Jake and Mike Videogame Show

In a strangely timed move, considering we have E3 and TGS still to come this year, Nintendo announced that the new system to take over the handheld crown held by Nintendo for the last 20 or so years and the replacement to the Nintendo DS will be released spring next year and is tentatively being called the Nintendo 3DS, due to their remarks that it will have a significantly increased graphics capability and the ability to simulate 3D graphics without glasses of any type.

Here’s what we know about the system so far:

-It will be completely backwards compatible with all current gen DS games.

-It will include the twin camera’s present in the DSi. (possibly with a better resolution do to complaints about the quality of the DSi’s cameras)

-They have gone on record saying the graphics ability of this system will be greatly improved from what the DS was able to do. Alot of people are speculating something better looking then most PSP or iphone games seems like an obvious next step for Nintendo to make.

-Nintendo has said they have plans for it to include a “3D joystick and force feedback system” both of which would be firsts for Nintendo if they were included into the system itself and not some type of add-on.

-Official unveiling and revealing of more details will be done at E3 this year, where I’m sure they’ll have saved a few surprises for everyone.

-And finally, this is not just a new model of DS, like the DS lite, DSi and DSi XL were, but a brand new Generation of Nintendo handheld meant to continue and move along as an eventual DS replacement.

Now I would’nt be surprised if a few more solid details drop before the full E3 announcement, but don’t expect Nintendo to tell us everything ahead of time, I’m sure something crazy will be released during the show that week, so keep your eyes peeled.

-(MS)Mike out.

It’s hardly a secret that Jake and I are none-too-fond of the DSi store, then again, I hardly think that we’re alone in thinking this.

The weirdest thing is, it shouldn’t be this way at all. That thing has every reason to be good, and I’ve put together a List of a few things i think they could do that would flip it from bad to good really easily.

1)  Cheap and fun games the easy way: Enlist the internet.

The internet is chalk full of flash games. Some are good and some are bad, but some of the good ones can get so deep, engrossing and original, that it is insane that they’re free. Nintendo could get themselves in a real good situation by getting some of the games people play the shit out of on kongregate or armor games and make downloadable DSi versions for $2-5 that people can play on the go

2) DSi Virtual Console: It seems so obvious…doesn’t it?

This is an easy one. One of the bigger things I’ve enjoyed about the Wii is alot of the virtual console games they’ve thrown on there. The pricing structure isn’t always perfect and almost all those games can be found as roms, BUT how easily they work, the functionality of how you play them, and the fact that you have a real controller all make for a surprisingly enjoyable experience using games that already exist and are already popular. I know for a fact, that people are asking for a GB and GBA virtual console, so why doesn’t Nintendo just deliver???

3) Clocks, calculators and Calenders: A little good will goes a long way.

The whole thing with these is freakin mind baffling. If you can give away the web browser for free then there is NO excuse for that crap to cost a you dime.

The idea of putting these things out there for people to buy drives me crazy. Half because it’s horseshit, and half because the things must take like 5 minutes to make and if they were given away for free every once in a while, they’d suddenly have something that was pointless but free, which people love. Those retarded calculators and junk would probably be kinda awesome if they didn’t cost anything and if nothing else, people would go on to download them and prolly look through the stuff that DOES cost money while they’re there.

4) Make the classic Nintendo move: Make the shit out of a first party game that drives interest in your service

This is what Nintendo does, it’s their classic money maker. They take their incredibly well known 1st party properties and milk them for life. Not only do they milk them, they milk them without them getting stilted or boring. There is a reason why Mario and link are still around and no one gives a shit about Crash bandicoot or Lara Croft anymore. There is a reason that the Gamecube stayed a float for about a year and a half longer than it should have. They did what they do best and they held themselves up, when third party companies wouldn’t.

Nintendo needs to make the hell out of a few DSi titles and really show everyone whats up. Stirring things up and getting some interest made for the development of some DSi titles would be perfect and if you want something done, you should do it yourself.

So there ya go, 4 easy steps Nintendo can and SHOULD take to make that poor excuse for an online download service a little more worth the money you gotta pay when you get a DSi instead of a DS lite.

-(MS)Mike out

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Here is the second part! Uhmm……What else is there to really say?

……….Jake digs blondes and I like Mexican chicks. Not everything has to be about Video Games.

-(MS)Mike out.

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Well, here we are, back in the saddle again! Huzzah my friends, huzzah!!

We’ve got a hell of alot of podcast love for you guys this week to make up for our wacky update schedule.

We talk about so many games, that I honestly don’t remember all the many, many things we talked about. I don’t know the order at all, but I know we talk about Wet, Scribblenauts, Mario and Luigi 3, Halo: ODST, Beatles Rock band, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and I’m sure a few other things that i’m missing. So just listen to them, and find yourself in a world of fantasy where your imagination is your car and hopes and dreams are the gasoline!

Also, I noticed that we say “When we were talking about it earlier” a shit load in our podcasts. This one is no exception.

-(MS)Mike out.

So, I’ve been playing a heck of alot of Scribblenauts lately, and due to the nature of the game’s freedom, I’ve felt the need to take anyone and everyone who has five minutes to spare, and show them this game, and so far, no one has been disappointing. In fact, I have a few interesting family related examples to share with you.

I was able to get my mother to play the game with me for almost an hour straight, and then sit and try and stump it for another half-hour after that, which to me, is the epitome of a well designed game. She hasn’t actually sat and played a game with me since the days of Super Mario Kart and Street Fighter 2 on the SNES, and so the idea that she’d be interested enough to play it, let alone ABLE to play it, had be all kinds of thrilled. (A quick side note I noticed; My mom is apparently not the worlds classiest lady, as her first attempts to stump the game resulted in the words, “poop”, “snot” and “pus” being typed ever so elegantly into my DSi.)

I also had some time to show my little brother this morning who is a bit of a tricky gamer. He is by no means a hardcore gamer, but I don’t really think he could be considered a casual gamer either. He’s a guitar playing, hair spiking, tatted up little rock and roll type, yet he’s always happy to hear from me about when a new Final Fantasy or Pokemon game is coming out. I think hes been conditioned to see alot of things in an unbiased light from growing up with someone like me (Gamer, cosplayer, anime fan, D&D junky, lover of all things nerdy) and that has made his gaming habits a bit hard to classify. The kid just plays whatever he thinks is fun, there isn’t any genre stigma in his eyes.

Anyways, family describing tangents aside, after showing him that game for about 3 minutes and letting him use a guitar amp and grappling hook to pull a star out of a pine tree, He very quickly asked if I had work today, and upon hearing me say “yes”, wanted to borrow it so he could play all day. So this game has some pretty broad appeal if it can get Game retarded mother, punk rock brother, and digital aficionado Mike all to find great interest in it.

I promise I’ll stop shoving this game down your throat, when I stop finding awesome things that surround it.

-(MS)Mike out.

But I have an excuse. Scribblenauts and Mario & Luigi.

In fact, why am I here explaining things to you posers. If any of you were smart, you’d have been too busy playing those or Ultimate Alliance 2 to even notice I didn’t post!!

yeah thats right, I got you there didn’t I?

Anyways, I’m wasting valuable time for my DSi to be fucking my eyes oh-so-sweetly with the digital sex of my new purchases….

IM OUT BITCHES!

-(MS)Mike out.

Normally, I try and update each weekday, but I’m a bit on games overload right now, so I’m having a tough time narrowing down one thing to talk about. I actually had to sit down with Jake, and we essentially had to make a diagram and timeline about when and how and what order we’ll need to play the games that are coming in the next 3 weeks because it’s soooooo freakin jam packed with goodness.

Hell, I’m actually PURCHASING 3 games within the next two days, on top of the 3 games I’m gameflying. So that’s the type of shit I’m talking about right now.

JAM PACKED!!!!!!

But yeah, I have no way to narrow down my thought process right now, so you can suck it.

I mean…Suck it, Friends <3

-(MS)Mike out.

And I’m finding myself overjoyed with an almost fanboyish feeling of excitement to finally get this game in grubby, little my hands. (My original version of the sentence had 11 adverbs in it. I re-wrote as to not annoy those out there that prefer comma separated adjectives.) It’s always really nice when you’ve been following a game, and as time goes on, you see that it isn’t just some game you might into, but a legit game that people are getting behind. I remember a time probably a year ago when they showed the first video of this game and it was only about 25 seconds long, and it showed your little dude typing in “whale” and then a whale appeared. The video showed the whale being put in some water, and then the little guy walked on top of it. It then cut to a new scene where the guy typed in “meteor” and then a meteor crashed into the ground. And then, like that, without really showing much of anything REAL in the video at all, it was over and done with.

I found myself a little confused with the premise. Was this even a game at all, or just one of those things where you were free to dick around, like a Gary’s Mod but for the DS. All of that aside, I found myself thinking of all sorts of scenario’s that I could create though, and then I thought of the type of game it COULD be, since they didn’t really reveal any type of objective. I imagined a world where they through you in an obstacle course of sorts, and you’re poised with getting through, using only the keyboard and you’re imagination, “How cool would that be?!”, I said to myself at the time, “But there’s no way, that’s pretty ambitious and if someone was gonna try something like that, we’d prolly have seen it by now.”

Little did that Mike of the past know, a year later he would find out the actual game was about as close to his imagining as digitally possible.

Anyways, that was me gushing about how excited I am for the game, and I promise not to do it anymore, until its actually in my hands, and I’m saying things of any real substance.

Word.

-(MS)Mike out.

These are the games that will only be playable on the DSi because of its unique features and/or hardware specs. It sounds like something I should be excited about because I’ll finally be able to take the thing for a spin as anythiniteg other then a regular DS with a coat of paint, but a few things are holding me back.

I haven’t heard a single thing about any of these DSi only titles and they’re supposedly only months away, which tends to make me wanna think that maybe there isn’t much to say yet. Now-a-days, even shitty games that don’t deserve any hype are known about months and months in advance, and that has me less than optimistic that we have anything groundbreaking on the horizon. Secondly, from what I know, none of these titles are Nintendo first party, which tends to be another reason to worry because Nintendo’s most recent hardware endeavors seem to work best when they lead by example and show people the type of thing’s you can do.

So when you start seeing those white packages and cart’s popping up on store shelves in a few months, lets hope that we’ve heard a little good news about the games inside of them.

-(MS)Mike out.

Not necessarily a strange move on their behalf, I mean, people spent alot of time and money on that game and they didn’t really get the return they expected on the DS, so switching it over to the PSP to find a more obvious audience seems the obvious move. Hell, by GTA terms, they didn’t get ANY return at all compared to the clout most GTA games normally hold.

I think it will be pretty interesting to see how well the game sells on the PSP because of a few main reasons:

• The game was gorgeous for a DS game, but for a PSP game it is prolly a little below the standards you normally see in a title. I wonder if that will factor into anything when people are looking at it on the shelf and flip it over to check out the back. On top of that, I wonder how much cleaning up they’ll to potentially make it look like a more intensive, graphically.
• If this game sells really well, like most GTA games in the past, it might be some of the most influential evidence to the fact that although the DS audience is enormous, it can’t support an M rated title regardless of how large it is.

So there ya go, I wonder how heavily the sales of this game on the PSP will reflect the infinite debate about M rated titles on any Nintendo console, whether it be for or against the argument.

-(MS)Mike out.

Every time Jake and I get into a discussion about games eventually being more downloaded and less bought at a store, at some point in time, I usually bring up the fact that the games should probably cost less but that I’m afraid they won’t. There is a reason why PC games cost 10 bucks cheaper for the exact same game then its console counter part. Theres a reason that 5-20$ is the sweet spot for downloadable titles.

Alot of people just think its because the games are from smaller studios or because that’s just how a dlc title works, but also, a large factor is because they don’t need to spend a ton of money on printing disc’s, paying to get box art done, paying to print manuals and manufacture or purchase cases and all that junk, so they can afford to give you a game for cheaper and still see a return.

Now you could use some of the few full retail games that Sony has released on PSN and attempt to say that, since the games were fully downlodable, that they were indeed cheaper, but I’m not quite sure if that can be 100% yet, because as of today, all the full retail games released on PSN have been online only games that normally have a smaller price tag to begin with, so that skews things a big. Not to mention that they both came with headsets in retail and but didn’t in the download only versions, which also throws off our ability to see if there was a standard as far as the games being cheaper. Then was the digital only release of the PSP exclusive Tekken, which released lower then some PSP titles, but higher than others, so again, no solid comparison in price can be made. Unfortunately, it seems like those are the only examples that I know of as far as any of the consoles offering up a full retail title in a new school way that had any type of price variance you could use to see where their head is at.

Sadly, as much as we all know that cost’s would be down with a digital release, I can’t really picture the titles costing one price digital and another retail. Knowing Microsoft, who I assume will be the first to make a major digital push for their normally retail only games (Aside from Sony testing the waters with the pspGO), I doubt you’ll see any price drop between the two. More likely we’ll either see something similar to Sony so far, where the price is less digital, and more retail, but the retail version comes with something extra, or  we’ll see a bigger push from them next generation rather than this one, and they’ll keep the 59.99 price tag for digital stuff and well see an increase in the price for retail purchases.

Either way, this is really all just musings and hearsay, but it will be interested to see how this road winds up and how successful each of the big three are with their respective takes on the idea of pricing for legitimate game releases in a digital environment.

-(MS)Mike out.

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Welcome back to turkey town you crazy chickens, We’ve got a heck of a podcast for you this week.

We talk a hell of alot of Battlefield 1943 and our love for going commando. We each bring up a few of the games we managed to play in a month that had no games to play in it and Mike touches on his VERY furst experience with an MMORPG.

Its touching, its thought provoking, its tear jerking, its laugh inducing, its fat burning, its a burst if flavor in each bite! Enjoy!!

Also, watch for Mike and Jake to Name drop CheapyD several times, they’re very tricky like that!

-(MS)Mike out.

A whole lot of gaming stuff in the world these days really seems like it should be judged by some type of standard or something. Back in the day when Nintendo had the Seal of approval, you knew that they meant business but we dont have anything like that anymore….Or do we? What if you could walk into a store and be like, “oh, this doesn’t have the Mike Steele Stamp of approval….I better move along”.

Well you’re in luck.

I have invented the Mike Steele Stamp of Approval screening process so that people can finally use me as the medium for whether or not things are worthy of liking or hating because I’m the only one that matters and you know it. Here’s some of the Stuff that currently has the Mike Steele Stamp Of Approval, and some other things that totally didn’t pass the screening process.

Things that are Mike Approved:

Steam

Starcraft, even after 8 years

Retro Adventure titles making a big comeback

The Nintendo DS

Pokemon videogames

PC gaming, oddly enough

Games with Co-op

The way you buy and download titles on the Wii and PSN

The amount of fighting games that have been coming out recently

Things that failed the quality assurance screenings:

Microsoft points

Microsoft XBLA pricing

Games developers confusing “annoying” with “challenging”

People not wearing a headset in Left 4 Dead

The Nintendo DSi store constantly releasing clocks and calculators

The amount of time I have to wait until I can play Borderlands

LucasArts trying to make new IP’s when they could just bring back Tie-Fighter and we’d all forgive them

-(MS)Mike out

Since We’ll be covering things at length in the podcast on friday, I’m just gonna bulletpoint what I’m digging so far.

• Alan wake looks better and better everytime I see something, but this trailer took the cake
• I feel like a tool for being excited about something I haven’t technically seen, but The new metal gear has be excited. I’m sure well see more about it at the sony keynote.
• I’m really impressed with how little Microsoft held back today. They really busted through the doors, guns a blazin’ and I think its gonna pay off for them as far as setting a high bar for the other guys.

That is all for now, you should be off looking at all this stuff yourself!!!

-(MS)Mike out.

If there is anything bad that can be said about the gameboy advance, I would like to hear it so I can call you a liar (were talking the SP here, we all know the original had a back lighting problem). This post isn’t about the gameboy advance though, not entirely anyways, but about a game franchise that the GBA brought us and for some reason has remained absent for the 4 years of the DS’s on-going lifespan.

What is that game you ask? Why, Golden Sun of course!

The first Golden Sun was the very first GBA game that I ever played and to this day, it and it’s sequel remain the best game’s I ever played on the system (yeah, even more then Pokemon and that’s saying something). Golden Sun was an RPG that took you back to the better days of the SNES and its legendary goldmine of roleplaying games and it did it DAMN well. It featured out of combat utilities very reminiscent of Wild Arms or Lufia II, turn based combat as good as it’s ever been programed in an RPG and a storyline and character roster that rivaled that of the most classic SNES gem. The 2001 original got a sequel 2 years later  in the form of Golden Sun 2: the last age that took up the original right where the 1st left off (a rare thing in rpg’s where the name of a game seems to be the only thing a sequel has in common with its predecessor). It built on the originals idea’s in numerous ways and even gave you the ability to transfer data from your original Golden Sun save file to add a really cool element of game continuity.

Both the original Golden Sun and Lost Age were reviewed with nothing but emphatically glowing praise from about every website and magazine that was reviewing games at the time. To this day, they both remain in the top of the GBA’s reviewed games on metacritic and gamerankings. Both were named “Game Of The Year” By Nintendo Power in their respective years and both wound up in the top 30 of IGN’s Readers Choice Top 100 games ever.

So with a pedigree like that, why the hell has there not been a new entry on Nintendo’s new little handheld juggernaut?!

Nintendo has gone on record saying that they want the Creators of Golden Sun, Hiroyuki and Shugo Takahashi, to work on another Golden Sun title. Hell, the brothers themselves were quoted as saying in an interview that the scenarios of the first two games were intended as “prologues to the real event yet to come” Yet, still no official announcements of a new Golden Sun title have been made since.

Anyone that has a DS (not the DSi since it dropped the GBA slot) or an GBA SP sitting around should set aside 20 bucks and go on Amazon.com and buy yourself a copy of both games used. You’ll be thanking me later, I promise.

So after all that, theres really nothing left to say but this: Camelot games…Hiroyuki and Shugo…Nintendo….If you can here me, I’m down on my knee’s begging you…

Please make a new Golden Sun game for the DS…PLEASE!!!!

-(MS)Mike out.

Anyone that knows me personally, can probably think of about one-hundred different directions a title like that could lead my post, but this is actually going to be giving a little Jake and Mike VGS game impression. Now I could talk for days about how a good majority of some of my favorites games are most likely one’s you have never heard of, and I wouldn’t hold that against you, because I’m just that type of gamer. Although I would hold it against you if you, having read my words of wisdom, continued to go on not playing a game you hadn’t heard of, after I schooled you on its existence.

In this case I’m talking about a new game called Henry Hatsworth in The puzzling adventure, a new DS game game from a team over at EA tiburon lead by the co-creator of World of Goo. The fact that someone involved in world of goo’s creation alone should be worth you hanging on my every word about this game, but in case it isn’t, let me paint you the picture this awesome game has left in my brain. (continue reading…)

For those of you that don’t know, me and Jake work together. What do we do? We run the office, make sure the computers are running smooth, schedule all the install’s the business handles and other such responsibilites. What is the most important thing Jake has to handle at work though? Well, taking my DS when I’m not looking and taking hilarious pictures of course.

I went to the main menu of it after playing a bit of Pokemon to find this as my main menu picture

The Nintendo DSi, helping you flip off your friends, one SD card at a time.

-(MS)Mike out.

Seriously. If there’s anyone that deserves to be swimming around in a dollar-bill-filled pool ala Scrooge McDuck, its the guys at gamefreak, creators of the infamous and invincible Pokemon franchise. You may know the old saying involving the Unstoppable force running into the unmovable object. Well, I think that Pokemon is both that force and that object. Its amazing that those guys continue to break sales records with each Pokemon game they release, but still manage to outsell the last generation with each new entry into the franchise.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Pokemon franchise since its inception with Red and Blue and that makes quite a bit of sense because I was 13 years old when it came out, making me the ideal demographic to play it. I was also in a very RPG heavy phase of gaming at the time, so it was even more of an appealing game after that.

So every few years, I’d get older and a new generation of Pokemon games would come out. Every time they came out, I would pick it up first day and enjoy it to death. So we find ourselves Eleven years since it first came out and I’m a Twenty-Three year old man… yet here I am, completely addicted to the Pokemon franchise, possibly more than ever!

I think one of the things about Pokemon that has always kept me coming back for more, is the amazing level of interaction they’ve made native to the basic Pokemon experience. The groundwork of the game is based around trading with other people. Battling other people. Obtaining items from other people. That’s just a few of the things that is built straight into the game as an almost required feature that allows you an unparralleled level of game interaction with others that rivals that of even console online gaming.

Another hot button topic of games these days is replay value. You know what game has replay Value? Pokemon. Pokemon has so much replay value, its replay value has replay value, and that’s not me just trying to be clever. These games are packed so damn full of gameplay, features, mini-games, collectibles and replay value that when you only have to pay 34.99 for it, you might feel a tiny bit guilty afterward for having that much fun for so little money.

I’m not fully sure where I was originally going with this, but if you:

• Like RPG’s
• Want a game that embodies what a portable game should be
• Avoided Pokemon games because of their “only for kids” stigma
• Own now or want a reason to own a Nintendo DS
• have a long trip and need something to pass the time
• Haven’t ever tried an RPG and want a good place to start
• All of the above

Then you need to go out, buy Pokemon and play the shit out of it. I promise you’ll thank me later.

-(MS)Mike out.

As recap, I gave these reasons as my main problems with iPhone gaming:

-Even the most fun you’ll have with an iPhone game could be had free with a flash game

-Anything you can do on the iPhone, You can do better on the DS.

-Oh so you downloaded your game? Cool, yeah…Well my game is longer then 10 minutes long.

-You think wading through the wave of shit to find a good game is bad on the wii, then you haven’t met the iPhone game library.

-It wasn’t built to be a gaming device and it shows.

-The all important battery life issue. Have fun playing your games for 45 minutes.

Let me start by saying that I ran this article idea by Jake a week ago and he brought some interesting points to the table that, while they didn’t sway me, they gave me a bit of a change in my overall outlook. I started by thinking it was pointless, could be done better, and any developer would be better off making a game for the DS. I now think its filling a gap in gaming that had existed before, but was free and wasn’t portable. So Apple essentially switched the two and filled in a hole that gaming had empty; Something smaller then a download-only indie game similar to a well made and thorough flash game, but way cheaper and portable. So I guess iPhone apps aren’t pointless, but I do believe that they can be done better and I think the DSi has the ability to do it.

Anyways, that was a bit of an aside, so let me go a bit more in detail about the point’s I made up there that I haven’t covered yet. (continue reading…)

I’m gonna start this post by saying that I have quite a bit of hands on and close relations with the iPhone and ipod touch, so this annoyed rant is not that of someone on the outside looking in, it is one of the educated wondering what happened to his fellow straight thinkers.

It absolutely blows me away when gaming journalists or tech-pundits say something like, “It looks like the PSP and DS could have some stiff competition in the future!”. AHHHH!!! What?! Seriously? Who in there right mind can really see the iPhone as a competition to even the lower selling PSP, but to see it as having even a glimmer of rivalry to the Nintendo DS is laughable. It eludes me to no end where anyone could find such information in their brain, tug at it and then let it come out of their mouth for the world to hear.

Now, I haven’t backed up my end with alot of information yet, so I’m going to make a few of my main arguments in some bullet points and then elaborate a bit below. So read on if it interests you. (continue reading…)