Categories
Blog Post

Loyal To The End & Back Again

Plenty of you are likely familiar with the regard in which I hold certain games and developers. There’s Criterion with the Burnout series and, of course, Naughty Dog and Uncharted. There’s a few others in there, but not many. The list grows very slowly if at all.

However, the first studio and games that I ever fell in love with started on the PC and they started with adventure/puzzle games. I vividly remember playing The 7th Guest on my father’s 486DX40…I think. I don’t even know if that’s how you write it out anymore and no clue on ANYTHING about the specs it had, but Dad said it was good and it ran the game, so I was happy.

While Trilobyte made me take notice of what kind of a world I could find on a PC and the puzzles waiting for me, it was another company that would fuel the obsession and forever remain my standard for adventure/puzzle gaming.

I’m not exactly sure what first drew me to pick up Myst from Cyan Worlds. I wasn’t following gaming news. About the closest thing I had was Nintendo Power at the time. It had to have been the box that made me buy it….or ask for it. Again, the details of how I came to own the game are fuzzy. I can only think that I walked into Electronics Boutique in the mall with my mother or father and looked at the PC section, noticed the box, the little banner on it claiming “WINNER OF 12 MAJOR AWARDS including 1994 GOLD MEDAL & 1994 WORLD-CLASS AWARD” and then either asked my Dad if his computer could play it or remembered what he’d told me enough to know it would and bought it.

However way I came to own Myst didn’t matter, once I played it I was hooked. I can’t remember how long it took me to finish the game, but I had notes upon notes during my journey through Myst island and the different ages. It was the hardest game I’d ever played at the time and for some time to come following. In fact, I likely didn’t get another challenge like that until the sequel, Riven, was released. I have that box, too, by the way. In fact, I have every boxed copy of a Myst game I have ever bought – double dips and all. I own the soundtracks lacking only Myst IV and Myst V. In fact, here’s pretty much everything of Myst that I own in some kind of physical form at the moment:

photoSoundtracks, digital copies, and eBooks aren’t shown, but I have those too

The bug had bitten me and I forever tried to reach back to that first feeling of visiting Myst island. Although, it only actually seemed to work when I played a Myst game. A few titles here and there came close. Syberia was one of those games, but as I played it, the game became its own thing and not something I ended up comparing to what Myst was for me. Myst has stayed with me since I played the very first game nearly 20 years ago. And I had long since given up on seeing anything new in the universe. Myst V: End Of Ages was the finale, and I had my doubts early on in the release of that game that we wouldn’t see a Myst VI or some kind of side venture, but the more I read about End Of Ages, the more I began to accept that the adventure was over.

Then, just a week ago (the day before my birthday, in fact), a project on Kickstarter sprung up from Cyan Worlds called Obduction. The first thing I did was look at the backer rewards for the boxed copy of the game (it’s at the $75 level). Done. Backed. Now, where’s the level that gets my name in the credits? Could they possibly have a level that gets me to provide input for the development of the game or maybe a visit to the studio? They have all of those and more and while some of the levels are out of my reach, I’m still getting a boxed copy of their game whenever it’s released. That’s, of course, assuming their project gets funded, but I really have no doubt in my mind it won’t pass its goal and become a reality.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a game from Cyan to look forward to, and it doesn’t really matter that it isn’t part of the Myst….mythos. It’s a new beginning from them. And maybe it doesn’t take a Myst game to bring me back to that first feeling of being on Myst island, maybe all it takes is Cyan to keep doing what they do best. That’s a project I’ll support every time they offer it. As was said to me 20 years ago in Myst by one of the founders of Cyan…perhaps the ending has not yet been written.

Categories
Blog Post

And Welcome To In-Game Chat

Seven years and we’ve barely ever used this space for anything other than an official place to put our shows. We gave it some thought and figured we should change that and give writing a shot and put our voices to…screen, as it were in between the times we do those shows.

I can’t guarantee we’ll do this as scheduled every day of every week (except Saturdays & Sundays). But we’ll try.

This past weekend both Batman games were on sale on Steam, in what I can only guess was a celebratory manner for having both titles stripped of the GFWL brand and soothed over with the cooling aloe of Steamworks. Not only that, but those who’d previously bought the two games on Steam had their copies upgraded (both of them) to the “Game Of The Year” editions with all the extra content added in.

All this did was remind me that since the time I’d bought these games on my PC, I’d recently rebuilt my machine and made the switch from an AMD graphics card to NVIDIA – almost for the singular reason of PhysX. I’d been with an AMD card for quite a few previous builds of my machine and had watched, almost with heartbreak for me, the videos of games come and go that were using the PhysX stuff in NVIDIA cards. Finally, I could play a game I have a distinct recollection of watching back when I didn’t have the proper equipment to see all of its bells and whistles with PhysX – Batman: Arkham City.

So far it’s been fun. The game that is. I’ve barely noticed the really great ways fog moves, curtains flow, and papers fly around when you walk over them. I mean, sure, they’re there and I’ll take notice occasionally, but for the most part, I’m just too focused on being Batman to really pay attention. Then again, I’m not very far into the game so maybe there’s more of it later on I’ll actually start to see. Still, it’s a bit comforting to know that whenever NVIDIA does release videos of upcoming games using their tech of physics, I’ll know I can play that game and see exactly what they are showing me.

That said, they’ve really been showing off what their cards and tech can do in the next Batman game releasing on Friday – Arkham Origins. The game hasn’t really snuck up on me, but my anticipation for it has. Just a week or so ago I knew it was coming out, but I was very…meh on the issue. Not disappointed or thinking it wasn’t going to live up to the previous games, but just, well…neither here nor there on it. However, since replaying Arkham City over the weekend I’ve gotten more and more excited for Origin’s release. I’ve been reading forums and subreddits, watching videos (even the most recent walkthrough done by someone who got their hands on an early copy), and I’m even listening to the soundtrack sample as I write this*. It’s rare I get this enthusiastic for the release of a game to drown myself in its media and hype, but here I am…wallowing in it, soaking it all up.

I’m not even really worried about the reviews. I’ve only played a bit of the game at PAX and it really plays EXACTLY like Arkham City. Yeah sure, it isn’t Rocksteady making the game, but the guys at WB Montreal seemed to have done a fantastic job mimicking their every move. I find that to be good and bad, in a way. This is good because it means they don’t stray too far from a formula that works and bad in the sense that they aren’t really carving a place for themselves. I mean, the sections of Gotham that were in Arkham City look very familiar, as they should, and it means the team had more time to work on other aspects of the game. Having it set yet again in the winter means most of the areas affected by the weather could go unchanged (that pool on the highrise is still frozen over). Setting it on Christmas Eve and added the element of a terrible blizzard and that keeps them from making Gotham as busy as a city like it would be on the streets – keep in the tone of a locked away prison playground as it was used in the game before. And maybe they don’t have to stand out for themselves. Maybe coming away with a win on a Batman game means they’ve shown they can make things work and build the confidence to work on their own stuff and not be held to a standard of another studio. Maybe. We’ll see when the game releases on Friday.

In fact, I think I’m going to finish this up and get back into Arkham City for a bit. Getting all the DLC in the recent PC upgrade from Steam means I have new content to explore. Speaking of which, I think I’ll stream my playthrough of the “Harley’s Revenge” DLC.

*Check out 10:14, 14:00, & 17:51 for my favorites so far

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 14

We’re going over our buyout contract with Disney at the following link.

It’s the final time that you’ll be hearing us pre-taped as we recorded the show about six hours earlier. Next week sees us back live on the air again and, hopefully, with you in the chat room making sure we have our facts straight. In the meantime, we still cover some of the rumors concerning Microsoft’s next console, talk about what it means for EA to make games for the Star Wars franchise while Disney lords over their shoulders, and we try as best we can to tell you just what is happening with this whole Silicon Knights & Precursor Games situation.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 13

We’re polishing up our crystal ball at the following link.

Time is closing in on Microsoft for the reveal of their next console and that only leaves us with a few weeks left to predict and speculate on what they’ll deliver. It starts with going over game release dates, but like we always do, that spirals into a much larger conversation of how we’re taking the release of new consoles. Also, Jeremy took to Zeno Clash II this week and gives us his take on the “first person fister”. Outside of next-gen talk and what Zeno Clash II actually is, we cover the lawsuit filed over false advertising and our hopes (however unlikely) that it might change the way we’re presented with early game footage.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 12

Our latest episode is up for auction at the following link.

We’re not exactly sure how auctions work, or, more specifically, how the auctioning off of THQ works, but we know some of how Gearbox works and we haven’t yet come to terms with them holding onto the IP of Homeworld. Beyond the discussion of all the titles Nordic Games grabbed from THQ, we received an interesting email with an idea of a new mode developers could provide for gamers who want to get the experience of a game, but without experiencing the parts that exist to extended the length of one. It provides an interesting concept, and we’d be curious to know what you think in comparison to our thoughts on the subject.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 11

In-Game Chat was taped before a live studio audience (that was empty) at the following link.

Microsoft takes center stage for this episode. The first hour is covering their recent rumors of being always online, subscription model pricing, their media focus, and a number of other things pouring out of the mill the past two weeks. Still, Microsoft remains silent on the issue, but time waits for no one and soon…we should have a lot more to say on the subject with some amount of actual concrete facts. The second hour of the show gives us time to step into the mailbag and respond to some of it that has been piling up over the past few weeks or so.

A show note: This episode and the next few will be pre-taped. We record them live the morning of the show due to scheduling and then have it play back during its regular time slot. You can still listen to the episode as it airs, but it will also be available to download at the same time. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but hope you will bear with us for the next few weeks until our own personal schedules get back on track.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 01

Amazingly we were renewed for another season.

This first episode of our 7th year wastes no time in getting into the speculation of what’s going on with new console releases and how the year is shaping up. In that part of the show where we talk about upcoming releases, there’s a void at the end of that calendar. A big chunk of nothing. We all know it’s coming. We don’t know what it will look like or what it will do, and, more importantly, what it will cost, but we know it’s coming. With the exception of Nintendo, the current consoles have been around as long as our show has and Microsoft & Sony are set to go head to head this year. They’ve had quite a long time to figure out how these things work and what NOT to do. Now we’re just waiting to see WHAT they do.

Welcome to Season 7. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.

Categories
Episodes Interviews

The Eleven Inches Episode

We’re finding out new things about Twisted Pixel at the following link.

You could call this an interview but given the relationship we have with Josh Bear and Michael Wilford from Twisted Pixel, it feels more like we’re just catching up and having fun.

We’ve got a lot to do of both, actually, as it’s been a while since we’ve spoken to the guys at TPG. In that time they’ve released Comic Jumper (complete with a mention of us in the credits and a big ol’ picture of Jackel as an unlock-able), announced Ms. Splosion Man, and have been working on two brand new IPs we should be hearing more about in a few months.

This is as unorthodox an episode and interview you’ve probably ever gotten from us, so enjoy, and thanks for listening.

Categories
Episodes

The Maddeningly Matt Episode

To find out Matt’s definition of an MMO, four of you should click here.

We hope you’re enjoying the more frequent output of episodes. We’re kind of on a direction to keep these coming at a consistent pace. We’ll see how well that turns out.

This is one of our shorter episodes, but we still cover quite a bit, directed, as usual of course, by your correspondence. You guys can come up with some interesting questions and comments, but no matter, we still address them – some of us better than others.

Categories
Episodes

The Female Ferrets Episode

We apologize for our delay without giving any reason at the following link.

It’s been over a month since we’ve done one of these and quite a bit has taken place, both in the show’s life, our lives, and gaming in general. As my writing of this show post and the content of this episode indicates, we’ve sadly lost James. He’s alive, to be sure, but his day (and as it were, his night) job has taken firm hold upon his time.

Instead of the interview focus we mentioned in our last episode, we take this time to catch up on all our correspondence, catch each other up on all we’ve done in the down time, and randomly diverge into discussions that have nothing to do with gaming, but those are minimal.

We would like to again apologize for such a delay, especially following an episode where we’d just done that. But it still stands that we cannot thank you all enough for continuing to listen to the show, writing in to us, calling us, and reminding us that you all still want more of what we do. We appreciate it more than you know.

Thanks for listening.

Categories
Episodes

The Deer Melting Episode

We interrupt your show at the following link.

We’ve gone on long enough about Modern Warfare 2 and we hope to put that topic to bed with one final installment as a few others on the show, myself included, finish the main campaign with a dip into the multiplayer.

On the other hand, we have Assassin’s Creed 2. A game we’re not likely to wrap up talking about for some time, and one during the recording of this episode that we’ve not even scratched the surface of.

And then there’s Left 4 Dead 2.

Categories
Episodes Interviews

The Mark Hamill Episode

Click here for 90 minutes of awesome.

It’s Mark Hamill.

I mean really, come on….what else could you possibly need to know?

Categories
Episodes

The Adult Check Episode

To find out if you’re an adult, click here.

We’ve got a full house plus one for this episode with our special guest Ryan, also known as Suave Peanut on the forums, rounding out the 6 of us. We go over all of what we played since the last episode and for one us in particular, they got a slightly used Wii console to try out, putting it to good use to give us his impressions of The Conduit. We’ve also got more impressions of Prototype from Jeremy. And we continue our discussion of adventure gaming in its prime.

We’re directed in our conversation once again by both Twitter and emails and the discussion is lead into Starcraft 2’s lack of LAN play and what that may mean for future Blizzard releases. And finally we go over our impressions of seeing Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen coming to a conclusion on it that you might not expect.

Enjoy the show. And thanks for listening.

Categories
Interviews

The Space Invaders Extreme Interview

Space Invaders Extreme invading your space….extremely. Yeah, just click here.

In this interview episode, we talk with Sandra Lew from Foundation 9, parent company of Backbone Entertainment, developers of “Space Invaders Extreme” for Xbox Live Arcade.

If you’re curious how an idea comes about to take a classic game like “Space Invaders” and do to it what Backbone did, you’ll want to take a listen. From the idea to integrate music into the attacks to what it takes when making the transition into High Definition. Not only that, but we find out how those collectible prints came about and what games we’d like to see get a revision (Hint: @!#?@!).

Categories
Episodes Interviews

The Maw Episode

Your weekend dose of gaming conversation begins now.

It isn’t often that we interview many game developers without having played their game, much less without their game even being released yet.  But that’s just what we do with a couple of guys from Twisted Pixel, developers of next week’s Xbox Live Arcade release, The Maw.

Due to their schedules (flying out to LA for a G4 taping) and our schedules (Jeremy having a previous engagement and James having to work), I was the only one available to talk to Mike Wilford, producer of The Maw, and Josh Bear, creative director of The Maw. And while we talk about the game itself, we also bring up the subjects of how The Maw came to be, the importance of the PAX 10, working with Microsoft, and what’s next for the Twisted Pixel team.

It’s not a particularly long episode, not that it needs to be, but we hope it tides you over for the weekend and as always…thanks for listening.