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VGH #2: Martha Washington Was My Prom Date

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In their second episode, the VGH crew chat about the games they’re looking forward to in 2011. Plus, D.J. probably doesn’t have world exclusive news about the next Soulcalibur. Addictive substances and legendary 80’s frontmen both somehow play a part. Lastly, the 3DS: Will it print money? Tune in to find out!

This week’s music:
“SEARCHING”, by Eric Skiff (glitchnyc.com)
“COME AND FIND ME”, by Eric Skiff (glitchnyc.com)

Referenced in this week’s show:
Pre-order a Nintendo 3DS
Journey’s “Open Arms”
Nintendo 3DS Launch Window Titles
Poncho from Animal Crossing (Paul: I miss you…)
Portal 2 co-op trailer
Journey trailer
The Technology Behind Performance – demo of the motion capture tech used in Rockstar’s L.A. Noire

Corrections:
D.J.: I mentioned that Valve bringing Steam to the PS3 would be the first time there’s been true crossplatform play between consoles and PC. Microsoft actually accomplished this earlier with their Games for Windows Live initiative, allowing Xbox 360 owners to play against PC gamers in games like Shadowrun, Universe at War, and Lost Planet: Colonies. Portal 2 will still be a milestone, however, since it will be the first time there’s been crossplatform support offered for a game people actually want to play.

Click the jump if you want to see some more games we’re looking forward to in 2011!

So obviously there are far more games coming out this year than we could possibly hope to cover in a single podcast. We’ll just quickly talk about a few more, and who knows maybe you’ll check something out that you never would have considered before! Be like Randy, try new things.

Paul~

The Witcher 2: The sequel to Paul’s #3 favourite game of 2010 hits in May. CD Projekt has released a bunch of gameplay and cinematic trailers and the game looks absolutely incredible. It looks to expand even further on the story of the first Witcher so it might behoove you to try the first game if you’re at all interested in the Witcher 2.

It also looks like CD Projekt has really fleshed out the branching story paths with a lot more options and nuance to the gameplay. The graphics look completely overhauled so it’s no leap of logic to think you’re gonna need a fairly decent rig to run the game. I am not sure if the minimum specs have been released yet so if that’s going to be an issue, start praying to whatever god you believe in that CD Projekt actually brings The Witcher  series to your favourite console. Support these guys; The Witcher is a labour of love and it’s absolutely fantastic to see these folks pour their heart and soul into this project. Also the game has boobs.

Batman Arkham City: Square Enix’s Batman is the sequel to Paul’s favourite game of 2009. If you haven’t had the chance to check out Arkham Asylum you absolutely need to! The game play is absolutely incredible. Batman AA perfectly captured what I thought it would feel like to be Batman, and that’s not an easy feat. The hand to hand combat mechanics were perfectly executed, and the stealth aspects of the game really made you feel like you were hunting prey. Wonderful stuff.

The exploration mechanics were very reminiscent of Metroid games in that you have a large world to explore, but only gain access to certain portions of it as you gain new abilities and gadgets. Arkham City looks to take that foundation and just expand on it, also I still hold on to a faint hope that Rocksteady will surprise all of us and reveal that the game has a Co-op mode. Catwoman has been featured predominately in all of the information that has been released so far so it might not be too much of a stretch. Anyways… BATMAN.

Mass Effect 3: Meh. I might get this. Maybe.

D.J.:

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2: It’s the sequel to maybe my favorite downloadable game of all time, and definitely my favorite remake. Refugees from shuttered developer Grin have put together a brand new 2D platformer in the vein of the classic Bionic Commando for the NES, so expect tons of shooting, swinging, and—if the original BCR is any indication—a killer soundtrack by Simon Viklund and an off-the-wall sense of humor. Out on PSN February 1st and Xbox Live on the 2nd.

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation: Originally released on the Super Famicom in 1995, this game has never been available in the US until now. It’s the third of these 3D(-ish) remakes to come out for the DS, and I’m looking forward to playing it once I finally get around to playing DQ5. It’s out on February 14th, because Dragon Quest loves you! Put in a preorder at Gamestop and get a friendly plush slime.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together: If you played RPGs or strategy games in the mid-90s, you already know the Ogre series is practically legendary. If you’ve never heard of it, this PSP remake is your chance to play one of the most revered tactical RPGs of all time, featuring strategic battles and an intricate storyline from the team behind some of my favorite games of all time, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. The remastered soundtrack by composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata may be enough reason to pick up a copy, although it pains me that the PSP speakers won’t do it justice. Finally, if you preorder this on Amazon, it comes with a set of tarot cards (series fans will understand) illustrated the game’s artist, Akihiko Yoshida. This comes out on February 15th. (Bonus points for playing it and DQ6 simultaneously!)

Child of Eden: Tentatively scheduled for 2011, this is the next game by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the brain behind Rez, Lumines, and Every Extend Extra. Similar to Rez, the game will feature shooting mechanics with visuals and a soundtrack that will react to the player’s actions. It’s coming out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and will support the consoles’ respective motion controllers.

5 Comments

  1. mkernan
    mkernan January 26, 2011

    Thanks for the shout-out! You guys *need* to finish Red Dead Redemption!

    My last name can pretty much be pronounced either way, but I say it the way D.J. pronounced it.

    I’d love to hop on and play some Modern Warfare 2 on PS3…. but I traded it away when I bought Black Ops (for PS3).

    Clarification about LittleBigPlanet 2: the separate (on-disc) game, Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves, is the only thing that supports the Move controller (I’m 99% sure about this). Also, its friggin’ awesome, so Paul and D.J. should get it!

    I only got 30 minutes into the episode tonight and will finish listening tomorrow. Possibly more feedback to follow.

    Loving the show, keep it up!

  2. Paul Sandhu
    Paul Sandhu January 27, 2011

    Ha, I loved RDR’s ending it was definitely one of the best finales in a game ever. I just couldn’t get past some of the issues in the game play and poor pacing in the story telling, but I definitely see why the game is so lauded!

    I am tepid about LBP2…. I will wait for a price drop and want to see if the game has any legs in a couple months. 😉

    Thanks again for the support! We do really appreciate all the kind words!

    • Courtney
      Courtney February 12, 2011

      RDR ARRR!

  3. SBizzle
    SBizzle January 28, 2011

    I’d also like to give props to LBP2. It’s tons of fun.

    I’ll concur on the fact that Randy will not like MH also.

    Also, Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3) had cross platform play w/PC FYI.

    As far as a 3DS, i’ll wait for a real cheap one on Amazon Warehouse ….. and then give it to my kid.

    Oh and keep it up! The good work that is!

Comments are closed.