Do you guys believe that due to the delays in 09 that the quality of games will be more in question and that demos will be more important than ever this year?

Jim, how much have you fapped to bayonnetta?

@Brad : What is your shoe size?

Do you think tacky "floating head" box designs are justified for American audiences, or would games sell just as well if American box art if they took a more artistic approach (see Ico, Heavy Rain box art)?

What's your opinion on adventure/quest games such as Myst, Gabriel Knight, The Longest Journey and Syberia? The genre has taken a nosedive in this decade but I have some of my fondest memories of gaming associated with it. Are gamers really so ADHD and want/need action to keep them interested? Do you see the genre reinvented and updated to 'modern' times (something that is happening with side scrollers for instance)?

Do you prefer it when only big blockbuster games appear at the end of the year and then we have this huge rush of new ones at the start of the year, everything placed around the holidays, or if everything was somehow evenly spaced between the end of the year and the first two months of the new year?

If you could smell a something in-game such as an antlion or even a psycho mantis what would it be?

Favorite game soundtrack in recent memory?

Do you guys find you turn into totally reprehensible people while playing multiplayer games? For example, while playing MW2, I often find myself shouting at the screen about what a terrible human being the person who just got me on a camp kill is, and how he'll amount to nothing in life, hopefully contract a vile STD and die.

Bonus: Camping; legit strategy or poor man's form of skill?

This year seems to be the year where Microsoft catches up to the Motion Control era and Sony enhances thair stance from the Sixaxis. Is the gaming world tired of this already due to the Nintendo Wii?

Do you think indie games are trying hard to be pretentious and ground breaking that they just end up being annoying?

How do you feel about game "ripoffs" or "clones" (example: Darksiders and Zelda, Dante's Inferno and God of War)? I feel that if a game wants to utilize a tried-and-true formula from another game, more power to them, because there's a better chance of it being good. The only problem is that the game might lose its' own identity and people would rather play the game that established the formula instead (Samit's rant on Dante's Inferno and how he'd rather get God of War).

I personally don't have a problem with it, and in some cases it's unfair to use the words "ripoff" or "clone" negatively. There's a game on the iPhone called Meteor Blitz, which might as well be called Super Stardust Portable, but it's actually better than that. Shouldn't it be called an improvement if it's better than the game it apparently copied?

Developers have copied other games since 1972 (Atari Pong, which Magnavox took to court for patent infringement for being too similar to their Tennis game), so people probably shouldn't get so outraged about games supposedly copying other games and play games they think they'd enjoy, regardless of how closely it resembles other games.

Noah games look good this week? Army of Two: the 40th day begins the flood of the Q1 storm.

Did you find anything interesting coming out of CES?

With the new NBA Jam coming soon, who would you like to see as a secret character?

So if Brad's on I have a question.

I was at the gym the other day and the girl on the elliptical next to me was extremely attractive. However, I couldn't tell how old she was. Should I have gone for it?

General question/comment/observation.

Actually this may not be a question, but I was thinking about reviews the other day and it seems to me that most people really have unrealistic expectations for game reviews. I think this is fueled by the ability for a critic to review movies, books and music much easier because their content is apparent and, unless you're a slow reader, generally takes less time to consume. Have other media industries set us up in a way in which game reviewers will forever work harder and ultimately achieve less? Games with multiple branching paths, or tons of content generally rule out the sort of review a movie gets. It simply can't be done. Does the time a review has to spend on finishing a game, or the sheer amount of content and variables to consider detract from the possible deeper revelations that a critic in another industry might come across? Perhaps games reviewers are going about it in the wrong way entirely because of how difficult it seems to apply the old process to the new medium. Personally, I have nothing to offer as an answer. Any thoughts on this?

COPY/PASTE FROM LAST WEEK: Because I'm writing up a c-blog and I'd like to hear your thoughts on this, if at all possible.


So a little game is coming out this month, that you might have heard of, that is supposedly going to continue the story of the game that came before it and present the player with complex moral choices, deep character interaction, and an emotional conclusion that will leave you eagerly anticipating the next installment.

I think it's called Mass Effect Two. Don't quote me or nothin. Since the game is coming out soon, and there are individuals anticipating it, I thought this might be topical.

So my question is this (SPOILERS-KINDA THAT THE DEVS HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR MONTHS NOW): Shepard and his "rag-tag" group of alien buds are are going on a "suicide mission" as the main crux of the game, so their death is not just plausible, it's extremely likely. Now the developers are telling us that, through side-quests and extraneous planetary exploration, the player can prepare his team to the point where the entire group will make it out alive. Despite this being a very obvious reward to the player for utilizing the advantages for fostering loyalty and building a strong team, does knowing that you can positively survive the final mission diminish the drama of the story that the game is trying to craft?

SUB-Question: Will this result in you playing the game longer than your enjoyment lasts to ensure your team will survive? Will you see not scouring the galaxy for countless hours as a decision to let your teammates (or Shepard) die, and not just the way you'd prefer to play the game?

SUB-SUB-Question: Going into the final mission not knowing if the characters you've grown to like and understand is theoretically very interesting and dramatic. And even though few gamers (see: people) will, on the their own, choose a no-win scenario over total success, few would argue that a no-win scenario makes for a less compelling story. So do you agree with Bioware's decision to let the player essentially decide what conclusion they are more comfortable with, even if it makes for a less dramatic story? (See: Ashley/Kaiden decision VS. Wrex decision.)

Fuck, this is far too long, but I couldn't really shorten it. It's a shame too, because I'd like to hear people's opinions on this subject.

So is Brad hosting?

During the advancement of videogames, we have started to see various forms of legislation attempt to be passed usually presented by those who oppose the use of (violent) video games. I would like to hear legislative suggestions from those who approve and encourage the use of videogames. My question to Podtoid is "What fair legal proposals would you make to help promote the growth and ensure the protection of videogames as a form of speech and an artform?

if I do a roast of Brad, will he let me live?

The other day, while playing L4D2 (on PC), I got bitched out by a fellow who seemed at a loss over my lack of desire to use my microphone. We had words... and I came to the conclusion that he might be the biggest twat I've yet met over the internet and that the only people I've come across that use said mythical device are usually gloriously huge douche bags. Question: How do you feel about microphone usage while gaming?

What do you guys think about Modern Warfare 2's 3rd person perspective mode? Have any of you tried it? If so, do you think it adds or takes away from the first person perspective?

Hay Brad, over the holiday seasson I gained some wight. I won't to loose it 10 or 15lb should be enough. What should I do?

Everyone else, I play Indigo Prophecy during the Steam Crack sale. It was really good but now I got nothing else like it. What should I do?

What's shoes Brad size?

Is the TARDIS crashing at the end of the latest Doctor Who because Brad's muscles distort the fabric of reality and live at the heart of the time vortex, making them non-resistance and yet everything in existence, and the TARDIS crashes into them? So basically is Brad just Omega with rippling muscles?

Also TrogDay is tommorrow.

For those of you that enjoy RPGs (actual RPGs, not just games with RPG elements):

What is your all time favorite battle system for an RPG? Either an overall category (examples below) or a single game's system.

-Turn Based: most Final Fantasy games
-Action: Kingdom Hearts
-Turn Based Strategy: Disgaea series, Final Fantasy Tactics, or even Fallout II, though that might be a slightly different category
-MMOesque: Whatever the crap FFXII had


Alternate Question:
If you could only play one video game that is slated to come out this
year, which would it be.

personaly i´m realy dissapointed about the upcoming game politic from big publishers like Ea and Activison.
They punish the normal consuments, which buy there produkt. ( and don t steel it from rapid. etc.)
They want that we bought the game for a realy high pric (50 € ) and the take even money for DLC s which don t give enough content for the gamer .
i don t want to buy a unfinished game ( example now i m waiting for assassins creed 2 on the pc, No i m not the perfect life form^^, and ubisoft whil bring out with the or near the pc releas a dlc) That s bullshit

thx for reading

and sry for the Bad english/ i m German....