Shakesbeard

Arrrghghgh fucking hell so many decent to awesome games have been plagued by this shit. Did you happen to enjoy the combo/parry/weapon class based combat of Conan? Too goddamn bad because now you get one of the worst QTE's ever for the last fight! Whoopee! Oh hey new Bionic Commando how have you been?

If you want the game on day one, no, not by the looks of things. If you're willing to wait, we might see a demo.

Huzzah! Will DL when I get home...been looking forward to this. Also excited because all of my roomates either a) like Jack Black like Metal c) like Zelda and/or Schafer games d) all of the above so we might be able to get some controller passin' good times going on.

Sweet merciful lord Batman is absolutely BALLIN' Just booted up the game for the first time last night (had to tear myself away from Trials and Shadow Complex) and had a damn good time with it. In particular the combat so far, I love not having [alternate mashing X & Y to win] controls, I felt wicked badass just slowly walking up to dudes and constantly laying weighty, impactful beatdowns left right and centre. It really helps emulate the precise, calculated attacks that he pulls off in the fiction. I've only played for half an hour or so, we'll see where it goes from here. I'm sure I'm not bringing anything new to the table but I just had to throw my two cents in for this game. I've done my best to avoid any Arkham Asylum coverage/media up to this point and it seems to have paid off, I wasn't expecting anything nearly this polished and well executed.

So should the demo be up for Gold members today?

I'd suggest taking it slow with ALWW, Ashley only releases an episode every few weeks, if not months, and there's only been a handful of episodes so far. It took me several months to listen to the tiny catalogue because it's just so damn good, I only allowed myself to listen to one every couple of weeks. Still waiting on the release of the Why Game? poster...

Well it was worth a shot, old bean.

Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?

Oh jesus, I regret ever questioning why there isn't a jump button in the game after seeing Schafer's explanation...(the last line of this 1UP preview)

"She's got videogams from here to next Tuesday!"

I'm definitely in on the Borderlands love as soon as it comes out. Dunno how reliable I can be (sharing the living room with three other people is tough), but I will do my best for the glory of the Thumb.

"Check out the gams on that broad!" Oh and I recently moved into a new apartment with a few friends, hence the posting hiatus (unnoticed) and general lack of gaming, which I hope to remedy through liberal application of Shadow Complex and SNES finds.

This actually just happened to me as I typed a post with the word wizard in it. Wizard. The Wizard. I kept looking at it and thinking it was spelled completely wrong or something. Also, welcome new people.

Perhaps a monthly video feature exploring and demonstrating the power of various wizards throughout gaming history? 5 or 10 minute snippets of classics like the WIZARD from Gauntlet. (oh my god look at that goddamn guy) or perhaps a special feature on cruel and unforgiving enemy wizards like the dreaded Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus? all of which could lead up to an Idle Thumbs World Exclusive in-depth look at the upcoming Diablo III Wizard? Indeed, the preceding post contained 5 instances of the word wizard. (now 6)

Eh, I see what you're saying, I just don't think saying something like "Muramasa has a really japanese story" holds any more water than saying "Gears of War 2 or Mass Effect have really western stories". I never asked for poetry or "highbrow analysis" from a Video game podcast that also taste tests candy and drinks, but a little less "lol those wacky japanese" and a little more clarity has never hurt anyone. For the record, I agree with what you're putting down, just not in this context.

I started watching the ER a couple months ago and enjoyed it quite a bit, heard about it through the Bombcast, seemed like a cool thing. Fast forward several months later sitting on the couch with my girlfriend, arguing over which Personas we were going to fuse and whether we should spend the evening (in the game) reading a book, folding paper cranes, hanging out with a little girl or going to bed early in the hopes of having a weird dream about being our friend's parent or wrestling with luchador masks on. Persona is really fun, especially when you can tackle it in a similar fashion to the GB guys, with someone beside you to laugh at the silliness or get nervous when things go awry. (I've also got some issues with Jeff, I find it really awkward whenever he says something like "watch out though, this game is CRAZY japanese" or "the story is really japanese" on the podcast or ER. It just seems lazy. Oh and there's also that "sss" sound he makes, the first time someone pointed it out I didn't know what they were talking about, but oh my god, I can't UN-hear it and it's like nails on a chalkboard now. If you don't know what I mean, try making a scoffing sound like "psh, whatever", but lose the p and the h, so it's more of just a "tss" sound. ALL THE TIME)

Having just experienced the sheer joy and rapture that is Full Throttle for the first time, I wholeheartedly agree. Also, are you a bad enough dude to have a totally awesome

Ohhh I want to see RE5 Warhammer man.

Definitely. It's certainly not something you can just pick up and enjoy from the start, which makes for an odd fit for a portable game. There are a ton of training missions though, which do a good job of emphasizing the significance of timing and the necessity of becoming familiar with the various combos and powers associated with each weapon. I've never played multiplayer MH before, all of my time has been spent going solo, which makes knowledge of all the tools available to you all the more important. It really pushes the player to experiment with item combinations and rewards using traps and status items (like stun bombs and poisoned meat) with smoother hunting trips and less time spent recovering from failed encounters. As an aside, Wrestle, your sig is warming my heart.

Listening now and it is glorious! Confirmed: Shooting a lot of dudes in Modern Warfare 2, Imagine Baby Ninjas and a distinct lack of games, video games, video games, video gaaaaaames, etc etc in the opening.

Since I have a 30 minute walk to work (1hr every day) along with a lenient boss I tend to have a few podcasts that fit into my schedule quite nicely. Games-wise I grab the Bombcast, Drunken Gamers Radio and A Life Well Wasted every week. I've checked out others (RebelFM, 1up, 3 Red Lights, etc) but ended up bumping them out of rotation in favor of more interesting non-gaming 'casts. Like Chris and spindrift I really enjoy Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, and despite it just being two dudes talking shit, Uhh Yeah Dude is pretty much the best thing ever. If you'd like a good laugh and a huge backlog of episodes to wade through you can do no better than UYD. The chemistry between these two guys is more refreshing and consistently entertaining than pretty much any other show I've heard.

Is there really no jump button? I guess the Heavy Metal Zelda comparisons were more accurate than I expected... Does it feel restrictive in the demo? I was honestly expecting a fair bit of platforming exploration, this is an interesting development.

I always check out Boardgamegeek before I head to my local game shop for ideas, it's a great resource. I'm seconding a lot of people here but when starting out or introducing people to board games that aren't Monopoly or Clue, I went with Lost Cities, San Juan, Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, planning to move onto more complicated stuff once we got tired of them. That was a couple years ago, and we haven't bought a new game yet...

Seems like you've made up your mind Groucho, but for what it's worth... Get a cheap psp, mod it, and use it to play Cave Story on the go. Totally worth it. Oh and playing the Williams Pinball Hall of Fame game in vertical mode is wicked fun. I'm also one of the (apparently) few people outside of Japan to get over the control and difficulty issues in the Monster Hunter series to discover a profoundly entertaining, rewarding, skill based action adventure game. Also Loco Roco 1 and 2 are really fun and unique (and mentioned), the second one expands on the first in every way and ups the replay value like crazy. And Patapon! If you have issues with rythym games you should avoid it but the rpg elements make it much more interesting than just hitting a button in time with a metronome. Honestly, don't let one (incredibly hyperbolic, if not occassionally correct) opinion sway you either way in your choice. Anybody can pick and choose the worst aspects of a gaming platform and make it seem a lot worse than it really is. Used PSPs are pretty cheap (I got mine in excellent condition for $70CDN, the price of a new game) and really, who doesn't love the feeling of a new platform and access to a new library of games?

Yeah positivity! Optimism! I just bought an '84 Honda Nighthawk and am looking to get it insured, after which I will spend the rest of the summer driving it absolutely everywhere and enjoying the freedom of owning my first vehicle (I am 24). Good luck with the date, try not to act like it's been five years.