Rebel FM
Rebel FM Episode 85 - 11/24/10
Happy "Tyler-has-explosive-diarrhea" Day! This week the erstwhile Mr. Barber is out due to illness, so it's just the three remaining hosts burning kindling in an unheated living room trying to stay warm as we talk about Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Black Ops, and more. The letters segment gets a little heavy toward the end. You've been warned.
This week's music, in order of appearance:
The Roots and John Legend - Our Generation
The Roots and John Legend - I Can't Write Left-Handed
[MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> What's up, podcast time? >> Welcome to ice fishing episode 300. It is fucking freezing in here. >> I was debating starting with the song. >> I'm the only quescimo, I'm the only one I know. >> But I decided not to. >> You're not an Eskimo. >> But I feel like one, it's very cold. Tyler isn't here, he's a shitting out of both ends. And I may think I guess, have no idea what episode this is. >> 85. >> 85. >> Nice. >> That's why I look at Arthur. Arthur Geese. >> It is, I'm actually under a blanket right now with my hood on. >> You are, it's kind of adorable. >> And Matt Changeney. >> Yeah, that's me, who said Arthur's adorable. That's right, I said it. He has a beanie which inspired me to go put one on myself. >> You like how in the Bay Area they say, well, we don't have central air or heating because it never really gets that cold or that hot in the Bay Area. >> Yeah, except that it does get really that hot for just long enough to be annoying. And it gets really that cold for about six months. >> Yeah, I kind of wonder what people's definitions of cold are. >> Well, many people are probably like, that's no one here. >> Yeah, that too. >> It is supposed to be 37 degrees in San Francisco tonight. >> Yeah, feels like it's less than that right now. >> It is 45 in Oakland right now and it will be 34 degrees by midnight. >> It's probably about 55 or 60 in our house. >> Yeah, if that. >> If that. >> And I realize that we're in California and we're a bunch of pussies. But 34 seems a little cold. >> Yep. >> Maybe you'd want a heater. >> Yep. >> It's a video game. >> We just thought we'd bitch about that for a while. >> In point of fact, I always had heaters and air conditioners in San Diego. And that shit is like always room temperature. >> [LAUGH] >> That's because people in Southern California, those are the real pussies. >> True, and they don't know how to drive, particularly when it rains. >> Yeah. >> That's true too. Video games. >> Not a lot of video games, honestly. >> Yeah, the only thing that I've done is I beat civilization as the Russians and I got a diplomatic victory and. >> A diplomatic victory and you got elected to the UN seat, man. I've never been able to do that. >> Well, you did the way that all politicians do it. >> Yes, I bribed the world. >> Did you really? >> That's how I did it. I went full on expansion. I just destroyed all of my neighbors and made a giant nation that was making all kinds of money. >> So you did have to kill people early on. >> Yeah, well, I didn't have to, I chose to, but I- >> If you just displaced a native people, you could have been the US. >> Yeah, exactly. That's the model I went for. So basically, all of the other actual player nations hated me, but I just bought off enough city states to pass the vote. So that worked out really well. And other than that, it's been ever since I got it on Sunday because I was sick all day Saturday. But on Sunday, as soon as I got it, it was like Assassin's Creed all day long. >> Have you played any multiplayer yet? >> No, I haven't, have you? >> No, I haven't because it's the only two. But the single player is just so engaging and so huge and so epic that. I mean, the story isn't as epic. >> It is a lot of cliche adjectives. >> Yeah, I know. And I strung them all together, does that make it even more cliche or does that make it less cliche? >> I'm not sure, I'm not sure. >> But you haven't tried multiplayer. >> I have not. >> You're letting me down. >> I'm just really- >> I wasn't really at the need to fail at multiplayer on Friday night. >> No, I was doing- >> I've heard it's great. >> I was doing well and then bad sometimes. It's just tough because you have to make a call on multiplayer when you're going to expose yourself, but- >> Because there's always somebody hunting you. >> Right, right. >> But it is just such a cool addition, things like that in Dead Space are some of the best examples of games where it's like, I guess multiplayer for big games that didn't have it previously shouldn't be viewed as immediately thrown away. >> Right. >> Like that's what I thought about Assassin and Creed until I played. I was like, what multiplayer? It's going to be stupid as hell. >> Assassin's Creed's multiplayer is the only thing that's given me from breaking windows at the prospect of a Mass Effect multiplayer based MMO type thing. >> Yeah, I hear that. >> I don't want Mass Effect multiplayer. >> I don't want it either, but I didn't want Assassin's Creed multiplayer. And here we are. >> Yeah, exactly. >> There's just no way to know sometimes. >> I played Call of Duty Black Ops and I liked it a lot. >> Oh, I did beat Black Ops, actually, yeah. >> I think the single player is, like I said last week, probably my favorite Call of Duty single player. >> I still think you're crazy. >> I think I might- >> Well, I haven't played two in a really long time. >> I think I might agree with you. >> Man, surrounded by people who are wrong. >> I don't know, man. I played and I was like, this was actually the first story that I ever actually kind of got into and was curious about. >> Yeah, as far as Call of Duty goes, yeah. >> Yeah, exactly, as far as Call of Duty goes. I still think two had the best set pieces of all time, but the story wise, I was like- >> It's kind of hard to beat Storming Normandy and- >> Right, and they did such a great job with it, too. But as far as just the storyline goes and stuff, and just the way that they really, I don't know, I guess some of those moments with the PT boats on the river and stuff like that, I was like, man, these are all really cool sequences. >> Yeah, I thought even the PT boats- >> I'm sorry, what? >> I didn't like the PT section, I know. I think part of what killed it for me is that if you die and start again, it starts that goddamn song over from the beginning. >> So I played it, I will say I was to play it on normal, which I think is the way to play it. >> Oh, I played it on normal, too. >> Yeah, because on normal, it feels like harden in any other Call of Duty. >> Yeah, I wasn't going to play it on a more difficult- >> On normal, I died a lot already. >> Yeah. >> Like, way more than I expected. >> Yeah. >> And because I watched I was going to play on harden, I was like, no, thank you. >> If I was on PC, I would have played it on harden, but on console, no, normal. >> They actually patched it on PC, too. >> Yes, it hurt. >> So it doesn't run like total garbage. >> Yeah. >> I mean, there are definitely certain things about Black Ops that I thought were actually clever. I'm not sure, sir. >> Thank you, sorry about that. >> The Hazard Suit Mission, I think I'll call it, was one of the only real moments of tension, I think I felt in the Call of Duty game. >> I really enjoyed the Hazard Suit Mission. >> Yeah. >> It was a really great way to bring in a sort of night vision thing without calling it night vision. >> Did you make it through without your suit breaking? >> I died once. >> No, I died once. >> I did it. >> You did it. Is there any achievement in doing that? >> There sure is. >> No, I did not get that achievement. And that, honestly, that was right up there with the end of the all gillied up from Modern Warfare, I think, as far as cool scenarios in a Call of Duty game. I still feel the sense of scale and purpose in Call of Duty 2 eclipses any other Call of Duty game. >> Probably. >> Like the American campaign, in particular, you're sort of winding your way to this hopeless standoff and praying that you survive long enough to get help. I feel like Modern Warfare has the best moments. But Black Ops is up there, actually. It's certainly better than Modern Warfare 2. >> Well, in Call of Duty 2 had a whole lot of movie stuff to pull from. Black Ops was all original story. I mean, there's some stuff that obviously they're influenced by things. >> I'm sure, but I feel like- >> I feel liberally pulling from tons of Vietnam movies. >> Well, yeah, definitely, they were. But I'm saying that like Call of Duty 2, I mean, you had so many ready set pieces that you could pull from, way more than I think you probably had to pull from for Black Ops with the exception of the straight up Vietnam sections. I agree with that. >> Yeah, anyways, I've played it. >> Anyways, it's good. >> And I liked it a lot. >> Yeah, have you played any Nazi zombies? >> I have, that's all right. >> I like it a little bit about that last week. >> It's a fun little distraction, but it's no reason for me to buy the game, but it's fun that it's there. I doubt I'll ever play it unless it's on a whim with friends randomly. 'Cause actually, I would rather just play the multiplayer as it is. You know, I still get annoyed as hell at times playing it, but it is rather addictive at times, just like it's always been. >> Totally, well, yeah, it's just that whole Call of Duty formula is still just a winner. It's why everybody does it now. >> And it's kind of nice to have everyone reset to zero and have to walk forward from that. >> Yeah. >> I kind of wish that they would do that with Bad Company too. >> That's pretty cool. >> Start everyone from zero. >> Flip their shit. >> Yeah, they would. >> They're kind of going to do it with Vietnam, I think. >> Are they? >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it's just anybody that like prestigious or whatever the equivalent of that in Bad Company is they would flip out. But yes, I also have been playing Poker Night at the Inventory, which, Matt, you have a press account for Steam, so it should be on there. >> Yeah. >> But even if you don't, it is only $4.99. >> Poker Night at the Inventory? >> It is a telltale game. >> Oh, cool. >> And it is a poker game, as you would guess. >> Right, it's like the Steam All-Stars. >> Yeah, it's, you sit down at a table and play Poker, and it's very animated, and it kind of looks in the same style as like the Sammam Max games. >> Yeah. >> And you play with Max from Sammamax. You play with Strong Bad from Homestar Runner. You play with The Heavy from Team Fortress 2. And you play with Tycho from Penny Arcade. >> That is so fucking awesome. >> And they just sit there telling stories and jokes. >> Yeah, and it's really well done. Like at first you'll be playing and it'll start to deal a hand. And the camera angle will shift to like focus on two characters, and they'll start telling you start. And you'll be like, oh shit, I don't want to click like bet or anything because it'll change the camera angle. That'll probably interrupt the story, but it doesn't. Like it doesn't matter how the camera switches out, how it pans. They always keep talking like it's a real poker game. >> Yeah, exactly. And the poker is okay. I mean, it's like you can play hold them. That's all you can play. >> Right. >> Always for the Sammam out. >> Right. >> So that's not that exciting. >> It's just like the presentation of it. >> You are playing for just that. >> Wow. >> Because it's a lot of inside jokes that are just hilarious. >> And Fat Loot for Team Fortress 2. >> Yeah, like so every once in a while, each of the four characters won't, like it's random, won't have money. And so they'll put up a piece of collateral. And if you take that character out in that round, then you get that piece of collateral, which basically is a reskin for an item in Team Fortress 2. >> That's so cool. >> You know, and it's like- >> I love crossover stuff like that. It's the only kind of thing that, this is the kind of stuff that you usually only see in small indie developers, you know, with their tight-knit community, like all the extra characters that they put in Super Meat Boy and stuff like that. Like you don't really see that in- I wouldn't have guessed that you would see that with Valve stuff. But when I think about it, I guess it would much more likely with Valve stuff than with other- >> Yeah, I think the thing is that Telltale has just been like such a great partner for them on Steam, I think. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Just, I mean, I think that's been really worked out well for both. But you know, it's weird too, right? Because then you have like- All right, so you have Valve stuff and you have Telltale stuff, and then randomly there's also- >> It's strong bad. >> No strong bad was Telltale. >> Not a strong bad was Telltale. >> But the Tycho thing, yeah, that was hot head, you know? >> And they have their own digital distribution thing. Like Greenhouse or something? >> Yeah, I forget. >> Yeah. >> But either way- >> I think it's Greenhouse. >> I think it is. >> Either way, it was such a cool thing for $4.99. >> I could be right. >> And the dialogue will repeat after the course of like two, three hours. >> Mm-hm. >> So that can kind of lose its appeal. >> Mm-hm. >> But for, I mean, for the Team Fortress unlocks and for like the kind of like the ride you have of like enjoying all the silly dialogue- >> Especially if you're a Team Fortress fan, yeah. >> Yeah, exactly. Like a lot of these things, like you get five, you get four items, four reskinned items. Like a lot of games would charge you a dollar for each of those just straight up by the reskin. You know what I mean? >> Right. >> Like it's in a microtransaction sort of thing. So this is just like a really hilarious kind of poker game. Like it's not amazing. >> Mm-hm. >> But it's really a lot of fun. >> Mm-hm. >> Nice. >> Yeah, I'll definitely download and play that. >> Yeah, I mean, for you, there's no excuse. >> Yeah, there's no excuse at all. Especially because like I just love the idea of those four characters around the table talking to each other. >> Yeah, they interact pretty well. >> Is it actually Jerry Holkin's voice? That would be even fun. >> No, it's not. It's whoever they get to do his voice. >> Oh, in the game. >> The game, right? >> The way you talk? >> Can I talk to the audience like? >> Oh, I don't know. >> Oh, no, they didn't. It was just text, wasn't it? >> Yeah, they did. >> So I don't know who does this voice. >> Huh. >> But it's definitely not Jerry. >> Yeah. >> Wow, that's funny. >> And then I also played Operation Flashpoint Red River, which you would think, like I hated the last Operation Flashpoint. >> I was gonna say, yeah. >> I had a lot of not-good things to say about it, because it was so semi. But this one, they've like, you know, a lot of the people on the story that I wrote about it for IGN, like commented negatively, like, "Oh, they're babies." Of course, you know, typical things, right? They're making it for babies now. >> Right. >> Taking away all the things that I loved. Armas, the only real sim. But it's like, the fact of the matter is that, yeah, they've taken away some of the sim elements, or at least made them, like, optional. >> Right. >> Because they are trying really hard to be able to reach a broader audience. >> Mm-hmm. >> Like, those games are- >> After a while, you have to. >> Those games are too niche, and their too niche in the budget on them is too high for them to afford to be that niche. You know what I mean? >> I feel like they're only too niche at the budget that they're putting into it. I mean, can't they scale back and do something simpler looking? >> Right, that's where the game's like, Arma will come in. But they really want, I mean, the game looks pretty good, actually. Like, they're using their own engine, but they're also using stuff that they've, like, learned internally from the dirt, so they have a lot of the particle effects. >> Oh, because Codemasters is doing stuff with it. >> Yeah, and, you know, and their goal was just to make this, like, fun for people that don't even necessarily like sims. So, like, for instance, in the last operation, the last point, if you got hurt, you had a limited amount of med packs for the whole level. And when you got hurt, you had to use one to stop yourself from bleeding. >> Right. >> And then you had to use one, and then you could never heal yourself, I don't think. I think it was like you could just stop the bleeding. >> Right. >> And that at least kept you wherever you were. >> Wow. >> And this one, it's like you have unlimited health packs. But it is like a time sink because you have to stop the bleeding, and then you have to, like, heal yourself. And teammates respond at checkpoints now, instead of them being gone. Like, oh, someone died from one bullet in the first two minutes of the level. >> No, they're gone. >> Guess he's gone for the next hour. >> That seems pretty fundamentally different. >> Yeah, it seems like a really different game. >> I mean, these things, but again, these things are totally optional. Like, default is that they're on. Like, the respawns and stuff. But the hardcore sim people out there can turn that off. >> Right. >> They turn on limited health packs. So they have nothing to complain about. >> I don't know, though. Like, I'm drawn to make a comparison to bands in music. A lot of fans will complain if a band changes too much. They'll say, well, why is it still that bad? Why can't you change the name of the band? And this, I just don't understand why they're clinging to the name of Operation Flashpoint, if they're making it such a different game. >> But the thing is that I think it can still be that Operation Flashpoint. >> Yeah, that's the same thing. You can just turn off those things and have it be the same old Operation Flashpoint. >> But that's clearly not what they're aiming at. >> Well, they want it to be approachable for more people, is the whole thing. And the whole point that it looks cool to me is two reasons. One, it's a tactical game where you can issue orders and have your guys do what you want. >> Which are increasingly rare, actually. >> Yeah, and the command wheels in Dragon Rising, the last Flashpoint were really convoluted. People complained about them a lot. Like, you could give a pretty ridiculous array of orders, but it was like command wheels. But each wheel had like three levels to it. >> Wow. >> So it went really too far. And in this one, there's like two levels. And unlike the last one, you can actually back up if you pick the wrong one now. Like, I know that sounds like such a no brainer, but that was like something they didn't have in the last time. >> Wow, that does sound like a huge no brainer. >> And so, you know, they're just really trying to like, improve it to make it more friendly to general shooter enthusiasts who picked up the last one. And they're like, what the fuck did I get myself into? Like, now that they're making it for consoles, honestly. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> I can totally buy that. But I mean, like the real story here, of course, is that the next one, you know, the next one or two games from now, three games from now, at some point, they're just not going to give you the option to go sim. It's going to be more and more mainstream. >> Depending on how this one does, yeah. >> Right, eventually it's just going to go away. They're going to realize it's not worth their budget. And it's going to be, it's going to the same, because, you know, the people that are crying out, oh, they're dumbing it down and making it for babies. Well, this, it sounds to me like this current game, they don't have a lot to complain about, because they can still make it the way that they want it. But I can see, I can see the possibility of a game like this being Rainbow Sixed, you know. >> Yeah, totally. Although I really liked Vegas as well. >> Oh, so did I. I'm not saying that like, I didn't like the Rainbow Six games, but- >> But they were, they had their own- >> But they went from super hardcore tactical to a lot more shooter-ish. >> Yeah. >> I don't understand why they're weaving the name in place. I really don't, because there's no console cache it behind Operation Flashpoint. No console player gives a shit about Operation Flashpoint. >> Well, it's also releasing on PC. I mean, it is a multi-platform. >> But if you're alienating your entire player base, essentially- >> But they're not necessarily. You can still turn off all that stuff. >> But even the fact that it's there is alienating that hardcore fan base- >> Some of them don't want it. >> I think that's, I think that at that point, you're only alienating such a small section. >> I don't, I don't think so. I think that there's a big take my toy and go home mentality in the PC community with stuff like this. And once they see it, they just, they're not going to give the benefit of the doubt that, oh, well, it can still be semi if I wanted to. All they see is that it's leading on 360. >> I see, well, I can see how it might feel that way, but that, but to me, I guess it feels a different way. Since, you know, we don't have really like hardcore numbers to back this up with. It's just like kind of our impression of the market and being PC gamers. It feels to me like that's more of a vocal minority thing. >> I mean, I feel like- >> Rather than like a, rather than like a broad swath of operation that- >> But the only people that play operation flashpoint are a vocal minority. >> Well, I'm asking that and they can't support that franchise anymore. I mean, the takeaway is that, is that it can still be like that semi-game if you want it to be. And to some extent, even when you're playing single-player with the less semi-parts, it still is. Like, they're still bullet drop. You can still get killed by one bullet, like, if it hits you in the right spot on your body. But, you know, they've just learned a lot from other shooters about how to make things more fun. >> Right. >> You know, now there's like a class-based system where you actually level up your class throughout the single-player and the cooperative play. The whole campaign is dropping drop-out for-player co-op as well. >> Oh, that's awesome. >> But they also have like multiplayer missions that are all co-op too. Or a single-player if you want, where you can do things like, you know, like a horde mode where you're holding out for as long as you can. And that gets pretty intense. That's what I actually played. And the whole point though is that you don't get the points that you scored unless one of you makes it to the extraction. So at some point, you're like, "Oh, we're holding out. We're holding out. Oh, Anthony's down." Well, fuck, we don't, we're about to, you know, reach this new tier of score. So you have to like reach the helicopter, basically. >> Then you have Forrest Gump carry lieutenant down to the helicopter. >> Yeah, or just leave him to die and be like, "Well, as long as one of us makes it." >> As long as we get the points, yeah. >> Beyond that though, I've only been playing one other game and it's on DS. >> What's that? >> And it's Rune Factory 3, a fantasy harvest moon. And I know that sounds like the dumbest shit. >> Well, they did make three of them. >> But yeah, see, that's the thing though. >> So someone is buying. >> Yeah. >> This is one of those like, dinosaur-ish things I bet, where the people that always buy them are probably like going to be like, "Oh, nothing's really changed in this." >> Awesome. >> But to me, I'm like, I've never played one of these before. I've never played a harvest moon game. You know, and I actually never played anything like-- >> Neither have I. >> What's that GameCube game that everyone loved? Animal Crossing, Animal Crossing. >> Yeah, I'm also on the Wii. >> I've never played any of those games really. >> I've played Animal Crossing DS for quite a while. >> See, and I kind of can get into those like, daily grind sort of games. Like in this game, it's all about working your farm and slowly but surely using the money you get through farming to buy like armor and weapons to go out and do quests. >> Mm-hmm. >> You know, it's very-- >> Are other quests any good do? I mean, do you-- >> I mean, mostly it's like, "Kill some monsters." >> Right. >> Or sometimes it's like stupid quest in the city. Like someone so wants a cake by 5 p.m. >> But shit, man, if you're living off-- if you run a farm, that is an adventure. >> Yeah, it is. You're having to constantly do maintenance. And not only that, but every day in the game is a day on the calendar. And you'll have to like, make sure you remember people's birthdays, or you'll have to make sure that you remember like, "Oh, tomorrow is like the bean festival." That's when I got to go into the bean festival contest or sleep and miss it. >> Right. >> But yeah, it's like strangely addictive. >> Yeah, well that's the whole thing about animal crossing is that like if you weren't-- if you didn't play animal crossing on December 25th in real life, then you didn't get certain things happening in your game. You couldn't get certain things. So I mean, a lot of people started doing calendar hacking, but like if you didn't do it right, you could really mess up your game. >> Yeah, my friend Joe told me he played like, once when we were in college, and then after we'd moved out, he told me like a couple years ago, he plugged in his game, he turned it on and put it on animal crossing. >> Mm-hmm. >> And he said when he got to his town, his house was just covered in leaves, and the inside was covered in dust. >> Mm-hmm. >> And he said like the neighbor came by and I was like, "Who are you?" "Oh, where have you been? It's been so long since we've seen you." [laughter] He was like, "I kind of felt bad." >> Yeah. >> The years since these people had seen me, I had just abandoned the town. >> Yeah, and if you plant stuff in all the plants or dead, and there's weeds everywhere for you to pull up, like the town totally goes to shit when your one person leaves. It's like, what do the residue people do? Well, I was gone the entire time. >> It's game about the stressors. >> The worst thing-- >> Tough. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> The worst thing about the DS one is-- >> What's TV? >> Is that like, if you turned off the game without saving, because you like wanted to avoid something, and then you turn it back on, then you got yelled at by a gopher for like, you had to click seriously like, 25, 30 times through text boxes. Like, in animal crossing DS, you could only speed up the text. You couldn't just skip it, at least for the gopher part. And so it was like him berating you for turning off your DS without saving, like trying to avoid stuff, and being a cheater, and like, all I had to say. >> Oh, there's your pan. >> I'm like, "Man, that's really good." I guess game mechanic to keep people from doing this, because that was really fucking annoying, and it was totally unavoidable. >> I didn't think Rune Factory would take us into a conversation about all this. I'm glad it did. I have one last game that I did play there, and it's awesome. >> Yeah. >> And that's Dead Nation. I think it's out. Is it out? I want to say it is. >> I haven't heard of that. >> Or it comes out tomorrow, maybe. >> I think it is, yeah. No, I think it's next week. >> Zombie game. >> It is a zombie game. >> From the creators of Superstar, from the creators of Superstar, it's the overhead. >> You mentioned that last week, actually. >> I don't think you mentioned it on the show, but yeah. >> With the twin stick shooter, you know. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> And-- >> No, you didn't mention it, because you were like, "There aren't enough games in Isometric anymore." >> Well, I talked about we didn't talk about it on the show, I think, because I wasn't allowed to. >> Oh, right, right, okay. >> So it's really cool. I don't know how much it is. I think it's 15 bucks, but it's totally worth it. Like, the single player campaign is like, six to eight hours, I want to say. You know, if you care about the length, but just in general, it is really fun to play two-player. It's only two-player cooperative. >> Right. >> But, and I haven't tried it online, but locally, it's just such a blast to play. Like, the whole point is that you're basically killing all these zombies and grinding for loot. Like, in Left 4 Dead, you're just trying to get from A to B and survive, but unless you're killing zombies for gold, which you then use to upgrade your guns and all your accessories. And it has some of the Left 4 Dead 2 vibe, in the sense that there's like, Molotovs and Grenades you throw, and there are like, special versions of the zombies. Like, there's a big fat one that might as well be a boomer. He comes and blows up on you. >> Right. >> You know, and there's other zombies that call more zombies to them by giving out the special cry. You know, but it's just like, such a cool looking game. And it still has that kind of almost like geometry-worse style vibe to it, where you're like, kiting zombies around you and doing very narrow paths through them and stuff. >> That's awesome. >> For some reason, looking at this game reminds me of this old PS1 game called Loaded. >> Never played that. >> Me either. >> Someone out there listening to the podcast must have. >> They probably have. >> It wasn't very good. >> Now on the Arthur Giese Soteric Hour. >> Man, there were ads for Loaded in fucking every magazine on the part. >> No, it sounds very familiar. >> Either way, Dead Nation. Totally worth playing. >> Nice. >> There are reviews already going up. I've seen reviews. On some sites. The only thing I've heard is I heard there's an issue with it where you can't play online if you have a full friends list. So they're trying to work out that, I think. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, I don't know why. It was apparently- >> It's a good one to work out. >> It was apparently a problem in Wipeout HD as well. If you had a full PSN friends list, you could not play out. >> Man, my PSN list is- >> Most people don't have full ones. >> No, yeah. It's a tiny fraction of my Xbox One list. >> It's 100 people. >> Like, first off, like- >> I'd never hit 100 people on PSN. >> That's the thing is, I think this will be a problem for very, very- >> Wait, there's 11 on PSN? >> Yeah, 100. >> Really? >> 100. >> Yeah, I guess you've never hit it either. >> No, I think I have two friends on PSN. >> Yeah, exactly. >> I only know this because I've been talking to the PlayStation, Executive Editor at IGN. >> Right. >> And he does have a full friends list, so when he tried to play online, he was like, what the fuck? >> He also plays with the kids a lot. >> Yeah. But, dead nation, super cool. Easily, PSN's had a really good few, like a few really good games coming out for it that are kind of exclusive. There's that, and there's a horde, and there's auditorium, which is only timed exclusive. Like, at some point, it's more than likely coming out in Xbox. There's 60, that's like another really cool game. >> Yeah. >> Like, I think, man, they've just been really doing a good job with, I don't know. >> PSN has always gotten really great titles, though. >> I mean, there's plenty of Xbox Live games I love, too, but you're right. I mean, the vast majority of games I've played in my PS3 have all been games like PixelChunk, Shooter, stuff like that. >> And, like, there's just-- >> Dead nation comes out next Tuesday. >> Next Tuesday. >> There we go. And there's just no arguing with Wipeout. Wipeout HD is unbelievable. It's still probably my favorite racing game of all time ever. >> I've never played a Wipeout game. >> Yeah, well, Wipeout HD is the only one you need to play. It's sort of like all the others in one game. >> It's everything you've ever wanted in one convenient package, Matt Chandon is. >> Box quote. Are there-- did you play games? >> I did. >> It's also about Splatterhouse. >> Oh, God. Well, first, I was going to say, I have something in my bag right now that will make a lot of people listening jealous, I think. And I have not had time to play it yet. >> Including me. >> I have Gran Turismo 5 in my bag. >> Oh, that doesn't make me that jealous. >> No? >> Didn't Gran Turismo come out today? >> I don't know if it did. It might have. >> Because I know Ryan has it. It's out. >> It gets very supply constrained, I guess. I don't know what-- >> I think Ryan actually game-plied it. Ryan, my cohorted area. >> Right. I would like to play some Gran Turismo 5. Because I realize it might be difficult for some of our listeners to comprehend, but I played the fuck out of Gran Turismo 3. And I just never had a chance to play Gran Turismo 4. >> Yeah, 3 was huge for me when I was working at GameSpy. Like the entire office. Like we, the CEO, went out and bought four more PS3s. And we brought around TVs and hooked them all up. >> Did you link them together with Firewire cables? >> We did. >> We link them all together. >> Ah, the good old days. >> And we played and we raced and we raced. And oh, did we race. That whole set up-- >> We had the Daisy Chain PS3s together with Firewire. >> Yeah. And it was really flaky. Half the time, you couldn't get it to start up and work and actually network all the PS2s together. But eventually, you could make it work. And we would just fiddle around with it until it would happen. And then like, there would be other times where there would be like a dual race going on over here. Because over onto my right, because we can only get two of their network. And then there'd be three on the other side where people would be racing. And then there'd be one person in the middle who was just like upping their personal stats in their own career mode. >> That sounds like a fun GameSpy. [ Laughter ] We never did anything like that when I was at GameSpy. [ Laughter ] >> That's because you didn't have an entire building in Irvine, California devoted to just one company. >> And you didn't have a boss who basically just played World of Warcraft all day. >> Bomp, bomp, bomp. >> Um, that's a Spider House. >> Uh, yeah, I'm reviewing Spider House. >> Nice. >> Not really. [ Laughter ] >> Uh, so do you know the history of this game? >> Of this particular one? >> Yeah, originally I was being developed by a bottle rocket. You were the guys who developed Mark of Cree on PlayStation 2. >> Over the fuck it is. >> Yeah, it is. >> I actually-- >> That's one of Nick's-- >> That's one of Nick's-- >> Suttner's favorite games ever. >> I've actually played both Mark of Cree's and really enjoyed them. >> Hmm. >> Which had really kind of creative combat systems. >> It did. Had very creative combat systems. They were a little bit cumbersome to use, but I really enjoyed them. >> They were sort of like-- >> The art style was goddamn amazing. >> What did they sort of like assesses? >> This is great, almost. >> Like in the way that each button was a different, like sort of-- >> No, no. Like what you would do is you go into a stealth mode and then I can't remember what button you would hold down, but it would basically make a sweep, like kind of a vision cone come out from your character, and you could sweep that across enemies, and then those enemies would get a face button above them, like square and X. And if you were in a position to where you could assassinate them, if you then hit square and X and timed it just right, then you could assassinate everybody that was like in-- that you were able to sweep with your cone of vision. >> Hmm. >> Doesn't that sound more interesting than what you see in a Spider-House? >> Spider-House is like dynasty warriors with gore. >> Okay, Spider-House basically feels like it's four years too late. >> Really? >> It is a third person character action beat 'em up game. >> Yeah, I thought it looked kind of interesting at E3. I mean-- >> Uh, it runs a lot better than it did. >> Yeah, actually, I haven't seen any performance things watching. >> Oh, I've seen a ton of performance things, and it's just totally random. The frame rate will drop to just about single digits. >> Wow. >> It doesn't look terrible either. >> No, it looks kind of like borderlands, actually. >> Right. >> Like the way that the art style is done. It's sort of semi-cell shaded concept art style looking stuff. It is the goryest game I've ever played. >> Yeah. >> And on the ha-ha, there's blood in body parts everywhere, but in that, like, you have pieces carved away from you to tell you how fucked up you are. >> Right, how damage you're getting. >> And enemies can cut off your whims. >> Wow. >> And that really, you know, hinders your combat capability. >> I would think so. I was going to say, how do you recover from that if somebody chopped off your leg? >> Like the way you gain health back is you have to do a special move. >> Okay. >> Which it doesn't really tell you until you're almost dead, so you might die a few times before you learn how to do it. >> Mm-hmm. >> Uh, and yeah, it's just, it feels like a very-- >> Budget. >> By the numbers, sort of character action game that's comprised of all these elements that they thought that they needed, but there is no real thought put into them. >> And some of the things seem like they're still like, make it seem like such a budget game, like even the way that it shows like, make the do this with the sticks to kill people. And it's like the sticks that they have on the screen, like, I don't know how they could have drawn them, but the way they look on the screen looks like place holder shit. >> Sometimes, yeah, and sometimes they're kind of hard to read. And some things are just weird. Like, you'll get caught in animations a lot, and you'll get knocked down and get stuck there until he decides to give back up. >> Which is always fun in an action game, easily though. >> Which is weird because, I mean, that's kind of a Japanese thing, like Japanese action games. And Namco did take this away from bottle rocket, because they weren't making enough progress. This is kind of a minor shitstorm on the internet last year. >> I mean, it makes sense. I mean, shit, I remember that was like a cover of like EGM when we were still employed. >> It was a long-ass time. >> Yeah, which is why it's appropriate that it seems so late, like so untimely. >> But it's not one of those games that, you know, held off for several years, and then when it came out, you're like, oh, well, at least they updated it for the modern era. >> Right, no, I mean, the graphics are fine. They are whatever. But it's excessively gratuitous, which is to be fair. >> So is the first game? >> Just like Spotterhouse, like the arcade game. There are also tits sprinkled out throughout the game, like you find torn up pictures that you put together to find naked pictures of his girlfriend. >> The most annoying thing I've seen with that game though is easily the voice of the mask that you're wearing. >> I feel like the voice might be Steve Bloom. >> That fucking course it is. >> You'll know the voice when you hear it, and the mask is always talking to you and cracking wise. >> Nice job, Ricky. >> I hate it when things crack wise in video games. >> Well, sometimes things are interesting when they talk to you, like the darkness. >> Or like the thing that was done by Mark Hamill and Darksiders, that was a fun little adventure when I talked to you. >> It was. >> But yeah, this one's always just saying stupid stuff, like nice hit, Ricky. >> So yeah, the combat just isn't very good. There are a lot of punitive hits that there's not really any way to get out of because you'll be doing attacks and get stuck in animations, and you'll see it coming and there's nothing you can do. There's a lot of instant kills. There's a lot of platforming instant kills. The load times are fucking awful. >> And I have it installed on my 360, and this is retail. >> Wow, I still like that. >> Yeah. >> I don't- >> A lot of positive development. >> I don't hate it. I don't, it's not the worst game I've played even this month. But it's just not very good. >> Not worth the money. >> If you're obsessed with Spotterhouse, then it might be something to look into, and I'm still, I have a lot to go. It seems really long. I played that game for about four and a half hours, and I think I'm 15% through. >> Wow. >> But maybe that's counting hard mode completion too or something. >> Yeah, that, I guarantee you, it's probably like, oh, you didn't do all of our stupid challenges. >> I don't know, looking at the achievements, there are a ton of chapters. Like, there are a ton of chapters on the achievements. But even like all the thematic stuff just feels tired. It's like, okay, Cthulhu stuff and deep ones and that kind of, it's kind of played at this point, like a couple of years ago. >> Spotterhouse uses Cthulhu stuff. >> Oh yeah. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> I didn't know that. >> Oh yeah. And it's got a lot of homogenous to classic horror, like Dr. I think Henry West is the main villain, which reminds me of Dr. Herbert West from Animator, which is also a adaptation of Lovecraft. >> I could deal with some more Cthulhu games. >> Yeah, but only if they were done like actual Cthulhu games, not like Splatterhouse with Cthulhu elements. >> Yeah, basically, I just want more sequels to Dark Corners of the Earth. >> Right, that's never going to happen. >> No. >> But yeah, it would be nice if it did. >> So yeah, I don't have a lot good to say about it other than sometimes, like, it looks good. Sometimes, sometimes it looks good. >> So can we segue away from that into a game that actually has fantastic combat? [BLANK_AUDIO] >> Can we? >> Yeah. >> What? >> Assassin's Creed II. >> We already talked about that. >> Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I know, but I just wanted to talk about the combat a little bit because it was reminding me about how, because you were saying about how you got stuck in animation. >> Right, that doesn't happen in Assassin's Brotherhood. >> No, in Brotherhood, I feel like I have more control in Brotherhood than I've had in just about any other. >> I kind of feel like we should wait till next week to talk about Brotherhood. We should have Ryan on. And I think we're gonna have another guest who is also in love with Brotherhood. >> So should we do a spoiler cast next week? >> I would love to do a spoiler cast next week about Assassin's Creed. >> All right, let's do that. So next week, so this is your homework, Rebel FM listeners. >> We have two games to finish for review over Thanksgiving break. >> Try to beat Assassin's Creed. And then, we're gonna have a spoiler cast where nothing is sacred. We talk about everything that we talk about. >> And it'll be separate from the rest of the show so people can skip it. >> Sure. >> Like Anthony will probably sit it out. >> Yep. >> Cuz I don't think he'll have time to finish it. >> No, there's no way. >> Yeah, I definitely want to play a lot of the multiplayer this week too. >> I feel like you've got to play through two before you can even jump into Brotherhood. >> Or just read a Wikipedia page. >> No, this isn't that kind of game that you'll be depriving yourself if you don't play through two. >> And the only thing really that's kept me from finishing Brotherhood or getting further into it is Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. >> Right. >> Can you play that, Matt? >> No, no, I haven't had any time. It's been all Assassin's Creed in- >> That game is- >> Game of civilization. >> Distilled digital addiction. >> It is pretty incredible like just watching over your shoulder while we were hanging out last week, like yeah. I know that if I had that game, it would suck my life away the way the Geometry Wars did when I first played that. >> Yeah, I crushed every score that you saw me get. >> I mean, that's awesome. >> I'm surprised to an extent that I'm not sure it would work. But I'm really surprised that no one's tried to put one of those Pac-Man DX games out on a portable thing. >> They have? >> Have they? >> Yeah, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is on the Android. >> Oh, well there you go. >> And you know what, it's terrible. >> Yeah, aww, I guess I was thinking more like I'm surprised we haven't seen a DS or PSP version. >> I think there's an iPhone version of Championship Edition. >> Is there? >> Well, I was just saying something with an actual like D-pad or you know, analog. >> Right. >> Which would make a lot more sense, yeah. >> Because it seems like, you know, Geometry Wars worked all right on portable things. >> I bet you could actually do a Pac-Man with tilt controls. >> No. >> You better. >> I really don't think you could. >> I think you could. >> I think the ghosts are too unpredictable and the game gets too fast. >> I don't, like, but playing tilt to live, I realize it's a different kind of game, but tilt to live, I feel like I have such fine-toothed control over how that little arrow moves. You just have to be, it's sort of like, you know, when I first started playing with games with the Wii Moat, I realized after a while that I could do really fine grain movements with it that I didn't have to be so sweeping. And like, if you turn up the sensitivity on a game that has tilt controls and you are really careful with the way that you tilt the device, you can get really precise and you can accelerate and decelerate by how far you tilt it and it can be really well done. Tilt to live, like, sort of prove that to me. What's that? >> Nothing. >> What did you say? >> I made an awful joke. >> Oh. >> You made Michael J. Fox joke. >> Oh, I get it because Parkinson's disease is hilarious because they can't play tilt games on their iPhone. >> See, I played a lot of Pac-Man. >> As of this recording, I'm in the top 1,000 for championship two and five minutes. >> Nice. >> What hurts a little bit is seeing that that game hasn't sold fantastically if the leaderboards are in indication. It's only like 29,000. >> What about like geometry wars? How many was that? >> I don't know. I think in the 100,000s, that blows you. >> Oh, geometry wars is also like $2. >> True. The first geometry wars was five, I think. >> Does Pac-Man do the thing where it's constantly reminding you who has the better score above you of your friends? >> It's easy to check the leaderboards, easy enough to where that will be what drives you forward. Although there is a strange omission that when you look at your friends' scores, you were not listed in those scores. >> Whoa, that's really weird. >> Yeah. >> So you have to remember your score. >> Yes, remember your score. >> That's hilarious. >> But other than that, I got nothing. >> Speaking of Michael J. Fox, I'm honestly excited for the back-to-the-future game. I just thought I would throw that out there. >> Really? >> Back-to-the-future telltale game looks awesome. >> Well, I like pretty much anything that telltale does. >> PC and PS3 exclusive? >> Yeah. There's that game coming out, and then another bad-ass downloadable game looking forward to is stacked. >> Oh, the double-fine game announcements, yeah. >> Dude, that looks so really like dolls or something. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, I just think that this is exactly what double-fine should have been doing all along. Like little downloadable of cool games where they can experiment and be kind of niche. >> I certainly think it's safer. >> Oh, yeah, then a brutal legend scale thing. >> Yeah. >> But that's all. >> And maybe the downloadable games will help them sort of hone their basic game system design skills, because I just don't feel like they've got that. >> Right, at least if brutal legend is the example that you're- >> I mean, yeah, there is nothing in brutal legend that worked particularly well. >> Yeah. >> Some stuff obviously worked worse than other stuff. >> Yeah, and I really, really enjoyed psycho-nots, but there were big flaws in that game. >> It was a very competent platformer. >> It was. >> But platformer has been done a lot. >> Anyways, lots to be excited about. [MUSIC] >> Dude, I want to take a break. >> Yeah. >> I'm going to do letters. This is going to be a short show, I swear that out there. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Anyways, this fucking podcast is over. >> Aaron writes in, and he says, question, do you think meta game of achievements, trophies, etc, has become too powerful a force? I have several Wii games I'd like to get back to. No more heroes to Super Mario Galaxy 2, Little King story, but the social draw of Xbox Live, seeing what my friends are playing, showing off what I'm playing and how. It makes it really hard to turn on my little white box instead of the big white box. So instead of discovering brave new worlds, I end up spending 90 minutes sticking around in pinball effects 2, trying to top some assholes high score and get all of a thousand points in AC2. >> Wow, you do have a problem. >> Pinball effects 2 is apparently fucking amazing. >> Oh, pinball effects 2. For some reason I was, for some reason, no good reason I mixed that up with a paintball game that just came out. >> The thing I would ask is why do you put more value on one abstract measurement of progress or achievement over another? >> Yeah. >> I mean, if you want to play your Wii games and play your Wii games like, I think achievements add something interesting and valuable as a means to interact with your friends as a way to get into a game in ways that were difficult to track previously. >> Yeah, and for me, sometimes I will go after an achievement if that particular achievement sounds like a fun thing to pursue, but most of the time I just look at them as a record of what I've done, and I'll just be like, oh, I did that in that game. I don't actively pursue them, but then there are people like Will Tuttle who will go after all the achievement points in every game that he's ever played. >> Going back to Black Ops, the achievement for making it through that level with the hazard suit without ever dying from a leak adds a ton of tension to that section of the game that otherwise you'd say, oh, I'll die, I'll respawn, keep playing, but I was really sweating it toward the end. >> Yeah, I don't think that they've become too powerful. It's that he's letting them become too powerful. >> Yeah, at the point where he's not playing in the games he wants to play. >> As far as leaderboards, I mean, shit, welcome to arcades from 25 years ago. >> Yeah, totally. >> Watch the King of Kong. >> Yep, the next letter from Eric. And he says, hello, listening to episode 84 and hearing Arthur talk about the Wii sales slump, I'm curious whether you think the lineup the system has had in the last half years going to have any impact. Going to 2010, I was kind of bummed about the Wii. But since May, the Wii has had Mario Galaxy 2, Monster Hunter Tri, Sin and Punishment, Metroid Other M, NBA Jam, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Gold and I, Sonic Colors, and Epic Mickey right around the corner. >> First of all, Monster Hunter Tri is a very niche game that not a lot of people are in. I don't trust a Metroid Other M and NBA Jam is out on 360 and PS3. >> Okay. >> That being said, I think that the Wii probably had the strongest first party lineup of the year. First party lineup or exclusive lineup, like it had the strongest exclusives to share. >> Yeah, and I mean, I don't think that it's going to re-invigorate Wii sales. I think a lot of the people that are going to buy those games already have a Wii. >> Yeah, they bought one back when Super Mario Galaxy or Link, the last Legends Zelda game came out. >> Yeah, those are largely the Nintendo faithful. >> Yep, so Nintendo needs another product idea that reaches out to the mainstream. Like the balance board and that kind of thing. >> I think they squandered their opportunity with the way that shit has just gotten through on the Wii. It diluted the value of software on the system. >> Well, it's because everybody and their brother thinks like, here's the biggest selling system out there right now. So we're going to make software for it and just by the virtue of the passive player base, it means that our game is going to be a success. And then of course, it doesn't turn out that way. >> It's also too expensive. >> It's way too expensive. >> It's still too expensive. When you add on another couple we-motion plus and everything like that, it gets real expensive real fast. >> I mean, not just that. I think people have demonstrated that they're willing to be nickel and dime. It's just that initial outlay that's a stumbling block and it's $200, right? >> Is it still $200? >> Yeah. >> It hasn't gone down to 150 or something. >> Nope, it's still sitting at 200 bucks. >> Wow, it seems like it really should. >> The really expensive accessories and stuff, you know? >> It really should have dropped in price by now, absolutely. >> It's just too expensive. >> Yeah. >> Maybe if they drop the price, the sales would go up, but I doubt it. I feel like that ship is sailed. >> Yeah. >> Which is too bad because they said that they're not going to release a Wii successor until they had $45 million in the US. And they're at $30 right now. >> They're holding Nintendo fans at Ransom. >> I know. >> It sort of feels like they are, yeah. >> God, brilliant marketing or stupid dickishness. You decide. >> All right. >> With Nintendo, they're sort of the same thing. >> The next letter is from Shane, who's from Australia. I only mentioned that because he says it. >> Good day. >> Come a 20-year-old Australian uni student currently working at my local bar. I have a colleague named Karen, who is 27. >> Don't. >> Who looks 22. >> Don't. >> And we've been friends for nine months. >> Don't. >> She has worked there. She works there. >> So. >> Recently, we have been spending all the time together as we performed the time of your life dance from dirty dancing together for a fundraising event at work. And it goes without saying that things have been steaming up. I've been casually flirting with her, having dinner with her after we looked for costumes for the dance, going back to her place to hang after we practiced, etc. My friends have warned me to make a move before I fall into the friend zone, which I'm afraid has already happened. >> I think it's already happened. >> But she is quite sensitive about her age. She often mentions her best friends the same age as her, but is married with two kids. And how her older brother often tells her to grow up and quit being a child. Do I let her go and let her start to settle? Something I'm nowhere nearly ready to do. Or do I try and convince her to have some fun with me? If so, how do I convince her if she's doing up on her age? >> I feel like you're in the friend zone. >> It sounds to me like she still wants to hang and party like a young and so like you could just take advantage of that. >> Nine months, man. >> Yeah. >> People meet and get married. >> Yeah, that does sound like friend zone to me too. >> I'm not even saying that it's healthy to do that, but a lot of people will be married within nine months of starting to date. >> What do you think, Eleanor? >> That's girlfriend is here with people. >> Yes, my girlfriend is here. >> She has a giant cat in her lap. >> It's hard for her to move. >> I told you. >> No. >> That battery is a lying whore. >> I think she's lying just to-- >> You think you can talk into that? >> No, it's hard. >> Wait, hold on, I'm back. >> She's probably just saying that she doesn't want to settle down because she's pressured by everybody else. >> Right. >> But no. >> She does. >> No, yeah. Her clock's ticking. I don't think so. >> Well, there you go. >> So there you go. You're too young for her. >> The next letter comes from Nigel. And he says, "Hey, after hearing a listener last week mentioned developer commentary, I thought I'd mentioned that remedy to the superb audio/video commentary on the special edition of Ellen Wake, which is well worth picking up and should be cheap now." He also says, "I also read this week that zombies, the board game, the tile-based one." He's finally getting the XBLAPSN release it deserves. Are there any other board games you feel would make good video games? >> Oh, shit. >> Access and allies would probably be cool to see. Maybe someone would actually finish a fucking game of that thing. >> If I could save it and come back to it. >> Yeah, exactly. Shit, there was a game that I played with a bunch of friends and vegans. >> Yeah, he requested to be-- >> Fucking live arcade version of hero quests. That would actually be really cool. >> I mean-- >> Make it happen. >> Yeah. >> But yeah, the biggest one, for sure, zombies, man, that is-- >> Small world. I think small world would make-- >> Or maybe that call Cthulhu game. Did you ever play that the one that's like, it's multiplayer, but it's cooperative. And you play against a monster. Like, and sometimes it's Cthulhu, sometimes it's other monsters, but the whole premise is that it's always a cooperative game, no matter what. >> No, but that sounds like fun. >> It's a really popular game. I think that could make a-- >> Nice. >> A really cool-- And we got hardly any letters in the last week, I would say. >> I have one. >> Okay, read it. >> This is from Tanner Clausen called Art Direction Games. What games would you say have the best and worst art direction? In my opinion, Mirror's Edge has the best overall art direction and pure stylishness of any game I played. But Halo reaches skyboxes, they're super impressive. As for the lower end of the scale, perfect dark zero in the mad world are close contenders for last place. What do you think? I'm a little surprised he said mad world. >> Yeah, me too. >> There's so many people compliment the art direction of that. I actually agree, I think the art direction mad world sucks. >> I think it's too busy for everything that's on the screen. >> Yeah, like it doesn't work in black and white. >> But I'm not sure if that's-- I'm not sure how much of that is the fault of the system. I mean, I'm sure some of it's the fault of the game developer. But I feel like if that game was scaled up on an HDTV, you might actually be able to distinguish better. >> But it could be wrong. >> But if the game that you're designing doesn't look right for the resolution, the system you're designing or outputs, then that's your fault. >> Yeah, it is your fault. >> That's true. >> I actually think Relic has really good art design. >> Yeah. >> And they're super underrated. >> Yeah. >> To the point where they actually often use concept art is textures on low poly models to make it look way more detailed than it is. And they're doing a lot of that in Space Marine, which is really, really cool. >> I actually played the Shadowbroker DLC earlier this week. I still think Mass Effect 2 has some of the best art direction I've seen. >> I'm going to throw this out there. I actually think the Gears of War games have really good art direction. >> They do. I mean, people make fun of them for being all gray and brown and everything like that. >> First of all, they're not. >> Well, the first one kind of is. The second one is a much more colorful game. >> I feel like the first one isn't, though. It's like the first level is washed out. The second level is green. The third is blue. The fourth is bright yellow and the fifth is red. >> Yeah, but within those stages, they still kind of feel like they have the same overall tint to every single texture. >> We should play through the first Gears of War again. >> It has been a very, very long time. >> Yeah, it has been. >> And just to bring it up yet again, Assassin's Creed has fucking fantastic art direction. >> It does have regular art direction. >> So in the last week, we've gotten very few letters. I just want to say that you can send your letters. I have one more though, and I want to say you can send your letters to letters at eat-sleep-game.com. And you should all start writing us because some of the people that are writing us now on a regular basis are crazy. And I kind of miss the people that used to send us awesome letters. >> So please send awesome letters. >> All right, Joel writes in. >> Public service announcement. >> He says, "I'm 19. I'm fat, but I'm very athletic." I don't get those two, but all right. I'm a virgin and have not had much luck with the ladies. Now I've recently changed my attitude to the world, where I just don't care when it comes to women. I speak my mind, act somewhat like a douche, but never cross the line of full douche baggery. Last week, I was playing Fifth Wheel with my best friend, his girlfriend and her date. It was supposed to be group outing, but many people canceled. After eating, we went to the movies, and on the way, the other girl was laughing at all my jokes, doing the playful touch thing, and she kept striking up conversations with me. I thought nothing of it until we sat down in the theater. I was toward the end, next to my friend. She came in with her guy and squeezed through everyone so she could sit on my right, and her date sit on hers. Throughout the movie, she kept chatting to me about what happened and laughing and such. Now at the end of the night, we all shared a cab and went home. I was the first to be dropped off. I later found out from my friend that she didn't go home with the other guy and stayed over at my friend's girl's house. The next day, she sent me a friend request on Facebook, "Oh, modern day." And we've been just casually commenting on each other's status and photos for the past week. Now with some context, she's beautiful, completely out of my league. I'm in the tee ball little league, and she's in the Olympics, and I have no real expectations for any of this, but I just wanted to know if you think she's interested in me. Should I pursue my reading too much into it? Just looking for some advice. Friends on. You think it's friends on? I think it's friends on. You don't think she's looking for a way out? Because I've seen girls do exactly that and look for a way out. She's looking for a way out, and that's still like a parachute, not a fucking car she's going to buy. I have friends that are married who are actually in this exact same situation, and he out and out stole his now wife from another dude. There's a lot of women out there, and Eleanor's nodding her head. There's women out there who will not move on from a guy until they have one already groomed to move on to. T.S. in high school? He's 19, so he's out of high school, in theory. Friends on? Really? I think she's being flirtatious and everything with him, because she perceives him as non-threatening, because he's jolly and fat. That's entirely possible. Scott was here, so he could let out some of his friends. I was a fat kid in junior high, and all of the girls were nice to me and stuff, because I was completely unthreatening. I grew up with a friend who was very overweight, and that was always the case for him. Always growing up, as all the girls trusted him, and were friends with him, and would flirt with him. And I always talk about how awesome he was, but it was never like, "And you're awesome, and we want to date you." Yeah, but did you take on, but did you take on some like, "I don't give a fucks like little bit of douchebaggery, or were you always like the super nice jolly fat guy?" It depends. I can go either way sometimes. Much like now. Sometimes I'll be super sweet, and then sometimes I'll go fuck. There's another letter that I wanted to read, and I know that you looked at it and skipped it, and I want to read it anyway. Oh yeah, I think I had intended upon reading it, but I didn't want to start off with it. Right, so occasionally we close with devastation. Well, Arthur likes to read all the depressing shit. I don't like to, I just feel like we should. This letter is from Mike Maury, who is named for my sound familiar. He's written into the podcast before. Hey guys, I'm a longtime listener and a teacher who's written in a few times. My letters have always been light and tone and about games. This week, though, something happened that I felt was important enough to share with your listeners, particularly the younger ones. Last week on Thursday, a week before a Thanksgiving, I came in to work to find out that an 8th grader in our school had taken his own life. To make matters worse, he was one of my former students from the previous year. Last year, I became particularly close and proud of my students. They were an amazing bunch of kids, and this young man was no different. He was a gamer, and so he would regularly talk to me about upcoming releases, games he was playing, and suggestions on what he should spend his money on. He even stopped by my class a week or two ago, just to let me know that a local play and trade was having some good sales. He was always in good spirits, and everybody, even the bad kids liked him. He was also a listener of this podcast. I want to direct this to any listeners, particularly those around 13 or so. I know for a fact Rebel FM has a particularly good contingency in that area, at least in my school, and did not want to miss an opportunity to reach any of you who may think your problems are insurmountable. They're not. They may seem like it now, and trust me, I remember just how shitty Junior High was for me and how down I always was. It's one of the reasons I chose to teach Junior High. It gets better, please trust me on that. If you think no one cares, you're wrong. There are people who care about you now more than you can ever realize. That 29-year-old English teacher you think is cool and likes video games would be more than happy to be willing to sit down and talk to you if you feel like no one else will listen. They may even have gone through the same thing years ago. The friends you take for granted, or think they only care a little, care a whole lot. I spent most of last week just sitting with my former students and having a good cry over how they will miss the little things, like his stupid jokes or the fact that he always had 85 packs of gum on him. Don't suffer in silence, and please don't do anything so drastic and irreversible that you leave a hole in the people who you've touched. And the rest is just thanks for reading this. There was no reason, I wasn't that I forgot to read it, I did forget, but I'm saying that wasn't that I didn't want to read it. It's just that would have been a depressing ass way to start the rest of the letter. There's no coming back from that. There's been a lot of it gets better going around over the last couple of months. A lot of it's directed at LGBT youth, and that's important because those are marginalized groups that are definitely singled out and picked on and put through hell. I think that a lot of kids can relate to alienation from junior high. Totally, yeah. Like I said, I was a fat little eighth grader who liked girls the way out of my league. Right. And I was a stupid dork who dressed badly and had lame hair. And some of that. Exactly who I am now, except without the hair. Some of that depression is physiological too, because I mean, there are crazy amounts of hormone and brain chemistry changes happening at that age. So the way you feel at 13 is not necessarily your fault. And back in my day when I was 13, I remember all these commercials all the time coming on TV that was like, are you depressed? You can call us at this number. What happened to all those? They lost federal funding during the Bush administration. Yeah, it's like we're having to like the, you know, your teen crisis timeline. So those were shut down in the 2000s. Yeah, because teens aren't in crisis anymore. Thanks to Bush. Well, just talk to your friends on Facebook. I just, there are resources out there. And as Mike says, there are people who care who are willing to talk. Man, there ain't no reason to care yourself either. And you would be like this in this podcast and you like it. Think about killing yourself. Don't care yourself. Yeah, no kidding. Such a waste. You'd be really surprised how far a teacher will go to help you out in situations like this. They will like, you tell them that you're having suicidal thoughts or that your life just sucks in general. And even teachers that you may not think are very good will actually act on that and help you out in a very positive way. And usually in ways that don't involve your parents unless they think your life is actually in danger. Yeah, if you're young and you're having thoughts and troubles like that, you should definitely seek help because you're in a place right now where you can get help generally for free. And you can take advantage of some really good programs. Yeah. And you're just not in a position right now in your development where you can make an informed rational decision on something like that. I know it feels like you can, but can't. It's really hard. It's really hard to accept that you may not know what's best for you and that you need to go get help for people. If I know you figure that out. If I had been right at what I thought was best for me when I was 13, I would still be masturbating like every two feet. You'd be a, what would you be a marine biologist? Yeah, I'd be a marine biologist who masturbated in the bathroom like every 20 minutes of that. Chronic masturbating. Yes, I would just be chronically masturbating. I did not know it was best for me. My feeling is as I like to call it. I sympathize with your shitty week, Mike. I'd spent the weekend going to a funeral on Saturday. So my condolences and I suppose if nothing else, this is a good pre-Thanksgiving letter to be thankful for the things you have in your life. Yep. So, like I'm thankful for Eleanor. Oh. So be good to yourselves. Be really good to yourselves. Giving. Talk to someone for real. Not on Facebook or fucking through a text message or any bullshit like that. Go out and speak to someone that you care about. Tell them as much verbally. In real words instead of letters. I, L-U-V-U. And I hate you more than anything in the world. Even if it's telling the hate, I'm at least telling them in person. Fuck. At least that'll get you outside. Right. So on that note, happy Thanksgiving. Yay. Matt, everything's moving. Eleanor, happy Thanksgiving. Anthony, enjoy your fucking tofu ball. Well... We out. We out. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Yeah. Oh no. Sounds like food poisoning. It does. Whenever it comes out of both sides. It sounds like Tyler poisoned me. Dirty tea, drinks and dirty tea. The first time, it's a mess, no matter. And then after you realize that's what's going on, you're like, well now I'm going to sit here with a garbage can. Yeah. And just cry while I'm holding it. Test, test, test, test, test, test, test, test. Anthony, speak. This is me speaking at the tone that is to be expected. Oh, raise your voice. Sometimes though, when I have to stop people, I'll raise my voice. No, but act like I'm Scott or Altono talking about banging broads. Stop, stop. That's what I do, Anthony. Bang and broads. Bang and broads. Matt, speak. That's not misogynistic at all. Because that's what I do is I just go find broads to bang. Trolling for hoes. Trolling for hoes. Fishing for sliz. That's what I haven't heard. Not only. Not only awesome shogi joke, they use that on the cover to a splinter cell activity book for kids that they did that went on the site. Really? And then they printed it out and took it to Ubisoft. And on the front, it's got Tom Clancy with like a thing in the background that says "Fishing for sliz". Oh my god, that's awesome. - Yeah.