Some Other Castle » scribblenauts

Some Other Podcast, Episode 40: Midget Zombie Clowns

Leah — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:23:21 +0000

We hope everyone has had/is having a perfectly wonderful holiday season! We know we are; after all, thanks to this week’s special guests, Dan and Joe, we finally get to gorge ourselves upon the long-awaited Fudgie the Whale! What better way to celebrate the coming of the new year than with chocolate crunchies and talk about (what else?) VIDEO GAMES? Rather than our usual setup, we have a chat about the games that stood out for us in the year 2009. Do you agree? Let us know!

Link the halls with boughs of holly…. (in no particular order and probably missing a few… gimme a break, I was drinking…)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Forza 3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Pokemon Platinum

Resident Evil 5

Wii Sports Resort

Chronicles of Riddick

Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Shadow Complex

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Punch-Out!

Katamari Forever

Gyromancer

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Some Other Castle, Episode 32: IRPS

Leah — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:27:44 +0000

Welcome to our internet radio podcast show! We’ve been waiting for you. Have a cookie! Oh, and you should probably be prepared for some video game chat; this week it’s discussion on upsizing handheld systems, Netflix on the PS3, and the wrath of PC shooter aficionados.

Link? Link! LIIIIIIIIINK!

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Batman: Arkham Asylum

iPhone has fastest hardware growth in consumer tech history according to Morgan Stanley analyst; beats out Wii, DS, and PSP

Uncharted 2 DLC to be released by end of year

PS3 getting Netflix

Excite Bike World Rally coming to WiiWare 11/9

Modern Warfare 2 featuring 3rd person mode for certain playlists

Brutal Legend DLC 11/3 will be free on PS3 for the first two weeks, paid on XBox Live from the beginning

DSi LL coming to Japan 11/21, US and Europe Q1 2010; features 4 inch screen and larger stylus, retailing for the equivalent of $221 US; also, is dumb as hell

Fairytale Fights has free DLC if you purchase game in first 90 days

Listener mail makes us smile! If you want to make us smile, send some to podcast@someothercastle.com.

Some Other Podcast, Episode 31: Word To Your Moms

Leah — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:29:04 +0000

It’s back to that time of year where things are actually interesting in the news and in releases, so we have an extra-long episode for you this week. Tune in for everything from Microsoft bowing down at the altar of Sony to skirt physics in the new Wii Mario game to the untimely passing of a legend. All this plus… what are we playing? VIDEO GAMES!!!

Linkz!

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

FFXIII will not have a forced installation on the PS3

Microsoft CEO confirms a blu-ray addon for the 360

Gearbox admits to Borderlands shortages

Bruce Willis signed to star in Kane & Lynch movie

PS3 outsells Wii in September

Queen Lego figures to be in Lego Rock Band

PS3 launches a LocoRoco space

Zelda: Spirit Tracks getting limited edition with metal case and figurines in Europe (hopefully US also!)

Michael Pachter says he expects a price hike for XBox Live

Nintendo says that downloadable services help retail

LocoRoco Midnight Carnival on PSN 10/29

Lou Albano, Mario from Super Mario Bros. cartoon, dies 10/14 at age 76

Nintendo says Peach’s dress is the reason she won’t be playable in New SMB Wii

Psylocke to be downloadable for MUA 2

Do you see how happy listener mail makes us? Of course you do! So send more! podcast@someothercastle.com

Confessions of a Backlogged Gamer, Week 37: Chloroform and Liquid Nitrogen

Leah — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:39:50 +0000

I’ve gone through a rather complicated cycle with regards to Scribblenauts. When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded like a cool idea, but I didn’t think it was really going to be for me. Games with too many choices, ironically, often make me feel trapped. This is why I usually prefer JRPGs to western; if I can’t do everything, I sometimes find it hard to do anything. Personal neuroses aside, however, the idea of Scribblenauts eventually intrigued me enough that (with the not-so-gentle prodding of coworkers and friends behind me), I of course ended up procuring a copy. Upon playing it for a while, though, I’m back to being not so sure. As I’ve heard said many ways by various people, this game is perhaps the greatest example of an awesome idea with sub-par execution in recent memory.

As I’m sure probably 99% of its purchasers did, I spent a good hour when I first began playing Scribblenauts simply sitting on the title screen summoning up various critters and making them fight each other to the death. One thing that this game has in its favor is that the included vocabulary is truly impressive, even if things don’t always work quite the way you thought they would. Once I got into the actual levels, however, things weren’t quite as fun. They’re split into two sections: puzzle levels, wherein you must call up objects to fulfill certain conditions, and action levels, which require you to make your way through a level to obtain the star at the end. I’ve found that I really enjoy the former, while the latter tend to be frustrating and clumsy. I’m still trying to get through all of them, because the currency (”ollars”) that you earn is how you pay to unlock further levels, and I do want to get all of those opened up. Once that’s done, I may defect to exclusively playing puzzle levels. We’ll see. Oh, and protip: when in a jam, most things can be solved by a jetpack and Cthulhu. And although using chloroform is perfectly okay, the engine will not recognize any alcoholic beverage. I tried to summon up a glass of wine and was soundly rebuked.

It’s been rather difficult to go to work or have a conversation with any PS3 owner in the past week or so without hearing a lengthy diatribe on how great Uncharted 2 is. On one hand, I think this is fantastic, because the PS3 really needs the boost for their software now that they have that whole console thing sorted out properly, but on the other hand, it’s a little annoying to me personally because I haven’t played the first Uncharted and therefore am not particularly likely to start messing with the second. That’s why I decided to play Uncharted (1): Drake’s Fortune. So far, I’m enjoying the game quite a bit; the aiming can get a little clumsy, but I’m proving to be surprisingly adept at headshots (who knew?), and the fact that your health comes back as long as you can hide long enough for it to do so means that I don’t tend to get too frustrated. The platforming bits only occasionally splatter me all over the rocks, but the checkpoints are frequent enough that it doesn’t really become an issue, and the hint system is well-timed so that they are offered generally just as I’m deciding that I’m lost. The visuals are gorgeous, and the story is engaging; it’s nice to have a female non-lead who is fully capable of taking care of herself, as well. I hear that it only gets better from here, so I’m looking forward to both the rest of this game and the entirety of the second once I’m done. Fuck grenades, though. I only tried that once. Damn you, Sixaxis. Damn you straight to hell.

Elaine and Dan took pity on me this week and decided to shepherd me through the ODST campaign; I’m actually pretty proud of myself for holding my own on Heroic, but I am definitely glad that I have help, because I’d get splattered if I tried this on my own (not to mention horribly, horribly lost). Bungie tried something a little off-the-wall with the storytelling in this one, and for a story in a shooter, it isn’t bad; in fact, I think it’s pretty neat. I think we’ll have it done in one more sitting, though, so hopefully my escorts can put up with a) me squealing every time I do something good and b) hearing “guys? …I think I lost you again….” long enough for that to happen. I’m not *that* bad, right? (<3 you guys….)

Current backlog total: 101

Now playing: Scribblenauts (DS); Halo 3: ODST (360); Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3); Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)

New games added: Half-Minute Hero (PSP)

Games completed: none

Some Other Podcast, Episode 28: Wang Factor

Leah — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:48:38 +0000

Hey, you know all those awesome games that have been coming out for the past couple of weeks? Yeah, they sure are awesome. Unfortunately, we’ve both been dying, so we haven’t gotten as into them as we’d like. We do have a few things to say about some of the releases, though, and while we’re not joyfully splashing through a veritable swamp of listener mail, we’re blabbing about a lot of sales stuff, speculating on Scribblenauts’ next big leap, and making a lot of that’s what she said jokes. I don’t know why, but they were particularly heavy this week… and that’s what she said. CURSES!

Linklinklinklinklink!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Scribblenauts

Guitar Hero 5 outsells Rock Band Beatles in the UK

Rumored $50 price cut for the Wii (confirmed)

Skate 3 dated for May 2010

802.11 N Wifi adapter in the works for the 360, sure to cost many dollars

Clay Fighter coming to WiiWare and DSiWare summer 2010

Dutch retailer “Nedgame” boycotting PSP Go

Bioshock 2 dated 2/9/10

Scribblenauts Facebook page teasing “special announcement”

NPD planning to track sales of downloadable games

HEY! YOU! How ’bout you email us, huh? Send your questions to podcast@someothercastle.com.

Some Other Podcast, Episode 15: Dirty in a Hurry

Elaine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:00:48 +0000

Due to scheduling madness and people graduating from things Elaine is left all alone this week. In an effort to keep from crying by herself in a corner she recruits the help of Dan and Evan from this very site to help wade through news about video games! Join Elaine and the boys as they discuss inFAMOUS, the terribleness of America’s Army, and how Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies ruin lives. After the break the trio dives into NDP numbers, Microsoft not knowing if a new Xbox is coming out in 2010, Sega of America’s president leaving for Ngmoco and why having a demo as a preorder bonus is a terrible idea.

Links!

TMNT Reshelled: Xbox 360 Timed Exclusive

Original Left 4 Dead Will Still Be Supported

New Xbox 360 in Fall 2010?

No, No New 360 in Fall 2010

Ballmer Thinks Yes, New 360 in 2010

No Seriously Guys, No New 360 in 2010