[PlayerOneCJ]

This week! One sick Canadian and two reasonably healthy Americans discuss the game tapes they played this week. That includes The Saboteur, Dark Void Zero, Bayonetta, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, Hook Champ and Tumbledrop. And you won't want to miss a live uncanning (or should that be de-canning?) of the US version of the Mega Man E-Tank drink! All that plus tweets, emails and voicemails.

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Running time: 1:26:36

This week's links:
Player One Podcast iPhone App
Tumbledrop (iPhone App)
"You Belong With Me" - 7H3K1D
Pit Pat / GloboChem video



Direct download: 01_25_10-Episode170.mp3

[levitynyc]

Sewart sounds so sad. I keep thinking he is going to break down and cry.

[PlayerOneStewy]

I can't even describe the pain my throat was in by the end of this episode. I still have no voice today.

[levitynyc]

Im experiencing the same thing today. My throat is killing me. Don't know how you make it through.

[levitynyc]

CJ should totally have a soundbite of Megaman refilling an etank while Phil is drinking.

[SlimX]

"I do prefer the actress they used for Luna at Working Designs"




Also happy that Greg maintained the P1P drinking game by saying, "literally." Though come on, man, Micro Machine guy? After the energy drink, Phil would be talking as fast as I do!

Finally, Phil's Mickey Mouse impression sounded more like Blueberry Johnson from The State.

[Reivax]

Oh, man. I had a throat virus a couple years ago and I was actually unable to eat or drink for over a week. Just a tiny sip of water felt like razors. My uvula also swelled up so much I chocked on it when I slept. Props to you, Greg, for showing up. I hope yours isn't as bad as mine was.

[Ondore]

An energy drink taste test on air? IT'S THE BOMBCAST Y'ALL

Edit: I get through a lot of podcasts on my commute or to drown out my roommmates. Even with limited time at work I can usually knock off 3-4 a day.

[LiK]

just started, my gawd, Stewy sounded like an old man on the show. Btw, I got Saboteur too, all because of CJ.

[StinkingBishop]

LiK, on 25 January 2010 - 09:17 AM, said:

just started, my gawd, Stewy sounded like an old man on the show. Btw, I got Saboteur too, all because of CJ.

I only got to listen to the first part of the episode so far and was thinking this is what Young Stewy must have sounded like. So do we get to experience what he will sound like during his entire life then? This has to be a podcast first.

[Wenny]

Feel better Greg and welcome to one of the great pleasures of parenthood.

I'm totally with Greg on The Saboteur. I was off work on Friday (like poor, sick Greggy-poo) and spent the entire day playing the game. The controls are a little jank at times, the climbing is piss poor compared to Infamous, the animation is serviceable at best, the driving controls are just off enough to annoy....but none of that matters one iota. I'm not even that big a fan of open world games which makes the game even more impressive to me.

RE: Four Square and it's ilk: Hey, Grampa Phil....Some people like Dynasty Warrior and Lego games, some people like fighting it out for virtual mayor in a check-in metagame. Some people even like energy drinks. Crazy that we all don't have the same tastes...

[mik]

Alternate episode titles:

An Intense Case of Priapism
Slapchop
Teddy Bear Boob Vagina
Let's Un-can This Bitch
Chug! Chug! Chug!


The Saboteur is great fun. Though, getting those maps that Greg mentioned killed a little of the fun for me. When I opened the map up and saw all those goddamn dots of things to blow up, I got incredibly disheartened, knowing I'd never finish half of those things. Still, even a linear run through the story is pretty satisfying. You mentioned comparing the game to other open-world games like inFamous and Assassin's Creed--one hilarious comparison that you'll bump into later is a train level. The entire time playing that level I was thinking, "damn--six months ago, I'd have thought this level was incredible." Poor Saboteur.

Remote Play + Hulu is the greatest combination in handhelds. Watching TV episodes in bed when sick or suffering insomnia is a treat.

About Wii/Family/Kids game reviews... I've thought 100 times about starting a web site devoted to that. When Davison started "What They Play," I thought that's what they'd be doing, but they focused almost entirely on the questionable content of a game--not reviews. Going into a GameStop or Best Buy and being faced with the wall of shovelware in the Wii and DS aisle, it's impossible for anyone to know if any of it is good, so the assumption is that it's not. And that couldn't be more wrong. In fact, some of those games are quite good. For example, my daughters wanted the Hannah Montana game for the DS--which is understandable, they're as susceptible to a licensed game as one of us might be to, say, Star Wars. But in searching for impressions of the game online, there were none, other than snarky comments about the box art on GAF. Well, we took a flyer on it anyway, since that's what they wanted and--surprise, surprise--it's a pretty excellent point-and-click adventure game (good enough, in fact, that I played through it too). That's just one of a number of examples I've personally experienced. There's really an untapped service there that is only going to grow as the demographic of gamers ages and has kids of their own.

[Chairman Steve]

Greg, would you say that The Saboteur is the new True Crime: Streets of LA?

All kidding aside, I picked up the game on your recommendation (as well as CJ's) when it was on sale for $40. I'm looking forward to starting it when I'm done with Assassin's Creed 2.

On the subject of wives and their reaction to Bayonetta, I was totally embarrassed to play that game in front of mine, but she ended up enjoying the absurdity even more than I did. I probably shouldn't push my luck by using too many of the unlockable costumes, though.

[juanster]

My brother-in-law's natural voice sounds just like sick-Sewart. It's like he lost his voice once, but never got it back.

[Kirbutashi]

The only review score you would need, mik, is time until kid gets bored with game.

[mik]

Thank you for illustrating my point.

[Kirbutashi]

It was fascinating to watch my 8 year old nephew sort his way through my DS collection over Christmas. NSMB and Bomberman DS got a little more time than average, but he finally stopped on Animal Crossing up until it was time for him to leave. He even bothered to come up and ask me about the game. Most of his questions were centered on my few remaining townsfolk wondering where I had been and the weeds and roaches everywhere.

Seriously though, kids know what games are good and which are just boring and condescending. They won't waste their time with trash unless they really can't think of anything else they'd rather do. Some numeric value, letter grade, or star system couldn't tell you any better.

[mik]

So, would you say the same for reviews of any game?

[Kirbutashi]

No, I wouldn't. I think getting a bunch of kids playing a game targeted towards them and noting their response is much more valuable than someone with an English major pretending they can do the same. The only value I see in adults reviewing a childrens' game is if its safe for the most politically correct households and that it doesn't break.

[PlayerOneStewy]

Well I think as an adult you can fairly judge the merits of most kids' games - I think you just need to have some perspective on the issue. More than anything, though, I don't think kids game reviews need to tell me at what level of "good" a game is - that's just a guess in any form of game reviewing - but as a parent I'd really like someone who could warn me off of a bad kids game. Not in regards to specific game play or anything, but just overall quality.

Case-in-point is the Dora game we bought our daughter for Christmas. It's god-awful. It manages to be far to simple to be interesting to her in the slightest, but the controls are just intricate enough that it's above her level of play. Besides which, visually it's a jagged mess. A good, serious review could have told me some of those things, rather than just having to jump in blind based on the license.

[Wenny]

PlayerOneStewy, on 25 January 2010 - 12:09 PM, said:

Case-in-point is the Dora game we bought our daughter for Christmas. It's god-awful. It manages to be far to simple to be interesting to her in the slightest, but the controls are just intricate enough that it's above her level of play. Besides which, visually it's a jagged mess. A good, serious review could have told me some of those things, rather than just having to jump in blind based on the license.

Does she like Diego as well? Go Diego Go! Safari Rescue (Wii) is a pretty good side scrolling platformer that's not too difficult on the control front. All the Dora titles have been crap so far.

[Hacker Alias]

I am EAGERLY waiting to hear exactly what game the next gameclub is going to be

because I can play the scd/ps1 versions of Lunar (both for both systems lol)

[Kirbutashi]

[Reivax]

Yup, the only energy drink I've ever had tasted exactly like liquid Rockets. Or Smarties, to the Yanks.

I wouldn't mind another reason to run through Super Metroid again, so I'd be happy with that as a game club. Especially since Ford hasn't played it and Sewart hasn't beaten it.

[BeauRosser]

To answer Phil's question about Foursquare:

I'm following IGN's wireless editor, Levi Buchanan, because he lives in Portland, OR like me. I saw that he checked into a store called Video Game Wizards. I had no idea what that place was. I looked it up and found out that it is a retro gaming store. I was intrigued, so the next day I drove out there to see what it was all about. Because of Foursquare, I found a really cool retro game store in my area. I have lived in the Portland area for over 10 years, and I had no idea this store existed. Now I do.

But yes, if you are following people that do not live in the same area as you, then it really serves no point because foursquare doesn't track the stats of you compared to your "out of town" friends. But hey, I think it's interesting seeing what Wenny, CJ, and Twobitme are up to.

And hell, you get Badges. And Badges are cool.

ALSO, AND

[PlayerOnePhil]

BeauRosser, on 25 January 2010 - 01:08 PM, said:

To answer Phil's question about Foursquare:

I'm following IGN's wireless editor, Levi Buchanan, because he lives in Portland, OR like me. I saw that he checked into a store called Video Game Wizards. I had no idea what that place was. I looked it up and found out that it is a retro gaming store. I was intrigued, so the next day I drove out there to see what it was all about. Because of Foursquare, I found a really cool retro game store in my area. I have lived in the Portland area for over 10 years, and I had no idea this store existed. Now I do.

But yes, if you are following people that do not live in the same area as you, then it really serves no point because foursquare doesn't track the stats of you compared to your "out of town" friends. But hey, I think it's interesting seeing what Wenny, CJ, and Twobitme are up to.

And hell, you get Badges. And Badges are cool.

ALSO

If you were really interested in finding new video game stores in your area, you could have Googled "Portland video game store" ages ago to find Video Game Wizards. It's the third listing that pops up after the Ground Kontrol arcade and Guardian Games.

And maybe I'm just a bad friend, but I don't feel the need to let everyone know when and where my wife and I go out to eat, nor do I care that, say, CJ has been to Jimmy Johns a lot.

Of course, all things considered, I'm a relatively antisocial guy, so that probably has a lot to do with my disinterest in social networking hoo-hah.

[Balb]

You should have saved that e-tank for when you really needed it, Phil!

Also, you nailed the whole social networking thing for two weeks in a row. How much more positive reinforcement do we need in our lives?

This post has been edited by Balb: 25 January 2010 - 05:29 PM

[redrock963]

I do really appreciate the discussion about 28 year olds reviewing kids games. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when people watch or play something that is CLEARLY not intended for them and bitch about its quality.

And my vote is for Lunar for gameclub. I know RPGs are such a pain in the ass to do because of the length, but it is SUCH an awesome game that it deserves to be discussed.

I just have no idea which version I wanna play for it. XD

[Wenny]

Balb, on 25 January 2010 - 06:28 PM, said:

Also, you nailed the whole social networking thing for two weeks in a row. How much more positive reinforcement do we need in our lives?

Probably the same amount of judgmental dickheaded-ness...

[PlayerOnePhil]

The way I see it, I don't need some third-party website/application to encourage me to go out. I'm gonna start rewarding myself for my mundane, everyday tasks!

In fact, I just earned these badges during lunch for buying a sandwich at the grocery store deli counter and for buying two types of fruit in one transaction:



Immediately after earning those, I also earned this one!



I think PhilSquare has a lot of potential. I'm certainly having fun with it.

[mik]

How did the lord Jesus pack so much hate into such a little man?

[PlayerOneStewy]

Wenny, on 25 January 2010 - 01:31 PM, said:

Does she like Diego as well? Go Diego Go! Safari Rescue (Wii) is a pretty good side scrolling platformer that's not too difficult on the control front. All the Dora titles have been crap so far.

She used to be a big Diego fan, but lately, not so much. Right now it's Dora, Wiggles (her current fave), and Caillou.

[PlayerOneStewy]

PlayerOnePhil, on 25 January 2010 - 09:23 PM, said:

The way I see it, I don't need some third-party website/application to encourage me to go out. I'm gonna start rewarding myself for my mundane, everyday tasks!

This from the man who once used a guitar controller to get a multiplayer achievement...

[ness08]

PlayerOnePhil, on 25 January 2010 - 04:29 PM, said:

If you were really interested in finding new video game stores in your area, you could have Googled "Portland video game store" ages ago to find Video Game Wizards. It's the third listing that pops up after the Ground Kontrol arcade and Guardian Games.

Ground Kontrol is pretty cool place. They have an old Punch Out! machine you can play for a quarter, that's for plays for a dollar yo! They also let you sit at the bar and play the old systems as you drink you beer (after 7 of course) You should check it out if you've never been there. Voodoo donuts is pretty good too. I miss Portland

Oh and Greg, they do have a medical name, it is called cooties.

[Wenny]

Phil....everyone knows an apple earns you the Sport Candy medal. OK, I guess everyone under the age of old, cranky pants know that...

[SlimX]

mik, on 25 January 2010 - 08:43 PM, said:

How did the lord Jesus pack so much hate into such a little man?

On the contrary, Phil is a little hate leprechaun that leaves hate under the pillow of smart children everywhere. And never a finer fellow will you meet.

[Chairman Steve]

redrock963, on 25 January 2010 - 04:36 PM, said:

And my vote is for Lunar for gameclub. I know RPGs are such a pain in the ass to do because of the length, but it is SUCH an awesome game that it deserves to be discussed.

I vote for Lunar as well, though judging by the way it's talked about on the podcast, I'd say it's inevitable that it's chosen for Game Club. I've played through the Sega CD and PS1 versions (and part of the GBA game), and can't wait to play it again.

[GSRJedi]

When you guys were talking about the remote play stuff, it reminded me of something I'd like to see Sony do. Offer more of the PSN games as PSP versions and let me transfer my saves between the games. Bionic Commando Rearmed, Mega Man 9, PixelJunk Shooter would all work well on the PSP, and would allow me to play even when I'm not near WiFi (which is the majority of the time I use my PSP)

[FewCube]

I watched Forrest Gump right before listening to this..though I'm not Canadian. I've thought about getting a psp lately to play some psone games and psp games but I'm afraid it will collect dust. It's tempting.

[Brennzky]

SUNOVABITCH! Judging from the topics of the thread, did you guys play my voicemail? Dammit, I was pretty wasted and probably not very good at proving a point at the time. I was hoping CJ would notice this and decide not to play it. I dont really remember what all I said, but I remember phoning in while playing Where the Wild things are, haha.

shit.