We start off going over the big releases. Followed by all the GTA news we could gather. Daniel compares Choose Your Own Adventure books to GTA. Some guy thinks he knows more about good games than Daniel and Bucky. XBox’s are the new Patch Adams. There are a slew of great games coming to the Nintendo DS! Daniel is over Spore, and all their lies and propaganda. Gamestop is the reason why Daniel will never be a millionaire. Diablo 3 Is Offical, not really but…maybe. We created a new bit for the podcast…listener email, thanks to TimTom for the first question.

links:

• Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend : http://www.steamgames.com/goldrush
• Meet the Scout : http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=game&AppId=5032&cc=US
• Fewer Mechanics, Better Game : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3621/fewer_mechanics_better_game.php?page=1
• Mummy’s Tomb (Choose Your Own Adventure, No. 24) : http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMummys-Tomb-Choose-Your-Adventure%2Fdp%2F0553152947%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1209695741%26sr%ZD8-1&tag=danroo-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
• Game Theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory
• Tim Tom : http://suckit/

 

 Fatslob or Need More Monkey Island [53:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The site has been quiet for a few weeks again, but we are still slowing pumping out content. I have added my review of Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. I just finished Mario Galaxy, and Halo 3 so look for reviews of them sometime in the coming weeks.

There is also a new layout. I was continually frustrated with how poorly the old layout rendered numerous pages on the site. I still have some kinks to work out with the new color scheme, but over all I am happy with the new look.

In this episode we start off with excuses for why we haven’t been producing any episodes lately. Followed closely by plugs for our other side projects (TallyHoh.com and ProjectPudding.com) and then we actually talk about game stuff.

We explain our goals for the podcast/website and how YOU, the user, can contribute.

We go over all the stuff we got for Christmas. Michael explained how much he hates his favorite game of all time. Bucky mocks him, and Daniel finally got Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and an XBox 360.

We confirm what the rest of the internet has said about the repetitiveness of Assassin’s Creed. Bucky gets a brand new used PS2…that’s right: PS2. He is so 2000. Oh and Surprise, Surprise, he offends another group of people!

Publishers are going the way of banks and merging into the One Publisher! The console makers respond by removing the need for a publisher via Microsoft XNA and WiiWare.

Editors Note: Sorry I had some mic issues (with placement) that I wasn’t able to fix in editing… I am a little out of practice.

links

• Microsoft GDC ‘08 Keynote http://www.gamespot.com/video/943273/6186465/microsoft-gdc-2008-keynote-address
• XNA http://www.xna.com/
• Fairuza Balk http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000103/
• No More Heroes Cover Art http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/46/No_More_Heroes.jpg/256px-No_More_Heroes.jpg
• Show notes Image Mistake http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2260/2276473379_2eb8ef3368.jpg?v=0
• Monster Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Party
• Soulja Boy Yahhh http://youtube.com/watch?v=UfCmYyG-yg4

 

 Stop and Pop [62:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In case the title doesn’t give it away, I got the new Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii.  The game is fun, but I feel like I am starting from scratch because the controls are quite different than 2.  The other game goodies I got included, Mario Galaxy, an XBox 360, and Halo 3.  My XBox came with Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2, but if you listen to the podcast you will know, I am not really all that excited about either.I am happy with my loot, although I don’t have an HD television, so I will have to enjoy my XBox on standard definition television.   Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Some other holiday I probably missed.

Merry Christmas everyone! I am one happy gamer! My brother and I finished up our Halo 3 co-op game, and I’m about 3/4’s of the way through Bioshock (thanks Bucky!). Santa’s helpers were kind of enough to get me Assasian’s Creed, Mass Effect, The Orange Box, and Forza 2….. THE SPANISH VERSION.

I’d heard about these fully spanish-translated games. It seems like a great idea, but PLEASE make the “spanish only” label larger than a dime (or at least as large as one)!Basically my 2008 will consist of Triple AAA gaming and Spanish classes. :)I hope everyone else had a Triple AAA Christmas!

In this episode Bucky claims that all things good in video games is doomed. All the players apologize to Too Human, because we are all excited about the game. Michael tries to claim that Daniel is stupid for playing video games on his Mac, and we discuss the big news about LucasArts and BioWare working together on a Mystery MMO.

Dragonball Z is explained, and compared to the likes of Tekken, and Street Fighter IV, and we all wonder if GTA IV is going to be as bad as GTA San Andreas. Finally we wrap up discussing some of the news that came out about Nintendo over the last few weeks.

Thanks again to our sponsor Pudding by Ataraxis Software. Go check out the promotional site, and sign up for a free trial.

links

• BioWare Interview with Gamasutra about EA Acquisition : http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15840
• Pandemic Interview with Gamasutra about EA Acquisition : http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15834
• GameSpot Hands on With Too Human : http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/toohuman/news.html?sid=6181072&om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;title;2
• Cyrsis System Specs : http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/09/crysis-pc-requirements-a-new-pc/
• Nintendo Press Conference wrap up : http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15804

 

 Spark of Intuition [65:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode 4 is, as they say, in the can. I think we figured out most of our audio issues this time, I personally think the sound is an order of magnitude better than previous episodes, and hopefully it will continue to improve.

We have our first sponsor, thanks to Pudding by Ataraxis Software. Go check out the promotional site, and sign up for a free trial.

In this episode we talk about Bungie going out on it’s own, but not straying far from home. Michael asks to mooch a game that Daniel hasn’t even acquired yet. Bucky tells us we can get over our Wii Slippage by ordering the free remote sleeves from Nintendo, especially since the Wii has the most abundant game Christmas lineup.

We all are getting discouraged with the numerous SKUs per console and can’t wait for the 6-axis Dual Shock controller from Sony. Michael rants about another Mech game, which destroys a perfect transition about missing release dates. We talk about Team Fortress 2 some more, and unfortunately at the time of recording we didn’t yet play Portal, although we are extremely excited about it. Finally we want better niche reviews, so we are asking you the listener to send us your suggestions, and if it is an audio file we will tag it and include it in the feed, for the world to hear.

links

• Pudding: http://projectpudding.com
• Free Wii Remote Glove: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/jacket/jacketrequest.jsp
• Team Ninja Interview: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15699

Amazingly enough we managed to retain all the audio tracks this time. Which is good because we were using close range microphones, so we wouldn’t have been able to publish the episode without them!

 

 Bungies the Chick [59:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We made an attempt to wrap up the violent video game discussion. Is steam the new live? Bucky and Daniel got into the Team Fortress 2 beta and gave their impressions. What is the big deal with Halo 3? Daniel doesn’t mention DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3. We contemplated what makes EA tick. Michael plugs MechAssault again, and Bucky was willing to offend everyone except the Irish. Oh and we didn’t lose Bucky’s track this time, we lost Michael’s.

My Odeo Channel (odeo/7f6542a9696cb7cc)

 

 It's a Wanker [66:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download