"Help WeJo With His Zombie Gums"

Our friend and Barrel Roll co-host Wesley “InsulinFunk” Johnson has recently had expensive surgery to keep his teeth from becoming a southern stereotype.

Thanks to the lack of Dental Insurance, he has had to pay these expenses out of pocket. To help him out, the gaming community we are all involved in, The Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group, are banding together to raise money to help WeJo out. We are holding a raffle with donated items ranging from games and comics to a custom 360 joystick!

There is some awesome stuff in there, and for a minimum donation of $5, you will be entered into a raffle to win them. Please go to the events page and check out all the wonderful stuff people have donated that you could win. We will also be doing a telethon on Friday, January 1st to both entertain and give out the amazing swag in the raffle.

(Click after the break for all the details, including a full prize list.)

Re-posted from the Event Page:

Dear Friends,

From time to time we band together to do good. We have done so in the past; witness the rescue funding drummed up for Daniel Orta’s PS3 repair, led by the charitably minded Alex Raymond.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a real need on our hands now, and one that with 2800 members could be small potatoes for us but could have a big impact for one Mr. Wesley “Gumbo” Johnson.

If you’ve been under a rock or similar, you might not know that Wes just had a massive gum graft operation. You also might not know that this operation put a MASSIVE dent in his life, because

1) His gums deteriorated as a result of his die-uh-beetus;
2) Because of #1, the GDIC* refused to pay a whit of the $7000 in expenses incurred.

That means he’s shelling it out all by his lonesome. It’s infuriating to me that he would have been covered by insurance if some idiot had hit him in the face with a baseball, and that he isn’t because this is apparently a natural effect of a pre-existing condition.

And so, it is with tremendous pride and a certain degree of terror that I announce New Gums Day: a Fundraising Event for Wesley Johnson.

On January 1st, from 2 PM to 6 PM US Central Time, we will host a live JPAG podcastravaganza, featuring guest appearances, fabulous prizes, and live call-ins! A donation link will be readily available for all y’all as feel the desire and need to help out a brother.

Yeah, that’s right: I said PRIZES. The details follow.

Raffle items [subject to change]

Thanks to all the item donations (source after each)
*= pictured below

Grand Prizes (Chosen in order based on number raffle. Every $5 donated before or during the show = 1 raffle entry)

360 Package 1: Mass Effect (Jonah Gregory), Ninja Blade (Allan Brown), Forza Motorsport 3 [w/custom-designed cover]* (Richard Mitchell), The Darkness & Rainbow Six Vegas* (Jonathan Kehoe)

360 Swag Pack: Ninja Blade & XL Fairytale Fights T-shirt* & The Saboteur replica 1941 Zippo lighter* (Richard Mitchell), Tekken 6 Limited Edition w/Arcade Stick (Tony Mika)

Music Hero Package: Band Hero (game only)* & 2 Med DJ Hero T-shirts* (Richard Mitchell), custom album cover designed by Justin Russo [http://justindavidrusso.blogspot.com/]; signed copy of Mode7 Main Finger, newly announced winner of the Capcom Dark Void Remix contest; coupon for a Main Finger T-Shirt (the keytar/sickle design on black); Main Finger stickers and Noise and a Beat (MF side project) stickers (Jesse Gregory)

PS3 Package: Uncharted (Allan Brown), Bioshock (Tony Mika), Hellboy & Constantine Blu-rays (Jarret Green), signed Resistance 2 poster from Insomniac Games studio (Daniel “DJ” Orta)*

Capital Records Package: Pet Shop Boys – Yes & Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty Remastered Edition [CD]; Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique 20th Anniversary Edition & Check Your Head Remastered Edition, Lolene – Sexy People, Radiohead – Amnesiac, Red Hot Chili Peppers – Freaky Style & The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Yelle – Pop Up & Ce Jeu, Van Morrison – Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl [Vinyl]; Moby – Wait for me. [White Vinyl & CD]* (Andrew Coats)

The Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group Podcast Joystick: a scratch-built joystick with Sanwa joystick and buttons, wired for Xbox 360 use (Randall Smith)*

Hourly Raffles (Drawn from donations during that hour. Each $5 donated = 1 entry.)

360 Kids Package: Monster vs Aliens & Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (Richard Mitchell), Lego Indiana Jones & KungFu Panda (Jared Jackson)*, one-of-a-kind stuffed figure from Takahashi’s Daily Tofu* [http://www.thedailytofu.com] (Trey Takahashi)

360 Movie Package: Lord of the Rings Conquest & Watchmen the End is Nigh (Tony Mika), Various DVDs* (Jared Jackson)

DS Package: Henry Hatsworth & Retro Game Challenge (Allan Brown)

Wii Package: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles & Scarface: The World is Yours & Blastworks* (Jonathan Kehoe)

Retro Package: Custom Sega Genesis—You pick the housing! (Nick Coffman), Chrono Trigger [SNES Japanese version]* & E.T. [Atari]* (Grant Walker), Sega Game Gear system [with AC adapter] & 5 games: Sonic Chaos, FIFA International Soccer, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Super Columns, Sonic and Tails 2* (Jonathan Kehoe)

Here There Be Robots Package: Here There Be Robots Volume 1: Marooned (140 page, black and white comic, collecting issues 1-3 & mini-comic, as well as bonus content) & coupon for Here There Be Robots 3-Skull T-Shirt (Jonah Gregory)

Artist Package: a 20″x30″ caricature and a papercraft rendition of the raffle winner [see the end of Randall’s SS video for example: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=217745224791&oid=8702785815] (Dalibor Dimovski)

Thank-you gifts (multiple items for [hopefully] all donators)

1’’ video-game and/or Joystiq-themed buttons made by Mike Wall*
Main Finger / Noise and a Beat stickers

“Unconfirmed” prizes:

Custom-recorded autotuned song in your honor, written and performed by Justin McElroy

A guest spot on a future episode of the Joystiq Podcast

Matt M glossies

Steam games, Live/PSN codes during the show

So mark your calendars, peeps! This is going to be all kinds of fun, and all for a cause that will have immediate and lasting impact on one of our own.

** Lastly, if you are good at something or make things that could be used as raffle prizes and you’d like to help, please message Jarret Green right away. Also, if you have experience running charity fundraisers etc. and have sage advice for the gormless-but-not-gumless goons running this thing, please message me. ***

-Randall

*God-Damned Insurance Company

Donation email: jpaganimalrescue@gmail.com

On a very special episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we are joined by special guest Randall Johnson… er.. Smith… Portman… Guy. You know, from the JPAG.

In What We’ve Been Playing, Randall kicks us off with “Battlefield: 1943″ and also super nerdy D&D talk. We talk about the second episode of “Tales of Monkey Island”, Jonah is in the Beta of “Champions Online”, while Jesse talks “Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance” with a focus on the games’ story and has also finally finished “Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time”. Brittany gives her thoughts on “Tomb Raider: Underworld” while Wesley reports on the iPhone game “Hysteria Project”, the original “Half life” and the XBLA hit “Shadow complex”. We also all give our takes on the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” Demo.

In the news there is once again plenty of Capcom related stories, as Jesse gathers the bulk of our show notes. Also, we discuss the World of Warcraft expansion: Cataclysm, the PS3 Slim, the fantastic looking 3D Dot Game Heroes, and much more.

In Let’s Talk About Stuff, we discuss our plans for the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX to it’s homies) and which panels we are looking forward to checking out this year.

All this plus the usual hijinks on the latest Barrel Roll Podcast.

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

The JPAG Show
InsulinFunk.net
Metroid Metal

"I Found Him!"

On a very special twenty-fifth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we are joined by our friend and yours, Ben Paddon of the Science-Fiction Comedy “Jump Leads” and returning guest Wesley Johnson. We spend a good portion of time talking about how much we all love adventure games, how glad we all are that they are back, and which games we would like to see made. But a lot of that is saved for when we talk about stuff in our most terribly named segment “Let’s Talk About Stuff.”

But before that we discuss the games we have been playing. Luke’s triumphant return, then death once again by dysentery, brings us a discussion of “Battlefield 1943″. Both Wesley and Jonah have been playing through “Secret of Monkey Island” (original and Special Edition) to finally be up to speed on how fantastic the game is. Through the portal into a J-Pop Medical Soap Opera, also known as “Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2″, Brittany saves the world from G.U.I.L.T., while Jesse has been chillin’ with “Wii Sports Resort” and kicking butts in “The King of Fighters XII“, and Ben fulfills his lifelong dream of busting ghosts with Bill Murray thanks to his Wii and PS3 copies of “Ghostbusters”.

In the news we share our annoyance with the trend of having teasers for announcements about games via leaked blurry screenshots and lousy countdown websites. Why not just tell us what games you are working on once they are far enough along for it to actually matter, game developers?

We also discuss how wonderful Chris Barrie is, and why he should be in more stuff. Also, because Ben is on the show, Doctor Who comes up on more than one occasion.

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Show Links:
Outro Music – “Fortuna (Star Fox)” by The OneUps
Shatter Soundtrack (song in the middle)
Jump Leads
Soul Geek
Ben Paddon’s Feeble Excuse
InsulinFunk

Join us LIVE, tonight at 8pm Pacific for a very special episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”.

We will be joined by our good friends Ben Paddon of Jump Leads and Wesley Johnson of InsulinFunk.net. We will be discussing what we’ve been playing, the gaming news of the week, and most of all the return of the adventure game.

Please join us in the live Ustream feed and join in on the conversation via the chat window. We will also be taking any questions you may have for Ben and Wesley.  See you there!

Live TV : Ustream

"Do you got your tickets?"

Well, do you?

We don’t got time to bleed, nor does pain hurt when we are once again visited by our good friend, Wesley “InsulinFunk” Johnson. He has been playing “1 VS 100″ on XBLA, trying to finish “Shadow of the Colossus” for our upcoming special episode, Simon the Sorcerer and Ghostbusters.

Jesse has given in and picked up yet another Fire Emblem (which is why the song in the break is so strange), as well as “The Legendary Starfy”. Jonah has been playing “Peggle Dual Shot” and “Battlefield Heroes”, while Brittany has started the new Fallout 3 DLC, “Point Lookout”, and “Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2″.

In the news we cover Mass Effect 2 info, the possibility of a Wii Kingdom Hearts, no LAN support in Starcraft II, possible backwards compatibility returning to the PS3, and much more.

So get your tickets ready and head over to The Gun Show. Also, GET YOURSELF TO MARS!

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List of Capcom Games coming to PSN
Simon the Sorcerer

"Like Redbull, Minus the Horrible Taste"

On a very special seventeenth episode of “Barrel Roll! – A Video Game Podcast”, we see the return of our very own prodigal son, Luke. We are also once again joined by our good friend and fellow gaming enthusiast Wesley Johnson. Together we discuss the pressing issues of the day, like what video games we have all been playing over the last week.

Wesley and Luke have both been playing inFamous, the PS3 exclusive super-hero romp with crazy electrical powers. They each give their thoughts on the experience. Luke also played, and finished, the new Bionic Commando. Did it live up to it’s predecessor? You will have to listen and find out.

Both Jonah and Brittany were in the first Aion beta. It’s the new MMORPG from NCsoft which gives you the ability to sprout wings and fly… once you reach a certain level requirement. Jesse had a chance to finish Klonoa and it turns out, it is as good as people told him it was.

In the second half of the show, we spend a good long while talking about all the nifty new stuff that was shown off at E3. Were our predictions correct?

Here are the links to download the show. Don’t forget to head over to iTunes and give us some sweet review action!

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"E3 Talk is Mandatory"

On a very special sixteenth episode of “Barrel Roll! – A Video Game Podcast”, we give our E3 predictions. This is due to a contractual obligation, and since this goes up on Tuesday mornings, I’m sure 99% of what we talk about has already been rendered moot.

But before we get to that, we talk about what we have been playing. This consists of Plants VS Zombies, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Fight Night Round 4 (demo), Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman: What Did I Do To Deserve This? (demo), Klonoa, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and special guest Wesley Johnson has been playing through Infamous for the PS3.

In the news, we discuss the upcoming release of Raiden IV coming to the US. The Kojima Teaser reveals the face of Big Boss,  but a pretty clear Famitsu scan has the same Big Boss picture and a ninja Raiden picture. Now another teaser site exists called “Mask” with a spooky looking mask

Sonic is back!…… in a racing game titled Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing *facepalm*

Trauma Center gets a spiritual successor “Trauma Team” for the Wii. Playable characters include a surgeon, a diagnostician, a paramedic, a cosmetic surgeon, an endoscopic surgeon, and a forensic examiner.

XSEED Localizing Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon on Wii, hurray!

Tatsunoko vs Capcom might have roster trimmed in US release. We suggest adding Speed Racer.

We also talk about the new PSP Go and it’s many features.

All this and more on our latest episode!

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email us at podcast@wingdamage.com

Show Links:
Collider EP
PSP Go

"Like Being There, Without the Sweat Smell"

E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is next week, and gaming nerds world wide are buzzing with excitement. What new games and gaming accessories will be revealed for the first time? What games we’ve been waiting on for the last couple of years will finally get release dates?

While WingDamage.com will not be in attendance, we do have predictions of our own to share. Click that little “read more” button to find out what they are.

Colin Panetta

Telltale’s going to announce a new property. I think it’s going to be an original concept, and not another licensed franchise. I’m guessing that it’ll be all ages friendly, and have something to do with solving mysteries. Like a gang of kids that solves silly crimes in their neighborhood or something.

I bet Double Fine is going to announce a bunch of crazy vocal talent for Brutal Legend. I’ll throw out Danzig, Bruce Dickinson, Michael McKean and/or Christopher Guest and/or Harry Shearer, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and Henry Rollins as guesses.

Lucas Jahnke

Square-Enix/Eidos announces new Hitman game.

PS3 Slim doesn’t make an appearance, But the PS3 will get a price drop.

Metal Gear Solid 5 announced.

We get a real release date for Final Fantasy XIII.

Nintendo announces an updated Wii Version of one of their classic franchises.

Dave Corvin

Utilizing my prodigious powers of prognostication I predict that Ninjas would beat the crap out of Pirates.  I also predict the following will be announced at E3.

Prediction 1:  Sega announces Dreamcast 2.  First game will be a remake of Panzer Dragoon Saga.  The console hardware is reputed to run on imagination and the power of dreams.  Also unicorns are discovered to be real after all.  Wesley rejoices.

Prediction 2:  Square Enix announces Lara Croft will appear in Kingdom Hearts 3.  Donald Duck is said to be ‘very excited.’  As part of their desire to exploit the $#%& out of any and all of their new IP’s Squeenix also announces 5 new Kane & Lynch games 3 for Japanese cell phones and 2 for the DS.  Squeenix representatives will be unavailable for comment as they are too busy destroying whatever credibility they once had by squeezing every conceivable drop out of their brands.

Prediction 3:  Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band, announce Theremin Hero for the Dreamcast 2.  Not to be outdone, Activision announces Theremin Hero: Clara Rockmore edition.  When questioned about the unconventional move Activision CEO Bobby Kotick then throws a handful of money and runs away cackling.

Jesse Gregory

What might happen:
A new Strider will be Capcom Mystery Game #2
Cross-Game voice chat on XMB
DSi-only and/or DSi-enhanced games
DSi Virtual Console with GB/GBC/GBA titles
Another Wii peripheral

What I wish would happen:
Mega Man Legends 3 will be Capcom Mystery Game #2
Nintendo announces New 2D Metroid game
Square reveals Chrono Break is a new game afterall and not abandoned
Square decides to localize Front Mission 5
Nintendo announces a new F-Zero for Wii developed again by Sega’s Amusement Vision
Gradius VI developed by Treasure in HD for XBLA and PSN

Wesley Johnson

Here There Be Robots on XBLA this July.

Jonah Gregory

Trico will finally be revealed for reals this time.
The teasers that looks like they are for Metal Gear 5 will turn out to be for some new franchise that takes place in the same universe.
Square Enix will announce a remake.
The first DSi exclusive game will be shown off.
Nintendo will try to convince us that Wii Motion Plus is the greatest thing ever created and we are fools for not having thought of it ourselves.
A motion device will be shown off for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, but no one will want it or care.

So what about you, gentle reader? What are your E3 predictions?

by Russ Walsh

On a very special episode of Barrel Roll! – A Video Game Podcast, Jonah has finally finished playing Mass Effect. Welcome to 2008, ass!

Jesse is still trying to finish Sir Togsef, the off-the-wall juggle-combo-tastic RPG for the DS. Wesley, once again guest hosting, has been fending off zombies invading his garden in Popcaps’ new “Plants VS Zombies”. It turns out those guys know how to make an addictive game. Meanwhile Brittany has picked up Personal Cooking Trainer on the DS, which is an electronic cook book, and not a game at all! She also started playing Odin Sphere again.

Then we get into the old news, where, thanks to volume 20 of Nintendo Power and a 1998 copy of EGM, we re-live some gaming rumors of yesteryear. Did that New Kids on the Block game ever come out?

In the real news Jesse reveals that he will be doing a song for the Mega Man 9 remix album for OverClocked ReMix. Brittany and Jonah have officially founded the JPAG World of Warcraft Guild, Blueberry Muffin Tops, Monster Hunter 3 and Tatsunoko VS Capcom have been confirmed for the US, and much more!

“Let’s Talk About Stuff”, the worst named podcast segment ever returns, where Jesse tells us about some cool ROM Hacks he has been playing.

We also extended our contest from last episode, so be sure to enter here.

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Show Links:
Mega Man 9 Remix Project
The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds
Rockman 2: Minimum
Rockman 5: Wily’s Dream Space
Monster Hunter 3 Video
JPAG

"The Greatest Story Never Told"

On a very special twelfth episode of our video gaming podcast, known to some as codename Barrel Roll, we are all about the X-Men: Origins: Wolverine: The Movie: The Video Game: The Review, thanks to our pal Wesley “Wolverine” Johnson from InsulinFunk.net.

Jesse really brings his X-Game when he makes a “Deadpool” out of the Valkyria Chronicles DLC, while Luke takes a “Gambit” on Far Cry 2. It isn’t long before Jonah needs reflexes like that of a “Sabertooth” in Left 4 Dead.  In World of Warcraft and Civ Rev, Brittany has really… “Kayla Silverfox”… something… OK… I’ll stop now.

In the news, we cover the soon to be released Marvel VS Capcom 2 on XBLA and PSN, Dead Rising 2 multiplayer, Soul Calibur IV and Tekken 6 for the PSP, the Turtles in Time remake and a new Katamari on the PS3 amongst other things. Most notable of which is that fact that Zootfly is making a Mr. T game in which you team up with Will Wright to fight Nazis.

In the break we hear a cool song about Mr. T by SweetAfton23 called “I Pity the Fool” (also called “I Pity the Song Fu” on Quickstop Entertainments’ Song Fu Challenge.

Then it comes full circle in movie time, where we give our thoughts on X-Men: Origins: Wolverine: The Movie.

And let’s not forget, we pick our contest winner!

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Show Links:
“I Pity The Fool” by SweetAfton23
FrontMission.info
The JPAG