gdf

I'll give you my top five. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Grand Theft Auto IV Mirror's Edge Bionic Commando Rearmed Crackdown There are a few other excellent titles.

The new podcast should be called Cool Cool Game. Or Gate Gold Fold Gold. Or Blum Cool Game Gate Fold.

Downloading now. Will listen in a oner right now with a nice cup of tea or six to wash the tears away. I've made the banner my desktop background, it in the centre surrounded by black for mourning. A Torchlight in the darkness if you will. Thank you so much for the last year of joy and hilarity. I will always love you all.

I start working at Tesco today and to continue getting my bursary I have to quit my awesome current job at the After School Club I also have three (admittedly small) essays due in the next couple of weeks, and the fact I have no time (living at home whilst at uni is a bitch) means they could be shoddy/late. On the other hand, going to Glasgow on Monday to see Muse with a friend who lives down there. Hooray!

Can I just get 24/7 streaming audio from all of your mouths?

I've had time to mull over this horrible occurrence and though my tear ducts have not yet dried, I think finishing is the right thing to do. It'll go down in history a snapshot of gaming circa 2009 - a wonderful, informative and often hilarious one at that. It transcended mere podcasting, becoming a really special, intimate kind of weekly event, and I'm overjoyed to have been there at the time. For once I felt like I was truly a part of an awesome gaming movement-of-sorts having missed out on so much in the past. Jake said on the podcast that quitting at the top was better than "carrying on with a mutated thing", and though it pains me to say it, on reflection I agree. I'd happily take a podcast that was called something else with just you two and occasionally Hot Scoops. Hell, I'd listen to any Thumb fart into a mic for an hour each week, so keep us up to date if any of you start casting in some capacity wherever that happens to be. I can't say I won't miss Chris' overlong, tangential musings on game design, Jake's hilarious nonsense and cheeky quips or Nick's thin veil of sanity, but I've come to accept I'll just have to struggle forth without any of those. Thank you all (including fourth Thumb Steve "Who Is Hot Scoops and We Like Him" Gaynor) so much for bringing such joy into my life over the past year. Best of luck in future endeavors, and I eagerly anticipate more Thumb action in the future.

Haha, the one with the Grin guys was great. The puck one sounds hilarious. I guess I should start listening to the Bombcast properly again now that I'll have a Thumb shaped hole in my life.

Why can't Hot Scoops sub for John Q. video games?

I've had such a weird day. There's too much to explain, but it felt like Shenmue for a significant chunk. I also cried on the bus on the way back home (was soaked, forgot my phone, missed out on a lift and had to wing it for most of the day) with the podcast news. It pushed me over the edge.

Don't ever stop. The other week I was wondering what I'd do if you ever did pack it in. It was very depressing. Now this. I literally had tears in my eyes when I heard that bit. Congrats and good luck Nick, you asshole.

I'm Alejandro Boomsteed.

Hey dude, plug away.

Dear Marek "Bronstring "Marek" Bronstring" Bronstring, Shenmue III please, Thanks, gdf. P.S. Congratulations!

Tapping circle twice in quick succession helps, but it's still a bad solution to a weird design problem. I don't understand the insane critical reception this game has had. It's very polished and successful within its own limited scope, but if this is the benchmark title they'd have you believe I think I'll weep for the future of games.

Anyway, I think the presentation of this game is fantastic, great use of camera angles, but I'm suspiciously uninterested in continuing the blasted thing. I'm on chapter seven, and I can see the improvements they've made, but it's so annoyingly linear and - if not one note - quite repetitive. I don't really mean in mechanics, because it mixes them up fairly well and the addition of sensibly limited stealth helps this, but the whole thing is one big funnel through and action film. Drake's climbing on a precarious/very high structure. OH NO THE POLE FELL DOWN/MASONRY CRUMBLED/BAR BROKE. Again. SHIT, SURPRISE ATTACK FROM BAD GUYS. Again. It's not nearly as guilty as something like Killzone 2, and gets off a bit lighter because it is half-platformer, but there's no dynamism. The unexpected becomes predictable, and that just gets dull and irritating. It's still good, I can see why people like it and I'll persevere, but I think this takes the "wish I was an action film" style game to its excusable limit.

Man alive this game is fucking awesome!

Wossy should have him on over here.

I still don't quite understand why anyone would need it.

Wow, that's shit. How could they release such a broken piece of shit to market? I'll probably end up buying a new one when my upcoming refurb inevitably dies.

Gerstmann called it "ghetto".

I, conversely, don't feel like I need to buy the full game because I really enjoyed the demo and got all of my smash-rage out on that!

Damn, this disheartens me. I'm sending them back my RROD'd refurb unit. Got my first one post-Christmas in 2006 and after about six months the graphics kept locking up until it was impossible to get past the startup screen. Got one back with a wonky DVD drive that often crapped out discs. It got gradually worse and eventually - months ago - RROD'd. I tried it recently and it got two seconds into the startup screen, but froze. I hope they don't send it back unrepaired because I can't prove it red-ringed, but oh well. I think the reason you get sent shitty ones back is that the good, newer ones never break.

That's the album? Sub-mixtape cover art there.

I can't believe Visceral Games' bullshit. I had it planned out more as a progression than an "infinite spiral" or whatever. Dead Space - Ripper - Dante's Inferno - God of War I hope their next one will be something completely batshit like "Loch Ness Monster: Vengeance Unleashed - It's like Dead Space meets Endless Ocean in the Late Cretaceous!"

I want to get the D2D 5th anniversary deal, but it says it's country restricted. The UK version.