I’ve been confined to the couch for nearly a week now with an inner ear infection. Basically whenever I straighten up or stand I get dizzy and nauseous. As I’ve recovered I played games from my old pile of shame and managed to complete Half Life 2, Bionic Commando Rearmed and Shadow Complex. However it made me look at what a pile of shame represents. To date it has been a collection of games I have started but not completed. Some people may also have games they have purchased but not played, but I’m not dealing with that today. No, I’m looking at the wording. Why are we ashamed to have these games on a backlog? Surely if they were that good in the first place we would have found ourselves captivated, unable to put them down. Shadow Complex was like that for me, and Trials HD has similarly gripped Tony. Isn’t it a failing on their part? Should not the makers of these games themselves feel ashamed?

The last game on my list to get finished before PAX was InFamous, which I have on rental. I’ll come clean here. I hate InFamous. Sorry Elaine. I hate every polygon. I think it’s sloppily handled, ridiculously plotted with dislikable characters and joyless combat with faceless, witless enemies. But everybody who has played it kept telling me it got better so I stuck with it. I’m halfway through and I just played yet another miserable hour killing more scarecrow mobs and dodging water like I’m in GTA III, getting my marching orders from my turd of a best friend, my sharp-tongued shrew of a love-interest and some pushy fed I’ve never met. I’ve had it with InFamous and it’s off my pile of shame and into a new pile. The pile of absolution.

This is for every game I have assessed and played properly but was neither challenged by nor enjoyed. This is a way of saving myself countless hours of fruitless gaming with something I’ve become obliged to finish just because I started and was obliged to start just because everyone told me I had to. UFC just made this new grade too. Sorry MMA fans. I just don’t get it. As Jagger said; I’m a Street Fighting man. If he adopts my new pile idea, Tony may very well feel relieved to let go of The Chronicles of Riddick, a game he’s tried hard to get through in both it’s original Xbox and 360 incarnations, and even though Heavy Rain makes me tremble in anticipation, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) better buck up its ideas and get gripping next time I play or it goes the same way (My wife has just informed me she will carry on with this one even if I bitch out). This may seem heavy handed, but think of it like this; I have finite hours and nearly infinite games. I want to keep up to date with the most significant titles and indie oddities, but not at the expense of enjoyment and that sense of connection you get with a really satisfying game. I’m sure all of us have at least one title in our pile of shame that we keep being told to play but are afraid to admit we don’t get on with. My advice is just set it down.

I’m not going to let my titles hang over my head any more. I need clear skies this holiday season because we’re about to get barraged with games, starting with Arkham Asylum this Friday. The one significant setback to this is that I have Shadow of the Colossus sitting in my PS2 where it’s been for months on end. I’m two Colossi in and pretty certain I know how the game is going to pan out. Is abandoning this game the act of a philistine who is depriving himself of one of the greatest works of gaming history or a realist unable to contend with wired pads, murky SD graphics and plodding Japanese adventures any more? The fact that everyone’s answer to this will be different is what leads us to cling to these games in the first place.

This is a collaboration between twelve separate podcasts and websites comprising multiple interviews produced by Tony Atkins and Alex Shaw and arranged and edited by Alex Shaw of The Digital Cowboys.

Its not only a festival of independent video game podcasts, but also a very personal one. Everybody on this production has been asked the same thing; Why do you do what you do? Independent podcasting pays no money so there has to be a very specific reason why each of us gets up there every week and puts out a show. Some of the answers may surprise you, and all of them are fascinating and entertaining.

We’d like to thank everybody who took part in this project. This material belongs to all of you.

——————————————————-

Shawn Andrich, Julain “Rabbit” Murdoch, Sean Sands and Rob Borges of Gamers with Jobs

Edie Sellers and Tim of Gamehounds and The Widget

Neil Brooks and Leon Cox of Gamerdork

Chris and Kelly Brown – The Married Gamers

Sinan Kubba and Joe DeLia of Big Red Potion

Daniel Floyd of Talking About These

Steve Artlip of Platform Nation

Chris O’ Regan and Patrick McTie of Superhappyfuntimeshow

Elaine Stryker and Leah Haydu from Some Other Castle

Tony Atkins and Alex Shaw of The Digital Cowboys

And Bobby Blackwolf from Allgames Radio

——————————————————————-

Music provided by Mark Tschanz and Marian Call.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The last of the XBLA Summer of games series could well be the best. The hero; Jason is an ordinary guy (trained by his secret service father but that’s beside the point isn’t it?) who, when backpacking with his girlfriend Claire stumbles upon a giant, labyrinthine underground base of a small, covert military force. After the two minutes of plot it’s down to hurling yourself from room to room, creeping through vents and murdering hundreds of soldiers, all the while uncovering an increasingly ludicrous plot, set against the backdrop of a world created by Sci-Fi penman Orson-Scott Card in his book; Empire.

Epic Games and Chair’s Shadow Complex takes the form of a 2.5D side-scrolling platform shooter. The reason for this update in perspective becomes immediately apparent. It’s powered by the Unreal Engine 3 in all it’s shiny beefiness and the addition of angles to this well-worn genre gives a genuine feeling of depth. It feels like a simplified 3D game and if you relax your eyes you can see the curves that have been added to what would otherwise be straightforward, but the final effect lends itself to run-and-gun gameplay in a very accomplished manner.

Ammo is infinite, you only have to manage out your reload times and conserve grenades, so it’s not simply a Contra style bullet-hell. In fact while scrabbling inside air vents you feel more like John McClane (albeit with a Nathan Drake voice and appearance provided by the now-legendary Nolan North). Playing through may remind you of games you’ve played in the past. The obvious Super Metroid and Castlevania SOTN are also (for me at least) accompanied by last year’s Bionic Commando Re-Armed (R.I.P Grin) Out of This World (or Another World), Flashback, Alien 3, Rolling Thunder 2, and finally Prince of Persia. In fact, with a little more emphasis on stealth (which is entirely possible with silent melee kills) this might even feel like the missing 16-Bit incarnation of Metal Gear we never got to experience, what with its walking tanks, expandable armory, laser sights, faceless guards, hiding in the walls and floor and ridiculous plotline. Just to throw one final name into the mix, if this had been the G.I. Joe game instead of the rushed excuse we got this month, then old school Joe fans like myself would have been justifiably thrilled. Just give Jason a Katana for the melee kills and you’ve got everyone’s favorite Arashikage ninja.

I’ve seen controls being brought up as a low point and must confess I’m baffled by this. It takes some getting used to, and aiming is important before you start blasting, but I genuinely felt comfortable with the way Jason handles. Equipped to take on the legions of gun-toting guards with precision and a huge bag of tricks. Flinging a grenade into a party of three chatting guards and watching their bemused reactions before it blows and you charge past has become instinctual, yet never gets old.

The best has been saved for last. The secrets and the competition. The Shadow Complex is vast and many many rooms and hidden items can be passed by if you rush about. The map tells you both where you should be heading (by means of a Dead Space style blue line) and which rooms still have remaining hidden items, as well as which ones you’ve already bagged and which rooms have additional exits you haven’t tried yet. The beauty of this being that a lot of these are inaccessible from the off and can only be acquired on returning with a new skill. This makes backtracking an optional item hunt and a very welcome series of game-lengthening side quests. The competition with friends is so simple that most XBLA titles would do well to adopt its style. Like Geometry Wars and indeed the recently released Trials it has internal score comparisons. Whenever you do something interesting like a stealth kill, a red bar pops up to give your running tally and also casually mention that one of your friends happens to have two more than you. I’m currently engaged in a Legolas/Gimli style contest with Lefty Brown of The Married Gamers podcast for who can silently massacre the most hapless (Cobra) Soldiers.

I may be biased because I grew up on this sort of immersing shooter in the 16 Bit era and it feels familiar and pleasant, like spending a weekend with an old school friend you haven’t seen in years and who in the meantime has become even more fun to be around, but I also genuinely believe that the folks who weren’t present for that era will get a lot out of this too. It’s the best 1200 points I’ve spent this year, and I can tell I’m going to be replaying this in the coming weeks. There is also likely to be more of this story as Card’s book Empire serves as the backdrop for more upcoming games. Let’s hope they all reflect this quality.

Rating 10/10

I’ve just encountered the Think B4 You Speak campaign after having it flagged by Penny arcade and I have found myself torn in two.

The basic gist, if you’ve not heard of this is that it’s an effort to stop people using the term “Gay” in a derogatory sense, as in “That movie is so gay!“, in this case meaning “crappy“.

The ads are actually kind of patronizing and heavy-handed. “It’s like saying ‘That is so gamer with more video games than friends’.” And yes, that’s a neat and hurtful equivalent that any young and naive ‘gamer‘ can grasp. But the message is delivered with such a rap on the knuckles that I almost feel sorry for the teenagers on the other end of my 360 headset spouting casual bigotry. By its very nature the term in this context is not meant to hurt or offend, but is simply a foolish, trendy phrase that’s found its way into the lexicon on the back of South Park and a couple of other shows. The way in which it’s being countered however is a calculated exercise in singling individuals out, by people who should know better.

So like I say. I’m torn between complete agreement that offhand offensive terms inadvertently insulting minorities should be ironed out of our culture and standing up for the rights of dumb kids everywhere to be offensive little gobshites.

It brings me to mind of the comedy routine of my favorite dead comedian Bill Hicks, talking about the pedestrian right-of-way law instituted around the time of the L.A. riots (anybody stepping into the road must be allowed to cross the street by oncoming traffic)

“Yes, cos only in America does common courtesy have to be legislated.”

It was my birthday today and I had a few friends round, packed into my tiny flat, playing games from dawn till dusk. We covered Street Fighter IV, Littlebigplanet, Halo, Rock Band 2, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart Wii, Burnout Revenge Crash Party, Scene It?: Box Office Smash and SingStar. I’ve never played so many games with so many good people.

I’d like to thank my wife Sharon, Tony and his wife Lizz, our good friend Paul, Leon (Ratso Albion) Cox of GamerDork and his other half Tanya, regular DC contributor Steven (Count Stex) Jones and his other half Linda and my friend and work colleague Will Mulvey. You made my 29th one of the best ever.

I recommend this kind of day for anyone looking for a birthday that won’t break the bank but will mean a hell of a lot. Linda even made us little cowboy cakes with hats and cacti. Now I have to do something significant with my life before I hit 30. I have one year.

GamerDork.

This week, we welcome Xibxang and Ratso from one of the best British podcasts around; GamerDork.

GD is part of UGN the Unified Gamers Network, a relatively new coalition of podcasts similar to Platform Nation, of which we are proud members. Xib (the roguish Scottman) and Ratso (the refined Englishman) release a very entertaining show twice weekly.

This week, we ask them the updated questions, which we’ve started trimming down for time. From now on it will be five not eight. We also each bring a different topic to the ring for all of us to chew over fro around ten minutes. From gaming in the summertime drought to imagining a world without online consoles.

We’re also shouting out to The Most Popular Girls on the Internet this week; a fine geeky games, gadgets and sci-fi show hosted by Tara and Cassandra; two savvy, sassy ladies.

The music at the end of our show this week is “It’s Good to Have Jayne on Your Side” by Marian Call, from her album Got To Fly, available now on iTunes. Clearly based on everyone’s favorite knuckle-dragging, gun-toting merc.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you’re like me, then you’ll have had at least a few nights when you just couldn’t put a game down. When the cold, grey fingers of dawn crept through the un-curtained window and you found yourself waking from a daze, running endlessly into a wall and surrounded by empty crisp-packets or worse, full plates of stone-cold food left there by some well-meaning relative.

World of Warcraft, take a bow, you have made fools of us all.

But some games you manage to knock on the head an hour or two past the time you planned to go to bed, and finding yourself under the sheets you suddenly realise what a terrible mistake you’ve made. Because, you see, you may have finished with the game, but the game isn’t finished with you.

I’ve found myself lying in bed and looking up at imaginary buildings, searching for snipers after a COD session, racing headlong into a concrete wall and physically convulsing in surprise after Burnout and eventually actually shoving my wife after a particularly nerve-shredding Dead Space campaign. The obvious worst games are the ones that keep you on a razor’s edge of tension, requiring lightning reactions to survive. That mindset is hard to shake and the brain usually won’t let go. It would be easy to say just don’t play these games before bed, but that’s a tall order if you’ve been playing all evening on the newest installment.

However I have a solution. Rather than not playing the games with the crazy jumping moments, play them until nearly time to sleep and then switch them out for something of a completely different pace. I’ve found Monkey Island Special Edition to be a fantastic sleep aid. because there’s no need for timing, no ability to die and no fatal mistakes (aside from that ONE bit, which could trip up a sleepy gamer). After twenty minutes play I’m nodding off as my brain calms down and becomes more attuned to dreaming. It may eat a little into your sleep time, but it beats a night of feeling like you’re playing the game scenarios over and over without ever actually achieving anything. Flower would also be a good one, or maybe singing some of the quieter, slower numbers on Rock Band.

Finally, there is actually a lot to be said for just foregoing sleep in favour of gaming every so often. You may feel like hammered shit in the morning, but I acutely remember the time I got home from work, played Final Fantasy VII until dawn, ate breakfast and then went back out to work. I got a lot done that evening and even though I was one of the walking dead that day, at least I could say I got a badass Gold Chocobo and Knights of the Round out of it and utterly destroyed the Ruby Weapon.

http://thewidgetshow.com/
…is where you can find clue to the relaunch of The Widget. It was a very successful podcast helmed by Commander Tim back in the day (the day of 2005) and anything he’s putting effort into, I’m all ears, so I’d advise all our listeners to check this out. Apparently tommorrow at 4pm est (9pm UK time and smack bang in the middle of 1 VS. 100) something will happen once on this website, never to be repeated.

For those not a slave to the Microsoft trivia game, or who have nothing more important to do on a Friday night, check it out. I’m going to have to juggle it with the GamerDork game night so whatever it is, had better be the dog’s bollocks.

Tomorrow night, Sunday the 9th of August 2009 at I will be watching one of these two movies on R2 DVD.

It will be at…

8pm (British Summer Time)

2pm (Eastern Standard Time)

12pm (Pacific Standard Time)

Let me know by posting below which one you’d like it to be. I’ll form an Xbox Live party and invite everybody who wants to be in on it. Get there early so we can get ourselves set up in time. We’ll synch up our DVD’s and press play at the same moment. Any lag from different running speeds can be dealt with on the fly. Email me your Xbox Live name if I don’t already have you on my friends list. It’s a ghetto version of the Netflix party system but it’s all we get in England. I’m really looking forward to this.

Which is it to be?

As you may have heard on the latest show, we are proud to announce that Digital Cowboys is now affiliated with Platform Nation: a family of podcasts gathered around one website. There are some truly excellent shows involved…

The Fanboys Lunchcast

Video Game Jocks

Gamehounds

The Married Gamers

The Target Demographic

Ozbox Live

Some Other Castle

…and now us.

We’ll be meeting up with many representatives from these shows, in Seattle, when we cover PAX in a month’s time and will hopefully be collaborating in a group podcast or two. It’s great to be on a team of this caliber.