corto

Loved this episode, even though I will only experience these types of board games vicariously through the stories of TMA members. Loved listening to Lee talking about the design hurdles these games need to overcome, the history from which they're based of, and even his failed/postponed projects. And I also have a few books now to add to my reading list after listening to this. Thank you for making me spend more money. And Dr. Bruce Geryk was indeed a wonderful host.

Sega just released Total War Battles for the iPhone/iPad. I'm excited to try it as I love the Total War games on PC and I'm very curious what concessions they made to bring it to the iOS platform. Downloading now, and I will try to play it the next days to post here some impressions.

I didn't even knew of its existence! But now that I read something about it, it does seem exactly what I had in mind. Now if someone, say a game developer, took note and made a modernized game in that vein... *wink wink nudge nudge* edit: And just to expand on the asynchronous multiplayer mode subject. In TPS/FPS games horde mode is more or else expected now as a co-op mode. It profoundly changes the balance of the game too, in terms of weapons, enemies, level design. A strategy game has a lot more running under the hood, too many systems interconnected and tweaking one could ruin the whole. But the more I think of it, the more it feels right. Asynchronous multiplayer mode could be a novel (in terms of widespread adoption) mechanic that would bring more players to the genre.

Great episode! Poor Chris was on the spot though. hehehe It made me very excited for future times in the strategy genre. I'm a fan of integrated tutorials in the proper game with the game pacing the challenges and explaining what tools the player have at his disposal along the way until the point where the game removes the training wheels and let the player run with it

I would love for a game in a modern setting with a Cold War theme as a background. Combat should be limited with heavy penalties (escalation to nuclear war) if abused so the player should be more inclined to escalate army presence in border countries as deterrence, increase Nuclear Weapons presence, anti-missil systems research, espionage, black ops, economic and industrial sabotage, diplomacy, and use of puppet states to try to impact the opponent block. It should be open ended as Paradox games. No fixed victory conditions. Defcon was too much abstract (for a good reason), this should have a more realistic feel and a clean, streamlined interface. A game theory thesis in video game form. hehehe In multiplayer, I would like asynchronous multiplayer to become a norm in every game. I know that it would be difficult/impossible to balance every game to single player, multiplayer and an asynchronous mode, but a man can dream.

VIDEO GAAAAAAAMES. Serious business. hehehe So glad that you guys partnered with the Thumbs. Godspeed.

Finally a home! Cool. Someone needs to warn Rob or Troy that we're open for business already.