Thanks for playing bingo, Gaerma, Rokwynd, and WilliamPall!  We’ll be contacting you all with some gifts soon.

We then talk about E3 a lot, even though we’re all tired of talking about E3.

Current-gen consoles received pledges of support, but not a lot of air time.

The PC was strangely absent from the E3 news.

The portable scene is tempting, but it’s hard to overcome the piles of dust sitting on the hosts’ current portables.

Microsoft’s XBone offerings are intriguing, but not anywhere near intriguing enough to make any of the hosts look past the consoles other issues or $500 price tag.

Nintendo showed off a lot of games that will no doubt be a lot of fun, but are any of them enough to make a Wii U purchase worthwhile?

Sony slapped Microsoft around, and won gamer minds and hearts by maintaining the status quo.

Pinocchio – February 7, 1940

Director: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske, Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts
Producer: Walt Disney
Writer: Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia
Voice Actors: Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Mel Blanc, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, Frankie Darro
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures

The course of the conversation:

Fair Warning: If you disliked us picking apart Singin’ in the Rain, you may hate our take on Pinocchio.

No matter how you spell it, Pinocchio‘s a cracked-out fever dream.

Finding Nemo causes another moment of confusion.

That said, Pixar seems to be harkening back to the scare-the-piss-out-of-them Disney mindset.

Jonathan was an exposed to an inappropriate amount of Pinocchio a few years ago.

Jiminy Cricket: the worst conscience ever.

Time: the worst interpretation of Pinocchio ever.

The plot feels very disconnected and slapped together…

…but that harkens back to the serialized nature of the original story.

The Moral: Go to school, dammit.

The animation is fantastic, and it was all done by hand.

Jonathan uses visual cues on an audio medium.

Nathaniel doesn’t much appreciate the music in Pinocchio.

Nathaniel also has issues with a monstrous whale name Monstro.

There is tons of fridge horror in this movie.

The Pinocchio podcast diverges into Caligula.

Is it bad if no one cares?  Is it fun if it’s not bad?

Is this the best Disney movie to put on the list?

And now we’re discussing the theological implications of earning your soul.

And now we’re discussing the philosophical implications of self-reflection.

And now Jonathan’s discussing an only-vaguely related scientific study.

Remember how we asked which Disney movie might be better suited for the list?

Jonathan totally fails at remembering Hercules.

Nathaniel’s got plenty of other recommendations.  Jonathan thinks Pinocchio‘s apt.

We try to find a moral in Snow White.

Jonathan explains why Winnie the Pooh doesn’t make the list, despite his personal feelings.

Nathaniel gave his all. And not anywhere near the vitriol he teased off mic.

Somehow Danny Devito and James Woods bother Nathaniel, but not Robin Williams and Gilbert Gottfried.

Pinocchio is placed, and Nathaniel and Jonathan match up more often than either might like to admit.

Next week is not any of the movies Jonathan mentions, nor is it season 4 of Arrested Development.

You Might Wanna Know: (Stuff we just found out about, and maybe you want to know about too.)

• How Long to Beat: For those who need to know how much entertainment their dollar buys.
• Rain: Have we talked about Rain?  Because games like this are why I’ll likely end up with a PS4.
• Spy Party: The paid beta has finally launched.
• State of Decay: Open-world zombie game with trust mechanics and permanent character death.
• Select Your Hero: Art!

Short News:

• Konami’s Pre-E3 Not-Really-A-Press-Conference Online Streaming Event
  • Kiefer Sutherland will be the voice of Snake in MGSV.
  • Dracula is the main character of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 gets a new engine.
  • And that’s it.  Maybe there’ll be more at the Big 3′s conferences?
• Microsoft lays out all the information about how the XBone will work:
  • You can lend your games to a friend.  Once.
  • You can give your games away.  Once.
  • You can only sell your games to approved retailers.
  • Publishers get to make the decision if you even get to sell your game.
  • The XBone has to validate your games daily if you’re at home.
  • The XBone will validate your games hourly if you’re elsewhere.

Games:

• Two of the hosts have completed Tomb Raider.  One host hasn’t but will.  A review episode is forthcoming.
• Jonathan recommends you go buy Humble Bundle 8 in the couple of days you have left after this episode drops.
• Alex bought the new strategy game from the developers who created R.U.S.E.: Wargame: AirLand Battle.
• Sam is tolerating the freemium aspects of Tetris Blitz, and was caught in a weak moment when he bought Chrono Trigger on Android.
• Jonathan has completed and rated Stealth Bastard Deluxe:
  • The plot is understated, but clever.
  • The level design is tight and interesting.
  • The controls are simple and well-tuned.
  • The stealth is pretty much pitch perfect.
  • There’s plenty of reason to go back for multiple playthroughs.
  • There are lots of community levels available.
  • It’s ten bucks.  Seventeen if you buy the DLC.
  • Rating: Classic
• Alex also manages to sneak in a discussion of Blood Bowl: Star Coach, much to Sam’s chagrin.

Topic:

You may have seen our E3 Bingo post.  Join us!  We’ll give you a bingo card, and it’ll be fun!

For the episode, the guys pick a couple of predictions each, both pie-in-the-sky and somewhat likely.

Alex:

1. There’ll be a new game show game on the XBone in the same vein as 1 vs. 100.
2. Sony & Valve will announce a Steam partnership of some kind.

Jonathan:

1. Retro will release a new Metroid game in the style of Metroid: Hunters.
2. Sim City will unironically be announced for consoles.

Sam:

1. A proper Final Fantasy Tactics sequel will be announced for PS4.
2. At least 10 of the 15 XBone exlusives will be existing IP.

How’d we do?  We’ll have to find out next week.

Mouchette – October 26, 1967

Director: Robert Bresson
Producer: Anatole Dauman
Writer: Robert Bresson
Actors: Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal, Paul Hebert
Distributor: UGC / CFDC

The course of the conversation:

The guys have trouble figuring out how to start the show, so they talk about listener feedback instead.

Jonathan gets into the philosophy of the podcast.

Apologies if we bash your favorite movie, but only kind of.

Back to Mouchette!  Yay!

Nathaniel’s pretentious-o-meter reacts badly to this movie.

Skipping the format to talk about something interesting.

Nathaniel’s been doing it wrong all this time.

Nathaniel can’t relate to Mouchette as a character.  Jonathan disagrees.

Michael feels the film fails at its message.  Jonathan disagrees.

It’s difficult to write clever show notes when the discussion is all about suicide and rape.

Jonathan relates Mouchette to The West Wing.  What?

Objectively, Mouchette’s life isn’t that bad.  In her own head, it is that bad.

Jonathan deviates into talking about The Searchers and Blazing Saddles.

Nathaniel wanted the rest of the movie to match the last fifteen minutes.  Jonathan disagrees.

Perhaps each viewer’s own conclusion is the point, not the story itself.

Do you really need to understand in order to care?

Most suicide stories force a message.  Mouchette asks what message you see.

“It’s just a cry for help.”  Isn’t that enough?  Why not?

The List: How ridiculous is it that we’re comparing Mouchette to Finding Nemo?

Gaerma is the grand winner (and only entrant) of the Don’t Starve giveaway.

Sam gives us his take on the XBone, and it’s not terribly positive, although Alex has some new feelings about it.

Molyneux’s “social experiment,” Curiosity, has finished, there’s a winner, and the winner will be a god (for a while).

Sam may still be unpacking, but he’s got 5 of his 6 consoles unpacked and set up.

Alex makes inconsiderate comparisons when talking about Knytt Underground.

Jonathan makes similar, but more appropriate, comparisons for Stealth Bastard Deluxe.

Next week we’ll stop revisiting topics that one or another host missed out on!

Star Wars – May 25, 1977

Director: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

The course of the conversation:

May the Fourth and Revenge of the Sixth.  Ouch.

Star Wars.  Not A New Hope.  Not Episode 4.

We’re going to limit our discussion to just this movie.  (No, we’re not.)

Three geeks like Star Wars.  Stop the presses!

Perhaps immaturity accounts for thinking A New Hope was a slow movie.

Darths & Droids: Where Jonathan read about the alternate take on Han’s Kessel run.

As geeks, do we do Star Wars a disservice by trying to make everything in the movie perfect?

The rest of the trilogy makes it easy to forget where Han Solo starts as a character.

Mark Hamill was the actor Luke Skywalker needed.

Leia is the strongest character, and Carrie Fisher plays it very well.

Vader’s the bad guy you remember.  Tarquin is the real villain of the film.

Despite saying that, the guys spend ten minutes talking about Vader.

Vader is the active use of the Force.

So much of the universe is implied in this first film, and it’s fascinating.  Later films get more explicit with the universe, and some of the wonder is lost.

One of the potential troubles with the Special Edition additions is that it loses the build up of suspense and context that make the later reveals so interesting.

Nathaniel disses George Lucas.

Did George Lucas become a slave of his own success?

Han Solo is the prime creator of satisfying character tension in the story.

Thank you, Ralph McQuarrie.

And credit to Lucas for letting Ralph McQuarrie do what he do.

An X-Wing would probably be pointless in space, but it looks perfect.

What’s your favorite Star Wars ship?

We apologize to Trekkers on behalf of Nathaniel.

Podcast compensation is discussed.

The Rule of Cool turned to 11.

It doesn’t make sense, but you don’t really care, do you?

Did Star Wars unite geek culture?  Or did it unite us all?

“I like Star War better!”  Dammit!

The hosts all try to convince themselves that they didn’t just fanboy out on this movie.

The hosts diverge into talking about Lord of the Rings out of order.

There’s after-credits bonus content if you want to hear Nathaniel agonize over his placement.

We basically skip the usual format this week to talk about the reveal of the Xbox One.

TV, TV, TV, TV, sports, sports, TV, sports, sports, sports, Call of Duty.

Did Microsoft present anything at all that we want?  Does Microsoft care if they presented anything at all that we want?

Is this the natural evolution of the home console?

Is Kaz Hirai laughing with glee and derision?

Next week we’ll talk about games again.

Some Like It Hot – March 29, 1959

Director: Billy Wilder
Producer: Billy Wilder
Writers: Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
Actors: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, Pat O’Brien
Distributor: United Artists

The course of the conversation:

We continue to be unable to stick to the movies we announce.

The puppy test is in full effect.

Jack Lemmon.  Respect.

Jonathan finally gets a clear idea of what the word “grounded” means.

Bert may be wacky, but you laugh at Ernie.

Tony Curtis seems to be either overshadowed or carrying the entire scene.

Some of the slower bits, while necessary, may keep this from being a regular viewer.

Marilyn Monroe is exactly what the movie needed, and not just in the film itself.

We diverge into talking about actors and actresses who only have looks to sustain them.

Jonathan tells a story about angering his mother.

Chris Farley and Marilyn Monroe are compared.

Here’s why the movie was filmed in black and white.

Kansas couldn’t handle it.

Jonathan apologizes to Kansas on behalf of Colorado.

Nathaniel apologizes to Kansas on behalf of Kansas.

Lots of symbolism in bed-wear.

But wait, there’s more!

Is this a screwball comedy?  Do we yet know what a screwball comedy is?

Nathaniel makes a sure and “simple” decision.

Jonathan risks the wrath of Brando and De Niro to gain the favor of Stanwyck and Lemmon.

Michael shuffles his list like a deck of cards and gives more credit to John Wayne.

Jonathan flip flops on his vote for Michael’s movie, bumping Twelve Angry Men in favor of Blazing Saddles.

Before that, though, Sam tells us about his new internet service, and Alex tells us about previews of XCOM: The Bureau.

Sam is actually still playing Uncharted 2, rather than having finished it like I might’ve written in the show notes last week.  He has, though, completed Candy Box, and has also played his first Zynga game, What’s the Phrase?

Alex is in the beta for Card Hunter, and it’s exactly what he thought it was going to be and that’s great news.  He’s also been playing Monaco, and so long as you don’t mind throwing stealth out the window, you’ll have a great time playing it with friends.

All Jonathan talks about this week is Bioshock Infinite, and he doesn’t have particularly good things to say about it.  This isn’t because the game is particularly bad, but more because the media surrounding the game made it out to be something far greater than it really is.

The Holmberg’s official rating for Bioshock Infinite: Rent it.

The Searchers – March 13, 1956

Director: John Ford
Producer: Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Writers: Frank S. Nugent
Actors: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood
Distributor: Warner Bros.

The course of the conversation:

I’ll fill this in soon.

News: EA gets exclusive rights to the Star Wars license from Disney.  Gamers everywhere weep.

Games:  Jonathan fell down the rabbit holes that are Frog Fractions and Candy Box.  Both are free browser games that explore the history of gaming through utter randomness.  Sam has beaten Uncharted 2: Electric Boogaloo, and he likes that they fixed some stuff, but dislikes quite a bit more.  Alex has played next to nothing this week.

Topic:  Microsoft will be giving us details of their next console on May 21st, so we thought we’d talk a bit about what we expect to see and what we want to see.  We derail at the start talking about how we’re not likely to even want the next Xbox, but we eventually get back on track and pretend to be interested.  Cable TV integration, social gaming, the future of Xbox Live; what do you think we’re going to see?

Man With a Movie Camera – January 8, 1929

Director: Dziga Vertov
Writers: Dziga Vertov
Cinematography: Mikhail Kaufman

The course of the conversation:

We actually watched a silent movie we said we’d watch.

Nathaniel makes a reference from The Ring.  Jonathan doesn’t get it.

Michael quotes Nietzsche and stares into the abyss.

Jonathan is still processing.

Let’s define our terms.

Scare quotes!

A movie doesn’t need to protest to be political.

The movie has an agenda, but it feels subtle.

So much of the movie feels modern, but at the time, Vertov put out a month-long disclaimer to warn the audience that things were going to get weird.

The host’s lack of knowledge becomes an issue with understanding this film.

Quentin Tarantino would love this movie.

Appreciation for this film may be lost as we lose the physical process of moviemaking.

Live birth, side-boob, front-boob, dancing crawfish.

These are just people, living their lives, and how would that have appeared to people afraid of the Commies?

Is this movie sugar-coating Stalinist Russia, or successfully giving a taste of a day-in-the-life despite what bad things might’ve been going on?

From a social point of view, we’re glad this movie exists.

Nathaniel made his decision easily.  Michael had trouble, but didn’t rank it high.  Jonathan feels there’s a lot of technique to deconstruct and learn from.

Your hosts announce their next movie, The Searchers, with confidence, because they’re pulling a double-feature week.

The Lady Eve – February 25, 1941

Director: Preston Sturges
Producer: Paul Jones, Buddy G. DeSylvia
Writers: Preston Sturges
Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

The course of the conversation:

The guys have difficulty getting into this conversation, blame the chicken.

Michael gets deep.

Just what is screwball comedy?

They might as well just call it testicular torsion.

Clever casting reveals more character details than you’d think.

Clever writing reveals more intimacy than any amount of nudity.

Barbara Stanwyck is a lioness stalking a slab of beef.

Somehow Jonathan brings in violence in video games.

Jonathan impersonates Hitler in neither Swedish nor German.

“Who’s John?” “Romeo’s sister.” “Wait, what?”

An honest rube is a somehow better than conning a con.

Should screwball comedies be on the list?

Is the screwball comedy the revival of “women’s films”?

Nathaniel’s not quite sure why he likes The Awful Truth so much more than The Lady Eve.

When Michael says a movie’s going to stay somewhere on his list? Don’t believe him.

Jonathan continues to lose touch with why Finding Nemo is so high on his list.

The hosts contribute their own movies to the list: Moon, 12 Angry Men, and The Blues Brothers.

Jonathan feels weird about Roger Ebert’s passing.

Living Russia is not a depressing movie at all.  Ignore everything Jonathan says.

The guys have decided to quit living in sin.

Monaco will be purchased on 360, when it’s finally released.

The word “Edge” is now no longer trademarked.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified was only hinted at when we recorded the show.

Alex picked up Playstation Plus, Malicious, Disgaea 3, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Midway Arcade Classics.

Sam has finished Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Resident Evil 6, and has given up on a 1999 run through Bioshock Infinite.

Jonathan’s playing Don’t Starve, Darksidersed Revengeance, and gets to talk about Ridiculous Fishing but not Fish Out of Water.

The Metagame is tabled for a while, as Sam is clearly the Prognosticator Extraordinaire, and also the guys aren’t giving the game the attention it needs to actually be interesting.

On the Waterfront – July 28, 1954

Director: Elia Kazan
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writers: Budd Schulberg
Actors: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
Distributor: Columbia Pictures

The course of the conversation:

Jonathan’s biggest exposure to Brando.

We’re going to be adults about the boobs.

Nathaniel dislikes modern Oscar fodder.

Ripped from the headlines!

Parallels can be drawn to Elia Kazan’s testimony in front of HUAC, but probably not enough to spend too much time on it.

Jonathan has a terrible memory.

The difficulty of making the movie.

Nathaniel doesn’t know if he would have made that decision.

Mark Wahlberg would be Terry Malloy in a modern-day remake.

We go into the priest.

The priest is the only one who could play the moral compass in this story.

Edie is the one who forces Terry to act.

The redemption of America.

Lee J. Cobb plays reprehensible so damn well.

Nathaniel is terrified of Gene Hackman.

It’s the little ones you’ve gotta worry about.

Eva Marie Saint gives a good performance, up until the script lets her down.

In our theoretical, modern-day remake, Edie would hopefully get a fuller character.

John Turturro is not John Leguizamo.

We’re glad that On the Waterfront came so quickly after Raging Bull.

The juxtaposition of the “Charlie” scene in On the Waterfront and the “Charlie” scene in Raging Bull is genius.

Context is everything.

Leonard Bernstein’s score was so overwhelming.  And not in a good way.

The drama button and Skrillex.  Either might be better.

Dear Internet: Please give us a version of this movie without the weird sound decisions.

Score-writing guy.

Jonathan and Nathaniel place the movie high on their lists, but it’s Michael who has a surprising casualty.

Jonathan manages to screw up the closing of this show, too.  It’s like a disease or something.

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac

Developer: Irrational Games

Publisher: 2K Games

Genre: 1st Person Shooter

Rating:

• The Producer: Buy It
• The Moose: Rent It

The Third Man – September 2, 1949

Director: Carol Reed
Producer: Carol Reed, Alexander Korda, David O. Selznick
Writers: Graham Greene
Actors: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
Distributor: British Lion Films

The course of the conversation:

Yeah, we didn’t watch Napoleon, again.  Keep an eye on the show notes.

Jonathan talks about business for a bit.

Jonathan also gives a history lesson about the Production Code.

All that talk about the code?  The Third Man is foreign and has nothing to do with it.

It’s another first for Jonathan.  Maybe.

All zither, all the time.

Nathaniel doesn’t like that he only connected with Anna. Michael and Jonathan argue that that’s the point.

Some movies needed to be watched a second time. This might be one of those.

Bruce Willis is not dead.

It’s not quite mustache twirling…

Never work with animals or small children.

We abandon any attempts at structure.

Unnecessary salacious trivia time!

Turns out, we’ve already watched a David O. Selsnick film.

There’s plenty of clever touches in this movie.

Noir is not a genre of trench coats and jazz bars; noir is a genre of it’s time.

There was an end, but no resolution.

We bust out the list.

I don’t really like this movie.  Oh wait, I really like this movie.

Michael makes a fairly easy choice.  Nathaniel and Jonathan make all sorts of changes.

Life is a message board, and firsts have been claimed.

Nathaniel’s third choice for his movie to include will shock you.

Michael picks a movie that’s gonna require a bigger boat.

Jonathan picked three movies, hedging his bet against someone taking one, and no one took any of them.

The guys moon over Moon.

Marlo Brando is De Niro’s tender side?  What?

De Niro Tenders.

News:  Microsoft’s new Xbox is going to feature DVR capabilities; 100% of WotG’s hosts have no use for it.  When focus testing The Last of Us, Naughty Dog had to specifically request female gamers be included in the testing.  And Skyrim has effectively un-capped character levels, because we all needed an excuse to lose more time in that game.

Games:  Jonathan tricks Alex into thinking he got early access to Injustice: Gods Among Us, but what he really played was the free iOS version of the new fighting game.  Alex and Sam explore JRPG goodness in the form of Hyperdimension Neptunia and Ni No Kuni.  And both Jonathan and Sam have put time now into Bioshock Infinite, and while they’re both stunned by the visuals and the world, they find the gameplay to be a bit dated.

Topic:  And while we’re on the subject of Bioshock Infinite‘s gameplay, is it fair to ask the question “Is it even necessary?”  Walt Williams and Jeffrey Yohalem, writers for Spec Ops: The Line and Far Cry 3 respectively, talked recently at GDC about the use of violence in games and making it more than just filler.  Moreover, how do you make a death meaningful in a game where the player kills dozens, if not hundreds, of people?  The guys take up these questions and see where they lead.

Metagame:  Defiance finally earned an aggregate score of 67, leaving the host’s average scores completely untouched.

Singin’ in the Rain – March 27, 1952

Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Producer: Arthur Freed
Writers: Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Actors: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Myer

The course of the conversation:

Let’s try this again.

A very conventional movie pokes fun at very conventional movies.

Jonathan admits his total lack of musical knowledge while criticizing the musical numbers.

We still have to compare it to Raging Bull.

Jonathan has trouble explaining the kind of context in which he wants his musical numbers to be presented.

Cat beat box break.

That Michael Bay movie made perfect sense… said no one ever.

Favorite scenes.

Four packs of cigarettes a day is not a habit, it’s a problem.

Gene Kelly’s done it better.  Gene Kelly’s doing it better right now.  Gene Kelly will do it better again.

Jonathan refers to White Christmas again.

“Beautiful Girl” was a terrible number.

We’re not so sure this should be a top ten movie on so many lists.

Of course, it’s going to be in our top ten for a while.

Little nepotiz.

Nadia is probably singing “Good Morning” right now.

Whatever happened to tap dancing?

SingInception.

We didn’t fix it in post.

Singin’ in the Rain is placed on the list.

Jonathan’s already forgotten why he liked Finding Nemo so much.

Jonathan’s found his first paradox movie.

Nominations for additions to the list: Jonathan, Moon; Nathaniel, Blues Brothers; Michael, Twelve Angry Men.

We announce a bunch of movies for next week that we don’t actually watch.  As always, check the start of the show notes.

We start the show by discussing the demise of LucasArts.  Is it really something worth mourning or is the geekosphere reacting out of nostalgia?  We hope everyone who lost their job finds new and wonderful employment elsewhere, but we haven’t actually spent much money on a LucasArts game in a long time.

We also discuss how Sega Europe was forced to acknowledge that footage used in trailers for Aliens: Colonial Marines was misleading.  Alex doesn’t really care, because even the footage in the trailers failed to sell him on the game.  Jonathan gets it, but does a poor job explaining why.

Alex has completed Bioshock Infinite.  It’s made him forget just how much he loved Bioshock.  Relic gets discussed as Alex’s non-video-game game, basically an updated take on the board game Talisman set in the 40K universe.  Alex also met a younger version of himself while he was out of town last week.

Jonathan wants to know who wants to play Terraria with him.  It’s on 360 and PS3 now, and he’s down to get the game if anyone else is playing.  He also gets in his own non-video-game game by talking about the tabletop RPG Microscope; it’s very much a story game, but it’s a really interesting story game.  Jonathan’s also played some games provided free via Playstation Plus: The Cave, which may suffer from Jonathan’s favorite recent complaint, tonal inconsistencies; and Closure, a clever puzzle game that plays with light and shadow.

Finally, we wrap up the show with the MetaGame.  Defiance does not yet have a Metacritic score, and so we skip to our alternate game, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge.  Jonathan does really well this week, only two points off the aggregate score of 71.  Alex and Sam picked numbers close, though, and so not much has changed on the leaderboard.  For the next round, we pick Injustice: Gods Among Us: Jonathan guesses 89, Alex 84, and Sam 80.

As Defiance still doesn’t have a Metacritic score as of release, let’s ask this question: do you like the Metagame?  Let us know in the comments below.

Finding Nemo – May 30, 2003

Director: Andrew Stanton
Producer: Graham Walters
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
Voice Actors: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould
Studio: Pixar
Distributor: Walt Disney

The course of the conversation:

Take two!

Jonathan’s not actually a professional.

There are no unimportant conversations about Space Jam.

Oh yeah, Finding Nemo really is that good.

Classy bodily humor.

Yup.  The animation is incredible.

Nathaniel hates Ellen.  (No, not really.)

Nathaniel hits on the Internet.

Stop covering your face, Jonathan.

Is this the first time Pixar decided to rip our hearts out?

Kids can handle “adult” topics.

Pixar has an amazing ability to create horrible children.

The Pixar Effect

Would you replace Finding Nemo with any other Pixar film?

It might be the funniest of the Pixar pantheon.

We spoil the surprise plot of Brave by talking about how Pixar successfully avoided spoiling the surprise plot of Brave.

Nathaniel and Jonathan make the same pick.  Again.

All singing.  All dancing.  Talk about genre whiplash.

Back Seat Producers Mentions: 1

DmC: Devil May Cry – Jonathan gave this one a try.  It has some clever touches, but overall fails to hold his interest as both the gameplay and the story feel like nothing new.

FTL: Faster Than Light – Jonathan’s also still not sure about the mothership in FTL.  He took Luke’s advice, and still comes away from it feeling like the gameplay shift may not exactly work.  He fully admits that this may be a result of his inexperience with Rogue-likes, and also admits he’ll continue playing.

Assassin’s Creed 3: Wolfpack – Alex has a different take from Sam on AC3′s Wolfpack mode.  He feels it doesn’t support the gameplay claims it makes, and he wishes it were more like the competitive multiplayer.

Forza: Horizon – Sam learns the shocking truth that the ability to go around corners may be just as important as the ability to go fast in a straight line.  Also, he learns he needs to control his thumbs better.

Android: Netrunner – Sam also brings to the table an analog game, Fantasy Flight’s popular living card game.

Bioshock Infinite: No Subtitle – Jonathan has played the first hour, and Alex has played quite a bit more than that.  Jonathan was pretty hooked right up to the point where the shooting began, while Alex is learning to love the game he was given, rather than trying to play the game he wants.

In the MetaGame, we run into a bit of a conundrum as Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel was not only the first multi-platform game we’ve used, but it’s also the first game that didn’t have a MetaCritic score on the day of release.  We pull it together, though, and Sam, disappointingly, shows he’s got a gift for gauging game reviewers.

Sam scores a point this round, Jonathan scores two, and Alex takes the title of “Most Wrong” with a score of 16.  Luke’s guest guess placed him just ahead of Alex with 15 points.

The Averages: Sam at 4, Jonathan at 7, and Alex drops to third with 10.

Next round: Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, a game that’s already out for the WiiU, and is actually coming out for 360 and PS3 next week, but was chosen because there’s literally nothing scheduled to drop the week of April 7th.  All the hosts are within a point of each other in their picks.  It’ll be a quick round.

King Kong – March 2, 1933

Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

Producers: David O. Selznick, Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Writers: James Ashmore, Creelman, Ruth Rose
Actors: Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong
Studio/Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures

The course of the conversation:

“Did you like the movie?” is a complicated question.

It’s historic, it’s iconic, it captures imaginations, but does it hold up?

What acting?

Fay Wray’s eyebrows act their hearts out.

 Can we get any indication that Denham is a human being?

How do we define what makes a good acting performance?

Peter Jackson versus Merian Cooper: Fight!

Is this Kong really about unrequited love?

When we’re done with the Time list, we find another list to take on.

Kong’s lasting impact.

The racism of the time.

What holds our interest now?

Nobody wants to watch Avatar.

The art of film.

Childlike awesomeness.

Revisiting “for its time.”

The production code is discussed.

Michael finds more to chew on in Kong.

Nathaniel comes to his senses concerning Sherlock Jr.

Jonathan sticks with the hint he gave earlier.

Back Seat Producers Mentions: 1

After some reminiscing, we jump into game talk.

We start with a first-hand account of the SimCity debacle.  Luke tolerated a lot of the server issues, right until they rolled back his city.  Luke will be voting with his dollars in the future.

Luke also shares his experience with the culture shock that occurs when you jump into ranked matches in League of Legends, which killed his enthusiasm for that game, too.

It’s okay, though, because Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is successfully scratching his online strategy itch.

Sam finally broke out some WolfPack in Assassin’s Creed 3, and things get crazy.  Just as Alex says, the single-player may be lousy, but the multiplayer still sells the game.

Sam has also picked up Forza: Horizon, which features a version of Colorado that Jonathan can’t (or won’t) corroborate.

Jonathan’s been playing Faster Than Light, and the final boss is a bit of a shock.  That said, he’s still ridiculously addicted to it.

In the MetaGame, Gears of War: Judgement helped to bring the scores closer together.  The game scored a 70 on release day, five, seven, and nine points lower than Alex, Jonathan, and Sam’s guesses, respectively.

Luke joins the game this week, as we anticipate the multimedia Syfy experience, Defiance.  He guesses 57, Jonathan goes for 60, Sam takes 65, and Alex goes big with 75.

Next week we’ll find out how Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel plays out.  Feel free to join in in the comments below.

Raging Bull – December 19, 1980

Directors: Martin Scorsese
Producers: Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler
Writers: Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro
Actors:  Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
Studio/Distributor: United Artists

The course of the conversation:

No evening should ever start with Red Sonja.

An amazing movie, but can we call it “enjoyable?”

Holy hell, De Niro is committed.

Stolen from Rocky?

Is Joe Pesci ever not Joe Pesci?

Cathy Moriarty: great performance, but she looked the same age through the entire movie.

Creepy? Romantic? Both?

A debate about infidelity ensues.

Is Joey responsible for Jake’s fall, or for keeping him from falling?

The happy years are in color, but nobody cares.

The music and sound styles get discussed.

Sweet, sweet, bloody Hershey’s syrup.

In your medical opinion….

Jonathan discovers he’s a liar.

Lots of yelling.

The lists appear, and the guests aren’t allowed to vote.

Back Seat Producers reference: 1 (it’s subtle)

First, we ask for your opinion about using Kickstarter (or IndieGoGo) to get WotG into the PC gaming space.  Would you contribute, or would you hate us for asking for money?  Or maybe neither?

We’ve got ideas for stuff we can give to contributors, ways that contributors can guide the content of the podcast, and you’d also be able to make Sam suffer.  The Kickstarter would fund a PC for Jonathan, and Sam has pledged to match whatever is contributed to build himself a PC as well.  The whole podcast would be PC-ready, and you’ll get a ton of content out of us as well.

Let us know what you think in the comments, on the Twitter feed, or in the forums (we promise to check them).

Now, back to the real show.

News:

• The New York Public Library is conducting a critical reading of Spec Ops: The Line, which may inspire a third show here on the WotG network.
• The situation with SimCity was bad when we recorded last week, but then it got much, much, very much worse.  Maybe things will have improved between recording this episode and today?
• A Danish news channel mistakenly used a screenshot from Assassin’s Creed in a report about Syria.

Games:

• Unfinished Swan – Jonathan thinks the art style is stunning in places, and it may have a deeper, more poignant meaning than it was initially given credit for.
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Sam’s continuing to play and has run into the Kojima moment, where he was reminded that, yup, this is still a Metal Gear game.
• Valkyria Chronicles – Alex has long envied PS3 owners their ability to play this game, but he may have discovered that he envied them too long.
• Wide Sky – Just another game about a hedgehog latching a rope to clouds, flinging himself about the landscape, and breaking floating orbs.
• Witcher 2 – Alex has given this another try, and it’s got its hooks in him this time around.

Metacritic Game:

God of War: Ascension scored an 80 on release day, giving Jonathan a score of 12, Alex a score of 8, and Sam an appalling score of 1.

Jonathan insists that Round 3 be Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel, rather than the much anticipated Bioshock Infinite.  Bioshock Infinite will almost assuredly be the better game, but Army of Two will give a more interesting potential range of scores, as shown by the guesses the hosts make.  Jonathan doesn’t have much faith: 65.  Sam has even less: 62.  Alex, on the other hand, expects some co-op love: 79.

The Awful Truth – October 21, 1937

Directors: Leo McCarey

Producers: Leo McCarey
Writers: Viña Delmar, Sidney Buchman
Actors: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant
Studio/Distributor: Columbia Pictures

The course of the conversation:

The Sex Clock is teased.

To be screwball or not to be.

The hosts pretty much agree that it’s a bit slow, but still enjoyable.

Why’s it on the list?

We apologize to all of our listeners who are Judd Apatow fans.

Plot synopsis, and a cat mauls a courtroom.

We apologize to all of our listeners who are French.

Cary Grant kind of phones it in.

The beauty and danger of Improv.

Should we really be saying, “For it’s time…”?

We come back to the Sex Clock.

Oh, Irene Dunne….

Everything is worth the Sex Clock payoff!

There are plenty of ways to imply sex.

History lesson, kids.

We apologize to all of our listeners.  All of them.

What’s with the egg nog?

Awards information!

Rankings happen!

Michael waffles.  Mmmmm, waffles.

Should we add our own recommendations to the list?

We also discuss expectations that EA’s digital sales are expected to surpass physical sales, news released in the same week where SimCity shows some ugly problems with the digital, online-only model.  (It should be noted that this episode was recorded before things really got ugly with SimCity, so opinions may change in the next episode.)

We try to keep the games section light this week.  Alex is trying out a new virtual trainer in the form of the Nike+ “game,” Sam discovers that he’s playing the love child of Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta, and Jonathan gets deeper than intended into player agency and emotional manipulation in Spec Ops: The Line.

In the topic, we try to tie together a couple of related items.  In the first item, 58% of American adults (or at least 58% of roughly 3,000 adults surveyed) believe in a correlation between video games and violence.  Alex and Sam are dismayed by some of the other statistics revealed by this study, while Jonathan digs into the heart of the study and finds it may not all be doom and gloom.

In the second item, a noted expert on the subject of games and violence argues that there’s a lot more work to be done before a clear line can be drawn.  Moreover, he expresses concern that politics and tragedy harm the scientific process, leading to results and assumptions that may not be borne out by the data, but that are hard to overcome once engrained in the public consciousness.  His full paper (focused on the recent Supreme Court ruling, rather than the Sandy Hook tragedy) can be found here.

Finally, we return to the Metacritic Game (Metagame? Critic Poker? Name That Score? Yeah, we still need a name for this).  There won’t be a final rating for God of War: Ascension until next week, but we stick with the War theme and make our predictions for Gears of War: Judgement.  Alex bets 85, Sam guess 89, and Jonathan picks the middle ground at 87.  Next week, we’ll actually have a score to mock one another with!

City of God – May 18, 2002

Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund
Producers: Andrea Barata Ribiero, Mauricio Andrade Ramos, Elisa Tolomelli, Walter Salles
Writers: Bráulio Mantovani
Actors: Alexandre Rodrigues, Alice Braga, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Seu Jorge
Studio: O2 Filmes, Globo Filmes, StudioCanal, Wild Bunch
Distributor: Miramax Films and Buena Vista International

The course of the conversation:

We’re happy to be podcasting! But this movie isn’t exactly happy.

Movie information is given.

Man, this movie is tiring.  But it’s handled well.

The cycle of violence.

Over the rainbow performances?

Jonathan complains and then takes it back.

Can Chekov’s gun be too subtle?

What happened to Rocket?  Do we care?

Somebody brought a camera to a gun fight.

Is it cowardice or a different kind of bravery?

Who’s the main character of this film?

Cinematography discussion.

Despite being a movie revolving around children, the movie is not for children.

Bananas make another plot appearance.

Your hosts have no idea how this movie relates to the modern day City of God.

More depressing trivia!

Choices are made. Battle lines are drawn.  Whiplash is suffered.

We announce a movie we’re not actually going to watch yet.

We apologize to all of our listeners who are fans of Napoleon.

Corniness is averted.

Back Seat Producers mentions: 0

Before we get started on games, Alex talks about how The News and The Podcast intersected in his life.

Jonathan, meanwhile, announces the release of a new podcast, We Just Watched a Movie.  Join us as we watch the movies on Time’s All-TIME 100 Movies list (plus a few more), and then rank them against one another.  We’ve set up separate feeds for the two podcasts, which you can find in the links on the right, or you can stay subscribed to the main feed and continue to get everything we release.  Either way, we hope you enjoy it.

In the meat of the episode this week, we finally talk about games we’ve been playing.

• Sam gives us a treatise on the Resistance series.
• Alex gets emotional about Journey.
• Jonathan dislikes weird inconsistencies in The Last Story.
• Alex hates on the update process of the PS3.
• Alex fails to understand what’s going on in White Knight Chronicles 2.
• Sam has also completed Crysis 3, and has good things to say about that.
• Alex talks about Banner Saga: Factions, a PC strategy game with clever mechanics.
• Jonathan wraps up with a quick plug for Pixel People,
• a quick warning about Early Bird,
• and a quick complaint about Spec Ops: The Line.

Finally, we introduce a new game!  We’re still looking for a good name, but we’re placing wagers on the Metacritic score for upcoming new releases.  We’re picking games a couple weeks out, and then we’ll follow up and see who got closest.  Lowest score at the end of X number of weeks wins!

This week, we take a stab at God of War: Ascension.  Be sure to give us your predictions in the comments below.

First, a couple of shout-outs.  Thanks to Christina Ellis for beating us to the AFI list with her podcast Watching 100 Movies, and thus forcing us to find new, equally interesting ground to cover.

Thanks also to Back Seat Producers for inspiring me to want to talk about movies, too, and also for giving me a format to steal shamelessly.

This show pulls its movie list from the All-TIME 100 Movies list, as well as the 20 additions made last year, and the 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium.  As it stands, that leaves us with 133 movies to watch (there are two trilogies, and two two-parters on the list), and likely 130 episodes (we’ll each be recommending a movie for inclusion on the list).

If you’d like to keep tabs with us and track your process, as well, we’re tracking the movies we’ve covered with a list on iCheckMovies.  (Here’s an iCheckMovies list with the complete list on it.) In case of potential scheduling issues, we’re filling out the list as we go along. We hope you’re ready for the long haul, folks!

Without further ado, then, let us begin!

 Sherlock Jr. – April 21, 1924

Directors: Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle (uncredited)
Producers: Joseph M. Schenck, Buster Keaton
Writers: Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell
Actors: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Ward Crane
Distributor: Metro Pictures Corporation

The course of the conversation:

Why are we doing this?

We’re using the Time All-TIME 100 Movies list (plus some extras).

The Buster Keaton Scale.

Forget Chuck Norris.  Buster Keaton is the man!

Plot synopsis.

No clue how to make babies.

Spoilers should be assumed.  There will likely be no further warnings.

“For the time” gets discussed.

Buster Keaton is devoted to his work.

Should we discuss acting?  Nathaniel says, “Yes!”

Bugs Bunny and Buster Keaton

Devotion to the craft of filmmaking, all for a gag.

And the French arrives.

Other black-and-white, silent movies.

Back Seat Producers mentions: 1

In the weeks to follow, we will rank the movies on the list, but with only one available….

Next week: City of God, a 2002 crime drama.

In future weeks, we’ll want you to leave your own ranked lists in the comments below.  For now, let us know what movie you think deserves to be on the list, but isn’t.

Alex blew his game discussion possibilities in the WotG One Shot last weekend, so he’s rather quiet this go round.  Jonathan talks up Kerbal Space Program, just in case Matt the Cancer Merchant didn’t sell you on the concept.  And Sam talks about a bunch of games he purchased, but hasn’t yet played.

Then I suppose we can talk about the PS4.  Specs are discussed.  Price is prognosticated.  Threats of defection are made.  And a challenge is thrown down.  Enjoy!

Alex discusses a new Xbox Live Arcade game called Arcadecraft, gets tactical with Skulls of the Shogun, and delves into the debacle that is Aliens Colonial Marines. Things get funky. Morals get reversed. Skulls get eaten.

Okay, not really.  Alex was sick and Sam was briefly thrown back to the stone age, resulting in no opportunity to actually record a “proper” episode.  Instead, this week Jonathan sits down with his co-hosts for a soon to be dropping movie podcast, We Just Watched a Movie.

Michael’s been on the show before, and at the time, he hadn’t yet finished Batman: Arkham City, so we start there.  The conversation then basically just wanders for an hour, covering Final Fantasy, the 32-/64-bit era, difficulty levels, horror games, The Walking Dead, the BBC, Heavy Rain vs. Shenmue, the necessity of boredom, Uncharted, Prince of Persia, the next generation of consoles, and PCs in the living room.

Alex has also recorded a short episode.  We’ll release that a little later today as consolation for the late release.  Next week, hopefully fewer illnesses and total town technology outages.

Be careful, though.  One child can only win two pageants in a row before being retired, which means you may want to take a dip in the gene pool to make sure your next kid is a winner, too.  Have more kids than you can afford, and Child Services will start taking them away.

If that sounds like your kind of slightly-twisted fun, be sure to back Matt’s Kickstarter to see the game made.

And, as is tradition with guests we have on the show, Matt also gives us his Top Ten.  It’s like he and Jonathan were separated at birth.

10. Kerbal Space Program
9. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
8. Mass Effect 2
7. Shadow of the Colossus
6. Journey
5. Civilization 4
4. Fallout 3
3. Sim City
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
1. Braid

The WotGs are back!  It was a great year for gaming, so let’s just jump right in.

First off, thanks to those who contributed their Games of the Year to the cast:  Scott Dunphy, Scott Wachter, Tim, Paul, Darrell (probably misspelled that; sorry, bud), Tony and Holden.

Now, our picks.

The Molyneux

• Papo & Yo
• Steel Battalion
• Lollipop Chainsaw

The Brink

• Quantum Conundrum
• Armored Core V
• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Darksidered

• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
• Far Cry 3
• Max Payne 3

Biggest Disappointment

• Assassin’s Creed 3
• Armored Core V & Steel Battalion
• Mass Effect 3

The El Shaddai

• Asura’s Wrath
• Asura’s Wrath
• Max Payne 3

Biggest Time Sink

• Borderlands 2 (58 hours)
• Ghost Recon Future Soldier (113 hours)
• Borderlands 2 (108 hours)

Most Addictive

• Infinite Runners
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted
• Dishonored

Best New IP

• Journey
• Dishonored
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Continues to Impress

• Saints Row: The Third
• Assassin’s Creed multiplayer
• Skyrim

Made Just For Me

• Mark of the Ninja
• Ghost Recon Future Soldier
• Borderlands 2

Best Throwback

• Rock Band Blitz
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown
• Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection

Best Story

• The Walking Dead
• XCOM
• Mass Effect 3

Best Character

• Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2
• Vaas, Far Cry 3
• Legion, Mass Effect 3

Host’s Random Pick for Distinction

• Spaceteam
• Faster Than Light
• Journey

Hosts’ Game of the Year

• The Walking Dead
• Borderlands 2
• Borderlands 2

The Way of the Game Game of the Year: Borderlands 2

• Dead Island: Riptide special collectible is sociopath fodder.
• In related news: Square Enix kills Hitman-themed assassinate-your-friends “game” after just a few hours.
• EA’s SimCity EULA includes a threat to ban players from all EA games for not reporting bugs.  [Between recording and releasing the show, EA has backtracked and modified the EULA.]

Games:

• Jonathan has completed Mass Effect 2.  He thinks maybe people complaining about Mass Effect 3′s ending simply forgot the endings of the first two games.
• Alex has found that very little is actually better with Kinect, but he refuses to simply disconnect it.
• Alex has also found that gamifying his life is awesome.
• Sam busts out a couple of big DLCs: Dragonborn for Skyrim, and Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt for Borderlands 2.
• Jonathan tries to get Sam to talk about Journey again, but Sam plays coy.

Topic:

We’ve already discussed gamer entitlement before, but the guy who asked the White House to stop the distribution of the new Devil May Cry game isn’t entitled, he’s nuts.

The sentiment behind the petition, though, has gotten Alex thinking: when he complains about, say, Far Cry 3 diverging too much from Far Cry 2, is he a part of the problem?  What exactly do we expect from our sequels, and what makes one “right” and another “wrong?”

In games this week, Jonathan has made a critical determination about Mass Effect 2, and dissuades Sam from downloading Pandemic for iOS while trying to actually tell him it might be worth his time.  Sam, meanwhile, decided to punish himself with more Assassin’s Creed 3, and none of us is sure why.  Finally, Alex is still trying to recapture the glory days of earlier basketball games, but NBA 2K13 doesn’t quite stack up.

In our topic this week, we take a look at some of the games of 2013 that we want, and some of the games of 2013 that we didn’t know we wanted until we started researching for this episode.  Two of them involve witches.

Our side-bet for the year is a bit of a twist on last year’s.  Rather than pick the future Game of the Year, we’re picking the game that’s most likely to disappoint us.  Let’s call it the “Prove Us Wrong” prediction.  Sam chooses MGS: Revengeance (it hurts just typing that “word”), Jonathan worries about Remember Me, and Alex thinks Tomb Raider will be a pointless Lara Croft torture simulator.

Games:

Jonathan:

• Mass Effect 2 – Playing the series continues, and the most immediate difference is that everything in this game is huge.  Second, it may have stopped being an RPG, and transformed into a 3PS with RPG elements.
• Spaceteam – A free iOS-based party game of yelling at one another and pressing random buttons.  It sounds weird, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

Alex:

• Far Cry 3 – After crafting a shark wallet underwater, suffering through a lousy tailing mission, and then photographing dead pirates, but only specifically dead pirates, Alex has Darksidered Far Cry 3.
• AssThree – Alex picked up Assassin’s Creed 3 for the multiplayer only (no, really, he gave the single-player disc to his neighbor), and finds he dominates the Animus.

Sam:

• The PS3 and Journey – Sam had a lousy time with the Sony UI, which seems to be standard fare, and then he was expecting something from Journey that it didn’t give him.
• X-COM – Alex has appeared in Sam’s X-COM game, and was horribly scarred by some Mutons, but Hands Holmberg saved the day from half the map away.
• Resistance: Fall of Man – Interesting weaponry mechanics and tougher-than-expected AI means Sam’s still enjoying this title.

The Apple discussion and the game talk ran longer than expected, so we’ll be saving our topic, a preview of 2013′s anticipated games, for next episode.  It’s not like anything decent is coming out this week anyway.

News:

Games:

Sidius Nova: a free, iOS 4x game crossed with Plants vs. Zombies.  It seems weird, but it’s cool.

Resident Evil 6: Sam tried so hard, but the rage must flow.

Endless Space: Another Civ-like game that’s captured Alex’s attention, and has him thinking about American foreign policy.

Fall of Cybertron: Jonathan explores his dislike of 3PSs, and takes his own big swig of Haterade.  OPTIMUS PRIME DOES NOT DO MENIAL CHORES!

Topic:

We make new year’s resolutions on the show today.  Well, Alex and Jonathan make new year’s resolutions, and Sam just steals them as his own.

What are your gaming goals for 2013?

A quick word about our Top Ten lists before we go on.  We believe, here at the Way of the Game, that what a person holds as their top games of all time can tell you a lot about who they are as a gamer, and give perspective when listening to the opinions they give about other games.  The games on our top ten lists represent our personal pinnacle of gaming goodness, and we seek out other games that can provide us with similar experiences.

Reevaluating our Top Tens is also an important exercise.  Not only have three years worth of game releases come and gone since our first Top Tens, but we have also grown as gamers.  Are our tastes now what they once were?  Were we initially influenced by nostalgia rather than quality?  And what do the changes we make say about us as gamers and as critics?

Also, nothing in the episode was topical, so we were able to record it in advance and take the holiday week off.  ;-)

Here are our old Top Tens.  For posterity, but to avoid spoilers, I’ll post our new Top Tens after the break.  And be sure to leave your own (new or revised) Top Ten list in the comments.

	Alex	Jonathan	Sam
10.	Culdcept Saga	Catherine	MGS 3: Snake Eater
9.	Pinball FX	Minecraft	Final Fantasy 6
8.	Unreal Tournament Multiplayer	Red Dead Redemption	Halo 3: ODST
7.	Metal Gear Solid	Saint's Row: The Third	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
6.	Ghost Recon Future Soldier Multiplayer	Street Fighter 2	Skyrim
5.	AC: Brotherhood Multiplayer	Shadow of the Colossus	Bioshock
4.	Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset	Super Mario 3	Borderlands 2
3.	Catherine	Journey	Bastion
2.	1 vs. 100	Portal	Chrono Trigger
1.	Bioshock	Super Metroid	Final Fantasy Tactics

Sam talks about Resident Evil 6.  Alex talks up The Walking Dead.  They both wax poetic about XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

After that, the boys discuss the year’s “themes.”  Stealth done right, strategy’s not dead, and developers aren’t afraid to delay for quality.

We’ve start with an ongoing saga: the Bioshock Infinite Cover Controversy.  Ken Levine explains that if you think the cover isn’t aimed at you, you’re right.

On the other side, Naughty Dog refuses to cave to corporate pressure and makes the cover they want.

Meanwhile, you can now vote on reversible cover art for Bioshock Infinite, so maybe that will mollify complainers?  The poll closes December 19th.

Finally, Ubisoft has announced really bad news concerning Assassin’s Creed 3: it’s not just the fastest selling Assassin’s Creed ever, it’s the fastest-selling game Ubisoft has ever made.

Which brings us to games.  Sam’s been playing AssThree, and while he largely agrees with all the complains Jonathan has about the game, he still finds himself compelled to keep playing.

Jonathan jumped into the Wayback Machine this week, rediscovering Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Punch Out, and holy hell they’re both still really good.  Also, a bit more XCOM, where his team was butchered and Alex’s advice reveals his cold, heartless side.

Alex, meanwhile, has been playing Fallen Enchantress, a fantasy-based 4X game that puts Alex in mind of Civilization, except there’s no researching Pottery.

In our topic, we discuss The Walking Dead’s VGA GotY award, and the surprise that, while the ceremony itself is very SpikeTV, the awards might actually be legit.

Sam talks up Halo 4 and Dishonored, both of which he’s beaten, and both of which he enjoyed, although we still don’t understand why developers “fix” things that aren’t broken.

Jonathan and Alex argue about Need for Speed: Most Wanted for a bit, and then Jonathan tells stories of how Sam died in XCOM again.

Meanwhile, Alex has been playing Hitman Absolution and Far Cry 3.  One is a tightly focused and impressively realized game, the other chock full of incongruent mini games and side quests.

Finally, in our topic, we prognosticate about Entertainment Weekly’s Game of the Decade poll.  Keeping with our trend of being lousy prognosticators, we get it really wrong.

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac

Developer: Gearbox Software

Publisher: 2K Games

Genre: 1st Person Shooter

Rating:

• The Holmberg: Buy It
• The Producer: Buy It
• The Moose: Buy It

Maury unleashes dance havoc on the world.

Consumer Alert: Don’t reset your Wii U (or any computer, really) during the firmware update.

Jonathan’s got another free iOS game to recommend: Hill Climb Racing.

Alex really digs the way Need for Speed: Most Wanted cuts through the BS and gets to the racing.

The rest of the games this week are repeats (Assassin’s Creed 3, Borderlands 2, Halo 4), but at least with AC3, we’re responding to listener comments.  Leave your own!

Finally, Alex introduces a new game based around Guiness’s Video Game World Records, but neither Sam nor Jonathan are much good at it.

Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, Star Wars: Episode 7: All written by the same guy.

Peter Molyneux asked for donations to buy new servers for Curiosity, which doesn’t make sense, because weren’t they going to charge $50,000 for DLC?

Speaking of Curiosity, Jonathan’s annoyed by it.

Speaking of annoyed, Sam hated the ending of Borderlands 2.

Speaking of first person shooters, Sam’s been liking Halo 4, but Alex finds it Mostly Harmless.

Speaking of mostly harmless, Sam is being the exact opposite of that in Dishonored.

Speaking of stabbing people in the back, Jonathan’s found Assassin’s Creed 3 to be disjointed and disappointing.

Mark of the Ninja, though, may just qualify as a Classic.

With the return of Alex, we also have the return of short news!

• Have players been trained not to improvise in games?  The Hitman developers are concerned, and the Dishonored developers say, “Yes.”
• In good news, 343 Industries will hand out lifetime bans for sexist and discriminatory behavior in Halo 4.  It’s about time.
• And in You’ve-got-to-be-kidding news, Microsoft offers to pay you 5¢ an hour to play Halo 4.

Games!

• Jonathan talks up About Love, Hate, & the Other Ones on iOS.
• Alex has killed all of his friends in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
• Jonathan has some unkind things to say about Borderlands 2 (finally), and Alex and Sam disagree.
• Alex and Sam talk about Dishonored, and Jonathan gets motion sick.
• Finally, Sam tries to talk about Assassin’s Creed 3, but Jonathan knows more than Sam and wants to wait a week.

In our topic this week, we revisit the U.S. election and put forward our own presidential tickets for the consideration of the electorate.

• Alex gives us the Handsome Jack/Andrew Ryan ticket, who will put you to work, take your stuff, and then murder you.
• Jonathan puts forward FemShep/King of All Cosmos, who will unite the globe, destroy all the stars in the sky, and then end the universe.
• Sam back the Big Boss/Ezio Auditore regime, who will strengthen the intelligence service, stab you in the back, and then hide your body in an unpleasant location.

Listen to the candidates’ platforms, then leave a comment below with your vote, or send a tweet to @TWotG with the appropriate hashtag for your vote: #WotGJackRyan, #WotGShepKing, or #WotGBossEzio.  Come December, we’ll tabulate all the votes, debate the hanging chads, and determine who should REALLY lead the country for the next four years.

Alex isn’t with us this week, thanks to Sandy being newsworthy.

Jonathan’s games this week include Random Heroes, which he has some serious complaints about but keeps coming back to, Mark of the Ninja, which he’s very pleased to report his recommendation to pick this one up was sound, and Assassin’s Creed 3, which is still trying to force Desmond on us but early on seems to be a step up from Revelations.

Sam brings two games to the table: Borderlands 2, which turns out to be really difficult when you’re fighting enemies twelve levels higher than your character, and Dishonored, which he finds to be enjoyable but not necessarily up to par with Skyrim or Fallout.

In our topic this week, the hosts beat on a mid-core developer (what does that even mean?) who claims that “single-player is a gimmick.”  The guys point to arcade games, board and card games, and the evidence of the Top Tens to say, “Hmmmm… Maybe not.”

EA has apparently come to the conclusion that consumers won’t pay for crap. Who’d'a’thunk?  As obvious as this would seem to be, this leaves Alex wondering why people won’t pay for crap, but they will pay for stuff they might not even play, like the season pass for Halo 4.

In games this week, Jonathan has played more Borderlands 2, and the Mechromancer is officially exactly what he wanted.  He’s also played some Dishonored and thinks Alex is either wrong or picky about how the game looks (although he did play it on the PS3), but unfortunately something about the game makes him physically ill.  Alex, meanwhile, has gotten over the graphics complaints and found Dishonored to offer him a lot more options than he initially realized.  And Sam has picked up gauntlet of playing Spec Ops: The Line, and found that gauntlet to be quite heavy.

Finally, in the topic, we discuss Bitter Pill games: those games you suffered through on the promise of something good.  Some of these stories end well, some end poorly, and a few might surprise you.  Also, as promised, here’s Dara O’Briain, with one of the funniest bits about video games ever.  (It ties into the Metal Gear talk, really.)

One of those happenings?  SausageFest!  This year was quantifiably better than the first two combined, and you can keep the awesome rolling by donating.

News!  Seriously, don’t joke about having sex with 14-year olds.  Also, don’t pirate Halo 4 and expect to keep your Live account.  Finally, no need to worry about finding a match in League of Legends because EVERYONE IS PLAYING IT.

Games!  Sam talks up a couple of board games, Power Grid and Pandemic, as he hasn’t played anything other than Angry Birds and Temple Run all week.  Jonathan picked up an awesome Werewolf variant at Archon in the form of The Resistance, and also busted out some Anomaly: Warzone Earth after getting home from Saint Louis.  Alex might’ve talked about Dishonored some more, but couldn’t because X-COM got in the way.

In the topic, listener (and one-time contest winner) Joe recalls Alex’s discomfort with Spec Ops: The Line, and wonders if maybe that discomfort was the point.  Can games be intentionally not fun?  Should we appreciate a game whose average gameplay is part of the message?  Is the medium capable of such nuances, or does its very nature forever doom games to be escapist entertainment?

Prior to that, the hosts discuss the impending spectacle that is SausageFest.  If you don’t have the good fortune to be in St. Louis this weekend, but you’d still like to breast cancer research, please consider donating to a good cause.  This year, working on the assumption that people are fairly well aware of the risk of breast cancer, we’re donating the money to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, where it will go directly to people searching for a cure.

In the short news, we start to talk about Sony suing Jerry Lambert for looking too much like Kevin Butler, but then fate intervenes.  We move on to discussing the exodus of CliffyB from Epic, and the doctors from Bioware, only to shift back to an argument about Bridgestone tires.  Finally, somebody at Infinity Ward is getting beat about the head and shoulders for inserting art into a Modern Warfare map that the Islamic gaming community found offensive.

In games, Alex has been doing inappropriate things to X-COM: Enemy Within ever since he laid his grubby hands on it.  He also had a brief flirtation with Dishonored, but muddy textures and a too-familiar plot drove him (quite willingly) into the arms of his dark X-COM mistress.

Sam and Jonathan have both been playing Borderlands 2 together.  You’ve heard Sam and Alex pontificate at length about the game, but now Jonathan gets his turn, and had this show been recorded prior to the release of the Mechromancer, his opinion might have been quite a bit different.  Jonathan is also playing Temple Run on the iPhone in ever spare moment he has, and Mark of the Ninja has impressed him deeply after only one level.

Sam wraps up the show with some none-video-game experiences from BigBadCon in Oakland.  Apparently, this is the indie gaming convention you want to go to if you want to get your indie gaming going.

But of course, Sam and Alex have things to say. Alex can feel the XCOM excitement in the marrow of his bones, but he has a problem with how the media is covering this sure-to-be-amazing tactical role-playing game. Specifically, he has a problem with how they insist on telling him how amazing it is.

Then the hosts delve into their current fascination: Borderlands 2. What is it about this game that has Sam and Alex already talking about it being a contender for the Way of the Game’s Game of the Year?

Sam has reached a new stage of maturity. He’s thought about it for a while, and he’s decided he can wait no more. He’s finally taking the plunge, like so many young men before.

He bought a PS3.

He explains why in this episode.

That thing we teased in the previous show notes? It should happen next week!

But sometimes we fail. Jonathan is settling into his new place, so he has a good excuse. Sam’s been traveling, so there’s that. And then there’s the fact that Sam and Alex have been waist-deep in cel shaded bullet shells in Borderlands 2.

Enough excuses. Jonathan & Alex start things off with some quick impressions about the impending launch of the Wii U and the iPhone 5. Then Alex delves into his opinions of Madden 13 (his favorite Madden ever) and the addicting Faster Than Light.

Then Sam & David aka Chibi aka “The Jackal” aka “The Plugmeister” jump in for a rousing discussion on art and graphics in video games. Sure, they’re necessary, but what are the considerations that must be taken when balancing resources between the art for a game and the systems that ARE the game? What are examples of excellent art direction and lousy art direction? Are we really going to nitpick between Final Fantasy VI and VII AGAIN?

Next episode, if our star charts are true, we’ll talk to people on the other side of the world about a little free-to-play browser game that should make fans of old school D&D and CCGs very, very happy.

So in quick news, we visit the controversy about Steam Greenlight’s $100 fee. Is it too much for indie game developers to handle? Does it accomplish what it’s trying to accomplish? What other options are out there?

We also talk about the idea of urban planning vis a vis Minecraft. Let’s hope they include plans for a fire department.

In our games section, Jonathan talks about his disappointment with Quantum Conundrum and his growing addiction to Super Hexagon. Sam spends more time with Juliet the Zombie Hunter from Lollipop Chainsaw, and Alex sips Red Dead Redemption like a fine brandy and espouses his new appreciation for game developers. Don’t pirate games, kids.

Then, in honor of the Holmberg’s anniversary, we dig into what we think are gaming’s best romances. Jonathan picks something from the current generation, Sam picks something from the past generation, and Alex thinks outside the box.

Next week: We’ve already done games AS art. Now we’ll talk about the art IN games.

• Steam Community is out of Beta!  Do we care?
• The U.S. Gamer population is declining!  Do we actually believe that?
• Metal Gear: Ground Zeroes has two hosts excited, but will Snake be Solid or Naked?

Games!

• Jonathan:
  • Lost Cities
  • Quantum Conundrum
  • Rock Band Blitz
• Alex:
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2
  • Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
• Sam:
  • Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
  • Gamer Wedding with Pandemic and Power Grid

Topic!

Should a good game be punished because the developer is an ass, the publisher is evil, or the player base sucks?  By “punished”, we mean skipped, not played, boycotted in general.  By “the developer is an ass,” we mean they fail to properly test a patch before releasing it, find a game-save-destroying bug after releasing the patch, try to shift the blame for not fixing the bug onto a contract agreement they should have been aware of from the start, and then leaving the gamers affected to fend for themselves.

Be sure to let us know what you think!

In the meat of the episode today, we pretty much just talk about games the whole time.  And by “we,” I actually pretty much just mean Jonathan.

First, though, Alex shares his initial thoughts on Madden, which are surprisingly positive considered past years.  He also gives us another book recommendation, Prince of Thorns, which is all about the bad guy.

Sam brings a couple more games to the table than Alex, one new and one old.  The old one, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, ended up causing a bit of obsessiveness in Sam, while the new one. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, has Sam’s opinions mixed.

Jonathan has played through Journey again, and found even more reasons to love it than before.  He’s also signed up for Playstation Plus, which ought to keep his game appetite sated for a while.

The game, though, that dominates the podcast is one Alex was curious about last week, Papo & Yo.  Jonathan has some personal experience with the subject matter which inspired Papo & Yo, and he’s got a bit of a different perspective on how effective the game truly is at conveying its message.  Ultimately, he finds the game fundamentally flawed, but worth playing by anyone looking for a counterargument to Cristoph Hartmann’s idiocy, or who are simply interested in seeing games expand as an art form.

We will no doubt revisit this topic in the future.

Jonathan finished two games this week!  Stacking and N+ make it into the All Done pile.  Dust: An Elysian Tail gets nixed, though, based on a disappointing demo.

Alex busts out some Sleeping Dogs, and tells us about Papo & Yo, a game he won’t be able to actually play.

Sam’s plans to play Metal Gear Solid 3 collapse under the need to record this episode, but he’s got lots of Gen Con Virgin stories to share.  He’s returned, but he’s not the same.

In a brief news/topic hybrid, we rip on Christoph Hartmann for claiming that the only way games can produce unique genres and emotional games is if we have photorealistic graphics.  Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill 2, Bastion, Portal, and dozens of others would like to have a word with you, Christoph.

Finally, we wrap up with another installment of Identity Thief.  It turns out we are truly terrible at this game.

In news this week, an Olympic gymnast performs her routine to a musical Zelda medley and Valve makes Team Fortress 2 even more awesome.

In games this week, Jonathan has finished Dynamite Jack and The Act and recommends them both.  Alex ends his sabbatical and dives back into gaming with Ghost Recon, Symphony, and Nexus: The Jupiter Incident.  Sam busts out some sweet moves in Lollipop Chainsaw, and watches someone else play Metal Gear Solid 4.

In the topic, we decide to discuss something that won’t be contentious at all: the best game music.  Each of us picks three songs and then we discuss why it’s the best.  There are some surprises.  There are some fantastic choices.  There are some questionable choices.  Whatever you think about our favorites, what are yours?

Next week, Sam will no doubt have drunk Gen Con tales to relate.  Fun!

In games, Sam almost talks about the game that started this podcast, but he actually meant to talk about Arkham City.  Alex, prior to the start of his gaming sabbatical, has finished a game of Warlock: Masters of the Arcane, and he also picked up Final Fantasy XIII-2 for a song.  Jonathan found nothing interesting to say about Akai Katana, gives a brief preview of Splice, and then rips to shreds the ending of Outland.

In the topic, we discuss the proliferation of stat tracking options both in-game and out.  How much is too much?  Do you even care?

Then we bust out another game of Identity Thief, and it starts off strong, and finishes in shame.

Next week: gaming music!

News!

News: Battlefield 4 is leakannounced. The Internet goes, “Meh.”

Becca brings our first Wii game to the ‘cast in a while: Phineas & Ferb: Across the Second Dimension.  Sam’s still playing Kingdoms of Amalur and blah blah blah.  Alex has a couple free-to-play games: one’s good (Tribes Ascend) and one’s bad (Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes).  Also, Alex is playing more Ghost Recon and blah blah blah.

Longtime listeners of the podcast will recall our (Alex’s really) unhealthy fascination with gamer hookup site, GameCrush.  Now, there’s a new site for The Producer to obsess over: Shag a Gamer.

Finally, we introduce a new game to the show: Identity Thief!  One host picks a character.  The second host asks yes or no questions and has unlimited guesses.  The third host has only three chances to steal the identity of the character away.

In the news, all we have to talk about is the success of the Ouya Kickstarter.

In games, Jonathan found Armored Core V to be utterly incomprehensible.  Alex has rekindled his love for Brutal Legend and watched a whole lot of people play fighting games at Evo.  Sam continues to play Kingdoms of Amalur and brings some thoughts about MMOs.

Also this week, we discuss Peter Molyneux’s claim that Curiosity’s prize will be “life-changingly important.”  Should this bother us as much as it does?  Does this have the power to finally kill Peter Molyneux’s credibility?  Does Molyneux even have any credibility with you anymore?

Finally, we wrap up with our first entry into the Way of the Game’s Ten Commandments of Gaming: Thou shalt finish a game before buying another.

News!

Anyway, enough praise.

Jonathan talks a bit about Pocket Planes, the new horrendously wonderful time-sink from NimbleBit.  Alex played some of the new Steel Battalion, and pretty much can’t recommend it.  Also, more pinball is more awesome and that’s all you need to know.

Then we discuss Alex’s experiences at E3.  He’s got some stompy excitement, some understandable disappoints, and some interesting insights into what E3 is all about.

Next week?  Stuff.  Promise.

Jonathan discusses his trouble getting into God of War: Ghost of Sparta.  Alex geeks out about controlling his Xbox from his iPod.  Sam rages against the obtuseness of Max Payne 3.  Scott wishes he had nuke tanks in Anomaly Warzone.

Regarding E3, Jonathan wishes it would focus or die.  Alex holds that you can’t change it, so you might as well revel in it.  Sam and Scott seem to have more reasonable opinions.

Finally, we end the show with an impromptu Wingman.  Say you have five minutes to come up with a podcast topic and guest host; which video game character do you grab off the internet?

Games Jonathan Played:

• The Walking Dead – an interesting, if cel-shaded, take on zombies and point-and-click adventures.
• Dragon’s Dogma – what Alex thought about Skyrim, Jonathan thinks about Dragon’s Dogma.
• New World Colony – Catan crossed with Risk, and Jonathan’s impressed.

Games Alex Played:

• Crusader Kings 2 – well worth the sale price, maybe not so good at full price.

Games Sam Played:

• Max Payne 3 – once you accept what Max is laying down, the game gets good.
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – hear what happens when your pitted against you buddies.

E3 Time: We discuss the good and bad of the Big 3 press conferences, throw in some publisher smack talk for good measure, and lay bare just how bad we are at making predictions.

Next week, we’ve got two, count ‘em! TWO! people on the show who actually attended E3, one of whom is pulling a Jack Kerouac and going on the road, but for games instead of drugs.

Among the Sleep!

Frivolous lawsuit dropped!

Jonathan plays SkullPogo!

Hemisphere‘s breaks Sam’s brain!

Alex enjoys Dragon’s Dogma!

Sam and Alex recon Ghosts!

Max Payne is dark!

E3 Predictions get ridiculous!

See you next week!

Jonathan starts the show by immediately plunging the dagger into Sam’s heart by pointing out that he is the first victim of Episode 108, in which we predicted what will be THE TOP GAME of 2012. Longtime listeners will be glad to know we brought back both the “Explicit Hammer” and the “Quack” from dormancy.

Alex hustles together some quick news:
Starfox & Metroid Crossover?
Sony announces Bullet Run
Judge recommends ban on imports of new Xbox 360s.

Sam talks a little about the game that is sucking Rhode Island’s life blood dry for months, Kingdoms of Amalur(aramadingdong). Alex is probably, at this very second, tweaking his guns in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier or wishing he was. Jonathan remarks that his time for playing games will probably suffer due to his hunt for a house.

Then Alex introduces a new game: Video Game Unemployment Office. Because video game characters need jobs too.

That’s it for this week. Stay tuned for our E3 pre-show next week!

In our short news segment, we discuss the an ever-growing list of delays: Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, the South Park RPG, potentially more.  Also, GameStop has entered the fake money exchange business as they’ve begun carrying Steam Wallet cards.  Finally, we also chat about Diablo 3 and the trouble it’s having, despite none of us playing it.

Michael talks about playing classic NES games on a site called Nintendo8.  I have no idea how long that site will last, but it’s interesting while it’s there.  He’s also got some thoughts on Skyrim and the recently announced Elder Scrolls Online, as well.

Jonathan’s played Asura’s Wrath, and wishes it were anything other than a video game, claiming it out El Shaddai’s El Shaddai.  He’s also got a couple hours into Xenoblades Chronicles.  That’s not enough time to decide if it’s the JRPG that’ll save all JRPGs, but it’s definitely the most interesting JRPG he’s played in a while.

Alex, as we all know, was out of town last week, and in his journeys, he discovered that his inner child is nine years old.  He’s also incredibly high on NBA 2K12, finding it to be significantly better than 2K11, and a compelling take on the basketball genre.  He’s also playing Warlock: Master of the Arcane, a turn-based strategy game on Steam, which is great except it’s missing multiplayer.

That’s about it for this episode.  Next week, Sam’s going to get a face full of shame!  You won’t want to miss it.

First though, Sam discusses Kingdom’s of Amalur, which he’s found to be intriguing, if a bit frustrating, and Mass Effect 3, which has succeeded in bringing out Hulk Sam.  Jonathan picked Skyrim back up for an incredibly awkward honeymoon, and has also been playing Word Stack on his phone, wherein you take words and stack them.

Headlines:

• Microsoft drops the 360′s price to $99 (with a two-year contract).
• A different way to consider ME3′s ending.
• It’s a dream team of RPG greats, for an iOS game.
• Video games are actively preventing violence in Africa.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic loses 400,000 subscribers.
• Ubisoft enlists gamers in marketing effort with a promise of more marketing.
• Raptr sets up a reward program for doing what you’d do anyway.

Next week, one of the hosts has to eat crow early!  I know I’m looking forward to it.

Rather than inundate our guests with our usual game-related ramblings, we ask what they’ve been playing, by way of introduction.  Alex has been playing Tell Tale Games’ new episodic title, The Walking Dead, and it’s amazing.  John has been trying to understand League of Legends, and it’s not so amazing.

We then move on to the topic which brought these august gentlemen to the show: if the next home consoles restrict the used market in some way, will this ultimately harm small independent media outlets like The Way of the Game?  Will we be less able to experience the breadth of games that listeners and readers demand, or will we be better situated to meet the needs of gamers who are also playing fewer games?

We want to extend a huge thank you to John and Alex.  They provided truly unique insights that can only come from people involved in the “mainstream” media.

Next week, there will be no Alexes on the show, and Sam has rage in his heart.  It ought to be fun!

Headlines!

• Game Informer debuts a new game on their podcast.  It sounds suspiciously similar to a WotG classic.
• Alex has one less reason to buy a PS3 now.
• The Liesure Suit Larry remake/reboot/upgrade/whatever has been successfully Kickstarted.
• Adam Sessler has left G4.  One host is happy, one is disappointed, one has never heard of the man.

Games!

• Sam has one game this week, and plays coy ’til the end, so here’s a spoiler: it’s Mass Effect 3.
• Alex gives us the lowdown on the Ghost Recon Future Soldier beta, and gripes about tutorials in Warhammer: Battle March.
• Jonathan breaks down why he didn’t enjoy Syndicate, why he really enjoyed BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend, and why he’s looking forward to trying recipes from Gourmet Gaming.

Finally, we have a brief topic inspired by the announcement of the Arkham City Game of the Year edition.  Are GotY editions good or bad?  Are they simply enticing collections for people who weren’t interested the first time around, or are they a slap in the face to every early adopter?

Let us know what you think below!  Next week, the future of the podcast!

Our short news is actually short this week as we discuss a lawsuit directed at Ubisoft regarding infringement of the Animus idea.

Games were light this this week, so much so that we talk about non-game stuff for a bit.  Sam’s into the new Doctor Who, Alex has found anime and manga for his iPod, and Jonathan’s exploring further ways to play board games online with Game Table Online.  In actual games, Sam’s got his hands on Magna Carta 2, Alex has started up Castlevania: Lords of Shadow fresh again, and Jonathan has played the demo of Fez and an iOS word game called Dabble.

Wrapping up the show, we have a headline-inspired topic.  A study finds that a significant chunk of the recent games industry downturn can be attributed to weak sales from Nintendo.  Is our hobby reliant on Nintendo for survival, or can Sony and Microsoft fill in the gaps should Nintendo go south?

First, though, games, and even Sam has something to contribute this week.  Sam put Shadows of the Damned in, and almost immediately wanted to take it back.  Alex and Jonathan may have convinced him to give it a second try, though.  Jonathan’s played more Mario Party 9, and also finally given Assassin’s Creed Recollections a try.  One’s more of the same, and one he doesn’t enjoy at all.  And Alex had an interesting Easter experience in Gears of War 3, and a great time with multiplayer Splinter Cell.

Headlines!

• Homeland Security wants to hack your Xbox!
• GTA V might launch in October!
• The PS3 might hit $200!
• Activision Blizzard might have to settle a lawsuit!
• Gamers are looking forward to Halo 4!
• Resident Evil 6 Platinum Edition is really expensive!

Finally, we wrap up the show with a topic discussion.  That’s right, folks!  Games, headlines, and a topic all within an hour!  It’s a ChristmasEaster Miracle!  What’s better for social network gaming?  Asynchronous or synchronous gameplay?  And can you really have a game that only includes one or the other anymore?

In our short news segment, we can thank Kickstarter for allowing the opportunity for Shadowrun to come back as a top-down, turn-based, 2D CRPG!  Alex is very excited.  Not so excited is Sam for the extended cut of Mass Effect 3′s ending coming this summer.  Finally, none of the hosts are excited for the possibility of a law requiring a warning label be affixed to every video game ever made.

The hosts have also been playing games this week!  Well, two of the hosts have.  Sam’s just been playing solitaire on his phone, which doesn’t really count.

Alex has gone old-school and picked up Final Fantasy X-2.  Not XIII-2.  X-2.  Yup, he’s playing Final Fantasy Dress-Up, and liking it.

Jonathan has spent some time this week with the new FIFA Street.  The trick controls and various modes are pretty awesome and deep, but figuring out how to play the basics of the game have got him a bit stumped.  Also this week, The Tribe has dropped as a new team for Hero Academy, and Jonathan continues to be impressed by the depth and variety each team brings to the game.

In our topic this week, it’s been reported that Obsidian missed out on a bonus for Fallout New Vegas because the game was one point short of an 85 on Metacritic.  Alex thinks this is a terrible way to hand out bonuses for a game because of the high degree of subjectivity involved in reviewing a game.  Jonathan and Sam think any metric for determining bonuses is going to extremely arbitrary, and Metacritic is as valid a method as any other.

Finally, we have another round of Star Wars Reverse Casting Call.  For this round, Alex has chosen Lando, Ben Kenobi, and Darth Maul as the characters to be cast.  He’s also chosen “fighting game characters” as his restriction.  It gets ugly, folks.

Games this week:

Jonathan has played Street Fighter X Tekken, and has nothing to say about it.  He got some more comments about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and he’s spent a bit of time with Mario Party 9.  That’s right!  The Wii makes an appearance!

Alex does inappropriate things with his Kinect and Tiger Woods 13.  He’s also got much (more) love for Armored Core V’s multiplayer, and no love for the single-player.  And then he and Sam rip into Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.

Other than RE:ORC, Sam has been playing more Binary Domain, though he’s not sure why.  Perhaps it’s the scintillating conversation.  He also talks Mass Effect 3, but mostly as a lead-in to Joe.

Joe’s finished ME3, and has plenty to say about it.  He’s got (non-spoilery) thoughts on the game play, the universe, and (of course) the ending.  Then we wrap up the discussion with speculation about the “clarifying” DLC Bioware has promised.

Since teasing future topics hasn’t worked too well lately, I’m not going to make any promises about next week’s show, other than that it will be here.

‘Til then, have a great week!

We enjoyed the quick-hit headlines bit we did last week, so we’re making it a regular feature.  This week, the uncomfortably expensive collector’s edition of Steel Battalion, and Free-to-Play makes its first appearance on a portable console.  Can home consoles be far behind?

Alex has gotten his grubby hands on Armored Core V early, and he’s in for the multiplayer but has reservations recommending it as a single-player experience.  Draw Something also invades the podcast via Alex, though OMGPOP hadn’t been bought by Zynga when this episode was recorded, if that’s of any importance to you.  Finally, Assassin’s Creed Recollection has sunk its hidden blades deep into Alex’s psyche, and it doesn’t look to let go anytime soon.

Sam’s been playing more Binary Domain and more Mass Effect 2.  Along those lines, he also inflicts upon us an audio-unboxing worse than any that has come before it.  And, assuming he can ever break himself free from Mass Effect 3, Shadows of the Damned and Kingdoms of Amalur may make a moose-like appearance in a future episode.

Jonathan only has one game this week, thatgamecompany’s Journey, but it’s a doozy of a game.  In fact, in just one short week alone with the game, Journey has set itself up as the expression of everything that video games are capable of as an artistic medium.  Yeah, it’s like that.

We close out the episode with a topic which we touched on briefly in Episode 109: Would gaming benefit by separating multiplayer and single-player into standalone products?  The hosts all have fairly different takes on what that would mean.

Next week: is Metacritic a valid method of handing out bonuses?

Alex sneaks in a couple of news tidbits before letting the guys launch into game talk.  First off, PvP is apparently all that’s really holding up Diablo 3′s launch, so Blizzard has decided to just patch it in later so that everybody else can get their ARPG on.  Perhaps launching Diablo will help pick up the games’ industry as a whole, as NPD Group reported that February game sales were down 20% from last year.

Jonathan has pretty much forgotten everything he did last week.  However, over the weekend he picked up a couple of XBLA games, I Am Alive and Crystal Quest.  He’s only put a couple hours into I Am Alive, and it’s got some interesting concepts that might be awesome or might wear thin pretty quickly.  Crystal Quest has seen dozens of hours of play from Jonathan… fifteen years ago.  It’s a pick made purely for nostalgia’s sake.

Alex tells more stories from Shogun: Total War 2, complete with daring ninja attacks and dead in-laws.  Jonathan tries to compare Shogun stories to Civ stories, but fails as researching pottery never comes into play.  Alex has also put some time into Assassin’s Creed: Recollections, an iOS collectible card game.  Anyone who’s listened to the show for a while should immediately be able to guess what his opinion of the game is.

Sam this week tries to get ragey about Amazon’s shipping policies.  Unfortunately for him, Jonathan is well versed in said policies and knows Sam should have just been paying better attention.  Moreover, as both Jonathan and Alex both have retail experience, neither gives him much sympathy.  Sam’s lack of Mass Effect 3, though, has provided him an opportunity to play through Mass Effect 2 again, and also put some time into Binary Domain, and neither of those makes him ragey.

Speaking of ragey, Jonathan brings a topic this week that’s been driving up his blood pressure lately.  Gamer Entitlement:  Is it a real problem?  Is it something worth fighting?  Can we fight it?  And how?  The guys don’t really come up with any answers, but they try to get the conversation rolling.

Alex talks about crushing fleeing troops in Shogun: Total War 2.  He spends an uncomfortable amount of time comparing it to R.U.S.E., but that’s Sam’s fault.  He’s also got a Story From the Game Store involving a Vita, Lumines, a missing co-worker, and a pissed off customer.

Sam finally break his vicious cycle of moving and Skyrim by finally settling down in his new place and finishing Skyrim.  Also on his list this week: Rage, an RPG-shooter that’s light in the RPG bits and loose in the shootery bits; and a whole lot of Mass Effect insanity.

In the topic this week, we chat a bit about the rumored-then-leaked-then-announced setting for Assassin’s Creed 3 before jumping into a discussion about game endings.  Apparently only ten percent of games are actually finished, so what implications might this have for the industry as a whole?

Finally, we wrap up with another round of Reverse Casting Call.  On the table this time, we’re casting the dysfunctional family from Star Wars: Luke, Leia, and Papa Vader.  As an added twist, Sam has chosen to limit our choices to animated game characters only.  Be sure to drop us a comment, letting us know a) which host picks you’d have gone with, and b) which characters you’d place in behind the mask.

Sam’s broken record continues.  Moving and Skyrim.  Moving and Skyrim.  Moving and Skyrim.  With any luck, the launch of Mass Effect 3 will break him out of his rut, but probably not until episode 110.

Alex has been playing Syndicate.  In 4-player co-op, he’s continuing to enjoy himself, but console freezes and predictable enemy routines are a bit of a drag.  He’s also taken a shot at the new SSX.  As a huge fan of the earlier entries in the series, the new one leaves him entirely ambivalent.  Alex has also picked up Quarrel for iOS and XBL, and enjoys everything except the part where it told him “GRAPES” isn’t a word.

Jonathan continues to get 2011 games from GameFly, though none have yet made him reconsider any of his picks from episode 104.  Alice: Madness Returns proves to be fairly competent, if a bit overwrought.  Two Worlds 2, meanwhile, starts off terribly, a fact everyone seems to agree on, and the the few people who claim it gets better only serve to show that Jonathan won’t have the patience to wait.  Meanwhile, the dwarves have arrived at Hero Academy, and they’re play-style is entirely different from either the humans or dark elves, and that’s a good thing.

In our topic this week, the guys decide to go out on a limb and preemptively pick their 2012 Game of the Year.  With nothing to go on but gut instinct and marketing hype, each host stakes a claim in a wildly different game.  We can pretty much guarantee that there will be crow to be eaten in January.

Next week, Reverse Casting Call returns, and the guys talk about… something.  See you then!

Before that, though, we’ve got games to discuss.  Jonathan starts off by continuing a number of long-running trends.  Super Street Fighter IV finally makes an appearance from GameFly, and it cements his opinion about modern fighters.  Hyperdimension Neptunia also arrived from GameFly, and continues the trend of ridiculously Japanese games featuring disturbingly dressed little girls, though this one adds a twist that intrigues The Producer.  Finally, continuing the trend of word game mashups, Jonathan’s picked up Quarrel, which is like Scrabble crossed with Risk.

Sam has played some more Skyrim, but most of his time has been taken up with a game he doesn’t like very much called Moving Across Nevada.  It primarily involves filling, lugging, and then emptying boxes, which proves to be not the greatest of gameplay mechanics.

Alex has been getting his loot on (so has Jonathan) with the Epic Quest table for Pinball FX 2.  He’s also got mixed feelings about Asura’s Wrath: on the one hand, it does what it’s trying to do very well, but on the other, it’s a bit short to justify dropping full-price money on it.  Finally, Alex has picked up Syndicate, and is eager to get some hostile acquisitions underway.

Our topic for this episode has slowly ballooned as our week of planning has progressed.  Terrible, terrible things just seem to keep piling up.

1. Guinness names Call of Duty Black Ops the best ending ever.
2. Kingdoms of Amalur only has 70 hours of content?  Good news, or misleading?
3. Assassin’s Creed 3 is dropping in October.
4. The 1930′s called.  They want their misogyny back.

Business this week: In theory, Sam will be moonlighting on another podcast, I Thought They Smelled Bad On The Outside.  That’s assuming, of course, that Scott doesn’t hear how Sam butchered his podcast’s name first and subsequently bans him from the show.

In games this week, Jonathan finished up his time in Skyrim and immediately began playing a game that feels an awful lot like Skyrim.  Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, though, has a much greater focus on gameplay and character progression than Skyrim, though, so the similarities only serve to highlight each games’ distinct qualities.

Alex doesn’t have much by way of games to talk about this week, but he has been reading a book that kind of has to do with games.  Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, is about a the death of a billionaire, the contest to win all his money, and the video game full of the greatest hits from the 80′s that the billionaire built.  At least, that’s how Alex describes it.

Sam, meanwhile, continues to get his dance on in Dance Central 2, and is also still fully immersed in the world of Skyrim.  He’s gotten in some time lately on Space Marine, as well, and has been taking advantage of a service that probably only barely qualifies as a video game, GamesByEmail.com.  If you’d like to play copyright sterilized versions of some of Avalon Hill’s great strategy board games, just shoot us an email or hit us up on Twitter, and we’ll be happy to set something up.

We have two topics this week.  The first is inspired by Double Fine’s massive success with Kickstarter.  Is this the herald of a new age of video game development, or rare confluence of cult status fame and Internet savvy fans?

Our other topic revolves around a rumor about the 720, the NeXtBox, or whatever Microsoft ends up calling it.  Among wild tech speculation, the rumor also claims that the machine will include “some sort of anti-used game system.”  We have no idea what that means, but we sound off on what we’ll find acceptable or not, and also whether this is where the industry was destined to end up anyway.

Finally, we’ve got a bit of a twist on one of our games: Reverse Casting Call.  Instead of casting the movie of a game, we cast game characters in the roles of an awesome movie.  Sam and Alex cast the roles of Sarah Conner, Kyle Reese, and the Terminator from Terminator, and Jonathan gets some sweet revenge.

PuzzleJuice:  Where Lexiv is a mash-up of Scrabble and SimCity, PuzzleJuice is a mash-up of Tetris and Boggle.  It breaks Sam’s brain just thinking about it, and Jonathan wishes it were just a bit less insane, but Alex has fallen deeply, madly in love.

Bulletstorm:  Sam got to the point where the game called him “dick-tits,” and knew that it was too juvenile even for him.  Jonathan got the game from GameFly, played for about half an hour, and confirmed every suspicion Sam ever had.

Dance Central 2 & UFC Personal Trainer:  Sam’s picked up a Kinect (leaving Jonathan the only holdout), and really enjoys getting his groove on (so long as no one is watching).  However, UFC Trainer doesn’t seem to do much actual training, much like Alex has already warned us.

Final Fantasy XIII-2:  Redundant cut scenes and hoochie clothes were Alex’s first impressions.  Moreover, the game seems to continue the trend of not really bothering to include any gameplay decisions for the player.  Despite all that, Alex is hooked.

Soul Calibur V:  Jonathan continues to confirm that the modern fighting genre isn’t for him.  SCV is very pretty, and probably very good, but it simply fails to inspire him to put in the time needed to actually play it well.

Syndicate Co-op Demo:  Sam has all kinds of issues with it.  Alex maintains a more neutral take.  Jonathan didn’t play it.

Kard Combat:  The exchange Jonathan and Alex have about this game may need to inspire a weekly column, “Correcting The Producer.”  Jonathan thinks the game makes for an interesting variation of Magic, while Alex believe there’s nothing to it but damaging and healing.

Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi:  Alex loves the way the game basically lets you direct epic anime battles.  Watching them in replay is like watching a fight from an episode of the show.  Unfortunately, every character plays exactly the same way.

And that’s it!  Next week, we’ll try to control our enthusiasm, and actually get into a topic.  There’s a rumor that the next Xbox will have some sort of used-game deterrent built in.  Do the hosts think such a move is inevitable, and will any of them support the console if it happens?

It’s finally here!  The WotGs!  In our 2011 retrospective episode, we harken back to the good old days of ridiculously long episodes.  Sorry about that, but 2011 was a big year in video games, and it needed a big episode to contain it all.  We’ll list the categories and the winners here in the show notes, though we’ve removed which hosts picked which games to maintain some modicum of suspense.

Before that, though, we want to send a big thanks to everyone who contributed voicemails to the episode!  Daryl, Holden, William, Tim, Tony, Andrew, and the guys at the Podge Cast, thanks a ton!  I don’t think we had a repeat pick among the lot of you.

Now, the list!  And it’s a doozy.

What little gaming did we do?  Alex tried to force himself through the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood finally, and fails to make it past Hitman: Blood Money‘s tutorial.  Jonathan picked up and started playing Space Marine, and found that the atmosphere is fantastic, but the difficult spikes are irritating.  Sam, meanwhile, busts out a Skyrim dragon story, and talks up ODST with Brad and William Pall.

In the headlines this week, we’ve got protests, lawsuits, delays, leaks, and hacks.

• ESA Drops Support for PIPA, SOPA
• EA Invokes First Amendment Protection for Video Games in Trademark Dispute with Helicopter Maker
• XCOM FPA Pushed to 2013, Firaxis Strategy Reboot Still Set for 2012
• Max Payne 3 Pushed Back to May
• Windows Live Login Suggested as Xbox Live Security Flaw
• BioShock Infinite 1999 Mode for System Shock Fans
• Resident Evil 6 Logo, Release Date Leaked

Before we get into that, though, we have a correction to make.  Jonathan’s not sure how he messed this up, but Ryven Cydrelle didn’t win our contest last week.  Moreover, he didn’t even enter it.  Rather, a listener named Joe was the proper entrant and winner in the contest, and all has been corrected.  Thanks to Ryven for noticing the error and to Joe for being a good sport!

In the show proper, Alex explains why The History Channel: Great Battles – Medieval isn’t a particularly good game, a fact which should surprise no one.  He also makes a case for why Asura’s Wrath needs a change of venue to the Kinect, no matter how foolish it might make you look or sound.  Then his mic goes wonky, and he kind of talks about Hero Academy (which he’s been playing with Jonathan, Luke, and others).

Jonathan’s got a big list, explaining why he shipped Battlefield 3, unplayed, back to GameFly, and only gave Record of Agarest War Zero a quick pass.  He’s also picked up Space Marine, and didn’t much care for the new NFL Blitz, or the older Madden Arcade.

Sam has been moving and has had Internet issues, so his list consists of his primary addiction of late, EDF, and the game everybody on the show has played this week (and which we end the show talking about), Skyrim.

Sam gets a bit of a rage-on about Skyrim’s AI system.  His Lydia apparently has a fondness for geology, and flinging herself headlong into hopeless battles.  Overall, though, Skyrim seems to have overcome his major gripes about Morrowind and Oblivion.  Meanwhile, Alex barely got through the tutorial mission and turned the game off.  He claims Everquest flashbacks, and no one really wants to see him relapse.  Jonathan has spent a preposterous amount of time playing Skyrim, but he’s not really all that far into the story.  Somehow it works, though.  None of the hosts think it deserves all the hype it’s getting, but at least two hosts are enjoying it quite a lot.

Next week, fewer games, and more game-related headlines!

Thanks to Juriel, Ryven Cydrelle, Zatala, and ZombieLich for entering our Indie Game Contest!  And congratulations to Ryven and Zatala for winning!  We’ll contact you soon with your prizes.

Juriel, of course, officially won our Pinball FX 2 tournament.  Congrats to him, and thanks to everyone else for participating!

Jonathan has started playing Skyrim, and it’s a not bad game.  It’s almost exactly like the D&D game he wishes he could play at the table.  He and Sam have also been playing some EDF, and all hail Purple!

In addition to EDF, Sam’s been taking breaks with Grand Theft Auto 4.  Brucie tickles his fancy, and he appreciates the slower pace compared to the insanity of EDF.

Alex has picked up a Lovecraftian-style CCG strategy game for iOS called Cabals.  Multiplayer is random-opponent-only, but that’s supposed to change soon.  He’s also really enjoying Rayman Origins, which is saying a lot since Alex doesn’t typically like platformers.

In this week’s topic, we pass preliminary judgement on just about every game we know is dropping in 2012, and some we’re not sure about.  We try to be quick about it, and there are a few surprises in there.

Finally, Sam wraps up the current round of Name That Game! with a selection of titles that have no theme at all.

CES is in full swing as this episode drops, so we’ll be discussing any headlines that come out of it next episode!

Jonathan talks about how comparing the 2011 version of Mortal Kombat with the 1993 version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo illustrates how modern fighting games have completely left him behind.  He’s also been disappointed in the changes made to Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and Red Faction: Armageddon proves to be just another bug shooter.

Sam’s gone old school with Grand Theft Auto 4, which has helped improve his opinion of Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire.

Alex, meantime, received EDF, Dead Rising 2, and Bastion for Christmas, though he hasn’t played any of them because he’s been playing with his new toys, an iPod Touch and a Kindle Fire.  He’s also broken out some Space Marine Capture the Flag, but finds himself just wanted to go back to Exterminatus.  Finally, he and Jonathan have both been playing an Xbox Indie Game called Lexiv, which is an interesting mix of Scrabble, SimCity, and tower defense.  It sounds weird, but it works great.

In our topic this week, we still aren’t ready to discuss the games that were in the year that was, but we do decide to talk about the prevailing themes of the year.  Jonathan’s already been discussing his belief that the year is full of Almost Perfects.  Sam focuses on setting aside his expectations.  And Alex decides that 2011 was the year Day-1 DLC and Multiplayer Codes became a permanent part of the industry.

Finally, Jonathan’s in charge of this round of Name That Game!, and he’s got a 100-themed round prepped for the others.

Sam calls in from one of the Dakota’s this week, and gets his EDF on.  This game is becoming more than just a little bit of an obsession for him.

Alex tries to share more Battlefield 3 stories, but is rudely interrupted by hand gestures from the other hosts.  He’s also broken out some classic Sonic in the form of Sonic CD, and it’s apparently aged well.

Jonathan has picked up some more tables for Pinball FX 2, and has found that his complaints last week about the Sorcerer’s Lair table were premature, and that he understand nothing about how pinball is to be played.

In our topic this week, the hosts take a look at their game shelves with the intent of tallying up how many unfinished games they have, and just how long it will likely take to get through them all.  Sam’s list is small, Alex’s list is a bit hefty, and Jonathan’s list rages out of control.

Finally, Name That Game! is back, with a belated Christmas theme.  A few of the titles are repeats, but we’re keeping track now.

Alex, in the meantime, has spent a ton of time dying in the Back to Karkand maps.  He’s also spent some time on the Virtue & Vengeance tables for Pinball FX 2.  Thor is apparently awesome.  Moon Knight has promise, but the ball blends too much with the black and white.

Jonathan broke out some EDF: Insect Armageddon with Sam.  Turns out beer and pretzel games work great in video as well as tabletop.  He’s also spent some time with mobile version of The Sorcerer’s Lair, a table for Pinball FX 2, and wonders why he didn’t do so sooner.

In the topics, we discuss some of the interesting news coming out of the VGAs this year.  Skyrim takes game of the year!  Bioware’s developing Command & Conquer 2!  Revengeance!  Two new zombie games coming!  Maybe those last two don’t really deserve exclamation points.

Next week, we raid our game shelves to figure out just how much time it’ll take to finish them all.

We also have a contest for a code for the Vengeance and Virtue tables! This is how it’s going to work:

1) Send a friend request to Alex here. If his friends list gets too full, send your gamertag to alex(at)thewayofthegame(dot)net or post your gamertag on our forums.

2) If you haven’t already, get the Paranormal table on Pinball FX 2 (sorry PS3 owners, this contest is only for Xbox 360 players)

3) Alex will periodically post up a leaderboard of the top Paranormal scores during the course of the contest so people can know where they stand. The top five scores will be posted on the forums, on the Google + page and on Twitter.

4) When the ball drops at Times Square in New York City Eastern time, Alex will check the weekly high scores of the players who are in the contest.

5) The highest score wins the code for Vengeance and Virtue!

So have fun listening to the interview and get cracking on Paranormal! There’s time to get some practice in before you have to start playing for real!

We talk about GTA, EDF, MW3, BF3, MvC, ACR, and ODST.

We also discuss chopping up AAA games’ stories.  Would you rather have a 60-hour story, or 6 ten-hour stories within 60 hours of gameplay?

Next week, either another topic or an interview with Zen Pinball.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Okay, Jonathan is obviously at his wit’s end, so I’ll pick this up.

Before we start on the main topic of the show, we talk about a post seen on Empire State Gamer about a poll that asks where the Assassin’s Creed series should go next. Ubisoft’s making no attempt at downplaying the role of the franchise, and since Ezio’s over, the series has to go SOMEWHERE. Where should it go? Should it keep the same type of gameplay? Is the same type of gameplay even possible considering the technological upgrades that come with each era? And would Assassin’s Creed in the time of the Shogun really just be Tenchu?

Our topic is episodic gaming, and it takes a little while to really get our definitions down. I came at it thinking about Sam & Max and Half Life 2, while Jonathan was approaching it from the perspective of LA Noire. So it comes down to this: should major titles with hours and hours and hours of gameplay be organized into smaller, easily digestible episodes like LA Noire, or should they keep with the do-anything-go-anywhere-epic storylines?

Finally, to plug the next episode: yes, we have an interview with Zen Studios about Pinball FX 2. And we have a tournament! Details will come soon, but in the meantime, it wouldn’t be a bad decision to pick up the Paranormal table and friend me up on Xbox Live.

That’s all for this week (unless Jonathan decides a few edits are necessary), so practice on Paranormal and keep an eye on our Google+ page and our Twitter feed for details on the contest!

We’ve got a new contest running.  We’ve got codes (thanks, Brad!) for NightSky and the Ben There, Dan That/Time, Gentlemen, Please! combo pack.  Send us your favorite indie game via email, forum, or comment below, and you’ll be entered to win.  On New Year’s Eve, we’ll pick two winners and then let you have an epic grudge match duel to the death over who gets which game.  (Or we’ll do that arbitrarily, too.)

In the banter, Sam has finished Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and his opinion of the game has diminished and gone into the West.  He’s also been plowing through his backlog of L.A. Noire, El Shaddai, and Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.

He and Jonathan have both finished Saints Row The Third, with Jonathan full-on 100&ing it.  Jonathan has some warnings, but still thinks it’s a definite Purchase.  Not worth your time, though, is Otomedius Excellent, which manages to be boring and wildly creepy at the same time.

Finally, Alex survived Black Friday, though it sounds like that wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

Headlines!  Oh, how we’ve missed thee!

• ‘Gamer’ Husband Auctioned Off on Craigslist
• Consumer Reports: Microsoft is Nice, GameStop is Naughty
• EB Games/GameStop Gets Rid of Used Games Section [Update]
• Ghost Recon Game Skipping PC Because of, you Guessed it, Piracy
• URGENT! Sign the White House Ban on the Dangerous Video Game “SkyRim“

We wrap up our Seven Sins series this episode, and do a whole lot of talking about Saints Row The Third.  Sam’s been playing some Assassin’s Creed Revelations, and thinks it’s suffering from the yearly grind.  Jonathan played some Resistance: Fall of Man, in an attempt to catch up on the series, and felt it served as a passable Halo clone, but not much more.

In the topic, Jonathan lays some hate on Do It Again, Stupid mechanics.  Sam discusses the angriest Spartan of all.  And Alex tells a story that… well, we’re not sure how it fits.

Next week, more Saints Row, and something not related to sins or series.