Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:09:29 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:24:52 – Days of Goo Update
0:26:12 – Leos Gooing
0:41:51 – Adams Gooing
1:06:26 – Scotts Gooing

Thanks for listening.

My brother, sister and myself with our wonderful grandmother circa 1992. My gaming life basically began on that island, in that house.

Once we got over our initial shock and awe of launching this crazy adventure, the business of playing had begun. My favorite moment in a game, ever, came seconds later. My brother and I almost instinctively started walking in different directions. As soon as we did, the screen instantly “split in half.” It blew my mind. We can go in different directions and explore different areas? At the same time? Head explodes! That moment in gaming was monumental for me. It’s a memory that has always stayed in my conscience all these years. To this day when I start a fresh, new game I look for that “Toejam and Earl moment.” When I find it, I know I’m playing the right game.

That wonderful, welcoming start screen from Toejam and Earl.

The idea of nostalgia in video games is nothing new. And it tends to apply to a lot of things in life other than just games. But there is a fundamental difference here. What’s special about video game nostalgia as opposed to say, nostalgia about a city you grew up in, is that a city is an ever growing, changing hodgepodge of ideas that is in a state of constant flux. That favorite restaurant you ate at as a kid may not be there in 30 years for you to go back to. My father was always sentimental about the island he grew up on. But 50 years later the island is a wall of condos and a shadow of the paradise it used to be. My father can never experience that island as it was all those years ago, because it changes. A game on the other hand, stays the same. You can relive that experience over and over and get those same feelings that made you feel so great. Nostalgia can be one of the greatest and most therapeutic feelings in the world. For many of us these emotions craft who we are as human beings. For gamers, it makes us want to have that first mind blowing experience with a game come back to us. Every time we play.

My brother and I playing Toejam and Earl circa 1992. My sister video taping the whole thing while my parents look like they want to die.

Another beautiful thing about nostalgia is that we tend not to remember the bad, only the good. Sure, we’ve all played bad games. We’ll lament the horrible mechanics or glitchy graphics, but who remembers them in the end? We only remember the good. Those fantastic sleepover nights with your friends staying up past your bed time for that one last level. Just one more! The sight of your father storming out in his underwear at 2 AM is enough to make you leap for your bed! Getting up early in the morning before school to get an hour of gaming in before being sent straight to hell. Getting the crew together on the weekends to crowd around the TV and play MarioKart 64 till our thumbs blister and bleed. Having LAN parties all night long in college and waking up at 3 PM. Only to skip class, order a pizza and start over again. Playing a video game that you enjoyed as a child with your wife, and having her enjoy it just as much as you did on your first time. There are no feelings in life more precious than these. They are my memories, but could well be any gamers.

My brother and I and our very first experience with Super Mario 64.

Because of Nostalgia, I truly believe that gaming brings out the best in people. Opportunistic politicians can blame the violence in society on gaming or any media. And there might be some truth to it. But how can we say that when games bring so much joy to so many people? What about the lives gaming has changed and saved? Gaming has certainly changed, shaped and saved my life in more ways than my memory can process. The horrors of a middle school purgatory made durable by my electronic friends at home. They were reliable narratives and exciting escapes from the unfortunate reality of my life at the time. Gaming helped me make living, REAL life friends. Gamer friends, best friends. Real people I could share these triumphs with. The triumphs that create that warm, nostalgic bubble that help bring my spirits up on a bad day. To this day!

My horrendous middle school. So how are the oaks hidden if they are right there in plain view? Horrible, just horrible....

It may sound silly to some, but Toejam and Earl was an awakening for me.  My brother and I still play it regularly. It’s our sweet little escape. To another gamer, it’s a different game. I see this happening everywhere I look. Parents sharing that special “mind blowing” game with their kids. Bringing that wonderful, genuine feeling out into the world for a new, younger audience to experience. It warms my heart to see this generational gap being bridged. It once again re-affirms my belief that games are a positive statement on this increasingly negative globe. I doubt that video games will solve all of the insane problems this earth poses, but I do know one thing. If everyone could carry throughout their lives the positive energy we as gamers experience, the world would undoubtedly be a better, happier place.

Jammin'!

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:38 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:07:35 – XBox One
0:31:29 – Days of Goo Update
0:33:04 – Leos Gooing
0:47:04 – Adams Gooing
0:57:28 – The Ouya
1:17:14 – Scotts Gooing

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Perform
0:01:13 – Intro
0:12:33 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:17:59 – Days of Goo Update
0:18:48 – Leo’s Gooing
0:26:26 – Adam’s Gooing
0:49:06 – Scott’s Gooing
1:09:37 – Emails
1:47:57 – Top 5 Games of All Time

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Patient
0:01:38 – Intro
0:07:18 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:19:16 – Days of Goo Update
0:20:56 – Leo’s Gooing
0:27:19 – Adam’s Gooing
0:45:30 – Scott’s Gooing
0:49:14 – Hit It and Quit It

Thanks for listening.

Oliver: Alright guys here we go, the battle’s about to begin. Let’s fight!

Esther: (flips hair) I don’t feel like fighting Oliver, I’m just going to play may harp.

Oliver: Common Esther! We don’t have time for that! Playing your harp is useless!

Esther: But my harp makes such pretty music!

Oliver: Alright, fine. How about you Swaine? You ready to take on these monsters?

Swaine: Ok Oliver, but I have a bad feeling about this.

Oliver: Alright guys, let’s do it! Release your familiars!

Swaine: (sulks) Oliver, I’d rather just shoot my gun. I’m not that fond of my familiars.

Oliver: But Swaine, your gun only does 1 damage! Why would you use that?

Swaine: Well for some reason I am incapable of using anything but guns, even though they are pretty much useless. It is rather fun to shoot things though.

Esther: (chanting) Oh ailments, be gone! Be gone!

Oliver: What are you doing Esther? We aren’t even hurt yet?

Esther: But I love singing and playing my harp! It’s so much fun! I don’t want to fight…

Oliver: You both are useless! Why did you even come along on this journey if you don’t want to fight? Why do you keep familiars if you don’t want to use them? What is the point of me having traveling companions if you won’t do what I ask in battle?

Swaine: What are you talking about Oliver? All you ever do is cast that damn Ward spell. Especially right at the end of the battle when we’ve pretty much already won.

Esther: (cheer) I’m raising your magical attacks guys! Use your attack magic!

Oliver: Esther, this isn’t a boss fight! I don’t want to waste my attack magic on these pushover monsters! Stop playing that stupid harp!

Swaine: Oliver! I just stole a Confusion-Be-Gone from that monster! I’m so proud of myself!

Oliver: Ugh, if this was Final Fantasy IV I’d cast Fire on all you guys and just fight the damn battles myself! Who needs companions when they are as useless as you guys!

Esther: I love you Oliver!

Swaine: I’m going to find somewhere to sulk…

There you have it folks! The battles of Ni No Kuni in a nutshell. Alight, I did exaggerate a little bit. But Ni No Kuni and I are both best friends and worst enemies. Seriously, does it take a genius to figure out how to create decent battle AI? Or is it just laziness? Why make an awsome real time battle system and then squander it with horrible computer controlled companions. Yes, you can switch between all the characters at will but it takes you out of the action and becomes chore-worthy before long. I love the fact that they did real time battles, I hate the fact that the AI is infuriatingly horrible. The battles are extremely fun and extremely frustrating, particularly later on. I had a blast for the first 30 hours of this game, the last 30 hours became an exercise in racing to the finish line. I don’t want to race to the finish line, I want to enjoy the ride.

I have never played a Pokemon game before, so the whole idea of “familiars” was new to me, and I loved it. It is a lot of fun in Ni No Kuni to tame and train new familiars and then build them up to be really good fighters. The sheer volume and diversity of familiars in this game is staggering. I don’t see how you could possibly train every one. But what good is all that when your companions can’t hold their own in a fight or use their familiars effectively? I frequently found myself cursing my companions for doing exactly what I described in the opening narrative. There are battle “controls” that you can use such as “keep us healthy” or “do nothing” or “give it your all.” But honestly, it seemed like whatever one I chose for my companions, they did whatever they wanted anyway. When I tell you to do nothing, why are you still casting spells? There were times when the battles worked well, but those times were few.

Bad AI aside, Ni No Kuni is a beautiful game to look at. The animation is beautiful and the cell shading is top notch (although the Studio Ghibli footage had to be less than 5 minutes for the entire game, why bother?). The dialog is funny and occasionally witty and there are some interesting characters to find throughout your quest. But in this day and age that just isn’t enough for me. Underneath all the polish is the same JRPG that has been made thousands of times. Can’t we do something a little different? You know you have a typical JRPG if you have at least half of the examples below:

Airship? Check. Treasure chests in conspicuous locations? Check. Charming but shallow companions? Check. Linear Dungeons? Check. Ultimate Bad guy in a cloud fortress? Check. Villain hell bent on destroying the world? Check. Companion that joins up towards the end of the game? Check. Ok, so I’m getting a little nit-picky. But I could go on all day.

I really do love JRPG’s and I knew what I was getting myself into when I started this adventure. But for a game with these production values I expected more. It’s kind of like the Turbo Graphics 16. 16-bit graphics with a crappy 8-bit processor underneath. Do we really have to have this same tired story about the ultimate evil wanting to destroy the world? Why? For what purpose? In the White Witches case it was simply because the world was imperfect. Seriously? Can’t JRPG’s come into the 21st century and grow up like the rest of us have? Am I wrong to think that most people who played this game were people my age or maybe a little older that grew up with fond memories of playing Square and Enix RPG’s in the 90’s? I hate to use this example, but the Harry Potter novels started out for kids. As the kids grew up so did the books. Why can’t JRPG’s?

Maybe I’ve just grown tired of the JRPG formula. Maybe I’m just in love with the “idea” of playing a JRPG rather than actually playing one. I’m sure there are plenty of Japanese RPG’s from this past generation and perhaps the generation before that I missed. Maybe these explored bolder visions and something other than “guy or girl saves the world” as the main story line. Hell, you can even use that story line if you want, just DO something interesting with it. Is that too much to ask?

When it was all said and done, I did have a fun time playing Ni No Kuni. Yes, the characters are shallow and mostly boring (I did love Drippy though, he at least made me laugh). Yes, the whole idea of destroying the world is tired and yes, the battle system, while awsome, was brought down by the incredibly incapable AI the game designers burdened you with. But what made Ni No Kuni worth playing was the fact that it wasn’t pretending to be anything other than what it was. Which is a very serviceable JRPG with a really bright coat of gloss. In the end I got what I paid for. Which was a Nintendo DS game ported to the PS3. Ouch.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Long
0:01:19 – Intro
0:07:48 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:12 – Days of Goo Update
0:18:07 – Leo’s Gooing
0:33:11 – Adam’s Gooing
0:54:17 – Scott’s Gooing

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Words
0:01:30 – Intro
0:13:20 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:23:10 – Leo’s Gooing
0:53:19 – Adam’s Gooing
1:15:35 – Scott’s Gooing
1:31:16 – Midwest Gaming Classic

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My friend had one of those magic Nintendo’s that never seemed to need a slap, or kick, or bump, or nudge, or alcohol cleaning kit, or air blower, it just worked. I envied him for that. So we popped Zelda 2 in and it fired right up. There was a sword and then a familiar screen with three save slots. After that, almost all similarity to Zelda ceased. Gone was the pseudo 3D walk anywhere look of the first game, replaced by a fairly typical looking side scroller. Not to mention Princess Zelda was right there on the first screen sleeping away like she was sleeping beauty or snow white. Strange, I thought. Perhaps it will get better. I walked to the right, jumping and throwing my little sword-that-looked-like-a-knife the whole way. Once I exited the temple the game began to look a bit more familiar. Back to pseudo 3D top down view. So I walked right and was immediately assaulted by a black blob with eyes. The screen shifted and I was in a battle scene. Being utterly confused I was killed almost instantly. Back to the temple. With one less life. Wait, I have lives in Zelda? Strange….

So I went out again, avoided the black slime ball and managed to make it to a town. Wow a town! People to talk to! Followed by, confusion. What do I do? I die. Over and over until a few minutes later I handed the controller to my friend and said “I’m going home, this game sucks!” And home I went, never to return to Zelda 2 for over twenty years. You see, when I was 8 years old, I had no clue what an RPG was or how to play one. Little did I know that Nintendo had actually turned Zelda into an RPG, complete with magic spells and experience points! There was nothing in me at that time in my life that would have made me play or understand Zelda 2 any better than I did. Fast forward 20 some years and a lifetime of RPG experience, and Zelda 2 gave off a new light.

Speaking of fast forwarding, after playing the original Zelda recently I figured why not give Zelda 2 another try? So I did. And impressed I was. There is simply no other Zelda like this one. It is an RPG through and through. You could argue that all Zelda games have “RPG elements” and you’d be right. But not like this one. Experience points, random monster encounters, spells and all this Zelda was something different. Dare I say that I might have had more fun with this sequel than the original. Hard to believe.

I’m not going to go into nitty-gritty details but suffice it to say that Zelda 2 is hard, REALLY hard. GameFAQs is your friend here. And without it I would absolutely not have made it through the game. Thank God I was playing it on an emulator or I may not have even finished it. This game is punishing. When those three lives run out, you go back. All the way back to the very beginning. Even if you are in the deep bowels of a dungeon. Trudging your whole way back to wherever you came from was redundant and brutal on every level. You might not even survive your way back to where you were!

The thing that hit me the hardest and of course made me feel like a complete tool, was the dungeon music. I immediately recognized it. Hey, I know this song! I love this song! How could that be? I haven’t played the game in 20 years! Turns out it was the music for one of the Zelda levels on Super Smash Brothers Melee. Go figure. My fondest memory of this game came from another game made 15 years after this game. Really weird if you think about it.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:09:00 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:27:22 – Days of Goo Update
0:30:50 – Leo’s Gooing
0:55:16 – Adam’s Gooing
1:18:54 – Scott’s Gooing

Thanks for listening.

**** HELP US FUND THE DAYS OF GOO HERE ****

Learn more about it on our portal

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:36 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:06 – Leo’s Gooing
0:39:48 – Adam’s Gooing
0:44:20 – Scott’s Gooing
1:01:28 – Days of Goo – ALL the details
1:34:43 – Next Time

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Show Notes
0:00:00 – Counting
0:01:21 – Intro
0:07:25 – MGC and DoG
0:17:34 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:25:31 – Chris’ Gooing
0:45:33 – Leo’s Gooing
0:57:34 – Adam’s Gooing
1:08:33 – Scott’s Gooing
1:37:08 – Ni no Kuni

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I became enamored with this game back in 2007 and knew that one day I’d be playing it on max settings and not a day sooner. So five years later I did just that. And “that” is the other thing, the technology behind this game. It still takes a hulk of a PC to run this thing on MAX settings and get any kind of decent frame rate. It still chugged on my PC (which is good of course) when things got busy, even 5 years on. Boy was it pretty though…. probably the prettiest game I’ve seen. But physics and pretty scenery are about the only real endearing things here.

After my initial rush of: “wow this game is freaking incredible!” I was wrought with a typical FPS story, typical characters, typical dialog, typical over the top voice acting, typical weapons, typical alien threat that no one saw coming (except you the player of course) blah blah blah. You know, just once I’d like to hear a scientist not say something along the lines of: “We must study it, don’t destroy it !” While at the same time a bad-ass general guy saying something like: “We must nuke it now before it’s too late!” And you wonder why when every horrible effects laden action/Sci-Fi movie comes out you see the critics comparing it to a video game. Games like this give video games a bad name when it comes to dialog and story telling! How about some real narrative for once? Is that too much to ask for? But it is a shooter… Ugh….

Where this game does shine though, is in the jungle. When you are immersed in that glory and you can almost feel the leaves rubbing your arms as you traverse this insane reality these guys have created. You feel like you are actually there. You can see the detail in every leaf, every blade of grass, every rock, it’s truly wondrous. I had more fun powering up and tossing barrels 100 feet into the air just to see how they would react with the environment than actually shooting things. I can forgive a game it’s asinine tendencies when it makes up for them in other good ways, like palm trees exploding. But once the trees stopped falling, I lost interest and bland, vanilla, generic-ism soaked the rest of my experience.

Once the glory of the jungle is over, the game switches gears and just delves into boring FPS tedium complete with mostly static environments, big action set pieces with the illusion of control, aliens that look like every other alien and a big stupid gun that you only get to use once. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy myself in this game. But by the time I was two thirds of the way through I just felt like EA came in and told Crytek to stop playing around with the physics engine and blow something up! Oh wait….

My experience with Zelda? I haven’t really touched the game “seriously” in 20 years, other than to test it out on various NES emulators to make sure they worked properly. That being said, what else can one say about this game? There are probably more websites and game write ups devoted to it than hairs on my legs (the hair on my legs is at least as thick as the hair on Robin Williams back. Remember the Fisher King? Blind, I tell you, BLIND!). So why not just talk about the feelings this game evoked from me instead? I hope that would be less boring. For writing and reading.

It made me feel young, angry, joyous, hungry, jaded, happy, hurtful, sad, insane and smarter, I think. It’s a great game, honestly, it is. Even in 2013. I never finished this game all those years ago. I just, couldn’t. That last dungeon got me every time. Just a maze of blurbbbbbbling ghosts and shield eating pancake stacks. Oh yeah, and those happy decapitated hopping rabbit heads too. What the hell man? What WERE those things? And even with the best sword they still took like 4 or 5 hits a piece! Technically they took as many or more hits than Gannon himself. And they were so much happier…

But let me tell you, when it comes to final dungeons with insanely difficult mazes (Revenge of Shinobi, I’m looking at you) it generally takes me 20 years to beat them, or at least the advent of the internet with some of those leg hair websites I was talking about. You know, the ones with more insane people that screen cap entire games. But I’m glad to say I did not use a single GameFAQ for this game. The leg hair websites with the maps though… man… thank you. For all the people like me who value 25 year old games over normal things like you know, cats, your maps get us a piece of our childhood back. Minus the frustration of bombing three sides of every room and burning every bush that looks like it’s a little strange, and pushing every rock that’s conspicuously off by itself in the middle of a forest, and last but not least, hitting the exact SPOT with a bomb where you could have sworn that cave was 20 years ago… Dude, I swear it’s right there! Oh nevermind it, just pull up the screen caps from the Zelda Wiki already…

How would it feel after all these years? How can I relate to it now as opposed to when I was younger (and yet even younger the first time)? Keeping constants in life is an important architect in the creation of new ideas and experiences. Something old becomes something new again and again. How would this claustrophobic expedition feel to me now at this point in my life?

I was rewarded for my renewed curiosity. Pure exploration at it’s finest. Easter Eggs and a few cruel jokes along the way balanced the experience nicely. Rolling through this maze of puzzles constantly reminded me that I was only a few bombs away from a potential prize. Every time I found one, I was compelled to continue to the next. My best move was playing it as seamlessly and cautiously as if it were the first time. It is easy to cheat in 2012 but I resisted. Playing in an emulated environment was close enough. It seems that playing these games this way gives them something new and perhaps less bouts of frustration related to computation speed and RAM (A mere 10 kB powered this wonder). New technology can somethings bring good things to old classics. Thirty minutes in front of a Jefferies tube shooting speeding bugs to power up was such fun in 1986. Now it borders on a pixelated form of cancer. Slowly digesting your insides until nothing is left, much less my will to play. I vote technology.

My memory during this traverse was fairly solid but then again, some of the most influential things in your life aren’t the most obvious ones (or the most useful). I found myself remembering little details but forgetting obvious tricks. Running through the familiar corridors filled me with a nostalgic warmth. Remembering how important ice is. Rejoicing over finding the “wave” and it’s pointless usefulness (you don’t even need it, or it’s excessive beauty, but yet, there it is). How often I reflected on this experience and then realized, I am lost in this game. How often do you get lost in everyday life?

Music is another constant. It leads a trail of bad decisions and triumphs in everyone’s wake. The music’s tone is dark and forbidding to say the least. The title screen brings it’s score to a full new moon. Letting the player know that this is exactly what to expect. Kraid’s area score is like a complex, 8-bit symphony that has never left my conscience since 1986. The Brinstar theme graces my cellphone to this day with it’s simple upbeat groove, perhaps the only instance of “upbeat” in the entire exploit. A constant reminder of my youth and inexperience haunting me whenever my phone sings it’s familiar chorus.

What more can be said? There are only so many ways you can spell “classic.” If you can watch Citizen Kane and appreciate the revolutionary camera angles and shadows, you can marvel at this gem of a distraction. If something so old, can after so many years, feel so new again, yet also so familiar, you know someone paid their dues and got paid to do it. Right Sakamoto?

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:41 – Midwest Gaming Classic and The Days of the Goo
0:14:09 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:15:52 – Leo’s Gooing
0:31:49 – Adam’s Gooing
0:44:14 – Scott’s Gooing

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:01:09 – Intro
0:06:18 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:08:36 – Leo’s Gooing
0:12:19 – Adam’s Gooing
0:24:31 – Loot
0:29:59 – Scott’s Gooing
0:54:56 – What We’re Looking Forward to in 2013

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:08:13 – Leo’s Gooing
0:33:05 – Adam’s Gooing
0:58:30 – Scott’s Gooing
1:31:43 – GotY 2012

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:05 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:12 – Adam’s Gooing
0:40:35 – Leo’s Gooing
0:55:30 – Top 5 Trailers of All Time

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:02:32 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:35 – Leo’s Gooing
0:21:03 – Hitman: Absolution
0:44:35 – Adam’s Gooing
0:58:44 – Scott’s Gooing
1:05:48 – Hit It and Quit It

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:10:50 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:27:32 – Leo’s Gooing
0:44:21 – Adam’s Gooing
1:02:27 – Scott’s Gooing

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Updated 10/19 with more raffle prize information!

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:13:13 – Leo’s Gooing
0:25:24 – Adam’s Gooing
0:46:45 – Scott’s Gooing
1:06:23 – XCOM: Enemy Unknown
1:43:06 – Top 5 Goals for Extra Life 2012

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Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:11:33 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:13:00 – Adam’s Gooing
0:20:16 – Leo’s Gooing
0:32:58 – Scott’s Gooing
0:42:50 – Torchlight 2

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Show Notes
0:00:00 – Personal
0:01:24 – Intro
0:09:04 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:10:43 – Adam’s Gooing
0:25:26 – Leo’s Gooing
0:38:40 – Scott’s Gooing
0:56:52 – Top 5 Passes of 2012

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:59 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:13 – Adam’s Gooing
0:23:41 – Darksiders II
0:52:17 – Scott’s Gooing
0:57:25 – GenCon

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:06:23 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:57 – Leo’s Gooing
0:20:41 – Adam’s Gooing
0:28:56 – Scott’s Gooing

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Show Notes
0:01:12 – Intro
0:05:51 – Leo’s Gooing
0:12:40 – Bill’s Gooing
0:27:09 – Adam’s Gooing
0:38:40 – Joel’s Gooing
0:51:10 – Scott’s Gooing
1:00:20 – ABOG, Email & Outro

That link we promised we would mention: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/555781/turning-magic-into-a-low-cost-lcg-notes-on-build/page/1

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Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:04:38 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:25:07 – Leo’s Gooing
0:55:05 – Adam’s Gooing
1:05:43 – Rainbow Moon
1:34:00 – Scott’s Gooing
1:46:55 – Email & Outro

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Show Notes
0:01:06 – Intro
0:03:57 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:01 – Leo’s Gooing
0:31:04 – Adam’s Gooing
0:53:36 – Scott’s Gooing
1:07:18 – Top 5 J-RPG’s That Challenge Adam’s Statement that Xenoblade Chronicles is the Best J-RPG Since Final Fantasy 7

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Show Notes
0:01:16 – Intro
0:05:27 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:33 – Leo’s Gooing
0:31:10 – Adam’s Gooing
0:46:08 – Scott’s Gooing
0:58:00 – Contest Entries
1:12:25 – Even moar emails

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Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:02 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:41 – Adam’s Gooing
0:34:10 – Leo’s Gooing
0:52:52 – Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game
0:59:38 – Hit It & Quit It

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Show Notes
0:00:00 – Trolling & Wah-revisited
0:01:26 – Intro
0:08:27 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:54 – Leo’s Gooing
0:14:59 – Adam’s Gooing
0:23:29 – 7 Wonders
0:28:43 – Torchlight 2 Beta
0:38:56 – Diablo 3
1:02:12 – E3 2012 Hopefuls

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Show Notes
0:00:00 – M$ & Jigglies
0:01:14 – Intro
0:04:07 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:09:17 – Leo’s Gooing
0:22:30 – Adam’s Gooing
0:39:06 – Scott’s Gooing
0:53:28 – Top 5 Demonstrations of Physics in a Game

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Wah
0:02:12 – Intro
0:08:57 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:49 – Adam’s Gooing
0:27:08 – Leo’s Gooing
0:55:28 – Scott’s Gooing
1:10:20 – 4 Years

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Cat Punching Revisited
0:01:18 – Intro
0:04:24 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:04 – Chris’ Gooing
0:15:37 – Adam’s Gooing
0:29:43 – Leo’s Gooing
0:38:08 – Mass Effect 3 Spoilers
1:24:40 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:04:39 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:07:15 – Leo’s Gooing
0:10:23 – Adam’s Gooing
0:24:49 – Scott’s Gooing
0:37:46 – War of the Ring
0:45:40 – Midwest Gaming Classic 2012 Roundtable

Thanks for listening.

Gameplay.  I had consumed from various sources that this iteration on the Normal difficulty felt considerably more like button-mashing than previous incarnations, so I decided to start the game on the Hard difficulty.  Upon meeting my death in the first encounter of the game, I realized that maybe Team Ninja had catered more to series fans than I the impressions I had originally been given.  After getting accustomed to some of the new techniques at Ryu Hayabusa’s disposal, I found myself slashing and hacking my way through that same encounter with relative ease.  It required the some of the same strategic decisions that the originals required: singling particularly troublesome enemies first, recognizing the use of varying enemy-dependent combos and effective identification of proper times to block and dodge.  I was relieved.  Even though the play felt remarkably different than the earlier titles, there was a promise of a similar dissection of a refreshed combat system.

Every encounter is encapsulated in NG3.  Much like NG2, you are afforded the ability to automatically regain a portion of lost health at the end of a successful encounter.  New to NG3 however, the amount of life recoverable is determined by the left-over amount of “Ki” you’ve gained during the fight, which empties when the fight is resolved.  Every slash, hack, combo, ultimate technique and finisher used helps to fill this meter.  The Ki meter when filled, also can be drained to use a Ninpo (or ninja magic) attack, which immediately gives you a large amount of health and eliminates everything on the screen.  The Ultimate Technique now follows  a different formula as well.  Occasionally, with no real indication or explanation of how or why it happens, Ryu’s dragon sword glows red and the player is allowed the ability to automatically kill 3 or 4 enemies selected in what appears to be random selection among the hordes of foes attacking you.  Outside of these techniques, the slightly varied dragon sword, the familiar shuriken and now auto-targeting bow, you have no other options for eliminating foes.

After understanding these concepts a bit better, I started noticing other little helpful tidbits.  While in the animation of a finisher, a move performed by attacking a limping and/or dismembered foe, or while in a “Sword in Bone” attack, a really obscure and distracting quick time event that occasionally interrupts a combo, you simply can’t be hit.  Other specific combos started to feel safe as well, most notably the Izuna drop, which has become a series staple.  I realized, that relying on these safer techniques and using Ryu’s Ultimate Technique, I could build my Ki meter fairly quickly, and then launch into a screen-clearing life-restoring Ninpo.  It started to feel like an interesting rhythm, and even though it was a departure from titles of old, it initially seemed interesting.  Then I did it again.  And again.  And again.  And again.

Pacing.  They didn’t do a particularly good job of designing enemies in Ninja Gaiden 3.  There’s some variability, as some need to be attacked with hard breaking attacks before you can get in with your lighter attack strings, but on an individual basis they’re not real intelligent and don’t really pose any sort of real threat.  The answer to that issue that Team Ninja came up with was to just include a staggering amount of them in every encounter possible.  At the end of Day 2 (of 7 total, according to my best guess), I read via the in-game statistics that I had slaughtered a grand total of over 530 foes.  To put that in perspective, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, which I’m currently playing alongside my other gaming endeavors includes optional rooms, or “Fiend Challenges,” that net you incremental bonuses to Ryu’s health/power through the course of the storyline.  These totally-optional challenges have 60 enemies each, and Ryu will only face down 10 of them if he elects to do them all.

I also learned that I had done the Izuna Drop nearly 170 times.  I abused that move because it was mostly safe.  I found myself casting Ninpo 3-5 times in every arena-style battle, because after every enemy-clearing cast to remove the 12 guys surrounding me, there were 12 more that were ready to fill in.  To try to vary the encounters, several of them suggest you break away from the melee attackers to lob arrows at the rocket-propelled-grenade launching villains perched around an arena’s periphery.  I found myself ignoring their on-screen suggestion more often then not, considering filling my Ki gauge would accomplish the same thing even easier.  As neatly as every fight is encapsulated with the health mechanics, something I don’t inherently have a problem with, they’ve also designed them all to feel the same.  Each one follows the same formula, and each one drags on entirely too long.

Repetition is a staple of every character action game, once you get the game’s rhythm, you tend to follow it, doing the same thing time and time again.  Other games in the genre do this by allowing you variability in weapons, new technique unlocks, collectibles and upgrades.  It keeps it fresh, and allows for you to have a good reason to move forward as well as extending the gameplay through additional options.  From what I’ve seen of NG3, there is absolutely none of any of those.  They even had a throwback to the Muramasa theme, which was played during the shopkeeper scenes earlier in the series, played from a jukebox.  My heart swelled at the thought of seeing what future options were in store for me, and as I approached the jukebox, I was met with yet another encounter.  The times that they do break up the action, they do so with minimal and obvious platforming and terribly predictable quick time event ambushes.  The quick time events in and of themselves could largely be ignored, if there weren’t so many of them and they didn’t have superbly obnoxious cues on screen.  It’s also apparent that Team Ninja believes the player to have absolutely no memory as they constantly remind you that you need to alternate L1 and R1 to scale a wall every time you need to do it, or that L2 will aim your bow during a fight that includes any perched ranged opponents.

Control.  Even still, I believe all of these shortcomings could be ignored if Ryu was still entertaining to play, but unfortunately, the number one place that was absolutely vital for Team Ninja to hit to still call this a proper Ninja Gaiden is a drastic miss.  Controlling Ryu feels sloppy in the way that a lag-filled online fighting game feels sloppy.  There are times when inputs seem to have been dropped or a frame rate stutter will cause you to lose your place in an attack string.  His auto-targeting and path finding to enemies will switch between enemies without rhyme or reason, and often times it feels like you’re pressing buttons to see just what that wacky Ryu will do this next time.  The leniency in how an attack will skate you towards an enemy is distracting and disconnecting, and further adds to the out-of-control feeling.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a slew of contradicting designs: requiring precision in combat but offering loose controls, giving more than enough enemies to kill but not offering enough variety to do it, and trying to create difficulty through the least inventive way the series has ever seen.  From the perspective of a dedicated fan of the series, it’s a sincere disappointment.  From the perspective of a standalone action game, it’s average at best.  My stubbornness and love for the series will not allow this game to go unbeaten, but as of the time of writing this article, it ranks up there as the worst 3D Ninja Gaiden yet.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:06:16 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:06 – Mass Effect 3
0:42:04 – Street Fighter X Tekken
0:54:03 – Adam’s Gooing
0:58:09 – Scott’s Gooing (the PSVita)
1:04:48 – Feature: The upcoming Midwest Gaming Classic 2012

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:06:10 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:33 – Leo’s Gooing
0:21:42 – Adam’s Gooing
0:27:53 – Scott’s Gooing
0:51:18 – Hit It and Quit It

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Cake
0:01:25 – Intro
0:08:43 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:14:06 – Leo’s Gooing
0:26:20 – FF XIII-2
0:56:32 – Adam’s Gooing
1:21:35 – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
1:42:52 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Mamma
0:01:02 – Intro
0:07:38 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:09:20 – Leo’s Gooing
0:32:39 – Adam’s Gooing
0:47:50 – Scott’s Gooing
0:53:18 – Top 5 Great Games That Have a Slow Start

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:02:53 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:06:12 – Adam’s Gooing.
0:13:21 – Leo’s Gooing
0:22:23 – Skyrim
0:58:04 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:06:46 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:19:38 – Leo’s Gooing
0:47:11 – Adam’s Gooing
1:04:31 – Scott’s Gooing
1:12:32 – Feature: What we’re looking forward to in 2012

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:05:32 – Leo’s Gooing
0:12:23 – Adam’s Gooing
0:19:20 – Scott’s Gooing
0:49:02 – Game of the Year 2011

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:01:48 – Intro
0:06:33 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:18:09 – Leo’s Gooing
0:28:32 – Adam’s Gooing
0:44:25 – Scott’s Gooing
0:58:29 – Top 5 Design Flaws That We Can Forgive

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:07:45 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:18:22 – Skyrim
0:36:44 – Chris’ Gooing
0:49:53 – Adam’s Gooing
0:56:32 – Dark Souls (Scott’s Gooing)
1:17:29 – Hit It and Quit It

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:03:07 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:23:25 – Leo’s Gooing
0:46:39 – Adam’s Gooing
1:09:13 – Scott’s Gooing
1:37:47 – Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:04:17 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:19:42 – Leo’s Gooing
0:32:10 – Adam’s Gooing
0:45:20 – Scott’s Gooing
0:55:55 – Hit It & Quit It
1:17:55 – Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Serious / Istanbul
0:01:40 – Intro
0:04:10 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:40 – Leo’s Gooing
0:23:30 – Adam’s Gooing
0:36:04 – Scott’s Gooing
0:55:03 – Emails
1:03:32 – Top 5 ExtraLife Goals
1:15:11 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Watch Trendy Entertainment’s third developer diary to find out more about the combat in Dungeon Defenders, available on PSN October 18th, and XBLA/PC October 19th!

Dungeon Defenders is AAA downloadable game which is equal parts tower defense and action-RPG. Create a hero from one of four classes and develop your skills, pets, towers and abilities to fight off the evil from Etheria! Take your character online to share your wares, pets and skill with four-player local and online co-op!

Show Notes
We were too all over the board on this one to even bother with notes.  We’ll bring them back for the next show, and seriously, thanks for listening.

“Soon” Was Too Soon — Diablo III to Arrive in Early 2012

We commonly use the term “soon” when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready. For Diablo III, we were aiming to launch by the end of 2011. As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.

While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too. However, this week we pulled together people from all of the teams involved with the game to decide whether we felt it would be ready before the end of December, and we grudgingly came to the conclusion that it would not. Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well, we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.

The upside of today’s announcement is that we will be running the beta test longer than we initially planned, which will allow us to invite more of you who have opted in.

-Mike Morhaime

Pandora Trailer Breakdown:

Pandora Mode explained:

Lili:

Zangief:

Rolento:

Heihachi:

Updated 10/11 with more raffle prize information!

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Wizard
0:01:08 – Intro
0:05:26 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:18:03 – Leo’s Gooing
0:27:08 – Adam’s Gooing
0:34:15 – Scott’s Gooing
0:39:51 – Hit It and Quit It
1:00:10 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

At the beginning of each level the player is shown where the ultimate objective lies and roughly how to get there. It is then up to the player to Match Three their way through the board to the end. Every time a match is made those spaces on the game grid open the way for the mystical energy to inch closer to the ending objective. Matches of five or more result in small explosions that open up more of the board, making it easier to reach the goal at the end of the stage. All the while the timer on the right of the screen keeps ticking away. Let it run out before you finish the maze and it’s Game Over.

Along the way, the player is given access to four power-ups to help in their task. Each of the power-ups corresponds to one of the colored elements on the game board; with each match, part of the power-up magic fills slightly.

Online leaderboards for the total sum of a player’s score help keep a level of interest in the game even after completion. There are also “hidden” leaderboards for each individual level; after you beat a board you are shown your position among all PSN players, but unfortunately you can’t see who is above and below you – you can only see the top overall player and how your score compares to them.

Overall, 4 Elements HD on the PS3 kept me very entertained – certainly entertained enough for me to complete all 64 levels. It might not be the best puzzle game out there on PSN, but if you are a fan of the genre and are looking for a unique twist on the oftentimes generic match three style of puzzler, it is definitely worth a look.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Suck
0:01:17 – Intro
0:02:55 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:13:39 – Leo’s Gooing
0:26:36 – Adam’s Gooing
0:40:43 – Scott’s Gooing
0:56:55 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:08:26 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:15:09 – Leo’s Gooing
0:27:17 – Adam’s Gooing
0:33:39 – Scott’s Gooing
0:39:52 – Top 5 Things To Do During a Gaming Lull
1:00:30 – Feature Discussion: The Implications of the Current Gaming Lull
1:19:34 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Bastion [Supergiant Games]

Watch live video from Goo TV (Gamers Only Older) on Justin.tv

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet [Shadow Planet Productions]

Watch live video from Goo TV (Gamers Only Older) on Justin.tv

2K Games and Gearbox Software Announce Borderlands™ 2 in Development

Fans can get their first glimpse of the bold evolution of the Role-Playing Shooter at Gamescom and PAX Prime 2011 this monthNew York, NY – August 3, 2011 – 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced today that the sequel to the extravasplosive breakout hit, Borderlands™, is currently in development at world-renowned developer Gearbox Software. Coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2013 beginning on April 1, 2012, Borderlands 2 is the epic sequel to the ultimate four-player Role-Playing Shooter loot fest. Combining invention and evolution, Borderlands 2 features all new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment, which come together in an ambitiously crafted story. Players will reveal secrets, and escalate mysteries of the Borderlands universe as they adventure across the unexplored new areas of Pandora.

2K Games and Gearbox Software are taking this show on the road, and fans and media will be able to get their first look at the game at Gamescom 2011 from August 17 – August 21, and at PAX Prime (Booth #3417) from August 26 – August 28. Eager gamers can learn more about Borderlands 2 right now by picking up the latest issue of Game Informer Magazine, which has the worldwide exclusive cover story on the title. Readers will find many game details inside the issue, including the first reveal of one of the several new character classes being introduced in Borderlands 2.

About Borderlands

Taking the gaming world by storm, Borderlands delivered its unique flavor of humorous and lovable characters and addictive non-stop collaborative loot-hunting gameplay on an unsuspecting populace. The critically acclaimed and best-selling Role-Playing-Shooter, as well as its four downloadable expansion packs, captured the imagination and attention of single-player and cooperative gamers around the world.

Borderlands 2 is not yet rated by the ESRB.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:04:11 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:37 – Leo’s Gooing
0:32:56 – Adam’s Gooing
0:47:06 – Scott’s Gooing
0:59:11 – Art of the Frugal Gamer: Top 5 Games We’ve Purchased for $5 or Less
1:19:03 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

And lost in the rumble and jumble of those amazing titles was a Capcom game called Dark Void [PC, PS3, 360].
Most people passed this by simply because of the volume of games that had been released on either side of this title. Most of those who didn’t seemed to be sorely disappointed in what they received, considering what they probably passed on to get it. But now, a year and a half later, I got my hands on it.

The game is a cross between Uncharted and the 1991 cult classic movie, The Rocketeer. It combines the over-the-shoulder, run-for-cover, shoot-‘em-up action of the former with the shaky flight simulation you would imagine of a remake of the latter. It does neither spectacularly, but it does them both well enough to make this a decent game.

The story follows the main character, Will, on his adventure into a sort of Purgatory between Earth and the world of the mysterious alien Watchers after his plane crashes in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. After a few tutorial scenes in the rainforest of a strange island Will is separated from his one-time lover, Ava, and journeys into the Void to save her. It is in the Void where we learn that Will is the prophesized savior of humanity.

As mentioned, the gameplay is mediocre. Transitions between the ground and the air are frustrating at first – I found myself turning on my jetpack and flying straight into the ground on numerous occasions. But, after spending enough time doing it, the process eventually became somewhat natural for me.

Perhaps the best reason to play this game is for the sounds. The soundtrack was composed by Bear McCreary (main composer for Battlestar Galactica) and the voice of Will is acted by Nolan North (whom you should know better as Nathan Drake.) I found the script to be very engaging – I wanted to know what happened next throughout my experience with the game.

As an interesting side-note, a Dark Void movie is currently in development and set to release in 2014.

I realize that I may be chided for my admiration of Dark Void, but I truly had a fun and entertaining time with this game. Does it stand up when placed next to Darksiders or Mass Effect 2? Probably not. But if you get the opportunity to get a hands-on with Dark Void, you may find that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Wait
0:01:07 – Intro
0:04:07 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:10:03 – Adam’s Gooing
0:22:29 – Scott’s Gooing
0:40:56 – Top 5 Stomach Churningest, Brains Explodingest, Gut Wrenchingest, Mostest Grossest Moments in Video Games
1:10:52 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Choco
0:01:20 – Intro
0:09:10 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:17:32 – Leo’s Gooing
0:32:01 – Adam’s Gooing
0:49:04 – Scott’s Gooing
1:08:31 – Hit It and Quit It
1:30:34 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:05:27 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:10:52 – Leo’s Gooing
0:23:00 – Adam’s Gooing
0:34:40 – Scott’s Gooing
0:48:16 – Top 5 Games in Our Backlog That We Swear To All That is Holy We Will Someday Finish
1:24:44 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Lead In
0:01:23 – Intro
0:07:12 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:13:20 – Leo’s Gooing
0:24:52 – Adam’s Gooing
0:32:09 – Scott’s Gooing
0:48:03 – Top 5 Hopes for E3
1:27:58 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Part 2.1

Part 2.2

Watch live video from Goo TV (Gamers Only Older) on Justin.tv

From a technical perspective, the game’s only so-so.  It suffers from the same sorts of things that plague other Unreal Engine games.  Things have a glossy look, there’s some texture pop-in, occasionally some clipping,  and the like.  The textures themselves are not really on par with a lot of other stuff from 2009-on, which gives it a bit more of a dated look, but it’s still better than PS2-era looks.  I will say though, that the sound design is pretty good.  It’s not Mortal Kombat good, but there’s definitely enough quality there for it to be noticeable.  The music?  Well, to be honest I didn’t really notice it so I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

From a dungeon crawler perspective, it’s quite competent.  The looting actually feels much better than I thought it would.  Enemies do drop some loot, but it’s no where near the volume of the traditional isometric dungeon crawler.  You are constantly picking up new weapons to swap in and out, though the items themselves don’t have the stat overload you might expect.  It really boils down to attack speed, attack damage, and whether or not it has any magical charges on it (i.e. a bow might add a poison cloud effect randomly for X number of charges).  There’s only one armor slot to upgrade, and you also upgrade/swap shields.  From the best I can tell, shields degrade through use, so you are looking for new shields off of dead bodies to “recharge” your ability to block.

The part where the looting really succeeds is collectibles.  Enemies randomly drop gold, which is used as a point threshold system that unlocks content for the Crucible (the dungeon creation tool).  There are Dragon Tears that unlock various talents as you collect a certain number of them.  There are crystals that you collect and randomly pick off of enemies in shards (kind of like heart container pieces from Zelda) and those are used to unlock and upgrade battle and weapon magics.  Even though you aren’t constantly swapping one of a dozen pieces of gear like a traditional dungeon crawl, it does feel like you are constantly progressing your character, which is nice.

From a gameplay perspective, I’ve spent most of my time with E’lara, the archer.  The shooting feels competent, though I have noticed one or two spots where I thought I should be able to thread an arrow through an opening and wasn’t able to.  The aim-assist, on by default, makes it considerably easier than a traditional shooter, which is doubly noticeable when you’re not “looking down the iron sights” and just firing from the hip.  Though that technique only seems useful when you’re trying to shoot at things close range.  The up-close action is pretty stock for any other action-RPG.  It’s no where near as complex as Ninja Gaide, Devil May Cry, or God of War – but it includes the stock light and hard attacks, as well as a block and roll.  Combat feels pretty good, but I honestly haven’t played that side of it very much.  Puzzles & hidden areas have been a bit of a joke thus far, but it’s also early on so that’s hard to judge.  It does provide a nice ability to queue the other person to do something to help, so all of those co-op-only style puzzles you get in other games are easily doable from solo play.

Speaking to the teammate aspect – there are some combined attacks that your partner AI will help you execute quite well.  For example, I have an arrow ability that will freeze enemies, and once they’re sufficiently frozen, they become brittle and can be shattered.  Well when I freeze an enemy with an arrow, Caddoc (the up-close fighter) automatically goes out of his way to run over and deal a shattering blow.  I haven’t noticed anything too weird or out of the ordinary in terms of enemy AI, and they seem fairly stock for the style of game.

I’m a bit too early to really know or care about the story – but truth is, for dungeon crawlers I very rarely pay any attention to the story anyway.

I guess overall I’d go with essentially what I said previously on Twitter:  It’s a good game, probably not great or fantastic, but it’s fun and there used to be a time when gamers thought that “fun” was good enough.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:03:50 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:09:49 – Leo’s Gooing
0:35:48 – Adam’s Gooing
0:44:12 – Scott’s Gooing
0:57:00 – Feature: User Created Content
1:20:01 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

When: Saturday May 21st, 8PM CST

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Uncalled
0:01:13 – Intro
0:06:02 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:22:20 – Alex’s Gooing
0:34:14 – Adam’s Gooing
0:41:15 – Joe’s Gooing
0:46:35 – Scott’s Gooing
0:55:16 – Hit It & Quit It
1:19:05 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – MexiTime
0:01:19 – Writing
0:05:08 – Intro
0:10:18 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:18:02 – Leo’s Gooing
0:29:06 – Adam’s Gooing
0:38:37 – Scott’s Gooing
0:47:27 – Arcana Hearts 3 In Depth
1:05:06 – Feature: Looking Back or Moving Forward in Game Design
1:36:12 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:06:01 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:20:41 – Leo’s Gooing
0:41:14 – Adam’s Gooing
0:55:42 – Scott’s Gooing
1:40:55 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

French developer Gameloft is best known for taking popular game types and creating cheap copies of them on iOS and other mobile platforms. Founded by Ubisoft creators the Guillemot brothers, they have made their name by pushing games on iOS that no other company dares to do. Many of their design briefs are photocopies of better games. They have recently made themselves known on the PSN with minis titles such as Hero of Sparta (Baby God of War), and with the budget shooter Modern Combat Domination (Counter Strike minus bells and whistles). Their latest title, the co-op dungeon crawler Dungeon Hunter Alliance is an IP which has had great success on the iPhone. This is no iPhone port though, the game has been built specifically for the PS3 with HD graphics, full online four player co-op, and voice chat.

A photocopy of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, the seminal PS2 title that took Diablo-style action-RPG gameplay and made it work on consoles, is a photocopy which still has plenty of appeal. This was not a story based exploring and questing RPG, but rather a linear hack and slash co-op blast, with an addictive kill and loot formula. Dungeon Hunter Alliance sticks to this formula. Indeed, it has paid homage to other great dungeon crawlers. The cartoony art style is obviously influenced by Torchlight, and the leveling system is reminiscent of the great Diablo.

It doesn’t quite have the charm of its peers though. There is only a fraction of the customization that Champions of Norrath had and little of the atmosphere of Torchlight. The writing and cut-scenes are poor. Indeed the story is basic. You play a dead king, resurrected by the fairies to depose an evil queen and her minions. It’s derivative, but unashamedly so. Upon loading up the game, you are given the choice of three classes (Mage, Fighter or Rogue) curiously played by the same avatar. An option to play a female, or even to choose the hair color would hardly have stretched the PS3’s processor. Character creation is such an important part of the RPG experience that this lack of choice is criminal, and definitely the game’s biggest let-down. The opening cut-scene is tokenistic, with dialogue seemingly written by some teenage boys playing Dungeons and Dragons, and doesn’t fill you with confidence.

But once into the game itself, the loot collecting and levelling mechanic quickly gets its hooks into you and Dungeon Hunter Alliance is surprisingly deep and full featured. On the surface characters are simple, with only four traits (Strength, Dexterity, Endurance and Energy) but there seems to be robust system behind it. There are many spells and abilities, easily mapped onto the dualshock buttons. There’s a fairy that follows you around, providing a Golden Axe style special attack, knocking over all adversaries on screen. Dungeons and other areas are big, with a nice mix of enemies and bosses. The frame rate is smooth and graphics crisp and functional. The campaign is about 6 to 7 hours long and with some levels being randomly generated and a level cap of at least 75 there’s plenty of replay-ability here, so that’s a lot of game for the low price point. Although it derives from the button mashing of console action-RPGs, the game also supports MOVE and this works surprisingly well as a point and click mouse style control, with wrist flicking through menus more intuitive than you might expect. I played with several people online who preferred the MOVE controls to the dualshock. As a console gamer first and foremost I stuck with the dualshock.

Like its influences, the game is obviously designed with co-op in mind, and it supports four players locally or online. Much like Borderlands, the more players there are, the better the loot. Couch co-op is implemented well, with drop-in/drop-out accessibility. I had less luck online as the games took forever to load.  (It’s worth mentioning though that the PSN was unstable and under attack by a group calling themselves ‘Anonymous’ at the time of writing this). Once players are joined though, the online seems to work well with no lag that I could see, and good voice chat support. The lack of options for character appearance means you’ll be choosing armor that sets you apart from your friends.

As a single player experience, it’s no patch on the far superior Torchlight, but Dungeon Hunter Alliance will provide the thrifty gamer an adequate distraction to keep them occupied while they wait for Dungeon Siege III or Diablo 3, but for those who enjoy a co-op hack and slash in the vein of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance or Champions of Norrath, I’d thoroughly recommend picking this up at this price, despite its flaws.

Fun with friends, good MOVE implementation, shamefully bad character customization. Dungeon-crawler-lite, but fun nonetheless.

It was a blast as always, and thanks to everyone that was able to come.  We miss you all already.

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:49 – Intro
0:03:57 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:08:35 – Leo’s Gooing
0:20:02 – Dragon Age 2
0:31:13 – Adam’s Gooing
1:00:02 – Scott’s Gooing
1:16:39 – Top 5 Things We’re Looking For at MGC
1:42:32 – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:48 – Intro
0:04:18 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:58 – Leo’s Gooing
0:25:07 – Marvel vs Capcom 3
0:33:50 – Adam’s Gooing
0:49:49 – Mass Effect 2
1:05:07 – Scott’s Gooing
1:16:25 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
1:44:48 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

For starters you can import your old game save, which carries over your Sackboy still in the clothes you left him, with the same POD (your decoratible home and menu screen) and with all costumes and level building tools you gained in the first game. All DLC bought for the first game also carries over so your money has not gone to waste. I like how Media Molecule seems to be treating their DLC, it is similar to Rock Band’s downloadable song system and that is definitely a plus!

The campaign mode is much better than the first one. Instead of what felt like a bunch of levels in the first one it is now tied together with a story. There are a new cast of zany character, each of which has their own world based around them. To be honest, the story is slightly irrelevant, but the new cutscenes are still a nice feature; if only for people who want to make some LBP movies. However, it is nice to have them there, and almost all the characters at some point had a genuinely funny moment.

There are a good amount of levels each contained within a world. Each world has its own theme, and generally introduces you to one or more new tools Sackboy can use to make his way around the levels. The variation and new toys make playing through this much less of a grind than the first one. Instead of sticking to the same formula of run, jump and pull, they seem to have tried to spice things up. A prime example of this is a level in which you are placed atop a giant bee and the game actually turns into a side scrolling shooter. Things like this just break up the platforming enough for each and every level to feel fresh. The most fun of all the new inclusions to the campaign mode is the grapple hook. Having it there now makes me wonder why this wasn’t in the first game as it fits in so well with the game.

There are also mini games that you unlock by collecting keys through each of the levels. These games range from a block busting score based game were you have to press X, square, triangle and circle when the screen prompts you to a basketball like game. These games don’t entertain for hours like the online levels can, but they are a fun inclusion to show you what can be done with the level building tools. The biggest feat of the game is that the levels are built with the same tools that you have to create levels with, so you have the ability to make levels of the same quality, if not better.

The online level building community is thriving, and I have to say, that for the most part, they are a lot of fun. I found the first Little Big Planet’s community levels to generally be mediocre platformers themed around a certain movie, game, book etc. This time around the calibre of levels is much higher, albeit most levels are still based around classic games etc. Even so the new tools give them a new life, and you can really create some games that actually play well. That said is it better to play a Mario world 1-1 remake on Lbp than the actual game? To put it simply, no, but it is still fun to marvel at what others can do. The things that people had made within a week were mind blowing. Duck hunt, Geometry wars, Pacman and even Street Fighter have, in my opinion the best representation in the online community. Some levels like the Geometry war styled levels aren’t actually titled that, but are obviously designed around it.

The online menus have also been given a massive overhaul; you can see what your friends have been playing, there is a list of what Media Molecule’s favourite levels are, and even a “Cool Levels’ section offering up suggestions of some of the levels to try out. There is now a jump in feature which throws you into a match with random players who are playing online levels. Whilst this sounds like a great way to experience some co-op if you have nobody to play with, most of the time I was kicked from their party within seconds of joining, but you can’t really blame the game, that’s more the community.

I, sadly, can’t speak too much for the level creation. I have watched some of the tutorials but it just seems all too daunting for me. That said, they do a great job of explaining everything so you will really be able to understand exactly how to use all the different objects and tools. I am more of a consumer in terms of the LBP community, but I do know that the tools must be a vast improvement because of the amazing new levels that have been made, and their drastically better controls.

Overall, this game is one of those games that in my eyes you have to own, and you will get your money’s worth if you have a few friends who will play with you. There is a constant stream of levels being made, plenty of which are of very high quality, so this game definitely has legs. And, if you are into creating levels, then this becomes an even better package. Media Molecule deserves praise for making a game that allows anyone to try to make something. With Little Big Planet  2 they can, it is truly a platform for games.

Now I took the time to vote, and it understandably took me quite a while, but there were some notable exceptions. Toe Jam and Earl on the Megadrive (sorry, that’s “Genesis” for you Americans…) for example. This got me thinking of an all time top five art styles.

So here are mine –

5. Toe Jam and Earl. (Megadrive) This was a kind of silly rogue-like co-op planet crawler, but the art style lifted it into cult status, by injecting some brilliant oddball humour into precedings. The sequels were disappointing platformers, but check out this original on the Wii virtual console. I’m proud to say I beat this baby, back in the day, and the funkatronic soundtrack is my mobile phone ringtone…

4. Phantasy Star. (Master System) This was the first rpg I ever played, and the thing that drew me in and kept me playing for hours was the art style. There was even a pioneering first person view in the dungeons. Because of the restrictions of 2D and the static combat screens, I feel extra care was taken with the designs, and I still feel that the Phantasy star series never quite looked as charming again. There was a japan-only remake called PS generation 1 for the ps2 in 2003, but I’ve never had the pleasure of checking it out.

3. Space Invaders. (Atari Arcade) It’s an obvious choice in any top 5, but its no accident that those ever advancing alien symbols have become international design icons, representing video games, the 80s and general retro-cool. For example I have a space invaders ice cube tray. Even today, as well a great game and as addictive as hell, it’s beautiful to look at.

2. Final Fantasy VII. (Playstation) This game is many people’s favourite Final Fantasy because of its story and the fact that it set a new bar in terms of cinematic storytelling. But for me it also has the best art style of any rpg. Unlike many, I prefer the cutesy way the characters are represented on the map screens, only for them to be more realistically rendered in the cut scenes and battles. Similarly the music bridged that gap between digital chip music and full cd audio with digitized vocals over sythesised orchestral builds. In short, I love the way the game celebrates old 16 bit art styles but marries it with the textures and storytelling of 5th generation consoles.

1. Pixeljunk Monsters. (PSN) Ok, so maybe this is my addiction calling. After all when my ps3 died one of the first things I thought was how much I was looking forward to having to do all of this game again on my new slim. The fact is though, that no other tower defence game has ever kept my attention for the 100s of hours I put into this one. The gameplay is tight, the boards are varied, but the thing that really sets it apart is the unbelievable art style. Its weird, but in my opinion it’s the most beautiful and original character design in any game. From the sombre little dancing african dude you play to the sparse ambient music. This game just oozes charm, even when your tearing your hair out.

Now I realise that is a top five that will divide, but when you think about it the art style of games is such a personal thing and comes down to taste and nostalgia as well as overall game experience. So after you vote on the Smithsonian exhibition, I look forward to hearing yours.

Watch live video from Goo TV (Gamers Only Older) on Justin.tv

Thanks for listening.

This is good news for all Fallout fans out there. Nobody loses; new DLC and we all get it at the same time!

-H.G. Wells, “The Time Machine”

Earlier this week I was invited to and attended a live web demo for the upcoming DS title Radiant Historia by the folks at Atlus USA. Regular listeners of our show probably remember me mentioning this game a couple of times, most notably in our “Top 5 Items That We’re Looking Forward to in 2011” segment (episode 71). After experiencing some of the game, albeit second-hand, I am now even more excited than before, and am wishing that I had put this into my No. 1 slot for that particular list.

Time travel games have a rich history in the RPG genre. As such, Radiant Historia has a lot to live up to, and I honestly think that it will. It views Time in a very different sense than other games, which is very refreshing. Let’s use Chrono Trigger (probably the most recognizable time travel game) for our comparison:

In Chrono Trigger, the characters move backward and forward through time, altering events in the hopes of stopping the destruction of the world. That’s a pretty good formula for the sub-genre, but it fails to address a key component of the time-traveling paradox: alternate timelines. Radiant Historia, on the other hand, is all about multiple timelines based on the players’ individual decisions.

One of the scenes I witnessed was the party coming to a fork in the road; the choice was to go North or South. Depending on which decision is made, an entire history is written. If the wrong choice is made, it is possible to go back and choose the other direction, writing another history entirely. Chrono Trigger’s progression is based on a single line; the characters start in the middle of the line and move back and forward, all along the same line. Radiant Historia starts at a single point and then branches out like a tree, entirely based on decision and choice.

The graphics are beautiful, especially for fans of the classic 16-bit RPGs of the mid-1990s. The characters seem vibrant and well-rounded. The dialogue is extremely well written and translated. And the soundtrack (from the pieces I heard) is simply gorgeous. And speaking of the music, you should all plan on getting this game at launch, as a special edition music CD will be packaged with all launch copies.

I think this is the real deal, folks. Much like how Darksiders and 3D Dot Game Heroes are the symbolic heirs of the Zelda franchise, Radiant Historia could very well carry the banner for the (seemingly) dead Chrono franchise.

February 22^nd can’t come fast enough for this DS RPG fan.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Knapsack
0:01:06 – Intro
0:07:23 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:18:42 – Leo’s Gooing
0:27:12 – Adam’s Gooing
0:37:24 – Scott’s Gooing
0:52:04 – Top 5 Points in Gaming That Have Evoked an Emotion
1:26:04 – Rebuttal, Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

When: Saturday February 12th, 7:30 pm CST
Where: Goo.TV
Who: The Goo Crew, Glenn Percival and Joel Sherfinski of PSNation, Mark and Jessie Senger, Dane (Krakerjak), Tim (9-Volt)

Should be a blast, quite a step up from our previous live shows in production quality and lots of opportunities to call in.  Please join us for a fun night, and feel free to stop by earlier in the day to check out our pre-show festivities and gaming.  Hopefully we’ll see you then!

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Illin’
0:01:06 – Intro
0:03:09 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:12:40 – Leo’s Gooing
0:19:46 – Adam’s Gooing
0:29:25 – Scott’s Gooing
0:45:55 – Top 5 Items That We’re Looking Forward to in 2011
1:17:25 – Hit It and Quit It
1:38:56  – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for listening.

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Really
0:01:06 – Intro
0:04:20 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:15:11 – Leo’s Gooing
0:19:46 – Adam’s Gooing
0:27:30 – Scott’s Gooing
0:37:42 – Top 5 Games That We Finished or 100%’d in 2010
1:15:10  – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Cambridge, Mass. – Dec. 10, 2010 – Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that a 12 pack of some of Billy Joel’s greatest songs, featuring awesome piano parts and some Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrades, will be available Dec. 14 in the Rock Band 3 Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (Dec. 14):

• “Big Shot” X
• “Captain Jack”
• “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me”
• “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” X
• “Only the Good Die Young” X
• “Piano Man”
• “Pressure”
• “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”
• “The Entertainer”
• “The Stranger”
• “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
• “You May Be Right”

Tracks marked with “X” will include Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.

(All tracks are original master recordings)

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 system Dec. 15)

Show Notes
0:00:00 – Mulch
0:01:59 – Intro
0:04:53 – News That We Give a Damn About
0:11:10 – Leo’s Gooing
0:18:23 – Adam’s Gooing
0:27:04 – Scott’s Gooing
0:39:29 – Top 5 Games That We Love That Get a Bad Rap
1:19:27 – Hit It and Quit It Q’s
1:39:24  – Next Time & Outro

Thanks for listening.

Don’t Have Too Many Friends – At the time of writing this article, I’ve been told this has been fixed via a twitter post by the official Playstation Blog twitter account. However, on launch, this was a terrible hindrance to me. One of the features of Dead Nation is to incorporate your play on or offline with the rest of the world. It makes for a meta-game of each country contributing to the overall fight against the infestation. This information is accessed and loaded after you’ve watched the opening video. To those of us which have 100 friends on our PSN list, it also meant that it would not only crash the game, but hard lock your PS3.

After several attempts and curses of Housemarque’s name on Twitter, I was informed from trusty Mark Senger (SavoryCade of ex-PSNation fame) logging out of PSN was one way to get around the problem, but it also kept me from experiencing any of the games online features. Then, I was directed from Geoff Chorney (Interactive Distractions) that the bug’s origin was in fact because I had a full friends list. I ended up booting some poor shlub that hadn’t been on his PS3 in ages, and I was up and running. But seriously, why should I need to do that?

No Voice Chat – If you were lucky enough to not be so popular, then you probably had no problems playing with your friends online. I hope you weren’t hoping to talk to them, because the capability to voice chat was omitted from the experience. In a lot of cases, I don’t suspect that would really pose that much of a problem. However, I can’t come up with a good reason to play a co-op zombie survival experience without the ability to talk to friends. Left 4 Dead’s experience is rooted in the fact that you get to hear your teammates’ reactions. Good lighting and sound design play into just how immersive a zombie experience can be, and to Housemarque’s credit, it is done very well in Dead Nation. However, that is not the only part of the experience.

The ability for voice chat is supposed to be added, and the friends list bug has reportedly been fixed. In the long run, these seem like simple headaches to an otherwise entertaining and polished game. Unfortunately though, it plays into that terrible thought process that plagues this generation of console game develoeprs and publishers: “Now that we have a readily available way to patch games, we don’t need to worry about getting it right the first time.”

We as consumers are partially to blame, as we’ve fueled their ability to do this with our acceptance and our dollars.  At what point do we start to protest these haphazard and incomplete releases?