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

[0] Hey, folks.

[1] It's day four here of Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2010 Deliberations.

[2] Is it?

[3] That's the voice of one Bradley Shoemaker.

[4] I'm Ryan Davis, also Jeff Gershman.

[5] Are you?

[6] I don't even know anymore.

[7] Sitting in this hot, sweaty room for so fucking long.

[8] So fart.

[9] You need to wipe the pipe again?

[10] I don't know if I need to wipe the pipe.

[11] It's not going to do any good.

[12] It's not dripping water.

[13] It's constantly dripping.

[14] Your pipe is dripping.

[15] Our sweat.

[16] Back onto me. Condensation.

[17] Grossest.

[18] You want us to leave this door open?

[19] We just throw that open.

[20] There are not enough people here.

[21] Yeah, it doesn't matter anymore.

[22] It's late enough in the night that we just.

[23] Everybody's in the bar watching comedy.

[24] So if you're a bi, yes, that's true.

[25] I'll open it all the way.

[26] They are watching Joe vs. the Volcano.

[27] But we are past...

[28] I wish.

[29] There you go.

[30] I'd break out of here if that was the game.

[31] It's like, fuck you guys.

[32] I don't care.

[33] Whatever.

[34] Fuck video games.

[35] I picked Joe vs. the Volcano for game of the year.

[36] I'm not arguing that with you.

[37] Also, I'll meet you in black.

[38] Probably one.

[39] So we are past the halfway point here.

[40] Uh -huh.

[41] It's all downhill from here.

[42] Are we at the halfway point?

[43] No, we're past it.

[44] Since we started.

[45] We're about two minutes past the halfway point.

[46] We're two minutes to midnight.

[47] Oh, boy.

[48] We're all dead.

[49] You're already dead.

[50] The missiles are on their way.

[51] Jeff Gershman, you have the list of our categories for today.

[52] What have we got?

[53] Character we'd most like to party with.

[54] Okay.

[55] Dave Snyder's Eastern Block Game of the Year brought to you by Dave Snyder.

[56] Dave Snyder is not actually present.

[57] Worst Trend.

[58] Best Story.

[59] And Best DS Only Game.

[60] All right.

[61] Yeah.

[62] I like these categories.

[63] Should we get Dave on the phone?

[64] I already...

[65] We know what Dave's picks are, so...

[66] Also, while we're talking about Dave...

[67] Or we should just pick his...

[68] We still have his tiebreaker.

[69] Yeah, as mentioned during day one here, we still have this little folded yellow note.

[70] The poison pill, you might say.

[71] Indeed.

[72] Indeed, the ripcord, should we need it.

[73] Break capsule in mouth.

[74] The doomsday option.

[75] And what does that say on it?

[76] It says, opening case of Game of the Year stalemate from Dave.

[77] And it's...

[78] Clearly a bunch of text on here.

[79] Well, we're not going to have to worry about that because I think it'll be a pretty clear -cut case.

[80] I already know what the game of the year is.

[81] I can kind of see through the paper.

[82] It says tar -aft?

[83] No. What does that say in there?

[84] That's not what I'm seeing at all.

[85] I'm seeing Tard, that's for sure.

[86] Oh, God.

[87] I see Imbo.

[88] Oh, no, it's Don't.

[89] Okay.

[90] What character we'd most like to party with.

[91] Here's what we have written down on this list.

[92] Okay.

[93] Broken Game Room Avatar.

[94] That's great.

[95] John Vignocchi.

[96] Uh -huh.

[97] The Elusive Man. And Irish from Red Dead Redemption.

[98] Interesting.

[99] All of them.

[100] Get them in a room.

[101] I like Elusive Man. I just want to double check.

[102] Is that the Mass Effect 2 character that we would most want to party with?

[103] You're talking about Morton.

[104] Did you read his file at the end of Shadow Broker?

[105] Are you saying that Shadow Broker is the best game out of all of the year?

[106] Because we can go back.

[107] Don't fuck me. But yes, Miranda would be a good...

[108] If you swing that way, what way?

[109] What are you trying to say?

[110] Are you saying if you like the ladies, Miranda would be someone you might want to party with?

[111] Or I would rather party with Bayonetta by those standards.

[112] I don't know.

[113] At this point, you're talking about characters you want to get with.

[114] Yeah, that is not the point of this category.

[115] That's true.

[116] I don't know what kind of parties you guys are.

[117] We're just talking party.

[118] We're not talking party.

[119] We're saying new characters.

[120] So this is more like which character we'd most like to party with.

[121] I submit to you Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes 2.

[122] That guy is nuts.

[123] Alright.

[124] I will go to crazy punk rock shows with Travis Touchdown and then slice dudes in half with laser swords.

[125] I want to party with that little elf thing from Connectimals that flies across the street.

[126] By party, do you mean strangled?

[127] Wait a minute.

[128] Wait a minute.

[129] I got one.

[130] Living statues.

[131] Oh, man. What do you think?

[132] That's a real messed up party.

[133] What do you think?

[134] If I see those things at a party, then I have been someone that slipped something in my drink.

[135] This party's going really well.

[136] What do you think those things are on?

[137] Nothing.

[138] They're not on anything.

[139] They don't exist.

[140] All right.

[141] They're in your mind.

[142] Man, yeah, a lot of good characters.

[143] Monkey and Pigsy.

[144] Pigsy knows how to party.

[145] He's a little dirty, though.

[146] I do not want to party with him.

[147] He's a good character.

[148] Just keep him in the game.

[149] He engages in activities of questionable legality.

[150] I'll bring it up here, and you guys shoot it down.

[151] I'm just going to say, you might want to party with Francis York Morgan.

[152] Or, what the hell is the dude who rhymes?

[153] The guy who just...

[154] Not the guy in the wheelchair.

[155] Michael?

[156] Is it Michael?

[157] Because that guy can just spit rhymes the entire party.

[158] Freestyle!

[159] Freestyle!

[160] But they're the worst rhymes in the world.

[161] Man is a poet.

[162] So says Princess York.

[163] Is there anyone from Super Street Fighter 4?

[164] Any characters from there that you would like to party with?

[165] I don't know the lineup that well, so I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

[166] Not really.

[167] I was going to say Cody, but that dude's just a downer ever since he got out of the joint.

[168] Yeah.

[169] He's like Dwayne style.

[170] I wouldn't mind bringing in...

[171] You wouldn't hit the peace pipe with T -Hawk.

[172] I would not hit a peace pipe with anyone.

[173] I'd break a peace pipe over T -Hawk's head.

[174] I personally would not like to party with him, but that's just my choice.

[175] But Max from Sam and Max Devil's Playhouse might be a little too crazy for my taste.

[176] I think I'm more of a Sam man. You just hang out and talk about books.

[177] With Sam?

[178] Yeah.

[179] Or something.

[180] Just me, Dave, Sam, and Rory just smoking cigars or something.

[181] Just drinking.

[182] Just silently drinking somewhere.

[183] I feel like Sam and Rory could just sit down and start rapping.

[184] Would you party with the cast of Poker Night?

[185] I kind of feel like I got that out of my system.

[186] Yeah.

[187] In that game.

[188] Hmm.

[189] They kind of scratched that itch already.

[190] Yeah.

[191] That whole game is...

[192] Bring your own bourbon.

[193] Alan Wake's a downer.

[194] Yeah, kind of.

[195] Yeah, I don't want to hang out with him.

[196] Dude from Limbo.

[197] Freaks me out.

[198] Limbo kid.

[199] No. Kane or Lynch?

[200] No. Definitely not.

[201] Fuck those guys.

[202] Covered in cuts.

[203] Naked.

[204] Well.

[205] It might work out.

[206] Anybody from Noble Team?

[207] Nope.

[208] Definitely not.

[209] No, they're all dead.

[210] That's true.

[211] That'd be a really lame party.

[212] Dude from Splatterhouse.

[213] The guy on the toilet in Comic Jumper in the FMV.

[214] He seems pretty cool.

[215] That guy seems like he'd be alright.

[216] Yeah, he's not too bad.

[217] Pipe his ass with a comic book if he has to.

[218] He's like, whatever, man. He's at the party.

[219] That was a shot from the party.

[220] Does Meat Boy party?

[221] He's messy.

[222] Just cook him up.

[223] He is the party.

[224] He's not a boy made out of meat.

[225] That's right.

[226] He's just a boy with his skin.

[227] That just seems like it'd have to be a really delicate party.

[228] That doesn't sound...

[229] Also, that's gross.

[230] Also, I put plastic down everywhere.

[231] Yeah, that's no good.

[232] Well, for the way I party, I put plastic down anyway.

[233] The iPet.

[234] You could get him in.

[235] I could party with no iPad, man. I feel like we are drawing a blank here.

[236] I'm just pulling down the list.

[237] I'm just making sure I don't want to leave anybody out of the party.

[238] What about Bowman from Black Ops?

[239] Any one of those guys, Woods, could party, I bet.

[240] I was thinking because it's Ice Cube.

[241] You know what?

[242] How about would you party with Reaver from Fable 3?

[243] No. No?

[244] From Fable 2, yes.

[245] Yeah, Fable 3 Reaver sucks.

[246] Really?

[247] Is he that different?

[248] Yeah.

[249] He seems like he's really into S &M.

[250] He's got some weird parties.

[251] They go into the dark stuff a lot more.

[252] He's more of a bon vivant.

[253] He goes into, like...

[254] Yeah, I don't know.

[255] Partying with Frank Woods would just be like, he's got a Camaro and a case of Coors.

[256] And he's like, let's do some burnouts.

[257] And you're going to drive out to the edge of town and spin donuts.

[258] That sounds like a good -ass time to me. It's not so bad.

[259] I like it.

[260] All right.

[261] I like Frank Woods as a nominee.

[262] All right.

[263] So.

[264] Yeah, Francis Morgan, that'd be fine.

[265] Yeah, I don't want any part of that.

[266] You don't want to have a tack?

[267] I don't want to.

[268] No. How about the chick, Emily?

[269] Stop asking.

[270] Thomas.

[271] If this category was party with and not party with, then maybe that Emily.

[272] Maybe then.

[273] George, that guy.

[274] Get some of those seeds, George.

[275] Bring your seeds.

[276] Smoke some of these seeds.

[277] You can't arrest you for seeds.

[278] It's just seeds.

[279] All right, I think we have a list.

[280] Okay, Broken Game Room Avatar, John Vignocchi, Elusive Man, Irish.

[281] Travis Touchdown to Frank Woods.

[282] I think Frank Woods is on there.

[283] I like Frank Woods.

[284] Yeah.

[285] I don't want to party with the broken game room.

[286] No?

[287] No. What does he do?

[288] He's hanging a jacket on.

[289] That's not a party.

[290] He's your wingman.

[291] That guy's a real stiff.

[292] This category is canceled.

[293] Fuck you, Brad.

[294] There's also Michael Jackson.

[295] Michael Jackson, The Experience.

[296] I don't want to one -on -one party with him.

[297] No, you're sure?

[298] No. Also, it's...

[299] The likeness of Michael Jackson?

[300] I might party with a Jackson look -alike.

[301] A dancer dressed up like Michael Jackson?

[302] Maybe not.

[303] Or a dude from Just Cause 2?

[304] Rico?

[305] Nah.

[306] Rico's kind of a dick.

[307] He's just, I don't know.

[308] He's a stereotype.

[309] All right.

[310] That's all he is.

[311] All right.

[312] What are the three?

[313] I really like the elusive man. I love the elusive man for this.

[314] All right.

[315] That is a. That is like weird high end like.

[316] He gets the top shelf.

[317] Eating sushi off of a naked Salarian.

[318] He's the one buying you.

[319] Blue label.

[320] But I also feel like that's a party where you never interact with the elusive man. It'd be his party.

[321] Yeah, he walks around a bit and then disappears for pretty much the rest of the day.

[322] And you just keep talking to people about it.

[323] But there's a chance that you might get the wave over into the back room and then shit gets real.

[324] Even if you never brush elbows with the elusive man himself, I bet it's a hell of a party.

[325] Do you get to do it with a view of a sun exploding or whatever?

[326] Yeah, it's in that room.

[327] It's in that room.

[328] That would be a great place for a party.

[329] He never leaves that room.

[330] Man. Maybe he's just there virtually.

[331] He's just in his little hologram.

[332] But even if I didn't get to hang out and share drinks with the elusive man, if he threw a party and I got to go to it, that party would be kick -fucking -ass.

[333] Plus, you know Miranda's probably going to show up.

[334] Is Miranda going to come to this party?

[335] Yes.

[336] The elusive man associates with some loose women.

[337] Yeah.

[338] Is she coming?

[339] Great.

[340] Just wondering.

[341] Great.

[342] She's not the only one.

[343] Did you read that?

[344] Again, did you read that log in Shadowbroker?

[345] She left her wallet at my...

[346] Loose women are my favorite.

[347] Guy gets around.

[348] I'd love to shove the elusive man in this party with Morton as my wingman.

[349] Anyone want to go to this party?

[350] Alright.

[351] Yeah, that would be my pick.

[352] Okay, Frank Wood's elusive man in who?

[353] God, I'm trying to remember Irish.

[354] I don't know why I can't.

[355] He's not in the game that much, is he?

[356] He's pretty significant.

[357] You do a big string of missions with him.

[358] Right around the time you get to Thea's Landing is when he pops up, right?

[359] Around there, yeah.

[360] And then...

[361] I can't remember what happens to him.

[362] It keeps going bad for him.

[363] I just remember him being really drunk all the time.

[364] Yes.

[365] That's accurate.

[366] Okay.

[367] Okay.

[368] All of his problems stem from his stereotypical Irish weakness to the drink.

[369] Yeah.

[370] And so it's nonstop bad shenanigans.

[371] But doesn't he try to shoot you at one point when he's drunk?

[372] Yeah.

[373] But he thinks you're someone else.

[374] Or he thinks you're in league with someone else.

[375] To be fair.

[376] Alright, so maybe Irish...

[377] That sounds good to me, actually.

[378] Can you remind me what happens to him?

[379] No. You don't remember?

[380] He survives.

[381] I think he takes off in Mexico, doesn't he?

[382] I think that's right.

[383] Oh, does he head down there with you?

[384] I think once you go to Mexico...

[385] I think you're on the raft with him, aren't you?

[386] Oh, that's right.

[387] He does.

[388] Yeah, okay.

[389] Who wins?

[390] The Elusive Man. Yeah, I think so.

[391] We need a third, right?

[392] John Vignocchi.

[393] Well, we have Elusive Man, Irish, and Frank Woods.

[394] Oh, okay.

[395] Is Irish staying?

[396] Or we cut Irish and we have John.

[397] Irish is kind of a bummer.

[398] Let's cut Irish and put John in there.

[399] Yeah, okay.

[400] Having partied with him before, I'll say that, yeah, I would like to.

[401] But Elusive Man. Elusive Man. I'm bound with that.

[402] That's a party.

[403] That's a weird...

[404] Because, you know, he's kind of got that...

[405] He runs in weird circles, so there's going to be a bunch of weird people there.

[406] He's got that hyper -conservative edge, so you know that when he parties, it gets fucking strange.

[407] Oh, yeah.

[408] It's like all of the pent -up stuff kind of starts unfurling, and he's like, whoa, dude.

[409] Where did you get that much space cocaine?

[410] That's...

[411] We make it.

[412] What do you think this exploding sun behind me is?

[413] We're cooking crack in space.

[414] He runs Space Meth Labs.

[415] I've got a space trailer on the edge of town.

[416] This is Dwarf Stars.

[417] The only thing that gets hot enough for cooking meth.

[418] Space meth and do some lines off this blue lady's ass.

[419] That's right.

[420] Dave's Eastern Block Game of the Year.

[421] All right.

[422] What were Dave's nominees?

[423] Metro 2033, Stalker, Call of Pripyat, and Machinarium.

[424] And what did Dave pick?

[425] That's a good...

[426] I'm glad we were able to have this list again.

[427] Machinariums this year?

[428] Yeah.

[429] Yes.

[430] What did Dave pick?

[431] Stalker.

[432] Stalker.

[433] Congratulations, Stalker.

[434] Awesome.

[435] Moving on.

[436] Let's get Dave to do all our categories.

[437] Unless you can think of any other ones.

[438] We just subvert Dave's category.

[439] The only other one he mentioned was Mafia 2, but no. Right.

[440] No. Yep.

[441] Congratulations, Stalker.

[442] Yeah.

[443] Way to go, Stalker.

[444] Worst trend.

[445] Worst trend.

[446] We've got a...

[447] Got a list here.

[448] Vignetting.

[449] Johnny vignetting.

[450] I would party with Johnny.

[451] That's when they darken the edges of the screen.

[452] Yeah.

[453] Like all of nailed.

[454] Yes.

[455] Or...

[456] All of Limbo.

[457] Limbo, split second, Alan Wake.

[458] Blur does it.

[459] Blur does it some.

[460] If you take damage in any third person, that's your game.

[461] Mass Effect 2 does it.

[462] Mass Effect 2 does it.

[463] I feel like Limbo is the only one that we just mentioned that can get away with it.

[464] It's tougher to see, for sure.

[465] You don't see it as much, and it also factors in.

[466] Color separation.

[467] That is when you look at Camelinch 2.

[468] Yeah, it's like colors.

[469] Yeah, exactly.

[470] So you kind of like the red, green, blue.

[471] If you get hit and blur.

[472] Bleeding out from each other.

[473] Blur's got it.

[474] Camelinch has got it.

[475] Facebook slash Twitter support.

[476] Any of that external posting stuff like The Sims on console.

[477] Yep.

[478] Blur did that.

[479] Yep.

[480] Ironically, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit does not do it, even though it has a wall in it and all the social features.

[481] It's all locked up.

[482] Some impressive self -restraint.

[483] Make it through that trailer or you're home free.

[484] Right.

[485] Which, for the record, the trailer is not on this list because that's the only game that did it.

[486] Not a trend yet.

[487] Not a trend.

[488] Don't make it 2011.

[489] Not a trend.

[490] Motion controls.

[491] Yep.

[492] Damn.

[493] There are a lot of those.

[494] Yeah.

[495] Retailer -specific pre -order bonuses.

[496] Fuck that shit.

[497] Which, you know, extends beyond this year, but it seems like this year's the year where it started getting...

[498] Locked out.

[499] It just felt locked out.

[500] It went from being exclusive in the bad sense.

[501] You are being excluded from the things you want.

[502] I feel like it went from being there was one.

[503] GameStop would have pre -ordered bonuses.

[504] Or if you pre -ordered anywhere, you got the bonus.

[505] Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop.

[506] At the least.

[507] Sometimes Walmart.

[508] On that note, I will say the best trend is Amazon missing their pre -order bonus and then getting apologies constantly and money from them.

[509] Apologies in the form of credit.

[510] And eco boxes.

[511] Yes, you know what those are.

[512] The stupid, weak -ass cheap boxes that don't fully cover the area where the disc is.

[513] So if you were to say...

[514] keep a game in a bag that had your keys in it.

[515] It might just puncture through the box and cut up the disc a little bit.

[516] It's like, why have the box?

[517] Yeah, exactly.

[518] If you're not going to protect the part where the fucking disc is, then yeah.

[519] They just feel funny to me. I don't like this.

[520] They feel fakey.

[521] The packaging, I've had multiple games now that have tears in them because...

[522] The paper and plastic are not strong enough to keep them from getting dinged up.

[523] And someone who tries to keep a nice -looking collection...

[524] Can't do it no more.

[525] It's the worst.

[526] We're just moving towards no boxes, man. I don't have an issue with vignetting.

[527] I think that it...

[528] Yeah, there's been a lot of it, but I don't think it's necessarily...

[529] What's the category called worst?

[530] Worst trend.

[531] Worst.

[532] I don't have an issue with color separation.

[533] I still think it looks cool.

[534] They are laying the vignetting on pretty thick, though.

[535] There are, and you will see some cheap vignetting as well.

[536] But I don't feel like it has.

[537] We haven't crossed over into lens flare.

[538] Water on the camera territory.

[539] Light blue.

[540] Sweat on the basketball court.

[541] Yeah, exactly.

[542] It's only getting there for me in that everybody just uses it for damage.

[543] Like you took damage, you know, fuzz out the edges of the screen, and then your visibility is hindered at your weakest moment.

[544] Sure.

[545] What is the colloquial term for that now?

[546] I don't know.

[547] Isn't there a name on the screen?

[548] What do you call it?

[549] I think I've seen it called strawberry jamming before or something to that effect.

[550] Well, that's different.

[551] That's his Call of Duty.

[552] I mean, that's the, yeah, that's like metal of honor.

[553] Splashing all over the screen.

[554] Right.

[555] More than just pure red vignetting.

[556] All do you.

[557] It kind of does look like strawberry jam.

[558] Yeah.

[559] But, yeah, it doesn't bother me so much.

[560] I mean, mostly because, you know, the games.

[561] Yeah, I think that that one can be cut because I think there are ones that are way worse on this list.

[562] Yes.

[563] Color separation, kind of same deal.

[564] I thought Blur used it and it looked great.

[565] Yeah, I think this was the year for some good, interesting, tasteful color separation.

[566] And, you know, hey, God willing, next year it will be completely overdone.

[567] I mean, it's a good shorthand to kind of make it seem like this is just a handheld camera.

[568] It's an interesting way.

[569] If you think about it, it's crazy because they're trying to emulate the imperfections of actual cameras.

[570] Yeah, the whole thing is crazy.

[571] And similarly, the vignetting is supposed to make it look more cinematic.

[572] You don't really get much color separation nowadays.

[573] VHS gets some color separation, but we're like chroma shifting.

[574] They have to hurry while there's still people from that generation alive and playing games.

[575] Because as soon as we're done...

[576] It's like modem noises and shit.

[577] So that leaves us with Facebook, Twitter support, motion controls, retailer -specific pre -order bonuses, and eco -boxes.

[578] I got to say, we should cut motion controls.

[579] It's not exactly a new trend.

[580] It's become a much more prevalent trend now that you can do it on any platform, just about.

[581] But for now.

[582] I guess, you know what?

[583] I'm willing to cut it.

[584] Let's keep an eye on it.

[585] Let's see if games that shouldn't have it start bringing it in.

[586] All right, motion controls.

[587] You're on notice.

[588] You're on notice.

[589] Yeah, if you start adding superfluous motion controls.

[590] They're in trouble.

[591] And I think EcoBoxes fucking wins.

[592] You do?

[593] I don't give a shit.

[594] I hate retailer -specific pre -orders.

[595] Those are the words.

[596] I agree.

[597] Lock me out of content?

[598] That sucks.

[599] That's terrible.

[600] Especially since you choose between multiple, like, oh, it would be great to get all this content.

[601] Yeah, but you can't.

[602] But you can't.

[603] Unless you want to buy five times.

[604] Right.

[605] And there are some cases where that stuff doesn't go on sale afterwards.

[606] That's the terrible postscript is when they don't actually even give you the chance to buy it.

[607] All right.

[608] So the most egregious thing I can think of right now off the top of my head, I know there are probably worse ones.

[609] Enslaved had the outfits for Monkey.

[610] Different costumes.

[611] Which were basically like Game Breakers, which you preorder and you get like one that – They don't completely break the game, but they...

[612] But they are huge advantages.

[613] They're like cheat codes.

[614] Yeah, they're basically cheat codes.

[615] Wear this outfit for unlimited ammo.

[616] Yeah, and it's like...

[617] I think it's unlimited ammo.

[618] Or maybe it's just more ammo.

[619] But yeah, it's...

[620] It's terrible because the pre -order should be for people who are very excited about this product who are fans, right?

[621] Yeah.

[622] And they're using this to...

[623] It's a pure manipulation of the consumer.

[624] It's anti -consumer.

[625] Especially because those fans are the ones that are going to want all that content when you start splitting it up across multiple retailers.

[626] Yeah, like Mass Effect stuff really upset me. Luckily it was all bad.

[627] In our position, we were able to solicit and get some of those codes.

[628] Yeah, don't do that.

[629] If you love Bioware and you love Mass Effect and you want to see all of the cool shit that they made for that game.

[630] You're kind of out of luck.

[631] Yeah.

[632] And that sucks.

[633] That just completely sucks.

[634] Even if it is kind of – it's usually peripheral things.

[635] It's not like – I think the worrying part about the trend is that it isn't always stuff that is purely peripheral.

[636] It's stuff that is – Like if you want those fatalities, that's going to suck.

[637] Specifically, that is – It's a bad trend.

[638] Is gross.

[639] And, you know, it's stuff that – Oh, but ecoboxes.

[640] The social networking integration stuff.

[641] I feel like that's on the wane, though.

[642] I don't know.

[643] I think we're still running up.

[644] Is this going to get worse?

[645] I think they're still figuring it out, but – E3 this year, Facebook was the game to beat.

[646] Like every single game had some sort of hook for – tweet out your thing.

[647] It's not necessarily the worst example, but Def Jam Rapstar, they built an entire social network around that game.

[648] That also had the spam your friends list or something, right?

[649] It was like, I posted a video.

[650] Come check it out.

[651] No. I remember getting something from one of you guys.

[652] EA Sports MMA had a thing where...

[653] If you told 20 friends to download the demo or told 10 of them and five of them did download the demo, you unlocked an additional fighter.

[654] That was pretty gross.

[655] I feel like calling it Facebook -Twitter integration, I feel like it's more of just like...

[656] social networking in the games.

[657] Yeah, okay.

[658] Because even Hot Pursuit does the...

[659] There's an achievement for having X number of friends on your friends list that have played the game.

[660] Right.

[661] That is crazy.

[662] But they're doing that to incentivize you to the point where you get to experience one of the key features of that game.

[663] Because if your friends list doesn't have any players on it that are playing the game, you're missing out on one of the key things they developed, which I think is...

[664] Their fault.

[665] They shouldn't have, like, you know, they should have accounted for that in a different way.

[666] Hot Pursuit is the tasteful exception to the rule.

[667] But it's still, it's like, hey, get your friends to buy our game so that you can get these points.

[668] Yeah.

[669] Granted, playing with your friends is the best part about playing Hot Pursuit.

[670] So, like, that's, the ends aren't bad, but it's just sort of what the, what the context is.

[671] But I think retailer -specific pre -order bonuses is cock -sucking worst.

[672] Especially in this, in this, in this.

[673] sense because that is a trend that seems to be snowballing.

[674] It's getting worse.

[675] Well, it started out bad and it got better.

[676] You think?

[677] Yeah.

[678] I don't know.

[679] It started with Uncharted.

[680] Wait, are you talking about the...

[681] And then they turned it off.

[682] No, no, no. I'm talking about the...

[683] He's talking about pre -order bonuses.

[684] Oh, I'm sorry.

[685] I missed that.

[686] That seems to be getting worse.

[687] I think that wins.

[688] I think that wins.

[689] And at least EcoBox is...

[690] Does this need to be something that like...

[691] This is something that's going to sit on my shelf until I am...

[692] dead, and then it's going to be buried with me. The environment doesn't enter into it ever.

[693] The boxes are there to preserve the contents of the boxes.

[694] I'm not talking about your box, I'm talking about the amount of petroleum and plastic used to make that box.

[695] Well, they should be making the boxes out of something cooler then, instead of just leave out a third of the box.

[696] They're fixing the problem the wrong way.

[697] No, the right way is to get rid of the box.

[698] I was going to say, wait until the next console.

[699] and there won't be any more boxes and then you're fine.

[700] That's the one outcome I could be okay with is if they finally just get to that point.

[701] It's like, all right.

[702] It's getting to the point of like, what do you even need the box for anymore?

[703] Like, there's no manual really.

[704] Keep the disc from bursting into flames.

[705] Just put the disc into like those clamshells and just sell it on the Honda poster.

[706] All right.

[707] If you pre -order from GameStop, you got an actual box.

[708] I'm in.

[709] Yeah.

[710] I'll pre -order everything from GameStop from now on.

[711] All right, that wins, right?

[712] That wins.

[713] The worst.

[714] Fuck you.

[715] Retailer -specific pre -order bonuses.

[716] Write your local congressperson.

[717] These guys are jerks.

[718] Tell them to fill in my box.

[719] What?

[720] What is our next category, Jeff?

[721] Best story.

[722] We have three games on this list right now, so if anyone has any additions that we need to discuss, then we should discuss them.

[723] But right now we have Red Dead Redemption.

[724] Enslaved, and Starcraft 2.

[725] I will put a pitch in, and this has a caveat with it.

[726] Don't say it.

[727] Mass Effect 2 does not necessarily have the best story on the main thread, but the supporting stories are very good.

[728] I think this needs to be a...

[729] You do?

[730] You can't just be like...

[731] You can't just say, hey, this part of the game's story is great.

[732] I'm okay with the whole Mass Effect 2 story.

[733] The whole story in that game is basically recruiting a team, right?

[734] So the team stories are part of your main story.

[735] We should just wait and have this conversation at the end of this whole thing, because it's going to come back up.

[736] It's Ocean's Eleven.

[737] You spend a large chunk of time getting your crew together, and then at the end of the thing is the heist.

[738] Should we write it down to talk about it?

[739] Dude, you know what?

[740] That giant fucking space robot alone disqualifies that game from this category.

[741] Well, Andy Serkis totally blows.

[742] I don't think the final boss doesn't necessarily reflect at all on the story.

[743] I don't know.

[744] That's the ending of the game.

[745] That game would be fucking my bad.

[746] If that thing had been like a giant space robot box or a mech suit, it would have been way less ridiculous.

[747] So that has nothing to do with the story.

[748] That is the story.

[749] That is the ending of the story.

[750] The fact that they're grinding up humans and pumping them to make a human robot.

[751] But what if the robot looked like a mech instead of a baby?

[752] Or what if it looked like a Terminator?

[753] What if it looked like R2 -D2?

[754] But menacing.

[755] You know, it's like you can replace that one thing and fix your complaint with it and the story would still be the same.

[756] That's not my only complaint.

[757] No, no. Then stop talking about that thing.

[758] That thing is terrible.

[759] That thing is terrible.

[760] That's fine, but not in the context of a best story argument.

[761] But it's the story because they are building it in the shape of a human because they think that that is the epitome of evolution in this cycle of the Mass Effect.

[762] Like the aliens recreate themselves based on what they think is the best evolution, so they have to recreate themselves.

[763] Like before it was squids, whatever species that was.

[764] So the fact that they kind of have to make themselves...

[765] I feel like they got locked into a corner at the end in some mass effect, like mopping the floor into the corner.

[766] It's got to be a human.

[767] We have to make this.

[768] And then it's just...

[769] I don't know.

[770] It kind of...

[771] I love that game.

[772] It lessens the game.

[773] I didn't mind it that much at all.

[774] It looked hokey, but it wasn't like, oh, this is the worst.

[775] It was like five minutes of hoke.

[776] Yeah, so like in the middle of an...

[777] Like this intense, crazy suicide mission, like high fucking drama.

[778] But they build it up so much that they should have finished stronger than they did.

[779] Well, the bigger thing is if we are, I mean, I'm very open to including the entirety of all the stories into the best story from Mass Effect 2.

[780] If you look at the critical path in that game, story is a little weaker.

[781] That's my problem.

[782] It's a series of fantastic little vignettes that are based on each character individually, but like the connective tissue of the overarching story, not that great.

[783] Yeah, it's basically...

[784] to the collectorship go to the go through the thing but i do think that the story is collecting the team so that stuff is good and probably in the context of whatever the whole trilogy ends up being it'll be fine I think you count all that stuff as part of this.

[785] I think that is the story of Mass Effect 2.

[786] We're not just saying best critical path.

[787] We're saying best story in game.

[788] Right.

[789] Because if you take the Red Dead, I mean, all that stuff is going to have to play in for the rest of these games on this list, too, because all of them have – I mean, StarCraft 2 has branching story stuff.

[790] And if you just take the main story, which is stop the Zerg, right?

[791] Well, any story can be reduced to a single sentence.

[792] Right.

[793] So Mass Effect 2, I think you have to take the entire game.

[794] Red Dead, we have to take all the side missions and all that stuff.

[795] So I think it's fair to include Mass Effect even with the side stuff.

[796] I mean, you have to do some of the side stuff.

[797] There are three better stories than that this year.

[798] What are they?

[799] Right, this is just the argument to get it added to this list to talk about.

[800] Right, just make it on the list.

[801] Is Enslaved one of the three best stories of the year?

[802] Probably not.

[803] Is StarCraft 2?

[804] I'm not so sure about that one either.

[805] I did really enjoy the story of StarCraft 2.

[806] It is good.

[807] It's a good setup.

[808] It was good enough for me as a non -multiplayer player of that game to say yes.

[809] Much like Mass Effect, it's just like a piece.

[810] I see.

[811] It's like a piece of three games.

[812] So is every game coming out ever.

[813] Everything is a trilogy.

[814] You said it yourself this morning.

[815] Red Dead is a very complete story from start to finish.

[816] Yeah.

[817] But I don't know if that game's story is...

[818] I feel like none of these are great stories.

[819] It's the quality of the storytelling.

[820] It's the actual stories themselves.

[821] If we were just going to boil down pure story, I almost might say Tron Evolution here.

[822] Yeah.

[823] because the particulars of it are very interesting in the context of advancing.

[824] There's enough there for that to be the middle chapter of a Tron trilogy, taking the movies as bookends around it or something like that.

[825] But with the way it's told, it doesn't necessarily – it's definitely not one of the three best game stories of the year when you take that into account.

[826] Because, I mean, yeah, like, yeah, anyway, we have to look at the complete picture with this stuff.

[827] Yeah, I agree.

[828] I agree.

[829] Did the Alan Wake story hit anybody?

[830] I was kind of thinking about Alan Wake.

[831] I felt, you know, it's really good right up until toward the end, I guess.

[832] I don't know.

[833] I feel like that one's not like story or storytelling.

[834] It's mood and atmosphere.

[835] is what really makes that stuff work.

[836] Once we got to the end of that game, I was like, oh, wow, that was a really weird, ambiguous ending.

[837] And then the first DLC came out and said, no, here's exactly what happened.

[838] I'm like, oh, you intended for me to absorb all that from the game.

[839] I mean, I got what they were talking about.

[840] It's just such a cliffhanger.

[841] It's so obviously...

[842] designed to facilitate dlc i just did i honestly did not know what the fuck happened at the end of that game yeah maybe i missed a point i don't know i thought it was pretty clear that from the imagery what had happened to him like he switched places with his wife basically yeah but where was his wife she was in the netherworld right she was under the ghost lake i don't know she was in the backwards talking place with ghost laura palmer um Wyndham Earl.

[843] Man, they do a really good job, I think, with that episodic format, though.

[844] They end those episodes on some pretty cool cliffhangers.

[845] That song that plays out.

[846] And then the Roy Orbison pops in.

[847] Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem adding it to this list.

[848] I felt like the end of every episodic chapter made you really want to start the next one because they knew when to cut it off.

[849] How about...

[850] So again, that's not necessarily...

[851] That's not the story, but it is the storytelling.

[852] Yeah, I think...

[853] That should be included.

[854] Okay.

[855] I just think it's like that is – I think that's the difference and I think that's what we can really suss out as being better than another.

[856] How was Kane Lynch 2?

[857] Is there anything – because they set it up kind of cool.

[858] They need to get the fuck out of there and then they get the fuck out of there.

[859] Oh, it's getting the fuck out of there.

[860] Yeah, they needed – More story beats than they had.

[861] All right.

[862] There's all that cell phone stuff and weird.

[863] It seemed like it was a cool premise.

[864] There's some cool.

[865] I feel like they.

[866] It's missing an act.

[867] Yeah.

[868] Exactly.

[869] Exactly.

[870] It ain't all there.

[871] Yeah.

[872] It's too bad because what's there is fine.

[873] If they had two more hours past the events at the end of that game because it's them hijacking a fucking commercial airliner.

[874] Yeah.

[875] If they had carried on from there.

[876] But that's actually where it stops, and it's like a very abrupt kind of stylistic, this is the end of this thing, and you don't see what happens to them.

[877] And that's kind of a cool way to handle it.

[878] The problem is that between them deciding that it's time to get the fuck out of there and they get the fuck out of there, all it is is shooting.

[879] So it's like at a certain point in the story they realize, okay, that's it.

[880] We're done here in Shanghai.

[881] Right.

[882] And so then it's just shoot, shoot, shoot, cover, cover, cover.

[883] And let's get to the end.

[884] And then credits.

[885] And then credits.

[886] There's no story at that point.

[887] Yeah.

[888] So it's – yeah, it doesn't belong on this list.

[889] It's unfortunate.

[890] If there was a category for least story of the year, that might be – I don't know.

[891] There's a couple other.

[892] How about Reach?

[893] I don't think so.

[894] I don't know.

[895] There are parts of Reach that I really like, but that was one of the things.

[896] It was towards the end of the game.

[897] It was a combination of kind of where the story was going and also the repetition of the gameplay was what kind of set in to make me just kind of lose interest with it.

[898] Yeah, I agree.

[899] They connected it to the larger universe pretty well.

[900] Yeah, I feel like the way they connected it to the universe at the end is done nicely.

[901] They do do a pretty good job making you care about those characters.

[902] It is definitely better than the ODST story, but I think that's primarily due to the lack of Nathan Fillion.

[903] He's in there, isn't he?

[904] He's in the story for like three lines.

[905] Oh, that's right.

[906] There's that one part.

[907] Also, there's nothing wrong with Nathan Fillion.

[908] Yeah, nothing wrong with Nathan Fillion.

[909] I thought his performance in ODST was lacking.

[910] Black Ops.

[911] I was going to say Black Ops, but tell me what Black Ops means.

[912] What do you mean?

[913] Tell me what the Black Ops mean.

[914] Tell me what the numbers are?

[915] Tell me what the Black Ops mean.

[916] What are the numbers?

[917] I kind of lost the thread in Black Ops.

[918] I like the storytelling in it, but the...

[919] Well, I really like the premise of it.

[920] There's a lot of stuff that is very much like very wheelhouse -y for me because I really like numbers stations and all that crazy stuff.

[921] I mean, it's essentially sleeper cells, right?

[922] Yeah.

[923] And the flashbacks are kind of interesting.

[924] I think it's just towards the end it really starts to go off the rails in some bad ways.

[925] You end up with that stuff with the sunglasses.

[926] I feel like a lot of the Vietnam stuff is...

[927] not done all that well story -wise.

[928] I lost track of how the flashbacks were relating to the sleeper cell stuff.

[929] The flashbacks seemed more the story of Reznov.

[930] I think just if you think of that game as Assassin's Creed Brotherhood where he had to relive all of the events leading up to current day.

[931] in that chair to access the last sequence and figure out what the numbers like he like he had been he had been touched at the very beginning and it was hidden in there yeah it was like he had to relive all of that stuff because he was conditioned to realize that reznov didn't actually exist so stuff in And then once he realized that, he could tell them what the numbers mean?

[932] Yeah.

[933] Once he was able to come to terms with that, I was like, oh, man. Oh, God.

[934] Oh, God.

[935] It was that snap realization of what he had been doing for the past decade or something.

[936] That twist and also just telegraphed pretty hard.

[937] Well, I feel like they don't try to hide it at some point when the dude is literally just being like, he's not there.

[938] What?

[939] I just keep going.

[940] Way before that, though, I kind of figured out.

[941] But even at that point, it's like, if you're going to have a twist, have a twist.

[942] You don't need to nudge me a bunch of...

[943] Keep an eye out.

[944] So many elements of that story end up getting taken out of other things that it just felt like a bunch of connected references to other movies and stuff.

[945] That's kind of where...

[946] where it loses it for me. I don't think it has to be on the list.

[947] I just wanted to talk about it.

[948] There's some elements of it that are really good, but then it just goes a little too far.

[949] Too much Fight Club, too much Manchurian Candidate or something.

[950] Yeah.

[951] It's just not...

[952] Yeah, good call.

[953] That's definitely the combo.

[954] I don't remember the story from Conviction.

[955] Save your daughter?

[956] Daughter.

[957] Daughter.

[958] Something.

[959] Where's my daughter?

[960] Where's my daughter?

[961] I just wonder.

[962] Where's my daughter?

[963] These are worse than accent.

[964] English.

[965] I had a flask here.

[966] Have you seen it?

[967] I need to get to the Washington Monument.

[968] I wish Darksiders weren't so crazy because that was kind of interesting.

[969] But it's a weird twist on the apocalypse.

[970] Same thing with Bayonetta.

[971] If I understood the story, I might actually...

[972] I don't even know what the fuck is Bayonetta.

[973] Let's not worry about the story.

[974] It's not most story.

[975] Dead Rising 2 Zombies, right?

[976] Yeah, there wasn't much there.

[977] They governed the military.

[978] Layton?

[979] Anything?

[980] Because the first Layton was actually kind of cool.

[981] I would put that on the list.

[982] Yeah, I haven't finished the new one yet.

[983] The mystery.

[984] It's pretty...

[985] Man, I kind of wish I had now because there's a lot of intrigue so far.

[986] Future Leighton is the villain.

[987] I mean, it sounds like kind of interesting.

[988] Future Leighton rules future London with a future Iron Fist.

[989] That sounds pretty interesting.

[990] It does, but...

[991] Without having finished it, I don't feel confident in saying that.

[992] Heavy Rain?

[993] What would you do?

[994] Fuck you.

[995] What would you do?

[996] Fuck you.

[997] That, no, no. The twist in that is so poorly executed.

[998] I hate it.

[999] The whole game?

[1000] No, I hate the twist.

[1001] I hate their bullshit red herrings.

[1002] Well, there was only the one that I can remember.

[1003] But it's insane!

[1004] It's terrible.

[1005] It's huge, and they never address it.

[1006] Well, what?

[1007] They never explain the origami in fucking dude's hand.

[1008] Oh, that's right.

[1009] Like the blackouts?

[1010] Yeah, the blackouts and the Oregon.

[1011] They're like, that's the killer, that's the killer, that's the killer.

[1012] Assholes.

[1013] It's too bad because I think there is great storytelling there, but they just completely sabotage themselves with the...

[1014] Their choice of the twist and with the bad red herring.

[1015] It's cheap, sloppy moves in a game that otherwise shows a pretty incredible level of sophistication with the storytelling.

[1016] The scene in which they choose to reveal the twist is also almost nonsense.

[1017] Yeah.

[1018] It seems a little forced.

[1019] The clock store or the watch store killing makes no sense when they play it back.

[1020] All right.

[1021] I don't like it.

[1022] It upsets me. It upsets me because they were like three alternate choices away from having just a really, really well -told intense story.

[1023] It's true.

[1024] So, Red Dead Mass Effect, Alan Wake?

[1025] I like it.

[1026] I guess so, yeah.

[1027] I like it.

[1028] I can't think of anything else.

[1029] That's us cutting StarCraft.

[1030] New Vegas.

[1031] New Vegas?

[1032] I don't know.

[1033] It's...

[1034] Nah.

[1035] I didn't make it through.

[1036] You know, my big problem with that is that it's, you know, because they spent so much time letting you kind of choose the different factions, like no one of them felt particularly strong.

[1037] Quality over quality, moving on.

[1038] Yeah.

[1039] All right.

[1040] God of Wars kills you.

[1041] Yeah, there's definitely some interesting elements.

[1042] In Fallout, but it's not.

[1043] Not the story so much.

[1044] By the end of it, when you're kind of storming the dam and doing all this stuff, it just, it all, it kind of fell apart.

[1045] Sam and Mac's story is pretty good, but, you know, it's goofy and kind of all over the place at some point.

[1046] It's funny, but.

[1047] All right, I like that three.

[1048] So we said.

[1049] I don't know.

[1050] Alan Wake over Starcraft.

[1051] Talk to me about Starcraft.

[1052] No, I'm torn.

[1053] I haven't even convinced myself yet.

[1054] I'm curious because it sounds like that could be a good contender, but I just didn't play it.

[1055] I don't know.

[1056] The ending of that game in the context of the Starcraft universe is momentous.

[1057] That's how I feel my shot, brother.

[1058] Dude, whatever.

[1059] What the fuck ever.

[1060] Get off it.

[1061] Like nothing...

[1062] No single event could have happened in the StarCraft universe that would make more of an impact than what happens at the end of that game.

[1063] Yeah, yeah.

[1064] But does that make it a great story?

[1065] I'm not sure.

[1066] But I don't – yeah, that's the thing is I don't know like how well is the story told leading up to that point.

[1067] Is that like almost the easy move for them?

[1068] Like was that kind of the cop -out to like – Well, so they definitely like – Do the thing that is the most crazy.

[1069] Yeah, it is – quite possibly one of the most crazy things.

[1070] I don't know.

[1071] I also feel like it's...

[1072] Other than having someone else switch sides.

[1073] Yeah.

[1074] Switch races or something.

[1075] I kind of almost feel like it's do the thing that I'll let you...

[1076] Jim Raider's a pro toss.

[1077] I mean, I'll let you make the next game as well.

[1078] In a way, yeah, yeah.

[1079] I mean, it certainly has weird implications, like crazy implications for the next game.

[1080] Like, it's almost kind of a frustrating cliffhanger because they don't address at all what it means for what's going to happen.

[1081] It's just like, oh shit, this came out of nowhere and happened.

[1082] Credits.

[1083] And then now you have to wait however long it takes Blizzard to make the next game to find out.

[1084] Or you could go watch that link.

[1085] Well, apparently the ending's almost done.

[1086] I'm just trying to think about everything that happens up to that point.

[1087] There's some interesting stuff.

[1088] You know, some neat side stuff with the...

[1089] Research.

[1090] And you get the...

[1091] They introduce the super...

[1092] The super...

[1093] Yeah, like the hybrid Zelnaga, whatever.

[1094] I don't know.

[1095] It feels a little bit...

[1096] They revisit...

[1097] It's an alien and a predator, man. It feels a little bit like Mass Effect to me in that it's kind of disjointed.

[1098] Like it's a little all over the place.

[1099] Like it goes here and there.

[1100] Just like Mass Effect, like they're both games that are fairly non -linear.

[1101] You've got a...

[1102] long list of missions that you can kind of go tackle in more or less whatever order uh so they they don't have like neither of those games have like the strongest like linear storyline because i i don't know i don't know i don't know if i agree with the mass effect comparison just in terms of like there was because there's you know there's the the ticking clock at some point in mass effect where that's the main storyline and then yeah that stuff was handled so badly too that really rubs me the wrong way on that game You should have been a better space, man. There is a ticking clock, though they never show you.

[1103] And then you're penalized for it if you don't do exactly what they wanted you to do.

[1104] It's No Fable 3.

[1105] No, certainly not.

[1106] It's not nearly that bad.

[1107] But it's crap that you can have people die because you did certain things that you had no idea about.

[1108] I felt like they gave you the impression pretty early on that you are going to need...

[1109] Like, beginning of the games, you need every single resource that you can possibly wring out.

[1110] So that's why it's terrible, because if you cross a certain point in the core storyline, but you still have side stuff left to do, and if you do too much of that side stuff, after you cross that point, people will die at the end of the game.

[1111] And there's nothing you can do about it.

[1112] For no apparent reason.

[1113] I just really wanted to do all the side stuff and ended up not running into that problem because whenever there was side stuff or an obviously core thing, I always did all the side stuff.

[1114] So even if you do their loyalty mission, they can die?

[1115] Yeah.

[1116] People have broken it down and flowcharted it online.

[1117] That's why I had to go back to an earlier save because specifically what it is is if you do the Reaper IFF mission.

[1118] See, but this is where, like, if you look that stuff up online and you start breaking it down, you kind of are unraveling the mechanics of the game in a way that it was never meant to be.

[1119] Because at the beginning of the game, they say people are going to die.

[1120] So if you just go through...

[1121] I'm just kind of serious.

[1122] If you go through in the fiction of the game, dudes die.

[1123] It looks like it's for no apparent reason.

[1124] It's almost like they're feeding into their own marketing plan at that point.

[1125] It's like, this is the dark second...

[1126] It's our second act of our three -act play.

[1127] And playing through it a couple different ways and seeing how they handle people dying and people not dying and stuff like that, I think that's all really cool.

[1128] I didn't mind it, but...

[1129] You just wanted to have a clean save to go into Mass Effect 3 plus an achievement for having no one dying.

[1130] That's not a valid...

[1131] That's a valid way to play that game, but that's not a valid thing to hold against it.

[1132] If they penalize you without any warning at all.

[1133] That's the same argument we've been making against Fable 3 for the last few months.

[1134] They give you so many different options for that ending, though.

[1135] But that one is not apparent at all.

[1136] They're all kind of cool.

[1137] Fable 3 is a trick.

[1138] Having no one survive.

[1139] Fable 3 is a victim of poor notification.

[1140] Combined with that same kind of Fallout 3.

[1141] impetus to keep moving along the the main storyline yeah like but this is basically the same thing it's like you if you do that story mission and then you do more than x number of side missions after that then when you go finish the game, there are going to be people dead.

[1142] But, like, Fable 3 literally has a calendar that just jumps around.

[1143] Like, it's showing you dates and then skips around.

[1144] That's worse, but, I mean, we're not arguing that Fable 3 has one of the best stories of the year here.

[1145] No, no, but I'm saying in terms of the way they approach that kind of mechanic of a ticking clock, I think, is handled better in Mass Effect.

[1146] I mean, I don't think any of this is really material to the story.

[1147] It's a bit off topic.

[1148] But at the same time, I think that Red Dead Redemption has a much stronger storytelling style, and that story stays strong to the very end.

[1149] Like, when the title card hits, and you've wrapped up your loose ends, that's an impactful story.

[1150] It's also weird, though, because you could kind of miss the ending of that game if you are like, oh, I guess it's...

[1151] That's what makes it genius.

[1152] Yeah, that's not bad.

[1153] Yeah, that part's okay.

[1154] I just...

[1155] The stuff in between some of the storytelling elements in that game I found a little tedious.

[1156] Sorry.

[1157] I feel like Mass Effect 2, it's not the story and it's not the storytelling.

[1158] It's the characters.

[1159] I don't know necessarily the stories that they tell.

[1160] for each one, are always super strong.

[1161] There's some good ones in there.

[1162] I think most of them are really strong.

[1163] But they always, like, their strength always comes from there is a super interesting character at the core.

[1164] Like, that's always the thing.

[1165] I definitely felt like they were all worth seeing.

[1166] Yeah.

[1167] At no point did I feel like, oh, that loyalty mission was complete garbage.

[1168] You're crazy to finish that game without doing every loyalty mission.

[1169] But the beats of the missions themselves, what you're doing to get their loyalty isn't as interesting as what you learn about them over the course of that mission.

[1170] So it's really more character building than it is storytelling.

[1171] But that's all still story.

[1172] I mean, yeah, I guess it's a facet of it.

[1173] But I'm just saying, before breaking this down and we're trying to talk about what is it that we are celebrating with this category.

[1174] We have our character -specific stuff, and that's where Mass Effect 2 really, really shines is with the characters.

[1175] I think that the actual story beats.

[1176] But what are we actually arguing about?

[1177] Are we just saying that Red Dead wins and that these three games are the right games?

[1178] I mean, I would only argue for Mass Effect 2 in that...

[1179] the world of Mass Effect 2 is told through these characters as well.

[1180] You piece together all of this stuff from dealing with interactions and the stories told, and you get a pretty good sense of this outstanding universe that Mass Effect has built.

[1181] And in Red Dead, you get the personal story of John Marston told, but that's kind of it.

[1182] But not at all.

[1183] There is a very strong thematic backdrop to Red Dead, which is like the encroachment of...

[1184] like the modern world and industry on what's left of the law.

[1185] Like every, every step of the way you're seeing like, yeah, the federal government moving out there and automobiles.

[1186] Yeah.

[1187] Cars in Blackwater, like people freaking out at cars driving down the street.

[1188] So you do get to driving a car, power lines.

[1189] I mean, uh, there's a lot going on there.

[1190] Yes.

[1191] I mean, I liked the three, but I do.

[1192] I believe that red dead redemption is the best story.

[1193] I think that that had the most impact.

[1194] And the fact that, because game stories never end well.

[1195] So rarely do you get a good, satisfying finish to a game story.

[1196] And Red Dead ends, and then it ends, and then it ends.

[1197] It is so confident in its endings, it's able to do it thrice.

[1198] When it ends, it fucking ends.

[1199] Yeah, when the third end comes, you're like...

[1200] Okay, yeah, that's the end of the story.

[1201] I got to there.

[1202] And it's, yeah, it's really, really impressive.

[1203] It's rare.

[1204] Yeah.

[1205] It is incredibly rare.

[1206] All right.

[1207] There you have it.

[1208] Yeah.

[1209] You into it?

[1210] I can go with that.

[1211] The encroachment stuff I forgot about, and that was a big part of it.

[1212] That's a nice little piece.

[1213] And there's great stuff with, like, the power struggles and meet the new boss, and that stuff's really good.

[1214] Good part of that game.

[1215] So Deadly Premonition wins?

[1216] Yeah, Deadly Premonition is our winner.

[1217] Ignition.

[1218] John Marston with a big red tree growing out of him.

[1219] Best DS only game.

[1220] Here's what I've got written down here.

[1221] Picross 3D.

[1222] What was the other nominee?

[1223] Alan Wake.

[1224] Okay.

[1225] Best DS only game.

[1226] Picross 3D.

[1227] Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.

[1228] Super Scribblenauts.

[1229] WarioWare DIY, and Dragon Quest IX.

[1230] I haven't played any of these games.

[1231] Picross 3D is your DS game.

[1232] Well, we have to get down to three.

[1233] Yeah.

[1234] I think Picross has to stay on this list, and I will fist fight over it.

[1235] I can't shake the feeling that we've forgotten something.

[1236] Didn't Nintendo ship anything else big?

[1237] There's Golden Sun.

[1238] There's Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

[1239] Yeah.

[1240] Maybe not.

[1241] Yeah, I mean, I think WarioWare DIY and Picross 3D are the two that I feel strongest about.

[1242] Maybe Layden on that list?

[1243] Pokemons.

[1244] Yeah, there's like Pokemon Ranger.

[1245] HeartGold, SoulSilver.

[1246] I guess that was this year, wasn't it?

[1247] Yeah.

[1248] But, yeah.

[1249] Poke a walker.

[1250] There was that crazy Fire Emblem game.

[1251] Oh, right.

[1252] Which, I'm sure those are great.

[1253] Say what?

[1254] They remade the first Fire Emblem game.

[1255] Remake.

[1256] But with a bunch of crazy shit added to it, like online and madness.

[1257] That couldn't have been this year.

[1258] Tell me that was not this year.

[1259] That does not feel like this year.

[1260] Maybe it wasn't.

[1261] Maybe I'm wrong.

[1262] Oh, man. Hold on.

[1263] Questioning my sanity here.

[1264] No, I think...

[1265] There's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie Barbecue.

[1266] There's Shin Megami Tensei's Strange Journey.

[1267] Excuse me. That was a neat game, but...

[1268] Picross.

[1269] Picross.

[1270] WarioWare.

[1271] Professor Layton.

[1272] Professor Layton or Super Scribblenauts?

[1273] They did kind of make good on the control stuff that really...

[1274] Did they?

[1275] Yeah.

[1276] Nice to hear.

[1277] Yeah, they did.

[1278] They did.

[1279] So that's a fine game now.

[1280] I'm sorry, I'm still just double -checking, cruising through lists, making sure we're hitting our bases.

[1281] But I'm feeling more and more like we have...

[1282] The games we're going to have.

[1283] My notebook.

[1284] They didn't ship a new Super Mario Brothers this year, did they?

[1285] No, they did not.

[1286] No, they didn't.

[1287] Too busy making it for the 3DS.

[1288] Yeah, that's all I have.

[1289] That's all I have.

[1290] So what's the Dragon Quest?

[1291] I mean, that's a traditional -ass Dragon Quest game.

[1292] It's just...

[1293] Slimes.

[1294] Metal slime.

[1295] By those standards, it's really, really good.

[1296] It's not for anyone here.

[1297] Yeah, yeah.

[1298] I like an RPG.

[1299] Yeah, why don't you play it then?

[1300] I didn't know it came out.

[1301] It came out.

[1302] I don't think we can put that on there.

[1303] Yeah, we can't.

[1304] We can't.

[1305] I'm not saying we should keep it.

[1306] We don't need to try to be artificially definitive here.

[1307] What are the DS games that we played?

[1308] I always pick up a Dragon Quest game and then it sits on my shelf.

[1309] I wish I had played some more Golden Sun because then maybe we could have that conversation.

[1310] But I didn't.

[1311] I made the choice to not.

[1312] And WarioWare DIY?

[1313] Yeah.

[1314] That was an awesome, crazy thing.

[1315] That was Chia kicking tanks?

[1316] Yeah.

[1317] Yeah, it had Chia in it.

[1318] That's as much as I need to know.

[1319] That's right.

[1320] I forgot about all that crazy stuff.

[1321] Yeah, that's pretty good.

[1322] The building and downloading and sharing.

[1323] Yeah, I think Picross 3D is incredible.

[1324] Yeah, I think you're right.

[1325] The question is the number three slot, if it's Layton or Super Scribblenauts.

[1326] Professor Layton has boss battles.

[1327] He also has Future Layton.

[1328] Super Scribblenauts ditches the...

[1329] like platformy star collecting angle and goes for like pure puzzle stuff.

[1330] Really, really making good, not just on the control stuff because you can choose to either use the D -pad or touch base stuff for moving around.

[1331] But they really, from what I've played of the game, which again, not a huge amount, but what I've played of it, they've really focused on the strengths of that first game.

[1332] There's still the issue of having to sit there on the DS screen and fucking tap out.

[1333] your words and it's like well that one and you're doing that a little bit more now because there's adjectives but but at the same time there's adjectives like but then it's like i found i found a lot like too often i found the words that i was putting in just weren't weren't bringing up anything so i don't know if if my vocabulary is bad or i was trying to be too fancy about it but even to the point where i'm like okay i just need to solve this puzzle like what is the word lee is not an adjective See, this is why Super Scribblenauts can't be on this list.

[1334] We have to go copy edit your review.

[1335] I got to go make some site revision.

[1336] Can you do a final replace on the engineering?

[1337] I think so.

[1338] We'll be right back.

[1339] Yeah.

[1340] But yeah, I don't know.

[1341] I love Layton.

[1342] I think that that's a cool series, but that brand of puzzle solving.

[1343] at some point around the second one, started kind of rubbing me the wrong way.

[1344] How many matchstick puzzles are?

[1345] Zero.

[1346] To their credit.

[1347] I think they've realized that that's everyone's joke.

[1348] But more generally, they do a good job of not rehashing puzzles from the previous two games.

[1349] They always feel like new kinds of puzzles.

[1350] I really like Layton.

[1351] I did not touch that, nor did I touch Scribblenauts more.

[1352] I didn't play Scribblenauts.

[1353] This Layton is better than the second Layton.

[1354] Let's go Super Scribblenauts.

[1355] I guess I'm all right with that.

[1356] If you're not feeling that strong about Layton.

[1357] I mean, I think it's great.

[1358] Yeah.

[1359] It's a great...

[1360] It's great.

[1361] It's kick -ass number four.

[1362] Yeah, I guess I can live with that.

[1363] I really got to go to the bathroom.

[1364] Is that how you're going to sell Layton out?

[1365] Let's get done.

[1366] All right.

[1367] So we've got Picross 3D.

[1368] I feel like next year we'll just get down to three.

[1369] Warrior Wear DIY.

[1370] That's the hardest part now.

[1371] And...

[1372] Super Scribblenauts, congratulations to Picross 3D for being gangster as shit.

[1373] Oh, I need to go buy that.

[1374] Yeah, you do.

[1375] It's cheap, too.

[1376] Yeah, you do.

[1377] It's cheap.

[1378] That is a life -changing product.

[1379] Man. If you thought Picross was awesome before, wait until it's in Tri's Dimensions.

[1380] That game has been the only game that's been on my DS on a regular basis.

[1381] So what happens if we get the 3DS?

[1382] I moved it over there.

[1383] Blowing my brains out.

[1384] Jeff, give us a rundown of today's winners.

[1385] A character we most like to party with.

[1386] That's the elusive man. Out of Mass Effect 2.

[1387] Dave's Eastern Block Game of the Year.

[1388] Brought to you by Dave.

[1389] That's Stalker.

[1390] Brought to you by Dave's beer on the table.

[1391] He just went and placed one beer in the middle of the table.

[1392] Who is that for?

[1393] Are we supposed to fight over it?

[1394] I'm just going to make Dave on here.

[1395] You drink it.

[1396] Who needs it the most?

[1397] That's going to send this whole discussion so sideways, I think, if any of us start drinking at all.

[1398] Stalker call of Pripyat from Dave.

[1399] Yes.

[1400] Worst trend, retailer -specific pre -order bonuses.

[1401] Yes.

[1402] Buttholes.

[1403] Fuck.

[1404] What was it?

[1405] Butt -fuckingly?

[1406] Butt -fuckingly.

[1407] Yeah.

[1408] Best story, Red Dead Redemption.

[1409] Oh, yeah.

[1410] And the best DS -only game, Picross 3D.

[1411] Day four in the books, gentlemen.

[1412] That's right.

[1413] Only two more of these?

[1414] Yeah.

[1415] Man, good thing we decided to do these one per day.

[1416] And Vinny, your list is going to be running.

[1417] That's true.

[1418] I take a gamble on what's going to be at the top of my list.

[1419] I have an idea.

[1420] I'll keep it to myself.

[1421] Don't tell anybody.

[1422] I bet you and I have the same thing at the top of our list.

[1423] Picross 3D.

[1424] And as well, more of our famous friends providing some top ten lists.

[1425] Check those out as well.

[1426] As Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2010 continues, we'll be back tomorrow.

[1427] Another one of these Day 5.

[1428] Don't miss it.