Author: James

Our spec sheet is available at the following link.

Bungie and Activision made a token effort to grab headlines, but Sony’s announcement of the Playstation 4 was the only story going last week.  We’ve tried hard to stay suspicious, to see past the marketing and to manage our own expectations.  This works for the most part, but there’s no sense in pretending we don’t have fun when new toys are announced, whether we’d like to own them or not.  This is doubly true for the sorts of toys that will influence the news for the foreseeable future, and the shape of our hobby for the next several years.

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We’re available for pre-order at the following link.

We had originally expected to treat Matt cruelly in this episode, ribbing him over his enthusiastic purchase of Aliens: Colonial Marines.  But the game – a tragic mess, apparently – seems to have done extensive damage on its own so we’ve decided to be supportive in his time of need.  Matt’s shame and disappointment are a matter of public record now, and we see no reason to prolong his suffering.  I can’t say this incident has put  me off pre-orders entirely, and there’s a good chance I’ll find myself in the same position at some point in the future, so cultivating a little good will might pay off when my time comes around.

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The locals are in for a surprise at the following link.

I don’t exactly know how to preface this episode, since it’s the biggest single change we’ve ever made to our format, and we didn’t give much warning that it was on the way.  It will be familiar to anyone who was with us in our first years of broadcasting, and it will be a strange shock to everyone who tuned in at some point after.  Whoever you are, and whenever you chose to join us, we hope you find something to like about what we’ve made here.

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Here’s a brief update, with another on its heels.  We’ve got a backlog to clear and there’s no sense in dressing up the posts or adding context to weeks-old chatter.  It will all makes sense, assuming you’re up on current events, and some of it might still be worth your time and attention.  Let us know if that’s the case.  You can reach us at all the usual places.

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We’re at our worst at the following link.

There’s nothing much to say about this episode.  If you’re up to speed on news and happenings around the world, then this is sadly out of date.  But it’s funny a little bit, and it’s long, so we evidently had a  lot on our minds, or the listeners had a lot on theirs.  I can also promise (or apologize for) another round of backward-looking 90’s worship from a group too old to care enough about what the kids are getting into.  We’re hoping this will drop off soon with the arrival of fresh new games.  Of course, if those games suck (which they already do) then we’ll go right back to yammering about 1998.

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We’re absolutely petrified at the following link.

We’ve spent a lot of time lately examining the past and discussing old things, so it’s only fitting that our most recent posting is, itself, a very old thing.  There’s no benefit to anyone interested in timely and topical discussion, but there’s still a good time to be had if you’re willing to wipe off the dust and push away the cobwebs.

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We’re announcing our free-to-play model at the following link.

A year or more ago I was perfectly happy to scoff at the future of free.  No doubt a handful of games would butter their bread with paid skin packs or xp boosts, and there’s a chance I’d have admitted the inevitability of a new payment model somewhere down the line, but I had never thought the idea would storm through so many hearts and minds and in such a short stretch of time.  I was so concerned with what I personally thought best or most likely that I couldn’t see the wall, much less the writing on it.  And I’m not convinced this development is absolutely here to stay, any more than the subscription and retail models it’s displacing.  There’s so much in our future we haven’t even considered yet, and it’s not as though what we want or what we know to be best has ever had any real bearing on what we’re given.

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We were a lot happier about the state of things in this episode.  The Steam sale had come and nearly gone, and it had its usual positive effect on our previously shitty moods.  It’s more big fun for small money and a chance to compare loot with our friends.  And a great distraction, too, because as soon as it’s gone it seems like optimism is on the rise.  It’s not that long, really, until the next wave of new releases, and shortly after there’ll be more games than time or money.  And we’ll be sure to get in a shitty mood and whine about it when we run out of either one.

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So here’s a recording from some time ago.  We were in the worst part of the year for a man-child; no games releasing to satisfy our interests, and no interest in the things that were available.  It was the slowest part of the summer, the Steam sale was who-knows-where, and why won’t the Planetside beta start already?  This seemed to make for a pretty rotten list of discussion topics, and this episode seemed like a sharp reminder of how lousy we are at talking up video games at this time of the year.  Looking back now, it’s not so bad as it seemed, and I suppose off-topic chat does us a world of good when we let it.

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Our attributes are in disarray at the following link.

A single show just won’t be enough to cover the full range of reactions and emotions provoked by Diablo 3.  The last several weeks haven’t even seen the game clear of the terrible launch dramas surrounding its release, and they certainly aren’t enough to paint a picture of its future.  We’re still not sure whether we love it or hate it, or which of the many different flaws will be sorted out in the near future, and which will linger like a disease.  It’s a leading topic, and there don’t seem to be any news items or new releases standing by to upset it.  Although, there is that one event coming up next week…

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We’re available with a two-year commitment at the following link.

I’m not living in any of my imagined futures today, and I’m sure I never will.  I’m generally at peace with the way things turn out over time, but I’m still compelled to root for a future without precedent – a future without long-term contracts on my console purchase, without packet loss in a single-player game, and devoid of embedded ads or social media applications.  I’m not quite angry about what we’ve gotten, I’m just sorry I didn’t see it coming.  So many best wishes for the games industry have gone unrealized, and it’s a real strain on the optimism.

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We’re dropping our banner at the following link.

It took a lot less convincing than I’d expected to get Jeremy and Scott on board with Diablo 3.  I hadn’t planned to cajole or persuade at all, and I only suggested they play the beta weekend so they could comment on an experience that every other human in the free world was sharing at the time.  Neither of them is particularly attracted to the setting or the lore of Diablo, and there’s really nothing in the genre that turns them on.  They are, however, suckers for what may be the slickest, simplest, and most trouble-free multiplayer engagement we’ve every experienced as a group.  The fact that you’re playing with friends is often more important that what it is you’re playing, and usability can rank awfully high on our list of priorities.  There are now at least two preorders based entirely on that premise.  It seems that even in its current and very well-fed form, Blizzard still has some things to teach the rest of the world.

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