target, and it's kind of been one of the big focuses of this universe, is humanity's role in the universe or whatever.

[2354] I think they probably discovered that there's a forerunner artifact on Earth, and then they have to go get it.

[2355] They have to go to some glass that sort of thing.

[2356] Yeah, they're going to glass Earth.

[2357] And also, it's super weird that Big Ben still exists in 2183.

[2358] Well, why wouldn't it?

[2359] There's a bunch of old crap that exists now.

[2360] It's not that far away.

[2361] It's been around for a while.

[2362] I bet that Big Ben will be around in 2183.

[2363] You're on!

[2364] Probably.

[2365] 50 bucks.

[2366] 50 space bucks.

[2367] No, I'm only going to do it in 50 China bucks.

[2368] No. The ones that aren't going to be worth anything.

[2369] No deal.

[2370] I think the bigger thing is, like, would you want to be in a giant tower when giant spaceships are knocking everything over?

[2371] It looks amazing.

[2372] When they pan up and there's the huge invaders forcing their life, fucking if Shepard doesn't come, we're bowed.

[2373] I'm like, oh, that's awesome.

[2374] It did make me so happy that...

[2375] That Terminator thing never took off because if there were giant Terminator robots walking around London...

[2376] We killed it.

[2377] Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[2378] We'd be boned.

[2379] Yeah, it would be the worst game ever.

[2380] That trailer would just be the worst.

[2381] Now, there's been all the talk about Mass Effect multiplayer game.

[2382] Everyone thought that they were going to announce some kind of weird offshoot game for a little bit there.

[2383] I don't want them to do that.

[2384] Yeah, do you think this game has multiplayer in it?

[2385] I hope not.

[2386] I hope not.

[2387] I think there is.

[2388] I bet it does.

[2389] There should just be a part in the single player where it turns into multiplayer and that's it.

[2390] And you play that for a bit and you could just go like a brink or a line jack.

[2391] Yeah, like you're playing single player and then suddenly it's like we got a big war to fight.

[2392] And like you can continue fighting that war or like move on with the story like later on and like integrate it into a narrative that plays exactly through that part.

[2393] I just wish they could just say this is a single player series and we don't need this box.

[2394] We don't need this bullet point on the box.

[2395] Right.

[2396] I have the feeling that.

[2397] that Bioware could.

[2398] Oh, yeah, they probably could.

[2399] I also have the feeling that Bioware, if they said, yeah, we want to give a multiplayer figure shot.

[2400] Like, that universe can support it.

[2401] I, frankly, am shocked that we haven't seen more.

[2402] Granted, like, their forays into this have not been terribly successful, but I want to see more, like, non -Shepherd stories.

[2403] Give me some spinoff action.

[2404] This is a huge, terrific universe for you to delve into.

[2405] And I feel like they have spent just a huge amount of time and money in the first two games setting up their fiction and setting up this world and making you care.

[2406] It's crazy how involved all of the interspecies fiction is.

[2407] It's incredible.

[2408] It's one of the only games I think I've ever played where I've sat down and read every freaking...

[2409] Oh, the codec thing?

[2410] Yeah, the codec.

[2411] Because it's so good.

[2412] It's so good.

[2413] Yeah.

[2414] Just everyone hates everyone else for some fucked up reason.

[2415] There's not really a good guy.

[2416] Everyone's kind of an asshole in one way or another.

[2417] It's terrific.

[2418] I mean, the time that they spent.

[2419] Space dicks.

[2420] Space dicks.

[2421] That was the original title.

[2422] Didn't fly by the publisher.

[2423] Well, so we had this other idea of Mass Effect.

[2424] You notice this phrase comes up a couple of times.

[2425] I'm in space dicks.

[2426] Gray and Ray want space dicks.

[2427] Weren't these two guys doctors?

[2428] They're so immature.

[2429] Yeah, but they're Canadians.

[2430] Their sense of humor is warped.

[2431] That one guy's got like a Fu Manchu.

[2432] Forza 4.

[2433] They didn't really show anything, but they said...

[2434] Forza.

[2435] They said they're making...

[2436] I have to applaud their restraint for at no point just saying 4 -Z -A -F -O -U -R -Z -A.

[2437] Good on them.

[2438] Right, so raise the Metacritic right there.

[2439] Right, by four points.

[2440] I feel like all they needed to show for that trailer and they didn't was just a car smashing against the wall.

[2441] Like, literally.

[2442] Fortress here.

[2443] But like a Lamborghini, Murcielago, like just something crazy, exotic high -end, super slow motion, just crunching into a wall.

[2444] The whole trailer is a fixed angle on a wall, and you just hear the sound of the engine increasing for like 10 minutes.

[2445] seconds.

[2446] Car comes from off frame, hits the wall, cut to logo, let's stay able to try it.

[2447] And then 45 seconds of menus.

[2448] These are really clean looking menus.

[2449] Right.

[2450] The decal editor.

[2451] Yeah, actually I'm kind of surprised.

[2452] That's the one thing I felt was missing from that trailer is that there was no like weird brand hijacking on any of the cars.

[2453] There's no like Pringles can or anime girl.

[2454] Like all the stuff that all the users have done with that decal editor.

[2455] Oh, right.

[2456] that they did not do any of that.

[2457] Some of that stuff looks straight out of that Kinect demo that we saw, and they have gone on to say that there will be Kinect support in the game for at least that car, like walk around the car, open the door, look at stuff view.

[2458] But I wouldn't be surprised if some of those mini games based on Kinect end up in that game too.

[2459] I don't think they're going to make a separate Forza Kinect game at this point.

[2460] That'd be...

[2461] They shouldn't do that.

[2462] That would be a bad idea.

[2463] Also, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim.

[2464] It's low -orbit basketball.

[2465] Any rim job jokes that we want to get out of?

[2466] I was thinking of a couple as you were going through.

[2467] This isn't the place for it.

[2468] Nothing really.

[2469] No, we'll work on it later.

[2470] We've got a while.

[2471] We've got that comedy show coming up.

[2472] We need to get our Skyrim material.

[2473] Got a good eight -minute chunk on Skyrim.

[2474] That I feel pretty good about.

[2475] I mean, it's a trailer that shows nothing other than to say...

[2476] It's kind of cool.

[2477] It's like, hey, dragons.

[2478] Yeah.

[2479] I'm excited.

[2480] Wait, wait, wait.

[2481] Do dragons.

[2482] Dragons?

[2483] And I'm like, fucking, dude, yeah, fucking dragons.

[2484] Are you telling me it's the age of dragons?

[2485] Basically, yeah.

[2486] It's a cool -looking trailer.

[2487] Like, zero gameplay, but cool -looking trailer.

[2488] New engine.

[2489] New engine.

[2490] That's the crazy.

[2491] New engine.

[2492] Oh, yay.

[2493] They say.

[2494] They say it's a new engine.

[2495] But Todd Howard said in an interview like three months ago that they were building on the old engine.

[2496] So I'm sitting here like scrutinizing their use of the phrase new engine.

[2497] You know, like that could be open to a lot of interpretation.

[2498] It's like a newer version of game.

[2499] Well, we've loaded a new renderer, so now it's a new engine.

[2500] Our new engine, it's all JavaScript.

[2501] We've just made it as, you know, notepad documents.

[2502] Oh, we're just using the latest version that we used for Epic Mickey.

[2503] It's Skyrimville.

[2504] It's a Facebook game.

[2505] That's the new engine.

[2506] Or if they just found a way to make this new engine five times as broken.

[2507] I hope.

[2508] Everyone's head is upside down by default now.

[2509] We've made it so every companion you can walk up to does not respond to you the first ten times.

[2510] This is by design.

[2511] I'm excited for this game.

[2512] Now you can flip through everything.

[2513] Just everything.

[2514] Great.

[2515] You're a wizard.

[2516] I don't know.

[2517] I also think it's, you know, for us old school people, I think it's just like amazing how far Bethesda has come.

[2518] Yeah.

[2519] Because they're like rock stars now in this industry, and the fact that they got to make an announce on this show, and everybody was excited about it.

[2520] I mean, I don't know how many of you guys in the room remember, like Daggerfall.

[2521] Daggerfall, yeah.

[2522] I was just like, how is this the same company?

[2523] Even up through Morrowind, those games were nothing like mainstream.

[2524] They were the deepest of nerds.

[2525] Yes.

[2526] They were the hardest core of PC nerds.

[2527] And they never sold out.

[2528] I don't even know how it happened.

[2529] It's like the world came around to them or something.

[2530] Yeah, totally.

[2531] It was Oblivion.

[2532] It was Oblivion coming out at the right time on the 360.

[2533] There were a lot of people that were just hungry for any kind of meaty game on that console.

[2534] They're like, oh, we'll play this.

[2535] Oh, wait, this game's amazing.

[2536] Right.

[2537] The world discovered Bethesda.

[2538] Yeah.

[2539] And became a better place.

[2540] And then they followed it up with Fallout, which people were ready to say, okay, this has guns in it.

[2541] I'm in.

[2542] Like that, but with guns, okay.

[2543] Right.

[2544] Except for those Fallout stalwarts that are somewhere still super pissed, I'm sure.

[2545] Oh, yeah.

[2546] There's a thread going on right now.

[2547] There's no upside down faces in Fallout 2.

[2548] Because you just said this.

[2549] Right, yeah, exactly.

[2550] Jeff Gersman just bashed us again.

[2551] SSX, Deadly Descent.

[2552] I don't believe it.

[2553] Now, if that was a Descent game, I'd be in.

[2554] Oh, man. Wait, Deadly Descent?

[2555] Deadly Descents.

[2556] Is it Descents?

[2557] There are multiple Descents.

[2558] You're right.

[2559] I'm sorry.

[2560] EA Sports SSX Deadly Descents.

[2561] That's a bit of a mouthful.

[2562] Deadly Descents exercising cream.

[2563] I'm just waiting for Coons to bust through that door.

[2564] I don't know.

[2565] The whole trailer is like helicopters.

[2566] like drop off a helicopter onto a very snowy mountain so it's deadly.

[2567] Oh, so they're playing up the whole try to kill yourself.

[2568] Something like that.

[2569] It looks like they're playing up the we built this on the Call of Duty engine angle because there's...

[2570] The snowboard?

[2571] So you're saying respawns, secretly making it?

[2572] There's like a...

[2573] The look of that game looks like snow levels.

[2574] Yeah, it looks like a military game until there's snowboarding in the trailer.

[2575] You're like, oh.

[2576] Huh.

[2577] Because they're in these big military helicopters, and the look of the game is like that.

[2578] There's no DJ Atomica.

[2579] There's no crazy.

[2580] Brightly colored.

[2581] Brightly colored anything.

[2582] And also no gameplay, so I don't even know what that game will look like.

[2583] But this was not the direction I would expect them to, or I would have expected them to go if they were going to bring back SSX.

[2584] And I don't know if...

[2585] We'll see.

[2586] So somebody told them to make Black Ops, but then they had to remind them it's actually a snowboarding franchise.

[2587] Tell me about the numbers on your Lyft ticket.

[2588] Bro, tell me about the numbers on your Lyft ticket.

[2589] Dude, I'm too stoned to read the numbers on my Lyft ticket.

[2590] Read me the numbers on your Lyft ticket.

[2591] Let me tell you about this time.

[2592] Remember that hill we went down five years ago?

[2593] That's right.

[2594] Remember we were snowboarding in Vietnam?

[2595] Put fortunate sun on again, bro.

[2596] I can't not.

[2597] It stuck that way.

[2598] Prototype 2 also.

[2599] The biggest surprise of anything crazy.

[2600] I don't think it's that big of a surprise.

[2601] Really?

[2602] There was an audible gasp at the VGA's.

[2603] Was there?

[2604] No, not really.

[2605] It was in my living room.

[2606] It was just a big, huh?

[2607] I just turned to my wife and went, oh!

[2608] She's like, what is it?

[2609] I'm like, because I do that all the time.

[2610] Oh, God, he's choking again!

[2611] Swallow his own tongue.

[2612] Honey, we need to get you better teeth.

[2613] Yeah, I don't know.

[2614] I never thought they would follow up that game.

[2615] I thought Prototype.

[2616] Prototype.

[2617] They supposedly went in and gutted Radical, yet Radical is developing this game.

[2618] Does it have a, is there a, you know, subtitle after it?

[2619] Nope.

[2620] No. Prototype.

[2621] No, nothing.

[2622] They have a slogan for it, but it's not, what is it, like, Murder Your Maker, I think it is.

[2623] So you're not playing as Alex Mercer.

[2624] You're a guy who, yes, Two Clicks to Jesus, colon 2012.

[2625] You're playing as a guy who's also been infected with the same stuff, who is now chasing Alex Mercer.

[2626] Right.

[2627] Neat.

[2628] I wish I remembered what happened.

[2629] Your interests are the same, and you're going to team up.

[2630] And then co -op unlocks.

[2631] Take on the man. I don't know.

[2632] Do you remember how that game wrapped up at the end?

[2633] You fought a giant monster on an aircraft carrier.

[2634] Yes.

[2635] And then...

[2636] You win.

[2637] In this game, you play as the aircraft carrier.

[2638] It starts out.

[2639] You're the aircraft carrier.

[2640] That's right.

[2641] He's just doing all the VO.

[2642] Yeah.

[2643] No, you're ready to meet.

[2644] I can't remember if they solved the problem of the virus.

[2645] Alex Mercer just kind of slinks off into the city with a hoodie on.

[2646] Really?

[2647] So he fails?

[2648] Well, he beats the end boss, whatever that was.

[2649] So he sort of got back at the military for doing stuff to him.

[2650] You just made me realize I want to make a game and end it that way.

[2651] You fail.

[2652] You have to like slink off and everyone's like booing you.

[2653] And then the credits roll.

[2654] Wouldn't that be a great thing to do to a gamer?

[2655] Boo!

[2656] Fuck off!

[2657] Fuck!

[2658] You were wrong the entire time.

[2659] You're actually fighting the good guy.

[2660] Asshole.

[2661] That's pretty much how my game of Fable 3 ended.

[2662] And then it erases all the achievements you made so far.

[2663] Fuck you!

[2664] Prototype 2.

[2665] I'm going to propose this to pop.

[2666] Maybe for a plan for zombies too.

[2667] You reach level 99 of Bejeweled 3 and now it deletes itself.

[2668] And then any time you load it up, all of the zombies are just flipping you off.

[2669] Thanks for your money, asshole.

[2670] Now you have to buy the game again if you ever want to play it.

[2671] I was just thinking the worst thing that could happen in all the zombie games.

[2672] What if there was just a virus that made you think everybody was a zombie?

[2673] So you think it's a zombie apocalypse and just start shooting everybody?

[2674] And then it turns out that you're just the messed up one.

[2675] You're the messed up one and these guys are all just chasing after you to stop you and you're like, they keep coming, man. And then that virus spreads so more and more people think that the other people are zombies.

[2676] I mean, the villain who thinks he's the hero.

[2677] If that was also Descent, I would be in.

[2678] And then you've got to snowboard your way to victory.

[2679] The hero that thinks he's a villain is a classic storytelling trope, especially for sci -fi and fantasy, and it's kind of surprising that you don't get more of that twist in games.

[2680] You mean the villain who thinks he's a hero?

[2681] Yes, I'm sorry, yes.

[2682] You being that villain.

[2683] Right.

[2684] You being the bad guys.

[2685] Yeah, yeah.

[2686] Mastermind.

[2687] Prototype kind of flirts with that idea a little bit, for sure.

[2688] That is, to me, more than your Infamous or your Uncharted.

[2689] That is the game that needs a sequel.

[2690] Because that is a game that can materially be improved mechanically.

[2691] There's so many things about it.

[2692] Man, there's great potential here.

[2693] There are things about this that I really enjoyed.

[2694] But this, this, this, and this all need to be better.

[2695] And this is the opportunity to do something about that.

[2696] I mean, they at least made its announcement splashy.

[2697] So maybe they care about it enough to actually make it happen.

[2698] I guess Activision's at a point where they don't not care about...

[2699] Anything.

[2700] Anything, except for Cabela's and whatever they would have previously labeled as Activision value.

[2701] Yeah.

[2702] One last story here today before we move on to new releases.

[2703] They're announcing some retailer -specific fatalities for Mortal Kombat.

[2704] Now, this is not, you know, this trend is nothing.

[2705] The pre -order bonus, the retailer -specific pre -order bonus, we've seen all that before.

[2706] There's something about this, about...

[2707] About fatalities?

[2708] So what it is, is they have three different programs set up with three different retailers, and each one's a different character, skin, and a different fatality.

[2709] So it's the ninjas.

[2710] So it's like Scorpion, Sub -Zero, or Reptile.

[2711] And you get kind of the classic look, and then their original fatality, or one of their original fatalities for Sub -Zero and Scorpion.

[2712] Those are easy.

[2713] I don't know what they would do for Reptile.

[2714] Which one is the...

[2715] Which reptile fatality is the iconic reptile one?

[2716] Is it the tongue?

[2717] The tongue?

[2718] The head?

[2719] Yeah, probably.

[2720] You don't think it's the acid spit?

[2721] That looked...

[2722] No. It's the tongue.

[2723] It's probably the tongue.

[2724] It's the tongue.

[2725] It's the sub -zero head rip.

[2726] I ask.

[2727] Yeah, it's the sub -zero head rip and the scorpion.

[2728] Fire.

[2729] Can you fucking imagine a world where you buy this game and you don't get the head rip and the breathing fire?

[2730] Well, the only thing, I mean, I actually think it's a good thing that they're coming up with new fatalities because every time they switch to a new engine, the first thing that the MK team does is say, you'll see that skull breathe fire again.

[2731] And so it's kind of nice that this guarantees that there will be two new fatalities for Scorpion in the game.

[2732] So basically you'll be getting a third for these characters.

[2733] The problem is that they're kind of billing this game as a pseudo reboot.

[2734] The storyline will take place kind of in the right place in the story.

[2735] But they're using all these old characters.

[2736] They're trying to make the game play more like the old games.

[2737] This is stuff that should just be in it because they're in a position where they need to get those old players back.

[2738] And nickel and diming them on this stuff and basically preventing them from getting access to that stuff is not the right way to go about putting this game out there.

[2739] They're already kind of getting into weird territory by putting Kratos into the game as a PS3 exclusive character.

[2740] I mean, at least he fits into the universe.

[2741] Yeah.

[2742] He's angry and he kills everything.

[2743] And he has Scorpion's spear, basically.

[2744] Right.

[2745] Not since the inclusion of Quan Chi have I been so disappointed in the new Mortal Kombat game.

[2746] And then there's rumors that Quan Chi is also going to be in the game.

[2747] Yeah, a bunch of files got yanked off of their official website.

[2748] That hasn't been confirmed.

[2749] No, that hasn't been confirmed, but yeah.

[2750] Quan Chi was done as DLC for the last game and never released, so you know they got the models done, so why not use it?

[2751] Make him the pre -order DLC, because then no one will pre -order it.

[2752] Can you only have Quan Chi fight Kratos because they are basically the same character?

[2753] The more modern looks of Quan Chi as they changed him look less Kratos -like.

[2754] Okay.

[2755] But yes.

[2756] It should actually just be FMV footage of Richard Divizio who played Kano and then went on to play Quan Chi in the Mortal Kombat mythologies, which you should look up the FMV for MK mythologies and see him.

[2757] playing Quan Chi if you want to see the only good Quan Chi stuff ever.

[2758] Mythologies was the Sub -Zero game.

[2759] Yeah, that side -scrolling Sub -Zero game.

[2760] And there was also Special Forces, which under no circumstances are you to play Special Forces.

[2761] I remember watching you play Special Forces.

[2762] It was like I was killing myself while playing a video game.

[2763] Make that the pre -order.

[2764] It was pretty impressive.

[2765] But you're right.

[2766] I don't think there's a lot of excitement here for this new Mortal Kombat.

[2767] But they're kind of coming off of a bad stretch for MK.

[2768] Well, yeah.

[2769] I mean, I think the last game they did was great, but...

[2770] They are not as huge as they once were.

[2771] Sales definitely tapered off for that series as they went on.

[2772] And this is the game that they're finally recapturing a lot of those people.

[2773] People are coming back to it and looking at this footage and looking at the game and going like, oh man, this is the Mortal Kombat I remember.

[2774] And they're starting to get those people excited again.

[2775] They shouldn't do things that work against that.

[2776] They're acting like they've already had the success.

[2777] You save this for Mortal Kombat 10.

[2778] This is, yeah, this is the game after, once you've got everyone back on the hook and you're in, you know, the grander game playing Publix.

[2779] Yeah, you can kind of start playing around with that stuff.

[2780] But this, you know, it's a bit much.

[2781] They're also doing two separate collector's editions that's going to come with, you know, Avatar stuff.

[2782] I love collector's editions.

[2783] Well, so there's two versions.

[2784] What if they spell collector with a K?

[2785] They're spelling collectors with a K, so there is that.

[2786] Okay.

[2787] Is there a Game of the Year edition yet?

[2788] Not yet.

[2789] Yeah, that one's here.

[2790] Tournament edition will come with what they're terming a portable fight stick, which I can't even fathom what that means because last time I checked, every fight stick I've ever bought for a console can be brought someplace.

[2791] You know those little...

[2792] That to me says it's too small and janky.

[2793] You know those TV games that have all of the Namco games built into it?

[2794] Yeah, it'll be one of those with MK1 built into it.

[2795] That's it.

[2796] That'd be all right.

[2797] It's a portable arcade joystick.

[2798] That'd be all right.

[2799] No, it's a portable arcade, comma, joystick.

[2800] Got it.

[2801] Yep.

[2802] Spelling collectors with a K, I'm going to say it.

[2803] It goes a long way.

[2804] You're in?

[2805] Well, at least justifying it.

[2806] So we got the Tron Evolution Collector's Edition, Limited Edition.

[2807] For one thing, like, okay, Tron's kind of a big deal, and they're making a go at it, and they want this to be a big thing.

[2808] So at a certain point, I get it.

[2809] you want to make your big fancy collector's edition.

[2810] But this thing's $130.

[2811] Holy cow.

[2812] It's Halo helmet price.

[2813] Clicks to Christ.

[2814] $130.

[2815] That's many clicks.

[2816] And what you get for that is a copy of the game, which, you know, middle of the road with the game.

[2817] It's not horrible.

[2818] It's not the worst licensed game, but it's not fucking amazing.

[2819] The story is the best part about it.

[2820] I think, having seen it, Brad and I went and saw the movie.

[2821] Yes, you did.

[2822] I think the story in the game is probably...

[2823] If they had taken the story from the game and told it as flashy of a way as the movie is, I think the game story would be better.

[2824] Is Jeff Bridges in the game?

[2825] His likeness is in the game.

[2826] His voice is not.

[2827] It seems like they got a decent sound.

[2828] So he's out for the VGA.

[2829] Yeah, exactly.

[2830] None for him.

[2831] But either way, not necessarily a game that you would feel...

[2832] really warrants a $130 package.

[2833] And for that, you're getting the game, a light cycle replica, which...

[2834] It's kind of all one piece.

[2835] When you leave it in its plastic display case, you look at it and you go like, yeah, but if you get too close to it, you're like, it's like a melted shoe or something like that, reshaped into a light cycle.

[2836] Maybe that's what it is.

[2837] Yeah, maybe.

[2838] It's that and then a $10 gift certificate to go see the movie.

[2839] Which, as a 3D movie, is probably going to cost more than $10.

[2840] Unless if you're under 16 and go see a matinee, you might be able to squeeze in.

[2841] So they were banking on some kind of, like, Tron mania here for this thing.

[2842] I guess so.

[2843] There's so much merchandise out there.

[2844] Like, Adidas did a bunch of clothing.

[2845] Oakley did sunglasses.

[2846] I was drinking a Tron Coke Zero last week.

[2847] Oh, shit, really?

[2848] Yeah.

[2849] Get one of those.

[2850] Did it taste like you were inside a computer?

[2851] It tasted like Tron.

[2852] Oh, man. It tasted like bits?

[2853] It tasted like blue.

[2854] No, it was orange.

[2855] It was evil.

[2856] Oh, no!

[2857] Drinking evil Diet Coke Zero.

[2858] All Diet Coke Zeros are evil.

[2859] Did that movie, is it?

[2860] It's pretty good.

[2861] It's pretty good.

[2862] I want to go see it.

[2863] Good, good?

[2864] Yeah.

[2865] Well, I think, you know, I went in expecting all the acting to be horrible.

[2866] Yeah.

[2867] And the 3D to be a nightmare.

[2868] And I thought the acting was fine.

[2869] And the 3D was pretty understated, like relatively subtle, all told.

[2870] And the story is good enough to keep you interested throughout.

[2871] A B. Nice flashy action.

[2872] Yeah.

[2873] Yeah, the action, yes.

[2874] There's a lot of really cool action sequences.

[2875] Looks amazing.

[2876] Looks fucking amazing.

[2877] Nothing else.

[2878] The commercials look amazing.

[2879] Yeah, yeah.

[2880] It looks really great.

[2881] It's always been Tron's biggest strength.

[2882] Yeah.

[2883] This looks really sweet.

[2884] And it does not plod.

[2885] The pace is much faster than the original movie.

[2886] Right.

[2887] So it doesn't have that problem.

[2888] Almost to a fault where there's some stuff that feels really glossed over.

[2889] So they actually do a nice job.

[2890] For all the talk about all the linking games to movies and how horrible that usually goes, I feel like they actually did a pretty good job here.

[2891] The stuff that ties back to the game, the stuff that they allude to in the movie that you can look at and go like, oh, they're referencing things that happened in the game.

[2892] Not super key.

[2893] You're not missing out if you didn't play the game too much.

[2894] Having played the game, I was like, oh, man, wow.

[2895] That's okay.

[2896] Cool.

[2897] That's pretty neat.

[2898] That's for you.

[2899] Yeah.

[2900] Yeah.

[2901] And vice versa.

[2902] There's scenes in the movie that take place.

[2903] There's a scene in the movie that actually is also in the game.

[2904] Okay.

[2905] Kind of seen from a slightly different perspective that I thought was cool.

[2906] So I guess good on them for putting all that stuff together in an interesting way.

[2907] That's probably the hardest part of all that.

[2908] So cool.

[2909] All right.

[2910] Let's move on to some new releases, guys.

[2911] Yes.

[2912] How do you feel about that?

[2913] All these great new releases coming out this week.

[2914] Surprise!

[2915] There are no new releases!

[2916] Yay!

[2917] Double surprise!

[2918] There are new releases.

[2919] Whoa!

[2920] Coming out for Xbox Live Arcade this week.

[2921] Okay, I should preface this by saying that there are no new physical boxed new releases this week.

[2922] However...

[2923] Digital releases abound.

[2924] Is this a coupon for frozen peas you have over here?

[2925] Yeah, it is.

[2926] You don't want to actually know what I use this bag for.

[2927] Oh, it's actually a bag of frozen peas.

[2928] Yeah.

[2929] Jeff, what do you use the frozen pea bag for?

[2930] It's kind of a long story.

[2931] Don't say it's for frozen peas.

[2932] It's not for frozen peas.

[2933] Also, don't say it's for frozen pea.

[2934] Well, then we're done.

[2935] Not really.

[2936] All right.

[2937] We'll just move on.

[2938] What the fuck, man?

[2939] Do you want to know what it's for?

[2940] Now I have to.

[2941] It's not pleasant.

[2942] It doesn't involve me, though.

[2943] As long as you're okay talking about it on the air, I don't want to make you uncomfortable.

[2944] I was going to take my dog on a walk before I came over here.

[2945] This was going to be the poop handler.

[2946] This was the bag for my dog's shit.

[2947] But now this podcast is going on so long that you're just going to shit into it?

[2948] Yeah, that's why I took the bag out of my pocket.

[2949] No, I was wondering why my pocket was bulging.

[2950] And then I remembered, oh, it's the empty bag of peas in my pocket.

[2951] At least it hasn't been used.

[2952] Are you sorry ass now, guys?

[2953] No, I'm happy to know.

[2954] Totally, totally happy.

[2955] So this is the dog shit bag.

[2956] I'll leave it here for you guys.

[2957] If you want to take a Ziploc also to double up.

[2958] I don't know where it came from.

[2959] It's been a while.

[2960] It was sitting on that chair when it came in here.

[2961] Think about it.

[2962] Xbox Live Arcade's releases this week include X -Men Arcade.

[2963] Really?

[2964] Yeah.

[2965] Yay.

[2966] Yeah, that arcade game.

[2967] Not like somebody needed to do it.

[2968] I don't know.

[2969] I felt sort of sorry for it.

[2970] It's hotly anticipated.

[2971] There are a lot of people that view this game as a very big classic in the brawler genre.

[2972] I loved it.

[2973] I sunk many a quarter into it when I was younger.

[2974] I just don't know if it holds up.

[2975] It is the six -player version, right?

[2976] Because there were two cabinets.

[2977] There was a four -player and then there was that dual monitor.

[2978] You can choose between the six and the four.

[2979] Okay.

[2980] Which I imagine will then affect like...

[2981] aspect ratio on screen because one was one way and one was the other.

[2982] That's also going to be out for PlayStation Network.

[2983] Yep.

[2984] A day earlier.

[2985] Quake Arena Arcade.

[2986] Oh, finally.

[2987] Interesting.

[2988] You can play Quake Live but pay for it and play it with an Xbox controller.

[2989] Thanks.

[2990] Yeah, pretty much.

[2991] That's pretty much it.

[2992] Ouch.

[2993] You know.

[2994] I'm sure it'll be okay if you've never played Quake 3 before in any other form.

[2995] So fourth week in Game Room Pack 12.

[2996] Yeah.

[2997] We still have five games left in that pack.

[2998] Okay.

[2999] Oh, man, really?

[3000] I don't know what's going to happen.

[3001] I'm just saying these things.

[3002] I don't know what's going to happen.

[3003] Oh.

[3004] Hopefully this will be the week for Food Fight.

[3005] We've got Food Fight, we've got MIA, we've got Sunset Riders, Volleyball, and Warlords.

[3006] That's the 2600 version of Warlords.

[3007] We'll see what they do.

[3008] I bet they'll split it up.

[3009] I bet you're right.

[3010] I bet we'll get three games this week and two next.

[3011] Not that anyone cares.

[3012] I care.

[3013] I care.

[3014] Not that anyone that matters cares.

[3015] And that'll probably be the last five.

[3016] Of Game Room?

[3017] Of Game Room.

[3018] I wouldn't be surprised.

[3019] They finish out the year and then...

[3020] So you think that Phantom Pac -13 thing is just a fluke?

[3021] I don't know.

[3022] It came up, it showed up as a thing I could download, but then when I hit it...

[3023] Other people have reported it.

[3024] Did they actually download it?

[3025] No. Same issue.

[3026] You know, it's too bad, because I feel like it's been a long time coming.

[3027] Like, someone needed to come along and, like, make legalized emulation and microchance and make this stuff work and compete with MAME in a legal, feel -good kind of way.

[3028] Yeah.

[3029] And they didn't do it.

[3030] They just never got the games.

[3031] They never will get the games.

[3032] They never got the games, and even with that specific and focused a job, the emulation was fucked up.

[3033] Not often, but often enough where it's like, come on.

[3034] Why is there no music in Poo Yan?

[3035] Why is there no music in Poo Yan?

[3036] This is this thing's entire job, and it can't do that.

[3037] There's no music in Poo Yan, guys.

[3038] There is music in Poo Yan.

[3039] There's never been music in Puyen.

[3040] There's always been music in Puyen.

[3041] Until now.

[3042] Thanks, Game Room.

[3043] This is Puyen Deluxe.

[3044] We removed the music.

[3045] It's way better this way.

[3046] Pure experience.

[3047] That's all the new releases I've got.

[3048] Dude, guys, games are done coming out for 2010.

[3049] Yeah.

[3050] Enjoy it.

[3051] We made it.

[3052] Bask in it.

[3053] There's going to be some more weirdo digital releases, but...

[3054] Don't have to go to stores.

[3055] Case West is out the 27th.

[3056] Yes, Case West.

[3057] That'll probably be the last thing of the year.

[3058] Confirmed to be a standalone XBLA game.

[3059] Yes.

[3060] You don't have to own Dead Rising 2 360 to buy that game.

[3061] No, but it will be 800 points, so it'll be the $10 as opposed to the $5.

[3062] Frank West deserves $5 of his own.

[3063] He takes that money and spends it on film.

[3064] It's co -op.

[3065] Hey, I like Dead Rising 2.

[3066] But, like, real co -op with two different characters, not just two Chuck Greens.

[3067] Weird.

[3068] Who could have thought?

[3069] All right.

[3070] Whatever.

[3071] I'm more excited.

[3072] Like, I played, like, two hours of Dead Rising 2.

[3073] I am stoked.

[3074] But I S -ranked Case Zero, and I'm totally excited for and looking forward to playing.

[3075] Like, that's as much Dead Rising as I want, it turns out.

[3076] It's a couple of hours in a small area.

[3077] Like, the expansive world and the giant, like, all the other things that they bring into Dead Rising, I'm like, I don't want to do that.

[3078] Absolutely overrated in gaming.

[3079] The whole giant open world thing.

[3080] Totally.

[3081] I'm not kidding.

[3082] Give me a nice five -hour experience at a decent price point, and I'll be on my way.

[3083] There's something to be said for some self -restraint in your game design, right?

[3084] Exactly.

[3085] Like, more is not always...

[3086] We have 10 ,000 guns!

[3087] Give me three that work.

[3088] And we're good.

[3089] It's match three.

[3090] Match three.

[3091] You don't need to match five.

[3092] I got that in there.

[3093] I didn't say four.

[3094] Three pistols.

[3095] That was the message they gave me. Every time you can, Jeff.

[3096] In fact, if one of you guys could leave, then there'd be three giant bomb guys.

[3097] I can match you.

[3098] Or if we could find a third person named Jeff.

[3099] Oh, yeah.

[3100] But then won't you guys disappear?

[3101] Oh, shit.

[3102] That's no good.

[3103] That's right.

[3104] We had three mats at one point.

[3105] Yeah.

[3106] Two and a half.

[3107] We murdered them.

[3108] That's a good point.

[3109] Now they're all gone.

[3110] Jeff Gerstman with the Nintendo downloads.

[3111] And this list is like as long as the whole list you just read.

[3112] Nintendo is not messing around.

[3113] We need to...

[3114] 2011.

[3115] We are...

[3116] 2011, we are...

[3117] We're doing something about this part of the show.

[3118] Why don't you just start running it at double speed?

[3119] And I'll talk extra low.

[3120] All right.

[3121] I'll run at double speed.

[3122] I'll start this week.

[3123] I'll run at double speed if you talk like that in here the entire time.

[3124] That's just going to make it take twice as long for you sitting here.

[3125] This doesn't help anyone except for the listener.

[3126] That's all I care about are the thousands of people listening.

[3127] I don't care how much time of your time I waste.

[3128] Lit Line, Gaijin Games, one player, 500 Wii points, demo version available for zero Wii points.

[3129] No, you don't have to go slower too, go faster.

[3130] Lit Line is an award -winning rhythm racing game with a dubstep soundtrack and a visual aesthetic that will confound your senses and rock your soul.

[3131] I'm not even going to speed it up.

[3132] Now I've decided.

[3133] Control the silky smooth rhythm line and do your best to stay on the track as you race to the finish.

[3134] Tapping the button to the beat of the catchy soundtrack by genre superstars 16 -bit.

[3135] With 15 levels of intense musical racing.

[3136] It's a game that has to be experienced to be believed.

[3137] And much more.

[3138] That was WiiWare also on WiiWare.

[3139] Family Games from Icon Games Entertainment.

[3140] One to four players.

[3141] Rated E for everyone.

[3142] 500 Wii points.

[3143] Description colon.

[3144] Family Games is a collection of tons.

[3145] Timeless pen and paper games for the whole family.

[3146] Games include squares, dots, nine men's Morris, mill, safe cracker, matchsticks, knots and crosses.

[3147] Tic -tac -toe.

[3148] Four in a row.

[3149] Take that, Mr. Match 3.

[3150] Battlefleet.

[3151] Does it say that?

[3152] And Hangman.

[3153] Numerous rule sets and game variations offer many ways to play.

[3154] Up to four players can compete in tournament mode.

[3155] There are also 20 special achievements to unlock.

[3156] Violin Paradise.

[3157] From Keystone Game Studio.

[3158] In all capital letters, one to four players, 700 Wii points.

[3159] Violin Paradise is designed for up to four people to enjoy.

[3160] Additional controllers sold separately.

[3161] Players can choose to be a conductor, violinist, violist, or cellist as they perform some of the most beautiful classical pieces in history.

[3162] The game includes a micro orchestra which helps players feel the enjoyment of a group performance.

[3163] The game environment changes dynamically and can be enriched with more objects if you play successfully.

[3164] All right, guys, are you ready for virtual console now?

[3165] Yep.

[3166] No. Darius Twin for the Super Nintendo from Taito.

[3167] I love Hootie and the Blowfish.

[3168] 800 Wii points for countless millennia.

[3169] The space tyrant Belzer and his cosmic marauders have terrorized this once peaceful galaxy.

[3170] I'm sorry, the Belzers?

[3171] The bells in this?

[3172] Richard Belzer stars in Darius Twin.

[3173] Rated E for...

[3174] everyone, mild fantasy violence.

[3175] No sector remains safe from these stellar mercenaries and their evil empire.

[3176] The Galactic Federation has finally called on two of its ace pilots and their sleek Silverhawk warships to do battle with Belzer's malicious metal menaces and reclaim their beloved planet.

[3177] Darius.

[3178] Climb into the pilot's seat for a solo mission against Belzer's forces or engage the enemy with a fellow Federation pilot in a simultaneous two -player team attack.

[3179] The future of the galaxy depends on the success of this perilous quest.

[3180] Nintendo DSiWare.

[3181] Little Red Riding Hood's zombie barbecue.

[3182] Whipped cream flowing like waterfalls.

[3183] From Gammic Entertainment, rated T for blood and gore, crude humor, fantasy violence, mild suggestive themes, and mild language.

[3184] 800 Nintendo DSi points.

[3185] TM.

[3186] They don't normally trademark the points, but for that one they did.

[3187] Can you save Fairytale Land?

[3188] Or will you let its creatures live unhappily ever after?

[3189] Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie Barbecue is a fun shooter in which you must advance by shooting down every living or dying.

[3190] Creature in your path.

[3191] Use the great arsenal of weapons at your disposal to destroy hordes of savage zombies.

[3192] Jam space.

[3193] Pocket studio.

[3194] It's space jam.

[3195] No, it says jam space here on the paper.

[3196] You realize you're just reading it and didn't like it.

[3197] Monotone.

[3198] Put it on the pizza.

[3199] More than particularly, like, lower than anything.

[3200] It's a little bit lower.

[3201] You're right, that.

[3202] Please continue.

[3203] Jam space.

[3204] Jam space.

[3205] Pocket studio.

[3206] There's a space between jam and space, but not between pocket and studio.

[3207] This is another banger from HB Studios.

[3208] It is rated E for everyone.

[3209] 500 DSi points.

[3210] Jam Space Pocket Studio for the Nintendo DSi system puts the power of a recording studio in your pocket.

[3211] You can compose tracks, jot down ideas, and be musical no matter where you are.

[3212] Choose from two modes.

[3213] Quick jam mode allows you to lay down tracks quickly and easily use natural instrument interfaces.

[3214] This is a great mode if you've got a little melody and want to record and want to get it down quickly.

[3215] Studio mode gives you access to a full -featured MIDI editor that lets you tweak and hone your compositions to a professional level.

[3216] If you want to dig deep and really work on that masterpiece, this is the mode for you.

[3217] One more, guys.

[3218] I'm basking in it.

[3219] Just sing!

[3220] I tweeted about how much I was laughing.

[3221] Christmas songs from Engine Software.

[3222] 200 Nintendo DSi points.

[3223] Do you want me to try this one way lower?

[3224] Always.

[3225] Get ready for a Christmas karaoke party where you are the star.

[3226] Famous holiday tunes, including Jingle Bells and Silent Night, are waiting for you.

[3227] Dressed up as Jolly Santa Claus, you enter a stage covered in snow and sing into the built -in microphone on your Nintendo DSi to create a magical Christmas mood.

[3228] While singing, you'll receive feedback.

[3229] Did you hit all the right notes and sing in time?

[3230] Compare your high score with previous singers, or just sing to your holiday heart's content.

[3231] That is all of the releases that Nintendo has released for this week, guys.

[3232] All right.

[3233] Thank you, Jeff.

[3234] We're bringing it back up to normal speed.

[3235] That was fast.

[3236] We should always do it in double time.

[3237] So are you going to speed it up?

[3238] Actually, that was like quadruple time.

[3239] Oh, was it?

[3240] Yeah, that was super duper fast.

[3241] So that we would have time for some emails.

[3242] Oh, great.

[3243] I'm dizzy.

[3244] After doing that, the final Nintendo Downloads read that we will ever do in this current format.

[3245] What are you talking about?

[3246] Dude, last week we spent like 20 minutes on that segment.

[3247] That's insane.

[3248] We can't spend 20 minutes a week talking about fucking Nintendo Downloads that we never play.

[3249] Look, I don't know if you know this, but the Wii is still, worldwide, has the largest installed base of any console.

[3250] Bombcast at GiantBomb .com Is the email address you send emails into for us to read emails on the air?

[3251] Are you saying we need to start a separate podcast where we talk about the Nintendo releases for a full hour?

[3252] If you want to spearhead that for our 2011 projects.

[3253] I'll put it on the task board.

[3254] I'll fight for you on it.

[3255] For sure.

[3256] Just to get it out of here.

[3257] I lost my things.

[3258] I had everything here.

[3259] First email comes in from Kevin in Wisconsin.

[3260] Bombcast!

[3261] Why does Game Informer get all the exclusive covers and stories about big games?

[3262] Is GameStop making some sweet retail deals in order to get Game Informer the exclusive rights to this stuff?

[3263] You know, I don't know the machinations of it, but I think it has more...

[3264] It's more about...

[3265] Game Informer is in all of those GameStops.

[3266] It's like publishers in pursuit of the mythical reach.

[3267] They're the number seven magazine of any magazine ever.

[3268] Who are you going to give the exclusives to?

[3269] You give it to the people with the most.

[3270] And to the ones that are going to reach the most people that might not follow this on a daily basis.

[3271] So giving it to a website, even the biggest websites, is still kind of a preaching to the choir sort of move.

[3272] Right.

[3273] To hear Game of Formatel, to hear, you know, I asked Andy McNamara point blank.

[3274] Because, you know, it's something we get asked a lot.

[3275] Like, how does that stuff work?

[3276] And he said, no, dude, it's us.

[3277] The whole magazine is us.

[3278] And, you know, I started getting it just like we all do for whatever fucking reason.

[3279] I didn't ask for it.

[3280] And I've been reading the last few issues, and, you know, it's all right.

[3281] It's not bad.

[3282] They have a good staff over there.

[3283] Their covers have been awesome.

[3284] They're on a roll with their covers.

[3285] Whoever's doing their art and whoever's, like, directing that stuff, those Bioshock Infinite covers are fucking amazing.

[3286] Right.

[3287] I find the reviews to be pretty right on, score -wise and writing -wise.

[3288] I mean...

[3289] In my magazine days, they were easily the magazine to hate because they were sort of like the big bad guy.

[3290] They were owned by Best Buy.

[3291] Or GameStop.

[3292] Sorry, GameStop, not Best Buy.

[3293] That's the other guys.

[3294] GameStop.

[3295] And it just seemed unfair.

[3296] We had to fight for the readers and they're just giving them away to everybody and those numbers counted in their circ.

[3297] So it was sort of easy to hate on Game Informer.

[3298] But now that I'm away from...

[3299] The magazine business, and I'm just reading it as a gamer.

[3300] Now you're constantly trying to get those covers.

[3301] Yeah.

[3302] But you'll read.

[3303] No. I think it's a pretty good magazine, you know?

[3304] Yeah.

[3305] Given that they could coast.

[3306] They could put – you know, they could just write whatever.

[3307] They could just put it into some, you know, word scrambler and just barf it out onto the page.

[3308] There you go, dumb shit.

[3309] Have you guys been – maybe this is just me and the data that I've been seeking out.

[3310] But I feel like when I'm Googling stuff lately, more and more often I'm ending up at the sort of like random, like clearly written either by a machine or by like someone in China.

[3311] Vinny, isn't that stuff you mentioned a few weeks ago?

[3312] The internet is broken.

[3313] It's the problem with search stuff is you have people just like robots or their demand.

[3314] SEO machines.

[3315] What's crazy though is that you keep, like you get to these articles and you look like, oh, okay, well this is like the achievement guide for this one specific achievement that I was trying to find.

[3316] And then you drill down in it.

[3317] What's constantly like almost getting to the part where it will have some sort of information.

[3318] Yeah.

[3319] Where it's constantly like set up.

[3320] Like many people have trouble getting this achievement because it's a hard achievement to get.

[3321] Also like all of the logic in statements in all of the sentences are completely circular.

[3322] It's because there's no actual content.

[3323] No, there is no actual.

[3324] But it's insane.

[3325] Machines are writing.

[3326] It's insane because you keep reading it.

[3327] And like I'm like okay and then the next line will be where the information is.

[3328] And like no this is.

[3329] I have just spent like five minutes reading something that is truly empty.

[3330] And yet it's amazing how they make it seem like content.

[3331] It is devoid of user experience.

[3332] There is nothing there to experience.

[3333] There was a big great story recently about a guy who sells eyeglasses.

[3334] It's a great story.

[3335] Yeah, out of New York.

[3336] And his whole thing was talking about like how...

[3337] He thrives on negative reviews of his business because all the links point back to his site, so his SEO ends up being huge for just about any kind of eyeglass stuff on the Internet.

[3338] But did you see the epilogue to the story?

[3339] Yeah, Google finally responded and said, like, this shouldn't be happening.

[3340] And they're trying to make changes to their algorithm to prevent people from doing this sort of stuff.

[3341] And then they arrested him.

[3342] Yeah, then they ended up arresting him.

[3343] Oh, did they?

[3344] Yeah.

[3345] Well, he was literally threatening people.

[3346] Yeah, he was, like, calling people up that were threatening with returns.

[3347] And then they would get online and say, like, just guys.

[3348] You know, they would just get more and more mad and go online.

[3349] harder and harder and in more and more places and spread this guy's name around yeah it's great because the original new york times article he was like bragging yeah yeah he was like yeah no it works it's great it's a new business model he's like yeah people call up and say i want to return something he's like i'll come to your house and fucking kill you it's like what and it's it's one of those things that you know it's like pages like the ones you're talking about are kind of how a lot of the internet stuff is developing it's stuff that it's it's it's born out of the same ideas that lead to people putting up top 10 lists that have one entry on every page with a big picture They found a way that the internet is broken that ends up getting them more traffic.

[3350] So they're going to try to build to that.

[3351] And it's one of the things not to...

[3352] You guys should try that.

[3353] It would be really easy to do.

[3354] That's kind of the sad part.

[3355] We could probably double our...

[3356] And we went out our way to not do it.

[3357] We could probably double our page view traffic overnight if we just...

[3358] But we love long pages.

[3359] We love long pages.

[3360] Who doesn't?

[3361] To finish answering this dude's question, just in terms of, like, exclusives on Game Informer versus the web, and that part of it is that game publishers still love the prestige, even in 2010, of seeing their game on a magazine cover.

[3362] And honestly, like, that, I don't mind it.

[3363] Good on them.

[3364] They made the deal.

[3365] They got the business.

[3366] The part that then annoys me is when they have their print exclusive that they put on their website and we can't run a piece of content because of a deal made for a different medium.

[3367] Yeah, that's always been the – when the CNET -ZIF split happened and 1UP started getting stuff like that, I was like, what the fuck?

[3368] There were a lot of angry phone calls that came out of our camp going, this shit has to stop.

[3369] What the fuck are you doing?

[3370] I bet.

[3371] Yeah, because we are doing a little, you know, victory dance over there.

[3372] Oh, sure.

[3373] Oh, if you had that to your advantage, absolutely.

[3374] Yeah, we've got print and wear.

[3375] Yeah.

[3376] And, you know, it's basically like as far as like actual, meaningful, big, exclusive reveals of new games, it is Game Informer and it is Spike TV.

[3377] It is Jeff Keighley and it is Annie McNamara.

[3378] Those are the dudes.

[3379] Old media.

[3380] Yeah.

[3381] Because it reached, you know, because of that reach factor.

[3382] Because it actually does reach people, like I said, that, you know, you could go have something that appeared on the homepage of GameSpot and IGN and it might reach more people in a day.

[3383] Maybe.

[3384] But all those people are going to be so wired in that they're going to see that content anyway.

[3385] So it's kind of pointless to go with the big web -only outlets at this point.

[3386] Also, a magazine has staying power.

[3387] It sits on a stand for like 30 days.

[3388] Yeah, that was a big thing too.

[3389] And you saw 1UP try to do it where they would base a whole week of coverage around a game.

[3390] Any website is going to leave a story up for like two, three days max.

[3391] And then it's going to get psyched off.

[3392] And it was a very frustrating thing when you're writing for the biggest website in the world that has like a monthly number that is way bigger than any print magazine to look at that and go like, what the fuck is going on?

[3393] But it is straight up just.

[3394] Right.

[3395] The difference between preaching to the choir or preaching to people that are all coming in for a cheat code on one page and never seeing your homepage versus seeing the magazine at the airport.

[3396] I was going to ask because then we were saying like, yeah, it'll be on a newsstand for 30 days.

[3397] The fuck are there newsstands?

[3398] Airports.

[3399] I guess so.

[3400] Or more importantly, the game stops where everyone is getting their free subscription.

[3401] With purchase.

[3402] That's how they won.

[3403] And New York has plenty of newsstands, like literally on the street, like dudes selling cigarettes.

[3404] I checked out, I bought lunch at Safeway today.

[3405] There's a huge newsstand staring you in the face as you walk out of the checkout.

[3406] I guess, but that's not where Game Informer is.

[3407] No, not in this case.

[3408] You're right.

[3409] So you're saying that game exclusives should be revealed on the cover of People?

[3410] Sure.

[3411] No, I'm Jimmy Fallon.

[3412] I'm an Us Weekly guy.

[3413] Yeah, like how crazy is that?

[3414] Jimmy Fallon's an Uncharted exclusive.

[3415] Well, he keeps doing that.

[3416] He's been doing that for like a year now.

[3417] And Gavin, I think Jimmy Fallon is of their age group where he cares about it.

[3418] And then his producer, Gavin Purcell, used to be at G4.

[3419] So he's interested in all this stuff and is wired into all that stuff too.

[3420] Oh, it's that guy?

[3421] Yeah.

[3422] Oh, fuck, I didn't know that.

[3423] So he cares about that stuff.

[3424] They care about that stuff.

[3425] They realize that that's something that no one's going to do.

[3426] And I think it's awesome.

[3427] that they're doing it.

[3428] That they're getting tech stuff and game stuff like they had Connect on a couple of times.

[3429] It's cool.

[3430] I think it's way more awesome about that than the Spike TV stuff.

[3431] Jimmy Fallon's like way more mainstream, obviously.

[3432] Way more people are going to see that.

[3433] It's on a network.

[3434] It's not deep cable.

[3435] You're right.

[3436] You know, they just need to, you know, eliminate his monologues and put more of that stuff in in the Jimmy Fallon show.

[3437] He does a good Neil Young.

[3438] Good to go.

[3439] Yeah.

[3440] A lot of the bits on Fallon, I think, have been really good.

[3441] His bits are great.

[3442] Yeah.

[3443] I think he's, and I think he's finding.

[3444] And I think 80 Miles is hilarious.

[3445] And he's, like, writes for that show.

[3446] And is on it a bunch, so.

[3447] I just don't like, I don't think he could deliver the topical monologues to save his life.

[3448] I think he just needs to go for more of the.

[3449] Like, update was never as strong.

[3450] Like, when he was doing Weekend Update on SNL, I never thought that was.

[3451] No, no, that wasn't his strongest, whatever, his strongest point is cracking up.

[3452] But I feel like with that show, like with the video game stuff, it's been nothing but him being like, hey, you know what would be awesome?

[3453] If I could get like Jeff Goldblum and Biz Marquis out here to do a duet of Just a Friend and I'll get in on it too.

[3454] Basically, he's just like, what are all the things that I would think, like 16 -year -old me would think would be awesome?

[3455] I'll play like the newest video games before they're out.

[3456] All right, get those fuckers in here.

[3457] Yeah.

[3458] I'm going to get the guy to play Zach Morris for real here.

[3459] That's his whole thing.

[3460] Anyways, there's the Game and Forward perspective.

[3461] Thank you, Jeffs, for providing the old man perspective.

[3462] It's been a long fight, man. And we lost.

[3463] Next email comes from Landon.

[3464] That's right.

[3465] Andy Mack sitting out there in fucking Minnesota.

[3466] I'm happy to give it up to him.

[3467] I love Andy Mack.

[3468] He's also a good guy.

[3469] Andy was one of the first dudes I'd met when I started hanging out at trade shows with no job.

[3470] He's been there for 20 years.

[3471] I was definitely thinking I would never quit that job.

[3472] I'd stay in that job forever if I was him.

[3473] Well, yeah, now that he's gotten to, you know, he ascended to EIC, it's like just...

[3474] Run your empire.

[3475] I think he owns all of Minnesota at this point.

[3476] Him and Prince pretty much just probably split it.

[3477] Right down the middle.

[3478] Landon Smith in Coleman, Alabama.

[3479] Hay Bombcast.

[3480] I'll keep this story short.

[3481] A few weeks ago, my brother and I came into a sum of money and we decided to get a game with it.

[3482] The original plan was to get...

[3483] Wow.

[3484] We robbed a guy.

[3485] While he was bleeding on the street, we were like, let's go buy some murder simulators.

[3486] He's keeping it short.

[3487] Surely there's a much better story.

[3488] Just to let you know.

[3489] A drug deal gone right.

[3490] He's keeping it short.

[3491] We rolled up some oregano and sold it to some dumb kids as weed.

[3492] Got about 50, 60 bucks.

[3493] Next time we're at school though, they're kicking our asses.

[3494] My mom drinks a lot, so her purse is easy to get to.

[3495] The original plan was to get the Game of the Year Borderlands edition, but at some point my brother suddenly decided he wanted Fable 3 instead.

[3496] After days of trying to tell him there was nothing about Fable 3 to get excited for, we got it all the same.

[3497] Now not only is the game bad, but we are at $60 and the game has caused a number of arguments between us.

[3498] Is this like a screenplay?

[3499] Is this like the local kids version of Heist?

[3500] It's like Gift of the Magi somehow.

[3501] Yeah, let's cast it.

[3502] Michael Cera.

[3503] Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[3504] His name is Trey.

[3505] You guys should make him apologize to me. So we have Landon and Trey.

[3506] Right.

[3507] Trey being the brother that ended up actually purchasing the game.

[3508] So I'm going to assume the older brother.

[3509] So Michael Landon and Ice Cube.

[3510] That's how we cast this.

[3511] Done.

[3512] There you go.

[3513] You should.

[3514] You made a mistake.

[3515] Trey should apologize.

[3516] I think we are in agreement on that.

[3517] You fucked up.

[3518] You fucked up.

[3519] You fucked up, dude.

[3520] Come on, Trey.

[3521] Yeah.

[3522] Give me the motherfucking fable, Trey.

[3523] You're not going to come into that sum of money again.

[3524] So that's a bummer.

[3525] Tell me about the numbers, Trey.

[3526] When I found a $100 bill on my lawn, I went and bought Pac -Man for the Atari 800.

[3527] See, that's a good joke.

[3528] The household story is so much better than the letter.

[3529] You know?

[3530] What do you mean you came into money and bought a game?

[3531] Right.

[3532] That's not a lot of money to come into.

[3533] Right.

[3534] You know?

[3535] Well, obviously, they're in on $59 .99 plus tax.

[3536] Obviously, there is that story because somehow they're both in on this money.

[3537] And they're both in on it.

[3538] Right, right.

[3539] They both have some sort of – They both have some sort of – 60 bucks, man. They both have some sort of claim to this 60 bucks like fucking – And the other one didn't have 60 bucks.

[3540] I was the lookout.

[3541] On that job, so I'm entitled to a cut of this cash.

[3542] You stole the car with all the cans in it from that homeless guy.

[3543] There's about six bucks in it.

[3544] What are we going to do?

[3545] I love the fighting back and forth.

[3546] I would hope that went on for such a long time.

[3547] It was a real small question.

[3548] Pushing that lady down in front of the Coinstar machine.

[3549] I will rat you out.

[3550] I will rat you out if you get Fable.

[3551] Oh, it looks really good, though.

[3552] We said we were getting Borderlands.

[3553] All right.

[3554] So we got it.

[3555] Borderlands, right?

[3556] Right.

[3557] I got Fable.

[3558] What did you do?

[3559] You asshole.

[3560] What did you do?

[3561] We had a plan to do that.

[3562] I'm sorry.

[3563] I was in there.

[3564] I freaked out.

[3565] The guy was like, do you want to stretch the guy?

[3566] He was looking at me. He knew.

[3567] He knew.

[3568] The guy knew.

[3569] Jean -Luc from South Burlington, Vermont.

[3570] There are four lights.

[3571] Next question.

[3572] No. Hey, Bombcast.

[3573] I was listening to the Tron Legacy soundtrack, which score is a delight.

[3574] I have to recommend it.

[3575] And I couldn't help but notice some similarities to the music in Mass Effect.

[3576] Naturally, the line of thinking led me to the logical conclusion that Daft Punk should do the soundtrack for Mass Effect 3 Thoughts.

[3577] Right.

[3578] I think that'd be pretty good.

[3579] It would.

[3580] They did a hell of a job.

[3581] I'm very jealous.

[3582] And it's not to just be the guy who sits there and says, like, you should see the movie.

[3583] But the score wouldn't fit into the movie.

[3584] Even better, I'm sure.

[3585] Even better.

[3586] It works very well.

[3587] Listening to it, I'm like, okay, I see the parts where this is a character theme or something like that.

[3588] She's saying it's a score.

[3589] It's a score.

[3590] It is definitely a score.

[3591] You're not going to listen to it like it's a Daft Punk album.

[3592] There's maybe one dance track in that whole lot.

[3593] Yeah, like two, let's say three.

[3594] There's a couple that are not necessarily dance tracks, but...

[3595] There are three tracks that have drums.

[3596] But if you're a Daft Punk song, you buy this thinking you're getting a Daft Punk album.

[3597] Are you going to be bummed out?

[3598] A little bit, yeah.

[3599] The bigger question here is, what the hell is Vangelis doing now?

[3600] They should be doing Mass Effect 3.

[3601] Yeah, like, why is EA not going out and finding this guy?

[3602] Like, that's what they've been aping the whole time with Mass Effect music.

[3603] Where is Vangelis?

[3604] I have no idea.

[3605] What is Vangelis, even?

[3606] Is that a guy?

[3607] Is that a team of guys?

[3608] How many clicks to Jesus is Vangelis?

[3609] Zero.

[3610] He's the same person.

[3611] That's what we learn.

[3612] Answer solved.

[3613] Vangelis is just a stage name.

[3614] Final email comes in from Nathan, Calgary, Alberta.

[3615] I understand that's in the great country of Canada.

[3616] Nathaniel?

[3617] Nope, just Nathan.

[3618] What does Nathaniel want?

[3619] I just want to knock this drink off the table.

[3620] Sure.

[3621] Punch you in the nose.

[3622] Got it.

[3623] I'm going to make you put your hand in the bag of peas.

[3624] No, not the pea bag.

[3625] You are wrapping up your time in the kitchen.

[3626] This is a scenario.

[3627] So imagine yourself.

[3628] No, I thought I was recording a podcast.

[3629] Oh, no. Tell me about the numbers.

[3630] Well, I'll tell you about this time I was in the kitchen wrapping up.

[3631] Please continue.

[3632] You are wrapping up your time in the kitchen and are heading out to the TV area.

[3633] Food and beverage in hand.

[3634] You reach for the light and spill just the tiniest bit of drink on the floor.

[3635] Do you dab up the spill with your sock or take the time to set everything down and deal with the problem properly, Vinnie Caravella?

[3636] Is it carpet or is it wood floor?

[3637] Carpet.

[3638] Carpet?

[3639] Then, yeah, fuck, I don't even dab it.

[3640] Just let it go.

[3641] It's just a tiny bit, right?

[3642] Yes, he said the tiniest bit.

[3643] And it's probably water.

[3644] And not specified, your drink, it's cranberry juice.

[3645] That's a different story.

[3646] My carpets are such a color.

[3647] It's sock for me, no matter what.

[3648] Sock?

[3649] I'm not bending over.

[3650] Sock.

[3651] Yeah, I might rub it in.

[3652] Sock is basically a towel.

[3653] Dab it up.

[3654] Foot towels.

[3655] Towel you wear.

[3656] Yeah.

[3657] Always got it.

[3658] Jeff, you are absolutely 100 % in for sock.

[3659] Yeah, yeah, or I just ignore it because my carpets in my place are pretty dark, kind of gnarly, 70s, brownish.

[3660] You guys also low -light the place.

[3661] Yeah, very poorly lit.

[3662] For wood, I would definitely sock it.

[3663] Oh, yeah.

[3664] Yeah, that's just not even a question.

[3665] Not even, but yeah, I'm definitely saying carpet.

[3666] You're just having water anyway, right?

[3667] Yeah, probably.

[3668] If it's water, I'll sock it.

[3669] If it's something sticky.

[3670] Water chestnuts.

[3671] Have you ever had an ant problem?

[3672] When you've got sticky, sugary stuff out.

[3673] I know what you're talking about.

[3674] You want to clean that shit.

[3675] Yeah, sock all the way.

[3676] You should clean that up.

[3677] Especially if it's a sock.

[3678] Don't be disgusting.

[3679] I don't know.

[3680] I would sock it all the time.

[3681] Yeah.

[3682] I'm 100 % sock.

[3683] Sock.

[3684] Oh, but then your foot's all sticky.

[3685] No, it's the tiniest bit.

[3686] Like a Kool -Aid?

[3687] I'm not drinking cow's syrup.

[3688] Yeah, tiniest bit.

[3689] If it's just a little bit of it, it's not going to make your entire foot sticky.

[3690] It doesn't even have to be the tiniest bit.

[3691] I'm not drinking gum.

[3692] What?

[3693] Gum would be way sticky.

[3694] Oh, gum.

[3695] Okay, sorry.

[3696] Go on.

[3697] Also depends.

[3698] That's it.

[3699] We're done.

[3700] That's it.

[3701] That's it.

[3702] Mending this podcast.

[3703] Jeff Green, thanks for coming through.

[3704] Thanks for having me, guys.

[3705] God damn it, that was way too long.

[3706] I blame the super slowed down.

[3707] This was your idea.

[3708] Thanks, everyone, for listening to the Giant Bobcast.

[3709] I want to thank everyone for participating.

[3710] Wait.

[3711] What's up, Vinny?

[3712] I've got some.

[3713] Next week, let's just do it all talking backwards so we can just reverse the podcast and do it forwards.

[3714] So look forward to that next week on the Bobcast.