Nick

As you might have guessed from the title above, (or if you’ve been listening to the Podcast), I’ve recently invited the 360 exclusive and all around “shit-yeah”-a-thon that is Gears of War into my tray. After letting Megaman ZX Advent rock(man) my world, I was in the mood for something rich in gratification with a dash of co-op, and none of the frustration-aftertaste that is instant death. (Thank you Capcom and your incessant obsession with spike-pits.) Looks like I got just what I wanted.

Besides the stellar graphics and obscenely violent gameplay that Gears fans around the world have been raving about, to me, the most impressive feature the game has to offer is the refreshingly coherent co-op mode. Although I tend to play a large amount of predominantly single-player titles, I hail from the school of gaming that teaches that any experience that can be shared with a friend, always should be. (Which explains why, back in the day, the Capcom “vs.” series, like X-men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom, were some of my favorites. I’d pick a character, a friend would pick the second one, and we’d literally tag-team our way to victory, hopping back and forth from the controls at the arcade machine as we “tagged” each other’s characters in-game.) And maaaan, the co-op here is great. Although I haven’t finished the game yet, the portion in the “dark” town, where one player must operate a spot-light and navigate his friend down a dark street from atop a near-by building (stepping into the darkness equates to a gruesome death) was probably one of the most creative cooperative experiences I’ve had in months. Needless to say, I’m extremely excited to finish the game and you can look for a review in the upcoming weeks. I need to beat this before the second one comes out, after all. Oh, and a big thanks to everyone that helped me pick what game I’d be playing, as per my last post.

They’re brothers…they’re happy and they’re singing and they’re colored….da-da-da-da…

On a more somber note, I wanted to take a second and express my disappointment with ZiffDavis media and their decision to cease print publication of Games for Windows Magazine, formerly Computer Gaming World, and sister publication to my favorite game magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). I mentioned a few journal entries back that GFW Radio, the

podcast that accompanied the print publication, was and still is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to because of the extremely talented team of editors that make up the core writing staff, namely Jeff Green, Shawn Elliot, Sean Malloy and Ryan Scott. They’re always quick to point out interesting developments in the PC world of gaming, and are just extremely intelligent ambassadors into the behind-the-scenes world of print magazine production. And although the publication is not completely dead (they’ll be switching to a purely online existence as part of 1up.com), it is very disheartening to have another casualty in the flawed, yet ever-growing opinion that the print-medium is dying.

Although it’s valid to argue that print publications are no longer able to hold out on “true” exclusives due to the constantly updated nature of the internet, there are still several advantages that magazines hold over internet articles, namely in terms of presentation and portability. Oftentimes it’s much easier to craft a wide, two-page spread in a magazine than it is for a webpage, and let’s just say there’s a reason I keep a stack of magazines in my bathroom and not a laptop docking station. Although I wasn’t personally a subscriber, it’s an understatement to say that GFW Magazine will be missed, and sad news for someone that’s looking to one day see his name in a print medium (me).

At least, that’s what they say.

Recently, I’m finding that every day that goes by finds another game added to my ever-growing list of “must plays.” Between catching up on my backlog of purchased-yet-untouched games, being a collection whore about games that I really care about (Smash Bros anyone?) and the onslaught of amazing releases that seems like will never come to an end (Why, when I get out of school, do summers suddenly get so sweet??), I feel incredibly overwhelmed with the amount of games being stuffed into my backlog.

Oh, and it doesn’t help that I do this podcast thing where everyone talks about all of the amazing games they’re playing. Doesn’t help one bit.

Probably the only game that will ever truly bring me balance.

>:0 BOOOO!!!!!! (ok ok, sorry, sorry)

So here I am with a growing library of games to play, and I can’t decide for the life of me what I should play next. Should I go for something that I’m personally interested in? Or maybe something unique that the rest of the Pack hasn’t played yet. (Thank you, import games.) Either way I feel like I’m going to be rushing through whatever comes down the pipe, so I thought I’d blog about it and see if I can get any advice back. Here’s a list of games that I need to finish and games I’m waiting to play. Which beauty do you think deserves my attention?

Note: the list is in no particular order

Games I have unfinished business with:

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, PSP

Megaman ZX Advent, DS

Rockband, PS3

Games I want to start up:

Final Fantasy XII, PS2

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations, DS

The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass, DS

Gears of War, XBox 360

Bioshock, Xbox 360

(Granted in the meanwhile I’ll be playing a ton of Smash Brothers, there’s no getting around that.)

My goal here is to get through a least a few of these games by April 29th. (Do I need to remind you what comes out then?)

So please respond and let me know what you have to say. I know I could have put this up on the message board, but I figured I’d take the chance to be selfish and see exactly how many people read my blog anyway. Thanks everyone!

Oh, and I’ll have my impressions of whatever the winner is in next week’s blog.

Thanks guys!

-Nick

They’re heeeeeeeere.

It’s been six years.

Six years of duking it out with friends, six years of arguing about cheap characters, six years of practicing to become better, and six years of playing the same damn game with that goofy smile on my face.
You know a game is magic when you can’t stop playing it…for six years.

Once a console generation, Nintendo decides to grace us with the next iteration of what can only be described as the zaniest game I’ve ever come to love in my entire life. The new Smash Brothers is here, finally.

In some ways it was very fitting that we had to wait through a new console launch, two delays, and in my case, fight through one of most wicked snows storms I’ve seen in years, in order to get my paws on this beauty. But oh god was it worth it. I’m going to use tonight’s blog entry to discuss a little bit more about Brawl, and what it means to me, so please indulge this long-time fan.

Probably the most notable difference between Brawl and Melee, (and the first thing I noticed) was the reduction in speed in this new iteration. Not only that, but it seems that Sakurai-san has taken out some characteristics of what made Melee the “twitch” game it was, and focused the gameplay more toward timing and away from ninja-like reflexes (although I’m sure they’ll still be useful). Gone is the “wave-dash” exploit that allowed characters to slide along the ground by dodging quickly towards a stage, the quick recovery move performed by dodging as a character landed in order to shorten recovery time after a downward attack, and throw combos, performed by throwing a character into the ground (by pushing down after grabbing them) and then following up with a quick attack, such as Link’s Spin-slash or Fox’s reflector shield.

Other notable differences include being able to grab items by performing a dash attack (where in Melee you’d simply attack over them, or blow them up in the case of a Bomb-omb), catch items by simply pressing A, the standard attack button, when thrown at you (instead of having to dodge and press the throw button when the item passed by you), and the ability jump on people’s heads as a springboard in order to dunk them off the stage or reach new heights.

Perhaps I’m alone on this topic, but it seems to me that Sakurai and Nintendo have, in many ways, simplified the Smash Brothers formula. No longer do break-neck speeds and waving dashing characters hold such a huge advantage over the slower heavy-weights, and it doesn’t take substantial practice to develop item-catching skills. Could this be Nintendo attempting to provide a more “casual” smash to its large Wii install base, while still hiding it behind the hardcore curtain of new attributes such as the Final Smash techniques, assist trophies and third-party newcomers Sonic and Snake?

Either way, the game is fantastic. The character list is robust, the new stages are incredibly inventive (a Wario Ware and Picto Chat stage??), the music is incredible (an amazing amount of remixed tracks and old classics), and the tweaks to the gameplay simply feel right. It blows my mind that Sakurai-san can improve upon an already winning formula, and at the same time still stay loyal to not only previous iterations of the game, but to the incalculable masses of die-hard Smash fans around the world. And the inclusion of a stage editor and online mode? Icing on the cake as far as I’m concerned. If you couldn’t tell, I’m absolutely thrilled with it.

But I can understand why some people don’t like Smash. The hardcore fighting game fans don’t consider it a “true” fighting game, platforming fans are turned off by its ambitious but ultimately lacking adventure mode, and players late to the party feel like they can never gain headway in a series that’s overrun by waaay-too-vocal Smash fanatics. Maybe it’s too zany for them. Perhaps it can be a little daunting. Or maybe they’re just too mature to want to beat the living daylights out of Mario and company.

But for the rest of us, the series is nothing but gold. Super Smash Brothers, and Brawl in particular, was made not only for Smash fans, but for Nintendo fans of all shapes and sizes. The sheer volume of mainstream as well as obscure Nintendo history stuffed into this game (in the form of characters, items, trophies, stickers, stages and music) does nothing but scream of Masahiro Sakurai’s sincere devotion to Nintendo and the video game culture it has created. It’s one of those extremely rare titles that’s accessible to both complete scrubs as well as series veterans, and offers an amazing amount of rewards for each. I can say without a doubt that I’ll be unlocking things in this game for years to come, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. There’s so much fantastic content here for me to enjoy, both by myself and with my friends, which is really what it’s all about.

I’ve never experienced a sweeter, more gratifying, and ultimately just plain fun multi-player series in my entire life. It’s an understatement to say that Brawl is indeed a worthy successor to the series.

Thank you Sakurai-san.　Thank you for giving me the fantastic multiplayer game I was looking for. You’ve impressed both the mature multi-platform gamer in me as well as tickled my Nintendo-nostalgia bone, and pulled both off masterfully.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

スマブラは素敵なゲームで、桜井さんが憧れるべきな監督に違いありません。どうもありがとうございました！

Here’s to another six years.

Hey everyone. I just wanted to pop on here and say sorry for the blog delay this week! It’s been kind of busy, and I’ve got guests coming this weekend, so look for something towards the beginning of next week!

Oh, and my brawl code is 4811-6614-4574, for anyone who wants to add me! See ya soon!

It’s been a very busy week.

3 out of 4 nights have involved overtime and I haven’t taken lunch in about 3 days. I was so exhausted tonight, that I missed a monthly night out with my fraternity brothers. I also haven’t played a game in days. If it were any other week, I think I’d be at the end of my rope.

But not this week. Oh no, not this week.

You see, I’m currently trying to complete a project at work - one that should have been finished weeks ago, but thanks to certain circumstances (you’ll have to private message me for them), it’s getting crammed into this week. I’ve seriously been working like a dog trying to get it finished by friday. Because Monday, I’m not showing up for work.

Monday is all mine.

That’s right, I’m making my own mini-vacation, and it officially starts at 5:00 tomorrow.

Of course, the main event is Saturday at midnight.

So you’ll have to excuse me for the short blog entry this week - every ounce of energy I have that’s not being consumed by work is being stored for this weekend. And trust me - I’m going to need it.

Remember to send me your friend codes.

I’ll see ya on the other side.

The dust of GDC has settled. From Microsoft, we have release dates and news about Gears 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Fable 2. Nintendo saw it fit to see us fit in May (see what I did there?) and told us when we’d be seeing Wii-ware titles. Perhaps the most surprising news at GDC was, ironically, the lack of news from Sony. Having just experienced a great holiday season and riding on momentum from January’s NPD’s, Sony was in prime position to unveil some big news/release dates pertaining to MGS 4, Little Big Planet and of course, Home - the latter two were unveiled at GDC for the first time last year.

So what happened? Were there unexpected problems with the software involved? Are they waiting until their “Gamer’s Day” conference to make any big announcements? Or perhaps Sony simply wished to keep its presence at GDC close to what the main purpose of the whole event was - a convention by developers, for developers, without turning it into the next E3. Or maybe they just didn’t have their stuff together.

Any way you look at it, Sony seems to have missed an opportunity here. Whatever their reason might be for not unleashing any kind of big information, it’s pretty clear that they took first prize in the “weakest performance”category among the big three at GDC this year.

But fear not. Although it may seem like Sony’s hit another hiccup in what is surely the awkward adolescent stage of the PS3’s life, a few interesting items have popped up around the net the past few days that may make you think twice before sinking into despair. Let’s take a look.

• 3 New SKUs

Across 2 territories that is. Coming to America in late Q2 is the 80GB MGS bundle, complete with a DualShock 3, retailing for $499. Then we’ve got Europe’s standard dicking – a “movie bundle”, which is a 40GB PS3 with 3 Blu-rays, including Casino Royale, Spiderman 3 and 300 for 300 Euro, as well as the Grand Turismo bundle, which will include a 40GB unit with a copy of GT5: Prologue for 399 Euro. Not so bad right? Too bad neither of these other two bundles will ship with a Dual Shock 3.

HUH?

WHAAAAT?

OKAY!

What’s exciting here is that we’re seeing what seems like some release dates actually starting to seep out of the woodwork. April is when we see the Dual Shock 3 (finally!), and they’re aiming for a Q2 release date for a new SKU (the MGS one).

Oh, and this just in. MGS4: June 14th.

Nice.

I’d also like to mention that with the announcement of this bundle, rumors that Sony was going to completely kill off their 80GB model, and consequently backwards compatibility, have been temporarily squashed. Whether or not this is the last iteration of the 80GB model we’ll see…who knows. So far this bundle hasn’t been termed a “limited edition”, and with the way it looks like it might sell (it doesn’t a take genius to figure out that it’s a hell of a deal), I can’t see Sony constricting what might be the biggest surge in console sales they might get until Holiday season ’08.

• Some Home News/Rumors

The good people over at Kotaku have received some very interesting news about Sony’s Home software, the 3D interface that will provide players with a virtual environment in which they can interact, buy items from the store, watch game trailers and launch into games. Personally, I’m hoping that Home helps give Sony’s console a soul – something that makes you smile and brings you comfort when you think about it.

Anyway, according to the Kotaku guys, the way that key titles such as Resistance, Warhawk and Uncharted will be featured in Home could be very, very awesome. Rather then spoil all of the good tidbits, I’ll let you check out the articles yourself. Keep in mind though – no official announcements have been made. You’ve been warned: Resistance. Warhawk. Uncharted.

• Valkyria Chronicles

Lastly, although Sega’s been frying up some incredible turd-burgers for the Wii lately, a gorgeous 3rd person shooter entitled Valkyria Chronicles is officially on its way to US shores. Not quite released in Japan yet, this game completely slipped my radar until 2 days ago and might very well be the first game that I decide to import. (Remember, PS3 titles are regionleeeesssss ^_^) The game is decidedly Japanese, and its graphics take form by way of Sega’s new CANVAS engine, which aims at simulating a watercolor painting in motion. If gameplay can live up to the way this game looks (and maybe even if it can’t), this might really be one worth checking out, come fall. Check out the trailer and some more screen shots here.

I feel like I need my smock to even look at this.

Oh, and did I mention it’s an exclusive?

So if you spent all that money on a PS3, keep your chins up kids. You know the 360’s going to deliver this year, and Smash Bros is right around the corner for you Wii-ners. It seems like Sony’s stepping back into what might be some uncertain territory, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Step back and enjoy the show – and who knows, we might all be Home before we know it.

That’s right everyone.

After months of waiting and stress, the day of arrival seems to have come at last. They say he’ll be delivered on Friday.

It seems funny now that I think about it. Debating whether or not I was ready…

if it was worth it or not…

whether I was ready to make this kind of commitment.

But there’s no looking back now.

Come this weekend, I’ll be a father.

OF A MANBOX 360! (Imagery: Me holding up the 360 in the middle of a stadium full of bald and or bearded men who are cheering wildly, violently high-fiving each other, chugging beers and shooting machine guns straight into the air)

My proudest moment: Unga-bunga.

Ya know what the best part is?

My baby is being delivered by this man:

Oh. my. god.

Ahhh ha ha.

But seriously, as I adopt this baby into my life, I have a few thoughts. I’m excited, but it isn’t without hesitation. I thought I’d take a moment and let you all know what I’m thinking.

First let’s talk about things I’m excited about, then we’ll move into my concerns.

Happy thoughts:

• The nice backlog of games that I can play. In particular, Gears of War, Mass Effect and Bioshock. Anybody like guns?
• The XBLA games I get to download. I’m thinking I’ll start with Psychonauts, Geometry Wars, Rez HD and Pacman Championship Edition. (That’s an awesome lot of gaming for only $35)
• My own Gamertag!
• Achievements, wow! (Actually, by getting a system this late, I think I’ve freed myself of the disease that is achievementwhoreitis. And that is even more exciting)
• Actually playing online! Friends! Wooo!
• Fantastic looking games coming out: Ninja Gaiden 2, Fable 2 ad Too Human (I was a big PSO fan, ok? Leave me alone)

Aaaaaand BAD THOUGHTS:

• Three.
• Red.
• Lights.
• Paying for Xbox live. (I know this is minor, but I still rather spend my money somewhere else. So much so, that you shouldn’t expect me to pay for this until I’ve beaten my share of single player 360 games or Too Human comes out.)
• I’ve missed the boat on pretty much all of these games and will now forever be referred to as ” ‘pappy snooz-a-lot”
• The masses of other “good people” on Live
• Microsoft might announce a new system next year, making me sad I waited this long.

In all seriousness though, I’m stoked to be getting a 360. I’ve wanted one for a long time, but could just never justify it. Although in terms of game systems I lean towards Sony (you see, I like to play GOOD Japanese games), I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to finally play the amazing western releases that have landed over the past two years. My Triforce of gaming is becoming complete, and I couldn’t be happier.

Nice.

Hey kids, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Since I already celebrated with the lady last weekend, I’m free tonight to finish up my podcast blog! Here we go!

So now that I’ve covered the 1up podcasts I listen to, let’s talk a little bit about the IGN ones. Most of these casts are sorted into platform, which coincides with ign.com and their separate platform channels. What I really like about these podcasts though, is that everyone that appears on them is very non-biased towards other systems, and pretty much tell it like it is, despite what you might think. Greg Miller from the Playstation channel didn’t buy a system till a few weeks ago, because he didn’t think it was worth it. Hillary Goldstein from the 360 channel talked for about 20 minutes two weeks ago about why he thought the 360 was in pretty hot water, from an industry standpoint. And Matt Cassamasina has been on record talking about how he was very interested in joining the 360 channel during the first few days of the Wii. Overall, the podcasts are pretty good and everyone on here has a pretty great sense of humor. Let’s go into a little more depth:

IGN.com - Wii-k in Review with Matt Cassamasina and Mark Bozon - Probably my least favorite of all of IGN’s game podcasts, Wii-K in review is a 2-man show, with an occasional guest appearance like IGN.com’s Peer Schneider or the lovely Jessica Chobot. The format of the show is pretty simple - they go over a topic and then take questions at the end. For “technical reasons” they claim that the show can never run over an hour (or their computer will blow up or something), but basically it just seems to me that there’s so much else going on in the lives of these two that they never want to put in the extra effort past that 1 hour mark. They’re very frank about reader questions and the entire IGN rating system itself, which can be good…sometimes. Although the information on here is usually pretty quality, I can’t help but sense a very nonchalant and slightly arrogant attitude that screams “I’m doing what I’m doing and if you disagree, I don’t give a flying f*ck.” Luckily, I agree with the way they handle things.

IGN.com - Three Red Lights with Hillary Goldstein, Erik Brudvig, and Nate Ahearn - These guys are awesome. Although fans were pretty pissed at them going on a Lost tangent a few weeks ago, the Three Red Lights cast really knows how to make a podcast fun, yet still be very informative. They’ve done crazy things like calling their fans and prank calling other IGN members, and they start off each show by reading a list of red-ringed 360 owners from that past week and then taking a moment of silence. Another amazing item to note about this show is the fourth member, Jeff Bell, (The name of Microsoft’s corporate vice president), who in this case is simply a service bell named Jeff Bell, who gets rung every time someone says one of a few key phrases, or sounds like they’re plugging any kind of game, company or service. Absolutely worth listening to.

IGN.com - Podcast Beyond with Chris Roper, Greg Miller, Ryan clements and Jeff Haynes - This is probably my all around favorite podcast to listen to. These guys are very smart, get their points across quickly, and really really know how to have fun. I especially want to point out my favorite cast member, Greg Miller, whose energy on every show is just through-the-freaking-roof, and says so many crazy things you just can’t help but laugh. Plus, every segment on the show (The Roper Report, The IGN list of PSP and PS3 releases, and Topic of the Week) has its own little theme song, and every time someone says the word “beyond,” it gets shouted by every cast member on the show. It’s like listening to a podcast of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but just overly incredible. The only downside of Podcast Beyond (BEYOND!…see, they have me doing it too.) is that the show is a little short, mainly because Chris Roper likes to cut out the “extra fluff.” That’s ok though, there’s plenty of fluff to keep me happy. Man I love these guys.

Player One Podcast with Chris Johnston, Greg Sewart and frequent guest star Phil Theobald - A cast of ex-EGM employees makes up Player One Podcast, which is usually a very straight-forward, almost quiet podcast. A few of the items that separate Player One from the rest of the crowd are 1.) They skype/channel in everyone from different parts of North America, and 2.) They have a “game club” every week, almost like a book club, except they all play a classic game available on current next-gen consoles that they discuss every week. While the discussion always involves a high degree of insulting each other, the opinions expressed here are usually very insightful. Rumble Pack friend Hargrada was mentioned on here two weeks ago, so I can’t dislike them, right? I seriously find their podcast very enjoyable, and love to hear their perspectives on items that, being about ten years younger, I have completely different opinions and memories about.

Well there ya have it folks! Those are the majority of podcasts that I listen to every week, please feel free to listen along and tell me what you think. All of them are available through itunes or through their respective websites, so take a listen!

Catch ya next week -

Hey kids! It’s Thursday night again, and you know what that means…

No no no, not that. Pull your pants back up.

That’s right, it’s blog time! This week’s topic: My Other favorite podcasts

So a lot more goes into the Rumble Pack than it seems sometimes. Ask anyone on the cast and they’ll recount to you many a story of crappy audio equipment, recording scheduling conflicts, website troubles, editing woes, etc.

And oooooh man, the time commitment. Between recording every Monday, all of us here update our blogs every week, constant check and post on the boards and write reviews, try to come up with new content (we need a intro theme desperately) and somehow find time to play games, be social, work full-time jobs and catch up with as much industry news as we possibly can. It’s a busy schedule!

For me, one of the most important things about the show is having an intelligent conversation about some aspect of the industry, and usually that involves some kind of news piece or issue that’s happened throughout the week. So to keep up with the news on my end and get some fresh perspectives about what’s been going on, I listen to a loooooot of gaming podcasts.

So I just wanted to take a second and show you guys what I listen to and what I think about them. I feel like I know pretty much everyone who appears on these shows as if they were my own siblings (trust me, you’d get that way too after listening to them for 5 months on end), so if you start listening to them too, you might hear a little of what they say in my own words.

Note: This is only the first half, focusing on 1up.com’s series of weekly podcasts, 1up Radio. Second’s coming next week, including the IGN podcasts and others.

1. 1up Yours
Some would call this the “premier” gaming podcast on the net. It basically houses some of the bigger names from the 1up Network and Electronic Gaming Monthly including Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Bryan Intihar and Shawn Elliot. Although Shane tends to say some pretty fanboy-ish things once and awhile, everyone that appears on this show has had a loooot of experience in the industry and usually has intelligent things to say. I love their show format, and I think Garnett Lee, although a bit intense at time, makes a great host.

2. EGM Live

This is basically the podcast that features the rest of the crew from EGM magazine, such as Jennifer Tsao, Michael Danahoe, Greg Ford, James Mielke, Crispin Boyer, now-associate-editor Nick Suttner (he was an intern until recently), and of course, Dan “Shoe” Tsu. Although the format of the show’s a little random, EGM Live is a great peek into culmination of personalities that it takes to put out a solid publication like EGM. A great sense of humor usually shines through, and makes me more jealous every week that they get paid to be in such a laid-back work environment, doing what seems to be an absolute joy (compared to what I do, at least)

3. Retronauts

Retronauts is another 1up.com podcast, this time the child of renowned game critic Jeremy Parish. It also usually features my hero, Chris Kohler, of Wired Magazine, whose time spent analyzing and studying the Japanese video game industry has pretty much made him my idol. The great thing about Retronauts is that every week centers around some sort of old-school gaming topic, whether it be regarding an older system, game series, or company, and therefore is usually very timeless. Except for the segment at the beginning of the show that runs through the classic release list of the week (of the Wii’s virtual console service, the PSN and the XBLA), any of these shows can be enjoyed at any point in time, because they simply analyze events of the past. Jeremy’s also a very harsh critic, one that I often find myself at odds with, but always end up respecting all the more for this very well thought-out opinions. Justin’s a big fan.

4. Games for Windows radio

This is the “Brodeo”, the last of the 1up.com podcasts, and probably one of the funniest podcasts I’ve ever heard in my entire life. The cast includes Shawn Molloy, Shawn Elliot, Ryan Scott, and Darren Gladstone. Probably my favorite part of this podcast is the “Heroes of the web” bit they do, in which they read a letter or forum post written by some sort of avid fanboy in a hilarious voice and then discuss what was said. It’s not as malicious as it sounds, it’s honestly just pure fun. I’m definitely not a PC gamer, but I love this podcast. God bless the Brodeo.

Annnnd that’s it for round 1! Stay tuned for round 2 next week!