PixelCast

Kotaku Au editor, Mark Serrels, joins Tim, Ken, James and Dylan so as to infuse the 35th PixelCast with his delightful Scottish brogue. What is a brogue exactly? I'm not sure! Dictionary.com says a brogue can be any strong regional accent (although it can also be specified to the Irish). Is this correct? It probably is! Is this relevant? Not at all! What is relevant? All the games we've been playing! We're on the cusp of a new handheld generation, one of exceptional uncertainty, and Mark is kind enough to share his thoughts about his 3DS experiences thus far with us. The rest of us, what with having to wait until retail, are instead playing games on our computers and swinging the full gamut between underground indie and mega-budget AAA releases. Regular sections follow, and include Dylan geeking over painting tin soldiers, some NEWS of a higher calibre than last time (hah!) and what becomes a fairly heated discussion surrounding the hype train of the videogame world followed by a few listener questions. Thanks to the magic of editing, you can't even tell that Tim's router dropped out... although you can still hear him mistakenly referring to Machinarium as Machinima. ____________________________________________________ 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 0:03:32 – 3DS hijinks, Gemini Rue, and Crysis 2 0:19:54 – Tin soldiers 0:22:03 – Music – Shenmue Online Remix (by Red Rum) 0:24:00 – Nintendo and indies, hacker fixes MMO, and Metacritic madness 0:36:20 – Music – Before You Sleep (by Otomodachi) 0:38:13 – The hype train 0:56:16 – Q&A 1:02:25 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Ken Lee sponsored by Mariah Carey Helpful Links: Nintendo angers bedroom programmers http://gamepolitics.com/2011/03/18/nintendo-won039t-support-039hobbyist039-and-039garage039-developers Rift fixed by hacker http://gamepolitics.com/2011/03/22/hacker-helps-fix-rift Matacritic does stuff... and then undoes stuff http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/03/metacritic-responds-to-criticism-removes-ability-to-rate-developers/ Grasshopper released music in the wake of 9.0. We borrowed some. Please donate if you liked it... or even if you didn't http://www.vg247.com/2011/03/15/grasshopper-manufacture-memorialises-quake-victims-with-free-music-release/

Fresh blood! Our mistress of the Covet Corner, Jessica West, joins more regular PixelCasters Tim, Dylan and Michael in order to divulge her love of Dragon Age and stories. Quite a lot of time ends up given over to Bioware's latest opinion-dividing RPG thing, slash action game lite, and by the end of it all none of us really know where we stand. It's an appropriately timed gaming experience, though, as our end topic manages to just scratch the surface of that elephant in the room that is known as storytelling in games. It makes for a pretty interesting discussion that maybe goes places that weren't wholly expected or properly prepared for. It certainly moves past the dominant realm of the RPG. Beyond this, we focus on other games we've been playing (violence, ho!), pretend to be art aficionados, and scrape desperately at the bottom of the bucket in search of anything resembling interesting news that involves games rather than Charlie Sheen (who does get flogged to death along the way). Also, we're fairly certain that the word penis is spoken in this 'cast more than the others thus far combined. So there's that. Penis'. ____________________________________________________ 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 0:03:07 – Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Fight Night, and Alpha Protocol 0:12:56 – Dragon Age 2 0:23:57 – Google's art restoration 0:26:49 – Music – Lost in the Darkness (by Musharraf) 0:20:39 – Infinity Blade makes monies, Game shoots for memes, and EA shoots for everything else 0:40:06 – Music – Wait (by Dylan Burns) 0:44:13 – Storytelling 1:04:51 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Jess' beard by... disturbing people Helpful Links: Epic iPhone success http://www.vg247.com/2011/03/06/infinity-blade-more-successful-than-shadow-complex/ Game likes implying f-bombs http://www.game.com.au/wtf EA loves controversy so much it wants to marry it and make babies http://www.vg247.com/2011/03/15/ea-publishers-should-court-controversy-if-it-matches-creative-integrity-of-a-game/ Google's art project http://www.googleartproject.com/

Bulletstorm, Kirby, Marvel Vs Capcom 3, De Blob 2 and Killzone 3 – these are just some of the games that Tim, Ken and Cody don't discuss in this fortnight's PixelCast! Well, Killzone raises a mention, but not until we've moved on to the main topic of different controllers, button configurations and muscle memory. With many of the big releases relegated to the sideline, attention is instead turned to a few pieces of small fry, such as iPhone time-killers and MMO's with slightly-too-large ambition lumped upon them. Also, Tim went to a geek convention for the first time in years. We're still unsure if he really knows what to make of the experience. We do know what he makes of corporeal embodiment in gaming, though. Or, at the very least, we know that he has an opinion. That boy's pretty damn attached to his body. Strange that he doesn't own a Kinect. In fact, amid all our rabble about the way in which different controllers and button configurations and such can affect a gaming experience, it's a little odd that we failed to mention Kinect at all. We'll pay it more mind once Sesame Street comes 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 0:01:56 – Tiny Wings, Rift, and Test Drive Unlimited 2 0:16:21 – Armageddon Sydney 0:20:32 – Music – Burn, Baby Burn (by Sixto Sounds) 0:25:39 – Telltale goes questing, Wii Dare Kombat, and blind people are amazing 0:36:00 – Music – Future Shock (by Bijan Shaheer) 0:40:03 – A matter of control 0:56:50 – Q&A 1:04:24 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Cody's Swimsuit by Bubbles the Swimsuit Chap Helpful Links: Telltale working on King's Quest http://au.wireless.ign.com/articles/115/1150953p1.html We Dare, baby! http://gamepolitics.com/2011/02/28/usual-uk-suspects-bag-we-dare No Mortal Kombat for you! http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/02/mortal-kombat-banned-in-australia/ Blind guy kicks Oddworld arse http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/02/the-man-who-beat-abes-exoddus…-blind/

Action Journalist(TM) Tracey Lien joins the largest PixelCast crew yet (Tim, Ken, Dylan and James Pinnell) for our fortnightly discussion of games, geeky things, and more games. The focus, for whatever reason, is largely set on titles that you can't walk into a store and buy, and instead moves into the age-old world of importing and the less age-old world of online distribution. Also, zombies. The main darling of the week – or, at the very least, the one we named the show after – is Double Fine's rather adorable download title, Stacking. This one seems to be resonating with our non-American panel a bit more than the Halloween-themed Costume Quest from late last year and, Ken's cynicism aside, we really think it's worth checking out. There's also a little talk of old-school anime, a mish-mash of various news topics, and talk of failstates right near the end. It turns out that games designers really have trouble thinking past death as an end-game condition, and we don't really fare much better. But that's not important at all. What is important is that we got through this little write-up here without once attempting to pimp the bit where Tracey may have mentioned lesbian sex... ____________________________________________________ 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 0:01:42 – Die2night, Magicka, and Deadly Premonition 0:16:02 – Stacking 0:20:40 – Ranma ½ 0:24:08 – Music – The Evergreen Fields (by Zable Fahr) 0:26:33 – DCUO gets desperate, voting games as art, and Activision kill some cows 0:38:21 – Music – Generations of Fate (by Nekoprism) 0:43:27 – The state of failstates 1:02:32 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Tracey's dogs courtesy of wasabi in their dog food Helpful Links: Sony reduces MMO subscription fees http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/02/04/legendary-dc-universe-online-offer-coming-february-8/ Vote for games as art http://www.artofvideogames.org/ Acti-murder http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-09-activision-kills-guitar-hero http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/228852564_ebkPQ-L-2.jpg Pier Solar. It's a Mega Drive game. It has music. http://www.piersolar.com/

Rotating guests this week. That's the magic of pre-recorded internet radio – we can stop half way through, get drunk, and then come back after recovering only to find that while James Pinell was filling the special guest seat when we started, Nathan Cocks sneakily steeped over his hungover body and blessed us with his radio-friendly vocals for the later end of the show. It is possible that we may have abused release (and, erm, other format re-release) schedules to work for our convenience for the second half of our games of the decade discussion. But, really, we're pleased to have given attention to a game that deserves it, although if you really must have a proper game for 2006 then, well... Okami. There. It's done. The debate rattles on for a great deal of time, and the result is what will likely be the longest PixelCast ever put to air. Frankly, we intend to allow it to keep this benchmark – ninety minutes is a lot of time to ask, but we hope you'll find it worthwhile. Prior to this, we have standard game talk which includes James sharing a little about Pier Solar – an all new Mega Drive (!) game released in a joined cartridge/Mega CD combo in highly limited numbers. ____________________________________________________ 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 0:01:49 – Pier Solar, Dead Space 2, and Little Big Planet 2 0:18:34 – Kindle love 0:21:49 – Music – Open Waters 3 (by Alec Holowka) 0:24:03 – Sony's NGP/PSP2 and Chinese computer kill-switches 0:33:50 – Music – Arboreal (by Alec Holowka) 0:35:10 – Games of the year: 2006-2010 1:23:50 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) James' transformation by Cletis' magic beans Helpful Links: NGP stuff http://www.next-gen.biz/features/ngp-and-playstation-phone-roundup Chinese parents can spy on their kids http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/china-gives-parents-control-of-kids-online-gaming-20110202-1acte.html Letters from Mun http://lettersfrommun.wordpress.com/

Hello, Telstra? Yeah, the internet broke again. What's that you say; it works you say? Nope, I'm pretty sure it's still broke. Well, yes, well... screw you too. You realise there are now countries where your current standard of service would be a borderline violation of my human rights? Yeah, well... yes, at least my phone is working. Yes, I'm sure it will make for quality radio *sigh* This week, Tim gets to sound like he's phoning it in. Why? Well, because his ping jumped so high that it was actually shot down by the air-force after failing to provide air clearance, so he literally is. In a way, it does provide a bit of a talkback radio vibe, although conventional formats would usually have the listeners on the phone, rather than the host. A small shame, really, as Ken, Dylan, and the flood-braving James Pinnell join forces to help pump out what is an otherwise truly epic PixelCast. Usual talk of games, news, and messed-up Yakuza daughters is followed by a debate over the best games spanning 2001 through 2005. What titles came out on top? Some retrospective game of the year awards are, it seems, easier to guess than others. Download the show to find out which titles took surprise victories! ____________________________________________________ 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 0:02:11 – DC Universe Online, DiRT 2, and WoW: Cataclysm 0:12:14 – Yakuza Moon 0:14:29 – Music – Nightfall (by Red Rum) 0:15:36 – More MMO's go free, 3DS hates globetrotters, and Valve's generosity 0:28:23 – Music – BNB (by Red Rum) 0:31:28 – Games of the year: 2001-2005 1:06:29 – Wrap up Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams (by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc) Tim's phone by Telstra. This week's joke is in the facts. Helpful Links: Champions Online can be played for free http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/01/11/champions-online-free-to-playness-dated/ Nintendo wants to de-unify the world http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/18/nintendo-confirms-3ds-region-lock/ Valve combine Portals... http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1144372p1.html Half-Life 2 on PAPER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkspjshu-Oo Shenmue UK, a place from where music may have been half-inched http://www.shenmue-uk.com/shenmue_uk_media