CAG Foreplay Podcast #5: New Releases (6/26/07) Cat Overlords Edition

CAG's shipwreck & mrs. shipwreck preview the new releases for the week of June 26th, 2007. 28 games later: we live to tell the tale.

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[media]http://media.libsyn.com/media/foreplay/cagforeplay5.mp3[/media]

The Adventures of Darwin Dev. D3 Pub. D3 Systems: PS2 MSRP: $19.99
Looking for an action/adventure game with RTS elements but already played Pikmin AND Pikmin 2? Sad that Pikmin 3 hasn't evolved into existence yet? This title might be just what you're looking for! Play as Darwin, the monkey, as he leads his tribe through the wilderness and into the evolutionary fast-lane. In order to evolve and save themselves from going the way of the dinosaurs, you must order Darwin and his fellow primates to find food, learn to use tools, and avoid being a meal for someone else. At $20, this title sounds refreshingly different AND easy on the wallet. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for The Adventures of Darwin.

Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)


The Bigs Dev. Blue Castle Games Pub. 2K Sports Systems: PS2, PSP, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $39.99-$59.99
The Bigs finally releases this week which means we can stop being bombarded by the print ad campaign... hopefully. This actually looks to be pretty solid arcade style baseball that refines what was started last generation with Midway's Slugfest series. Sure, it's all still based around "turbo", but there's a nice sheen of polish on this one with slightly deeper yet still accessible game mechanics. - ship

Best Deal:
Target is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of The Bigs for Wii. Circuit City is offering a free $20 gift card if they don't have certain versions by 2PM on Tuesday.

Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
See Speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $59.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
See Speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $39.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
See Speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $59.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $48.06 (99 cent shipping)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $49.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)


Chicken Shoot Dev. Destination Software Pub. Destination Software Systems: Wii MSRP: $29.99
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for shooting chickens with the wii-mote. But that's all this game is! That's it! And it's not a Wii Virtual Console Game for $6. Nope, developer and publisher Jack of All Games is hoping you'll fork over thirty of your hard earned dollars to shoot chickens in your living room. My advice: skip this one and hope Nintendo ports Barney Carnage sometime soon. Or just find an old copy of Duck Hunt and pop that into your NES. Or play the free online version. Ship says "Chicken Shoot? More like Chicken Sh@#!" - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Chicken Shoot.

Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $28.24 (99 cent shipping)


The Darkness Dev. Starbreeze Studios Pub. 2K Games Systems: 360, PS3 MSRP: $59.99
The team that brought you Chronicles of Riddick return with another first-person sci-fi game. Based upon the comic of the same name, The Darkness is a supernatural shooter that looks to continue Starbreeze's high level of quality. Because your character's super powers (i.e. The Darkness) only work in the dark, much of your game-play focuses on shooting out street lights to create more darkness. Great visuals, unique gameplay, compelling storyline, darkling minions, and, of course, tentacles make this a aptly-named title worth checking out. - ship

Best Deal:
Both Fry's and Circuit City are offering The Darkness for $50 and Target is offering a $10 gift card with purchase. EB/Gamestop is offering a free code for an unlockable 2K Sports Darkling.

Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free unlockable 2K Sports darkling)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $59.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99
See fidodido's Fry's Ad $49.99
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free unlockable 2K Sports darkling)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $59.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99
See fidodido's Fry's Ad $49.99


Driver: Parallel Lines Dev. Reflections Pub. Ubi Soft Systems: PC, Wii MSRP: $19.99, $49.99
Having thoroughly ported everything they could think of from their own last gen catalog, Ubi Soft is now heisting Driver out of Atari's former library. Don't mind those clearanced out copies in the Xbox and PS2 section, this average game is surely worth $50 now that it's on the Wii. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Driver: Parallel Lines.

Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)


Final Fantasy Dev. Square Enix Pub. Square Enix Systems: PSP MSRP: $39.99
This game is essentially Final Fantasy but with better graphics, returning to the style of the SNES. It contains cut scenes from Origins (PS1), the bonus dungeons from Dawn of Souls (GBA), and a single new dungeon. It's a quality title you know, love, and probably own four times over like we do. While it might not be the definitive edition (will there ever be?), it's definitely worth your $30 if you're a Final Fantasy Fan. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Family Video will save you a few dollars on Final Fantasy.

Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $26.99 (99 cent shipping)


Grim Grimoire Dev. Vanillaware Pub. NIS America Systems: PS2 MSRP: $39.99
In this quirky NIS title, play as Lillet Blan, a young magic school student forced to travel back in time to save her mystical school from closing. In this Groundhog Day meets Harry Potter 2D real-time strategy game, the graphics are sweet and the gameplay sweeter. The goal of the game is to collect grimoires, magical books that contain spells needed to fight the creatures taking over the school. There are several types of magic, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The battle system is complex and focuses on using each type of magic strategically. The only downside is the length of game-play. There's no way to save in the middle of a battle, so you'd better be prepared to stick each one out to the end. All in all, this game is one that you should consider picking up sooner rather than later.

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Grim Grimoire.

Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Dev. Electronic Arts UK Pub. Electronic Arts Systems: Everything MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
Harry Potter: either you play his games or you don't. Who am I to judge?- ship

Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering $20 gift cards if they don't have certain versions of the game by Tuesday at 2PM. Best Buy is offering a free map/picture with the purchase of any version. See below for any other deals.

Purchase At Amazon $57.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $53.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping & free child's movie ticket)
See speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $29.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)
Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $26.99
Purchase At Amazon $37.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $34.99 (99 cent shipping)
See speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $39.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)
Purchase At Amazon $57.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $55.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $37.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $34.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $49.95 (Free shipping & free child's movie ticket)
See speedy1961's Circuit City Ad $49.99 (Free $20 gift card if not in stock by Tuesday at 2PM)


Horsez Dev. Ubi Soft Pub. Ubi Soft Systems: GBA MSRP: $29.99
So far, we've seen Dogz, Catz, and Hamsterz. I don't think we'll see one of these games based on an aquarium only because you can't conveniently put a "z" on the end of fish. Fishez? Fizish? When did Snoop Dogg start working at Ubi Soft? Seriously though, this game is also out for the DS (current reviews include the word vomitorium) and adding in the phrases "horrible menu system" and "awful graphics" to my preview for Pony Friends from a few weeks ago should suffice. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific dealz for Horsez.

Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)


Hoshigami Remix: Ruining Blue Earth Dev. Arc System Works Pub. Aksys Games Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Originally published by Atlus on the Playstation Single, Hoshigami is a tactical role-playing game in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics. Plenty of improvements abound such as multiple difficulties, new localization, new music, new missions, and a new character. A new character, could it be R Kelly? - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Hoshigami Remix: Hot & Fresh out the Kitchen.

Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)


Hot Wheels Ultimate Racing Dev. Destination Software Pub. Destination Software Systems: PSP MSRP: $19.99
(Back again from last week.) The thing is, I wrote a preview for this game months ago and Ship lost it. I remember there being lots of customization and upgrades. There were multiple levels of gameplay, I'm going with more than two but less than five. It's a PSP game, so the graphics should be good and it's portable. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Amazon is offering Hot Wheels Ultimate Racing for $18.

Purchase At Amazon $17.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)


Hour of Victory Dev. nFusion Pub. Midway Systems: 360 MSRP: $59.99
The demo description available on the 360 says this game is highly anticipated. My question is, by whom exactly? There are three playable characters: the brute, the sniper, and the stealth guy. The controls are similar to that of Halo, but reloading seems to lag the gameplay. The graphics aren't that bad, but not that great either. I'm no expert on World War II first-person shooters, but I think this game is to Call of Duty what Marshmallow Mateys are to Lucky Charms. And if you're going to pay full price anyway (in this case, $60!), you might as well buy the name-brand. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
EB/Gamestop is offering a free headset with the purchase of Hour of Victory.

Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free Hour of Victory headset)


Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Dev. Capcom Pub. Capcom Systems: PC MSRP: $39.99
Capcom tests the PC waters this week with the Xbox 360 hit, Lost Planet. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Lost Planet.

Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (99 cent shipping)
See fidodido's Fry's Ad $37.99


Nervous Brickdown Dev. Arkedo Studio Pub. Eidos Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
This DS puzzle game is essentially Breakout with a twist... wait for it... sometimes instead of a paddle, you're shooting blocks with a spaceship or a submarine. But with 135 truly different levels of gameplay, this title looks like fun. Each level has a distinct feature that makes it unique, whether it be the additional challenge of your screen scrolling vertically, or having to save small people from part of the level. Plus, this type of game lends itself to the DS much better than the TI-82 calculator I played it on in high school. However, the price is set at $30. Wait until it drops to $20 to pick this one up. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Nervous Brickdown.

Purchase At Family Video $28.24 (99 cent shipping)


Overlord Dev. Triumph Studios Pub. Codemasters Systems: PC, 360 MSRP: $39.99, $59.99
Another game featuring minions this week (we need more of these), Overlord takes a humorous approach to just what goes into being an evil mastermind. Set in a medieval fantasy setting, command your underlings to do your bidding as you rise in power. Similar in humor to Bard's Tale with strategy elements a-la Pikmin, this game looks pretty entertaining. - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video will save you a couple of bucks on the Xbox 360 version of Overlord.

Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $56.48 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (99 cent shipping)


Pokemon Battle Revolution Dev. Genius Sonority Pub. Nintendo Systems: Wii MSRP: $49.99
This stadium-type battle game is the first Pokemon title on the Wii, and it comes with several perks. First, you can port your DS Pokemon from Diamond or Pearl. It's also the first Wii game to use Nintendo WiFi for online play. Now we'll all be able to answer the ultimate question: fire monkey or plant turtle? Before you get too excited, you should know that we've seen this title before. It's essentially every Pokemon Stadium game for the GC and N64 all over again. It's MOTS with benefits. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Both Fry's and Circuit City are offering Pokemon Battle Revolution for $40.

Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $43.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $39.99
See fidodido's Fry's Ad $39.99


Ratatouille Dev. Heavy Iron Studios Pub. THQ Systems: Everything MSRP: $19.99-$49.99
I've now officially become the expert on games based on movies. The plot of this Pixar movie (and game) revolves around Remy, a rat who dreams of being a gourmet chef. It's a platformer (SHOCK!) and it's fairly mediocre (GASP!) At least it's an original story (Peter Pan 18, anyone?). - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Various amounts can be saved on the different versions of Ratatouille at Family Video.

Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $43.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $25.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $26.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $34.99 (Free shipping)
:mac: Purchase At Family Video $19.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $34.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $48.07 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $34.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $43.99 (99 cent shipping)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $16.99


Steel Horizon Dev. Konami Pub. Konami Systems: PSP MSRP: $39.99
A real-time and turn-based strategy game centered around World War II naval battles. Yawn. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Steel Horizon.

Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (Free shipping)


Super Collapse! 3 Dev. Mumbo Jumbo Pub. Mumbo Jumbo Systems: PSP MSRP: $19.99
Puzzle games are nothing new for the PSP, and this game has been around for sometime now on the PC as a downloadable title. The PC version features two game modes (Quest and Quick Play) and allows you to earn coins during gameplay to purchase upgrades. If you care at all about this release, check out the demo on your PC first. Many of these downloadable PC games are fun to play online when they're free and you're stuck in study hall or on a break at work, but do you really want to pay $20 for this title? I doubt it. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Super Collapse! 3.

Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)


Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas Dev. Ubi Soft Montreal Pub. Ubi Soft Systems: PS3 MSRP: $59.99
Playstation 3 owners finally get to see what the fuss is all about. It's Rainbow Six with 5 extra multiplayer maps to boot. Hopefully, that extra seven months in development wasn't just spent on the six-axis control of the snake cam. - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Rainbow Six Vegas for $56 shipped.

Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $54.99 (99 cent shipping)


TouchMaster Dev. Midway San Diego Pub. Midway Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
This newest DS title hails from a bar near you and has previously been seen entertaining drunken, quarter-wielding pub hoppers. It's the newest attempt to make gaming appeal to non-gamers. This game doesn't stray far, if at all, from it's bar-top predecessor and features mini games such as solitaire, mahjongg, wordsearch, and trivia just to name a few. The graphics are simplistic and the DS screen is used only for tapping - no dragging- like you would on a touch-screen monitor. The most important question remains: will this game be any fun without the beer? - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for TouchMaster.

Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)


Transformers: The Game Dev. Traveler's Tales Pub. Activision Systems: PS2, PSP, Wii, PS3, 360 MSRP: $39.99-$59.99
Ship and I are concerned enough about the quality of the Transformers movie, let alone this summer-game-that's-based-on-a-movie. If you don't know how these games usually fare, you're either a new fan of the CAG foreplay, or you liked the Shrek The Third and you're taste in games is horrible. Unlike the DS Transformers games that are being released, this game will ask you to choose between playing as an Autobot or a Decepticon. So, you in effect don't get as ripped off as the DS-owners do and there is at least replay value to this title. While the storyline in the game follows that of the movie, you get more insight into the behind the scenes information with the game. The gameplay is free-roaming, includes some awesome one-touch transformations, and is generally rumored to be pretty entertaining. However, just based on the amount of build-up prior to the movie being released, I'm willing to bet that you'll probably be able to pick this title up used in a pretty short timespan. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Family Video will save you a few bucks on the various versions of Transformers. Best Buy is offering a free Transformers action figure with the purchase of any version. Target is offering a free Robo-Vision decoder that unlocks first generation characters with the purchase of any version. Fry's is offering a free Wall Graffix with the purchase of various versions.

Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $53.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $35.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $54.99 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $43.99 (99 cent shipping)
See speedy1961's Target Ad $19.99


Traxxpad Dev. Definitive Studios Pub. Eidos Systems: PSP MSRP: $39.99
Get your creative juices flowing with this music composition application that allows for exporting your masterpieces in mp3 format. Not really a game per se, but I'd still lose at it. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Traxxpad.

Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)


On The DL with the Shipwrecks


Carcassonne Systems: 360 MSRP: $10
Another strategy based board game makes the transition to XBLA. It would take entirely to long to describe here even if I fully understood the rules. - ship

China Warrior Systems: Wii MSRP: $6
Punch or kick, the choice is yours in this TurboGrafx-16 brawler. - ship

F-Zero X Systems: Wii MSRP: $10
Extreme futuristic racing to the extreme: N64 style. - ship

Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting Systems: Wii MSRP: $8
This is the SNES version of Street Fighter II that you'd want to own on the VC. - ship

General Deals:

Toys R Us is currently running a buy two get one free sale on all DS games. See DrDarkStryfe's thread for more details here.

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.

As talked about in the podcast, here's the list of comics. The cover price is just what was on the front of each comic and not the price I actually paid (which was $350). I'm putting the spoiler tags around it simply so it won't make this post extremely long for those that aren't interested in scrolling through it.


Oh, and I forgot to list which ones had multiple copies.

Oh thank you god, I wasn't sure how I would get through this day at work without something to entertain me.

Here is my simplified explanation of how to play Carcassonne from the 360 thread on it:

Essentially the core game play is like this:

- Each turn you pick up a tile. The tile has either: field, road, city or a cloister (monestary). Basically, like dominos, you have to place the piece so that the edges connect to similar pieces.

- You have 7 little people who you can place on a section of the tile you just placed as long as no other player's person is on a connected part, they are conisdered a theif on the road, a knight in the city, a monk in the cloister, or a farmer on the field. So, if you extend a city, and your opponent has a knight there, you can't place a knight in the same city.

- When, for example, a city is completed you earn points depending on how big it is. Obviously, it's more difficult to build a bigger city because you need more multi-sided city pieces. The same is true for roads, when a road is completed you earn points. After you earn points you get the person back and can place him later on a tile you place.

- Farmers are stuck on the board until the end of the game, but earn a lot of points per city their fields are touching. This is a major part of the strategy, the quick points vs the long-term investiment.

- Also, tile placement can be defensive (aka completing an opponent's city when it's still small, thus less points). Also, you can create a city, placing a person there, and then later connect it to an opponent's city and steal points.

- Finally, there are numerous expansions which add numerous twists to gameplay. Most notably, the River, which allows you to start by building a 12 tile river rather than starting with just one standard tile.

Click to expand...

The thing that surprises me the most is that Ratatouille is actually coming out on the gamecube. I thought that that console was dead?

there's an empty spot beginning at 17 minutes into it and lasts 3 minutes or so.
I thought my Ipod died =/

An excellent show again. Did anyone else have a couple minutes of silence at about 17 minutes in? I went back and listened again and it was there again. It didn't sound like I missed anything but it was just silence accidentally edited in or something. Anyway other than that it was very good and informative. Hopefully next week won't be too short as I really enjoy the podcasts. If there won't be as many game releases maybe you will have to spend more time on review of this week and the games you bought.

I am headed to pick up the PSP and PS3 versions of Transformers, I think I will give Grim Grimoire a look, and I think I will pick up TouchMaster because I need something for my DS. I might pick up Autobots on DS so I can join the good fight online against the likes of Ship.

I'll post later about the Transformers figures given away at Best Buy.

Damn your list of comics suck ass. I do think your impulse buy was a financial blunder. I am sure you could have bought some valuable baseball cards for that price. I guess you did not get the memo that Comic books are worthless.

Digital versions of comic books have destroyed all value of the old books. Cdisplay and other Comicbook readers can read .CBR/.CBZ files. People trade these files on BitTorrent.

When you are in Europe geta game for your PSP or DS they work. There is a cool game for PSP that I wanted that was released only in Europe. It is B-Boy for the PSP. It is a break dancing battle game. Pick me up a copy.

Yeah looks like there was no editing for a couple minutes there. Thought my computer was dieing.

Actually, Final Fantasy for the PSP *is* the definitive version, at least right now. It's got everything from the GBA ones, plus an extra dungeon, plus completely brand new made from scratch graphics. There is no version better than it.

I doubt Square will ever re-do the game completely again, since this one was just made because of the 20th anniversary.

I picked up transformers PS3, PSP and Autobots DS and got 3 of the Transformers figures. The figures actually transform. There was no Optimus so I got Bumblebee, he is the camaro form, Skyfire and a helicopter whose name I don't remember right now. The characters rang up as $29.99 then became free when they rang up the games. No way I would pay $29.99 for these. Easily $4.99, maybe a little more but a nice throw in, especially if you want to get your kids hooked on Transformers like I do. They did not have Grim Grimoire or Touchmaster at Best Buy, but I might hit EB tomorrow since I have $200 credit there.

Anybody know where you can get a Guitar adapter for the PS3, I can only find info on the pelican one and it doesn't seem to be released yet.

[quote name='Jackal888']Damn your list of comics suck ass. I do think your impulse buy was a financial blunder. I am sure you could have bought some valuable baseball cards for that price. I guess you did not get the memo that Comic books are worthless.

Digital versions of comic books have destroyed all value of the old books. Cdisplay and other Comicbook readers can read .CBR/.CBZ files. People trade these files on BitTorrent.

When you are in Europe geta game for your PSP or DS they work. There is a cool game for PSP that I wanted that was released only in Europe. It is B-Boy for the PSP. It is a break dancing battle game. Pick me up a copy.[/QUOTE]

actually thats not how comic value works, it work by the rarity of the title not how many people read it, the Digital Age if anything has made certain paper comics rarer and more valuable

What, you guys don't like thoughtful pauses?

Yeah, I goofed in editing and I'll get a fixed file up there shortly.

[quote name='Jackal888']Damn your list of comics suck ass. I do think your impulse buy was a financial blunder. I am sure you could have bought some valuable baseball cards for that price. I guess you did not get the memo that Comic books are worthless.

Digital versions of comic books have destroyed all value of the old books. Cdisplay and other Comicbook readers can read .CBR/.CBZ files. People trade these files on BitTorrent.

When you are in Europe geta game for your PSP or DS they work. There is a cool game for PSP that I wanted that was released only in Europe. It is B-Boy for the PSP. It is a break dancing battle game. Pick me up a copy.[/QUOTE]

Like anything that is on BitTorrent, I prefer to have the original. Even with the decline in comic prices, this lot is a lot cheaper than if I bought these individually. I paid roughly 60 cents a comic and could easily make $350 selling these if that were my intentions.

Good stuff shipwrecks. Thanks. BTW the Resident Evil 4 full screen issue; if it's bars on the right and left, if I'm not mistaken, its because your tv has a resolution that is slightly more than the standard 1280x720, like mine, which is like 1366x768 or something of the ilk.

this average game is surely worth $50 now that it's on the Wii

Click to expand...

It's disgusting how many people actually think that. My friend was looking at MK: Armageddon on Wii and I told him "you could probably get this fairly easily for $10 for PS2" and he said "yeah, but the difference is this version is on the WII!!"

He also bought Two Thrones...I mean Rival Swords for $50 on the Wii. It's really really really sad.

I apologize I gave the Ships some bum information (a speculation torpedo) . I said that Adventures of Darwin would be delayed until next week. Actually, it did come out last week; I received my copy from Family Video on Saturday. Gamestop on the other hand should receive the title in limited quanities this week.

First impressions: This is a budget title, no doubt. The instruction manual is 10 short pages of flimsy info (with two pages of 'notes', two pages of credits, etc) and is in black and white. I haven't taken notes since games used passcodes.

Now the game itself is pretty interesting. You roam during night and day; there is a revolving sun and moon glode on the top right of the screen. Playing during the night can be hard on the old eyes; they turn down the contrast. A guess prehistoric man hates LCD burn-in.

Maps are big, you open new areas by gathering monkeys and knocking down barriers. Hidden within those map are stars that up your monkey count. More monkeys=more areas to explore.

Combat can be tad difficult; when you get close to an enemy it will highlight in red. A press on the "X" button will cause your man-monkeys to attack the creature in a RTS fashion. But your creatures will not continually attack unless you are following the enemy. Thankfully, nearly every enemy leaves behind food, replenishing your health.

It's more action-y that pikmin, so if pikmin was too clever for you, this may be your game.

Mrs. Ship - Congrat's on becoming a Vet. I had a friend who went to vet school in St. Kitts. How long is the schooling?

I paid I think $13 for MK:Armageddon for Xbox during the "whoops that's 30% off twice" price error sale thing. Either way, it was worth about that.

[quote name='soliddragon']Good stuff shipwrecks. Thanks. BTW the Resident Evil 4 full screen issue; if it's bars on the right and left, if I'm not mistaken, its because your tv has a resolution that is slightly more than the standard 1280x720, like mine, which is like 1366x768 or something of the ilk.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it's a bar on the right on certain Wii games. It's a pretty old HDTV that only supports 480p and 1080i.

BTW, the edited file is done. I'm just waiting until Cheapy wakes up so that I don't screw up the switcheroo.

Like anything that is on BitTorrent, I prefer to have the original. Even with the decline in comic prices, this lot is a lot cheaper than if I bought these individually. I paid roughly 60 cents a comic and could easily make $350 selling these if that were my intentions.

Click to expand...

As a group I guess you are correct. I just feel there was a small value in your purchase (beside personal collectors joy).Maybe because nothing really jumps out at me as interesting on that list.

[quote name='Jackal888']As a group I guess you are correct. I just feel there was a small value in your purchase (beside personal collectors joy).Maybe because nothing really jumps out at me as interesting on that list.[/QUOTE]

Are you sure you saw the Archie's and the ROMs?

As for the euro game, have the folks look for Anno 1701. I had a friend who picked up a copy in Oz for me, I think it's availbe in Europe, also. No expected US release.

Imagine an 18th Sim City that seems designed from the ground up for the DS. A great interface as you conquer the New World.

Or Akira Psycho Ball, Arcade Classic vol. 1 .Maybe a copy of Canis Canem Edit would be cool (if you don't have Bully)

Also, Mrs. Fantastic IS the new Paul Lyne

You're married to a woman who makes money, makes dinner, plays video games, collects baseball cards, and tolerates comic book collecting.

On top of all of this, your parents occasionaly purchase video games for you.

Bravo sir

Okay, the new director's cut version of the podcast should be up now for those that don't like moments of silence.

[quote name='Smaqaho']You're married to a woman who makes money, makes dinner, plays video games, collects baseball cards, and tolerates comic book collecting.

On top of all of this, your parents occasionaly purchase video games for you.

Bravo sir [/QUOTE]

Livin' the life.

[quote name='DesertEagleXIX']
Mrs. Ship - Congrat's on becoming a Vet. I had a friend who went to vet school in St. Kitts. How long is the schooling?[/quote]

Thanks. It's good to be done! I've gone straight through school with no breaks and I've had 13 years of grade school, four years of undergraduate, and four years of vet school. If I wanted to specialize (which I don't), I'd have 3-4 more years.

And I should clarify that since we now live closer to Ship's work, he gets home first and makes dinner for me. I made the meatloaf because he's still learning how to not burn things.

Might I suggest Coooking Mama for Ship?

[quote name='mrs. shipwreck']And I should clarify that since we now live closer to Ship's work, he gets home first and makes dinner for me. I made the meatloaf because he's still learning how to not burn things.[/quote]

You're captain of the ship then?

Seriously, is anybody actually going to purchase Horsez?

[quote name='hootie']Seriously, is anybody actually going to purchase Horsez?[/quote]

blind people might.

[quote name='dyreschlock']blind people might.[/quote]

I feel guilty for cracking up at this.

more info about keith david he is a good character actor

he is in one of my favorite movies "They live"

I also rember him in RoadHouse,The Thing,And the Both Riddick movies

he also voices the arbiter in the halo games

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202966/

did anybody else notice the background noise thru most of the show when they were talking? i would only hear it when they were talking tho. i checked the previous version and i didnt hear it. only in this one.

[quote name='tsg2005']did anybody else notice the background noise thru most of the show when they were talking? i would only hear it when they were talking tho. i checked the previous version and i didnt hear it. only in this one.[/QUOTE]

Hmm... that was a problem we were having in the first show and I thought I had fixed it, but I forgot to test the recording using headphones this week, so a setting must have changed.

I'm looking into getting a mic (or mics) so that we can eliminate that problem in the future. Right now we just use the built-in mic on my Macbook which isn't the optimal way of doing this.

We also might be switching from using Garageband to using Audacity to see if that might clean it up some as well.

Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Edit: Wait, are you saying you didn't hear the background noise in the first version of podcast #5, but did when I fixed my editing mistake and reposted it? If so, I'm completely confused about why that happened.

Great podcast as always. It has quickly become my new favorite. I actually even registered to CAG to leave this feedback. You guys really should get an email address for the cast.

Anyways the European game that I would recommend is Gottlieb Pinball Classics also called Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection in some parts of Europe. Its probably the best pinball game that I have ever played and since its fairly new you should be able to buy it in most game stores.



As for RE4 not looking quite right, that probably has something to do with it not being "real" wide screen. From what I have heard its supposed to have a slightly different resolution then the standard widescreen one.

Oh and I picked up the Wii version of Driver, I listened to your podcast too late so I didnt get the warning. But that was probably a good thing since Im really enjoying the game. Its a decent GTA clone but what really makes it great are the controls. So it might actually be worth paying a little more to play it on Wii.

[quote name='shipwreck']I'm looking into getting a mic (or mics) so that we can eliminate that problem in the future. Right now we just use the built-in mic on my Macbook which isn't the optimal way of doing this.

We also might be switching from using Garageband to using Audacity to see if that might clean it up some as well.
[/QUOTE]

That'll do it.

Truth be told though, I got through an entire Sports Broadcasting class, with a well-known broadcaster teaching it, using just my Powerbooks' onboard mic and Garage Band. The professor wanted us to use either a good headset or one of those small tape recorders, but I managed to beat the system.

[quote name='lx4']Great podcast as always. It has quickly become my new favorite. I actually even registered to CAG to leave this feedback. You guys really should get an email address for the cast.
[/quote]

I agree on all counts!

You can now email the shipwrecks at either:
shipwrecks at cheapassgamer dot com
foreplay at cheapassgamer dot com

Another great show, guys. And this one sounded like it was a real slog.

Favorite moment: Mrs. Ship's pronounciation of "mahjong." I swear you should subtitle the show "Creative Pronounciation with the Shipwrecks!"

[quote name='lx4']As for RE4 not looking quite right, that probably has something to do with it not being "real" wide screen. From what I have heard its supposed to have a slightly different resolution then the standard widescreen one.[/quote]

This failure to fill 16:9 screens or horizontal underscan is actually getting to be quite a sore subject with many in the A/V crowd, who have bitterly started labeling Wii games "15:9". It's a problem that has even shown up in several first party games for the system.

It's not your TV set or even the Wii itself that's doing it. It's bad programming. No one can figure out why programmers are doing this, especially since games like Twilight Princess fill the screen with no problems. It's bad enough that we're stuck with 480p while the other two systems have HD. At least they could figure out how to properly implement 16:9.

[quote name='Tybee']
Favorite moment: Mrs. Ship's pronounciation of "mahjong." I swear you should subtitle the show "Creative Pronounciation with the Shipwrecks!" [/quote]

It gives you something to listen for every week!

Update:
Shipwreck made Mahi Mahi wih pistachios, plantains, and caribbean rice for dinner AND he bought the complimenting wine! So, I'm a lucky woman!

[quote name='mrs. shipwreck']Update:
Shipwreck made Mahi Mahi wih pistachios, plantains, and caribbean rice for dinner AND he bought the complimenting wine! So, I'm a lucky woman![/QUOTE]

Livin the life

I really do like this podcast. It's pretty cool hearing unbiased opinions on all the crap that's being released each week. This one ran a little long, but I understand that it's gonna happen with lots of releases. Keep up the good work!

Great show, Shipwrecks. It gets better and better each time.

As for a European title to get, if you want a retro game and are a fan of Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia on the SNES, the third game in the loosely-tied trilogy, Terranigma, never came out in the U.S.

Great show, as usual. I just looked up the cover of Fantastic Four #26 and Mrs. Shipwreck is so right. It looks exactly like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four teamed up to play Hollywood Squares! Then, the Hulk got angry (there's a surprise) and started trouble. I think you can even see Paul Lynde climbing next to The Thing. Look for yourself: http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/fantastic-four/26-1.jpg

Anyway, you guys should have your own sub-forum.

Breath of Fire 3 for the PSP only came out in Europe. I'm playing it now and it's pretty damn good.

[quote name='ElfAngel7']Breath of Fire 3 for the PSP only came out in Europe. I'm playing it now and it's pretty damn good.[/QUOTE]

I actually have that. I tried playing it and was enjoying it, but got to a point where I had saved and couldn't progress any further because I would get severely beat down if I had to fight anybody and I couldn't backtrack at all due to happenings in the story line. Not sure if it was bad game design, or whether I was just missing something obvious.

I have a feeling this might be a "Cheapy missing the fire extinguisher" type situation.

[quote name='Wet Ninja']Great show, Shipwrecks. It gets better and better each time.

As for a European title to get, if you want a retro game and are a fan of Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia on the SNES, the third game in the loosely-tied trilogy, Terranigma, never came out in the U.S.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I'll definitely have to track that down. Probably a little too obscure for my parents to find easily during their trip though.

I love this show!!!! Unfortunately, it's making me spend money. On my trip to my local Game Stop because I heard here that Gurumin was $19.99 there now, I also decided to pick up Final Fantasy, because I am Kristin and I have a Final Fantasy problem. Then, while I was there, they had a copy of Etrian Oddyssey used, which I was stoked to pick up (I never expected to find it there, had already ordered it from amazon but amazon wasn't going to have it in stock until the end of July). Needless to say, with this show, I'm not such a CAG...

In this week's ep, I think ship asked if the DS was a good platform for an RTS, I'd have to say yes. You gotta remember that most RTS's are played with mice on computers, not as much on consoles (Civ, etc), so the touchscreen of the DS lends itself quite nicely to an RTS (right off the top of my head, Advance Wars Dual Strike was a big RTS nearish the time of the DS launch--good luck trying to find a copy of it now!).

Sounds to me like ship needs some easy recipes (baked pasta comes right to mind, it's really hard to screw it up).

Great show, keep it up!
/tk

in your brief discussion of Keith David, he is both an actor in movies and a well known voice actor in cartoons. for example, he was the general in the movie, Armagadden and he was the voice of Goliath in the cartoon, Gargoyles.

correction to The Darkness, one of the Darklings (a female) actually uses a machine gun. i saw that in some video previews online.

btw, did anyone else also hear static sound in the background during their discusions about 20 minutes in? so annoying...

Why looky here:
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/01/podcast-rodeo-for-july-1-head-earleader/

[quote name='CheapyD']Why looky here:
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/01/podcast-rodeo-for-july-1-head-earleader/[/quote]

congrats on getting noticed in the podcast world so fast

looking forward to the new podcast this week...including the CAGcast this week, i need my fix

EDIT: o btw, these podcasts should be a sticky so they dont get buried in posts

Listened to it last week, good show.

There is a reason that Ratatouille is on the Mac.