Author: James

We’re dropping quarters in the slots at the following link.

It’s honestly worth having Arjay look at me like I’m speaking gibberish if it means he’s taking the time to put himself on record about one thing or another.  Or, as is the case in this episode, if he’s making the effort to explain something to me like the five-year-old I appear to be.  Here I’m talking about fighting games, the culture surrounding them, and the competitive scene that motivates the top-level players.  That fighting games exist, and that they support a competitive scene is literally the sum of my knowledge about them, as if they were a rumor, so rest assured that my questions about the EVO tournament are genuine and that my attitude isn’t affected.  I’m really this clueless and stupid.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re of two minds at the following link.

I swear sometimes I can hear the internet rolling its eyes when I go on, at incredible length, about some MMOG or another.  I’m perfectly aware of how it sounds when I’m having my way, and I can promise you that even my co-hosts drift off in search of any other thing in the entire world they can be thinking about when I do.  But there’s not much they can do to stop me running my mouth, so I’m damn well going to spend a half-hour this week on Final Fantasy 14, and many more half-hours in the future, I’m sure.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Our heads are up for hunting at the following link.

Whether he’s jumped out of the pan and into the fire or made like a rat from a sinking ship, Don Mattrick’s emergency teleport from Microsoft to Zynga is sure to make him a profit and allow him continued use of his unnaturally thick skin.  This is a perfectly rational decision for a man of business, of course, and there are a great many reasons to absolve Mattrick of the blame that’s been heaped upon him in the weeks since the XBO’s reveal.  But every gust in the recent shitstorm has only served to remind us of the fact that this is all just business, run by men who wield billions and are payed in millions.  Yes, we’re well aware this is how the world is run and there’s (supposedly) nothing wrong with that.  But then why are our inner children so far out of sorts?  This was supposed to be fun and games.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re whistling for the wind at the following link.

For the first time in the longest we’re actually motivated by the summer doldrums.  We’re generally impatient people and we’d love to have the new consoles and many new games in hand, but we’re also anxious to clear this extraordinary backlog of games from our ledger.  We won’t get it done of course, but we’ll labor under the illusion that we will, and we’ll happily add to the list during every sale and discount the summer cares to offer.  Two steps forward and two steps back, I suppose.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re setting course for the status quo at the following link.

We’re not sure if a reversal of of its policy will lead to a reversal of fortunes, but Microsoft has taken unprecedented action in response to overwhelming negative sentiment by removing the XBox One’s DRM.  This solves one very important issue with the new system, but leaves us wondering if maybe we’ve only seen the first of many adjustments to come between now and the release of the console this fall.

This should have been our chance to talk in detail to one another about The Last of Us, but out of respect to those hosts who couldn’t attend this show and the many listeners who haven’t quite finished the game, we’re leaving spoilers out of the conversation for the time being.  We made a deliberate exercise of talking at length without talking in depth, and it’s a testament to the quality of the game that there was still so much to say.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

My heart is in the Gold Saucer at the following link.

There’s simply no ignoring Microsoft at the moment; the leanest piece of news, the merest fraction of information about their designs on the future of games demands our full attention.  Every pound and ounce of us screams to leave the story be for just a few more days so that history can be a judge and we can pretend to have been wise and judicious in a time of boiling rage and bombast and vile, stinking stupidity.  But we’ve got designs of our own, and we have our own thoughts to share, and we’re wrong so often we can’t help but keep clawing away in an effort to be right.

Whatever is said on the many stages of E3 this coming week, you can be sure that our beloved hobby will have suffered its most painful growth spurt, and that the easy, effortless fun of the past is well and truly gone.  There’s plenty of fun left to us, make no mistake, and it may well be the best we’ve ever had, but we’re going to pay for it, and we’ll pay in bitter cash.  I remember a time when I wished desperately that my hobby would grow up; that it would put on big-boy pants and engage the world with an adult’s sensibilities.  Whichever god or djinn or monkey’s paw happened to be listening in clearly misunderstood what I was after.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

A high tide lifts all boats at the following link.

Much has been said, by this show and others, about the supposed schemes and restrictions we’ll face with the new consoles when they arrive later this year.  There’s a lot of (forgivable) wailing and gnashing of teeth when you consider the worst of all possible outcomes, and what effect it’s likely to have on our darling hobby.  But there are reasons to be optimistic.  There are reasons to believe our pastime will be improved in many, if not most, respects, and that this will be true for all platforms, if not all players.  It’s certainly best to remain skeptical as all hell right now, but the bad dream has hardly come true, and good news is still a possibility.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’ve got a bridge to sell you at the following link.

Despite a solid three hours of gesticulation, exasperation, raised voices and facepalms, we really don’t know what to make of Microsoft’s announcement of the new Xbox.  There are optimistic voices in the press, in the gaming community and inside our own skulls suggesting we wait until E3 to pass judgement, but there’s little chance we’ll be rewarded for our patience and understanding.  Microsoft hasn’t done themselves any favors and I don’t think their customers should either.  We’ll watch and we’ll wait and we’ll give them a chance to explain, but we’ll be carrying a torch for Sony while we do.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re in the swing of things at the following link.

Our first segment, as usual, is brought to you by Electronic Arts and their very tarnished image, which they’ve managed this week to rub off onto Nintendo.  Then we spend a short stretch with a spoiler-free, qualitative discussion of Metro: Last Light.  In the second hour we talk with Jamie Fristrom of Happion Labs about his game, Energy Hook.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Don’t shoot the skitterlings at the following link.

It’s been a long time since they were a driving force in gaming, but the passing of LucasArts demands acknowledgement and somber reflection, though not for more than half an hour, apparently.  We devote at least as much time to struggling with our feelings about Defiance; a game that far exceeds expectations, but has no right to be as fun as it is.  We also undertake a second, equally fruitless examination of Bioshock: Infinite, and can’t decide if a week’s worth of hindsight puts the game in a better light or a worse one.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

God only knows what we’d do without you at the following link.

Tonight’s first hour is largely about GDC, very much against our original plan.  In any other year it would be our sole point of discussion, but it’s unlikely that any other year saw or will see the release of BioShock: Infinite this week.  Given our druthers, we’d talk about nothing but the game, but Matt was within spitting distance of the ending, so we broke protocol, sent him back home to finish, and demanded he come back around for the second hour of spoilers.

Sadly, and predictably, this doesn’t turn out as well as we’d like.  A single hour isn’t nearly enough time to compare notes on Infinite, and as two of us had only just finished the game before the program, there was no time for us to come to terms with what it all means.  As a result, we sound less like practiced critics, and more like moviegoers huddled outside the theater after an especially interesting film.  I expect we can form some honest questions and criticisms before we meet again.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’ve reached our stretch goals at the following link.

We pass the first hour this week discussing the resignation and legacy of EA’s CEO John Riccitiello, the possibility of price hikes for games of the next generation, and the various available Bioshock: Infinite pre-order bonuses.  For the second half of the show, we speak with Kevin Saunders and Colin McComb of InXile Entertainment about the funding and development of Torment: Tides of Numenera.  We’d like to thank Colin and Kevin for sharing their time, and we offer special thanks to everyone who joined us live and offered questions for the developers and insights for the hosts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re available offline at the following link.

EA’s feeble excuses for SimCity’s cockamamie server dependence continue to be the most interesting thing going in the news, which gives that story full rights to our first hour.  In the second half we’re back into the mailbag, waffling over a Bioshock Infinite preorder, and reaffirming our stance on mooks, assassins, and the fourth wall.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We’re running at cheetah speed at the following link.

On this weekend’s show, we’re covering whatever it is that’s happening with EA and SimCity, as well as gushing about Tomb Raider, ingoring Assassin’s Creed 4, and swapping howdies with Ty Taylor, developer of indie puzzle game, The Bridge.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS