On a very special sixty-third episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, Jesse must find his missing son the only way he knows how…

By taking a shower, brushing his teeth, finding a lost teddy bear, and slowly opening a car door. If only he can do it fast enough.

In “What We Played This Week”, Jesse finds out he does not like Heavy Rain. He and Adam have also started up Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii, which they are enjoying (which falls under our “Let’s Play Together” segment). Adam has also picked up Mega Man 4 on the virtual console, so that he can play the game on every conceivable platform. Jonah decided to give the original God of War a second chance after having finished the super-hyped PS3 counterpart. He also played through the new Left 4 Dead 2 DLC pack, The Passing.

In our “Friday Old Games” segment, the guys give Rare’s classic NES racer, R.C. Pro-Am, a try and talk about what it did well and if it holds up.

Then in the news, we discuss lots of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 details from Captivate, Bionic Commando ReArmed 2, DJ Shadow’s mention in an interview of his involvement in DJ Hero 2, and more.

Join us for the battle against tedium. Heavy tedium.

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Middle song – “Toad Man” from Rockman 4 (Complete Works version)

Outro Music – “Fortuna (Star Fox)” by The OneUps

When Valve first announced a sequel to their popular co-op FPS, Left 4 Dead, their was an uprising in the Steam community. Gamers were crying fowl, saying that Valve had broken their promises and their hearts.

Why isn’t this DLC? You PROMISED! They cried.

Some even started a boycott group on Steam that is currently over 30,000 strong. Never mind that the first random group member I clicked on has logged over fifty hours in Left 4 Dead 2, and the second random person I clicked on had over two-hundred hours in the main game and over eighty in the authoring tools (used for modding).

While I did spend a little time with the original, I never played it obsessively. In fact, I don’t think I’ve even tried every campaign, let alone finished them. Maybe that’s why the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 didn’t get me up in arms. It might have something to do with being a console gamer or maybe I just don’t expect companies to do extra work on their games for no money, but the announcement of a full retail follow-up to a best selling game came as no shock to me.

Left 4 Dead 2 is best played with friends, even if you are playing couch co-op with a loved one and have two computer controlled characters. It is a game that was designed for the multiplayer experience; something Valve has had a lot of success with. While you can play solo with three PC companions, you are really missing out on what makes the game good.

The basics are the same as the original. You play as one of four survivors of the zombie infection (who are immune for some unknown reason) that have to fight their way to a safe house and ultimately attempt to get rescued at a big finale event. There are five campaigns with four separate sections, each with their own theme.There is the mall (a classic among zombie aficionados), a circus, the swamps, a huge rainstorm, and finally a parish. That might not sound like a lot of variety on the surface, but each area definitely has its own look and feel to it. Unlike the original, several parts now take place in the daylight, which somehow makes the horde even creepier.

Among the horde of regular zombies, each level now has it’s own “uncommon common” zombie type. These range from a Hazmat-suit-wearing enemy that is more resilient to weapons fire than to melee damage to a clown whose squeaky shoes will attract smaller hordes to your position. There are also a few new special infected, like the spitter, who shoots burning acid at your party, and the jockey who takes control of your character to try and run them into the horde.

If you have heard talk that this one is harder than the original, those reports were accurate. The AI has been ramped up so that the special infected will try to team up on your party, and also try to hit you with sneak attacks. They are also far more likely to show up in pairs this time around. The game’s famed AI Director, the system in place to adjust the difficulty based on how well you are doing, hates you. If you think you are having a really good run and things are going smoothly, that is the exact moment when it will smash you over the head with the proverbial hammer.

While the introduction of melee weapons sound like a small thing, it ends up adding a lot to the game. When you are surrounded, the enemies have a certain level of “stickiness” that prevents your character from running away. The more of them that are attacking you at a time, the stronger this becomes. The melee weapons are the most effective way I have found to take out multiple enemies at a time, and the best way to get out of these situations. Because of this, I find myself immediately replacing the starting pistol with them.

Left 4 Dead 2 provides a very fun co-op experience, and I really am enjoying most of the changes over the original. It may not quite be different enough for some players to justify the full retail price, especially if you were a hard-core player of the original. If you are looking for a game to play with your friends online or couch co-op, this may fit the bill. Just remember, that M rating is there for a reason, as the game does feature a lot of blood.

When our heroes aren’t busy uncovering the fate of lost legends or fighting evil Nazis that are trying to use supernatural powers to take over the universe, they do this podcast. What podcast you ask? Why “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast” my good sirs and madams!

On this, our forty seventh installment, we discuss the recent Steam sales and subsequent acquisition of Lumines and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Jesse has finished the game/musical experience that is Flower and tried the retro-tastic Castlevania: The Adventure ReBrith.

As the game of the year nominations have been heating up, the guys have also given Assassin’s Creed II a spin. Jonah has spent some quality multiplayer time with Left 4 Dead 2 while Wes kicked back on the Nintendo DS and played some Nostalgia and Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

In our “Let’s Play Together” segment, Jesse and Jonah give their initial impressions of Resident Evil 5. We then go into the news, which was admittedly pretty light this week.

All this and more (seriously, we talked a lot of games in “What We’ve Been Playing”, to the point that I didn’t even bother listing them all here) on episode 47 of the do a Barrel Roll show!

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Music during the break – “Kung Fu Disco” by Shoes (Let’s Tap Soundtrack)

Outro Music – “Fortuna (Star Fox)” by The OneUps

Most Pirated Games of 09

"Just like this!"

On a very special forty-second episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we avoid the use of any Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy references.

Then, after the princess is captured for the fifteen-thousand, three-hundred, seventy-sixth time, it is up to the Super Gregorio Bros. to successfully get through an entire episode of the podcast without the help of their regular co-hosts.

In “What We’ve Been Playing”, we discuss more on Uncharted 2, but then move on to Borderlands and Left 4 Dead 2, the two multiplayer shooters that everyone on Jonah’s friends list seem to have abandoned for Assassin’s Creed 2. We also talk of what were, at the time of recording, awesome Black Friday sales that have now come and gone.

Then, in “Let’s Play Together”, we discuss how amazing New Super Mario Bros. Wii has turned out to be as both a co-op and competitive game. As it turns out, we are hooked on the brothers.

Then in the news, we talk about the new lawsuit Microsoft is facing with Datel over memory card lockouts, the new Super Street Fighter IV character announcements, and much more.

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It’s that time of year again! The fourth quarter of 2009 is already upon us and we at WingDamage are here to keep you in the loop about some of the notable games coming out for each platform. Below you’ll find some of our most anticipated titles for the Xbox 360. Multi-platform titles have also been re-posted here for your convenience.

Forza 3

“The racing sim capable of giving the Gran Turismo franchise something to worry about returns. Turn 10 Studios takes the realism up another notch, making us all wonder if we’re playing a game or actually driving a car.” -Jesse

Left 4 Dead 2

“Let’s face it zombies always make for a fun time. The original featured some of the best multiplayer fun of this generation and the sequel looks to expand and refine the experience.” -Dave

DJ Hero

“Over 100 individual songs used to make over 90 never before heard mixes created by legendary artists including DJ Shadow and Daft Punk. DJ Hero is a unique take on the stagnant rhythm genre that even has Paul Oakenfold’s approval.” -Jesse

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

“This is the sequel to the best FPS of this generation. Infinity Ward have proven themselves to be the absolute masters of the FPS genre and their latest COD raises the bar even higher. Tight, focused, intense, and still somehow completely over the top. This is where all your friends will be come November.” -Dave

Brutal Legend

“It is not often that a genre bending game pulls off more than one aspect of the game they are trying to create. Even with it’s impressive pedigree, I was skeptical of Brutal Legend. That is, until I played the demo at PAX. The humor works. The combat and driving work. I have officially joined the screaming fanboy mass eagerly awaiting this release.” -Jonah

Alpha Protocol

“A spy RPG using the dialogue and combat systems from Mass Effect? Yes, please. And if anyone can pull it off, it’s Obsidian, the studio behind Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2.” -Luke

Borderlands

“Diablo-esque loot drops? Check. Crazy awesome cell-shaded art style? Check. Over 600,000 unique weapons? Hell yes.” -Luke

Dragon Age Origins

“Bioware is one of the top RPG developers in the world, maybe even the universe, so any time they announce a new game people should take notice. But when they announce a spiritual successor to their classic PC title “Baldur’s Gate” RPG fans should celebrate.” -Dave

Rock Band: LEGO

“Yes, I realize I am a sucker for wanting this game. I am looking forward to the new songs, the fact that your Lego guys battle space monsters while you rock out, and that it will be one more game to play when my niece and nephew come over. They can’t get enough of those crazy Lego games.” -Jonah

Let us know which Xbox 360 games YOU are looking forward to!

This may come off as grumpy old man complaining that “Back in my day, we only had Combat on Atari, and we liked it!”, but it is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I’m warning you now this is a full on opinion piece.

Do we, as gamers, complain too much? Do we take into consideration everything that goes into making the games we play in the first place? And do we, or should we, care?

As we know, most modern games take huge teams and millions of dollars to produce. Even smaller games have ever increasing budgets these days. It only makes sense that many companies go for the safe bet, churning out franchise titles year after year. So we complain that no one comes out with anything new. Then, when companies like EA finally do decide to take risks on new IP’s (particularly evident in 2008′s releases), they are, more often than not, met with less than stellar sales. Meanwhile, the latest Madden continues to be an unstoppable juggernaut.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from Wii owners is that there is no third party support for the system. “The only good games are Nintendo first party titles”, many still claim. Capcom released “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” almost exactly one year from the consoles’ launch to much critical praise. It was fun, original, and best of all the controls worked. There wasn’t even any gimmicky waggle! Sadly, it sold very poorly it’s first several months on the console. Even though it has since gone on to sell a decent number of copies, this killed plans for a sequel. Where were these complainers then?

Nintendo came out with their new version of “Punch-Out!!” recently. I personally loved it, party because it was just like the old one, but with lots of cool new features. Many of the reviews I both read and heard on podcasts went along these lines: “It is great, but it’s too similar to the original.” This would often contradict what they were just saying about why they liked it.

Then there is the recent debacle about “Left 4 Dead 2″. DLC (downloadable content) has always been a point of contention among gamers. We even had an article about it. A lot of people are complaining that all the content in the new game could have been DLC for the first game. Why they assume it would be free, just because Valve has been generous about their DLC in the past, has me baffled. PC gamers seem to still be spoiled on the fact that “back in the day” that kind of stuff was always free. I got news for you, kids. Multi-million dollar games need a way to continue to be profitable to stay in business these days.

So let’s say all the new stuff was released as DLC. Payed DLC, because it is likely most, if not all of it would be. You are already talking new characters, new AI director, new weapons, new levels, new super zombies, etc. That could easily add up to more than the cost of a full priced sequel.

There is currently a boycott going on the official Valve forums due the release of the Left 4 Dead sequel being scheduled for release only a year after the original game. If this were an EA or an Activision, no one would bat an eye. But this is Valve. Episode 3 doesn’t even have a release date yet.

Many of their so-called fans have banded together to send them a message, “We want your hard work to be given to us for free! You have done so on many of your other games, so why not do that again? That was pretty cool.” I can only assume they feel that Valve owes them since they bought the game. Personally, when I buy a game, the only guarantee I’m expecting is that it will run properly on my machine. Anything not on the disc that works along with it is just gravy. Maybe that’s from being a life-long console gamer. I play games on my PC and mods are fun, but I never expect them.

I think we do complain too much as gamers. Sure it’s justified sometimes, when a company really is doing something ridiculous or a game is poorly made. But when a quality product that we enjoy hits the market, do we vote with our dollar?

It’s the only real way to have an effect. I mean, all we are, is dust in the wind. Dust. Wind. Dude.