CAG Foreplay #58: What Episode is This?

shipwreck

shipwreck

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[preview][img-l=1]2[/img-l]CAG's shipwreck & mrs. shipwreck preview the new releases for the week of December 9th, 2008. There are so many Deja Previews this week that we actually thought this was still Episode 57.

Special thanks to GoDaddy.com for providing CAG Foreplay listeners with a code for domain names for only $7.49 a year. Just enter code "GAMER1" when you check out to get your savings.


[podcast]40[/podcast]
Download - 44 minutes, 20MB
[/preview]

You can now subscribe to Foreplay on iTunes by clicking this link: CAG Foreplay on iTunes

You can also contact us with any questions or comments at [email protected] or [email protected].

Wii

[IMG-L=4858]3719[/IMG-L]Neopets Puzzle Adventure Dev. Griptonite Games Pub. Capcom Systems: Wii MSRP: $39.99
(Deja Preview) This title is a puzzle-RPG hybrid based on the Othello board game but all Neopetified. I’ve never played Othello or a Neopets game, but the reviews are all failry positive and there are (of course) mini-games included as well. If you’re a Neopets fan or an Othello lover, this game should be worth checking out. – mrs. ship

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free Shipping)




[IMG-L=4858]3722[/IMG-L]Story Hour: Adventures Dev. Other Ocean Pub. Zoo Games Systems: Wii MSRP: $14.99
Story Hour: Fairy Tales Dev. Other Ocean Pub. Zoo Games Systems: Wii MSRP: $14.99
These two titles are collections of interactive storybooks featuring popular public domain tales. Adventures features Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Paul Bunyan, and The 3 Brothers while Fairy Tales includes Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and 12 Dancing Princesses. Each story uses a different hand-drawn art style so they all come off feeling like different books... different, slightly impersonal, a little too non-booky, books. - ship

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $14.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)
:wii: Purchase At Amazon $14.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)


[IMG-L=4858]3724[/IMG-L]Word Jong Party Dev. Destineer Pub. Destineer Systems: Wii MSRP: $29.99
As the name implies, this new Wii word game is a clever blend of Mahjong and Scrabble. Released last year for the DS, the Wii version will most likely carve out its niche with local multiplayer battles that feature power-ups and attacks based on the length of words you spell. If you’re a fan of the puzzle/party genre, this title seems like a decent buy. – mrs. ship

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free Shipping)





DS

[IMG-L=4858]3715[/IMG-L]Build-a-Lot Dev. Mumbo Jumbo Pub. Mumbo Jumbo Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
Become the ultimate real estate mogul in this casual take on property management. Buy tracts of land, build and upgrade houses, research blueprints, and keep track of your resources as you strive to create the next housing boom. Better get those subprime lenders lined up! - ship

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)





[IMG-L=4858]3605[/IMG-L]Cate West: The Vanishing Files Dev. Destineer Pub. Destineer Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview) I want this game to be good. The cover art looks nice, and I like point-and-click detective games. There are 15 cases within the game, so that makes me concerned about depth of story – clearly we aren’t dealing with Kyle Hyde and his myriad of issues. The game is also more “Where’s Waldo” oriented, with the clues being difficult to find in busy environments. Even though it’s a hidden object game, this aspect of the game play isn’t overdone according to most reviews. Overall, the reviews of the game have been positive, and it looks like an interesting buy for $20. - mrs. ship

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)




[IMG-L=4858]3716[/IMG-L]Drivers Ed Portable Dev. Dreamcatcher Pub. Dreamcatcher Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
I’m not sure many people need a DS “game” with lessons and practice tests for an exam that lasts all of fifteen minutes, but I suppose I can’t completely dismiss something that potentially makes people better drivers. Hopefully there is an entire section devoted to properly navigating a Wal-Mart parking lot. - ship

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free Shipping)





[IMG-L=4858]3718[/IMG-L]Left Brain Right Brain 2 Dev. Kokolo Corporation Pub. Majesco Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
I remember writing something vaguely clever when I previewed Left Brain Right Brain (the original), but the jokes about being ambidextrous seem to be running thin at the moment. This DS series is aimed at promoting equal use of the right and left hands as well as the right and left sides of the brain. I’m not sure if enhancing this skill set is something you’d include on your resume, but I guess that depends on your job, now doesn’t it? – mrs. ship

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)





[IMG-L=4858]3623[/IMG-L]Slingo Quest Dev. Mac Play Pub. Mumbo Jumbo Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview) Another casual PC game hits the DS. This one is a combination of slots and bingo. And questing. - ship

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)





PlayStation 3

[IMG-L=4858]3725[/IMG-L]Sonic Unleashed Dev. Sonic Team Pub. SEGA Systems: PS3 MSRP: $49.99
(Deja Preview) Is this the Sonic game we’ve been waiting for? Maybe. The game is in effect two-in-one, with each level being playable during the daytime and at nighttime. The difference? Playing during the day offers a “normal” Sonic on-the-rails 3D level focused on speed and grabbing rings. Playing at night however, changes Sonic into a Werehog that isn’t so much about the speed as he is about smashing up stuff. The game at night turns into a platformer/button-masher and isn’t getting great comments for it’s game play. The two different “levels” within each area offer twice the game play, so that’s a good thing. But to be honest, I’m not a fan of Sonic on rails, and with the nighttime Sonic not really impressing the reviewers, I’m not sure this game is for me. Maybe it’s what you’ve been waiting for. But I doubt it. – mrs. ship

:ps3: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free Shipping)


PlayStation 2

[IMG-L=4858]3720[/IMG-L]Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 Dev. Atlus Pub. Atlus Systems: PS2 MSRP: $39.99
Sorry kids, no suicidal summons this time around. Instead, your brooding teens will have to evoke their Personas through some old-fashioned spell casting. Gaining new Personas requires building relationships and examining your inner self as you investigate a series of strange murders in a rural Japan. Turns out there's a whole Poltergeist type universe living inside the town's televisions (never a good thing). With luscious graphics and a whole new cast of characters, Persona 4 is going to be one of the last great PlayStation 2 games and an absolute joy for JRPG Fans. - ship

:ps2: Purchase At Amazon $34.99 (Free Shipping)(Free art book)
:ps2: Purchase At GameStop $39.99 (Free art book)




PSP

[IMG-L=4858]3717[/IMG-L]Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War Dev. Global A Pub. UFO Systems: PSP MSRP: $29.99
I’ve got to be honest – this game only made my list because I felt obligated to choose five games to preview because Ship picked five. Yes, it’s the pity pick. But this real-time RPG/simulation hybrid offers a dungeon creator, quests, lots of weapons, and lots of gold. If only there was a demo for me to try, I just might be into this game. – mrs. ship

:psp: Purchase At Amazon $22.99 (Free Shipping on Orders over $25)




Xbox 360

[IMG-L=4848]3403[/IMG-L]Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge Dev. 49Games Pub. Conspiracy Systems: 360 MSRP: $29.99
(Deja Preview) They’ve added snowboarding, biathalon, and Balance Board support. Don’t think they’ve slipped up though, curling is still included too. - ship

:360: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free Shipping)






PC

[IMG-L=4858]3721[/IMG-L]Prince of Persia Dev. UbiSoft Montreal Pub. UbiSoft Systems: PC MSRP: $49.99
(Deja Preview) Leaving behind the “Sands of Time” trilogy, Prince of Persia opens up a new chapter in Middle-Eastern action-platforming by introducing an open world and a new magical female friend named Elika. Since the Prince no longer has the ability to manipulate time, he must now rely on his new companion to aide him in scaling the watercolor locales and slicing up the baddies. There are definitely a lot of changes going on with this installation, and being a fan of the previous games, I’m cautiously optimistic that all these differences will make for any even better experience. Early reviews suggest that they do. - ship

:pc: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free Shipping)


[IMG-L=4858]3723[/IMG-L]The Tale of Despereaux Dev. Brash Entertainment Pub. Brash Entertainment Systems: PC MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview) Based upon the new CG movie, take control of a small mouse as he battles against the unfair stereotyping that mice must face daily. - ship

:pc: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free Shipping on orders over $25)






On The DL

Bruiser and Scratch Dev. Steel Penny Games Pub. Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $10
This new WiiWare title is brought to us by newcomer Steel Penny Games and features a cat/dog duo and puzzle game play. The animation is nice, and the puzzles revolve around manipulating blocks on a grid layout. It’s hard for me to get a grasp of the actual game play by just screen shots, and the trailer wasn’t working on my computer at the time this was written. But, I’m all for giving a new company a chance, and the founders of SPG are from Naughty Dog, so I’m sure there’s fun to be had in this title. – mrs. ship

Hockey Allstar Shootout Dev. Big Blue Bubble Pub. Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $5
Face off against the computer or a friend in this penalty shootout competition. Features an additional mini game that clocks the speed of your slapshot. Might want to think about double-knotting that wrist strap. - ship

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Dev. SEGA Pub. Systems: Wii Virtual Console (Sega Master System) MSRP: $5
Not to be confused with the seminal Genesis classic, this is the Sega Master System’s attempt at a sequel for the blue hedgehog. Most people will remember this for being a Game Gear pack-in game and for having an insanely difficult giant enemy crab. This is also the game that introduced Sonic’s friend Tales to an unsuspecting public. While not as fast or pretty as the 16-bit games, this game actually does a remarkable job of capturing Sonic in 8-bit form. You’ll blast through it quickly though, so I’d recommend just picking up a cheap copy of the Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube or PS2. - shipwreck

Meteos Wars Dev. Q Entertainment Pub. Microsoft Systems: XBLA MSRP: $10
From the makers of Lumines, Meteos was a big hit on the portable scene and now it brings its brand of block matching and rocket launching to the Xbox 360. - ship

PowerUp Forever Dev. Pub. Namco Bandai Systems: XBLA, PSN (PS3) MSRP: $10
Space Shooters are not my cup of tea, but this top-down shooter may appeal to a good portion of our audience. The PowerUp part of the title refers to the growth of your ship as you kill enemies, which increases your power meter and the power of your weapons. On the positive, the art style is beautiful. On the negative, there’s no multiplayer, which makes the game fairly crippled in an arena like Xbox Live. And even though I understand the significance of the title, I would have gone with something less cheesy. – mrs. ship

Archer Maclean's Mercury (Last Week) Dev. Pub. Ignition Entertainment Systems: PSN (PSP) MSRP: $9.99
Move around globs of mercury in this Marble Madness-style PSP launch title. Certainly not a bad little action-puzzler, but GameStop sells used copies of the UMD release for $6. - ship

Brain Challenge (Last Week) Dev. Pub. Ubi Soft Systems: PSN (PSP) MSRP: $9.99
The real brain teaser here is trying to figure out what platforms still don't have this Brain Age clone. - ship

Everyday Shooter (Last Week) Dev. Backbone Entertainment Pub. Sony Systems: PSN (PSP) MSRP: $9.99
The abstract twin-stick shooter gets the portable treatment, so now you can get your mellow on anywhere. - ship

Lumines Supernova Dev. Pub. Systems: PSN (PS3) MSRP: $??.??
Block droppin’ beats hit the PlayStation 3 with sparkly HD graphics, a new “Dig Down” mode, and some Sack Boys thrown in for good measure. - ship

Super Stardust Portable (Last Week) Dev. Pub. Systems: PSN (PSP) MSRP: $9.99
The excellent twin-stick shooter, goes one-nubbin' it as a PSP downloadable. - ship


Feedback:
Did we miss a good sale on a game? Did we miss previewing a game completely? Well, the only way that everyone can know a better deal is out there is to let us know about it. Post deals you've found or games that we missed in the thread so that CAGs can make sure they are getting the absolute best prices on new releases.
 
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[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Powerup Forever's coming out on PSN, too.

http://www.namcobandaigames.com/games/powerupforever/[/QUOTE]

Okay, Frisky, since Sony obviously can't do this. From now on it is your job to send out an email every Monday to all PS3 and PSP owners letting them know what games are going to be available to download that coming Thursday.

Or at least to me. :)
 
[quote name='DJSteel']i get an email every Saturday from the PSN Store with new releases..[/QUOTE]

I get emails letting me know what came out, but not what is coming out. If there is a different email, I'd like to subscribe to that newsletter.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']I get emails letting me know what came out, but not what is coming out. If there is a different email, I'd like to subscribe to that newsletter.[/quote]

I don't get any email from MS telling me what is coming out... but what came out as well.. the emails come out on Thursday for what was released Wednesday. Do you get a different Xbox newsletter?
 
[quote name='DJSteel']I don't get any email from MS telling me what is coming out... but what came out as well.. the emails come out on Thursday for what was released Wednesday. Do you get a different Xbox newsletter?[/QUOTE]

Yes, I get press releases from both Nintendo and Microsoft on Mondays followed later in the week with emails reiterating what came out.

Edit: I guess the MS one is actually just picked up by my RSS reader from the Gamerscore and Major Nelson feeds.
 
[quote name='Wombat']Mrs. Ship has never had her boxed filled, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha[/quote]

lol, man, Wombat, you are so crass ;)

btw Shippy, i see that there's a lot of crap this week. we won't hate you if you wanna skip some releases.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Okay, Frisky, since Sony obviously can't do this. From now on it is your job to send out an email every Monday to all PS3 and PSP owners letting them know what games are going to be available to download that coming Thursday.

Or at least to me. :)[/quote]
:lol: It has nothing to do with Sony not telling you about it, just that you two missed that it's on both XBLA and PSN.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']:lol: It has nothing to do with Sony not telling you about it, just that you two missed that it's on both XBLA and PSN.[/QUOTE]

How do you know it's coming this week for PSN though? A lot of games come out for both XBLA and PSN, but not always the same week. If you Google the game there's story after story about it coming this week for XBLA, yet I see nothing confirming the PSN date. Obviously Microsoft is disseminating information better than Sony.
 
Great show guys, though I felt a little bad for ship, it sounded like he was getting picked on a bit. That said, calling them "doughy-eyed" almost made me spit out water onto my laptop.

Nothing really strikes my fancy this week...maybe Persona 4. Never played any of those games, but hey at least I could do SOMETHING with my PS3 (beats unpacking my PS2)...

/tk
 
Shipwreck, doughy-eyed
netra.jpg


vs.

doe-eyed
funny cat Shrek puss'n boots.jpg
 
Hey, Shipwrecks. I was very pleasantly surprised this evening - first to see that you had posted your podcast easier than expected, and second to see that I won Gillespee's copy of Half-Life Episode 1!

I'm not good at making the "good show" replies, but I wanted to give some props to Mr. Shipwreck for his mature, honest look at Guitar Praise. The game was given a pretty heavy thrashing in the deals thread when it was brought to our attention, so when I heard that you had received a review copy, my first thought was "Oh dear, this isn't going to be pretty."

I'm no born again Christian running around asking if my brothers and sisters have been saved, nor am I much of a vanilla practicing Christian at all. I guess I'm just happy to hear that the game (a) isn't for everybody, and (b) isn't quite up to the quality of Guitar Hero or Rock Band without seeing the game mocked to Hell and back.

/twocents

Oh, and to answer Mrs. Shipwreck, I just get stuck, and I feel like I'm doing the game an injustice by looking up a solution. Since I've been pretty good at staying focused on one game at a time lately, maybe I'll give it another go when I'm finished with Indigo Prophecy so I can do Gillespee's generosity a bit of justice.

Cheers, team!
 
Ship: I haven't seen anybody saying it won't, so I'm not sure why you're so sure it's not coming out this week since you know that the weekly releases aren't revealed way in advance. I'll see if I can find a specific response from Namco about it and let you know later. At least I think that would work if Mrs. Shipwreck doesn't want to earn the items for herself, as well.

One other correction I have is that you have the developers for the NeoPets games wrong, as you have somebody other than Infinite Interactive as the developers for those games.

Just got around to listening to the last show and Mrs. Shipwreck could probably just use a guest account in LBP to get a hold of what Ship's already unlocked.

The thing about your recommendation of Legendary is whether people should be picking that game up to play when they've already got the other stuff right now before the holidays. When you've got LBP, R2, Gears 2, Prince of Persia, and all these other top notch games that picking up a game like Legendary that doesn't really stand out above the rest as a must-play game.

Pandemic, who made the first two Destroy All Humans games, made the Mercenaries games and is making the new Lord of the Rings Conquest game.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Ship: I haven't seen anybody saying it won't, so I'm not sure why you're so sure it's not coming out this week since you know that the weekly releases aren't revealed way in advance. I'll see if I can find a specific response from Namco about it and let you know later. At least I think that would work if Mrs. Shipwreck doesn't want to earn the items for herself, as well.

One other correction I have is that you have the developers for the NeoPets games wrong, as you have somebody other than Infinite Interactive as the developers for those games.

Just got around to listening to the last show and Mrs. Shipwreck could probably just use a guest account in LBP to get a hold of what Ship's already unlocked.

The thing about your recommendation of Legendary is whether people should be picking that game up to play when they've already got the other stuff right now before the holidays. When you've got LBP, R2, Gears 2, Prince of Persia, and all these other top notch games that picking up a game like Legendary that doesn't really stand out above the rest as a must-play game.

Pandemic, who made the first two Destroy All Humans games, made the Mercenaries games and is making the new Lord of the Rings Conquest game.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure that it's not coming out this week. At the same time, I'm not sure that it is. I was just wondering if you had seen something that had a confirmed release date for PSN.

As for the NeoPets Puzzle Adventure developer, the DS version was developed by Griptonite Games and I goofed when I copied and pasted for the Wii version which was developed by Infinite Interactive.

And don't misinterpret what I was saying about Legendary to be me recommending it. I was just stating that I think it was getting unfairly criticized. It's by no means "must play", but it's also by no means "must avoid".

Oh, and I think you realize this, but don't take any of this as me arguing with you as that's not what I'm doing.
 
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[quote name='Wombat']Mrs. Ship has never had her boxed filled, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha[/quote]

LOL!
 
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I know, Ship.

Listening to this week's show: Why would you not create a Master PSN account? You get the choice of making it a master or sub account whenever you create a new one. I've made all of my other profiles with master PSN accounts.

Ship: Just got an answer from a Namco PR guy that it won't be out this week, but soon. You're safe for now, but I'll be back.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Ship: Just got an answer from a Namco PR guy that it won't be out this week, but soon. You're safe for now, but I'll be back.[/quote]

HAH! Take that frisky tanuki! Ship made a call to one of his highly-placed contacts in the PSN department of Sony and got it delayed. Or he called his equally highly placed friend at Namco Bandai (much smaller company, but still highly placed) and got it canned for another 2 weeks. Or . . . both (he is a diabolical mastermind after all.)

Or . . . he just got lucky.
 
[quote name='Wombat']Mrs. Ship has never had her boxed filled, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha[/quote]

Ha ha ha - I'm not the only one with a dirty mind! :D
 
[quote name='Wombat']Mrs. Ship has never had her boxed filled, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha[/quote]

damn I was thinking that when she said it...oh noes am i as dirty as Womabt :shame:
 
[quote name='shipwreck']I think you realize this, but don't take any of this as me arguing with you as that's not what I'm doing.[/quote]

It's VERY difficult on the intarwebs for many people to differentiate between a *discussion*, a *debate*, an *argument* and a *flame war*. I very much tend to cant things towards the discussion end, and there are certainly people out there with their matchbooks already open. It's one of the few disadvantages of using online communication over FTF.
 
Sorry guys, Mrs. Shipwreck is sick so it doesn't look like there will be a show this week. We'll roll it into next week.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Sorry guys, Mrs. Shipwreck is sick so it doesn't look like there will be a show this week. We'll roll it into next week.[/quote]

We'll miss you guys this week, but feel better Mrs. Ship!
 
Hope mrs. shipwreck feels better, we understand!!!

Can you guys still post a list of what's coming out? I know you probably don't have the reviews, but I really like having your list just so I don't have to go to GameStop's website (and thus be tempted). ;)

/tk
 
[quote name='terpkristin']Hope mrs. shipwreck feels better, we understand!!!

Can you guys still post a list of what's coming out? I know you probably don't have the reviews, but I really like having your list just so I don't have to go to GameStop's website (and thus be tempted). ;)

/tk[/QUOTE]

We actually do have the previews written. We were all ready to record, but the show wouldn't have been pretty.

There really wasn't much this week though. I think we'll post the previews with next week's show, but here are the games:

Multiplatform

Rise of the Argonauts (PC, 360, PS3)
Rock Band 2 (PS2, Wii)

Wii

Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree
Deer Drive
Neopets Puzzle Adventure
Summer Sports 2: Island Sports Party
Word Jong Party

DS

Candace Kane's Candy Factory
Cate West: The Vanishing Files
Dreamer: Horse Trainer
Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
Drivers Ed Portable
Learn Math
Mystery P.I.: Portrait of a Thief

WiiWare

Big Kahuna Party
Strong Bad Episode 5

Virtual Console

Enduro Racer (Sega Master System)

PSN

Crash Commando
Lumines Supernova
Penny Arcade Episode 2

XBLA

Doritos' Dash of Destruction

Xbox Originals

Raze's Hell
Sega Soccer Slam
 
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If it's done, why not just post it? There doesn't need to be a podcast attached if you can't do it and you wouldn't have to just combine it with the next week's list, just link to it for reference with the show notes.

Also, Lumines Supernova didn't come out this week on PSN. Rayman 2 and Castlevania Chronicles came out as PS1 games ($5.99 each) and Tokobot came out as the PSP game this week ($9.99).
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']Listened to it. It was hell boring... terrible podcast.

Yuck, I'd rather listen to a monkey dieing for an hour.[/QUOTE]

We love you DarkNessBear.
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']Listened to it. It was hell boring... terrible podcast.

Yuck, I'd rather listen to a monkey dieing for an hour.[/quote]

:rofl:
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Sorry guys, Mrs. Shipwreck is sick so it doesn't look like there will be a show this week. We'll roll it into next week.[/QUOTE]
Yo Ship, is she dead? Hope it didn't take you out as well.
Merry Christmas and all... I'm guessing if there isn't one tonite, there won't be one until 2009, eh? Love the show... much better than a dying monkey :p
 
[quote name='runciter']Yo Ship, is she dead? Hope it didn't take you out as well.
Merry Christmas and all... I'm guessing if there isn't one tonite, there won't be one until 2009, eh? Love the show... much better than a dying monkey :p[/QUOTE]

She's doing much better, but Wombat and I recorded a show since there won't be a CAGcast this week. It'll be up in a few hours.
 
There will be a new Foreplay this week, but it won't be out until Friday. Just a FYI so that you can plan your week accordingly. :)
 
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