I was wrong on all fronts. I am addicted, and the game is pretty damn great.

JD, Jedi Badass

Almost too good, as if I have to take back everything negative I have ever said about Bioware. I think I have narrowed the reason why down to this – story. Everyone knows Bioware writes a good story – Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age. The problem I had was that I did not want to read it. The dialog trees which equated to walls of text took me out of the story. I’m playing a video game. If I wanted to read I’d pick up a book or at the very least listen to one read to me on my ipod (my laziness knows no bounds). What Bioware did for SWTOR was the perfect solution – voice overs. Everything is voiced in this game, every quest, every reward, every interaction with your companions, everything. So much so, in fact, that Star Wars the Old Republic is in the Guinness World Records as having the most lines of recorded dialogue ever. 200,000 lines – more than any motion picture, let alone video game. I don’t even mind having to read subtitles for an alien language when someone is voicing it for me at the same time. Weird.

Now that I didn’t have to read everything that a NPC says to me, I concentrated on the story line, and my character. What a story it is. I have just finished Act I of the game, essentially completing the main story quests for my character, a Jedi Knight Guardian (tank). From the double agents to the evil Sith lords, I loved every second of it. Even the back stories of my two main companions, an astromech droid named T7 and a Jedi Padawan named Kira. As for what happens in Acts II and III, check back with me in a couple months. That is if I don’t get lost in the story lines of one of the eight other classes when I start a new character.

SWTOR is an RPG at its heart. Bioware repeatedly said during the development process that they were bringing story to the MMORPG, not just making a clone of other MMOs (WoW). I had no doubt that they would get the RPG part right, that’s what Bioware does. The MMO part is what I was worried about – multiplayer (co-op), player vs player (pvp), chat, etc. Things that other MMOs take for granted were new to Bioware. After a pretty flawless launch (save for some long wait times to login early on), I can report all of the ‘MMO’ parts are working well. There are things that need to be tweaked, primarily in the pvp sections, maybe make the economy a little more robust, a ‘looking for group’ menu, etc. But these things will get better, as the game gets patched and updated weekly, and as players level their characters.

As with all combat in SWTOR (quests, pvp, heroics, space) any xp you get levels your character, ship, and companions at the same time. This makes leveling simple and fun. You can basically do whatever you want. If you choose to skip all side missions and just do your main quests, you can do it. Make up for the loss in xp with pvp or space missions. The game is flexible in that respect.

The game is made up of planets that are designed for certain character levels, currently about 17 planets. Once you get your ship, you are free to travel to any of them, but obviously you will be spending time on planets appropriate for your level. I think the travel is pretty cool in this game. I like the idea of hopping in your ship, bringing up the galaxy map, and traveling to a spaceport on any planet you like, hopping out and starting quests. Early days of Star Wars Galaxies was all based on fast travel between planets (also from spaceports). Something about getting in your own ship first makes it cooler. There is a central hub in the game called the fleet. It is essentially a bunch of space stations/ships that have nearly any vendor/trainer/NPC you will ever need.

I have played many MMOs – Dark Ages of Camelot, WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes, Guild Wars to name a few. Is this game WoW with a Star Wars skin over it? Not in the least bit. Yes, there are the standard fetch quests, kill x number of these quests, etc. These are in most RPGs, standard fare. Loot grinders will be in heaven. But Star Wars: The Old Republic has some things that are different from any other MMORPG – the companion system, the combat, the way gear and upgrading your gear is handled, and the detailed and varied story.  You will see aspects of many other games in there as well, and Bioware would be stupid not to learn from other MMO successes. While SWTOR may not be a revolutionary game, it most certainly is an evolutionary game, there are many many things that the game does very well, a lot of them new. Looting multiple mobs at once! Hello?! Where have you been all my life?

I know I haven’t mentioned a lot of the details of the game, but there is too much to mention. The only thing I can say is if you have been thinking about getting this game, do it. Use the free month subscription and try it out. Just make sure you have a lot of spare time and say goodbye to your significant other beforehand. If you do join up, look up the Space Pimps guild on the Sith Wyrm server.  Tell them JD sent ya.

This got me thinking–what do I want from the next round of systems? Do I feel that my gaming experiences on Playstation 3 and Xbox360 are lacking something that the next round of systems could provide? My wants may not be what you’ve heard elsewhere. Click the jump to check out my uninformed ramblings on the subject.

First of all, I’ve got to state for the record that I’m perfectly satisfied with current systems as they are right now. I feel that this past year, developers really displayed how familiar and comfortable they were with this gen’s tech inside the PS3 and Xbox360, and the proof is in the pudding. Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, and Batman: Arkham City are just three examples of the bumper crop of top tier titles that dropped last year, and games like The Max Payne 3, Prototype 2, and Dragon’s Dogma are looking primed to make 2012 just as exciting as 2011–if not more so.

That being said, here’s a synopsis of what I want from Sony’s, Nintendo’s and Microsoft’s next foray into the console industry.

Nintendo:
I like Nintendo. I’m not a big fan of Nintendo’s portable systems because I have large hands and even the DS XL’s ergonomic design cramps my hands after a while. I do however dig their consoles (I’ve owned everything from NES to Wii), and would like to have reason to add a WiiU to my entertainment center. In order to get my money, Nintendo is going to have to do a few things:

NEW IPs PLEASE!: This is all a matter of personal taste, but I’m going to have to see something other than the next Mario/Zelda/Metroid/MariKart racer to get me to buy this system. Nintendo is one of the most unique circumstances with regard to this; and in my opinion it is both blessing and curse. Their IP stable is at such an iconic stable, Nintendo has had the benefit of resting on its in house laurels. If they want to sell a few extra hundred thousand units, they just crank out another Mario game. I’m not saying that those games aren’t good–they are. I’m just saying that for me, those old school iconic “warm and fuzzies” aren’t going to do it for me this time around. I’m going to need to see some of that “Nintendo magic” that produced a Zelda, and produced a Mario come through again with new and exciting IPs. Nintendo knows how to do that. They just need TO do that.

CONSOLIDATE THE ONLINE STORE: Nintendo has a lot of great games available on their online store. In fact, I think it rivals that of the PSN, but you would never know that looking at that interface. You have to already know what you’re looking for, otherwise digging through the games quickly becomes a chore. With Nintendo having a tablet as a controller for the WiiU, there are a number of interface solutions that can be utilized with a little forethought. Even if they have to borrow a bit from Apple, that storefront needs a major facelift. Also, why do I have to have separate for Wii, and DS DLC? All that needs to be consolidated into one online store front, and one currency–preferably US dollars.

UNIQE GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCES: Nintendo is coming into the HD gaming arena very late. While its all fine and dandy that they say that they’re seriously trying to woo hardcore games to this system, games are going to have unique gameplay experiences that can only be found on WiiU for me to jump on board (not including Nintendo exclusives). Why would I want to play Darksiders 2 on WiiU, when I can get the exact same game on Playstation 3? I played the first game on PS3, I’m familiar with the control method, and graphically–unless the WiiU is a serious beast of a graphics powerhouse, it’ll look identical to the PS3 version. Nintendo is really going to have to encourage 3rd party developers to utilize that WiiPad to create experiences that will make me want to own that 3rd party game on WiiU as opposed to the other HD systems.

Microsoft:
I’ve had my problems with Microsoft’s current console. If the house that Gates built wants to see my money next gen, these points would be a good place to start:

GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT PLEASE!: If you’ve poked around the Gamerhusbands website, or listened to the GHR podcast for any length of time, you’ll discover that I’m a self admitted Playstation fanboy. Why? The answer is simple. I’ve had 7 Xbox360s red-ring. Eight if you include the “fixed” unit BestBuy provided me during my in-store warranty exchange. It matters not how good Xbox LIVE is or will be when the next console is released. It will all be for nothing if the service is provided through an overheating turd wrapped in plastic. I won’t be in that midnight launch lineup in front of BestBuy like I was when the 360 dropped. Instead, I’ll wait a couple of months to get an idea of what the build quality of that system is, before I jump in.

A MORE VARIED 1ST PARTY LINEUP: Halo and Gears are good games. I’m not really an FPS or 3PS maniac, but they are fun. However, I would like to see Microsoft step it up when it comes to their exclusives. There is more to gaming than having a character tote around a gun, and I’d like to see Microsoft make an effort to widen its 1st party genre horizons. Alan Wake by all accounts was a good attempt at doing that. Microsoft needs to do more to cultivate that this next time around. Microsoft has had the luxury of being able to rest on their LIVE laurels to move systems and 3rd party software; I want to see more effort from them in this regard.

SONY:
Sony really doesn’t need to do a whole lot different from what they’re already doing to get my money (yeah, Sony fanboy loud and proud). With a first party lineup that is 2nd to none, the awesome PSN Plus program, and free online, they just need to give me bleeding edge tech without bleeding my wallet too much. Thats not a whole lot to ask is it? Well, this is Sony, so maybe it is. I’m getting the next Playstation regardless, but if Sony included the following points, it would just make the deal that much sweeter:

COMMUNICATION: I don’t understand why Sony doesn’t do this already, but they definitely should with their next system. There should be a headset of some sort included with every system.

BACKWARDS REGION FREE COMPATIBILITY: There is no chance in hell that this is going to happen. I know that, but this is just one of those wishes my niche oriented mind would love to see in Sony’s next console. I have a fairly large collection of Japanese PS2 games–mostly fighters, and quirky action games of varying quality. I would love to be able to play my copy of Sega Ages Dynamite Deka, or Shin Gouketsuji: Bonnou Kaihou, then go to the latest and greatest on one system. Oh well, a man can dream…

TRUE HOME INTEGRATION: I haven’t used Playstation Home since its initial public beta. I found it slow, convoluted, and not very much fun moving my avatar to storefronts amidst the masses of electronic horndogs looking for digital strange. I could see what Sony was trying to introduce to the console space with this feature, and from what I’ve heard, Sony has made significant improvements in Home. The problem? I’ll never see it unless Sony forces me to. I’d like to see Home and PSN integrated in such a way that I can wander the Home landscape or go straight to the media bar seamlessly if I so choose, but Sony must make Home and PSN one to truly accomplish this.

I recently decided I wanted a new PC.  It started out with a random visit to the Apple Store when I bit into the pretty new iMac.  Man those are a work of art.  I’ve been excited for years to get into their photo editing, having iTunes that doesn’t crash and editing some videos.  I was pumped and brought it home.  It is a work of art, but I didn’t like it.  The machine is so pretty and the operating system is beautiful but I realized I didn’t like it.  Nothing wrong with it, I’m just used to Windows and didn’t see a reason to change.  So back it went.

I decided I was fine staying with my laptop.  It did what I needed.  Until JD and Weasel started playing Star Wars the Old Republic.  They played and I realized I wanted to play too.  OK back to the drawing board.  I wanted a nice laptop so I went to BestBuy and found the Asus G74SX-BBK which is a nice Republic of Gaming laptop.  Cost $1200 and she’s a beast for a laptop.  Core i7 with a terrabyte of memory, ran Star Wars beautifully but maxed around 60fps and saw instances of 37fps.  It had the Quad i7 and a GeForce Videocard but they were the mobile type so they’re just not as powerful.

I use my PC in the livingroom and a laptop really fits in well.  Unfortunately I started to feel dated already and I barely had the laptop.  I realized time would move on and there’s no upgrading.  So I started thinking about what I wanted to do.  Time to build a new rig.

I started by checking out this post on neogaf which gives you a good guide of parts.

Next it was just picking out components from that list and putting it together.  If you decide to do this let me say that if you get over the fear it’s not that hard.  I had my kids helping me some to try and get them to realize it’s not really hard.  Unfortunately I ran into some hurdles and went to YouTube too much so they got bored and wandered off.  YouTube + Forums are your friend if you want to build a machine.

Everything was purchased by Amazon only because I decided I wanted it here quickly and I missed the shipping time for Newegg.  Both had very similar costs, probably spent an extra $50 by using Amazon.

Case : HAF 922M ($90)

Picked the HAF because it is covered in holes to pass air through.  It also comes with some pretty beefy fans which give it tons of airflow.  Nice case, plenty of room to maneuver.

Motherboard : ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3   $200

I bought this motherboard because it has great reviews and Asus makes nice boards.  I built a machine 15 years ago with the best overclockers board.  The board gave me nothing but problems and they never fixed it right on bios updates and I was never fully happy with that machine.

Processor : Quad Core i5 2500 ($200)

I didn’t even look at AMD because I have some crazy idea I might turn this into a Hackintosh (not going to).  So I went with the i5.  It has great ability to overclock so it can power up close to an i7 for much less $.

Cooler :  Cooler Master Hyper 212 ($25)

This is a great cooler for the cost.  Best one I could find without moving up to water cooled which scared me some.  Read 500 great reviews on a water cooled unit but 1 guy said it leaked and fried everything.  Scared me enough to stick with the cheaper unit shown below.  The processor comes with a fan but if you’re going to overclock don’t skimp on cooler or thermal paste, these are the keys to your build.  It amazed me the size of this fan.

Graphics Card : GTX 570 (Factory Overclocked) $340

I went with this card because it had some good reviews.  There’s basically a few classes and I got middle of the road.  The new high end are close to $600 which is way more than I wanted to spend.  You could get a nice card for about $100 less.

RAM: Corsair 16 GB  $90

8 GB would have been fine for anyone.  I’ve read things that more than 8 doesn’t matter for most things.  8GB would have been $45 but I found a very good deal on RAM and got all 16.

Power Supply : Corsair 850  $185

Power Supplies have changed drastically since I last build a machine.  Chose 850 Watts to future proof myself if I ever buy 2 vid cards and run them together.

Monitor : Viewsonic VX2450WM ($188)

Everything has updated drivers and now the monitor looks great.  Have only been using it for a little bit but I like it so far.

Bought a cheap dvd drive ($25), a network card ($20), a Western Digital 2TB drive with 6gb/s SATA ($120).  Thought about an SSD drive to speed stuff up but they are ridiculously expensive.  Since I’ve been on laptops, I needed a mouse and keyboard.  Actually I needed 2 because my wireless ones wouldn’t connect to allow me to install Windows (no drivers before Windows installs).  So some added cost there.  Overall it was about $1600 which is more than I wanted to spend and much more than you need if you’re looking to play games.  But I’m happy.  Very happy with my new beast.

I’m not a computer genius so its not a very hard project.  Just need to dig in and plug away.  The hardest parts were putting the processor fan together and putting on the thermal paste.  Youtube and the Artic Silver website were great helps here.  All of the plugs were unfamiliar but they can only plug in one way and it’s pretty self evident.  I did make a mistake on some of the case controls but figured it out after the fan LEDs and power switch weren’t working.  Feels really nice to look over and realize I’m working on the machine I built.

Any questions?  Drop me a line on Twitter Tilt_101

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Shout Outs to:
1. The 40 Cast
2. The Married Gamers
3. And YOU! the listener

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Thank you for the tunes, and please check these amazing artists out and show them support

Intro
1. 21 Against-”4 O’Clock”-http://www.myspace.com/21against
2. Animate Objects-”Beautiful”-http://www.animate-objects.com/

Turkey Time, Turkey Time! The Gamerhusbands get together for another epic mashup show of sorts.  Last week we recorded with Podcasting Heavyweights, The 40 Cast, and this week we bring another show full of laughs. With the help of Bob, Co-Host of the Lagfree podcast, JD and Kevin we discuss open world games and how Saints Row has changed Open World games. Someone check Maverick’s temperature, because he has positive things to say about Modern Warfare III. Sam continues his disgust with the HALO REMAKE MULTIPLAYER. Yes, Sam bought Halo one for the multiplayer??? He also received some constructive criticism from one of our AWESOME listeners! Finally, someone pointed the cross hairs at Sam instead of Maverick. We talk turkey…..Literally. How do you like your turkey? and what time is thanksgiving dinner served at your casa? We talk different cultures and arriving at the table, CPT. Good game talk, and we try to stay away from being douche……well, except JD. Enjoy!

In October I was able to get to New York Comic Con and experience it. If you’ve never been there, it’s a daunting experience. There’s just so much there including comics, Steampunk shops, LoTR, Video Games, Gamer Furniture, everything under the geek sun.

Accompanying me this year was my 8 year old and one thing that caught his eye and stayed with him was a silly little iOS game called Corpse Toss. He sat down and played it on the floor and was enthralled for 10 minutes. I eventually dragged him away with the promise that we would buy it when it came out.

The premise is simple, you are an undertaker and you like whacking corpses with shovels. The further the corpse goes, the more money you get. It’s a real simple mechanic too, reminiscient of kicking in football games. You have a moving bar dictating your height and another dictating your strength.

As you get money you can level up your character. The meters can go slower, the undertaker’s strength gets stronger, you can buy bombs and trampolines and buzz saws all of which increase the distance. There are also speciality corpses with different bonuses.

I enjoy the overall artistic theme of the program. It’s comically Halloween and fits very nice with this game.

This is a simple game but that’s where it shines. It’s easy enough to pick up for 5 minutes, good enough that my 8 year old played it for hours until everything was unlocked. It’s only a dollar and well worth the money. My boy says it’s one of the best iOS games he’s played.

I. Games of the week
II. Skyrim Modern Warfare 3
III. LoveSack, HolyHeadshot and Bigdaddy

We love your feedback. Let us know what you think about the show
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******WARNING*************
The Outro song has some curse words in it. Please listen at your own discretion.

If gangsters with open shirts, hairy chests draped in gold chains, and hot women in the car makes you smile, then Gangstar Rio might be a game to check out. Some of the AAA sandbox games are being released, and it’s perfect timing for one to come to our handhelds and tablet devices. Gangstar Rio grabbed my attention with the trailer. Some of the goodies include; heliocopters, planes, ATV’s, and big gune. These are essentials for a good open world. Hopefully it has an entertaining narrative too. This game is coming to Iphone, Ipad and Android devices, so most people will have a chance to play it.

I’m not even going to put into words what I just saw. The phrase, “if we think it, we can make it,”  applies to this toy box filled adventure. As many wait to payback Russia in Modern Warfare 3, or  chase down flying dragons in, The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim, there is a choose your own adventure in Saints Row:The Third. Just watch the trailer, and i’m sure you will be wondering where to insert quarters.

Shenanigans Shenanigans! In the midst of the one of the greatest gaming holidays ever, publishers are working overtime to ensure that they’re game gets maximum attention. We have fun with these topics and keep it lighthearted but critical. Some ofthe topics this week are:

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!!!!

1. Catwoman DLC Shenanigans
2. Battlefield 3 console reviews Shenanigans
3. Arkham City
4. Gears 3 upcoming DLC
5. LoveSack – SamS, Tadj, Mike(bucfan)
6. NCAA 12 for PS3 has some season ending gameplay bugs and freezes
7. GTA V announced
8. Alfred and Sam Shenanigans – See it isn’t just the publishers. We’re full of shiggity too.

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Check out our friends that we mentioned on this episode
1.  The Married Gamers - themarriedgamers.net
2. FrontTowardsGamer - fronttowardsgamer.com

SiliconEra has reported on some Tweets from Team Ninja regarding info on Ninja Gaiden 3 – specifically, the new role Ninpo will play, and how Ultimate Techniques are activated in the upcoming title.

In the past, Ninpo had more than one use. The fireball was a good way to lay heavy damage on a single enemy (I used it mostly during boss fights), while the electric Ninpo was good at zapping multiple enemies at close range. Also, Ninpo had another useful benefit–Ryu was invincible during the startup animations and execution of the magic; providing nifty method of bypassing a heavy damage boss attack.

Now, per Team Ninja’s tweets, Ninpo serves as the only means in which Ryu can regain health. No more elixir bottles or blue karma orbs. Instead, the Dragon Ninpo will devour enemies which will in turn give Ryu health. The more enemies consumed, the more health Ryu gets, so there is a “high risk, high return” element to Ryu’s health management. What isn’t mentioned is whether or not the Dragon Ninpo will be the only magic Ryu will have access to.

There’s a substantial change to the Ultimate Techniques as well. Before, you absorbed karma orbs into your weapon by pressing down hard attack, or held down hard attack long enough for your weapon to build enough energy. Now, Ryu’s arm glows red after a few enemies are slain, and when the strong attack button is held down, the Ultimate Technique is unleashed. Per the tweet, you can cancel out of a combo and go into a UT.

To be honest, this is really the first promising news that I’ve heard that the Ninja Gaiden I remember may not be totally lost to the dark abyss of mainstream mediocrity. I like the risk/reward with the Ninpo, and I like the change in how UTs can be used. I can see how combo canceling could be quite punishing in boss encounters. I just hope that these changes will rely on player skill to be used effectively instead of being a mainstream crutch to lure the casual on board.

Dear Listener: Before you open that email account and and choose to send that hatemail, take your hand away from the keyboard. Maverick and Superman grab the reigns this week and cover many gaming topics. We give Gears of War 3 some of our final thoughts. The reasons we appreciate Gears 3 are totally different from the other’s view. Make sure and listen, because our persepective on Gears is very unique. Now, this whole show isn’t just a love letter to Marcus, we do cover quite a few other topics. Which include

1. GameStop moving into the mobile phone space by selling Iphones/Ipods

2. Used Game retailers vs. Publishers – Round 2

3. Arkham City DLC Debacle

4. Love letter to Gears of War 3

5. Narrative vs. Story

6. Themes of Gears 3 – “Brotherhood” and “hopelessness”

7. Does difficulty positively/negatively affect the perception of “Value”

What didn’t you like about this show? let us know by sending a quick email to our hatemail: hatemail@gamerhusbands.com

Also, if you have a question or comment to be read on the show, send it too our lovesack: lovesack@gamerhusbands.com We LOVE to get emails, so feel free to send them. We read everything. Thank you

Shoutout to Dragon 59 for the intro

ALAN WAKE GIVEAWAY: first person to email contact@gamerhusbands.com telling us why they want the game, in a few sentences wins the game

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After an unofficial hiatus the GamerHusbands Radio Crew is back with an all star lineup. JD explains why Rage is doing things that most console games aren’t and Kevin takes us down memory lane with some SNK classics, and how Guardian Heroes solidified a friendship. We take some of your comments from twitter and incorporate them into the show. Thank everyone for all of their comments and feedback. Great loveSack email this week. Thanks for listening to the show, and please let us know what you think.

Some of the Games we talk about in this Episode:(in no specific Order)

1. Forza 4
2. Rage
3. SNK games
4. Guardian Heroes
5. A trip down gaming memory lane
6. Battlefield 3 Beta
7. Vita
8. Trade Ins

A huge shoutout to Dragon59 for the Intro. He has promised more to come

Send us your comments about this episode
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It’s time once again for the New York Comic Con. Every year they have been improving this convention and I can’t wait to get there tonight! Check back here for coverage as I post my impressions.

Things I’m looking forward to right now include:
Locke and Key failed Fox pilot
Max Payne 3 and GTA3 (mobile edition) by Rockstar!
Mass Effect 3

Wish I could make it to the Podcast Beyond! live recording but it’s not going to fit into my schedule. I’m sure there’s thousands of other cool things I will report back on.

For those who were unaware, the Tokyo Game Show (Japan’s E3) kicked off the 15th of September and wrapped up over the weekend. No bombshells were dropped, but there were some announcements gameplay videos, and trailers shown that put a pip in this niche gamer’s step. So, instead of doing a drawn out article, I’ll touch on just a couple of highlights with links to complete write ups and video. Click the jump to see what’s groovy.

Persona 4: Ultimate in Mayokana Arena
Basically, its a 2D fighting game featuring characters from Persona4. I’ve never played a Persona game, (RPGs typically aren’t my genre) but what really caught my attention was who was handling the coding duties. The masters of 2D sprite goodness at Arc System Works are working their magic on this one, and if it plays as good as it looks (and it should, since these guys did the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series) I’ll be all over this one.

Hit up Gamespot for their hands on write up.

Check out GameTrailers to see the game in action.
Image from Gamespot

Playstation Vita

Japan gets a release date of December 17, 2011. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 confirmed as part of the launch group of games. My heart says import, but my brain says, “BEWARE–REGION LOCK”. Thats okay, I’ll be up to my armpits in top tier console titles anyway, and my disposable income goes only so far. I can wait for a US release for this geek sexy tech.

Vita Conference Impressions by 1Up
Image by 1Up

Ninja Gaiden 3
If you’ve spent any amount of time here on the Gamerhusbands site, you know that my fanboy-ism for the Ninja Gaiden series know no bounds. As a gamer with 3rd person brawlers as my favorite genre, it is the Ninja Gaiden series that is the gold standard that all other brawlers are measured against.

That said, I’ve got some concerns about NG3. Online competitive multiplayer, Move support, QTE looking gameplay elements, and a supposed Dragon Sword only weapon load out are but some of my causes for concern that this title may not hold to the legacy this series has laid out for itself. Hopefully TeamNinja can bring it–even without Itagaki at the helm.

Yosuke Hayashi talks NG3’s style and focus change at GameTrailers

NG3 gameplay (and soldiers begging for mercy) video at GameTrailers

See the source of Ryu’s curse in “Consequences” TGS trailer at GameTrailers
Image from Gamingunion.net

Sorry everyone. No Show this week. I was sick the latter part of the week. We don’t like to miss show, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.  We will be back this upcoming friday with a lot of content. We have been playing a lot of games, and I can’t wait to talk about them on the show this week. Thanks for hanging in there, and thank you for all of the support!

Also, The Gamerhusbands want to take a second and remember all of those who lost their lives on this day ten years ago. A thank you to the Armed forces and everyone who has sacrificed their life for this country. Your hard work and dedication will never be forgotten. Thank you

NEWS NEWS and more NEWS. Can you believe that Epic has the epic stones to release a $30 DLC preorder promise on the same day as Gears 3. As if people we’ren’t spending enough money. Guess which hosts defends this action. You might be suprised by the result. Big Dez from Fognationasks the hosts to pick between, Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. Again, you will be suprised by which side we stand behind. We throw Nintendo a bone also. Ok, maybe it’s a full moon outside and we aren’t our normal selves. Maybe???? Maverick’s game of the week is…..Words With Friends. Superman didn’t use his metal bending skills on disbanding the Covenant in Reach. Well, Master Chief does spring his little spartan head in this episode. Don’t worry, we cover a lot of bases this week, and there is many disagreements on this episode. We also start a new segment called; “We’re not buying this day 1, but you should.” In this segment we each pick a game that we normally wouldn’t play and convince the listener on why they would want to purchase this day one. It was a very fun segment, and opened us up to some new games. Enjoy the Show!

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Intro Music by OCRemix. Check them out at OcRemix.org

Dead Island had everyone’s attention since their amazing cinematic trailer that came out of the blue and stunned us with it’s reverse girl zombie family story. After an announcement stated that such event would not actually occur in the game, claims arose to whether the game would actually be decent.

A different Dead Island slowly emerged from the chunks of gameplay released every now and then until a full picture of how the game would actually play came alive (20 mins of gameplay). An open world zombie game of epic proportions, consciously or unconsciously combining elements from successful games like Fallout, Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising and making something unique, huge and (hopefully) a lot of fun.

Issues that I see that might hold the game back from GOTY?

From gameplay we’ve seen the faces of characters in the game look good, but aren’t super realistic, they are stylised. As long as other elements of the game bring you into the game that shouldn’t be a problem.

The voice acting seen in the demo leaves a little to be desired, but to be honest Techland is a Polish developer and I respect the fact that it may have been difficult to understand the nooks and crannies of writing in English for an English-speaking audience.

Comparing a game like Dead Island with Fallout 3 or NV might become commonplace when the game launches and people figure out more about the goals of the game and how it plays in detail. The thing that kept me going back to Bethesda FO games was there were no randomly generated dungeons or houses. Everything had something to discover or a story to unravel, completely optional and engrossing usually created using a combination of voice logs, images, text or physical evidence. Hopefully Techland employs such elements in their game instead of feeding people quest lists and focusing on voice acting to tell you where to go or what to do. It’s the little details that count, and variety.

As a PS3 gamer, the co-op aspect of Dead Island is not necessarily a main draw card for my purchase of the game. So hopefully it has a co-op experience similar to Borderlands where you won’t be penalised for playing on your own. The words co-op and immersive story don’t usually go hand-in-hand, but as far as the gameplay footage shows, playing on your own should be a completely unique experience compared to playing with another.

If Dead Island is to be truly successful then it will aspire and achieve an endless gameplay experience or at the least, playability after the main campaign has finished

That’s pretty much all, I’ll leave full reservations until the game releases next week. Hopefully I’ll get it and have a full review! You can listen to three tracks from the Dead Island soundtrack at this link.

Dead Island (Pub. Deep Silver) releases on the 6th of September 2011 in North America and the 9th of September Globally

More of my reviews/ideas/thoughts/bizarre at twitter.com/warmanator

Do you own a Kinect? Did you know that the Kinect sensor and the power supply cable that comes with the the sensor have two DIFFERENT warranties? That’s right. Unfortunately I found this out today while on the phone with XBOX Kinect support. About six months ago, I purchased a Kinect to give to me two sons as a birthday present. They absolutely loved it, and spent a lot of time playing the bundled Kinect Adventures.
About a week ago the boys fired up their XBOX to play, and got a message that the Kinect sensor was getting insufficient power. I checked it out and did some troubleshooting, but could not get it to work properly. I checked the XBOX support page for help, and also googled the issue. It seems like it is a moderately common issue for the AC power cable to go bad. I opened an online case with an agent (mistake), and after asking me a few troubleshooting questions was told that I should probably call the support line for additional help. I waited until today to call so I would have plenty of time to get this issue corrected. The first agent talked me through all of the usual troubleshooting, and we determined what I already knew. The power cable was bad and would need to be replaced. Then came the bad news…..”the cable is actually out-of-warranty, so it will cost you $39.95 for a replacement.”. I was a little surpirsed by this and asked him to repeat it to me. Evidently the sensor is covered by their hardware warranty which is one year. The power cable is considered an accessory, and as such only carries a 90 day warranty. He then asked if I would like him to charge the card that is on file, and I responded “absolutely not”. I ended the call rather frustrated to say the least. After stewing over it for a few minutes, I decided to call back and move up the chain. When I explained to the second agent the situation and what I was just told by the prior agent, he apologized and said that it was probably a misunderstanding. So we revisited the issue and he was getting an order set up to send me a replacement cable. Then came the kicker…..”Sir, can I put you on hold for a few minutes?”. When he returned to the line, he said that they would ship a replacement cable out right away. They just needed authorization to charge my credit card in the event that the warranty should turn out to be expired. I reminded him of what the other agent had told me about the warranty difference between the sensor and the power cable, and told him that I was not authorizing any charges whatsoever. He then said that they would not be able to send the cable out because I did not agree to pay the charge. So basically he was using a very underhanded tactic to try and charge me for a replacement cable. I asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor pretty much held the same line, that I would not be getting a replacement cable unless I paid $39.95 for it. And he even went as far as to tell me that if he had this issue, then he would have to pay the same $39.95 to replace his cable as well. Seriously?? Look dude, you can crap in a box and slap a Microsoft label on it and I will buy it. But don’t throw a load of BS my way and expect me to accept the situation because you say that you would be in the same boat if you were in my shoes. That kind of stuff is condescending to a customer.
The bottom line in this story is that it is completely asinine to have a peripheral that REQUIRES an external power supply for the XBOX360 Elite that I play on, and that the entire package would have pieces with different warranties. Granted, I can completely understand that an accessory like a controller may not deserve the same one year warranty as a new console. And I can completely understand that if you purchase the XBOX360 Slim bundled with Kinect, the power supply is not included (or necessary) and as such it would be an accessory if purchased separately. However you would think that a company as large as Microsoft, with their very well documented XBOX hardware issues, would want to make sure that hardware issues are handled correctly. A power supply that came included with a standalone Kinect package should be covered by the same warranty that the sensor has. An “accessory” power adapter that can be identified by serial number can be covered by their 90 day accessory warranty. What is really backwards is that support was quoting me $39.95 to replace the cable. The official Microsoft Store is listing the power supply for $34.99. Unfortunately Microsoft is more concerned about my money than taking care of a loyal customer that has an “8″ next to his gamer card on XBOX Live. If you have an older XBOX with a Kinect, be sure to baby your power cable. Evidently it is very fragile. If you don’t have a Kinect yet, don’t buy one unless you have the newer model console.

Capcom revealed some details regarding the party system for the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma. While there is no true co-op in the game, there is a “Pawn” system implemented that sounds pretty cool. The short story is, the main character (no word on whether this person is customizable or not) will have 3 “Pawns” with him. The player will get to customize 1 Pawn who will be at your side at all times. This Pawn will be fully customizable, can be shared online, and will affect the story of the game.

Instead of re-writing the details, I’ll point you to Destructoid’s in depth article on the Pawn system as it is now. Personally, I’m hyped about this game. Here’s hoping implementation is as good as it sounds.

What happens when you mix relationship pressures, infidelity, and supernatural nightmares? If you’re Vincent Brooks, you’re finding out the hard way, and it ain’t pretty. Your days are spent trying to keep your girlfriend Katherine from finding out about your mistress Catherine, while your figure out exactly what you want from a relationship. Your nights are spent simply trying to live to see another sunrise, as you and your fellow stray sheep struggle to not become another statistic of men being found dead in their sleep; their bodies reduced to shriveled hunks of flesh and bone beneath their sheets.

This is the world of Catherine, Atlus’ latest RPG adventure. Its a bizarre mix of anthropomorphic sheep, block towers, life sim, and ghastly supernatural foes. Is this a formula for success, or failure? If you’re so inclined, click the jump for the answer.

Before I get too far, let me make these 2 points. RPGs aren’t a genre I typically play. Valkarie Profile 1 & 2, Jade Empire, Odin Sphere, and Muramasa are the extent of my RPG experience. Point two is there will be no spoilers in this review, so read without worry.

That being said, its my opinion that Catherine may be the most revolutionary RPG I’ve ever played (my limited genre experience a given). Not so much for what the game does, but how it weaves together the key elements that are needed to make a top tier RPG, and presents them to the player.

Lets start with the subject matter. While there have been many RPGs that involve the building of romantic relationships between characters, Catherine is the first I’ve heard of (mainstream console based RPGs anyway) in which the relationship is the focus of the game; specifically the act of infidelity, and its consequences on a relationship make up every aspect of the game. Allow me to try to explain:

In a traditional RPG (Japanese or western), you are given a set of characters. Through the writing in the overarching story, and dialogue during character interaction, a connection is made between the main character, and the supporting cast that draws the player in. As you see bonds solidify or whither between these characters; either by story elements or dialogue choices made by the player, you become vested and involved with those characters. In effect, you come to care about them and how they interact with each other and the world and other characters around them while trying to accomplish whatever the common goal in the RPG is.

The genius behind what Atlus did with Catherine is that they extracted the romantic aspect; common to many modern RPGs–and successfully built an entire game around it. The presentation, writing, and camera work in this game is simply brilliant. The overall story is presented like a late night TV drama presented by the very Foxy Brown inspired Midnight Venus. Though you only really see her at the beginning intro and the end of the game, she has a classic cool 70s vibe that makes you remember her. As Vincent interacts with his friends Johnny, Orlando, Erica, Toby, and various other folks at the Stray Sheep bar (the game’s hub), you feel like a patron overhearing their conversations. Their discussions flow more organically than what I’ve experienced in other RPGs I’ve played. Responses sound like what you’d expect to hear if you were sitting with a group of your long time buddies bs’ing about your problems over a round of drinks.

Another thing about the supporting characters that I love is that they all aid Vincent in different ways emotionally as he deals with the decisions he makes, and their ramifications. Even Katherine and Catherine appeal to both sides of Vincent’s emotional coin; so to speak. Katherine is the attractive, rock-steady girlfriend appealing to Vincent’s desire for stability. Catherine (the woman he cheats with) on the other hand is the somewhat younger “smoking hot” chick. She appeals to Vincent’s emotional desire to be spontaneous, and free spirited. She lives life in a youthful care-free style Vincent emotionally wants to hold on to as he gets older; and she brings that vibrancy to Vincent’s libido as well. What the two have in common is that fidelity is of the utmost importance in a romantic relationship to both of them.

As Vincent chats it up with his buddies and fellow patrons, he’ll receive texts on his cell phone from Katherine and Catherine. As the player selects how Vincent responds to his buddies, and the texts from the women in his life, those responses affect his “morality” meter; for lack of a better description. Those responses (as well as those in the Nightmare world–more on that later) dictate how Vincent responds to Katherine, and Catherine, as he struggles to keep the two of them from finding out about each other and figure what he truly wants from a romantic relationship.

When Vince goes home and falls asleep, he’s sucked into the Nightmare world. All those around him appear as talking sheep. Only Vincent appears human; with sheep horns on his head (there is a reason for that which I won’t reveal). Vincent and his fellow nightmare victims are forced to climb the towers by a supernatural entity in order to earn the right to see another day.

The actual gameplay of Catherine are these Nightmare levels. The towers consist of blocks that Vincent must move in order to progress higher; eventually reaching the top, and escaping the round. As he climbs the blocks below drop to the abyss below so you’re forced to think on your feet. Your nightmare ends with a humongous boss biting at your heels as you climb the final tower for each level. Simply describing the bosses would give away key elements to Catherine’s story, so what I will say is they are some of the most aesthetically bizarre and creepy bosses I’ve ever seen in an RPG. The creativity in the design in some of them made my jaw drop. Bosses add another layer of intense urgency as you try to figure out the towers and escape the level. Their attacks have an area affect that can range from instant death to Vincent, to affecting the properties of the blocks he has to climb.

As Vincent completes each tower, he arrives at a landing. There, he can interact with his fellow Nightmare victims, purchase tower items that aid him as he climbs. Elixers allow Vince to leap 2 blocks at a time during duration. Spell books destroy obstacles in his way, etc. The landings are also where Vincent learns climbing techniques through talking with other sheep. As the towers become more and more complex, all the techniques you learn must be used in order to solve them. The landing is also where Vincent interacts with the supernatural entity responsible for these nightmares. Vincent’s responses to the entity account for a large portion of the affect on Vincent’s moral meter, and how he will respond to Katherine and Catherine in the cut scenes to come. Another cool aspect with this part, is as you answer questions from the entity, you get to see some meta-data pulled from other player responses through PSN (I’m sure it does the same thing on Xbox), and that data is represented as a pie chart as you begin the next level. It has no bearing on your game, but it’s another cool thing this game does.

Therein lies the second half of this game’s genius. Granted climbing and manipulating cubes isn’t anything new in videogames. Games like Q-bert and Intelligence Cube did the same thing in essence years earlier. The brilliance is how well this gameplay mechanic meshes with the subject of the game’s story so perfectly. Vincent spends his waking hours trying to juggle his excuses to hide his infidelity from the two women in his life in order to preserve his relationship, either with Katherine–his girlfriend, or Catherine–his mistress. At night, Vincent is forced to juggle blocks to draw closer to the goal of surviving another night. The symbiotic and analogous relationship between the game’s story and the gameplay is simply; I’ll say it again–brilliant.

Before you decide if Catherine is the game for you, there are a couple you’ll have to consider. At its core, this is a puzzle game with RPG elements, more so than an RPG. Climbing blocks IS the gameplay. You do nothing else but that. The other thing to consider, is that this game is hard. I made the mistake of playing on the normal level. I was able to solve the puzzles on my own up to the 5th level. From then on to the end of the game, I was on YouTube watching the solutions, and trying to copy the block moves verbatim.

If you don’t let those two facts daunt you, what you’ll find is that Catherine delivers a truly adult and mature story. Given the sexual nature of the subject matter, you’ll not find a single bare breast, or exposed butt cheek; contrary to some concerns about the game pre-release, and I think that adds to Atlus’ creative brilliance with this project. They could’ve taken the low road and “pushed the envelope” (a la Duke Nukem: Forever). Instead they put their creative juices to work creating a fantastic story that any adult; wether they’ve dealt with issues of fidelity or not, can relate to.

Give this game a shot. Atlus deserves your hard earned cash with a purchase, but even if you’re still reluctant, at least give it a rent. You’ll be rewarded with a story that will keep you wanting to know what happens next, mind bending gameplay, and a kick-ass soundtrack. “Yo” being my personal favorite. This is a GOTY contender big time.

Grade: A+

We kind of let loose on this Episode and went a different direction. This is Episode 178 of the GamerHusbands lifecast. It’s summertime, and we wanted to share a bit about our summer and some of the fun things we’ve been doing.(that’s what she said!) Our journey goes a little bit off track and stays there for the duration of the show. A quick rundown of that madness; If you had a Celebrity “Hall Pass,” who would be in your Top 5?  Why does Alfred love Man-Face women? When you watch a movie with your wife, is it always a “Romantic Comedy?” Sam and Alfred talk about their summer dates to the movies. Sam also tests out his brand new State-of-the-Art Movie Summer review system, and let’s us know which movies are sleeper hits! The madness ensues on Episode 178 of GamerHusbands Radio. Enjoy.

P.S.  Going Panda = a podcasting colloquialism refferring to the hosts drinking alcoholic beverages and becoming inebriated as the show commences. This phrase was termed by IGN’s GameScoop Podcast.

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Intro Music: Tugboat – Remix Medley

Marketing. Its amazing how industries are willing to spend oodles of money to figure out how to get into our wallets by way of our heads.

As we all know, marketing is no stranger to the gaming industry. The tactic of using a videogame to sell another product isn’t new either. We all remember those Xbox360 Burger King games right? How many of us remember Yo! Noid for NES? Well, there was one even before the Noid. It was a great big ‘ol glass pitcher of water, sugar, and powder granules of fruit flavor. The game was Kool Aid Man for the Intellivision, and it was the first time I fell for a marketing campaign hook, line and sinker. So, if you’re so inclined, allow me to set the Way-Back Machine to 1983, where a skinny, nerdy, young ShoNuff (I’m still nerdy. Skinny and young–not so much) learned an early lesson about marketing hype.

I must have been around 11 or 12 years old, when one Sunday (don’t ask me how I can remember this, when I can’t even remember what I had for lunch today) I was looking through the comics section of my local newspaper. Somewhere between Beetle Bailey and Hagaar the Horrible, I saw a color add for Kool Aid mix. Normally I would have bypassed it, but something caught my eye. At the top of the add, were pictures of the Kool Aid Man videogame. They had one version for Atari 2600, and another version for Intellivision. Being the hardcore Mattel fanboy that I was, I knew which version I wanted to get.

It was and is a common belief among stand-up comedians that African-American households with children usually have Kool Aid readily available–especially grape. The exact opposite was the case in my household growing up. I had more Kool Aid as an adult than I ever did as a kid. As a matter of fact, before I saw that add, the only time I had Kool Aid was at a birthday party or backyard bbq at someone’s house. I didn’t dislike Kool Aid; its just that at the time, we had a local soda manufacturer and distributor called the Pop Shop. They made the best soda ever devised by mortal men. When my dad and I would go we’d always come back with at least two or three cases of the stuff in the back of his truck. Cooler still, was that they gave kids a tour of the plant; ending with an ice cold cup of Pop-Shop soda straight from the tap of any flavor they had. I always chose lemon. Most kids dream of being a cop, a fireman, or the President of the United States. Me? I wanted to run the machines at the Pop-Shop. Anyway–I’m digressing. Back to Kool Aid Man.

So anyway, I proceeded to beg my folks for Kool Aid Man–as I did for any game I saw for Intellivision. The answer was the same: “Keep your grades up, and we’ll see what happens.”

The way you got the game was that you had to send in a bunch of proofs of purchases of Kool Aid drink mixes. Honestly I don’t remember how many you had to send. Wikipedia says you had to send in 125 proofs plus “shipping and handling” to get the free game. I’m not really sure how many it was, but I remember that for quite a while, I must have drunk my body weight in Kool Aid mix–still with no guarantee that my folks would send away for it. Oh, and before you ask–yes, my folks (especially my dad) were the kind of parents to let their kid drink himself silly on Kool Aid and NOT send away for the game if I screwed up on grades, or behavior.

Well, I didn’t screw up, they sent a ton of proofs of purchases out, and in about a month or so, I received Kool Aid Man for Intellivision. The gameplay premise is this: It was a 2D game (as was every game back then–no polygons in 1983, yo). You play the part of 2 children trapped in a 3 story haunted house. The two kids traveled as one. You had to get all the ingredients (i.e: pitcher, the mix, and the sugar) and bring them to the kitchen sink. Standing in your way were the Thirsties–the antagonists of Kool Aid Man in the commercial campaigns in the ‘80s. If a child was touched by a Thirsty, they would scream, and be frozen in place. At that time, you would only be able to control the other child. If both children got caught, the game was over.

Once you brought all the ingredients to the kitchen sink, Kool Aid Man would appear–complete with busting through a brick wall and the Kool Aid theme playing. At that point, you take control of Kool Aid Man. The children disappear, and the house becomes filled with flavor ghosts that you can grab for points. That was how you built your score. Once you caught the two Thirsties, the round would end, and it all started over.

Kool Aid Man had an irritating play mechanic that I picked up on really quick. Normally, the Thirsties would run from Kool Aid, giving you plenty of room to move the slow as molasses glass of sugar water around to grab the flavor ghosts. As your score increases though, the Thirsties become suicidal, literally running toward Kool Aid like some thirst-quenching jihadists; causing the round to end and not allowing you to catch flavor ghosts.

I played Kool Aid Man pretty hard for about a day or two. Then, like the oodles of Kool Aid mix I had to drink, the game started to wear me down. Not being able to build up my score was frustrating, and soon, I was back to Night Stalker, Space Hawk, and AstroSmash. It was a long time–in fact I think I was in my 20s–before I had another drink of KoolAid. I drank enough for two lifetimes. The game won’t even boot up now. I can get a title screen, but when the control disc is pressed, the screen goes black. Of all the games I have for Intellivision, its the only one that doesn’t still work. Don’t know when it stopped working, either. Thats why this is a retrospective review–I had to write this from memory. Still, as I look back on my memories of that game, it has a certain endearment to it, which is probably why I still have it. Its also a reminder of a lesson I learned way back then–all that glitters in the marketing machine looking glass, isn’t necessarily gold.

RetroGrade: F (Because my damn game that I drank all that Kool Aid for won’t work)

One of our biggest shows ever. 3 Shows are being represented in this episode. The show is divided into two parts. Games and Relationships. We are getting back to our namesake…….you guessed it, Gamerhusbands. The community added in some questions for the relationship segment. We get real honest, so if you aren’t a fan of good honest relationship talk, then turn the show off after the games segment. I personally feel this is one of our best shows.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!!!!

Guest Hosts:

1. Big Dez – Fellowship of gamers – www.fognation.com
2. Leftybrown – The Married Gamers – themarriedgamers.net
3. Shonuff71 – gamerhusbands

Let us know what you think about the show
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The battle between the used games market and game publishers heats up a few more degrees courtesy of Capcom.

In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries for 3DS, there will only be one save slot that–if I’m understanding the GameStooge article correctly–can’t be deleted or reset. This apparently means that if I bought the game new, unlocked everything and traded it in, whoever bought the game used would be stuck with my game save. They won’t be able to experience the game themselves. If RE: Mercenaries is anything like the Mercenaries mode from Resident Evil 5, a big chunk of the fun in that mode was unlocking additional characters, skins, and levels yourself. Capcom by pulling this stunt has effectively made the game less fun (in my opinion) if you buy it used.

Of course Capcom claims no nefarious intent with this save method. Capcom Community rep Shawn Baxter stated: “RE Mercs was treated like an arcade fighting game. You unlock characters, levels, etc and they just stay unlocked as they would in an arcade machine.” (See his entire statement on the GameStooge article).

I’m sorry, but I’m calling shenanigans on this. I never played a fighting game at the arcade where every character in the game wasn’t available. Unless I’m mistaken in the arcade version of Tekken 6, and the arcade version of Super Streetfighter 4 certain characters were on timed unlock, meaning that after a certain amount of time passed, a new character becomes available. Its mostly a means to keep folks hyped about a game; primarily the console release, since traditional arcades are all but dead here in the States.

I’ve always said–If companies want to slow down the used market, they should make better games, and offer better deals. Places like Kmart, Amazon, and Best Buy offer deals on some games that make it almost a waste to wait for a title to come out used. They don’t have to resort to removing the fun out of a game if you buy it used. If Capcom and other publishers keep this silliness up, they might find their games collecting dust on the shelves–new and used.

According to an article from Andriasang.com (I read the article via GameStooge.com) a slimmer “greener” Playstation3 might be on the way.

According to the article, the model sku is labeled CHECH-3000B, weigh 5.7lbs, and consume 200W of power. In comparison, the current PS3 Slim weighs 6.6lbs, consumes 230W of power. No information as to changes in chipset were mentioned, although it would stand to reason that too would also be the case.

Curiously enough, the article denies that there will be a drop in price with the introduction of this new SKU. To me, it would stand to reason that a price drop could be implemented as the cost of tech tends to drop as it matures; case in point–the cost of BluRay drives, hard drives, etc.

When viewed in light of a recent interview Jack Trenton did with Forbes Magazine (an article I also read via GameStooge) this new SKU rumor holds more weight in my mind. Tretton specifically referenced Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii U, basically saying that Sony wasn’t feeling any pressure to get a PS4 to market.

Of course Nintendo never has been Sony’s competition this console generation–its Microsoft. Any news of the next Playstation will be focused on when Microsoft announces theirs–or when Sony thinks they’ll announce–at least thats how I see it.

This weekend (June 17th – June 19th) the Philadelphia Convention Center will be blessed with our own little version of geek nirvana. Run on down this weekend to see a multitude of old stars. Currently on the guest list are Bruce Campbell, Adam Baldwin, Pam Grier, Adam West (Batman) and Burt Ward (Robin), Goldberg, and many others.

Make sure to check out the artist alley where you can get some great independent art.

If you’re going, hit me up @Tilt_101

It seems the more I learn about the Wii U, the more questions I have regarding Nintendo’s bizarre handling of their new console’s announcement.

According to WatchPlayRead.com by way of CVG, Nintendo will not be releasing their iPad-ish controller separately. It will only be available bundled with the Wii U. According to an un-named Nintendo rep, the Wii U was developed around a “one tablet philosophy.”

This brings on a whole slew of new questions in my mind. First, if I’m only getting one tablet with the Wii U, how am I going to play couch co-op or vs play with any game that has a more complex control scheme? Will the WiiPad (thats what I’m calling it) allow you to tether a more traditional controller solution to it? Would the pad act as a “wireless hub” allowing you to connect multiple controllers to it? There must be some unrevealed controller for the Wii U that will allow you to play more complex games. I don’t see anyone playing the next Mass Effect or Dead Space on a Wiimote. In my mind thats the only solution that makes any sense.

From another angle: How are consumers going to get replacements for the WiiPad should they become damaged, if there is no sku for the controller to be sold by itself? Will I have to box up the whole damn thing and send it back? What about my game saves and DLC? If its tied to the system as it is to the Wii, I’ll have to start everything over. Since Nintendo didn’t announce any details at all about the console, this just adds a whole new layer of questions.

I’ve owned every console Nintendo put out (with the exception of the portables and the Virtual Boy), and I’m hoping that once all the smoke clears I’ll be hyped to drop my pre-order cash on this system. Right now, all I see is confusion surrounding this system. Here’s hoping Nintendo can pull it all together.

Image from CVG

This is arguably one of the best E3′s that we have ever wintessed. All of the big three had to bring out some of their best, and we spend a show talking about. What was the best of show? What was the worst? We talk about it. Infamous has found a place in Alfred’s heart, and Sam brags about another Halo:Reach Killstreak. We are joined by one of our writers, Kevin(Shonuff), and he has a lot of great insight on E3 and the direction the industry is heading in. This is a must listen show, so enough talking. Get to downloading

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Recoil Games introduced Rochard, their upcoming PSN exclusive due out this summer. Rochard is a 2D platform puzzler, with an emphasis on physics based problem solving.

The premise of the game is pretty straight forward. You play as Rochard, a space miner for a company called Sky Rig. When your company discovers an alien artifact, they find themselves under attack by pirates. Its up to you to save yourself and your comrades from the pirates, and find out what the big deal is about the artifact.

The tools that Rochard has at his disposal are a grapple gun which he uses to grab crates and other inanimate objects in the world. Once an object has been grabbed, it can be fired from the gun and used a means of taking out a pirate, or to place the object in the appropriate spot to solve a puzzle. Another tool at his disposal is that Rochard can dial down the gravity a bit allowing him to jump further, or when used in conjunction with the grapple gun, allow him to traverse wide gaps with the proper placement of objects.

The art style reminds a bit of the character designs from Team Fortress. The game looks like a lot of fun to play. Check out the PlaystationBlog for a full write up and trailer for this fun looking title.

Image from Official Playstation Blog