If you read the site frequently or are a long time listener of our podcast, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that most of the staff here really likes the Monster Hunter series. With each new iteration, the games see a lot of refinement. Having spent over 100 hours with the currently Japan-only Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, I can honestly say it’s really hard to go back to Monster Hunter Tri, a game we collectively decided to call the #3 best game of 2010.

That said, when spending hundreds of hours with the same game, you still run the risk of things going a bit stale. While I’m still having a great time with Portable 3rd, I can’t help but think what the future of Monster Hunter might bring. Call it wishful thinking, but here are some of my ideas on how the series could continue to improve.

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Let me just get this out of the way. I hesitate to throw around terms like “the best soundtrack of 2010″ anymore because frankly, music is very subjective. I’m not trying to lay down “the facts” on which OST wins. Rather, my goal is to share with readers some of the soundtracks of 2010 that I personally enjoyed. If you’re favorite soundtrack isn’t discussed below, don’t take it personally.

With that said, I’d like to say a few words about my favorite soundtracks from last year. For your convenience, I’ve provided links on where you can purchase these soundtracks as well as a three minute “sampler” medley of each game, just to give you a taste of what to expect.

Let the music appreciation begin!

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2010 has come and gone. We’ve narrowly avoided drowning in the deep sea of game releases and now we’re here to tell you which games stood out among all the chaos. We polled our rag-tag group of writers on their top ten GOTY choices, then fed the results into a magical formula to decide what we collectively deem “the hottest of jams.”

The best of the best. The cream of the crop. Ten games to rule them all. Is the suspense killing you yet?

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On a very special ninety-seventh episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, there was an accident in the lab. Despite every safety precaution, a series of random and increasingly wacky events lead to the experimental shrink ray scoring a direct hit on the podcast.

This week, the Gregory brothers team up to talk about what we are all here for (here on WingDamage, not here in the philosophical sense), video games.

Jesse has finally finished Monster Hunter Tri… well, the single player campaign anyway. He also picked up a sweet new Wii joystick for some Tatsunoko vs. Capcom action. Jonah finished the fun but incredibly difficult VVVVVV and also started up Epic Mickey to see what all the fuss was about.

We also discuss the meager news and game releases on this especially abbreviated episode of our podshow. Enjoy!

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On a very special eightieth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, Jonah and Jesse come together with only one common goal: To not break the streak of having posted a new Barrel Roll episode every week since the show’s inception.

Crazy stuff has been going down in the real world, so the guys keep things on topic and as concise as possible this time around.

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On a very special seventy-seventh episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we double our damagocity with special guest Mixmoff from Fall-Damage.com.

He brings us up to speed on all-things damage related.

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The big budget triple A games can be fantastic. They have huge teams backing them, allowing for the use of the latest and greatest tech. Graphics are slick and always pushing to look better than everyone else. Plus, you know everybody who’s anybody is going to be talking about them in your circle of gaming friends/podcasts/blogs/forums.

Often when I sit down to play one, I will end up spending several hours in front of my TV or computer working my way through it. Sometimes, this can lead to a strange mental block right before I get started. Since I know I will inevitably spend a lot of time playing one of these games once I start, it can be a little intimidating.

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Much like Dragon Quest, the Monster Hunter series is one of the biggest names in gaming in Japan and almost unheard of in North America. Most people over here just don’t “get it”, and many of them don’t want to put forth the effort required in order to really understand what the game is all about. After all, even with more accessible entries in the series such as Monster Hunter Tri, there is still a very steep learning curve to overcome.

Originally I wanted to write a review of Monster Hunter Tri in order to spread the word. However, after over 100 hours of playing the game, I still haven’t experienced all it has to offer. I’ve come to realize, it’s not a traditional review that’s going to spark interest. My hopes are that by sharing the reasons that the series is so engaging (many of which are not immediately obvious to the new player), it will help more people realize the joys that can be found from becoming a Monster Hunter.
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On a most excellent sixty-ninth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, the dudes must travel through time to find the most  bodacious of all gaming experiences.

When the time comes for the shooting of the breeze, Jesse and Adam give us the rundown on their experience with the VD-W3 Wii HDMI Upscaler Processor. EXCELLENT!

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"Looking for treasure... just like the Goonies."

In any given RPG, the wooden sword and cardboard shield you start with aren’t going to be the ones you keep forever. Usually you get rid of them by the time you hit your first town. But when you buy that new set of gear and equip it, only to find your character has only changed in numbers and not in appearance, it is a bit of a letdown.

If you are talking about old school sprite based games, I will concede that it was more trouble than it was probably worth to put visible loot into a game. Re-drawing that many sprites would be time consuming and prohibitively costly. Where 3D character models are involved, there aren’t a lot of excuses left when you are dealing with stat driven games and RPG mechanics.

There is nothing quite as addictive to me as a progressive, well thought out loot system that is reflected on your character.

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