ShackCast 26: New TF2 Map, Left 4 Dead, One Console Future, Soul Calibur IV

I completely agree with Remo. Bioshock would be better if they got rid of the combat. Sure, keep some fights in the game, but I became so sick of the rooms full of enemies.

That's probably why I'm a fan of Shadows of the Colossus. Can you imagine how bad that game would be if there were enemies that you'd have to fight through on your way to the next boss?

Your talk at the end about RPG's is kind of where I'm at. I agree that FF XII helped in making battles seem less tedious cause it was a part of the map you were on... And the counter that rewarded you for slaying the same type of monster w/ possible better loot as you got higher was fullfilling if you took it to the max. It was a great way of leveling and looting because after a while you would get drops all the time.

I think the best part though about FF XII for me was the automation of the skills so it took out some old-menu driven mechanics.

If Vaan got poisoned, normally I would have to go through a menu, find a cure or spell, and resume battle but it had that break that took you out of it... And lets face it, in most FF games, specifically bosses, if you were up against something that poisoned/sleeped/diseased every 10 seconds you were constantly breaking out for cures.

With the system they put in where you could essentially build macros where if someone did get poisoned it woudl prioritize the cure for you so you never had to leave the battle for menus because your guy was already doing it for you. That's what I liked most about FF XII's battle system.

Anyone that has played FF XII will agree that was a step in the right direction.

Have you guys had a chance to figure out why the album artwork for the podcast in iTunes doesn't show up in my iTunes library? I remember asking about this a few weeks ago and you had said you'd look into it. Any progress on this?

Have you guys emailed podcastreport@digg.com ? It says to email them with problems

Who else things Valve is slowly morphing into the new and improved version of Apogee Circa the 1990s? Show of hands.

Sound balance is really messed up for me. I constantly have to juggle my volume to compensate for remos really quiet voice and faylor's really loud voice.

I'm just happy to hear that there are people who like the direction Square-Enix went with FF XII. My friends really dislike it as they love the older random encounter system.

I will say though that Square-Enix dropped the ball in several other areas of the game though. The Mist techniques were okay at the start, but unnecessary at the end, and the summons were unnecessary throughout the entire game. I just don't understand it when RPGs introduce elements of the game that aren't balanced with your characters' physical attacks. Why would I want to waste time with animations (even shortened animations) if Vaan's default attack does more damage and is faster?

Also, the leveling up system was a bit slap dash in XII. I'm not much of a fan of the games that allow every character to have the same abilities.

Thanks for the great answer guys!

Has anyone made jokes about the "Linde hop" yet?

So what happened to the guy talking about Badlands when he was saying "...this spire of boulders and rocks and was just so.. umm.. huh?...what? ok.... *giggle giggle*...." and then he just trailed off leaving the other guy to pick up. lol wtf? Were you guys fingering each other in the ass making each other laugh or something?

Woot, Steve calls me a dick!

Looking forward to some shackcast guest speakers though.

Wait Vader and Yoda are exclusive to the PS3 and the Xbox? WTF that sucks I was hoping of having a epic fight between them two. Lame.

Haha, the ATM Machine/PIN Number thing made me laugh.

Is Faylor actually gay or is he just like the Butters of the group where you make fun of him all the time?

The last few casts have been kind of grey in that area, so just wondering....

I am sorry I am loud. My sound and video drivers got totally hosed yesterday :(