Weekend Confirmed Episode 16

I’m an avid listener of your show and I really enjoyed the segment you guys did on Onlive last week and I wanted to share my thoughts on that subject and maybe get you guy’s opinions on it.
First of all, one thing Onlive could be the future of PC gaming for one simple reason; its piracy proof. If a developer decided to release its game on Onlive exclusively then the only way for it to be cracked and pirated is for it to be leaked. Smaller independent game developers can consider weighing the pros and cons of either releasing the game via download/boxed and risk being pirated or releasing it on Onlive to a smaller demographic. But consider if Onlive changed its business model to something like xbox live. Silver members can buy games and stream them without paying a monthly subscription. Gold members can get discount rentals, demos, multiplayer, and much more for a monthly fee. Also, Onlive could make a deal with cable internet providers to sell their service as part of a package like espn3.com.

Take this idea even further, there are developers making games for the 360 and ps3 that forgo the PC market all together. Onlive and create an in-house or contract a developer to port some of these games. Ones that would be cost effective of course, not every game could work on pc.
All it takes is one or two killer exclusives to make people sign up for silver. Indie sleeper hits would be perfect for this.

Next, classic games: Most people (I’m generalizing and I don’t care) don’t want to or know how to fiddle with dosbox to play vintage games. Onlive can tweak it on their end and provide the game to its users. Now the cool part, older games run on SD or even lower graphics so it could be possible to stream these games on a wifi or 3g/4g connection. How cool would it be to play X-com on the subway to work? Or on an ipad.

Older game’s license could be hard to obtain, but if Gametap could do it why not Onlive. And it would be cheaper and draw in new users who may not want to buy new games on a cloud service but have no qualms paying 5 to 10 bucks to get a game from the past.

And finally Onlive’s current business model isn’t going to work; it needs to compete with companies like steam and direct2drive. As mentioned on the show, no one is gonna pay for something if they know they’ll lose or can’t play anymore it if they ever stop paying the subscription fee. So this is what I would do if I ran Onlive. (Aside from buying credit default swaps on my own company)

-No monthly fee, even if this puts operation in the red so be it.
-Set up a two tier licensing system, one for big companies like EA and Activision and one for smaller indie developers.
-Make “indie” games stream only (copy protection) and copy the Iphone’s 70/30 profit sharing.
-Copy Steam’s model for bigger games and allow for streaming as part of the package. Allow publishers the option of stream only and work with them for exclusive contents.
-Do a podcast; give a voice to the company. Let members know what’s going on, self promote and relate with the demographic.
-And finally, finally, the technology for this is already here and it’s only going to get better, internet is only going to get faster. Down the line release a premium 1080p service for 10-15 dollars, give every free user a month free trial with auto-renew. And Start profiting.
-That or becoming a middle man or big companies. “EA Onlive” and “THQ Onlive” don’t deal with users, sell the service to the companies itself and let them deal with the marketing and selling.
So that’s my rant. I really appreciate it if you read it, Weekend Confirmed is by far my favorite podcast and on Wednesdays it always makes me sad when I have to listen to something else on my commute to work. Thursdays are even worst when I have to listen to that panderer who shall remain nameless. Anyways, thanks for all you guys do and keep up the good work.

Great show guys. You saved me the $70 I was going to spend on Crackdown 2. Thank you.

I am all in favour of people having to use real names on the Blizzard forums, but I believe it was Felicia Day who brought up the concern that it's already hard enough for woman to exist in the male dominated game world. Putting their real names out there makes them targets not only for online harassment but also for real life harassment.

An unfortunate consequence of the world we live in. Sounds like the point is moot anyways as Blizzard has now back-tracked.

Brian Leahy needs to apologize for his little "anime game" outburst in the coming episode. Not only is that an obnoxious thing to say, but rude to Garnett and all fans of gaming. Big props to Garnett for giving some Valkryia Chronicles love. I wish he could have gotten into it a bit more, and perhaps follow it up sometime in the near future with some Valkyria Chronicles 2 coverage on Weekend Confirmed :)

Hey, guys. Loved the show this week! Christian is a great fourth chair and even though I disagree with Jeff, I loved his rant. Totally the way I get pissed about games. Also, the fade back in to Jeff just screaming "and THEN YOU HAVE TO GO ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY!!!" was hilarious. I lost my shit.

Thanks for discussing my question about sandbox difficulty as well. All of your responses were great. I agree with Jeff that people like to find the shortest distance between two points. I hate that mentality but yeah, you are right, expecting people to play games the same way as me is very unrealistic. That is why I loved Christian's comments about achievements. As much shit as those meaningless rewards get, I do find that, when implemented correctly, they can add a lot of depth and enjoyment (and sometimes intense frustration) to a game. The one thing that allowed me to enjoy the original Crackdown wasn't the agility orbs, it was the crazy achievements it had. A great example of that was the achievement where you had to beat Mirror's Edge without firing a weapon. It made that game way more interesting to me.

So anyway, thanks again for the discussion. Oh, and Brian, post those videos of the Mario 64 thing. I really want to see that!

The question about game difficulty is interesting. The original poster started by saying that games are easier now than they were in the Super NES days. I think that part of that may be because the reason that many people play games has changed since then.

On the Super NES, the gameplay was really all there was. With developments in technology pushing cut-scenes to where they are today, I know many people who say that they mostly play games “for the story.” Sure, the gameplay still has to be enjoyable, but if you are just trying to take in the story, the game really doesn’t have to be hard. I don’t know too many people who played Super NES games “for the story.”

I think it’s great that developers are able to accommodate so many different game play styles, especially if they can do it in an interesting way. For example, in the case of Metal Gear Solid 2, completing the game using non-lethal force also raises moral questions at the same time. (The first time you kill someone, an emotional conversation is triggered with Jack’s girlfriend, Rose. That stuck with me and made me feel bad about killing anyone after that conversation. I’d come up to a sentry and think, “It would be easy to just kill that guy, but, that’s a person. It may be more difficult to sneak past him, but, if I can advance without ending a human life, isn’t the extra effort worth it?”) When used like that, it can be about more than just the difficulty of getting though the game.

By the way, My name is James Shartzer. If My boss finds out I play games, awesome. If I say anything to offend anyone here, I live in Montana. You're fee to track me down. I try to treat others with the same courtesy online that I'd offer anyone in person. I think that message boards, xbox live, or any other anonymous social connection forum would be a lot better if more people had that attitude. If a company wants to force it's users to stop trating others so disrespectfully by forcing them to use their real names, more power to them.

I am ashamed last week Garnett said he was going to be playing Sin and Punishment: Star Successor but no talk of it this week what is up guys

According to the guy in charge of policing XBOXLive speaking at Paxeast, the main offenders against thoughtful, polite society on the web are primarily boys 12 and 15-19. It was that specific according to their stats on penalties and bannings.
This is what using real names is truly aimed at, the rude contingent subset of a subset. Because of this minority everyone is considering giving up their security blanket of anonymity to correct.
Like a lot of folks here I try to give serious thought before committing anything to screen, namely, I don't write anything I wouldn't over my real name. As a result I don't need the screen name, just use one as it's more typical and kind of fun to see people's variety of handles to self-identify.
That said, the WOW community, which I don't participate in, is the WORST place to start this. That entire experience is about anonymous avatars and fantasy. Strip away the anonymous and people will feel terribly embarrassed to geek out as much as they would like to normally. I could see that killing the enjoyment for a lot of people.
Love the "Cannata-ford" selections. I still have my original "Freedom Force" disks, it's loaded on this laptop right now. Irrational Games is so brilliant that both it and "Third Reich" continue to play beautifully despite Windows' iterations in the years between. A real testament to that team.
The games still entertain after all this time as well. Sweet.

Jeff Cannata-grasp Deadly Premonition.

His idiotic rant was cynical to a fault and it was made worse when he parlayed the idea of Alan Wake having good storytelling. The fact he completely misunderstood York’s introductory motif further proves that he just doesn’t get the game. Seriously, if he sees that as a flaw how the hell did he manage to enjoy the dogshittery that is Heavy Rain? In that game, the voice actors can’t even say origami right and it feels like watching a bad community college recreation of the 6 Saw films made with an 80 million dollar grant.

Make Brian useful and put him in charge of the sandwiches or something

I was shocked by Jeff's violently negative reaction to "Deadly Premonition." I would have bet money he would be the one to get what makes this game such a work of genius. Next-gen game hangover from E3 maybe?
I have a quick litmus test for loving or hating what this game does. Early in the game, York has breakfast in his hotel's restaurant the first morning. If you find numerous elements of that meal experience so funny it's hard to breathe, it's for you. If you are simply annoyed by what's going on, stop immediately, this game isn't for you, it's mindset just isn't resonating with you.
And Jeff, that means the game just isn't for you, NOT that it sucks, is horrible, and anything else you were shrieking during your surprising and uncharacteristic overreaction.
And no, it's not a practical joke, those of us who love this game, really love it, mean it wholeheartedly. As the story unfolds, the myriad Twin Peaksy weird elements draped all over it, combine into a true work of videogame genius. But like a lot of edgy works, you hate it or love it.
And love it while including the janky look and controls, NOT despite them. It all works together in a strange chemistry.
I love it, possibly as much or more than my love for the Mass Effect universe and all it's big budget glory.

First, I want to say how much I usually enjoy the show. I really respect you guys and enjoy listening. That said- this episode really let me down. You guys were total haters for the first half of the show! I think Brain probably could have just left it at "I didn't like the first game" since all previews of Crackdown 2 basically said it was Crackdown 1.5.

I don't know. You guys are welcome to your opinion. While I disagree with you on Crackdown 2 and Deadly Premonition, more than anything I that bashing two games for thirty to forty minutes is not a great way to start the show, and would hope you would spread the hate out next time rather than wallowing in it and turning into screaming loonies.

Also, I cannot express how much I hate the music breaks. Garnett picks the worst possible tunes to play on a weekly basis. The only way his music taste could get worse was if he actually started listening to recordings of people throwing up and taking a poo.

Anyway, thanks for the show... just not THIS episode.

PS- I get a little uncomfortable every time Garnett talks about a studio he has friends in. Would you really have given Blacklight: Tango Down 15 minutes of show time if Garnett did not have friends in the studio? Maybe, but I doubt it. It reminded me of when he talked about Little Big Planet for months, but then didn't even bother to play the game. He always talked about how excited he was for his friends at Media Molecule. Maybe that was just verbiage and he doesn't have good pals at the studio, but either way it sounded like the game got preferential treatment because of his relationships... not that LBP didn't deserve to get talked about. It was a great game!

Maybe I just wish Garnett would actually play the games he claims to love. How far are you in Yakuza 2, Garnett? Yakuza is awesome, I am glad he pimps it. I would be even happier if he would actually play the games so he knew what the hell he was talking about.

MAN this was a negative post. I will have to post a positive one soon.

Okay, I've got a warning question for you guys. I can’t keep this shit short. Sorry. The actual question is the last paragraph.

I've been playing through Mass Effect 2 again recently and I keep thinking about how strange it is to be playing a role playing game where the stats of weapons and abilities are never directly shown to you. Essentially the game lets you know that your upgrades are making you more powerful, but they shy away from specifying exactly how much. I'm assuming this is to keep you immersed in the game world.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have recent games like Borderlands or Final Fantasy XIII, which literally have numbers pouring out of enemies when you do damage to them. While this may not be quite as immersive as what Mass Effect does, it does bring the player closer to the mechanics of the game, encouraging strategic thinking and providing immediate feedback to the player's actions.

Now, in large part, the definition of a pure role playing game would be a game which reveals its mechanics to you. A game that tells you specifically what will happen if you do something before you actually do it. And while games that reveal mechanics to the player typically are more involved and complex, I also feel that it can hamper the immersion of the game world itself. Take another hybrid RPG for example: Bioshock. The first couple encounters with the Big Daddies in that game were terrifying. Not only were they rumbling, hulking monsters, but also, the first time you fought one, it was impossible to tell which weapon was going to be the most effective. Yes, the daddy had a life bar, but it was difficult to tell in the heat of a battle if what you were doing was the most effective way to dispatch the enemy. This brought you into the character: it made you feel unsure and uneasy. If numbers had popped off of him, it would have just been a matter of swapping weapons and counting until you found the highest number.

Other games have used this to great effect as well. The old Silent Hill and Resident Evil games didn't tell you how much health your character had left or how much ammo was still in your gun unless you paused the game to open a menu. It made playing the game more tense. Some of the most immersive games I've ever played sacrifice surface complexity in order to bring you more into the world. Hell, in Shadow of the Colossus all you get is a jump button, a grip button, a sword, a bow, and a horse for a twelve hour game, but it is in my opinion one of the most immersive games ever made.

So basically, this is a question of preference. How forthcoming do you guys prefer games to be about their mechanics? Sure, you can answer (like I sort of did) that you like both, but what I'm trying to ask is this: if you want to get heavily involved in a game and immersed in its world, do you prefer having mechanics handed to you up front (like easily visible stats: if you do X, Y will happen every time) or do you prefer being required to sort of get a “feel” for each element? (I'm trying to phrase this in way where it isn't just RPGs versus everything else. I hope it makes some sense.)

I'd like to bring up the new and seemingly popular idea of exclusive content. I'm talking about the extra bonus content, usually cosmetic but not always, that is added to games if you buy them at certain retailers or buy them for a specific platform. How do you all feel about this and more importantly how would this sway your choice on where you would buy your game?

I don't really like this direction especially when the extra content is more than pure cosmetics. I'm a huge Gamefly user so usually I dont benefit from the bonus codes I would receive. However when I do purchase the games i'll go through Amazon or Gamefly if its cheaper. The convenience of using these outlets for me outweighs changing how I buy to get a few in game extras.

Opinions?

Great show, I'm glad Garnett is back to doing this with a good crew. I have a question and from what I can tell this is the only way to get it to you for an answer so here it goes:

There are a bunch of great XBLA games coming out this summer but shooter fans seemed to have a lot to be happy about with Blacklight: Tango Down, Breach, and Monday Night Combat all coming within a month or so of each other. Blacklight is out but the demo did not turn into a purchase and I know that MNC is part of the Summer of Arcade promotion but is there any word from Atomic on when Breach will be released? There are no updates via facebook, twitter, or the game's official website. Just the vague 'early summer' release date which is quickly passing by.

Also since it's not part of the SoA promotion do you think they would release it during one of those five weeks? I would think the only game that would be released during the promotion are the ones being advertised but I don't remember what was exactly released the past couple of SoA promotions to get a better idea if they release other games as well. My fear is that if they can't get out in the SoA then the earliest would be August 25th; several weeks after Blacklight, just a couple weeks after MNC, and only a few weeks before Reach is released. I can't imagine Atomic would be happy about that kind of timing. Any information would be very much appreciated.

Q

Just wanted to throw out some appreciation to you guys:

Garnett, I've been listening to you for *looks at calendar* HOLY SHIT, ALMOST FIVE YEARS! Listening to 1UP Yours/Listen UP and now Weekend Confirmed have brought me happiness during times I've been down, and your shows have, in a way, been the soundtrack to the beginning of my adult life. Through rainy dog walks, arduous commutes, late night walks around campus, and even post-breakup depression, you and the great community of co-hosts you've worked with over the years have always been there to take my mind off the more serious facets of every-day life. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the podcasts.

Weekend Confirmed has been phenomenal so far, and I think it really captures the magic you had with the classic 1UP Yours crew. Jeff -- your Deadly Premonition rant nearly had me in tears; I LOVE your passion. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the good times,

Joe S.

You guys need to discuss Guild Wars 2 on the podcast... Seriously, they keep releasing more and more info about it, and I would really love to hear your opinions on some of the big changes that they are bringing to the game and the genre. It seems to be taking a serious look at the MMO genre and just challenging the "standards" of the genre, really proposing to bring the first REAL change to the genre in the last decade. It is certainly the most interesting looking MMO that is on the horizon, and I think that if they pull off everything they are talking about then they stand to position themselves as a game that is better than WoW yet stands as a subscription free game...

Tycho over at Penny Arcade summed up GW2 pretty well when he said
"I've read and re-read every article that breaks the surface of the refurbished Guild Wars 2 presence. I don't care if they ever launch the game at this point. It's already contributed to the health of the genre simply by being a judging, omnipresent force."

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/7/9/


Also, their blog is freaking brilliant:
http://www.arena.net/blog/category/guild-wars-2

The game just BEGS to be discussed because it is doing so much to try to shake up a genre that has been stagnant for years.

Hey guys, just a quick one but has anyone heard any rumblings on the possibility of Rez coming out for the iPad? I can't think of a better port opportunity. That said are there any similar style offerings already?

Great show, big fan, been on board since meeting Garnett a few PAX's ago and scoring myself a Weekend Confirmed t-shirt (you really should start making them again post 1UP).

Keep it up.
Raj, from Australia.

Great ep this week, and I didn't get a chance to comment on last weeks ep. with Shane. It felt like I was listening to 1up yours again....oh nostalgia! Hopefully you guys will bring Shane back, and maybe if the opportunity comes up we can get a show with Shane and Luke Smith as guests.

I think it was two weeks ago that I was talking about how sad it is to me that games so rarely try to raise any sort of questions about the world or have even the faintest traces of thematic depth. Well, last night I finished playing the new Mass Effect 2 DLC called Overlord. I just wanted to say that not only was it a fantastically well designed 2 hour mission pack, but its ending was emotionally resonant and actually had something to say. Granted, ME2 already had commentary on the real world littered throughout its story, but I feel like the emotional climax brought to a head at the end of Overlord might just be one of the best Bioware has done.

Its not a theme you haven't heard before, nor is it all that shocking, but it is executed so well that I feel it demands to be played. I think it just goes to show that if a game like Alan Wake had some sort of meaning behind its plot line, however simple, it could have done wonders for the dramatic elements of the story. My point is that you don't have to say something profound, just something relatable, or thought provoking to really pull the audience in and give the story weight.

Anyway, has anyone hear beaten Overlord? What did you think of the ending? (Don't spoil it for anyone please.)

Great show again.

There has been a lot of discussion in the gaming media regarding Move / Kinect and core gamers but I have yet to see or hear someone address the possible division of the player base that might be the result of motion controls.

I have both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 and it always annoys me to find out that a friend and I have the same game but for different consoles. I am thinking that the introduction of Move and Kinect might do the same between owners of the same console but one with and one without Move / Kinect.
Let's say that developers decide to always keep the ability use a regular controller then the two can still play together but at the same time it would de-emphasise motion controls. So what can we expect?

How will distributers and developers handle a situation where the install base is that much lower (divided)?
Will we see an even shorter lifespan of online multiplayer for anything but the top selling games or might motion controls bring in some former casual gamers to fill the gap?

I guess I am just rambling, but I wouldn't mind some input. I might be way off, who knows?

/Thomas

My friend played a lot of ARMA 2 and apparently the multiplayer was where its at, when every unit is a real person you dont have to worry about the games biggest shortcomming, the AI.

My Cannata-Ford game of the week.

KKND (Krush, Kill N' Destroy)

I cant find it on GoG or Steam. Try to use amazon or ebay.

Great old RTS game thats rather tongue in cheek.

In other related news. A POSSIBLE PLANTS VS ZOMBIE 2???? Yes please sign me up

I think you guys missed one gigantic, glaring point on the entire RealID debate.

What about the people who ALREADY post useful information or behave properly in a debate?

The MVPs of the forum all universally said they would either stop posting entirely or were quitting the game. Many of us in the debate community on the DPS/Tanking/Healing boards all agreed we would stop posting.

Why? Because this isn't threatening to trolls at all. The trolls already outnumber us 10 to 1- we post because we think that what we do raises the level of discourse. By doing this, the trolls will take over the forum and those of us who post useful things will be harassed to no end.

On top of this, what of women, or more well known figures? They will be open to harassment from people who aren't even on the forums, as everyone will be able to see your real name regardless of if they post or not.

The ignorance on display from those on Weekend Confirmed this episode was shameful. You should all read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's thoughts on the subject, perhaps educate yourselves: http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity

Jeff, your DP rant was like stabbing me in the heart multiple times. T_T

I love how Jeff is slowly starting to evolve into an aspect of Luke Smith: comedic ranting!

So when you had your discussion about White Knight and putting in a short (preamble?) before playing the second one, it made me think about Back to the Future. I don't know how or if it would work in video games, but if you want an example of a great use of the previous episode material to bring you into the story, that would be my choice. The second movie ends with Marty saying he's back, and the third movie starts off with the very same scene. Maybe if an RPG or other game that keeps a persistent universe did something similar, where you replayed the last few hours of the previous game, it would work really well.
Personally, I still would rather see a system like what is in Patapon 2. If you played the previous game, or even the demo, you can carry your items through. That way you are rewarding the player who is a dedicated fan of the series AND giving new players an incentive to play the first game, while at the same time allowing a new player to start up without a penalty.

Loved the show!

Great list of value games!!

-Freedom Force: great game! Must play for any comic lover
-Valkyria Chronicles: great game!! Top 5 for me on PS3.
-X-COM UFO command great game! Although beware that the graphics are far beyond dated... did I say FAR? ;)

I'd suggest Fallout Tactics to those who enjoyed Freedom Force.

More issues than normal with this show than normal:

Jeff: Sorry, you fail as a comic geek :( Freedom force is obviously based on the Silver Age of comics, whereas Third Reich is based on the Golden Age, which I also don't like much. My fave age is Silver.

Brian: "All mmos come down to a grind". I don't see it that way. There were two competing ideas about how mmos work,, the EQ way and the UO way. The EQ way is about grinding monsters of various 'color difficulties" where you can never take anything X levels above you. The grind is implicit, and these are ultimately social games since they are so repetitive and, for me, boring. The UO model was based on creativity. Imagine finding a lot out in the wilderness, building your own castle, then decorating it with trophies found all around the giant world. Imagine always being at risk of being attacked by other players. Imagine a crafting system that isn't about hunting boars for hours then watching a progress bar for hours afterwards, but rather is about combining alchemical herbs... these things are far from grinds.... UO was a game I played daily for a year and never felt a grind, except for rare cases when I wanted rapid progress on a given skill. The UO method was more complex, and therefore didn't appeal to the masses: so it lost. True variety requires a level of complexity that the masses don't seem to want. This doesn't mean that all mmos come down to a grind.

Garnett: "Dragon Age is just like Baldur's Gate".... um, no. BG and BG II were vastly better games for my taste, for so many reasons. The combat was much better in so many ways: "wow, my whole team died except for one person so I just get up and continue?" can you say "dumbed down"?. The spell system was amazing in BG II and boring in DA. I like the characters much more in BG also... giving gifts to make friends ruined all the relationship stuff in DA... I could go on, but the fact that DA is so much *not* BG was my main issue with it.

For the first time, I think I have to say that I completely and utterly disagree with Jeff. Not about Deadly Premonition - I haven't had a chance to play that, and I can't say that I think it will appeal to me - but about Crackdown 2.

Brian is so right - the orbs act to fill in the gaps. If the orbs were not there, the gameworld would be barren - would you still have fun traversing the world? I doubt it, because you wouldn't have these little packets of "Yay, well done. You found me. Move on now kid."

I played and seriously disliked Crackdown 1. Maybe it's because I didn't get far enough in, or maybe it's because I just don't like that style of gameplay, I don't know. I'll always prefer a strong narrative structure in a game over 'shit can be wild yo'.

That being said, I did really like inFAMOUS. So, perhaps I'm just a walking hypocrite. All I know is that I never understood the hype about Crackdown, and I think the orbs are a lame increntive for travelling the world.

Here's a link to the slick Weekend Confirmed beat Del Rio made us: http://www.4shared.com/audio/CnwCGNfZ/WKND_CNFRM_MUSIC_BREAK.html

(I swear it reminds me of LL Cool J stuff for some reason)

Similar to the mission in ArmA II where you need to refer to a document written in Arabic, I recall that there was a mission in the original Operation Flashpoint where you, as a downed pilot evading enemy patrols at night, needed to use the stars to guide yourself to safety. The skybox used at night was a legitimate star map, and your in-game journal contained some basic information on reference points to use. I had totally forgotten about this very immersive and unique mission until the ArmA II discussion on this podcast.

A certain subject keeps coming up in the podcast. This week the guys talked about Crackdown and with all the crazy stuff going on in the city, who would want to live there? It doesn't make any sense. Similar to how they were talking about Alpha Protocol and the "magic" ability to just go invisible for no apparent reason other than its a skill you have.

This subject of senselessness in games seems to keep reoccurring.

"Dear Developers,

I don't care that you put the (insert insane ability here) into the game. I think its rather cool. Just give me some lore or some fictional logic of why/how it works.

Thanks
The SlingBl4de99"

I would like to officialy put my bid in to be Garnett's "man" as he so nicely put it.

HILARIOUS, Jeff should consider recording samples for hip hop of him ranting about Deadly Premonition. At first I thought that was your audio person (Brooklyn?) mixing a recording of him in on the first music break, but it was just the music fading out. HA!

So I guess the Real ID thing won't be happening now. Too many people complained about it, so they are not making it a requirement now. I really would have liked to see something like this happen.

i know im a bit late on this, i was busy. i loved the host trade you guys did with Feedback. bring back sessler, and send garnett over there once in a while. that would be awesome

Brian and Christian,

Concerning all the problems you brought up with MMOs, two words: Guild Wars (and Guild Wars 2, these words don't count).

More + a question after the fold.

Looking forward to listening to this in its entirety. Wish I could've taken the credit for Fiendishdude's awesome post about game reward systems and mechanics in sandbox gameplay, but alas, it was not me.

Also, great to have Christian back on the show. I enjoyed it last time he was one.

Who can believe we're four months in already? Time flies Garnett.

I agreed with a lot of your points on Crackdown 2. Also, listening to Jeff was amazing considering that his reaction was the antithesis of Feedback's discussion of that game. Good show, cannot wait for next weeks show.

I watched Giant Bomb's entire Endurance Run of Deadly Premonition just laughing at the entire game, but the ending was quite good actually. The game has a certain charm to it that isn't easy to pinpoint.

Great job fella's. Good to hear Christian again, DANCE MONKEY, lol. Wanted to hear a bit more about Starcraft 2 but you can save that for the 27th.

Kinda weird but i've been playing my Wii more and more. Lego Harry Potter is a bunch of fun.

As a PC gamer the whole RealID thing is cool. Makes people be accountable for stuff they post.

Can't wait for another Weekend Confirmed.

As for having all your names out there add mine

Wingless92 aka Skyler Hardy.