(Insert mandatory masturbation joke regarding this months theme here)

What's your videogame blue balls story?

You know. That game you wanted to play really bad but it got cancelled crushing your hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow.

What would you rather see; a game get canceled, or the developers make an incomplete game for a budget price?

If every person on the podcast had to be a different game genre(either trapped in this genre indefinitely or simply the embodiment of said genre), what game genre would you each be and what genre would you definitely NOT be.

Also, hello to everyone, I hope you're all feeling well tonight.

How do you guys decide on which multiplayer game to play? I find that I work through one or two single player games at a time until I beat them and move on to the next, but you never actually "beat" a multiplayer game. With Left 4 Dead, Gears 2, Castle Crashers and more all vying for my online attention, I sometimes find it hard to pick just one.

If you're talking about episodic content you're probably going to talk about it anyway, but if ya don't:

What do you think about Starcraft 2? Would you consider it episodic, addons or full sequels?

Do you guys think that we will start to see more big name actors in video games?

With reports of games pwning the film industry left right and centre, would this be the next logical step? And how could it effect game popularity and/or sales?

Personally, I think it would take away from the experience. I like the fact that I don't usually know who is voicing my character... Plus, how they look etc.

What do you think about extremely small episodic content to the point that it's all most a weekly affair. I always thought that it would be interesting to have a game that could be discussed weekly kinda like we do with tv shows and even be able to experience a game at the same pace.

what is one game that you wish was not cancelled?

I was wondering what all of you thought about the announcement of the Prince of Persia “Epilogue” DLC. While most DLC usually adds optional side quests or new items or even a new storyline (see Lost and the Damned), Prince of Persia “Epilogue” sounds like it actually completes the main storyline. In essence, it seems like Ubisoft is trying to sell the “real” ending to the game, an ending that might actually give the story some closure. Do you think this is a case of a developer trying to nickel and dime us or do you think that perhaps Ubisoft is just trying to offer a new ending because some people were unhappy about the original ending or perhaps a bit of both? In general, could you ever imagine yourself paying for DLC just to get the full ending to a storyline? Even if the DLC was incredibly short?

What games series would you love to see try the "episodic content" way of publishing? I know this is a touchy subject, but Assassin's Creed could have benefited from a shorter much more streamlined game with the overall plot revealed over each episode.

Which game do you think SHOULD have been cancelled? Not one that needed more time but one that should have never been released- for any reason.

What do you think of the 'Winter' Petition going around, apparently fan support is actually generating enough interest to start talks up with publishers again. Is this outreach to the media and fans a smart thing to do or will it lead to pollution of the internet?

Also, I are you going to divulge the podtoid graphic contest details in podtoid. I'm too lazy to read the post plus I have dial up and dtoid takes forever...

how bout them steelers?

Also, do you think custom soundtracks are a good thing?

Earlier we saw a story about a guy who was mad at Hudson for making sucky games as of late and decided to threaten to bomb them.

Keeping that in mind do you think that is a legit way to go about hurrying developers along as well as forcing them to make better games?
Take Valve for instance, would it be acceptable to threaten them with head crabs if they don't hurry up with Episode 3?
Or maybe threaten them with a violent crowbar beating?

This question relates to the storytelling in "Metal Gear Solid 4."

A large majority of the complaints about MGS4 are related to the game's massive amount of exposition, cut-scenes, and overly verbose dialogue. While I can understand why people feel this way, I personally feel that, as having personally invested myself both time-wise and emotionally to the story and characters through 5 games (the 2 NES, Ps1, and 2 Ps2 games) and in looking at the ever-increasing complexity of the series plot and number of characters, I greatly respect Hideo Kojima for giving us the satisfaction of having the story wrap itself up completely and neatly tying up nearly all of the loose ends of the series even if that comes at the price of sitting through long stretches of cut scenes, dialogue, and a few points pounded in a bit too many times.

Again, I understand why people don't like MGS4's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink storytelling approach, but I feel that there are cases where avoiding going deeper into the plot when the arc of the plot is suggesting otherwise is harmful not only to the plot, but the enjoyment of the game.

An example of the latter is the Xenosaga series. First game was very mediocre in terms of gameplay but I was riveted by the complex plot and was very much looking forward to the second installment. Then I play the second to see that the gameplay has shifted from one mediocre playstyle to another and that the designers seemed to have bowed to complaints about the long-windedness of the original game's plot, viciously slashed down the plot and details, and ended up destroying the richness of the game's universe, the story, and the character arcs.

Long-winded question. Hopefully Rev. Anthony or something else can pare it down to something more concise.

Every generation of gaming has some aspect that we are eventually thankful to see go away. Whether its getting stuck on "THE END" screen after the credits roll at the end of an old 8-bit game or the "EXTREME" nature of much of the 16 bit era, we are all reminded of these things at some point and are thankful at their departure. My question is what common aspect in this generation of gaming do you think we will see go and be thankful for the departure?

My guess is that many of you will take the easy out and say bad voice acting, but maybe you'll come up with something more.

Anthony pronounced my name right last week! Anthony 1, Chad 0

Would you prefer a game with an awesome single player story but horrible or no multiplayer(Bioshock) or one with an awesome multiplayer but horrible single player(Left4Dead)?

And why is it so hard to get both single player and multiplayer done right in the same game? The only game I can think of where I enjoyed the singleplayer and multiplayer modes equally is Burnout Paradise.

Do you agree that episodic content will solve the problem of people getting put off by "50 hour plus" RPG epics by having them released in bite-sized chunks instead?

Chad and the Retroforce team seem put off by the length advertised on the back of the RPG game cover, so how about episodic content in its place?

What is the most expensive videogame that you have ever spent money on?

Okay, here's a question and it's in regards to casual gamers once again (since I, like Jim, believe this magical designation doesn't fucking exist). We "core" gamers love to bitch about the stuff the casuals buy in mass. We laughing at the people buying WiiFit but absolve ourselves of all guilt when that game we mocked the success of becomes the runaway hit and our "darlings" basically suffer from lack of sales. Shouldn't we, as knowledgable gamers, start pushing casuals we know into the better games and show them there SHOULD be some quality expectations?

I say this because I converted a casual to better games recently. When my mother wanted a DS for christmas a year ago, it was on me to buy the Brain Training 2 she requested but I also, knowing she used to play D&D when I was a kid, got her puzzle quest. Now this casual gamer who's previous gaming diet was video slots on PC and Solitaire has Final Fantasy III and IV, Pokemon Diamond, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in her "games I've beaten" list. Of course it saddens me to see those next to Chicken Shoot but now I have a mother asking me about what new RPGs are coming out.

Does anyone feel like this generation of games/consoles has been a let down? All of the games coming out seem rushed into existence, lacking in design/originality, and riddled with bugs and glitches or filled with graphical hiccups? There are exceptions of course, but very few comparatively.

I struggle with this myself because I absolutely adored the SNES/Genesis era, as well as last generation with the PS2/GC/Xbox, and feel that maybe I'm just jaded, or revering the past. I can't just help but be disappointed when MOST of the releases are so disappointing.

So what do you guys think?

So there has not been a post as of yet that I've seen on the new Bob's Game developments... I seriously cannot tell if he is a diabolical genius or genuinely batshit crazy. I'm assuming you all have already seen the clip but he basically puts Bob's Game fake game cases, posters and business cards all over a Nintendo store. They try to kick him out but he refuses and buys a DS so he is considered a customer, and then sits down and plays a working copy of Bob's Game on the DS, how i do not know. It's most definitely batshit insane in how much of a complete ass he was, but at the same time he's getting a lot of press over it. Also based on how oddly he was dressed and on his foreigner entourage i don't even know where to begin. Try to sort this out for us please?

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