ShackCast Episode 9: Army of Two, SimCity Societies, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Wii Zapper

Army of Two, SimCity Societies, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for Wii, Rock Band tracks, Sin & Punishment coming to Virtual Console, Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training, Peter Moore's grin, and more!

9
This week's show is both early and a quickie, as scheduling concerns backed us into a bit of a Monday evening corner. Episode 9 starts out with Chris Remo, Chris Faylor, Nick Breckon, and Carlos Bergfeld, and by the end has been whittled down to Remo and Bergfeld. Game impressions on tap include Army of Two (PS3, X360), SimCity Societies (PC), and Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for Wii.

In the news category, we touch on the Wii Zapper and its bundled game Link's Crossbow Training, new Rock Band tracks (Pixies!), Eternity's Child moving from Xbox Live Arcade to Wii, Sin & Punishment hitting Virtual Console, and Ubisoft quietly retracting its free game offers.

Due to time constraints, we unfortunately didn't get to address reader questions this week, but we'll make it up to you! Keep sending them in to shackcast@shacknews.com.

Play or download the podcast now, browse the episodes through iTunes, RSS, or Digg, or check out the full breakdown.

00:00: It's a song!
00:30: Wii Zapper comes with Link's Crossbow Training! What? (Story)
09:01: KISS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pixies, more join Rock Band! (Story)
13:15: 2D platformer Eternity's Child moves from XBLA to Wii. (Story)
17:30: Sin & Punishment finally makes it to English courtesy of VC! (Story)
18:55: The ins and outs of "improved" Xbox Live Arcade ports.
22:01: Ubisoft's free games (story) aren't free anymore!
24:10: We went to EA. Carlos doesn't like SimCity Societies. Here's why.
29:12: Faylor rebuts!
31:26: Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for Wii actually looks good! (Preview)
32:40: When 32p online was announced, we actually thought we misheard.
37:05: Faylor likes EA's dumbed-down kiddy controls because he's a big baby.
37:56: lol Peter Moore
40:23: Army of Two is rad. If you don't think it's rad, you are lame. (Preview)
49:36: Outtro and outtakes!

From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 11, 2007 4:23 AM

    i don't understand the homo-accusations of army of two around here either, the only place i've ever seen a mention of anything like that was in the comments for bergfeld's recent preview.

    • reply
      September 11, 2007 5:10 AM

      What really bugs me about stuff like this is that in our modern society, two men can't do some things together, or show any sort of affection towards one another outside of very narrow set of rules without facing japes or making people "seriously wonder about them". It makes me wish the concept of homosexuality didn't exist at all so I wouldn't have to constantly worry if something I did or said would make those around me wonder if I was gay.

      • reply
        September 11, 2007 6:23 AM

        You will enjoy life alot more when you do not worry about what others may think. If confident in your sexuality you have nothing to worry about, fuck what others think.

        • reply
          September 11, 2007 6:34 AM

          Yes, that is very easy to say. But when faced with the type of consequences stuff like this can bring about, things get a lot more complicated.

          • reply
            September 11, 2007 7:26 AM

            After reading your posts..... I just wanted to ask.... are you gay?

            [ ] YES
            [ ] NO

            • reply
              September 11, 2007 7:35 AM

              I was waiting for that one. No I'm not gay. I'm just a straight man who has had his fill of the whole "gay issue".

      • reply
        September 11, 2007 6:39 AM

        if you ask me buttslapping in football is alot more suspicious!

      • reply
        September 11, 2007 6:49 AM

        ^^^ gay cowboy that eats pudding.

    • reply
      September 11, 2007 7:28 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      September 11, 2007 8:34 AM

      I've actually seen it frequently on different types of coverage of the game both on Shack and elsewhere. It's really weird to me that people have such a reaction. Just as a matter of curiosity, it makes me wonder how much gay gamers think about how few gay protagonists there are in gaming-- l mean these characters aren't even actually gay and people on the Internet still turn into fifth graders when they see a trailer, I can only imagine the crap that would surface if they were genuinely homosexual. Like I said in the podcasto, I'd love to see that.

      • reply
        September 11, 2007 9:00 AM

        Army of Two isn't the only game I've seen this kind of running joke about. Gears of War had it going on to a lesser to extent, which proves that no matter how manly the activity (I would call killing hundreds of people/aliens pretty manly) if two men work together there is likely to be a firestorm of gay japes waiting in the wings.

        I can only imagine just how much of this would have gone on if Alyx from Half-Life 2 had been a male character.

    • reply
      September 11, 2007 9:14 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      September 11, 2007 2:34 PM

      I don't get it either. There's a gamasutra interview with one of devs from Army of Two and the interviewer referred to the parachute sequence as being homoerotic. I see a parachute sequence in the video and I'm failing to see it as homosexual in anyway, what is everyone talking about? I don't get it at all.

      What I also don't like the double standard. Say there was a stealth game called "Two of a Kind" featuring two female assassins or some shit and people would just LOVE the idea of two lesbian assassins in a co-op game. That game would sell more copies than kool-aid crack candy bars.

Hello, Meet Lola