Touya, YOU SHOULD GET THIS!

GET IT BRO! ILL TOTALLY PLAY YOU! AND KICK YOU ASS!

WHAAAA SPAMBOTS. WHAAAA CRY MORE YOU LITTLE BITCH!

Touya, do the world a favor and just shut the fuck up. Thanks. ;)

THUNDERCRACKER IS THE SHITTIEST CHARACTER AND TRANSFORMER IN THE HISTORY OF TRANSFORMERS. ARMADA HOTSHOT IS BETTER THAN THUNDERCRACKER.

So if most of us we're, by your standards "alright" how come you blocked them from ever contacting you ever again?

Hey Touya, I know you can read this. Just saying Hi. Hope you like what I have done to the place. Too bad you cant do anything about it anymore. :) Oh and keep telling all your "friends" your side of the story and make yourself look like the victim. In a few months they'll see you for who you really are and leave you too then you'll go and find a new group of people to suck up to and do it all over again. Oh and I would just like to say its hilarious that you're burning bridges while on an island. TOO FUNNY!!!!

Anyway, I hope you stay tuned, because come BotCon, we are going to break you. :) Enjoy. :)

Hey kids, Moon here. Just posting a pic I thought was funny.

Screen Cap by @Moon31624 on Twitter

Edits in Paint done by @JazzSanti on Twitter

Episode 22- Tangents

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Mathematical, this show is not. We had a hard time pinning down a solid topic this week and went off on unrelated rambles off the wazoo. Take a listen, see if anything sticks.

This week, we ruminate upon:

- Bioshock Infinite, bye bye Rapture

- Cheating Cheat Codes and the Cheating Cheaters who use them.

- BREAK

- Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, Touya interrupts Jamie like the jerk he is

- HOLY CRAP IT'S CHRIS HANSBROUGH!

- PS3 hacking a reality? PIgs can fly now?

- What we been playing

WORST. EPISODE. EVER. See you next week!

Episode 21- The Dr. Devil and Geoff show (Guest starring Ice Chicken Man)

GET THE EPISODE SOMEWHERE EL- OH, NO HERE....HERE.

Hey! We managed to con another guest into coming on to our show! Fancy that! This week we have Chris Hansbrough, Editor In Chief of Nerdstock Comics, on with us to talk about comic video games. We ended up talking about a lot of unrelated stuff like:

- Video game movies suck, also, sky is blue

- Batman Arhkam City: Can I be your Robin?

- Shattering the illusions about Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions

- Tekken x Street Fighter: which is sillier?

- Ash Crimson vs. Benimaru: King of Hairdos

- Doom mods. Fun times.

- What we been playing.

BEST. EPISODE. EVER.

Episode 20- An Evening With Kyle Hebert

GET THE EPISODE HERE

So who WOULD win in a fight between Gohan and Ryu? Who better to answer it than the man who's played them both? We spend an evening chatting with the talented Mr. Kyle Hebert, voice of Ryu from Super Street Fighter 4 among many other projects. Join us as we discuss voice acting, videogame playing and suits covered in ping pong balls.

Episode 19- Get Hype

EPISODE HERE GET

Hey all, the San Diego Comic Con. Yeah? Yeah. We discuss all the hot news coming out of the show and we get into a heated debate about the nature of hype. Does one have something to do with the other? You tell us.

- DC Universe online. MUST HAVE AMBUSH BUG.

- MMO Online Business models (cause we don't talk about that enough)

- Street Fighter X Tekken. Bring it.

- More CAPCOM news

- Some Halo Reach news

- Hype and Gaming

Next week's show will be the BIGGEST EVAR!!!!!!TWO!!~

Episode 18- What up?

GET THE EPISODE HERE

This week. Listener questions. Because we're lazy. What up?

This week we inquire:

-Dead Space? Scary or badly marketed?

- PS2, ah the love.

- What games have ruined your mojo?

- Pfft. YOU do better.

- Sami defends the Mortal Kombat Kartoon.

- Starcraft 2, anybody with me? Eh? Eh? Ahh...

- PC COUNTS!

- Non-debate about fighting games.

Come back next week when we might do some work of our own rather than letting you all do everything for us. Yo.

Episode 17- Bob Rambles

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Honestly this week I think we all zoned out to the hypnotic voice of our own Bob as he droned on and on about something or other, I'm not sure what, but for some reason, I want to give him all of my money and submit to his every whim and desire. Don't you?

- What World Cup? I'm watching the Evo Finals!

- Anime on my Xbox? Baka!

- Blizzard. Where everybody knows your name.

- Torchlight, something or other, I dunno, Bob went off on a tangent.

- Tangent

- Tangent

- More Tangent

- What we's been playing

- What we're looking forward to

- oh yeah, sod off, Crackdown 2

OBEY.

Episode 16- Shut up

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Yeah, we started with a really sporadic show and ended up ragging on reviewers we didn't like. Something we don't often do, but I think we got enough out of our system this one episode to last our entire podcasting run. So just shut up and let us do our thing.

This week we keep mum about-

- What we been playing, Touya's PS1 extravaganza

- Pokemon: Good Luck With That

- Godzilla vs. Cthulu

- We hate Gamespot and IGN. Destructoid, though LOVE

- You've unlocked an argument.

- Touya is a shameless media whore

- McDonalds are shameless media whores.

Well. Catch you on the flipside.

Episode 15: Transformers and Baked Goods

GET THE EPISODE HERE

So in honor of Botcon being this weekend as well as the release of Transformers: War for Cybertron, we spend an hour talking about the game and how we think it stands up as a game and as a piece of franchise fiction. Yeah, this one is REALLY NERDY. Oh and btw, OMG SPOILARZ !!!!!!!11TWO!!

This week we transmit:

- STAN BUSH!!!!

- War for Cybertron

- War for Cybertron

- Thermal Scopes on Riot Shields

- War for Cybertron

- The realism of fake firearms

- War for...something...

- Bob knows how to work the system

- Activision's disaster of distribution

- What's Singularity?

- Gold Nipples

- Baked Goods

Oh, and as an addendum, Matt actually got his copy of War for Cybertron right after this episode aired, his wife got it for him. That's love, folks.

E3 Extra

Episode 14- I AM DE RED CYCRONE

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Sorry about being late folks, there's a lot to talk about this week. It's our big E3 show and we've got all the dish on everything out of the convetion hall for your earholes. Plus! Your first look at an in depth analysis of a possible leaked roster for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3!

- Microsoft. Being slim and moving around a lot.

- Nintendo. 3D in your hands.

- Sony. Yeah. Sony.

- SUDDENLY, ONLINE GAMING PHILOSOPHY DISCUSSION.

- Super Kooky Wrasslin'4 Turbo

- Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 full list revealed!

- What we been playing. Jamie is nine years old.

- Carboard boxes and genetalia.

I need a cigarette now. See you next week.

Super Street Fighter 4 Tournament Mode Drops Today

So, Super Street Fighter 4 drops it's Tournament Mode on you today! In order to get the upgrade, sign into Super Street Fighter 4 on Xbox live, accept the title update, the game will then inform you that Tournament Mode can be downloaded. Make your way to the Game Marketplace, highlight Super Street Fighter 4 and All Downloads. You can now download the add-on Tournament Mode for free. It's only about a Megabyte or so large and is totally worth the minor wait. I'll be hosting a tournament lobby tonight at 7pm or so. You want in, gamertag is TF Touya. See you there, world warriors!

DWWP Discussion Party on Xbox Live Tonight!

Got an Xbox 360? Then join our discussion party tonight as we talk about the big reveals from E3's Xbox Press Conference. Join the party at 7pm EST by adding TF Touya to your Xbox Live list and messaging to join the party. Talk, play, wax philosophical. Join in and sound off.

Episode Not 13 - The Problem with Nickelback is...

GET THE EPISODE HERE

No. This is not episode 13. I don't know what you've heard. Your info is wrong. Thirteen's an unlucky number. We want nothing but good luck on our side here. So as far as I'm concerned, I was right when I said Episode 12 at the beginning. It's episode 12-2. We're using the Squaresoft numbering logic.

This week we barrel on through:

- Mortal Kombat analysis with guest Sami

- Dante and Deadpool. DO WANT

- We make fun of Japanese Pokemon names

- We wage a War for Cybertron

- What we's been playing this week

- NICKLEBACK ARGUMENT!!! RUN!!!

- E3 hopes and dreams

Tune in next week when we gush about all the awesome coming out of E3. Till then!

Commentary Track- We Love It's A Trap Guy

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Join Touya, Shawn and Bob as we suffer through Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (Bob insists that the actual name of this movie is the Leg End Of Chun Li). Grab your DVD and listen along with us. Expect lots of cries of "What the hell?"

And for the record, It's a Trap Guy up there is easily the most complicated, nuanced and empathic figure in all cinema. EVER.

DWWP: The Martyrology of Chun Li

We may have an addition to the podcast this weekend. Grab your copy of the worst movie ever made, Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li as podcasters Bob, Shawn and Touya record a commentary track that will make you feel better about owning this godawful piece of cinema. Also remember that this weekend is our Modern Warfare 2 party so you guys can have in on that as well. DWWP! :D

Modern Warfare 2 Party

Hey guys, its Moon. Just letting everyone know about a little get together going on this Saturday. We will be playing some private matches in Modern Warfare 2, Xbox version only, sorry PS3ers and PCers :(. As of this writing I have 13 people playing (Including my awesome self) this Saturday. If you would like to play, please send me a message on either the Moonbase 2 or The Nerdsphere or leave a comment here letting me know who you are. Both forums I have the name "Moon" on there. Since there are about 13 people playing, it means that the cap for the game will have to be 18 since that is the most I can have in a private party. So basically the next 5 people to ask me to play, you are in. Good luck to everyone who wants in and to everyone who plays.

Simple rules. No outside drama brought in please. The last time I held this I had to boot someone for being unruly and as unfair as it is, it will happen if you break any of my rules.

Thanks guys, looking forward to knifing everyone on Saturday :)

Episode 12- Did it make you feel like a man?

GET THE EPISODE HERE

This week, we are joined by greatness! Did we clean up? Straighten up the living room? Carpet look nice? Good. Cause this week, Brad Nicholson of MTV Multiplayer and Giantbomb.com shows up to school us on how he and his awesomeness roll.

This week we stammer about:

- Project Natal Pricing Rumours and Innuendo

- Future Man-Machine Interface. SCIENCE!

- Easy mode is for wusses.

- Touya just got PWNED by Brad!!!!1

- Sonic Colours. Dissapointment personified.

- Heavy Rain, Sex in games and why it's creepy.

- Pokemon. Cause that's a natural segue from that last topic.

- Tetris has Achivements?

- What We've Been Playing this week, Brad expounds on Red Dead Redemption.

You can find Mr. Nicholson's written reviews at MTV Multiplayer and Giant Bomb, and you can hear him regularly on The Electric Hydra Podcast.

You think the Wii-mote was strange.

As I was looking threw Yahoo,I found an article on Hard to Handle Video Game controllers. I read it and it showed different types of controllers from alot of systems From XBOX to Dreamcast,this had some of the best. Like the Wii-Bowling Ball or the NES Powerglove. These controllers seemed like a good idea,but sadly. See with The 360 Project Natal coming out I saw that this article showed one of the first motion control controller called The Sega Activator,which was very hard to use and barely worked. It used in infrared beams to read movement. Sadly it didn't work right.
Now me, like most of the gamers out there, are looking forward on seeing if the Natal will live up to the hype and not fall to the wayside like this sad controller.



So till we see it,lets keep the Natal hopes high.

Batman on Videogames

"In the same way a painting allows us to gaze upon the faces and

souls of people from another age, or a book permits us to linger on the thoughts of great figures from history and fiction, videogames can expand our awareness of the world as it is, was, or might be. The medium is still in its infancy, but read this again in a few years and see if this prediction hasn’t come true: as videogaming grows, we will grow."

- Adam West, former Batman, in a Guest Editorial at Videogaming and Computergaming Illustrated

A SECRET GUEST APPEARS!

This weekend we will be having a special guest on the Dude Wait What Podcast. I won't say who it is yet, in case he doesn't show up (you know how life is) but our planned guest writes for Giant Bomb, MTV Multiplayer and appears regularly on The Electric Hydra Podcast.

Most of you will have figured it out by now. Stay tuned this weekend for the episode!

Dude Wait What Podcast Episode 11 - Darth Jamie

GET THE EPISODE HERE

There is no escape. Don't make this podcast destroy you. You do not yet realise your marketing potential. You have only begun to discover your gaming prowess. Join this podcast and it will complete your training. With our combined strength we can end the console wars and bring order to the bargain bins.

If you only knew the power...of our topics:

- The Nintendo D$

- A HUNGRY PODCAST JUST WANDERED ONTO YOUR FARM! WILL YOU LISTEN TO IT?

- Killzone 3 is announzzzzzzzzzz...

- Japan has weird ideas about knights.

- How much are you willing to pay for free help?

- Musical Break: "Welding Dress (For my Dear FFXIII)" by EmpyreanAria (http://www.youtube.com/user/EmpyreanAria)

- Cute and browser based superheroes.

- We interuppt Jamie while he tries to talk about Sonic the Hedgehog

- What we been playing this week

Bob never told you what happened to your old videogames podcast.

No.

I....am your videogames podcast.

Episode 10- Thundercracker Who?

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Wow...double digits. We should really do some sort of nonsense anniversary thing, but I only really realised it was our tenth episode just now. Oh well. It's the week before E3 so right now news is at a halt, though somehow we manage to find quite a bit to talk about.

This week we articulate on-

- Potbellied pyromaniac pig pokemon.

- Cloudy with a chance of bulletstorm.

- Also, Nine Inch Nails rocks.

- Deformed. But superly so. And in a squad of sorts.

- Can World of Warcraft be dethroned? Short answer: no.

- Call of Duty: Halo Warfare

- Musical Break: Jaguar Sunrise "Adon's Theme", Super Street Fighter 4

- Call of Duty: Map Pack Warfare 2.

- Numerous transformers references.

- Cirque Du Pretentious and the Microsoft Natal

- Fable 3 for PC, only a fable?

- Revisiting past game cover art faux pas.

- R.I.P. Podtoid.

- What we've been playing. What YOU'VE been playing.

Wow. We should have slow news weeks more often. Dang.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 New Characters Confirmed

Episode 9- IT COUNTS!!!!

GET THE EPISODE HERE

It's been a slow news week in the land of videogameage. That doesn't prevent us from BSing our way through another week of podcastery. Oh man, if we were only totally getting paid to do this, that would be suh-weeeet.

This week we pad out-

- Starcraft 2 Contest Winners.

- I'm a little Space Paranoid.

- PSP to PS2 ports. I don't know why either.

- The size of your fanbase counts. Xcom.

- Crysis 2, it's in New York.

- The Humble Indie Bundle. Gaming for Charity.

- DA BETA!!!

- SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 DOES IT COUNT???

- Mac Steam? Any computer smoking can't be good.

- Camping. Viable strategy.

- War for Cybertron and Optimus Prime's one sided view of history.

- News in Less than 3 Words.

Blahdablahdablah, download, listen, comment, you know the drill.

Dude Wait What Podcast Episode 8- Broken Segway

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Uhm. Yeah hi. This is Bob. Yeah. Touya's...Touya's had a bit of a meltdown this week. We're not sure what happened, but it happened roundabouts halfway through this week's podcast. So brownie points if you can spot the exact moment Touya loses his ever-lovin' mind.

This week we prattle on mindlessly about-

- Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing

- SUPERSTREETFIGHTERFOURGREATESTGAMEEVEROMGONEONEONE

- Man beats Bejewled 2. Full story from the Weekly World News/Daily Mail.

- Call of Duty: Black Ops or, more accuratley: Call of Duty: Why Should We Care?

- Space Paranoids and turning countdown clocks into pointless flash games.

- Halo Reach. Doubling up on Melee.

- Bungie works for Activision. Expect World of Halo shortly.

- STARCRAFT 2 BETA CONTEST, ENTER!

- Dude, Wait, Meme?

- What we been playing.

- Game deals of the week.

We'll get back to you next week when we can coax Touya down off the ceiling. Send biscuit wafers. It helps. Sometimes.

The DWWP Starcraft Beta Key Contest!

So early this morning, my buddy Eucep informed me that he had some Starcraft 2 Beta keys to give away. If you want into the closed Beta without having to pony up the money for a preorder, I have the opportunity here for you now!

THE DUDE WAIT WHAT STARCRAFT 2 BETA KEY CONTEST

How to enter:

- Be a member of the Nerdsphere forums

- In the official contest thread, post a quote for the following topic:

"Thing's you'll never hear a Starcraft 2 player say in multiplayer"

- Funniest quote and second funniest quote will both win Beta Keys for entry into the private Starcraft 2 Beta.

Have fun, folks, lets see those entries.

Contest is open until Saturday, May 8th, 2010

This contest is brought to you by Eucep

Space Paranoids Online release date revealed!

As most of you know, some of us on the DWWP are fans of Kevin Flynn and his work(Episode 6 for reference). One of his famous works of art, Space Paranoids, was announced to be getting an Online re-release at an ENCOM Press Conference held roughly four weeks ago. Today, the release date for Space Paranoids online was announced... kinda. A group that call themselves "Flynn Lives" have recently found the locations of Kevin's son, Sam. Sam was found in Rio Fiamente in Brazil. A few "Flynn Lives" members have found Sam's locker and have broken into it. Inside they found a cam corder, an ENCOM Employee badge, his symbolic "89" logo used on his Parachute at the ENCOM event earlier this month and a book written by his father entitled "Digital Gaming". Inside the book was a picture of Sam at the age of 6(Why do I know that? Because the date was written on the back, 4-21-88) playing the arcade game, Tron.

But interesting to note, on the page where the picture was found, a bunch of underlined letters were found. Its like Sam wanted them to find it. The words read, "ENCOM INTERNATIONAL SLASH SPACE PARANOIDS ONLINE." Now to the normal eye that would just sound like gibberish. But to the trained eye, and I don't mean my own, this is a URL. Again, its like Sam wanted us to find this. The URL (http://www.encominternational.com/spaceparanoidsonline/) takes us to a countdown. All signs from this countdown point to the release of Space Paranoids online. If you think otherwise, click the link to find Recognizers flying around the page (which are clickable might I add, and people who have the ability to sit through clicking 99 and 999 of them will be rewarded, but you didn't hear that from me. ;)). With the release of Space Paranoids Online only days away, we can only imagine what else is in store from ENCOM, or Sam Flynn or even... Kevin Flynn...

Kinglaffo speaks on MVC3

Dude Wait What Podcast Episode 7- Mrvl cmcs. Srs bsns.

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Hey, remember when Dr. Doom and Dracula totally hung out on the moon because Dracula

thought he had taken over the Earth and he totally couldn't touch Dr. Doom cause Doom had

bits of the Original Cross in his armor? Yeah, comics are totally the new literature of our

age.

This week we mumble incoherently about-

- Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, we tingle with excitement.

- As the Infinity Ward Turns

- Drug useage in Starcraft. So THAT's what the smoke coming out of the Immortal is....

- Ubisoft is Captain Planet.

- Frog suit is like training in 100g gravity. Also Mario 3 retro review.

- LET MY MECHWARRIOR GO!

- Creepy voyueristic robots other than Wheelie.

- Lots of interpersonal abuse. LOTS of swearing.

- Oh yeah, we have listeners. Talk Thursday.

Totally sweet.

MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3: FATE OF TWO WORLDS

OH

GOD

YES.

Episode 6- It disturbed, yet slightly aroused me

GET THE EPISODE HERE

Blahblahblahblahblah blahblah? Blahblahblah blah blahblah blahblahblahblah blah blah. BLAH!

Blah blah, blah, blah blahblah? Blah.

Blah blah, blah blahblah:

* Moses leading Infinity Ward out of Activision

* RIP Xbox Live

* Hey, heard about Gears of War 3?

* Xcom, but not really.

* Music by EmpryanAria (http://www.youtube.com/user/EmpyreanAria)

* Primarily in-universe fanwankery

* Peter Moleneux, absolutley horrible human being. So is Kevin Pererra.

* The goodness of arcade scrubs.

* Don King is a Zerg, this explains so much.

Most people wouldn't have read this far. They would have just stared at the header image

until they downloaded the episode. If you DID read this far, then, HI JEN! :D

Delays, delays, delays

Due to unforseen circumstances, we will not be recording a show today. We might do one tommorow if we feel like it. We'll see. Currently, I'm awaiting delivery of my brand spanking new PC, Bob's off at a Transformers Fan Meetup, and Shawn....I dunno....something about seven water buffaloes, a stack of No Sleep For The Wicked CDs, a tuba, three bathtubs and a floor waxer. He didn't sound happy.

Quick Story

So today I walked into my local Gamestop to buy a new 360 Controller. I bought it and as usual, the guy at the counter asks if I wanted to preorder anything. I already informed him that I already put 5 down for Transformers: War for Cybertron. He then proceeded to promote the Sony Move. And, as I was walking out of the store, I said, "Sorry, I already have a Wii."

I am Moon, and this was a pointless story. Enjoy :)

Team Riot Shield or How to have fun with a game by breaking the rules

Games have rules. That much is certain. A "game" can be broadly defined as an activity wherein one or more players manipulate key resources and abilities within a defined set of rules to achive a win state. We also know of games being fun. We also know that at certain times, breaking the rules of a game can be fun, any of us who grew up with a game genie can attest to this. But what happens to the enjoyment of a game when one changes the rules?

Months ago, whilst playing Modern Warfare 2 in a large party of friends, said friends grew bored of the standard gametypes and began playing, amongst themselves, a game variant known as Mike Meyers (named after the antagonist/protagonist of the Halloween film franchise and not the Austin Powers funnyman, though I admit, that may prove a fun derivative as well, but I digress). In Mike Meyers, one player is the epyonymous killer whilst the others played the victims and attempt to remain hidden without being able to retaliate. The Meyers player kills off one player at a time with knife kills until only three survivors remain. Once three survivors remain, they are then allowed to use their knives to slay the marauding madman. Last man standing wins. What was largeley of note about this scenario is that you will not find Mike Meyers Mode listed in any gametype, playlist or official FAQ. The rules of this gametype operate solely in the realm of the honor system. Mechanically there is nothing binding the players from simply pulling out one of the guns in their loadout and gunning down the Meyers player. That rule is enforced simply out of the player's own willingness to enjoy the game. In this instance, the game has become simply a toolset for the player's imagination. Beautifully rendered graphics and realistically modeled weaponry and personell no longer seem to matter as the new emphasis becomes on inhabiting a shared space with tracking abilities and the willingness to adhere to unenforceable rules. In some ways, it's the ultimate show of fair play.

Now, at the total other end of the spectrum, there can be amusement to be had in the non-adherence of enforced ruletypes as well. Just last week, one of my teammates had the brilliant idea of joining a Search and Destroy game in Modern Warfare 2 with the express intention of "trolling" the other players in the game. In an attempt to upset the other players (an offense for which he is fully aware can result in a negative reputation on Xbox Live) he spawned into the game weilding a Riot Shield as his primary weapon, proceeded to pick up the bomb and take it somewhere else entirley than the goal area and see how long he could hold it there before his teammates became upset with him. Somehow he found this comedy gold, I found it more than a little curious academically, so the next night, I joined him along with two friends in an attempt to group-troll this time. Same methods, but interestingly, the results began to vary. Upon seeing us crowded into a corner, riot sheilds held aloft and at the ready like some great mythological

multi-headed plexiglass tortoise, our teammates voiced some initial concern. Loudly. As the night wore on, however, something magical happened.

We started winning.

I'm not sure when it exactly happened, but at some point, our teammates with whom we had not communicated with (cleverly circumventing Xbox live chat by using skype) began also using Riot Shields. I assume it began with one or two naieve youngsters thinking that what we were doing was actual stategy. Eventually, the practice of hiding in the corner with the bomb evolved into the practice of hiding until the final minute of the match, whence our Spartan phalanx of warriors would swoop into a demolition point whilst a member in the rear would unsheath his RPG, clear a path and allow the man in front to plant the bomb, thus ensuring victory. So what exactly happened here? Having grown bored with gaming by the rules, my friend decided to attempt to greif the opposing players for his own enjoyment. When put into a group context though, the will of the group to accomplish something seemingly overrode the need of the individual to destroy the mechanics of the game. Is this behaviour to be lauded? Villified? Analysed? Perhaps all three.

What's to note here as a whole though is the myriad ways in which we play our games. Play by creating new rules or play by breaking them, there are many ways to wring enjoyment out of whatever your choice in digital entertainment. We should go forward with this in mind as we continue to enjoy our games and game creators must bear this in mind when creating their games. After all, you don't work a game, you play it.

Wii renames War For Cybertron

DWWP Episode 5- I NEED A VEPAN!

GET THE EPISODE HERE

I asked Andy (CobraCommander@TFW) to write a description for this episode, since he's in it. He wrote:

"Its a podcast about games dawg, dig it."

That, that sir, I can dig.

In this Episode:

- RAMIREZ! GIVE ME DLC THAT WORKS!

- Mai namke ja John Wan Wan Seven Ke hai.

- Japanese Spider Man is made of winsauce.

- We argue with The Freelancer even though he's not on the show. Much easier that way.

- Break Music: Breakfast with Zangief by EmpyreanAria

- Easter Eggs in gaming. Conversation gets a little sketchy here.

- COOOOBRA!!!!!

- PokeWOW.

- Peter Molyeneux can die in a fire. LOVE YOU!

- Bob vs. Touya, Final Fantasy debate to the death. FIGHT!

Listen, enjoy, subscribe to EmpyreanAria on Youtube, do what you like.

Pay To Play With A Girl...Are We Serious?

I first heard about GameCrush a couple of weeks ago. The first thought that ran through my head was, April Fools? Oh dear Lord, please let this be a horrible attempt at an April Fools joke. Apparently...I was the fool.

GameCrush is the newest in social networking sites. Basically, the idea behind it goes a little something like this...

A guy, presumably, purchases 500 points; roughly $8.95 USD. He browses through the sites many female profiles, or I should say "Playdate" profiles, and chooses one that he likes. He can choose between playing an Xbox 360 game such as: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto and so forth, or one of the sites own flash games. The flash games cost less to play. He will now spend around 400 points to play his chosen game with his chosen Playdate, for between 8-10 minutes over a video call. When it's over, he has the choice to give his remaining points to his Playdate as a tip. What's in it for the girl besides the tip? She gets paid to give the guy what he wants.

Wow, I don't even know where to start. First, this doesn't even really bring to mind the typical social networking site. Guy and girl join, get matched, love may or may not ensue. With this site the guy pays the girl for her services...hmmm...

At least it's good, clean, fun gaming, right? Eh, the jury's still out. For the most part it looks as though it might be. But, with the option for the Playdate to be in a flirty or dirty mood, I highly doubt the focus will be on the game for long.

This whole idea just seems to me to be another pervy way for people to get their rocks off...and pay for it no less. But, that's just this girls opinion. I mean why would a guy pay to play for ten minutes with a girl when there's plenty of us out there that play for free every day? We play for the game though, and if we choose to flirt, it's because we genuinely want to.

The Dude Wait What Podcast- Episode 4: Silly Flailing About

Get the Episode

HERE

Did you know that in Chinese culture, the number 4 is associated with death and bad luck? That has nothing to do with this week's episode, unless you die and break a mirror while listening to it.

In that case, our apologies.

We actually talk about:

- What our listeners are looking forward to

- Elder Scrolls 5: Oblivion 2

- Time Lord (Not Matt)

- Sword and Baseball bats

- Musical Break (Tekken 6 OST)

- Microsoft Natal and Playstation Move

- Combat knives vs. Assault Rifles

- The Nintendo 3DS and other jerk moves

- Throwing rocks at space carriers

- How's your riot shield, Moon?

Listen to us and send us listener questions for next week. We'll pretend to care this time, I swear.

The Heroes of the Games. Super Mario part 1

From time to time people have always had disputes over who is the better video game hero. Now I don't mean the best player, but the best character in a game. Let's start with who most people think was one of the 1st and that is Mario.

Mario started in Donkey Kong. He was the guy trying to save the girl from Donkey Kong. From there he want onto Mario Bros. Game in which he and his brother had to fight monster that where coming out of pipes. These games where basic jump and kick games and the only weapon you got in Donkey Kong was a hammer. Then this home gaming system came out called The NES or The Nintendo Entertainment System,and Super Mario Bros. was born. The NES was an 8 bit gaming system which gave more play and better graphics. This gave the programmers more room to give Mario better skills and abilities. In the 1st Super Mario he was given POWER UPS such as a mushroom that made him bigger ;) a flower that gave him the power to shoot fire ball at his foes,and last but not least the star that would make him invincible for a short time. The story of this game was that Mario and his brother(who I will discuss later on) must save the princess form the evil KING BOWSER,why are they there who knows and who cares. The game to this day is still very playable and fun. His story went on in Super Mario Bros.2. This game was not a true part to this story line,because Japan had a part 2 that the US developers thought was so close to the 1st game it was not released to the USA system so we got what we know as Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario 2 did give you a choice of playing as Mario,Luigi,Toadstool or The Princess,in which each one had unique abilities,Mario had his fire power,Luigi had a faster run,Toadstool was a fungus..lol and The Princess could fly in short distances. I would try to explain this game more but some people agree this game little to no sense. It was very random and the monster could be used as weapons after you jump on them and pick them up.

The next part of this series I will talk more on Mario in two more games Super Mario 3 and Super Mario world for the Super NES.

Until next time, My name is Shawn and this game token is on me.

We're Out There...

*stands up and looks around nervously*

Hello everyone! My name is Jennifer, and I am a gamer chic...

In a predominantly male gaming world it's not unusual for me to get the occasional look of disbelief, or sarcastic eye roll when somebody learns that I've got big love for a little thing called the video game. It's nothing for me to spend an entire day off in front of my 360, or whittle away at the wee hours of the morning questing with my guild mates on World of Warcraft. I will, with few exclusions, play just about any game on any gaming console.

For me it's the challenge of solving a puzzle, unlocking an achievement, exploring an engaging world with beautifully done graphics, or playing with charismatic and endearing characters. Then there are those times when, lets face it, you gotta just get on and give somebody the ass kicking of a lifetime. Or, in my case, depending on the game, be the one at the receiving end of said ass kicking... Either way, very rarely do I ever go an entire day without playing some sort of game.

I was posed the question: What is it like to be a female gamer in a mostly male dominated gaming world? Let's, for example, explore my adventures with Rock Band or Guitar Hero. When I do really good against somebody, and I mean when I totally nail a face melting solo against a male player, more often than not I get asked the question, "Are you really a girl?"

*face palm*

The usual answer is, "Are you really a moron?" Then on to the next match I go. On the other hand, if I play against a fellow female player and I do well, I usually get a "good job" and a request to do battle again sometime. This is not always the case, but it's what I've experienced on several occasions.

A couple of weeks ago two of my managers and a few other guys from work were standing around discussing the first Bioshock. When I spoke up and said that I couldn't wait to get my hands on Bioshock 2, they all looked at me like I had suddenly transformed into Cerberus right before their eyes. They were stunned that I played. One of my managers was totally down with it. Score for me because he brings me games all the time, and talks to me about different games when we should be working! The other one still pokes fun at me a bit, but he's coming around. It's okay though, because mine's bigger than his! Gamer score, you guys...head's out of the gutter please.

All in all, it ain't bad being a girl in the gaming world. It's not like you boys don't accept it, you just don't know what to do with us sometimes. By now, though, we're used to that! Besides, according to The ESA (The Entertainment Software Association), us ladies are responsible for forty percent of the gaming community. Better watch out boys, the gaming world could soon become a woman's world!

*excuses herself to go harvest her crops now*

Episode 3: It Did What It Did

GET THE EPISODE HERE: http://dudewaitwhatpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2010-03-19T16_40_09-07_00

This episode we talk about our favorite games of all time. An hour, yes an hour of baseless fanboy gushing and half-assery.

In this episode-

- Lost is the greatest/worst TV show ever

- Combine = Covenant

- Touya agrees with everybody but Shawn

- Jamie: Stealth guest

- Moon leaves for pizza halfway through. Can you tell when? Fun drinking game!

- Sami knows big words. In japanese. Ehh? Ehh? Yeah.

Tune in. Disagree with us. What do we care? You never call, you never write. Sometimes I think you don't love our podcast anymore. We need to talk.

Game design 101: Batman vs. Juggernaut

About five years ago, my ex introduced me to the game known as Heroclix. Heroclix, if you didn't know, is a boardgame in which players form teams of superheroes and using a system of rules, battle it out. One of my favorite moments of the teaching game she played with me was having her stealthed Batman perched atop a semi, flinging batarangs at my lumbering Juggernaut who could not for the life of him find the Batman. According to the game rules, Juggernaut could not target a character who is stealthed and Batman could not harm Juggernaut once my dice rolls stated that he was in the clear. What followed was me and my ex laughing uproriously at the scene we had created.

*Plink* "Dammit" "Huh?"

However, that same weekend, she would take me to play with a group of folks at a comic store in Portland OR. Now these guys got together and gamed almost every weekend, but they weren't what you might consider competitive. Even so though, there was none of that story-building in their sessions that my ex and I had experienced during the course of our game, these fellows were far more concerned with building an optimal team within the limitations of the game rules and did not consider character personality paramount when playing their turns. Moments that I found hilarious, like the Hulk flinging Spiderman into battle only to have him crash through a glass window on his way there elicited not even a smile from the player, but an inquiry as to whether or not Spiderman's agility would allow him to move further.

I'm not saying either way to play is right, but it does beget analysis. How is it that the same game with the same rulesets can elicit two wholly separate methods of play, even when the goal is the same? Is it also possible to achive such a balance in computer and video gaming?

Games like the Sims and Spore and nefarious for being procedural with storytelling, this much is true. No set script is produced and the story elements are produced out of the player's

interpretations of mostly random game events. On the other end of the spectrum, take almost any story driven game, let's grab God of War and Halo for two disparate markets, and see that the narratives of these games are driven by a focused and directive prose. The ability to create a story is taken away from the player but it allows them to still experience a crafted story while contributing in the form of progression of the main character's skill sets and perhaps a modicum of significant choices or branching pathways. Thus playing the game relies not on building upon the established narrative but on the manipulation of the games rules and resources to progress and reveal more of the narrative.

Have we seen any games that lay in between? Heavy Rain seemed to be unable to make up it's mind which it wanted to be. The overarcing story was a fine example of pre-disposed narrative, but the minor actions and everyday minutae seemed to want us to be so involved with them as to tell our own stories. I could, for example, brush my teeth agonisingly slowly, simply to express my character's world-weariness and lethargy. On the other hand, Half Life 2 surrounded the player with a focused narrative, but gave them an arm's length of sandbox and physics with which to experiment with. I could tell you a story about running out of bullets in Ravenholm and being forced to do brutal combat with the crowbar, but you probably never had that happen because you were too busy raining explosive barrels upon the zombies.

My point is simply this, these are two ends of a spectrum of game design. There is meeting place for them in the middle, and for me at least, that seems to be a sweet spot that engages me

emotionally with story and intellectually with gameplay mechanics. Other players may find one end or the other of this spectrum to be more palatable, but as a whole, the industry needs to take

notice of this dichotomy and start exploiting it accordingly, for the good of the player.

*Plink* "Dammit."

Apparently only right handers play videogames

It's not very often that I get excited over XBLA releases, however my lust for this one was almost palpable. Perfect Dark, the N64 classic was released today for the Xbox 360 as a downloadable title and no sooner had I risen from slumber this morning than that bad girl was in my download queue. One race in Pure later and I was firing up code and ready to go!

Let's see, yes, yes, options, start, singleplayer, hmm....that's annoying...options...controls....

Yes folks....no left handed gameplay support.

That is to say no support for swapping the sticks. There were control method alternatives, sure, but they seemed more geared towards moving the buttons around ever so slightly in order to make the game play more like your favorite FPS ("Spartan" and "Duty Calls" indeed, Rare, you have earned a single guffaw).

Now don't get me wrong, I'm left handed but not militantly so (if such a thing is indeed possible) and I did play through all of Bioshock with nary a swappable stick option in sight. What does irritate me however is that lo those many years ago I spent at a friend's house playing Perfect Dark, I distinctly remember there being not one but at least two options for left handed controls...and this was on a SINGLE ANALOG STICK CONTROLLER.

I get that porting a game is no small task, especially when it requires redoing a good amount of the graphics, but one has to account for a significant portion of the populace simply not being able to play your game because of this decision. It's not as though it's a life choice we can simply overcome, our BRAINS, our very engines of emotion and function are wired differently and an option to make things simpler for us would have been appreciated, especially since it USED to be there!

I'm continually mystified by developers who leave out left handed options or customiseable controls on the whole, particularly when Microsoft themselves have taken the pains to hardwire support for it into the console itself (your profile options on your Xbox allow you to set action games to left handed swapped stick support) and I was incredibly thankful for the "bumper jumper" setting in Halo 3 which eliminated my one hurdle at becoming good at the game. You ever try pushing forward on the RIGHT stick while pressing A? Task and a half, lemme tell ya.

I'm also confused by developers who don't count on the hardware supporting such a feature. Attempting to play Lego Batman with my niece garnered some initial confusion upon loading up the game when I was only allowed to move Batman around with the D-Pad or Right Stick. Switching my Profile setting to right handed allowed me to play the game normally, but there was NO in game option to select my preference.

Perhaps preference is too lax a word? Mental routing? Orientation? No, I think that one's taken.

All I'm saying is, game developers, we're here, we're Leftys, get used to it. And let us swap sticks if we want. S'all.