Listen to our podcast. It's why we're here.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

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...

Saturday, April 24, 2010

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



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.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Episode 6- It disturbed, yet slightly aroused me




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.


* 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

Saturday, April 10, 2010

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.


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

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 :)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

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

Saturday, April 3, 2010

DWWP Episode 5- I NEED A VEPAN!



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.

Friday, April 2, 2010

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.