CAG Foreplay #42: Shipwrecks... Roll Out! (5/6/08)

shipwreck

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CAG's shipwreck & mrs. shipwreck preview the new releases for the week of May 6th, 2008. This week we cover the last two week's worth of releases, the Botcon Transformers Convention, give away prizes, kick off the Hour of Victory: Tour of Foreplay, and provide you with plenty of additional song and dance to help you get by a week without the CAGcast. Song and dance not included.


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Multi-Platform

Grand Theft Auto IV Dev. Rockstar North Pub. Rockstar Games Systems: 360, PS3 MSRP: $59.99, $89.99
This one seems to be flying under a lot of people's radar, but this in-depth preview is here to give you the scoop. It looks satisfactory and maybe the increased emphasis on story, improved graphics, reworked combat and driving mechanics, addition of online multiplayer, and myriad of other updates will finally be enough to hijack this series out of obscurity. Or maybe you are more interested in the ability to reenact that scene from Pretty Woman where Richard Gere carjacks that Lotus Esprit, picks up that prostitute, refills his life bar, then takes cover behind his ride while blind-firing rockets at Jason Alexander's rival gang. Then he refills his life bar again. Ooooh... Pretty Woman. Such a tear-jerker. Oh, and the game looks pretty fantastic too. - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering the Special Edition for around $86 shipped.

:360: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Deep Discount $58.99 (Free shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Deep Discount $58.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Amazon $89.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Family Video $84.72 (99 cent shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Amazon $89.99 (Free shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Family Video $84.72 (99 cent shipping)


Iron Man Dev. Secret Level Pub. Sega Systems: Everything Under the Sun MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
Walk, fly, and hover as you play as everyone's favorite alcoholic millionaire superhero in this box office cash-in. The shame in a game like this is the game actually has a better chance of making money by being rushed for the movie release rather than affording the developer a couple of more months to turn this into something special. It's not that blasting into the air, blowing up some helicopters, dashing to the side, then hovering while launching missiles at the tanks below is necessarily a bad thing (in fact, it evokes fond memories of Sega classics like GunValkyrie and Virtual On). Collecting various power-ups and unlocking all the different Iron Man suits are checkpoints on the way to a good game as well. But the frustration sets in when you realize they've built what seems to be a pretty solid engine that allows for all these interesting combat possibilities, and then they just let the whole thing fall flat by not implementing the combat in a compelling way. Give us a combo scoring system, give us intense situations that require mastering all of Iron Man's abilities, give us two more months while the developers go back and see what made those older Sega games fun. Or give us this... and make a decent amount of money on yet another super hero game that stops short of being truly worthwhile. Where's Tony Stark... I need a drink. - ship

Best Deal:
Both Circuit City and Best Buy are offering a $10 gift card with the purchase of the Wii, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3 versions of Iron Man. Target is offering a free $5 gift card with the purchase of the PSP, PS2, or DS versions of the game. Fry's is offering the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions for $53 each.

:360: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
:360: Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)
:360: Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
:360: Purchase At Fry's $52.99 ($5 shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Target $29.99 (Free $5 gift card)
:pc: Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)
:ps2: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:ps2: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)
:ps2: Purchase At Target $29.99 (Free $5 gift card)
:ps3: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)
:ps3: Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
:ps3: Purchase At Fry's $52.99 ($5 shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Target $29.99 (Free $5 gift card)
:wii: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Family Video $48.01 (99 cent shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free $10 gift card with purchase)
:wii: Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)


SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 Dev. SNK Playmore Pub. SNK Playmore Systems: PS2, PSP MSRP: $14.99, $29.99
If you haven't been able to commit to any of the SNK Anthology collections we've been previewing over the last year, think of this as one heck of a cheap sampler pack. It's like when you go to T.G.I. Friday's and aren't quite sure that you want a whole order of just Crispy Green Bean Fries, Zen Chicken Pot Stickers, or Chimichurri Sliders, so you go for the Three-For-All instead. Well, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is the Three-For-All of the video game world. Except it's a Sixteen-For-All and at $15 it's probably cheaper than the Jack Daniel's Sampler once you factor in not having to leave a tip. You get a nice mix of fighters (Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters '94, King of the Monsters, Samurai Showdown, World Heroes), action (Burning Fight, Magician Lord, Sengoku, Top Hunter), scrolling shooters (Last Resort, Metal Slug, Shock Troopers), and sports (Baseball Stars 2, Neo Turf Masters, Super Sidekicks 3). Come for the food games, stay for the fun. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1.

:ps2: Purchase At Amazon $14.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)
:ps2: Purchase At Deep Discount $13.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)


Speed Racer: The Videogame Dev. Sidhe Interactive Pub. Warner Bros. Systems: DS, Wii MSRP: $29.99, $49.99
Hollywood decided to lay a big steamer on yet another of my childhood favorites this week and of course we are getting a game to enhance the experience as well. In case you haven't been in a toy aisle lately, Hot Wheels make the official toys for the movie, which is extremely appropriate when this game reminds me of all the Hot Wheels games that have come out over the past few years. I can definitely imagine the designers for this game just snapping together pieces upon pieces of orangeish-yellow plastic tracks and watching with glee as they sat on their bunkbeds as their favorite diecast car zoomed around loops, up and down the walls, and through the T-Wrecks' mouth and the dangerous Criss Cross Crash. So it's like that... except with Car-Fu! (I didn't add that exclamation point because I was excited, you just apparently can't write Car-Fu! without one.) So... Car-Fu! is basically just running into the other cars which causes exclamatory phrases like "Tail Toss!" or "Smack Down!" to fill the screen. They are obviously there to remind you of how much over-the-top fun you are having at that very moment. Throw in a raceable Christina Ricci as Trixie, splitscreen co-op through the campaign on the Wii, and six player WiFi races on the DS and there might be enough content here to satiate all those kids at Target screaming to their parents that they've found the Speed Racer toys. No, Speed Racer, No-ooo! - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering the Wii version of Speed Racer: The Videogame for $48 shipped.

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping & free movie ticket)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free movie ticket)
:wii: Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping)


Wii

Boom Blox Dev. EA Los Angeles Pub. Electronic Arts Systems: Wii MSRP: $49.99
Steven Spielberg knows movies, and it appears he knows games too. This new puzzle-game-with-a-twist is being billed as a 3D Jenga, but the game is so much better than that mediocre description makes it sound. The game play revolves around removing, blowing up, and even shooting 3D blox to cause a chain reaction of falling blox. Once all the blox fall, the level is over. The Wii-mote controls are precise, the puzzles are challenging, and the physics is awesome. But that just describes the plain blox. There are also characters that walk about the levels, each with different properties that influence the game play. The chicken blox, for example, lay bomb blocks. There are moneky blox, happy dog blox, and a grim reaper blox; the list goes on and on. I don't need to go on and on to tell you how great this game is! I haven't even mentioned the co-op, multiplayer, and level editor modes. This is one Wii game that might actually deserve it's $50 price tag and hyped-up release. - mrs. ship

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

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)


Mario Kart Wii Dev. Nintendo Pub. Nintendo Systems: Wii MSRP: $49.99
The first Wii version of Mario Kart hit the shelves last Sunday, and critics are giving the game an average score of 83/100. Certainly not the perfect score that GTAIV garnering; what can gamers expect from the newest edition in this franchise? First, and most obviously, the game comes with the Wii wheel shell. Yes, it's different. For some, it will just get in the way (I mean, we've been playing Mario Kart for years now without one!). For those of you looking forward to the wheel, it controls well so you shouldn't be getting schooled by gamers using the classic controller. The gameplay itself includes the standard 50 cc, 100 cc, and 150 cc speed classes and all the same beloved characters found in past Mario Kart titles. Half the tracks are new, half are classics from past releases. There are also bikes and Mii support added in, and great online multi-player (although no online co-op play). As you race through the modes, you'll come across some pretty cool Nintendo Staff ghost racer, some of which have to be beaten to move on in the game. Sounds like fun, huh? So let's move onto the negatives. First, there's the 150 cc Prix races in which the AI is ridiculous and the masses of blue shells make the circuit slightly annoying to beat. For the select few who were blessed with amazingly tight Kart skills, this might not be so bad. For the rest of us, winning this circuit will be more about luck than skill. The online multiplayer is amazing, and if you intend on playing with a lot of friends, you're better off to play online than in local multiplayer. Online play is easy, it looks great, and you can view which of your friends are online even without having the disc in! Overall, this is a solid title that any Mario Kart fan should be pleased with. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Mario Kart Wii for $48 shipped.

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Family Video $46.98 (99 cent shipping)


The Dog Island Dev. Yuke's Pub. UbiSoft Systems: Wii MSRP: $29.99
For this preview, we're going to play a little game, similar to Simon Says in which there are instructions as to how to move and respond as you're reading this post. Here goes.

This adventure/RPG game is based on those close-up, big-head characters known as "The Dog". Allow your brain time to process that. It's an adventure game in which the main character is a dog Sigh of annoyance at Ship for making me preview this game who has no offensive attack moves Place your finger and your thumb in the shape of an L on your forehead . Instead, the dog character runs about sniffing for stuff to collect wrinkle nose . Oh, and there are mini-games groan, the wii-mote controls questionably roll eyes, and the camera is horrible roll eyes the opposite direction. And Ubisoft expects us to pay $30 for this picture images of game in large bargain bin . - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for The Dog Island.

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Family Video $28.83 (99 cent shipping)


DS

Brain Voyage Dev. Razorback Developments Pub. Eidos Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
Packaged in what I can only assume is a lame pun combining a brain reference and Bon Voyage, the DS gets a new brain training title. Filled with logic problems and board games, this title features board game designer Reiner Knizia. Does he know Carol Vorderman? - mrs. ship

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

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


Corvette Evolution GT Dev. Valcon Pub. Valcon Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview) A name like Corvette Evolution GT would suggest to me that this is a Corvette racing game, but to my surprise there are several other makes and models from the likes of Volkswagen, Audi, Renault and others. I guess Opel Evolution GT just wouldn't move as many copies at Walmart. Regardless, the PS2 version of this game was a decent simulation racer with an interesting driver RPG element where your performance in races allowed you to level up your character. I'm assuming the DS version keeps this system intact so it could offer some budget priced fun for a genre that's not often seen on Nintendo's portable. Don't expect much in the way of car customization or tuning though. Do expect Opels. - ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Corvette Evolution GT.

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $18.99 (Free shipping)


Crosswords DS Dev. Nuevo Retro Games Pub. Nintendo Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
Didn't I preview this game already? No? Oh wait, that game was New York Times Crosswords? Well then, I'm sure this game has the same casual atmosphere with touch-screen controls and 1,000 puzzles. There's even a training mode in case you forgot how your stylus functions or how writing letters into little boxes works. At least the price is right for $20. Seriously, this title also includes anagrams and word searches and looks like the best Crossword title for the DS. Which I'm pretty sure just means it's better than New York Times Crosswords, but who cares? - mrs. ship

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

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $18.99 (Free shipping)


Let's Pilates! Dev. Konami Pub. Konami Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Let's Yoga! Dev. Konami Pub. Konami Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Let's face it: it's difficult to find time to work-out when you have a busy schedule. For the gamer on the go, the whole Wii-Fit Balance Board just isn't portable. So, I present to you Let's Pilates and Let's Yoga, the DS titles that teach you various fitness moves that can be done anywhere at anytime. Sure, you might look a little silly doing downward dog in your cubical at work, and you might not want to do pilates on the subway for fear of getting some deadly disease from the crud on the floor. And don't forget the exclamation point! That's there for motivation! - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering both Let's Pilates! and Let's Yoga! for $28.50 shipped each.

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


Toy Shop Dev. Gameinvest Pub. Majesco Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview) At first read, the plot of this DS title seems to be a Harvest Moon rip-off, only with a toy shop instead of a farm. The two main characters have just lost their grandfather, inherited his toy shop, and have three years to make it profitable and to convince the town to accept you as the shop's owners. At second read, it seems exactly like a Harvest Moon rip-off. Only instead of harvesting and watering and foraging, the gameplay revolves around marketing and building and pricing. It's an economic simulation for kids who couldn't care less about how much a toy costs. The hardest part about this title is figuring out who it's target audience is. Gamers who love simulation games might find this one a bit too simple and childish. But it's charm and simplicity might create a whole new generation of economic simulation lovers. It's a sim-light, that's for sure. At least Majesco got their economics right in only charging $20 for this one. - mrs. ship

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

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $18.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)


Winx Club: Mission Enchantix Dev. Konami Pub. Konami Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
For some reason, I always think that this title is something appealing when I first read it. Then, I look at the box art with all the fairies and the pink glitter and I think to myself, "Why didn't I make Ship preview this crap?" Anyway, this title is based on an Italian animated series featuring several brightly-colored fairies with surprisingly normal-sized breasts. The show is aimed at young girls ages 6 to 14, so I'm clearly not their target audience. But, I probably would have been about 13 years ago. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Winx Club: Mission Enchantix.

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)


PlayStation 3

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Game of the Year Edition Dev. Infinity Ward Pub. Activision Systems: PS3 MSRP: $59.99
(Deja Preview) Most gamers won't need me to explain this well-known WWII first-person-shooter franchise. Except, of course, it's no longer set in WWII. The newest edition is set in modern times, location unnamed. The other thing that most gamers will remember from playing the COD4 beta is that your soldier becomes more skilled as you play. As your player levels up, new weapons, skills, and abilities become available. The levels cap at 65 (in the final game, this is rumor - the beta only went up to 55), and then the gamer has the choice of staying at 55 or restarting at level one in prestige mode with a bonus icon. All in all, this game is one that's been talked about for months, so you don't need a preview to recommend you buy it - most of you probably already have. - mrs. ship

The Game of the Year Edition includes the four new maps that were released on Xbox Live a couple weeks ago, so if you haven't picked this game up yet be sure to grab this version to save yourself $10. PlayStation 3 owners now have the chance to call in air strikes on exotic new locales. - ship

Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Game of the Year Edition.

:ps3: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
:ps3: Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)


PSP

R-Type Command Dev. Irem Software Engineering Pub. Atlus Systems: PSP MSRP: $39.99
For those SHMUP fans out there that wish their SHMUPS weren't so twitch-oriented, but rather hex-based and not SHMUPS, here comes R-Type Command. Assemble your armada from nearly 100 ships from the series and take your turn moving them about the grid like the tactical genius that you are. The number of ships and their different abilities offer nice variety, the graphics are appealing, and the controls are simple and well implemented, so this seems worth a look if you are better than me at these games. (I couldn't beat the tutorial mission in the demo.) A word of warning though: these battles can last quite awhile and don't lend themselves all that well to portable gaming. I watched in vain as my ships were methodically destroyed by the computer over the span of at least twenty minutes. The game also features a two player versus mode, but with only local play, we'd have to be in the same room for you to hand me my ass. - ship

Best Deal:
A few stores including Amazon are offering a free R-Type ship collectable with your purchase of R-Type Command. Fry's is offering the game for $33.

:psp: Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free R-9 miniature ship)
:psp: Purchase At Fry's $32.99 ($5 shipping)


PC

Turok Dev. Propaganda Games Pub. Touchstone Systems: PC MSRP: $49.99
The wait is over, PC fans... oh, you weren't waiting? Well then, the period of indifference continues PC fans. - ship

(Deja Preview) Well, it's certainly a step up from the latest Turok offerings, but when your last game's boss was a half-cyborg ex-Civil War Calvary Captain who rode upon a similarly half-cyborg Tyrannosaurus... well, a step up would leave you still under several feet of feces... probably, half-cyborg feces. Fortunately, the newest game didn't stop at just a step and has somewhat brought the Turok franchise back to relevance. I say somewhat because this is really just a mediocre game at this point. With so many other first-person shooters on the market, this one just feels dated and when your most powerful weapon is your knife, shooting round after round into hundreds of raptors when you could just walk up and stab them isn't so thrilling. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction though, and the next Turok game can somehow capture the magic of the original. That would include leaving out the sidekick that is constantly yapping at me. - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Turok for around $48 shipped.

:pc: Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping)


On The DL with the Shipwrecks

Double Dragon Systems: Wii (NES) MSRP: $5
Ah, now this side-scrolling brawler takes me back to the good ol' days. Who doesn't have fond memories of when this was released with online play and enhanced graphics for a mere five dollars on Xbox Live Arcade? I'll tell you what, the years go by, but the memory stays, and those were the good ol' days. - ship

Pokemon Puzzle League Systems: Wii (N64) MSRP: $10
This is the first (and only?) Pokemon game that I ever played. Tetris Attack, Panel de Pon, Puzzle League... whatever you want to call it, this is a great puzzle game and I remember this being a really good version of it. Sure, it's just shifting around colored cubes to match up with other colored cubes, but it's done really well and combos are quite satisfying. Especially when accompanied by non-stop clicking noises and Pokemon shouting their names over and over again. Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle! I'm Gonna Win! Don't Give Up! Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle! - ship

Renegade Systems: Wii (NES) MSRP: $5
For some reason, I don't remember much about this side-scrolling brawler. I remember I thought the box art was pretty extreme with "Renegade" spray-painted against a subway car and a guy roundhouse kicking gang members onto the tracks. Absolutely, no memory on the actual game though. Pro Tip: Walk right, punch or kick, sometimes both. - ship

echochrome Systems: PSP, PS3 MSRP: $9.99
"echochrome" is like a minimalist's take on the critically acclaimed, but poorly selling puzzler "Crush". Gone is the bright, flourescent color scheme; replaced with merely the two-tone palette of black and white. The goofy story has been replaced with... well, as far as I can tell, no story. The need to consciensiously switch between 2D and 3D views has been streamlined to allow for instantaneous manipulation of perspectives. So, do I think "echochrome" is a better game than "Crush" because of these changes? I'm not sure, it's just different and can be frustrating in different ways as well. While both games tax your ability to solve puzzles in three dimensions by bending the levels to create optical illusions, "Crush" is more rigid, while "echochrome" allows for more creativity in solving the puzzles. This creativity can lead to problems though as it's difficult to tell where exactly you will land after falling through a hole or launching of a... I don't know... reverse hole? This adds a certain sense of helplessness, even if you think you have planned out how to clear the level, only to see you character land on a platform that wasn't your intent. This certainly did not please me on multiple occassions. For $10 though, I think those of you looking for a challenge will have some fun. Each version has 56 levels (I say each version, because the PSP and PS3 versions actually have different levels) and there is the ability to create your own levels as well as plans for free downloadable content in the future. - ship

Pixel Junk Monsters Encore Systems: PS3 MSRP: $5ish
Since I'm currently ultra-addicted to PJM, I was relieved to hear that there would be a new expansion pack, hopefully this week. Ship and I played this game together and had a blast. For those of you unfamiliar with our little monster friends, the goal of the game is to create towers with various weapons in order to eliminate as many monsters from taking over your board. That's just about as simply as I can describe tis quirky RTS title, so if you interest is peaked, check out the demo. The new expansion is rumored to be around $5 and will include a new island with 15 new maps. The special abilities you learned from the original will have to be re-learned for the sequel. Crap, no running! - mrs. ship

Wits & Wagers Systems: 360 MSRP: $10
Well, this is strange. I was just contemplating buying this board game at Target a few days ago and now it is an Xbox Live Arcade game. From what I understand, it is a trivia game similar to what you would play in your local sports bar, but you also have the ability to bet on the answers the other players are inputing as well. I guess it's sort of a mix between Trivial Pursuit and Apples to Apples in that way. The game supports up to 4 players locally and six players over Live as well as camera and big button controller implementation. The game also features custom soundtrack inducing background music and visuals that invoke memories of Office Max's "Elf Yourself" site from this past Christmas. The game seems decent enough, but falls more into the party board game realm of "Scene It?", rather than the strategy based board games that have been wearing out the batteries on our controllers. - 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.
 
Here's a picture from Botcon. Some more can be found over at the CAG Foreplay Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21991223@N07/sets/72157604744056036/

2443536537_706b7bc279.jpg
 
Hey shipwreck... that shitty power stone knock-off you were thinking about is called Stake.

I specifically recall the box art touting "4 PLAYER ACTION!"

ZOUNDS.
 
Harry Trotter would have been a better name if Futurama didn't already use it. Also, Perennial Loser was the best horse name from Futurama anyways... lol Or maybe Lasty was better...

"Come on Lasty!"
 
For the record, New York Times Crosswords for the DS is excellent for what it is. Easily worth $20 for puzzle fans, and today it's only $10 on amazon.
 
[quote name='Jackal888']Epic showdown Blaster vs Soundwave[/QUOTE]

2443534535_79d3710c07.jpg


Epic-er Showdown: Shipwreck vs Blaster vs Soundwave vs Mrs. Shipwreck
 
Nice! I didn't realize that the Transformers had their own convention, but now I do, and now I am wiser for it. I was wondering why the show opened with the very-80s song from the original Transformers movie, and now I am wiser because of that, too. Lots of wisdom today -- involving Transformers.

I see that Mrs. Shipwreck wisely equipped herself with a cardboard tubing in the event that one of the cosplayers malfunctioned.

Looks like y'all had a great time!

Regarding the new releases, I might have to check out Boom Blox. I've been recently getting a lot of M-rated games and T-rated games that are violent enough to not be considered family friendly. It looks good, but I want to read more reviews. Seems like something my wife would definitely be into!

Glad to hear the new show!
 
Haha, I'm just 19 minutes into this mammoth podcast and I have already heard the Shipwreck quote:

"I don't play with the Bigger Boobed Girls, you know that"

Classic...
 
I have a feeling Mrs. Shipwreck is not a fan of Eye of Judgment. I guess any game that requires natural sunlight isn't going to go play well on a Friday night. Ha Ha.
 
i don't know i like CheapyD Podcast better ..... Foreplay just seem like a normal conversation between two people "you like the red ones.... yeah i like the red ones what about the blues ones no i don't like them" :drool: it get boring at times

CheapyD & Wombat just get more personal and controversial. Wombat fighting with him and dissing each other every 2 seconds its funny as hell

The Part about the Big Boob Fighting Girls was funny tho lol
 
I made the trek to BotCon this year as I do every year. Too bad I didn't know you guys, if I saw you I would have said hello.

Glad to see that you guys made it to the convention too, sounds like you had a pretty good time.
 
About the Fighting game controversy Actually I have noticed it building over several shows. It is very entertaining in and of itself I think I actually listen to the show more for the relationship as for the information - same as in CAGcast. I like the tension the giant boobs bring and also the double d point five game joke. I like it because it is so entertaining to see how Mr. Shipwreck justifies himself; I can so relate. I like how she counters with the pokamon game and how she comments on the oversized lunchbox of a character.
 
Hey Ships,

Great show as always! I really liked the Ms. Ship intro...

Unexpectedly, I received a copy of River King: Mystic Valley for the DS in the mail yesterday. This looks to be a different game than the 'Wonderful Journey" PS2 version.

While (bad pun intended) I'm a bit hooked on the game, as someone who enjoys fishing in the real world, I feel a bit awkward playing this game. While trying a catch a fish in-game, I ask myself, "Why am I wasting my time doing this in the virtual world when I can do this in reality?"

It's a good thing I don't hunt monsters in the real world, as I couldn't play an RPG without guilt.

One rather frustrating thing about the game- You collect card by bring a character groups of fish. 5 'carp' or 4 'loach' will get let you obtain a card. But your initial basket only holds ten fish. So it's almost like playing poker, except you always seem to be discarding your queens and kings.

Obtaining in game currency is a slow process- After two hours I'm still using the bamboo rod you start the game with :(

Oh, and Ship, I'm with you on cheap games. There must be some minor psychological disorder we suffer from. I cannot pass up a five dollar game no matter now bad the reviews are or how unappealing the license is. I've bought some crap just to experience it.

I'll like to be on the Tour of Victory Cue. I don't actually plan to spend much time playing it, I just have some great ideas for pictures in/around Los Angeles. Is there a Tour of Victory Thread to post the pics in?
 
I think I gotta agree with Mrs. Shipwreck...Message in a bottle...I think that name definitely might have some relation to Wombat working at his new job.
 
I'm not up on horse racing, what was so sad?

As for Mrs. Shipwreck, perhaps there is a Codebreaker or Action Replay code to help you in River King. I know that some people cry foul at the very thought of "cheating" but if you're at an impasse, I see no problem in getting around bad gameplay mechanics.

Also, Soundwave would kick Blaster's ass.
 
London, KY FTW! ;) No, I'm not from there, but I know it well. You guys are making me homesick. I'm from NKY.

I'm in the middle of the show right now, but you guys are cracking me up - GREAT episode!

I dig the 2.5D games. I don't like 3D fighters, and 2.5D lets the games look newer but play like the oldies but goodies. I imagine it would be hard to make a 2D fighter for a next gen console these days.

I'd like to be in the Hour of Victory queue. I'll take it geocaching with me - I know a great spot for a picture.
 
Well Mr. and Mrs. Shipwreck, more twords the Mrs., I am one of the 1% who have heard of London, KY. I just sent a game from Goozex there last week.
 
:rofl:You guys should have videotaped the "Eye of Judgement" game with Wombat. I'm laughing just thinking about Shipwreck walking around the room with a lamp, trying to get the game to recoginize his cards.
 
I have to admit that I am a first time listener of CAG Foreplay. I thought of listening to it before, but I wasn't too interested in just hearing previews. However, I decided to listen this week and I enjoyed it a lot! Very entertaining to listen to and it definitely fills the CAGcast void this week. I will be a listener from now on!

Thanks shipwrecks!
 
nice Shipwrecks, Botcon. my friend went there last year and took a pic with the guy who does the voice for Optimus Prime. he's a TF freak and he has a huge collection.

btw, i'm amazed at the length of this week's show! WOO~!
 
I could see the Let's Pilates/Yoga worth maybe $10. You say it's good for Wii but a TV in the workout room? Next you'll end up getting a fridge and a sofa. But it's too much for what it's worth.
 
Great show, guys, well-worth the wait!! :) However, was it just me, or did anybody else have a small problem with the audio, especially in the 2nd half of the show? I had to turn up the volume on my iPod quite a bit to be able to hear the last 30 minutes or so, and more so towards the end...

Oh, and just for the record, I ended up buying The World Ends With You on Sunday, for more or less the reason that ship said it might be better to buy it now, that it was $30. Square-Enix seems to like the fact that they can get away with charging $40 for a game. Though I'm also interested in Rondo of Swords, I opted to wait on it, partly because I only wanted to buy one game this week and partly because I've got a couple of other turn-based strategy games on my shelf that I want to get through, I couldn't see adding another before finishing off one of those.

I haven't started World Ends With You yet, but everything I've read says that this should be a good game.

/tk
 
Where is the link to images from Botcon? I'm a Cag forum and foreplay virgin virgin

NEVER MIND I found the link...
 
So...is that a 'no' to Arcana Heart (at least from Mrs Shipwreck)? I have some amazon credit and I was thinking of picking that up. I've been wanting some 2d fighting and completely forgot this came out.
 
[quote name='PlumeNoir']So...is that a 'no' to Arcana Heart (at least from Mrs Shipwreck)? I have some amazon credit and I was thinking of picking that up. I've been wanting some 2d fighting and completely forgot this came out.[/QUOTE]

It's really good. I highly suggest it if you enjoy 2D fighters.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']It's really good. I highly suggest it if you enjoy 2D fighters.[/quote]

got my copy ordered and shipped today. i wish it had online play so we could rumble.
 
[quote name='PlumeNoir']So...is that a 'no' to Arcana Heart (at least from Mrs Shipwreck)? I have some amazon credit and I was thinking of picking that up. I've been wanting some 2d fighting and completely forgot this came out.[/QUOTE]

No, it's not a "no" from me either. It's a good game, especially for a 2D fighter. Those games just aren't my cup of tea. :)
 
[quote name='mrs. shipwreck']No, it's not a "no" from me either. It's a good game, especially for a 2D fighter. Those games just aren't my cup of tea. :)[/quote]

i recommend Guilty Gear XX. you might have a better time lookin at the dudes in that game instead ;)
 
Mrs. Shipwreck doesn't look like her avatar does she?

(seen a picture doesn't seem to match up)

another great Foreplay ;]
 
Even if I was from London Kentucky (which I'm not), I wouldn't think that people were talking about my home town every time they mention London.

Food for thought.
 
After I heard you talking about that transformers cellphone game I tried to do a google search for it but couldn't find much about it.
then I got to this article on a site called Pocketgamer
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/Transformers+G1+Awakening/news.asp?c=6777

If you read the article the author says that the found the pictures on someone's flickr account and if you click on the link the account you get linked to indeed belongs to the shipwrecks.
 
[quote name='kenkaze']After I heard you talking about that transformers cellphone game I tried to do a google search for it but couldn't find much about it.
then I got to this article on a site called Pocketgamer
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/Transformers+G1+Awakening/news.asp?c=6777

If you read the article the author says that the found the pictures on someone's flickr account and if you click on the link the account you get linked to indeed belongs to the shipwrecks.[/QUOTE]

Very nice, I always wanted to be a someone. Weird that they would find that on my flicker account without somehow listening to the show though.
 
[quote name='LiK']Shippy, new show this week?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it will be out either tomorrow morning or tomorrow night. Been getting stuff ready for the New York trip later this week.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Yes, it will be out either tomorrow morning or tomorrow night. Been getting stuff ready for the New York trip later this week.[/quote]

Sweet :)
 
Well, a day later, and I just don't see it happening this week afterall. I'm driving to New York tomorrow and there's still a lot of stuff to get ready to go and with my short work week, I've had to get a lot of stuff in order there as well.

Fortunately, you won't be missing out on much in the way of new releases this week, but we'll at least cover the better ones in next week's show.

I'm looking forward to getting to meet some CAGs this weekend!
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Well, a day later, and I just don't see it happening this week afterall. I'm driving to New York tomorrow and there's still a lot of stuff to get ready to go and with my short work week, I've had to get a lot of stuff in order there as well.

Fortunately, you won't be missing out on much in the way of new releases this week, but we'll at least cover the better ones in next week's show.

I'm looking forward to getting to meet some CAGs this weekend![/quote]

aw, well. i guess Cheapy and Wombat will need to take up the Foreplay duties this week then...
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Well, a day later, and I just don't see it happening this week afterall. I'm driving to New York tomorrow and there's still a lot of stuff to get ready to go and with my short work week, I've had to get a lot of stuff in order there as well.

Fortunately, you won't be missing out on much in the way of new releases this week, but we'll at least cover the better ones in next week's show.

I'm looking forward to getting to meet some CAGs this weekend![/quote]

:(
 
bread's done
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