tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66589241904817000852024-02-07T00:13:38.832-08:00Gaming Asylum PodcastA Podcast about Game Design for both RPGs and Video GamesGaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-14644438068044161692011-10-30T16:33:00.000-07:002011-11-05T12:57:04.987-07:00EPISODE 8: Horror Gaming<br />
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">EPISODE 8: Horror Gaming</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">A discussion of Pac Man ghosts. (For the curious few, the four Japanese <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man#Development">Puck-Man</a> Ghosts are Akabei, Aosuke, Guzata and Pinky.)</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Department 1: What We've Been Playing</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Jeff
- Lots and LOTS of <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Dragon-Age-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024541090b">Dragon Age 2</a> (98 hours at last count, according to <a href="http://www.raptr.com/">Raptr</a>)
- <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ascension-chronicle-godslayer/id441838733?mt=8">Ascension for iPhone</a>
- <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25292/merchants-marauders">Merchants and Marauders</a>
- <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34887/revolution">Revolution! by SJG</a>
- <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Warhammer-40-000-Space-Marine/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025451082c">Warhammer 40K Space Marine Demo for 360</a></pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Michael
- <a href="http://www.nationstates.net/">Nationstates</a> (my region is the <a href="http://www.nationstates.net/region=the_dominion_of_asylum">Dominion of Asylum</a>; just say you're a fan of the podcast and you're in)
- A quick perusal of <a href="http://www.ogame.us/">OGame</a> (which I later joined, as it's da bomb)
- <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Gears-of-War-3/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5308ab">Gears of War 3</a> (since I might not have said it clearly on-air, in Beast Mode I played a bunch of 'Tickers')
- <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/MARVEL-VS-CAPCOM-3/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80243430806">Marvel vs. Capcom 3</a></pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Mark
- <a href="http://www.sega.com/games/aliens-infestation/">Aliens: Infestation</a>
- - "Wilco Command, Fox-Six is Oscar Mike."
- <a href="http://supersmashland.com/">Smash Land</a>
- <a href="http://starfox643d.nintendo.com/">Starfox 64 3DS</a>
- And a special mention to (ugh) <a href="http://ms.nintendo-europe.com/tingle/enGB/index.html">Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland</a> and a reference to the webcomic <a href="http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20110620/">Ctrl-Alt-Del</a></pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Department 2: Wins and Fails (or, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak">Orwellian Newspeak</a>, "Winfail")</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Mark
+1 <a href="http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/h_p_lovecraft_birthday_mark_e_smith/">Cthulhu</a>, <a href="http://www.chaosium.com/article.php?story_id=487">Call of Cthulhu</a> and <a href="http://www.vampirethemasquerade.com/">Vampire</a>, for hitting some awesome anniversaries
+1 Pokem-...er, I mean <a href="http://www.skylanders.com/">Skylanders</a>
-1 <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/">Steam</a>, for continually demanding bandwidth-boggling updates
-1 <a href="http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Vampire:_The_Requiem">Vampire: the Requiem</a> for being too far away from <a href="http://www.vampirethemasquerade.com/">Masquerade</a> and still reminding us of it</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Michael
+1 Each character in <a href="http://www.marvelvscapcom3.com/us">Ultimate MvC3</a> (except for phenomenally bland Nova)
+1 <a href="http://www.transformersgame.com/">FREAKING DINOBOTS IN THE NEW TRANSFORMERS GAME</a>
-1 World of Warcraft for pumping out the portion of Azeroth that is <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists-of-pandaria/">Kung Fu Panda</a>
-1 Myself for a terrible <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGqJ1ulv4w">Black Friday</a> Financial Paralysis</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Jeff
+1 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGqJ1ulv4w">Stainless Games</a> for Magic 2012, a great remake of Duels of the Planeswalkers
+1 DLC "Season Passes" by <a href="http://www.teambondi.com/">Rockstar/Team Bondi</a>, <a href="http://forzamotorsport.net/turn10.aspx">Turn 10 Studios</a> and <a href="http://epicgames.com//">Epic Games</a>
-1 <a href="http://www.bethsoft.com/eng/index.php">Bethesda Softworks</a>, for continually pushing his XBox into happy-happy-crash-land
-1 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/tiny-tower/id422667065?mt=8">Tiny Tower</a> for temporal vampirism
-1 (he cheated) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zynga">Zynga</a> for their transformation from money-hungry weasels into money-DEMANDING weasels</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Then there was a brief discussion of <a href="http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/miniatures/judge-dredd/rulebook/judge-dredd-miniatures-game.html">Judge Dredd.</a></pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Department 3: The Topic Main</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">(Author's Note: My expertise is NOT horror. Enjoy my neophyte comments interrupting these passed masters.)</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs-qfcfnsBw">The Nyan Deemer</a>
A Brief Moment of Terror for <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Left-4-Dead/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410830">L4D</a> fans
</pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Contact us at:
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/gamingasylumpodcast@gmail.com">Everyone</a>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/gamingasylummichael@gmail.com">Michael</a>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/gamerinterface@gmail.com">Jeff</a>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/trapchest@gmail.com">Mark</a></pre>
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Be sure to stay tuned after the credits for a super-secret teaser of a new project by one of the hosts!</pre>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-18675003731563682772011-07-10T11:27:00.000-07:002011-07-10T11:27:25.463-07:00Episode 7: Narrative Role PlayingThis episode got mauled by some random editing, so everything other than the topic got mauled. Luckily, the topic remained, and is actually really good in our opinion. We hope you like it as much as we do.<br />
<br />
Seven divided by two is three and a half. High school education, you fail me once more.<br />
<br />
How to make a narrative RPG (or as Mark likes to call it, how to play Dread right now)<br />
<br />
The Mystery of the Stick<br />
<br />
Add Native Americans to people Michael accidentally offends<br />
<br />
Our exposure to narrative role-playing (Also, our more quick listeners will pick up on my ultra-ninja code-talking)<br />
<br />
I'd like to note that I had, and still have, no clue whether the term 'gimped out' means overpowered or underpowered. Feel free to send hate mail to gamingasylummichael@gmail.com. Your mail will be read aloud on the show if it is in limerick form.<br />
<br />
Michael's narrative experience and it's necessity from the story he tells (about D&D god kings of space winning everything forever)<br />
<br />
Mark's Long History with Role Playing Games<br />
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Mary Sue's adventure<br />
<br />
The Psychotic Dice<br />
<br />
Godmodding<br />
<br />
Shavage Worlds<br />
<br />
gamingasylumpodcast.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
gamingasylumpodcast@gmail.com (Show email)<br />
<br />
gamingasylummichael@gmail.com (Michael)<br />
<br />
gamerinterface@gmail.com (Jeff)<br />
<br />
trapchest@gmail.com (Mark)Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-35693304823022416872011-05-29T10:26:00.000-07:002011-05-29T10:26:32.663-07:00Starting Next Week: ContemplationsOkay, the name is a work in progress, but next week will mark the release of the first Contemplation, a singular/compilation of individual works by each host in which they have a monologue about some topic of game design.Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-32359998742456275952011-05-08T14:59:00.000-07:002011-05-08T14:59:37.947-07:00Episode 6: Fear the ConWARNING: This episode includes medium levels of cursing. Listener discretion is advised.<br />
<br />
What We've Been Playing<br />
<br />
Michael:<br />
<br />
- Resident Evil 5 Year Old<br />
- Street Fighter 4<br />
- Masher vs. Capcom 3<br />
- Working on games<br />
<br />
Jeff:<br />
<br />
- Culdcept Saga<br />
- The 'Villes<br />
- Some sculpting of where his RPG group wants to go<br />
- SECRETS?!?<br />
<br />
Mark:<br />
<br />
- Demon's Crest for the SNES is old school. Who would've guessed?<br />
<br />
Wins and Fails:<br />
<br />
Mark:<br />
<br />
+ Infinite Tower...for whatever reason (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=136247839768493)<br />
+ Mega Man Upon a Star (http://www.amazon.com/Megaman-Upon-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B0006IIPGM)<br />
- The Nintento 3DS for resounding meh-nosity (also a FFXIII reference)<br />
- Mark's completely wonderful worthless notes<br />
<br />
Michael:<br />
<br />
+ Youtube username: Behrudy, and Youtube username: levelupseries (Warning, the former is very obscene) Also, for those who don't get my joke, Justin Wong is in the top-3 Street Fighter players ever<br />
+ The Darkness 2 (Info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darkness_2; buy the first one at http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/games/the-darkness-used/65698)<br />
- Prey 2 (Info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_2, Buy first one at http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/games/prey/41812)<br />
- AP Epic Failure<br />
<br />
Jeff:<br />
<br />
+ Evil Hat for the Dresden Files RPG<br />
+ Conformism! (Also, the failure of free)<br />
- AT+T for a terrible router'<br />
- Full House Poker featuring Bob Saget<br />
<br />
- FEAR THE CON STORIES YAYGaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-72197376539746671892011-05-01T14:41:00.001-07:002011-05-01T14:41:38.289-07:00Whoa, whoa, what's with all this nothing?Due to some schedule conflict and general shenanigans, we have had trouble with releasing content.<br />
<br />
HOWEVER<br />
<br />
There is an episode in the hopper, but due to my studies, it may not come out until Friday/Saturday.<br />
<br />
We are aware of our lack of content, and are planning some new directions for Gaming Asylum to keep you entertained and informed.Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-53251851892167983442011-04-03T19:20:00.000-07:002011-04-03T19:20:54.491-07:00Episode 5: Open World vs. Linear Gaming in Video Games and RPGsWhat Are We Playing?:<br />
<br />
Jeff is behind on the times, but finally finished Bioshock 1.<br />
<br />
Michael hates basic physics, but loves Dead Rising 2 wheelchairs and snow (this was recorded back in February)<br />
<br />
Mark knows some fancy Japanese games. Isn't he special? If you want the titles...good luck with that. One is called 3D World Runner in English<br />
<br />
<br />
Main Topic: Open World vs. Linear<br />
<br />
Michael gets some knowledge dropped on him on open world games<br />
<br />
If we have any disabled listeners, we apologize greatly<br />
<br />
STRENGTH OPEN WORLD: Immersion<br />
<br />
Cuttlefish<br />
<br />
WEAKNESS OPEN WORLD: So big, players are unaware of how things work<br />
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STRENGTH OPEN WORLD: Creation of Player Plots<br />
<br />
STRENGTH LINEAR WORLD: Meaning Behind The Plot, and a lack of Jimmy McWaffleboys<br />
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WEAKNESS USER-CREATED CONTENT (?): Cavaclade of Crap<br />
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STRENGTH LINEAR WORLD: Much Stronger Story than a User-Made One<br />
<br />
Eternal Pac-Man? Pacternal Darkness? Wakka Wakka Wakka Insanity?<br />
<br />
STRENGTH LINEAR GAMES: Possible Sanity Questioning<br />
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OPEN WORLD NECESSITY: Need for Universal Signals<br />
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WEAKNESS OPEN WORLD: Lack of Urgency, and Vice Versa with Linear World<br />
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Side Tangent on Being Timed<br />
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STRENGTH OPEN WORLD: Openness in Choices (Durr)<br />
<br />
STRENGTH LINEAR GAMES: Importance of the Player's Actions Increases<br />
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NECESSITY LINEAR GAMES: Character Sympathy<br />
<br />
STRENGTH ALL: Morality<br />
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Replayability<br />
<br />
STRENGTH LINEAR GAMES: Dependency on the Narrative<br />
<br />
WEAKNESS LINEAR GAMES: Dependency<br />
<br />
Linearity in Role-Playing Games<br />
<br />
"In a Video Game, the game provides the go, the player provides the do. In an RPG, the player provides the go, and the GM provides the do."<br />
-Mark Snyder<br />
<br />
"The more the GM tightens his grip, the more players will slip through his fingers"<br />
-Jeff Bailey stealing from Star Wars: The New Hope<br />
<br />
Wins and Fails<br />
<br />
Mark:<br />
<br />
+ Youtube dropping time limit<br />
- Having watched two and a half hours of Worms (Dude, seriously?)<br />
+ Apology Win to Every RPG ever made<br />
- Him reading every RPG in a new light<br />
<br />
Michael:<br />
<br />
+ Game Informer's Replay of Overblood<br />
+ Ridiculous Texas Snow<br />
- Green Lanturn (2011) and Ryan Reynolds<br />
- WHO CARES ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL WOOOOOOOO<br />
<br />
Jeff:<br />
<br />
+ Visceral Studios for throwing in Extraction with Dead Space 2<br />
+ Xynga for being like crack cocaine and SUCKING YOU BACK IN<br />
- Google Docs for censorshiposity<br />
- Indie RPG Movement for obliterating any ability for Jeff to keep track of newsGaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-86403502193784004852011-03-28T15:59:00.000-07:002011-03-28T15:59:59.207-07:00The Dice Alternitives: Gimmick or Game-Changer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/59402/dice-game-play-image-31000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/59402/dice-game-play-image-31000.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Dice. Every RPG gamer has enough to build a small model of the Eiffel Tower (that's a normal thing to do with dice, right?), but for some reason some games choose to forsake dice, and instead use some other device for determining randomness. While I can understand some of these, others I find stupid.<br />
<br />
The most common alternative to dice, also the main tool to play the timeless 52 Pickup, are the dice-supplement/replacement that makes the most sense to me. Playing cards were also designed for creating randomness. Another cool thing that a card-based mechanic can do is that there are already hundreds of card games you can draw upon. Perhaps your conflict resolution works like Blackjack, or War, or Texas Hold-'Em. By doing this, a segment of your rules becomes instantly recognizable to the newest of RPG.<br />
<br />
A similar idea to this is what I call the "Inception mechanic", that is, a game within a game. This can be seen in Dread, a game whose decision makibg mechanic is a Jenga tower. The flaw I see with this is that the inner game must match the tone and function of the shell game. Dread is a game that relies on horror, a feeling that is complimented by the suspense of a mangled Jenga tower. This would be less successful is the mechanic was, say, based on Bop-It. Also needed is that the game doesn't begin to focus on an irrelevant mechanic. If you pull out Risk mid-game, you are no longer playing whatever you were. Now, people are going to focus on Risk.<br />
<br />
An idea I also have heard of is scrapping dice all together, instead opting for a skill based conflict mechanic. Usually, to my limited understanding, this means that if a character is stuck in a situation they are not good at, they are going to shift it to something they are. The problem I see with this is that unless your system utilizes some form of umbrella skill (like a generic Combat or Tech skill) these links could be manipulated by minmaxier players, shooting wires in a computer to hack it or winning a fight by using embroidery to sew a dude's arms together. While this is a minor concern and could be irrelevant in lighter games,it is one that can still sometimes come into play. <br />
<br />
Out of all of these, the one I want to experiment with the most is the Inception game. I personally want to try making a game with some sort of TCG-esque conflict resolution. While I think of that, other designers will be exploring the potential of card, diceless, and Inception mechanics, and others yet will be seeing conflict resolution in new forms. As a game designer, sometimes it is important to note randomness can be found in more places than a shiny little die.Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-28901419781415261592011-02-25T15:34:00.001-08:002011-02-25T15:34:42.300-08:00The Real Episode 4: Gaming Accessories<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7415780075825751" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael and Jeff have a “Who has the most video games to talk about” fight</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Cleese is ridiculously awesome</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael has a memory challenge, and has only killed one hooker</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The indie games I refer to are I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1 and Epic Dungeon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things get uncomfortable when talking about a certain indie game</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dice: Surprisingly Controversial</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sandwich: The Deliciousing</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cardboard Cutouts</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writable Maps</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark gets cut off, and What Would You Bring to a Mystery Game?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use of devices at the table</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GM Screens</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark wants to know everything ever and the Great Beast of Gsdefjgruh is ungrapplable</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Game Space</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael’s a Jerk and a Mooch</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Modern Death is awesome, go listen\</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gaming Peripherals</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do the Hadouken Dance</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Internet is Stupid</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WASD is Serious Biznizz</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No One Listens to Mark</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark Concurs</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hypothetical Peripherals</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael’s Wins and Fails:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+ Deus Ex “Icarus” Trailer</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+ Game Informer’s Replay</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- XBLA Indie Market (also, akward again)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- GOG.com marketing</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark’s Wins and Fails</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+ Retsupurae (I think)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Marvelous Entertainment Pushing Release Dates</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+- Mythos Cards and the Art of Playing It</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jeff’s Wins and Fails</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+ GamesPlus in Chicago</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">+ Duels of the Planeswalkers for XBLA Magic</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Duels of the Planeswalkers for XBLA Magic</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- The Enemy of All Mankind: Itself (Duh duh DUUUUUHHHHHHHHH)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Inside Joke Put In To Torture You</span></span>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-51394739832275396102011-02-24T14:45:00.000-08:002011-02-24T14:45:35.058-08:00We Are Aware of The Issues With Episode 4We are aware of the issues with Episode 4's length, and we are working on solving it. A full episode should be out by Friday evening. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and hope you used this time to listen to other excellent podcasts, or devise concepts for a show you would like us to do. Or, if you are mad, we hope you took this time to spell-check your rant. Thank you.Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-20433312694365292682011-02-21T11:47:00.000-08:002011-02-25T15:33:42.484-08:00Episode 4: Gaming Accessories<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This episode be SCREWED UP, with only 5 minutes being actually in it. This is because Audacity crashed while MP3inating the file, and I wasn't paying attention. For Episode 4, check the post labeled "The Real Episode 4"</span></span></div>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-11126955249252317022011-02-06T15:29:00.001-08:002011-02-06T15:29:45.613-08:00A Shorty: The Duty of the PlayerThis episode got cut short due to some connection issues combined with file loss. There should still be some good stuff in there though. There will be a full sized episode next week.<br />
<br />
-Mark is oddly existential, and plays hard to spell games that inspire other games that are disturbing<br />
<br />
-Jeff likes board games<br />
<br />
-Michael has lame problems, and cannibalized Julius Caesar<br />
<br />
-The Duty of the Player, both to the other players and partially to the GM (before the audio explodes)Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-9255898126421650932011-02-03T12:05:00.000-08:002011-02-03T12:06:31.205-08:00Multiplayer Complexity and Staleness (Also, An Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Rant)<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/104/1042718/bioshock-2-multiplayer-impressions-20091105013457285-000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/104/1042718/bioshock-2-multiplayer-impressions-20091105013457285-000.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bioshock Multiplayer had the opportunity to be amazing, but it was trite and boring</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div id="internal-source-marker_0.47685631457716227" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of Street Fighter 4 and Dead Rising 2, especially their multiplayer. This is mainly because before this I had a FPS stint, and now I’ve decided that I’m really sick of when “multiplayer” means, “those same 4-5 gametypes that have been around since Doom”. I honestly am getting quite tired of Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and King of the Hill, and I’m starting to reach out to games that don’t have those. Street Fighter may be a fighting game, but it’s deviation from the usual. Dead Rising 2’s multiplayer I was hesitant on at first, but it’s uniqueness has drawn me in.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dead Rising 2’s multiplayer comes in the form of a fictional Pay-Per-View-esqe program called “Terror is Reality” in which contestants fight in a variety of games that range from awesomely gorey to downright ridiculous. There is no Deathmatch or Capture the Flag here. Many of the gametypes involve, unsurprisingly, killing zombies, but the various twists on it keep me interested. One gametype, Slicycles (did I mention this game is quite punny?) involves driving your motorcycle pimped-out with chainsaws through zombie hordes, and it requires proper risk-reward factoring, as you must determine which path will bring you the most kills. My favorite game type is Stand-Up Zomedy, in which you must deck out zombies with a combination of silly hats, tutus, and impaled stick ponies to get max combos, while also ruining the other player’s silly outfits by combo-breaking with your own items. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, these game modes are also generally minigames, and once you figure them out, it becomes more or less a match of speed. I’ve come to realize while playing DR2 that the reason that the usuals stay in multiplayer is that there is inherent complexity that comes with those game types. Dead Rising, while original, is too simple for it’s own good. One win and you’ve probably figured out the secrets of the game type. I need some sort of new multiplayer gametype that is enough of a deviation that it feels original, but not enough to lose complexity.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enter Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The core of AC: Brohood’s multiplayer is Wanted (Free-For-All). However, the team at Ubisoft has crafted these modes into something that probably has topped my top list of Multiplayer Games. For the uninitiated, in Wanted, every player has two factors of the match to deal with. They get a target player, and that player is the only person they are allowed to kill. That’s it. At the same time, they are being chased by anywhere from 1 to 4 people, and they must hide in the level’s NPCs (who are copies of the game’s players). Also, kills are not measured by themselves, instead they bring in point values, with each vanilla kill netting 100 points plus stealth bonuses, variety bonuses, and the like. Thus, the focus of gameplay is not the parkour that the series is famous for, or some sort of gung ho maneuver. Instead, the key is stealth. By being stealthy, the people you are chasing won’t know you are coming (plus, sweet sweet stealth bonuses), and people chasing you won’t pick you out of a crowd so easily. Running should only be used when your pursuer has gotten too close to you.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-11-500x280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-11-500x280.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This guy has faked out his target with an NPC, and is about to own</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With these factors, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood creates a tense cat-and-mouse stealth game, and entices me with the prospect of learning whole new tactics for a whole new game. Those tactics that are useful in every FPS are pointless in Brotherhood. Camping is pointless, as you aren’t pursuing your target while your pursuers get closer. Sniping with the gun nets minimal points, and the gun in general is pretty much only good to clear out morons running in plain sight on the roof. You need to develop new tactics, like the Morph Crowd, or proper use of a Decoy, or, my personal favorite, picking out a person from a crowd of NPCs through slight giveaways. It requires stealth, it requires skill, it requires new tactics, it requires focus, it requires intellect, and if more games had such requirements, I’d have much less of a social life.</span></div></div>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-82160569411665208082011-02-01T12:16:00.000-08:002011-02-01T12:16:44.589-08:00Uniqueness in Video Games<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br id="internal-source-marker_0.7709266277961433" /><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7709266277961433" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is going to be the first in a series of video game/role-playing game blogs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">By: Michael Burdick</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.joystickdivision.com/bayonetta%20boss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://www.joystickdivision.com/bayonetta%20boss.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We need more of this. Well, not <i>exactly </i>this, but you get the idea</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>I am a major hipster when it comes to my video games. I don’t tend to pick up games like Call of Duty or Halo, because they generally are tired concepts that, although are at the top of their specific genres, their ideas, both in gameplay and general concept, are generally stagnant. I like games that tread some sort of new ground, either in story, gameplay, or settings. I am by no means thrashing CoDs or Halos, I am merely stating this: games are expensive, and why should I buy Reach when I already have a copy of Halo 3? They are both a fairly generic space opera setting, and their plots do nothing special. The only vast change is the inclusion of some semi-original game types and Armor Abilities. Here’s the kind of change I enjoy, and am very willing to shell out cash for.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Great Story</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m a sucker for a good story. If you, as Mr. Hypothetical Game Developer, put time and effort into the tale your game weaves and don’t make it ridiculous, I will enjoy it. I like a good story, and I like it better when I can’t tell the twists. Mass Effect 2 is my typical example for this. It combines general space opera goodness like Halo, but it adds in a nice Lovecraftian twist and also mainly centers on 10ish </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">generally </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(cough all the humans cough) fantastic stories that you as a player can twist and bend to your desire. These side plots are what takes the good plot to greatness. There are grand plot twists, including a few on the mysterious Collectors and soulless Reapers, that kept me on my toes, kept me interested, and when that was combined with the investment I felt in the game thanks to the choices, and I was hooked.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gameplay Revolutions</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For this example, I use a game that, without it’s Gameplay Revolution, would have fallen to the wayside: Left 4 Dead. The L4D series made by Valve hinges on having an amazingly teamwork based Co-op system. The game is built so that a team must work together in order to win, or else even a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">slightly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more organized team will steamroll them. This is especially true for the Infected team. A single Infected, with the exception of the Tank, will get crushed quickly under concentrated gunfire. That’s why that team needs to work together, with each member working in tandem to take out the team. The Smoker drags Coach away from the group. When one person tries to get them, they get pounced by a Hunter. A Boomer quickens the death of the Smoked person, and finally a Charger either stuns or completely drives away the standing two. Boosh, ¾ of the enemy team is dead. This teamwork was unheard of before Left 4 Dead, in an age where a single lone wolf could destroy a sizable chunk of the enemy team.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Settings/Mythologies</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Space opera is good, and so is WWII, and everyone loves a zombie apocalypse. When a game takes from a completely new source of inspiration, or better, creates a unique image, then we are talking my style. For instance, Condemned (1, at least) is a mostly realistic tale of following a serial killer’s mad journey, something generally untouched. Darksiders is a fantasy retelling of the Revelations Apocalypse. These things have been untouched by gaming for the most part, and the sales of these games reflect that the gaming populous does have plenty of space for new ideas, ideas that allow a player to explore a story that has never before been explored. However, my favorite example of this is Bayonetta. A ridiculous story made by Platinum Games, Bayonetta explores a future-esqe setting in which two clans of spellcasters fight for either Paradiso or Inferno, somewhat based on the Christian Heaven and Hell. This game is in a totally unique setting with a hellish twist (Bayonetta is an Umbran Witch, i.e on Team Inferno), and altogether the enemies, settings, and especially bosses are unheard of and will make you swear in amazement. Don’t believe me? The final boss of Bayonetta is this game’s supreme deity, and it is ridiculous. The only more amazing thing is how you kill it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-53177730327360077272011-01-23T15:13:00.000-08:002011-01-23T15:13:24.960-08:00Episode 2: Urban MythologyThis episode was recorded a long long time ago, around Thanksgiving, so that'll explain those puns and comments. Also, I'm still iffy on intro music, plus I forgot :D<br />
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What We're Playing<br />
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<br />
The History of the Use of Urban Mythology<br />
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The Categories and the Implementation of Urban Mythology<br />
<br />
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Wins and Fails:<br />
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<br />
Michael:<br />
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+ Minecraft<br />
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+ The Walking Dead<br />
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- Left 4 Dead Space 2<br />
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- CoDBlOps and AC: Brohood<br />
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Jeff:<br />
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+ Battlestar Galactica Board Game<br />
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+ Shear Panic<br />
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- Fantasy Flight for Overmilking BG<br />
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- Open World Games<br />
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Mark:<br />
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+XSEED for making sequelsGaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658924190481700085.post-80384610706807790972010-11-28T17:57:00.000-08:002010-12-01T15:04:14.812-08:00Episode 1: Transitioning Between RPGs and Video Games<ul style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Segment 1: Who the hell are *we*, anyway?: The Pedigrees Jeff Interviews Michael: 1) Name, Rank, Serial Number? Which means name, age, what city do you live in, what you do for a living, and what else you do for fun. 2) When did you first know you were a tabletop gamer? 3) When did you first know you were a video gamer? 4) If you were to pick the first work in tabletop RPGs that really influenced you, which would it be? 5) If you were to pick your favorite tabletop RPG, over all you've ever played, which would it be and why? 6) What tabletop RPG would you recommend to anyone to pick up right now? 7) What video game would you recommend to anyone to pick up right now? 8) What trend in tabletop RPGs most excites you? 9) What trend in tabletop RPGs is going the wrong way? 10) What trend in video games most excites you? 11) What trend in video games is going the wrong way? Michael Interviews Mark: Mark Interviews Jeff Same Deal. Segment 2: How are tabletop RPGs and video games meeting in the middle? Jeff, , Mark on second, Michael on third. Paper to video: Dungeons and Dragons (duh) - Gold Box Series - Baldur's Gate - Neverwinter Nights - Dungeons and Dragons MMO Call of Cthulhu - Prisoner of Ice (one of the last gasps of the adventure genre) - Dark Corners of the Earth (neat, WONDERFUL concept - but needed a better goal system - cf Dead Space) Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption (the horrible truth about user-created content) - Bloodlines OMG AWSUMMMM Shadowrun - Shadowrun WTF? How did this lose? Hunter: The Reckoning - Wayward - Redeemer Good idea - why is it not since 2003? GURPS - Um, FALLOUT? Remember, Fallout started as a joint work with SJG, and Fallout 1's SPECIAL system is a descendant of GURPS Video to Paper: **MUCH MORE RECENT TREND** 1994: Street Fighter 2002: Alpha Centauri 2002: Everquest 2005: City of Heroes (unfinished) 2005: WoW 2009: Dragon Age Why is this hard? - Why can't paper go to video? (Fanbase size, talk vs. action, length of campaigns) - Why can't video go to paper? (Action vs. talk, only recent move to co-op vs. clan-based FPS, limited setting in most games) Segment 3: Wins and Fails This segment, the two of us reflect on the past week (or the upcoming week) and relay two good things (Wins) and two bad things (Fails), It's a banter topic to help lighten the mood of the show. Nerdy or not, personal or commercial, doesn't matter Michael's Two Wins -Starcraft 2 -Fallout: New Vegas Michael's Two Fails -Trying to read Shadowrun 1E -The military banning Medal of Honor Mark's Two Wins - - Mark's Two Fails - - Jeff's Two Wins - Finally Starting Harry Dresden - Found My New Favorite FLGS: Fantasy Shop Jeff's Two Fails - Late Hit: Sega for apparently employing Obsidian to hate it - Fail by Krome for Game Room: Letting MS talk them into microtransactions Mark, Michael on second, Jeff on third. Conclusion - Conclusion Segment: Name a movie that's good for an RPGer to watch, with one sentence about it. -- Jeff: Prince of Darkness ("THIS is a great modern horror LARP on film.") -- Michael: Can I say Darkon (an actual LARP documentary)? If not, then probably Kick Ass. --Mark: As yet undecided - How to reach us - Teaser for topics on next show</ul></ul>Gaming Asylum Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03395451985949376628noreply@blogger.com0