PixelCast

Oh, nuts. We got Kotaku in the PixelCast. Again! Like runny porridge in your hair, that stuff is really hard to get out. Ah, well – at least that Mark Serrels fellow is a pretty entertaining guy. And he knows his games – that's good too. Who has Mark gatecrashed on, you ask? A pretty classic panel, we say! Tim, Ken and Dylan make up the remaining numbers although, despite his family heritage, not even Tim is able to speak in a convincing Scottish accent. He does pronounce 'Kotaku' correctly, though. Or, at least, we think he did. As for the show itself? Games, games, and reviews of games. There's also a little news in there, as well as some cheesy electric guitars. This is because, as we all know, cheesy electric guitars are the best kinds of electric guitars. Well, so long as you exclude those times when they're not. But those don't count. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:03:40 – Renegade Ops and Batman: Arkham City 0:16:25 – Dark Souls 0:24:16 – Cards, yo! (not dice...) 0:26:53 – Music – Greed (by Danny Baranowsky) 0:29:26 – Studios keep on dying, and 360 texture packs 0:38:41 – Music – Force Your Way (remix) (by Final Fanatic XIII) 0:42:32 – Reviews, response, and responding to response 0:57:28 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Ken's baby delivered by the Krispy Kreme truck Helpful Links: Oz game studio problems... DICE wants you to download its textures Idiots

Taste that? Yeah, tacos are goood. We've added just a hint of taco to this PixelCast. Why, well – duh! Mexican foodstuffs are delish! Mind you, they can also be really unhealthy, so we have to ration our pleasures with care. Just follow it up with a fresh fruit smoothy – the kind that's padded out with bananas. All those vitamins will allow you to feel better about yourself. What is all this nonsense about, exactly? We've borrowed Steve from GameTaco, is what! He joins the crew to discuss Resistance 3, have his age made fun of, and generally get a bit weirded out by the crew of Tim, James, Jess and Dylan to the point where he probably wondered why he ever through this was a good idea. Continuing with the taco and fruit theme, there's a fair bit of apple talk this show. It really does seem they succeeded in the portable gaming arena where Nokia's taco-shaped offering failed. Can we have a *boom-tssh* for that one, please? Also, Dylan somehow breaks the laws of time and makes 'about' twenty minutes last for a full hour. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:04:46 – Resistance 3, Battlefield beta, Forza 4, and Ico HD 0:20:07 – Sound Bars don't serve drinks 0:22:50 – Music – Castle in the Mist (by Brandon Goins) 0:25:41 – Pepsi XP, and a train of Apple stuff 0:36:42 – Music – When the Smoke Clears (by Geoffrey Taucer) 0:40:53 – Life and gaming 0:56:42 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Dylan's dinner provided by... actually, we don't know Helpful Links: Pepsi mixes CoD for XP No, there's not a '5' in the name Lost on the iList GameTaco

Three people are better than two! Or so we like to tell Dylan, at any rate. The PixelCast returns to having a more 'crew'-sized, erm... crew for the forty-fifth instalment of regular programming. Is it a regular show, though? That's the real question, after all. (The answer is 'yes, it is', but you should still download it anyway). What regular things can you find in this regular PixelCast? Well, aside from Tim calling Ken a geek (bask in that irony for a second – aww, yeah! A new tan!), we have discussion of games, bands that are older than we are, slices of news and a bit of talk about giddy, excitable Christmas wish-listing. You could be forgiven for thinking that we're all twelve. We're not twelve, though. Well, with the possible exception of Dylan, who is aiming to set some kind of Australian youth marriage record. The rest of us are totally more grown-up than that. Hence out amazing ability to get through a discussion of Gears 3 with only a few mentions of the word 'broner'. Like, totally less than fifty. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:43 – Space Marine, Gears of War 3, and Hard Reset 0:17:05 – Rest. Ever. More. 0:19:42 – Music – Superman (by R.E.M.) 0:22:19 – Vita world, medical research, and legal footnotes 0:34:06 – Music – 8-bit Halo (by GamersCast) 0:36:50 – All we want to come out NOW 0:51:17 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Dylan's vocals trained by Sting Helpful Links: Yup. No region-lock Vita is good Vita! Cure AIDS? Yes, why not! The day we don't sue Sony?

A svelte offering, this one is. A mixture of a small panel and a busy schedule has resulted in not all that much more than half an hour of Tim and Ken's verbal awesomeness. Try to look at it as concentrated awesomeness, distilled into the one glorious slap to the ears. Running with the small theme, we've ignored some of the bigger releases (and pleasant surprises – here's looking at you, Driver: San Fran) of the past fortnight, and taken some time to kick it with the indies instead. Space exploration and puzzle platforming make up the main courses for the day, respectively. The small crew also takes a moment to try and figure out what the hell is going through the respective heads of those in high places within Valve and EA, and then cap things up by musing over some listener questions, cropped fresh from Twitter. Here's looking at you, little birdy. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:33 – Space Pirates Vs Zombies, and Blocks That Matter 0:10:33 – Music – Ice (by Morusque) 0:13:30 – Origin confuses us, and sexist Zombies court controversy 0:20:23 – Music – Walking the Shadows (by Dap642) 0:22:30 – Twitter Q&A, wherein Tim forgets to wish for Okami on the Wii U 0:34:23 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Ken's babies made from Awesome Sauce Helpful Links: Origin. We don't get it, either. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/03/valve-games-show-up-on-origin/ Dead Island trips, falls, and needs help standing up again http://kotaku.com/5839555/modders-unite-to-fix-the-pc-version-of-dead-island

The summer drought is over! Or is that the winter drought? Frankly, both. For the return of the regular-format PixelCast we have roped in a total of four panelists, devided evenly between both sides of the equator. Tim and Cody represent the stinking heat of the North, while Ken and Jickle rain on their parade (hah) from Melbourne. Of course, this drought is one of games, not rain – of which there has been plenty. Actually, there have been plenty of games too – including From Dust, which earns itself a moment's fragmentation of opinions – but there's been a lack of a certain something, and by 'certain something' we mean 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution'. The focus then makes its way to Japan, wherein the crew look over the way the powerhouses of the industry have shifted grounds over the past decade or so, and wherein Cody is reminded that Nintendo once used to make competitively powerful hardware, too. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:17 – Kill Team, From Dust, and Crysis 2 0:14:06 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution 0:21:55 – Fireworks! 0:24:03 – Music – HR Trailer (by Michael McCann) 0:26:38 – 3DS Craziness, Gamestop is stoopid, and From Dust DRM 0:41:27 – Music – OOT Title (by Zelda Reorcestrated) 0:43:49 – Oh, Japan 1:05:25 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Tim's hair eaten by Grug Helpful Links: Nintendo actually struggling? Nooooooo. http://www.1up.com/news/iwata-salary-cut-half-3ds-price-drop-explained DRM is confusing http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ubisoft-patch-out-dust-pc-drm Oh, Gamestop, you cheeky devil you http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/report-gamestop-opening-deus-ex-copies-removing-free-game-code.ars

While Tim is still setting up in his new Japanese love fortress, the PixelCast continues with another special Stopgap episode. This new episode is a landmark in the PixelCast history, being the first time people are actually IN THE SAME ROOM. I'm joined by the best crew you'll ever find: Matt West (of Armchair Diplomat), his co-conspirator and Pixel Hunt contributor, Jess West, and the effervescent Nathan Cocks (of PC Powerplay). ___________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) PixelCast Stopgap 5 - Deadly Pixelnition

A Fine Cast, we're calling it. Some may even say that it's a doubly fine 'cast. With Tim in the middle of relocating his entire life (yes, again), the regular PixelCasting has been put back to allow for some smaller content. In this case, that content is pretty sweet. And how could it not be sweet, what with Tim Schafer and the equally charming Nathan Martz giving time to talk Sesame Street? Yes, Sesame Street – and don't you dare go pretending you're not curious to try it out. This is actually an interview that Tim did for Hyper a few issues back, but what we've got here is the full thing. You get to hear everything, from Schafer and Martz's banter, through to just how damn sleepy Tim sounded while conducting it. It's will worth a download. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Tim's grogginess by... actually, that's his own stupid fault

We could probably call this the tech error cast: Ken was supposed to be on, but his Internet connection was doing indecent things to our recording equipment, guest panellist Eliot Fish found his normal mic was giving him too much of an Ocker accent, and something weird happened on Tim's end with ten minutes left to go! We got something out of it all, though. What is that something, we hear you ask? Well, that something is talk about Bastion and... um... some slightly older games. It's that kind of year see – great for Shameless Gaming in the pile, but fairly tits if you want new and exciting things to entice listener ears with. And, by tits, we mean eighty-year-old super saggy tits. Or older. The panel of three scrapes through some news as well, speculating over what they want from Windows 8 over what it'll likely end up being. Then there's a topic too, which involves us mumbling about popular genres, trends and ideas in gaming that we just don't get, or at least are unable to appreciate. Also, trail mix. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:03:28 – Bad Company 2, Bastion, and Portal 2 0:14:36 – Nifty glasses and nose-less evil guys 0:18:52 – Music – Overnight Cloverleaf (by José the Bronx Rican) 0:23:02 – Windows 368 and why Adelaide is still full of crazy people 0:32:51 – Music – Want You Gone (Mario Paint) (by Levus28S) 0:35:03 – Whinging, whingers, and whinging about whingers 0:54:33 – Q&A and wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) James' monstrous sideburns by some crazed Potter fan, probably Helpful Links: Windows 8 be good? http://www.windows8news.com/2011/07/12/windows-8-support-xbox-360-games/ MA18+ Que? http://au.games.ign.com/articles/118/1182354p1.html

Good Game invades the PixelCast! It's all a part of the Australian government's plans to take over all local games media, and they're doing it here by covertly sending one Steven 'Bajo' O'Donnell to hyperactively chat with PC Powerplay's Nathan Cocks. The rest of us just sit back and watch in awe. OK, that's a bit of a lie. We talk, too. A bit. Tim spearheads organisational duties as usual, with Dylan and Jess dongling up his rear! Just what do we mean by dongling up his rear? Honeslty, we don't know! But we know what you think it means, you filthy-minded little Internet people! Flowing like a bee on a sugar-high through a field of exploding asteroids, a sizable chunk of the show is spent getting distracted from our various gaming escapades and our return visit to Team Fortress 2. Somehow, the crew chew through this fortnight's meagre news stories and come out of discussing games and movies and movies and games and midgets and movies and... er, other stuff too! ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:03:21 – Trenched, Shadows of the Damned, and Child of Eden 0:20:00 – Team Fortress 2 0:25:31 – Music – Lagi's Takeoff (by MattInc) 0:27:41 – Deus Ex pricing, 360 free-to-play, and games win in court 0:39:59 – Music – NYC Club (by SineRider) 0:41:49 – Games and movies and stuff 1:04:43 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Jess' dongle by Hugh's Dongle Suppliers Helpful Links: What happened to our Deus Ex price!? http://games.on.net/article/12980/Steam_Drops_the_Price_Bomb_on_Deus_Ex_Human_Revolution 360 free-to-play? http://www.develop-online.net/news/38108/Xbox-begins-dev-support-for-free-to-play An actual news story! http://gamepolitics.com/2011/06/27/us-supreme-court-upholds-ninth-circuit-decision-brown-v-entertainment-merchants-associati Join the Navy, bitches! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNdPPEwguDQ

E3 is mercifully behind us and PC Powerplay's Nathan Cocks has swung by to join in with the rest of the crew's banter. Alongside having the best radio voice of any of us, he also has the best Duke impersonation. Heaven only knows exactly what this man does in his spare time. Alongside Cocks sits a typical crew: Tim, Ken and Dylan. Chewing their way through the format they delve into a fortnight of gaming, titter over some news stories of questionable maturity, and slip in a little anime on the side. Don't like anime? Too bad! Actually, it's just a couple of minutes, so you'll probably be fine. With Duke Nukem Forever finally out, we decide we may as well pinch our noses and leap into the murky swamp water below us. What's the worst that could happen? Correct answer: some horrible jumping puzzles and getting stuck in level geometry. Also, juvenile humour, depending on how personally you take that stuff. It was certainly strong enough to inspire us to discuss maturity at the end of the show. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:01:44 – The Witcher 2, Frozen Synapse, and Red Faction: Armageddon 0:13:05 – Duke Nukem Forever 0:20:38 – Summer Wars 0:23:18 – Music – Home Sweet Home (by Christophe Heral) 0:26:05 – Noun lawsuits, tax breaks and PR blunders 0:37:01 – Music – Starlight Zone (acoustic) (by Kabukibear) 0:38:35 – Maturity in and around gaming 1:01:28 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Nathan's voice by The King Himself Helpful Links: Edge dispute... resolved http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/06/16/tim-langdell-loses-in-future-edge-trial/#more-62378 Tax breaks http://www.develop-online.net/news/38067/Australia-tax-relief-ignites-publisher-interest Duke Twitter screw-up http://kotaku.com/5812131/negative-duke-reviews-could-lead-to-pr-shitlist

In an attempt to scare off new PixelCast panellist, Brendan Keogh, we decided to record this fortnight's show on an evening that would go on to host an Australia-wide Skype crash. As such, our more regular 'casters Tim, Dylan and Jickle are a little irate by the time they enter the middle slice of the show, recording at fluctuating volumes on a program that doesn't seem to want to work. Although not strictly Microsoft's fault just yet, these technical difficulties certainly didn't help our (re: Jickle's) reaction to the company's E3 media event. Sony's follows suit and – thanks largely to persistent technical problems – we even manage to slip in a couple of thoughts on Nintendo's bloated new controller. By the time everyone has calmed down, the panel manages a decent discussion on game worlds and what it really takes to fool us into perceiving them more as real places than constructs of polygons and textures and virtual hookers to be beaten up with baseball bats. Oh, and games. We talk about them at some point, also. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:00 – Blood Stone, NFS: Hot Pursuit, and Motorstorm Apocolypse 0:11:23 – inFamous 2 0:16:13 – X-Men: First Class 0:19:06 – Music – Quickening (by Avaris, Level 99) 0:21:41 – Microsoft rage and Sony pricing 0:32:03 – Music – Girl in the White Dress (by Brandon Goins) 0:35:03 – WiiU and Game Worlds 0:58:41 – Q&A and Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Jickle's anger by Xena: Anger Princess Helpful Links: Vita Pricing http://au.psp.ign.com/articles/117/1173228p1.html Wii Uuuuuuuuuuuu! http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-07-wii-u-hands-on This is why James hates Kinect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIiN0Tdzgsc

As hard-working as ever, it's up to Tim and Ken to carry the show on their mighty shoulders this week. Apparently everybody else had a prior appointment with a marble tournament. For what we understand, the prize is ice cream – it seems nobody informed the guys that winter is coming, bitches. Winter is coming, but since we spoke of Game of Thrones in episode thirty-seven Tim has since freaked and thus taken a quick jump to the other side of the equator. He returned jet-lagged and with stories of tramps and their junk. Meanwhile, Ken was doing useful stuff... like playing games based on where Tim actually was. Considering our smaller-than-usual panel, we've taken a slight change-of-pace and dedicated the back-end of the show entirely to a listener Q&A. Do we answer your questions? Well, that depends – did you ask one? Download now to hear Tim and Ken get distracted! ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:02 – Red River, Section 8: Prejudice, Dwarfs!?, and L.A. Noire 0:19:57 – How did Gamestop get so big? 0:21:57 – Music – Sound of Speed (by OA, Scaredsim) 0:25:12 – PSN conclusions(?) and Amazon review bombing 0:35:04 – Music – Territorial (demo) (by Dylan Burns) 0:39:36 – Q&A 0:52:20 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Tim's sunburn by Beatrice the sunburner Helpful Links: At least we get free stuff... http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/05/aussie-welcome-back-package-detailed/ Hacked again! http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/21/3223045.htm Now this is spite! http://m.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/retaliation-negative-review/

Spoonerisms! What does Tim say? We can't remember! But we know he screwed something up. Something to do with an S and a C. Fortunately for you, dear listener, the remaining members of the panel – Ken, Dylan and Jickle – are far more silver of tongue. Do you need a silver tongue to speak about videogames? Probably not – but it surely can't hurt. A weird and wonderful collection of games takes the front-end post this episode, with presently import-only titles such as Mortal Kombat and Catherine doing plenty to disturb through a tag team assault of gore and sheep. We follow this with talk of HBO's new Game of Thrones adaptation and, well, those who've been watching it likely know where that conversation ends up... Feeling a need, perhaps, to walk away from all that, the main issue this episode is that of portable gaming and the changes this particular landscape is seeing. What do we want from them now? Who's on the right track? What have been out all time favourite handheld games? Download to find out! ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:18 – Mortal Kombat, Catherine, Brink, and Gray Matter 0:20:00 – Game of Thrones 0:24:22 – Music – Mario Land Remix (by Mario Freaks Orchestra) 0:27:14 – PSN troubles continue, and really cheap computers 0:37:03 – Music – This Feeling (by OA) 0:40:36 – Portable gaming 1:02:45 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Dylan's sun by Unholy Forces Helpful Links: Oh, Sony... http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/05/06/a-letter-from-howard-stringer/ http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/05/06/scee-identity-theft-protection-offering/ Cheap PC plans http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2011/05/a_15_computer_to_inspire_young.html Elbow! (Warning: may cause wincing) http://www.nba.com/video/playoffs/2011/eastseries6/?text=rondo's+injury&x=0&y=0

A mixture of multiple international flights and a mild head cold simply can't keep a good host down. In Tim's case, however, such a cocktail can at least cause him to sound more spaced out and congealed than his already considerable levels. Good thing then that he has three other people with him to help carry the show! The panel consists of not one but – count 'em – two James', with Ken providing a solid backbone. Together, well... we've all been playing a lot of racing games, it seems. This is either a result of complete chance, or a sign of the genre we're most likely to fall back on to fill in some time while we await Portal 2's imminent arrival. And boy did Portal 2 arrive, and boy does it get discussed. We keep proceedings mostly clean from spoilers beyond the revelation that Tim is still yet to play the game. What's wrong with the man? Buggered if we know. From this we move to NEWS stories that refused to stop changing post-recording and discuss our thoughts on the FPS at the very end. ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. 0:00:00 – Intro 0:01:59 – Shift 2, Death Rally, and Sega All-Star Racing 0:11:08 – Portal 2 0:23:50 – Seoul Zoo 0:25:24 – Music – Still Alive (8-bit) (by olonom0) 0:28:16 – Korean curfews, PSN woes, and Nintendo rumours 0:37:47 – Music – Still Alive (Classical Guitar) (by mymorningjackets) 0:40:52 – First person shenanigans 1:02:23 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Ken's shoulder training by Dwight Howard Helpful Links: Lights out, little Koreans http://gamepolitics.com/2011/04/25/south-korean-online-gaming-teen-curfew-passes-committee-vote One of a million PSN story links http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/playstation-hacking-scandal-police-chief-says-contact-your-bank-now-20110427-1dvts.html Nintendo rumblings http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?6-nintendo-wii First Person Shooter disease http://au.ign.com/videos/2010/09/21/living-with-first-person-shooter-disease

Hi! We're not here right now. In fact, we're busy experiencing the wondrous thing known as a 'pint' over in London. Considering the strength of the Aussie dollar against the pound, we're very likely experiencing rather a few of them. However! Not wanting to leave you guys without an audio treat for a PixelCast 'on' week, we have gone and recorded the third StopGap episode in advance. It's a simple show, granted. The premise is a straightforward one: Tim, Ken and Cody play a round of 3v3 in the recently mega-patched StarCraft 2 and record their conversations while they play. Are they focused on the game, or do they become distracted by Ken's new moustache? Do they win or do they lose? Who knows?! You'll have to listen to the svelte (barely over 20 minutes) show in order to find out! ____________________________________________________ You can listen and download the podcast directly (.mp3 file) through the player below, but please also subscribe to the Cast on iTunes! That way, you will automatically download new episodes as soon as they’re live on the site. Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Cody's Queens by Harry's Pet Shop