35th Podcast

Rich returns from Wal Mart with a new Ipod Shuffle and discuss some pro’ s and con’s of why he shops at BOTH Wal Mart AND Kmart. We talk a little about Silent Hill Homecoming and World Of Warcraft 3.3 patch. We also talk a little avatar
and what little there is to say about Halo Reach. Join us for the 35thpodcast

Magic Wand Remote

So, think.geek posted something pretty awesome. It’s a tv remote that is ALSO a wand. I’m kind of digging this but, given how many remotes I have already. The cable box. the tv controller. the xbox remote. the xbox CONTROLLER. the playstation CONTROLLER. I’m a little salty on adding more. Sure sure..there are UNIVERSAL remotes but they never work. Trust me on this.  Here’s a shortlist of features that I stole from the site.

Product Specifications

• Magic wand television remote for witches, wizards, and the occasional muggle
• 13 magical functions (the number one would expect in magic!)
• Learns from your existing remotes
• With a little practice, you can train yourself to do magic with household electronics
• Flip the channel with a flick of your wand, twist your wand to turn up the volume
• Compatible with almost all makes of TV, DVR, or really anything with a remote!

The new World of Warcraft LFG tool is NOT a tool.

So patch 3.3 came out yesterday and despite my previous mentions of being over wow, I’m very much NOT. And let me explain why. I’m a addict. LOLOLOLING. SO. FRIGGING HARD.  I kid.

In all seriousness I’m not really this crazy gamer who maxes out everything. I’m a total half bake when it comes down to it. As you can tell by the frequency of my posts here. Rich suffers from the same affliction if you cant tell.  Well the biggest beef is that I cant stand most every other gamer on the planet and most every one of them maxes or has to be the best. That’s just not my style. I just play games dog. Card games, board games, video games, etc, whatever.  So in this patch Blizzard introduced a cross realm looking for group tool. That means not only your realm has people looking but also your entire battlegroup and for mine that means >20< realms. >20<.  Groups fill quickly now to say the least. Another awesome feature is if you pick up group, or pick “random” heroic, you’ll get a buff to your damage, healing and I believe damage reduction. I’m certain on the first 2 but not the last one. +5% is HILARIOUS for good geared groups which I managed to stumble in with.  So you select what you want to do, damage, tank, heal, or even lead a group (but you also have to select one of the first three duh). At max level you do Dungeons on normal or “heroic” setting. On heroic (which most everyone does now that most of us have some level of gear) you get badges that drop from bosses along with loot. With these badges you can buy really nice gear. So for example, I’ll do a dungeon and get 4 badges. To get a baller “tier piece” one of the more expensive items I’ll have to spend 58 badges. 58/4 sucks. Right? That’s like >15< heroic runs.  But here’s the kicker. Most everyone is geared up and heroics aren’t too awful unless your group is hella bad. Which is not always the case. So most heroics take 30 or so minutes or for the longer ones 1 hour. The time invested is not crushingly awful for one piece. (dungeon sets anyone. UGH).
To kind of combat this hella gnarley ness they introduced “daily” dungeon quests giving gold AND badges.  So it wont take 15 runs to get one piece. Realistically you’ll get something from a heroic unless you’re ultra geared out so it’s not like mind numbingly bad. Also you can now wear tabards to get rep so after 15 runs you’re likely exalted with all of Humanity or any high level faction in game. At exalted factions will sell you epic items.  So lets say you didnt get something you liked in heroic drops, which is unlikely, there are also other rewards with that effort.  Sure, It’s not a total cake walk but it is compared to when the first part of the game came out.

I know people will get really lame about it and say Blizzard is handing out epics and “casuals” much in the same way they talk about conservatives or liberals (as if they’re people really walking around with this above them saying THINK OF ME).  And, sure they are to some extent. But what they’re really doing is making a very in-depth game much lighter on the normal people.  Now that I’m older and thus don’t have time nor any interest to be on the computer from 9-5 then from 6-12 this is GREAT. I can pop in and out of groups swiftly, get what I want from the game which is pew pew pew pew pew, and then roll on to over things in my life. On weekends I can still raid though my guild doesn’t, and only one or two pug raids happen.  This game just got A LOT better for me.  Blizzard is like the JK Rowling. Everything she does is gold and same with them. Props to blizzard.

Red Dwarf Series 10

Boom. Quickie post because i’m at work but, Red Dwarf, a tv show I love was commisioned for a 10th season according to Robert Llewellyn. “Series 10 of Red Dwarf announcement just been made at DJ 09. To clarify the scripts have been commissioned, wont be filming til 2010″”. I really enjoyed the 3 episodes of  the Back to Earth Series that was filmed recently on the Dave Channel. Though, and I stand by this, that it’s a shame Rob Grant wont go back and write for the show. He’s still got the wit and charm. Hell just read his twitter account! http://twitter.com/realrobgrant

34th Podcast

Richie Continues his Kmart Shopping Spree by talking about Assassian’s Creed, Ps3 Sales, Rock Band DLC,15 million nintendo sales last week (whatever), suprising average playtime on wii games,gamestop stock plunging  more zombieland dramaz, and yes. I’m playing wow again. sigh.  Tune in for more of the same from the 34thpodcast. 34thpodcast

Happy Turkey Lurkey Day Southpark Style

So, yeah, turkey day tommorow for us American’s. The day we feast on being the greatest nation in THE WORLD YEAH. MAN. I’m kidding. Naw. I’m not. Anyways
From the 64 days an entire south park game was devised on killing turkeys. So. yeah. Watch and enjoy like I did in the 90’s. lol. I gotta play this game again sometime soon.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNwvzF1-TYc

World of Warcraft 5 year anniversary video

Blizzard created a little microsite for their 5 year ann. They go through and interview all the big boys.  It’s pretty awesome. Man I want to work there. lol.

Summing up how I feel about The office

The Onion had a funny article that kind of sums up how I feel about the US version of the TV show the office, now in it’s >6th< season.

“The Office ended abruptly Thursday when documentary filmmaker Ian Sheffield announced that he and his crew had all the footage of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company’s Scranton branch required for their project. “In retrospect, we really over-shot this thing by an enormous margin,”"

Exactly. Fine whatever you like the US show,you think steve carrell is funny, i dont, or that All filming is done in LA thereby negating the existence of the show and all your Broll. yeah..palms in scranton. Whatever. I dont really give a crap over your bad ideas. So lets just widdle it down to one statement. This is a documentary based on a simple office and the silly things that hapen. And …….. In 6 years you’re still shooting…am I really to believe that this is still a documentary after >6< years.  End the show.

 

33rd Podcast

We get together after a Kmart shopping spree and discuss lots of stuff. Rich talks a little about Overlord and Modern Warfare 2 while I spout some dragon age dragon tales. But not duck tales. quack quack. We also discuss some HDTV deals going on Black Friday and of course what video game deals are out there. News of the xbox crackdown. We dont believe the 1 million either. <3 xbox.  Enough already, check out the 33 33 33

Insane Knife Throw in Modern Warfare 2

Just watch.

32nd Podcast

MAN. THIRTY TWO podcasts in. That’s just buck wild yo. Rich and I get together to talk our latest video game names. Rich has been Enjoying Modern Warfare 2, Ballad of Gay Tony, a dude in Kmart LOL RICH SHOPS AT KMART fronting on him, and some ..Tropico? Bam. I’ve been hitting up Borderlands, Brutal Legend and yet more complaining about EA Sports games. We also talk some news and 2012. Yawn. Check out the 32ndpocast

Modern Warfare 2 out tommorow?

Ask me. Go ahead. Ask me. No? Ok fine. I’ll ask myself.

 

Jamie: Do you care about modern warfare 2?
Jamie:  Not as MUCH AS  I CARE ABOUT PLAYING SUPER MARIO BROTHERS WII.

There I said it. I’m really excited about this game. There’s something to be said about a game you can play WITH someone. And we all know nintendo loves to bring nerds together.  Ok. Ask me another question. Go ahead. Ask me. No? WELL FINE. GOD.

Jamie: Are you totally pumped about Dragon Age coming out and the fact it’s SINGLE PLAYER.
Jamie: Yes, Dragon Age, in every single RPG way has me totally excited. Bioware is a Devloper rich and I love butttttttttttttttttttt. Single Player? Come on.  I’m in a group of 4 fools, why cant I have a friend pop in? It’s very very dissapointing.  There’s always Super Mario Brothers Wii?

GBU Game Review for Brutal Legend (XBOX 360)

I found out about this game based purely on hype. Sure we’ve spoken about this on the podcast but alas my memory is not like the old days. I’m glad the hype machine worked on this one. Now  I cant recant to you the process why this game was developed in the manner it was or what game was the most influential one before that one but…I can tell you I had a lot of fun playing this. Not only just with gameplay but also laughing which very very very rarely happens while playing a video game. So..enough…with the REVIEW ALREADY.
Good: Jokesin,Jokesin, Jokesin’.  The Metal Jokes abound in this game.  There’s a mention of a Headbangers that still has me laughing when I think about it. Dont worry, it’s no spoiler.  The Map is huge and the gameplay is similar in it’s ease to Fable but, ok, i’ll be a jerk this gameplay is what star wars force unleashed wished it could be. The moves are not hard to get down and they actually DO something. Hold B and you create a fire explosion! Sweeeeeet.  There’s a special’s menu, bound to the shoulder button, where you play riff’s, think Wind Waker here, that summons various things or special abilities. Kind of like World of Warcraft 51 point talents. You can summon an animal aid, or your car or my personal favorite Melt Faces where you melt the faces of the enemies nearby. Yeah. Awesome right?   These effects come into play during the battle matches you have both in game and with another person.  In essense you are given the command of an army and attempt to manage it’s resources duking it out with another player by sending your army to take control of their towers. If you think it sounds like an RTS but in first/third person, you’re totally correct. And if you say that’s the 4th type of game I’ve mentioned you’re very smart. This game takes a lot of what works and puts it into a game, and well.  So this multiplayer is a nice additive and completely unexpected. But there’s more that I’ll get to in a bit.  You are also given this weird way of upgrading your character by finding relic’s and doing missions. You earn these fire of the god points that you can use to spend on upgrades in a garage run by Ozzy Osborne of all chracters. Given how completely easy it was to understand ozzy, I think the whole drunk ozzy thing as a reality is bogus. Dude knows his product and sells it. and we eat it up.

Bad: The Multiplayer match appears out of nowhere after a short “how to” session. The multiplayer while fun is not really perfected and a little overdone. I did not expect it to be the last 3 stages of the game. Which it very nearly was. If you want to complete a lot of the side missions (and you will) you’ll have to treck all OVER the map. It’s fun but it gets a tad overwhelming due to the map size. I’m talking the hunting mission. UGH. That was an achievement I worked TOWARDS. 

Ugly: The game tends to get a tad long in the tooth near the end. While almost not wanting the game to finish the Devloper got a few things really right and then OVERDID it. I guess it’s the metal thing where it’s just done to death. I guess in the sense it’s not ugly.

Man this is a hilarious, a Sesame Street Yip Yip Martian Rap!

yeah yeah yeah…blam blam blam… just watch and laugh as Yip Yup starts blastin’

 

31st Podcast

Some indepth discussion of…TROPICO. A game similar to RailRoad Tycoon due to using the same engine. Squeeeee. We also talk Army of Two, Sim City 4, The DSI getting a bigger and needed screen size increase, The PS3 getting netflix, A Crazy from the Netherlands who blamed silent hill for a crime? New Video game releases AND Boondock Saints 2? Really?  Surprises abound in the 31st_podcast

GBU game review for Left 4 Dead (360)

Left 4 Dead is a zombie survivor story. You are given 4 seperate places to escape the zombie invasion along with 3 other NPC’s. You can have the option to play locally 4 player, online co-0p or by yourself with the computer playing the other 3.

Good: The game is straight foreward in it strategy. Point, shoot and watch the aftermath. It’s extremely easy to pick up.  Trouble is. That’s the game. Literally. Run. Look Zombies! Blamo! Run. Look Zombies! Blamo! If you played exclusivly Co-Op I know for a fact you will have a blast. Literally. =)

Bad: The AI is slightly useful for one character, with the other times your two npc friends slightly above useless. To be fair though one normally acts as a healer.  To match the NPC there are 4 types of zombies. The knuckle draggers we all know, a very large patchwork looking thing, some spiderman things, and a tank. Called I think..a tank. yeah it was that memorable for me. So..there’s a lot of variety in this game (sarcasim).

Ugly: If you payed 59.99 for this game and told me you wanted your money back because you dont play Co-Op I wouldnt argue one bit with you. If you have lots of friends or are the type who puts up with the Xbox Live Kiddie Playland then none of what I wrote applyies to you.

GBU game review for Army Of Two (and my cat)

This game review will differ in many ways from my/our previous game reviews.  I won’t actually review this game so much as tell you what happened. And that’s not to say the game was bad and unreviewable. It’s because the last time I played this game was the last time I saw one of my best friends alive. One of my cats died sometime last night and I am currently unable to write a review of the game as this is clouding my judgement.  Please forgive me for my unorthodox review.

Good:  He was there through every up and down. He was there before many friends I’ve ever had.  He was there on a friday night when noone else was. He wanted to be with me when I was ugly and when I was beautiful.  He loved me when I was single and when I was in a relationship. He was there when I was poor and there when I was not. He listened when I recorded music even when it was good and when it was very bad.  He would sit on the sofa and watch me play my silly games, or he would join me upstairs on the computer. I would leave just enough space for him to lay down and he was always happy with that.  Every morning he would greet me in the bathroom and rub against my leg. When I was done showering he would follow me downstairs, scratch the post that only he would scratch then take up a nice lookout place for me to pet him on the way out. He would meow when he wanted the window open and loved to look outside.  He also loved going outside when I was working out. He would check out the yard first, then he would lay down and let me do my workout until I was done. Sometimes he would come over and rub against my leg and I could feel him purring.  He did not want to run away he just enjoyed being outside with me.  He did not cry loudly and repuslivly. He would simply do his one meow letting you know he needed something.  It was nice knowing how happy he got from the simple things we did together. and that is what love really is.

Bad: At 2am last night, when I put down Army of 2 I did not say goodnight to my friend. The spot he was laying on was the last spot I saw him alive. I regret not having done so.

Ugly:  One of my best friends is not with me anymore and I never got to say goodbye.

30th Podcast!

We get together and talk some, Dead space,Call Of Duty 4, Kill Zone, GTA 4 now on Demand, The new Wow Movie, ATI winning the next gen console deal, the PS3 getting top sales for the first time….ever? Check out the 30th_podcast

Holy Split! Beatles Abbey Road Released and I didn’t even know!

So, one of the >3< announced Beatles albums has been released. And by far and away my least liked album so you see me in the corner not giving a damn ok? That’s enough of the hate against this game , It was released on October 20th and the entire album is available to the fresh tune of 16.98 (what is this 1998 cd prices?).  At least the next two albums are going to be pretty nice, we get “Sgt Peppers” and “Rubber Soul”. No release date has been announced on those games but I’ll bet money it occurs before December 25
Rich and I talked about this on our podcast but it appears the other Beatles albums are t at best to become available for DLC.  Here’s something I stole from wikipedia. “While there is potential for the entire Beatles catalogue to be made available, such a scenario would be “stretching it a bit”, according to John Drake of Harmonix.^[34] Drake identified the costly development process as a potentially prohibitive factor: “Every time we do one song, it’s not like Rock Band where we wait for the masters to come in and just author them… its like, send people to Abbey Road, use the original tape, separate them out… it costs thousands of dollars.”^[68] Drake asserted that Harmonix would take sales of the currently announced albums into consideration before continuing development of downloadable content.”

Are you kidding me? I thought the albums were digitally remastered when Star Wars was raped and torn apart to the ugly beast it is now? Oh well.

Ratchet and Clank and Trailer

So, there’s a pretty informative trailer for the new game in the Ratchet and Clank series. The developers discuss the addiction(addition) of Trophy’s and using them to unlock challenges. This is something that we’ve discussed in depth on our podcast’s as something developers can do to break down a wall between the user and developer. Here you did ALL THIS, now you get this since you obviously love the game so much. For example I play through all of oblivion I now get a new town to go do quests with. Just sayin’ Bethesda. The developers also discuss the replay factor for the game one that I didn’t think was really there (although they say fans email them about this!). So that’s pretty cool!