For new releases you missed Wordament for the web, the first browser based game with Xbox Live achievements. Free. You just need to sign into Xbox.com. Nice time waster if you're at your desk. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/marketplace/product/wordament

One of the nice features of Skulls of the Shogun you forgot to mention, not only does it have cross platform multiplayer, it also saves your campaign across platforms. Automatically, nothing to login to. So play a level on your phone and pick up where you left on Xbox 360 when you get home.

Don't mind the haters Wombat
You are the wonder of the year.

Also I demand the return of CAG foreplay

Well, I was disappointed that CheapyD nor Wombat or Shipwreck didn't mentioned in episode 311 that Pandora's Tower was announced for the Wii considering that the episode had a bit of Nintendo talk due to the Nintendo Direct episode. With that considered, do you still keep your old consoles and wait until the publishers stop releasing games from the previous console before some if not all move on to the next generation of consoles. Also, did you three had a chance to play Xenoblade Chronicles (GameStop exclusive) and/or The Last Story that came to the US that in a way that a group called Operation Rainfall had heavily supported in getting Nintendo to release these games?

I think Shipwreck is the only one who actually plays more video games outside of an Xbox/PS3.

Advertisement

Register for free to remove this ad

Originally Posted by testudo I don't even remember asking that question. I actually asked a more relevant question VERY RECENTLY, but that wasn't answered EITHER... http://cdnroot.cheapassgamer.com/for...71382&page=306 maybe i'll wait another 100 episodes or so. ALSO: Cheapy you can play Ni no Kuni on Normal then switch to easy if you are grinding too much.

and I don't remember being signed in to your account when I posted it, but myself, I felt it was relevant, especially with the potential PS4 anouncement.

I fell asleep during "Watch This Bitches". Don't shoehorn the segment into every episode if you have to talk about some junk kindle book you read, yes READ. For the love of gaming, that is not a suggestion to make a what did you read segment.

I like Wombat and what he adds to the show. What's with all the "gamer cred" upset with Wombat, who played X-com, Dishonored, Far Cry 3, etc. Until he says "Oblivion and Skyrim owe GTA for the open world/sandbox". Guess he forgot Elder Scrolls 1, 2, and 3 exist. Or any other PC game that invented the genre before GTA was in development or still on GTA1/2 which were top down driving/shooting games.

Love it when you 3 discuss gaming news and share your opinions on it. So while you didn't have much "What did you play" and "What's coming out", still enjoyed the episode.

Honestly I mostly listen to the CAGcast for the banter between Cheapy D, Wombat, and Shipwreck and the game discussion is just a byproduct. I would consider myself a "gamer" and I don't play nearly as many games as even Wombat. Life and other interests just get in the way sometimes.

Keep in mind also that no one on the CAGcast gets paid to play games, just to make sexual innuendos.

Originally Posted by Kazaganthi I fell asleep during "Watch This Bitches". Don't shoehorn the segment into every episode if you have to talk about some junk kindle book you read, yes READ. For the love of gaming, that is not a suggestion to make a what did you read segment. I like Wombat and what he adds to the show. What's with all the "gamer cred" upset with Wombat, who played X-com, Dishonored, Far Cry 3, etc. Until he says "Oblivion and Skyrim owe GTA for the open world/sandbox". Guess he forgot Elder Scrolls 1, 2, and 3 exist. Or any other PC game that invented the genre before GTA was in development or still on GTA1/2 which were top down driving/shooting games. Love it when you 3 discuss gaming news and share your opinions on it. So while you didn't have much "What did you play" and "What's coming out", still enjoyed the episode.

No reason to be an asshole as that wasn't what I said. I said that in this generation the open world game is better than it ever has been and that GTA isn't the only game in town. At its peak GTA was the best open world experience out there and games like skyrim and oblivion owe a lot to GTA success.

On the "Far Cry 3 is racist" thing...

I think the most notable thing about this discussion is that first and foremost Far Cry 3 is a videogame. And pretty much all videogames (particularly RPG and open world games) suffer from the "completely useless NPC syndrome". It doesn't matter if you're on a tropcial island, fighting dragons in Skyrim or doing fetch quests on the Citadel in Mass Effect; the one pervasive rule is that all NPCs are useless and they would die of starvation if the player wasn't there to go herd their stupid sheep.

Personally I find that twisting this into a discussion about race simply because it's taking place in a country where the natives are predominantly non-white is a bit tedious. But then again, I'm a priviliged white man, so what do I know of injustice?

BTW I didn't get the impression that Wombat was claiming the game to be racist. He more seemed to bring the topic up and when both Ship and Cheapy said "no" it was pretty much discussion over.

Originally Posted by testudo I don't even remember asking that question. I actually asked a more relevant question VERY RECENTLY, but that wasn't answered EITHER... http://cdnroot.cheapassgamer.com/for...71382&page=306

Do you mean web/gaming journalism? I think that topic has been pretty much beaten to death on the Cagcast. The whole 'Xbox Pure' thing pretty much nailed it.

Show Notes

00:45 Sony 2013 Announcement Announcement
09:30 Show Feedback
13:30 Watch This: Dark Knight Returns part II
14:45 Read This (?): Billion Dollar Batman
17:30 Watch This: Paul Williams is still alive
18:45 New Releases
18:45 Skulls of the Shogun
21:00 Balloon Fight
21:30 Hitman HD Trilogy
22:45 Proteus
24:00 GTA V - which consoles
28:30 Devil May Cry
33:30 Medal of Honor is done
38:00 Steambox vs Apple
39:30 Ni No Kuni
43:15 Spyhunter (Vita)
46:15 Killzone for the Vita
48:30 Nintendo reduces target numbers
49:00 Temple Run 2
50:15 Cagbag
50:15 Raid: The Redemption / Dredd
51:15 Loyalty between console generations
57:30 Why no big summer releases? $$$

Hi Cheapy,

I saw Dredd, a movie that you recommended last podcast and it was great. It's too bad it didn't do that well in America. I'd love a sequel. Great show, as always.

Originally Posted by Falcongamer Well, I was disappointed that CheapyD nor Wombat or Shipwreck didn't mentioned in episode 311 that Pandora's Tower was announced for the Wii considering that the episode had a bit of Nintendo talk due to the Nintendo Direct episode. With that considered, do you still keep your old consoles and wait until the publishers stop releasing games from the previous console before some if not all move on to the next generation of consoles. Also, did you three had a chance to play Xenoblade Chronicles (GameStop exclusive) and/or The Last Story that came to the US that in a way that a group called Operation Rainfall had heavily supported in getting Nintendo to release these games?

Shipwreck mentioned that he liked Xenoblade before, but I'm not sure how far he got into it.

Originally Posted by apathylad Shipwreck mentioned that he liked Xenoblade before, but I'm not sure how far he got into it.

Played about 30 or 40 hours of it.

The banter between the 3 is what makes the show for me, which is why when they are doing a duo show it feels off. It even feels off when one of them steps away from the mic to do something while the other two keep discussing....or making fun of the guy who is away.

Regarding last week's Wii U discussion:

You guys know Nintendo releases games when they are ready. They don't release major franchises according to the calendar.

Yeah they announced things early but not like everyone didnt know a Smash Bros, Super Mario 3d and Zelda isn't coming. Besides if they don't say something then the internets will assume the worst. Never mind that they will be asked the is it coming out question 10 million times over.

WW HD ... that game is coming this year because it is a relatively quick project to ramp up. Most of the work was already done. Why was SMB ready for launch? Was probably originally a Wii title and given the 2d nature of it was an easy ramp up. NintendoLand a launch title because it a sort of a collection of tech demos fleshed out as mini-games. Pikmin 3 was also most likely originally a Wii title. They had said a new Pikmin was coming to the Wii. It didnt show. And look Pikmin3 was in the Wii U launch window. And expect that Yoshi game to come out this year. Another easier ramp up given the 2d nature and the Yarn engine is mature.

Notice the 3ds had a couple redos early on to help fill the schedule. These are projects they can satisfactorily complete in a shorter amount of time.

Oh and why pick on Nintendo for announcing games early. Everyone does it. Pick a game that isn't an annual sequel and chances are you heard about it years in advAnce. Why pick on them for software console problems saying users are beta testing it? You can say that about any console on the market now. Are early adopters ever not beta testing?

The Wii U launched with a Mario franchise whose last version that sold 20+ million copies on the Wii. Is there really a better Mario game to launch with?

Too much doom and gloom. Let it breathe.

I've tried to stay away from any discussion of Ni No Kuni so as not to have the story spoiled for me. I also wanted to discover secrets and such on my own. I haven't glanced at the CAG thread at all. But after listening to this CAGcast and hearing about the 6.5 from Polygon and then seeing a few other low scores on Metacritic I decided to read a few reviews (now that I'm near the end of the game).

And wow - I didn't realize that "grinding" was an issue in Ni No Kuni. In fact my impressions have been that it is remarkably free of grinding in comparison to most JRPGs. If anything, the game is a little too easy. Yet here I just read a few of the more negative reviews (The Escapist and Polygon) and both complain about the grinding and the slow pace of receiving menu options. I'd actually argue that the pacing is really good. Now, if you just wanted to power through the story as quickly as possible then you might have some problems. But if you take on the majority of the sidequests you will be fine for the bosses. And parting out menu options across the first half of the game is a a great way to entice the gamer with all that potential (what will that "?" reveal next!).

The review on The Escapist says you might make it through a boss only to be wiped out by some random encounter. Well, sure, once you can fly around you can land yourself in some tough areas mid-game. But that's what I always love about JRPG's done right - the freedom to explore and get yourself into a real mess. But none of those areas are necessary for the story - it is just extra stuff. Both Dragon Quest VIII (my favorite PS2 game) and Xenoblade Chronicles have this same feature. The main story and boss battles are definitely on the easy side in this game though. I'm by no means a "pro" gamer so I wonder about these reviewers who had so much trouble with the game.

Plus the game does not have random encounters - all enemies are visible and can for the most part be avoided if you want. I see the term "random encounters" thrown around pretty loosely. To me random encounters are when you see no monsters on the map and as you walk around battles start up at random. I think DQ VIII was this way and it got pretty annoying though I loved the game in spite of that. Lost Odyssey was like that too. Ni No Kuni is definitely not like that.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear Shipwreck is enjoying the game. While I wouldn't quite put it over Xenoblade Chronicles, it is definitely one of my favorite RPGs this gen, Japanese or not.

The great thing about this game is that my kids (from my 3 year old to my 5 year old to my 10 year old) all beg me to play this game so I've been able to put in a ton of hours on it. I can play it in the evening when they'd normally be watching Netflix or otherwise hogging the TV. I've made a lot more progress than I normally would on a game that I'd have to play by myself late at night after everyone is asleep.

So, yeah, Cheapy, even though it requires a bit of a time commitment, it is something that I'm sure both your wife and Tai would like to watch. So maybe consider it at some point...

@CagCrew

Hey guys have you been following/heard of something that microsoft has been working on for the xbox called illumiRoom? IGN published an article on the techLINK and it certainly appears promising. Have you guys had any "hands on" time with this new tech during a trade show or whatnit? My take on the illumiRoom is the tech looks very cool and it brings us one step closer towards playing games in an environment like Star Trek's Holideck. I think it is safe to assume that everyone who visits CAG would be thrilled to have some version of a holideck projected inside of our living rooms. What do you think?

Who thought it was Bane invading the Super Bowl aha