CAGcast #232: More Than Serviceable

[CheapyD]

15060[/IMG-L]Wombat dives into Dragon Age II, Cheapy finally tries a launch 3DS, and Shipwreck gets his Pokemon on. We've also got the latest industry and shopping news, your CAGbag (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71382) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/cheapyd) questions and so much more!

141
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Show Linkage/Notes (click the button below to expand):
Intro - This is the Remix - Girl Talk - All Day

PlayStation Plus adding online game save storage March 10 (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/09/playstation-plus-adding-online-game-save-storage-march-10/)

Microsoft Hiring next-gen console engineers (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/08/microsoft-hiring-for-next-generation-console-engineers/)
Microsoft: 10 million Kinect units, Kinect games sold (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/09/microsoft-10-million-kinect-units-kinect-games-sold/)

Pokemon Black & White sold 1 million copies in a day (http://www.destructoid.com/pokemon-black-white-sold-1-million-copies-in-a-day-196018.phtml)

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Outro: Wizard of Wor (http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_commercial.asp?ID=10550)

[Velo214]

I platted Killzone 3 in a few days and the dlc and sent it back. free rental from amazon ;)
I got a 29act, Shipwreck is smart. I was a point off brightflight, doh!
i wish i would have got that free money!
peace cagz
great cagcast, and congrats on the promotion Wombat!
I'm a cheapass resturant guy too. my grrls, baby and i went to outback steakhouse the other night and we got 2 full rack of ribs and appetizers for $12.50, down from $50 lol. we gave the girl a $20 for the meal, woot. great food.
I'm friends with the manager and she gave me a steak but i was foolish, left it in the fridge and woke up and the kids ate it, argh! lol

[Master Troll]

Congrats on your promotion Wombat and these damn podcasts always catch me before I sleep.

[YoatOverNothing]

Do you guys ever sick of PS3 fanboys constantly having problems and bitching about the CAGcast?

Also...I agree with you 100%, Wombat. Community is possibly the best comedy on TV right now.

[4nik8tor]

there is no way your wife is interested in Oblivion. F0r fuk sake. I've played it and its nothing but loading screens and shitty dialogue. She's humoring you. Go wash some dishes or take out some trash for this woman. jesus.

[Milkyman]

for the show feedback section you can just say "x number of ps3 fanboys" complained and move on

[nateeasy29]

I took both the ACT and SAT.

[Fjordson]

I agree with a lot of what you said about Dragon Age II Wombat, but I'll be interested to hear if you feel any disappointment as far as the environments go. Overall I do think it's a big step up for the console version of Origins and I'm enjoying it quite a bit, I just find Kirkwall to be not quite interesting enough to set so much of the game in. Also, the dungeons are surprisingly redundant. Seems like you end up running through dozens of dark, drab caves. Would love a little more variety there.

And Cheapy, definitely try Torchlight. I played it on the PC, but it's the best loot game I've played since Diablo II. Absolutely loved it. And I've heard good things about the 360 version.

[HungryButcher]

Do you guys ever sick of PS3 fanboys constantly having problems and bitching about the CAGcast?

I love the PS3 talk back and forth between the hosts and the surly PS3 users. I find it very humorous. The guys on the show like the PS3. They’ve said this many times. They just point out the problems with the system and the way Sony handles everything. I agree with everything they say. But I love my PS3, except for when I have to download something.

Listening to the show now.

I loved the part where Wombat interrupts Boatcrash's 30 minute Pokemon review with his Bill Cobsy impression. Gotta love Wombat!

[repete]

great show guys keep it up

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

Wombat, thanks for the shout out! I am very jacked for SKYRIM! Also, the Bill Cosby impersonation about the "pokeman" was HILARIOUS!!! "OOO . . You take the Puuuddinnnnng! and you dip it in tha WOW . . . Jello Pudding POPS!! . . OooOoo!!"

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[H4Y4TO]

Great Show as all ways! Keep up the good work... I need you guys to do more shows for me to listen to on my upcoming deployment... Just for like a year if you don't mind lol

Thanks,
h4y4to

[Curufinwe]

I love the PS3 talk back and forth between the hosts and the surly PS3 users. I find it very humorous. The guys on the show like the PS3. They’ve said this many times. They just point out the problems with the system and the way Sony handles everything.

Actually, what they do is point out personal problems they have with the PS3, assume everyone else experiences the same problems, and ignore or downplay the similar issues that exist on the 360.

Then, they apparently only read the feedback that comes from frothing-at-the-mouth Sony fanboys who would rather die than play a 360, and ignore all the reasonable feedback that comes from people who enjoy both systems and who point out the inconsistencies and errors in some of their complaints. I guess that's funnier for the show, but it was disappointing that the genuinely interesting responses to their How to fix Sony podcast written by people like FriskyTanuki were just ignored.

[LiK]

Cheapy, you may be the dumbest on the SAT, but you're the richest. ;)

Wombat, congrats on the promotion, sir.

Shippy, UNBELIEVABLE! lol

[Darknyss]

Cheapy,
Upgrading your HDD in the PS3 in insanely easy. There are tons of walk-throughs on youtube. Just do a full back up to an external HDD and after you have the new hard drive installed, do a full restore. You will not losing anything if you are using the back up file on the same exact PS3. Your PS3 will look exactly like it did before except you will have more HDD space. You will not have to re-download anything.

If you decide to get a new PS3, it will be a little different. Because it's not the same system, you'll need to re-download your PSN content (and lose any game-shared stuff). Also, you won't get copy protected saves. However, with the new cloud saving feature you could upload these and pull them down to copy them over to the new system.

If I was in your shoes, I'd sell my phatty and pick up a slim. Those old models are ticking time bombs just counting down to a YLOD. You can still use the full back up/restore feature but will have to re-download some PSN stuff and re-apply your personal settings.

[Curufinwe]

I haven't done it myself, but everyone says that you need to be careful about stripping the screws when you replace the HD on the PS3. You want to use the smallest screwdriver that will work, and some say a flathead screwdriver works better even though the screws are Phillips.

[LiK]

Quick correction about the Cloud saves for PS+. If you cancel or do not renew PS+, Sony will hold your uploaded saves in the cloud for 6 months before deleting them if you do not renew in that period.

[GOTA]

I haven't done it myself, but everyone says that you need to be careful about stripping the screws when you replace the HD on the PS3. You want to use the smallest screwdriver that will work, and some say a flathead screwdriver works better even though the screws are Phillips.

I did it without any problems. If your're really worried about stripping the screws then go out and buy a jewelers screwdriver kit. They're about $5 on Amazon.

The only annoying part was having to use FAT32 to backup the old drive. That's not a format used so much anymore which meant reformatting the external drive.

[StriderNo9]

Why was Cheapy so shocked and then bitter when Wombat had the higher score on the SAT? When has Cheapy shown that he is smart in any capacity? I'm not trying to diss Cheapy, I think the site Cheap Ass Gamers is a great idea for a site, but it's something anyone could have thought of, other than that, Wombat is the one that shows off his intellect in business and the industry more often. Cheapy talks well but most of anything he says is based off experience. Just strange that he assumed he was the smarter one. I thought that was an easy one.

[shipwreck]

I did it without any problems. If your're really worried about stripping the screws then go out and buy a jewelers screwdriver kit. They're about $5 on Amazon.

The only annoying part was having to use FAT32 to backup the old drive. That's not a format used so much anymore which meant reformatting the external drive.

Even with the proper screwdrivers, stripping the screws is still a potential issue. I stripped one of the screws and I was being extremely careful. I know several others that also stripped at least one of the screws. I had to deform the tray to remove the old drive and then bend it back into shape to hold the new drive and slide back into the PS3. The whole process is very easy IF you don't run into stripped screws.

[Aeolus]

Cheapy, you don't need to take the SATs in order to attend a university. Like Ship, I didn't take the SATs either. I went to Community College and transfered to the four year. And to dispel any ideas that I might be a dummy, at said four-year, I double majored in History and Medieval Studies, minored in Latin, and graduated.

[fahq1977]

Wombat, I appreciated the Cosby impression. That is all.

[BannedEpisode]

Took the ACT. Never had to worry about the SAT.

[testudo]

Wombat, I appreciated the Cosby impression.

Yeah, I'm with fahq1977... More Cosby... I think Cosby should do the News each week.

[trip1eX]

There's been at least 3 Oblivion games this gen - Oblivion:Elder Scrolls, Oblivion:Fallout, and Oblivion: Vegas.

And that's not counting the numerous xpacs.

[hoofrog]

"No, your not getting anything. In fact I'm gonna steal your boots." Love it!

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

There's been at least 3 Oblivion games this gen - Oblivion:Elder Scrolls, Oblivion:Fallout, and Oblivion: Vegas.

And that's not counting the numerous xpacs.

I think you're confusing Oblivion with Bethesda. Oblivion is the name of Elder Scrolls IV just like Morrowind is the name of Elder Scrolls III. Fallout 3 and Fallout:New Vegas are both titles produced by Bethesda Softworks (who also produces the Elder Scrolls series).

[Darknyss]

Even with the proper screwdrivers, stripping the screws is still a potential issue. I stripped one of the screws and I was being extremely careful. I know several others that also stripped at least one of the screws. I had to deform the tray to remove the old drive and then bend it back into shape to hold the new drive and slide back into the PS3. The whole process is very easy IF you don't run into stripped screws.
Yep, stripped screws is a well known problem when removing the HDD. I was extremely careful and still managed to strip one.

Sony recently updated their support page (http://us.playstation.com/support/answer/index.htm?a_id=362) to include information on replacements. I'm sure there's a vending machine in Japan that sells them. :-P

[LiK]

Even with the proper screwdrivers, stripping the screws is still a potential issue. I stripped one of the screws and I was being extremely careful. I know several others that also stripped at least one of the screws. I had to deform the tray to remove the old drive and then bend it back into shape to hold the new drive and slide back into the PS3. The whole process is very easy IF you don't run into stripped screws.

Yup, I stripped ALL 4 screws for the cage holding the HDD. I was trying to be careful but it's really tight and just twisting strips it easily. I had no issue with the blue screw that everyone was talking about in various forums. If you strip any, just use needle-nose pliers to take them off. They're easy to take off and on after the initial procedure.

Btw, thanks for mentioning the KZ3 audio issue. Everyone must know!

[Rouzhokuu]

Actually, what they do is point out personal problems they have with the PS3, assume everyone else experiences the same problems, and ignore or downplay the similar issues that exist on the 360.

Pretty much this.

Though I think everyone at this point has come to expect the ball-washing these guys do for Microsoft.

And 'if' Sony needed fixing, which it doesn't, I surely wouldn't come to these guys for advice.

[epicelite]

Glad to see I am not the only one who thinks Pokemon is the same shit as it was 20 years ago.

[mrs. shipwreck]

I agree with a lot of what you said about Dragon Age II Wombat, but I'll be interested to hear if you feel any disappointment as far as the environments go. Overall I do think it's a big step up for the console version of Origins and I'm enjoying it quite a bit, I just find Kirkwall to be not quite interesting enough to set so much of the game in. Also, the dungeons are surprisingly redundant. Seems like you end up running through dozens of dark, drab caves. Would love a little more variety there.

And Cheapy, definitely try Torchlight. I played it on the PC, but it's the best loot game I've played since Diablo II. Absolutely loved it. And I've heard good things about the 360 version.

I've played about 8 hours so far, and I have to agree about Kirkwall. I feel more like I'm rushing through the quests than enjoying the storyline or the characters as much as I did with Origins. I was telling Ship last night, it's not as good a story as the first game (so far) but I like the menu system changes and it looks a lot nicer.

[Ramza394]

I've played about 8 hours so far, and I have to agree about Kirkwall. I feel more like I'm rushing through the quests than enjoying the storyline or the characters as much as I did with Origins. I was telling Ship last night, it's not as good a story as the first game (so far) but I like the menu system changes and it looks a lot nicer.

So in your opinion should someone who hasn't played either Dragon Age start with Dragon Age origins or go right to Dragon Age II?


PS Great Show guys! :applause:

[MSUHitman]

Cheapy,
As a heads up I attended college from 97-02 and almost NONE of the colleges anywhere in the Midwest even accept the SAT anymore. They only accept the ACT. The only schools I know of that want the SAT anymore are the East Coast schools and ones in California. I got a 30 if that matters.

Also Cheapy what's up with forgetting one of the best deals this week, buying DA 2 at KMart gets you $10 in reward points and you can buy a $50 Microsoft Point/PSN card for $20 on the same transaction. And if you buy a PS3 at KMart, you get MLB The Show 11 for free, which also works with the Killzone 3 bundle if your store still has it.

And just for interests sake, I work in an outdoor shopping area in a suburb of St. Louis (Fenton, MO) that has a Super Wal-Mart, Target, Gamestop, and Best Buy, and all 4 stores are sold out of MLB The Show 11 on PS3, and Target/WM are sold out of 360 copies of DA 2.

Wombat,
Bioware screwed up on the auto-attack option for the consoles. Right before the game went gold they intended to put auto-attack as a toggleable option in the console versions and stated on their forums and in the 1 hour video session Mike Laidlaw did a couple of weeks ago on Livestream that it would be in the console game. They screwed up and left it out of the version sent out for gold certification. Now they have to look to add it in as a patch on the console versions.

As far as Rogues go, I think that's the most improved class from Origins to 2. The Evade is an actual ability instead of a random number generator that can cause a miss. Also backstab is an action ability when the Rogue throws down a smokebomb and reappears behind the selected enemy to do the backstab. The AI assassins also use this move. There's a lot of other cool moves if you go down their trees but you may want to be an archer rogue as they have lots of abilities that "make it rain" as you want with your mage, but with arrows.

Sword and Shield warriors (my only playthrough of Origins outside of the other Origin intros to get the achievements) are largely unchanged, best change to them is when an enemy is further away and you hit attack, you do a dashing attack to reach them that is more damaging. Biggest change is Shield Defense is largely useless if you want to do any damage as you actually hide behind your shield and just do stabs with the sword instead of full slices.

Also wanted to get your take on all the preorder DLC being primarily for Warriors. I have the Signature Edition and almost all of the miscellaneous DLC through various means, and 75-85% of it is for warriors. Rogues get one dagger, 1 bow, and 1 chest armor, while Mages get 1 staff. There are some belts/rings that are universal as well. Since all armor (outside of rings, belts, and amulets) you get as DLC or loot is locked to Hawke, that makes it interesting I believe for people such as yourself that want to be a Mage or maybe a Rogue.

Also the requirements for the DLC armor is MUCH lower than in Origins. The Blood Dragon Armor (which is in 2 if you had it in Origins/ME 2) previous required mid 30's in strength to wear, now it's right around 20. Also it's MUCH lower res than in Origins/ME 2. The Sir Isaac armor isn't much higher in terms of requirements either. Essentially I'm selling every piece of armor I get since my character is in nothing but DLC stuff and the only things I've bought so far are a few miscellaneous rings, etc. for the other members and rune/crafting receipes.

Also while the graphics are MUCH better, I don't like two specific changes they made, the darkspawn and the elves. I saw someone compare the new darkspawn to the cannon fodder creatures the Power Rangers fight before the "main" creature goes big and they go to the Zords. I have to agree with this. Also they turned the Elf faces to be just like Navi or whatever they're called in Avatar (never seen it) and I don't care for that either. The Quinari though are MUCH improved, makes me wonder what Sten would look like if you ever run across him again.

One of the things they kept from Awakening that I like is how much banter there with your party members as you wander around the areas. That's some of the best parts of the game. One thing I don't like is with the friend system it seems hard to get any of the party members (outside of your sibling if you use them a lot in the beginning) full one way or the other as they HAVE to be in your party for your conversation choices to influence them one way or another and the only time you can interact with them is in their homes, which is more limited than in Origins in the amount of conversations you can have with them.

Unless Act 2 and 3 are MUCH shorter, I don't see how people not reviewing the game spend less time in DA 2 than in Origins. You can zoom through it if you do nothing but main story quests, but if you do everything, it will be as lengthy as Origins. Also the games seperates every quest in your journal as you get it as either Main Story, Side Quest, Companion Quest, or Premium Content so it's much easier to organize.

Shipwreck,
I have not played the single player yet of Killzone 3 (only halfway through Killzone 2 SP) but I have played a decent amount of MP (level 17 out of 45.) The game freezes at least ONCE per night on me requiring a hard reset of my system. Also since patch 1.03 that came out last week, one out of 7 times when I boot the disk, it goes to a black screen (sound still going) that once again requires a hard reset of the console. If I didn't have friends still wanting to play this, I would have traded it back in to Gamestop before Sunday so I could have gotten $40 credit on it with their 60% bonus.

So frustrating Sony's first-party games, which are the strongest reason to purchase their console, are always so broken at launch (GT 5, MLB The Show, and now Killzone 3.) There are also issues on many third-party games (Bayonetta, BLOPS, Castlevania) that don't appear on the 360 versions that have to be patched and if you don't have broadband (which a lot of the country doesn't) then you're screwed. Yes 360 versions have issues also, but I don't remember a 360 game outside of The Last Remnant (which was bad both on 360 and PC) that just flat out ran horribly like Bayonetta first did on PS3, or erased your save files like Castlevania on PS3 before its patch.

Panel,
Still have 30 minutes left of the show but one thing I have to say as a listener since before episode 50 with Mrs. Cheapy and Mrs. Wombat is I miss the video clips you made from stories on the show during the 100's (Double Dragons, iFanboy, etc.) and the video clips from the shows in the 60-70's (Wombat gets his PS3, Vagina Clown, etc.) as it makes it seem like there aren't as many memorable moments since 200 and I don't think that's so, but outside of Cheapy's comments to Wombat on the E3 2010 episode, I can't remember any specific moments/conversations since episode 200.

Keep up the great work everyone.

[Blackout]

Actually, what they do is point out personal problems they have with the PS3, assume everyone else experiences the same problems, and ignore or downplay the similar issues that exist on the 360.

Then, they apparently only read the feedback that comes from frothing-at-the-mouth Sony fanboys who would rather die than play a 360, and ignore all the reasonable feedback that comes from people who enjoy both systems and who point out the inconsistencies and errors in some of their complaints. I guess that's funnier for the show, but it was disappointing that the genuinely interesting responses to their How to fix Sony podcast written by people like FriskyTanuki were just ignored.

Yeah, they really only select feedback that they can tackle easily, like in this episode. They make anyone who makes similar criticisms look like a moron, or they actively select certain parts of the feedback to make the person look stupid. The serious feedback is ignored and written off completely. Really disappointing.

[mrs. shipwreck]

So in your opinion should someone who hasn't played either Dragon Age start with Dragon Age origins or go right to Dragon Age II?


PS Great Show guys! :applause:

I would play Origins first, as it's fun to have your game imported into DA II and have the characters refer to stuff you did, etc... The graphics aren't as pretty but that story should be played first.

[koheed]

Did anyone else think of shipwreck as a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man yelling "UNBELIEVABLE!!!!"?

I thought of that and got a good laugh.

[MSUHitman]

I would play Origins first, as it's fun to have your game imported into DA II and have the characters refer to stuff you did, etc... The graphics aren't as pretty but that story should be played first.

I agree as well. Great story and introduction into that universe. It will help you understand the plights of Mages in that world with the Circle/Templars much more as the Circle is one of the key story elements in 2, while it's a prominent side story in Origins.

Wombat and Mrs. Shipwreck you should come visit us in the 360 DA 2 forum. If you need any help with the game, that should be your first place to go.

[Thomas96]

First of all Great Show!

Reference Killzone 3: Ship and Cheapy mentioned that it was missing something to put it over the top, but honestly, I don't think it was missing anything. Decent story, GREAT ACTION... and the most Satisfying Head-shots of any FPS. For both of you, the only thing that keeps this game from going over the top is due to it not being playable on the Xbox 360. Even if the greatest games can be improved upon.

To get your full enjoyment out of KIllzone 3, I suggest that you play Operations (online). Also, Guerrilla Games for future DLC needs to add more Operations missions/ scenarios, I think that this mode could end up being the game's bread and butter.

[KillerRamen]

I noticed that the 3D in Mortal Kombat was kinda weak as well. However, I checked the default settings and the 3D effects are set in the medium range and 3D brightness is turned off. I think Killzone 3's 3D default is set really low, but I adjusted it before I started playing. Now that I think about it, my TV's 2D-3D conversion default is also low for some reason. I guess they all figure it's better to set the effect low and let people turn it up.

Once I turned the 3D settings in Mortal Kombat all the way to the maximum it looked noticably better than the default. I definitely won't be getting it at launch (not my kind of game), but I think it's a neat feature and subtle enough that I think I could see myself using it.

So I guess with all 3D Games you just have to check the default settings and adjust it accordingly to your tastes.

[LiK]

For Cheapy.

http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars

[shipwreck]

First of all Great Show!

Reference Killzone 3: Ship and Cheapy mentioned that it was missing something to put it over the top, but honestly, I don't think it was missing anything. Decent story, GREAT ACTION... and the most Satisfying Head-shots of any FPS. For both of you, the only thing that keeps this game from going over the top is due to it not being playable on the Xbox 360. Even if the greatest games can be improved upon.

To get your full enjoyment out of KIllzone 3, I suggest that you play Operations (online). Also, Guerrilla Games for future DLC needs to add more Operations missions/ scenarios, I think that this mode could end up being the game's bread and butter.

1. I don't really play first-person shooters online much so my comments are entirely on the single player campaign.

2. Killzone 2 is one of my favorite first-person shooters of this generation. It's my second favorite PS3 exclusive behind Uncharted 2.

3. Killzone 3 would look worse on the 360 as the 360 has never produced graphics of Killzone 3's caliber.

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

5. Killzone 3 is a good game. Like nearly every other big title that has come out this year, it deserves its 85 Metascore. When Killzone 2 released in 2009, it garnered a Metacritic rating of 91, so I don't think I'm insane or alone in preferring Killzone 2 over Killzone 3.

6. I bought Killzone 3 with my own money because I wanted to play the game on the PlayStation 3 which I bought with my own money because I wanted to play PlayStation 3 games.

[Porksta]

Hey I got the same SAT score as CheapyD!

[apathylad]

Wombat's comment about the White Forest being exclusive to Pokemon White gave me a laugh, which I'm ashamed to admit. I read a disturbing comment the other day that pointed out how you can only collect cotton Pokemon in Pokemon Black. :cold:

[Sgt Barone]

sweet can't wait to listen!

[skadave]

It is obvious that Shipwreck does not have a kid cause there is NO WAY a three year old would enjoy dance central. You have to remember that in order to play a kinect game the person needs to stand in a particular spot for an extended period of time. A three year old will go to that spot, play the game for 10 seconds and then run around the room like a spaz. Plus the kinect is not very forgiving so a child (like my 3 year old daughter) will get frustrated pretty quickly. I have tried playing the kinect with my daughter with little success, she is just too young and impatient.

I am looking forward to the Sesame Street kinect game but i am a little concerned that the audience it is for might be too young to play it. The fact that Tim Schafer has children gives me some faith that he knows what he is doing. We shall see.

[bsesb2003]

All you guys had great scores -- what were your grades and class rank in college?

[mrangrypants]

I wonder if Wombat can name the supreme court case that declared 'Separate but equal' and the case that overruled legalized segregation. With out looking it up on google that is. :)

[Pacduck]

Cheapy,
I just went through the process of upgrading my PS3 hard drive. One thing you should know is that some games' save data does not transfer directly (such as the Little Big Planets, Assassin's Creed II [Not Brotherhood], DJ Hero [1]).
Also , you [I]WILL have to re-install everyone of your games again on the new hard drive to play them. That's all, otherwise, everything goes fairly smoothly.
But if you use the new Cloud Save, I'm sure most (if not all) of your saves will carry over.
Good luck!

[FriskyTanuki]

I guess Cheapy has enough expendable money to afford a 3DS for as little as he'll actually use it, though I guess I should've expected it since he loves 3D now. I wouldn't be surprised if the first two shows that he's had one are the last for at least a month or more before he gets a reason to talk about something new that he's played.

I'm also surprised that Shipwreck actually beat Pokemon, as he doesn't even bother with games that have a lot of content.

I'm guessing that you guys got the news about the perfect game in MLB 2K11 from Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/09/pro-wrestler-pitches-first-known-perfect-mlb-2k11-game-wins-not/), as they misreported the hell out of that story. The guy, who is better known as pro wrestler Stevie Richards, wasn't seriously trying to get a perfect game for the contest, as he knew the contest didn't start yet and wasn't following any of the rules (didn't tape the entire game from system startup and was playing on easy) since he was just playing for fun. So Joystiq just came up with the "He tried so hard to get a perfect game and was screwed over by 2K Sports" angle to fool everybody into thinking an injustice was committed, which they've been doing that a lot lately.

I don't see that story or anything else in the link dump, so you guys really need to make use of that part of the post to let people know what stories you're talking about, what games you talk about, and any sites you mention that people may not hear correctly or know the address.

Never had a problem with the driving line in GT5. Once you drive enough in racing sims, it's not hard to understand how to efficiently drive around a track without a driving line telling you everything.

Cheapy, you only need to back-up the hard drive to an external HDD (delete installs first) and then put a new HDD in and restore to that HDD.

You'll have to upgrade iPads when the games start taking advantage of the iPad 2 and become unplayable on the original iPad, Shipwreck.

Decent show.

[trip1eX]

It is obvious that Shipwreck does not have a kid cause there is NO WAY a three year old would enjoy dance central. You have to remember that in order to play a kinect game the person needs to stand in a particular spot for an extended period of time. A three year old will go to that spot, play the game for 10 seconds and then run around the room like a spaz. Plus the kinect is not very forgiving so a child (like my 3 year old daughter) will get frustrated pretty quickly. I have tried playing the kinect with my daughter with little success, she is just too young and impatient.

I am looking forward to the Sesame Street kinect game but i am a little concerned that the audience it is for might be too young to play it. The fact that Tim Schafer has children gives me some faith that he knows what he is doing. We shall see.


Dance Central also doesn't have a great young kids vibe to it.

And KInect is a pain in the ass to setup/configure/calibrate for kids. Try to tell a 4 yr old to move into the imaginary squares on the floor and stand still for a minute. You can't step into the camera view to guide him.

[trip1eX]

1. I don't really play first-person shooters online much so my comments are entirely on the single player campaign.

2. Killzone 2 is one of my favorite first-person shooters of this generation. It's my second favorite PS3 exclusive behind Uncharted 2.

3. Killzone 3 would look worse on the 360 as the 360 has never produced graphics of Killzone 3's caliber.

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

5. Killzone 3 is a good game. Like nearly every other big title that has come out this year, it deserves its 85 Metascore. When Killzone 2 released in 2009, it garnered a Metacritic rating of 91, so I don't think I'm insane or alone in preferring Killzone 2 over Killzone 3.

6. I bought Killzone 3 with my own money because I wanted to play the game on the PlayStation 3 which I bought with my own money because I wanted to play PlayStation 3 games.


7. PS3 Sucks

8. Nintendo is horrible

;)

[bredbu]

I guess Cheapy has enough expendable money to afford a 3DS for as little as he'll actually use it, though I guess I should've expected it since he loves 3D now. I wouldn't be surprised if the first two shows that he's had one are the last for at least a month or more before he gets a reason to talk about something new that he's played.

I'm also surprised that Shipwreck actually beat Pokemon, as he doesn't even bother with games that have a lot of content.

I'm guessing that you guys got the news about the perfect game in MLB 2K11 from Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/09/pro-wrestler-pitches-first-known-perfect-mlb-2k11-game-wins-not/), as they misreported the hell out of that story. The guy, who is better known as pro wrestler Stevie Richards, wasn't seriously trying to get a perfect game for the contest, as he knew the contest didn't start yet and wasn't following any of the rules (didn't tape the entire game from system startup and was playing on easy) since he was just playing for fun. So Joystiq just came up with the "He tried so hard to get a perfect game and was screwed over by 2K Sports" angle to fool everybody into thinking an injustice was committed, which they've been doing that a lot lately.

I don't see that story or anything else in the link dump, so you guys really need to make use of that part of the post to let people know what stories you're talking about, what games you talk about, and any sites you mention that people may not hear correctly or know the address.

Never had a problem with the driving line in GT5. Once you drive enough in racing sims, it's not hard to understand how to efficiently drive around a track without a driving line telling you everything.

Cheapy, you only need to back-up the hard drive to an external HDD (delete installs first) and then put a new HDD in and restore to that HDD.

You'll have to upgrade iPads when the games start taking advantage of the iPad 2 and become unplayable on the original iPad, Shipwreck.

Decent show.

you seem very angry

i thought it was a very good show

[FriskyTanuki]

you seem very angry

i thought it was a very good show
You assume wrong. You know what happens when you assume?

[whoknows]

1. I don't really play first-person shooters online much so my comments are entirely on the single player campaign.

2. Killzone 2 is one of my favorite first-person shooters of this generation. It's my second favorite PS3 exclusive behind Uncharted 2.

3. Killzone 3 would look worse on the 360 as the 360 has never produced graphics of Killzone 3's caliber.

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

5. Killzone 3 is a good game. Like nearly every other big title that has come out this year, it deserves its 85 Metascore. When Killzone 2 released in 2009, it garnered a Metacritic rating of 91, so I don't think I'm insane or alone in preferring Killzone 2 over Killzone 3.

6. I bought Killzone 3 with my own money because I wanted to play the game on the PlayStation 3 which I bought with my own money because I wanted to play PlayStation 3 games.

I think your post is just a fabrication of lies. First of all we all know you hate Sony too much to even have a PS3, and secondly I'm pretty sure you just looked at a screenshot and then decided it sucked right after that.

Bet you also sent Sony a hate e-mail and and cc'd it to Microsoft to show them your loyalty and support.

[K_G]

Cheapy, don't bother with the HD swapout on your PS3....Just pick up a new slim and then transfer your files and trade your old PS3 into sofmap. The slims are super quiet and by this stage, the odds are your controller battery is on a downward slope as well, so fix both problems and get a much bigger hard drive in one step. If they are paying top dollar for BC PS3 systems, why not get on that while your system is still in fully working condition?

[GTmaster39]

http://www.justin.tv/tokyo_yuta#/w/953650992

stay safe cheapyd!

live tsunami!

::grabs popcorn::

Edit: stream is down

[LiK]

Stay safe Cheapy.

[Chris_GTR1]

hey uhh.. is cheapy ok? i heard theres a 8.8 rated earthquake in japan.

[kliiez8]

Hope all is well Cheapy.

[FriskyTanuki]

hey uhh.. is cheapy ok? i heard theres a 8.8 rated earthquake in japan.
http://twitter.com/#!/CheapyD/status/46086358414016513

[Excast]

Just wanted to say that it is nice to hear cheapy and his family are ok. I honestly can't imagine going through an earthquake that powerful. My thoughts are with all the people of Japan and other nations dealing with both the quake and the tsunami.

[Conboy]

Guys the SAT/ACT have been around forever, I graduated high school back in 1986 in the Chicago area, and took both. The college I was going to only used the ACT as part of their evaluation process for acceptance not the SAT.

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

Holy $hit!! What were the chances that Tokyo would get hit by both an 8.9 magnitude EARTHQUAKE and a TSUNAMI?!?!?! There's only one thing that can simulatneously cause these two events ---- GODZILLA!!! He must have jumped out of the ocean (causing the TSUNAMI) and landed on Tokyo (causing the EARTHQUAKE).

CHEAPY!! YOU AND YOUR FAMIRY NEED TO REAVE NOW!! GODZIRRA IS ARIVE!!!!!

Cheapy, in all honesty, I'll be praying everyone in Japan and I hope you are not offended by my humor. . . . I'm sure it made Wombat raugh!! ROR!!!!

[trip1eX]

Cheapy, don't bother with the HD swapout on your PS3....Just pick up a new 360 slim and then transfer your files and trade your old PS3 in for credit. The slims are super quiet and by this stage, the odds are the RROD are on a downward slope as well, so fix both problems and get a much bigger hard drive in one step. If they are paying top dollar for BC PS3 systems, why not get on that while your system is still in fully working condition?

Fixed.

[ZombieJeebus]

Just heard about the tsunami on the drive to work this morning. I hope you and your family are ok Cheapy.

[KillerRamen]

1. I don't really play first-person shooters online much so my comments are entirely on the single player campaign.

2. Killzone 2 is one of my favorite first-person shooters of this generation. It's my second favorite PS3 exclusive behind Uncharted 2.

3. Killzone 3 would look worse on the 360 as the 360 has never produced graphics of Killzone 3's caliber.

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

5. Killzone 3 is a good game. Like nearly every other big title that has come out this year, it deserves its 85 Metascore. When Killzone 2 released in 2009, it garnered a Metacritic rating of 91, so I don't think I'm insane or alone in preferring Killzone 2 over Killzone 3.

6. I bought Killzone 3 with my own money because I wanted to play the game on the PlayStation 3 which I bought with my own money because I wanted to play PlayStation 3 games.

Wait a second... A game called "Killzone 3" was supposed to have a plot? I thought the randomness of killing space Nazis in various stereoscropic 3D zones was the whole point of Killzone 3D. :-k

Either way, I had a blast playing it and I really don't disagree with anything you're saying. Being the first Killzone game I ever really played, I just didn't expect anything other than a big spetacle of a shooter whose story only served as a device to kill more space Nazis.

It does suck that some people ran into some bad bugs. The only bug I experienced was when one of my helper dudes wouldn't get out of cover to open a door so I could go kill more space Nazis. I killed that lazy bastard and brought him back to life. Oddly enough, that seemed to work and I went on with my game. :lol:

I did find it kinda odd that the entire Nazi planet apparently has only one space Nazi woman who may or may not already be dead by the start of the game since she only appears in one random flashback. Not that I really care, she should be dead now.

[Monsta Mack]

Wow thats gone a be a helluva recovery for Japan. I hope all is well :(

[life.exe]

Holy $hit!! What were the chances that Tokyo would get hit by both an 8.9 magnitude EARTHQUAKE and a TSUNAMI?!?!?! There's only one thing that can simulatneously cause these two events ---- GODZILLA!!! He must have jumped out of the ocean (causing the TSUNAMI) and landed on Tokyo (causing the EARTHQUAKE).

CHEAPY!! YOU AND YOUR FAMIRY NEED TO REAVE NOW!! GODZIRRA IS ARIVE!!!!!

Cheapy, in all honesty, I'll be praying everyone in Japan and I hope you are not offended by my humor. . . . I'm sure it made Wombat raugh!! ROR!!!!

I know you were making a joke, but you know earthquakes create tsunamis on a regular basis. It is kinda expected that after a major earthquake there will be a tsunami.

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

I know you were making a joke, but you know earthquakes create tsunamis on a regular basis. It is kinda expected that after a major earthquake there will be a tsunami.

life.exe,

I appreicate the information. I majored in Finance and never had to take a Physical Science class so I have no idea how a Tsunami is created. I guess its safe to say that I can get a good look at a T-bone steak by sticking my head up a butcher's ass, but I'd rather take the bull's word on it . . . . No, wait, it would have to be your bull! . . . Oh MAN!

[Thomas96]

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

5. Killzone 3 is a good game. Like nearly every other big title that has come out this year, it deserves its 85 Metascore. When Killzone 2 released in 2009, it garnered a Metacritic rating of 91, so I don't think I'm insane or alone in preferring Killzone 2 over Killzone 3.

6. I bought Killzone 3 with my own money because I wanted to play the game on the PlayStation 3 which I bought with my own money because I wanted to play PlayStation 3 games.


[#4 and 5] -
Obviously Killzone 3 borrows from COD, but I don't have a problem with it; because they're using the elements that they borrowed the right way.(A bad example would be Developer Level 5 making Lair [a dragon game] with the same exact mission types from their own game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron) Killzone 3's scenes (snow scene, mech scene, jungle scene) were done in the context of Killzone 3's story. Why where they in the jungle; they were in hiding. Why were they being stealthy; it was a recon mission. Why were you in the Snow; you were in route to Narville. They used the scenes / scenarios to tell the story, and yes its similar to COD, but we're talking about another linear FPS war story. There's bound to be similarities.

"Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the time-line and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences." Are you serious.. you mean to tell me you can't follow this simple story... we only talking about a 6 month jump. Did you even notice Rico's new look? (which was used to show that he had been away for 6 months) Like I said before, every action sequence is done to progress the story. Killzone 3's story is easily dismissed as not good, but if you're really paying attention to the characters and what's going on, then you'll find that the story is decent. There's nothing random about any of the action sequences. I don't understand how you could even conclude that that the storytelling "became muddled in random action sequences;" That is one of those dumb reviewer lines that are typically used to unjustly criticize a game. The developers choose to tell the story in a particular fashion, and because you didn't follow it (because I know that you could have followed the story if you choose to.) you want to use that to criticize the game and its action sequences. Pay attention to the story and it'll be perfectly clear how each action sequence tells killzone 3's story.

Guerrilla Games' use of the Call of Duty's campaign style doesn't hurt the game (its a formula that works). IMO its like a developer using the Unreal Engine.. all the games that use the unreal engine.. all have a similar look to them (i.e. Wolverine Origins, Enslaved, Army of two 40th day, etc.). There's no knock against them for using a formula that works. Just like the example that you gave reference Torchlight's system of loot gathering works well and if a developer were to take that and implement it into another game you wouldn't criticize them for doing so.


[#6] - Ship you purchase every fucking thing! What system didn't you buy? or What games don't you buy? Should all the CAGs that enjoy the Sony platform rejoice because you decided to include a PS3 exclusive in your monthly hoarding of all(or majority of) the newly released games for the month?!

[Blackout]

Stay safe Cheapy and family.

[shipwreck]

I didn't say I didn't understand the story. I just don't think it is presented in a manner that makes Killzone 3 an interesting narrative. I like the Killzone universe, but I'm almost indifferent to the plight of the individual ISA soldiers. In fact, I find they develop the Hellghans better than the protagonists. The story in Killzone 3 just doesn't flow well, with repeated fade to blacks at the end of most sections and seemingly random jumps into new varieties of gameplay mechanics.

Look at how well something like Uncharted 2 transitions between varying gameplay experiences and I think it's apparent where Killzone 3 needs to improve. You even say the story was "decent". Well, in 2011 the story needs to be better than decent for a game to really stand out to me. So far this year, Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm have done a much better job of crafting stories and characters that are engaging while at the same time having really great game mechanics.

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

I didn't say I didn't understand the story. I just don't think it is presented in a manner that makes Killzone 3 an interesting narrative. I like the Killzone universe, but I'm almost indifferent to the plight of the individual ISA soldiers. In fact, I find they develop the Hellghans better than the protagonists. The story in Killzone 3 just doesn't flow well, with repeated fade to blacks at the end of most sections and seemingly random jumps into new varieties of gameplay mechanics.

Look at how well something like Uncharted 2 transitions between varying gameplay experiences and I think it's apparent where Killzone 3 needs to improve. You even say the story was "decent". Well, in 2011 the story needs to be better than decent for a game to really stand out to me. So far this year, Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm have done a much better job of crafting stories and characters that are engaging while at the same time having really great game mechanics.

Shipwreck, let's consider the following stats: 1.) I have never met you though I have been to Cincinatti on a number of occasions 2.) You, Wombat and Cheapy produce a very fun, entertaining, informative and free podcast. 3.) You have played a ridiculous amount of video games. 4.) your friend Wombat seems to think handjobs are cool and 5.) You're a red head. Ok, now considering all these stats, I would have to say that you are the worst gaming analyst ever! You are so bad that I'm going to spend at least 10 minutes fuming over your reviews then spend another 30 minutes carefully crafting my acidic response! The hairs on my ballsack are better at analyzing games than you! As for your hatred of the PS3, good god all mighty! Don't you dare present reason and logic in your opinions! Don't you know that I don't give a crap that you only state your opinion! I only care that your opinion alligns with mine, and if it doesn't, well, then let the Sabin BUMRUSH begin!!! Even though your opinions have no direct impact on my life, I'm still going to hate your reviews. Maybe if your reviews involved more handjobs, then we'd all post great things on this thread, right wombat ;)!!!!!!

[4thHorseman]

4. IMO, Killzone 3 suffers by mirroring the campaign after the COD Old Spice school of game design. (Now I'm in a Mech suit, now I'm in snow world, now I'm using a turret on a hovercraft, now I'm in a jungle, now I'm being stealthy, now I have a jet pack). Throw in the multiple jumps forward and back in the timeline and the storytelling becomes muddled in random action sequences.

I don't remember much timeline jumps, then the main one after the "big" reveal at the very beginning of the game. Other than that, I thought it was very straightforward. As for mirroring the COD design, I also don't really see the problem. While it can get old, if the game is fun I don't see the problem. Red Dead Redemption had the same design as GTA, and while I hated GTA, I loved RDR. The missions I felt were more fun, but the mission structure as a whole didn't bother me although it's been the same for many a games now. But I agree, KZ3 is just an alright game. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Fun to play but nothing I would see myself playing through twice.

And since everyone seems to be excited for Skyrim, can someone explain to me why I should be excited for it? I could not get into Oblivion or the fallout games. I found them boring. The idea of stealing random stuff and being bogged down by it was frustrating but yet appealing to others for some reason, nothing attracted me to the world, I found the people and voicework to be terrible and stiff, and the combat was unbelievably bad IMO.

[Kung Fu ZEPHYR]

I don't remember much timeline jumps, then the main one after the "big" reveal at the very beginning of the game. Other than that, I thought it was very straightforward. As for mirroring the COD design, I also don't really see the problem. While it can get old, if the game is fun I don't see the problem. Red Dead Redemption had the same design as GTA, and while I hated GTA, I loved RDR. The missions I felt were more fun, but the mission structure as a whole didn't bother me although it's been the same for many a games now. But I agree, KZ3 is just an alright game. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Fun to play but nothing I would see myself playing through twice.

And since everyone seems to be excited for Skyrim, can someone explain to me why I should be excited for it? I could not get into Oblivion or the fallout games. I found them boring. The idea of stealing random stuff and being bogged down by it was frustrating but yet appealing to others for some reason, nothing attracted me to the world, I found the people and voicework to be terrible and stiff, and the combat was unbelievably bad IMO.

I think its safe to say that if you did not enjoy Elderscrolls or Fallout, then you will not enjoy Skyrim. IMO, there were three very appealing elements to Oblivion: 1.)The complete absense of a linear plot 2.)Almost limitless control over the direction/development of your character and 3.) Facial and body structure/design. Those three components were unlike any other console RPG I've ever played. As for the mechanics/graphics (i.e. "people and voicework to be terrible and stiff"), yes, they were somewhat primative. However, you must keep in mind that this game launched in 2005/06. Game technology wasn't the same back then as it is today. Actually, I think Oblivion was the first major RPG for the new generation consoles (360/PS3) but I could be mistaken.

I love the game so I am very biased. Here's a non-biased opinion: gamerankings.com rated Oblivion as the 4th best RPG of all time (93.79% rating). The top three are Mass Effect 2 - 95.66%; Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic - 94.25% ; Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - 94.00%. Fifth place is Final Fantasy IX - 93.32%. Also, gamerankings.com doesn't give the score. Rather, they average the scores given to each game based on the reviews from several major gaming critics. On a side note, they consider The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) as the greatest game of all time (97.48%) followed by Super Mario Galaxy (97.46%).

Anyway, I hope that was helpful.

[4thHorseman]

I think its safe to say that if you did not enjoy Elderscrolls or Fallout, then you will not enjoy Skyrim. IMO, there were three very appealing elements to Oblivion: 1.)The complete absense of a linear plot 2.)Almost limitless control over the direction/development of your character and 3.) Facial and body structure/design. Those three components were unlike any other console RPG I've ever played. As for the mechanics/graphics (i.e. "people and voicework to be terrible and stiff"), yes, they were somewhat primative. However, you must keep in mind that this game launched in 2005/06. Game technology wasn't the same back then as it is today. Actually, I think Oblivion was the first major RPG for the new generation consoles (360/PS3) but I could be mistaken.

I love the game so I am very biased. Here's a non-biased opinion: gamerankings.com rated Oblivion as the 4th best RPG of all time (93.79% rating). The top three are Mass Effect 2 - 95.66%; Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic - 94.25% ; Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - 94.00%. Fifth place is Final Fantasy IX - 93.32%. Also, gamerankings.com doesn't give the score. Rather, they average the scores given to each game based on the reviews from several major gaming critics. On a side note, they consider The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) as the greatest game of all time (97.48%) followed by Super Mario Galaxy (97.46%).

Anyway, I hope that was helpful.

Any and all input is helpful. I REAAAALLY want to like these games, but every time I try I just feel let down.

And it doesn't help I play them a few years after release. Perhaps if it's brand new it may help. I'll probably at least gamefly it and give it a shot. Perhaps as a new release it'll be more impressive to me than 3-4 years after it was released.

[sdp]

Shipwreck, many Pokemon players will tell you that the actual game begins once the main quest is over, similar to how a FPS main attraction isn't the campaign but the multiplayer. Maybe it isn't for you and thats ok, but theres a lot more depth to Pokemon than just finishing the main quest.

Cheapy, I also think the childsplay is a good reason to nominate you as CAGvillain, you ranted about how it was all for charity and how other sites didn't post it, well its no their job to promote your business model. I mean every twitter follower you got was a potential person clicking many of your CAG affiliated amazon links which you get a % of. So don't act like its you had nothing to gain and it was all for charity.

[Thomas96]

I didn't say I didn't understand the story. I just don't think it is presented in a manner that makes Killzone 3 an interesting narrative. I like the Killzone universe, but I'm almost indifferent to the plight of the individual ISA soldiers. In fact, I find they develop the Hellghans better than the protagonists. The story in Killzone 3 just doesn't flow well, with repeated fade to blacks at the end of most sections and seemingly random jumps into new varieties of gameplay mechanics.

Look at how well something like Uncharted 2 transitions between varying gameplay experiences and I think it's apparent where Killzone 3 needs to improve. You even say the story was "decent". Well, in 2011 the story needs to be better than decent for a game to really stand out to me. So far this year, Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm have done a much better job of crafting stories and characters that are engaging while at the same time having really great game mechanics.

Killzone 3 has a very point A to Point B story line. I do think that Killzone 3 could have had a better story. But the story that the devs utilized for Killzone 3 was straight forward, and we'll just have to just agree to disagree about the flow of the game. Uncharted 2 has the actions sequences the same as Killzone 3, but the difference is that Uncharted 2's story was more intricate. There was plot twists, betrayals; there was the 3-way love story between Elena, Drake, and Chloe. If Killzone 3 had a intricate story like that, then it would have made for a better product. However, a simple summer movie Point A to Point B story, doesn't hurt the "Game" because regardless of the story line, its still boils down to a set of levels consisting of get to this area, drive and shoot here, be stealthy here.. so on and so forth.

Every game is just a set of levels and action sequences which introduce sets of gameplay mechanics. What makes Killzone 3's set more [seemingly] random than the next game? In the end who cares... what really matters, and what I think should be the focus is how well the developers executed each of the levels and its action sequences. Was it fun?!

[Kazaganthi]

I'm with Cheapy, must see a video of Shipwreck mildly upset when coaching and getting a Technical Foul. He is always so calm on the CAGcast it's hard to imagine him losing it on the court. You could say UNBELIEVABLE

[Curufinwe]

I got a 1580 on my SAT. I just got a college acceptance letter today in the mail. Suck it nerds.

I think that male nerds are the only ones who will be sucking anything of yours at college, X BRO 420.

[Microshock]

Good show! Also, when my comments from the last show were being read, I just wanted to rephrase everything I wrote.

I wasn't trying to sound like a PS3 fanboy, i'm not. (Just look at that gaming card down there)
None of us should really try to influence how much you should talk about a game because that creates forced conversation.

Sorry to hear about what happened in Japan, i want to hear it from a somewhat first person perspective next week.

[grap3fruitman]

Why does it seem like most of your listeners get passionately upset when their favorite game isn't your favorite game?

[Bloss_21]

Enjoyed the podcast, as always good job!

[Panther1484]

So, I had it made up in my mind that I was going to write feedback on how much of an asshole you are for your "no one with a 1360 went to Pitt" comment and how much you deserve the CAG Villain with that statement. Pitt has had a lot of notable alumni and I'm sure they had an SAT score as high, or even higher then Wombat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Pittsburgh_people

But as I listen to the podcast on Friday afternoon, I heard your "please don't worry about me during earthquakes" comment during the CAGbag. Way to foreshadow a national disaster baldy... How about you say I'm gonna hit the lottery? I'll buy CAG for a couple mil if I do...

But seriously, I hope your country recovers quickly and returns to normal life soon. Stay safe.

Wombat's special gloves...lol

[dohmai]

Awesome! Thanks for taking my suggestion for holding a contest for guest host! What a crazy coincidence that Ship won.. but I really hope I win next week!

Thanks for bringing up my suggestion on the show though! The only thing is that when Wombat read my comment he made it seem like I have poor control of the English language (perhaps my post last week was poorly constructed?).

So I just wanted to clear that up.. I can speak and write in English! I got a 1520 on my SAT I when it was out of 1600 (before the writing component which changed the score to max 2400 as it is today). I went to Berkeley where I majored in.. you guessed it.. English! Then I attend Columbia University where I received my Master's in.. yep.. English! And three guesses as to what my current profession is... yep I drive a truck!

Another note.. been watching the Japan EQ coverage... very devastating with the tsunami.. stay safe out there Cheapy!

[Panther1484]

I went to Berkeley where I majored in.. you guessed it.. English! Then I attend Columbia University where I received my Master's in.. yep.. English! And three guesses as to what my current profession is... yep I drive a truck!

Yeah us English majors seem to find the same thing when they graduate. No jobs for our degrees. :(

[Kylearan]

Ship - watch out! Sounded like Cheapy and Wombat are trying to get you to buy the Mortal Kombat controller. I could hear them plotting away...

[IceHogs27]

Great Show!!! Just wanted to let you guys know that for the MLB 2K11 Contest the reason why they are having the contest on April 1st because they want you to play the major league rosters instead of pitching against minor league players.

[dohmai]

I second Ship on the stripping screws on the PS3 HD! That stupid blue screw that you initially remove when you take off the side panel.. I stripped that too. Ended up using a drill to remove it. Despite its shiny blue coating, the screw serves no real purpose and you do not need it to hold the HD tray in place.

Also Cheapy I do suggest upgrading to a slim if you don't need the BC. That's what I did.. ebayed the launch 60gb. It has a great built-in transfer system too.. easily transfers your PSN accounts, saved games, basically everything from your old to new system..

It's so easy, even I can do it! You know, because I'm so stupid that I majored in English and will never advance my life and stuff like that.

[sonofhotpie]

I'm still having trouble understanding Cheapy, but I don't think it's because of his microphone; I think it's because he's got Shipwreck's nuts in his mouth. I mean, seriously: the whole discussion about SAT scores was essentially an excuse for Cheapy to compliment his man-crush while dissing Wombat. I like Ship as much as the next guy, and there's no doubt the Cagcast is better with him than without him, but it's amazing how gay Cheapy is for the guy. Maybe Wombat could hook him up with a personalized ad.

[thakingrocka]

I quit Contra 4 when I realized that the auto-fire was slower than rapid presses and that rapid presses would be required. I couldn't understand how they could fail to see that as a problem on a handheld.

With Gran Turismo 5, wouldn't it be strange for me to turn my head to the side to see the side view mirrors when I need to look dead ahead at the screen at all times? :P

FYI, there is no such device as the iTouch. It's called the iPod Touch.

Cheapy, I think Shipwreck's sounds during your mention of inquiries as to your well-being kind of said it all. We won't know if you're in trouble if something happens. Who's to say the internet or phones will work. Be proactive about it, and when we hear nothing, we'll start to worry.

BTW, in high school, nearly all of my friends scored about 100 points higher on the SAT than I did. I think it was owing mostly to the fact that they all had test prep classes, while I went in cold. Even so, I got in to every college I applied to.
Well done, Ship. When I heard 32, I was walking along the street on my way to the gym, and actually said out loud, "Holy fuck! That's good." I got a funny look or two.

[Duck in a Pond]

great show guys!

[TC]

Cheapy do you know this guy?

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8804/cheapywannabe.th.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/cheapywannabe.jpg/)

[wune]

When I heard Cheapy talking about the quake (before the 8.9 one that has since occurred) that made his building wobble for 4 minutes, and he said something along the lines of "you'll know when shit hits the fan" I burst out laughing. Does this make me evil?

[GTmaster39]

Cheapy do you know this guy?

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8804/cheapywannabe.th.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/cheapywannabe.jpg/)

Lol, that's like asking if all black people know each other.

[wune]

Lol, that's like asking if all black people know each other.

but... they're both bald!

[io]

So I just wanted to clear that up.. I can speak and write in English! I got a 1520 on my SAT I when it was out of 1600 (before the writing component which changed the score to max 2400 as it is today). I went to Berkeley where I majored in.. you guessed it.. English! Then I attend Columbia University where I received my Master's in.. yep.. English! And three guesses as to what my current profession is... yep I drive a truck!


:lol: Thanks for clearing that up for me (the 1600 vs 2400 thing). I keep seeing all these what I thought were high scores thrown around (I didn't listen to the podcast so I don't know the source of all of this) and I was somewhat surprised. Of course, to me it is and always has been out of 1600. So, people are talking about 1300 or 1500 out of 2400? That gets you into college nowadays? Really?

Anyway, not much point here except that I did not know the scoring had changed and I'm procrastinating doing my real work. Oh yeah, and I also went to Berkeley and had a similar score (won't say exactly what ;)). What was odd about the SAT was that I screwed up the first time and retook it - got exactly the same math score, but bumped my verbal by 100. In any case, that was enough to get me into Cal, which, at the time, was virtually free (I hear it is way crazy expensive now). I applied all over the country and did not have to take the ACT - that was kind of an oddball test back then that I was aware of, but wasn't something anyone I knew ever took.

In any case, I'm thinking about this stuff again for the first time in a long time since I have a daughter who is 4 years from college and 4 more kids after her. I may have to sell all my games and systems just to afford one textbook for each of them...

[io]

I got a 1580 on my SAT. I just got a college acceptance letter today in the mail. Suck it nerds.

Even if that were true it would mean I still got more action then you ever will.

LOL English majors almost as bad as going to college to study art or womens studies. Thank god I'm smart enough to get a degree that actually advances you in life.

Yeah you wasted your college education big time bro. should have studied something better.

Vasectomies sure do pay for them selfs, there really needs to be an episode of mad money on how much profit they generate.


Wow, you really are an asset to CAG. I predict you will have a long and productive stay here!

[FriskyTanuki]

Wow, you really are an asset to CAG. I predict you will have a long and productive stay here!
Just read his post history here and check out his past works of art on the Bungie forums:

http://seventhcolumn.bungie.net/Search/default.aspx?q=SoFreshSoCash&g=5

[io]

Well, that didn't take long. Shrike figured out he was the return of a previously banned user so he's now gone again. He wasn't going to last long anyway, previously banned user or not :lol:.

Now maybe tonight I'll listen to this here podcast - it has been a long time since I listened to one.

[serenitygod]

I am not a fanboy of PS3 but, I hate that others are saying for PS3 fanboys to shut-up!
Voice your opinion when u think ur right. Wombat U should definitely reply to my email it has the Brink comments.

[Lobster]

Cheapy, I know you take a lot of abuse on these boards so I want to make it clear that I respect you as a person and appreciate your work.

That said, you can't be that surprised to find that Wombat and Shipwreck are - by only one metric - "smarter" than you when you make no secret of your appreciation for shock humor (including Howard Stern) and spend the entire pokemon segment making up phallic pokemon names.

Congratulations on your Saint's Row 3 role, by the way. I can't wait to play it, and I promise to try not to kill any pedestrians with your voice. :)

[jarmandoo]

Did you guys get this kind of treatment? We all know you should have! http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/711065/nintendo-sent-over-10-girls-to-give-us-a-3ds-can-we-keep-them/

[Thomas96]

Did you guys get this kind of treatment? We all know you should have! http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/711065/nintendo-sent-over-10-girls-to-give-us-a-3ds-can-we-keep-them/

damn! I'll take the red head on the left!

[FriskyTanuki]

Did you guys get this kind of treatment? We all know you should have! http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/711065/nintendo-sent-over-10-girls-to-give-us-a-3ds-can-we-keep-them/

Since they're all married, they'd probably rather have the giant DS sandwich: http://www.1up.com/features/nintendo-delivers-large-lunch

[MikeydCT]

It is very freaky that in the CAG bag Cheapy talk about when earth quakes happen in Japan