On this weeks show the editors take a moment to discuss The Old Republic. That is, when there isn’t anything that has to do with Fallout 3 on the table! We also take on a few listener questions, talk playlists and wonder about water pipe leaks.
Standard Podcast [75:11m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 3:10 am and is filed under Podcasts.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:20 am
Nice!
November 7th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I’ve reached a certain stage in Fallout 3, where I believe that I just don’t want to finish the game. After so much…..I dont want the game to end ‘that’ way.
BTW, has Bethesda thought of making an Fallout 3 MMORPG? I was playing Fallout 3, and thinking man….if they turned it into an MMO it would be just awesome!
November 7th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Hey do you guys have any news on the new COH expansion: Tales of Valor?
BTW, the patch for Fallout 3…..is the Australian Fallout 3 the UK version or US version?…..cauz patches come for UK and US separately.
November 7th, 2008 at 9:56 am
A new podcast? Hurrah!
November 7th, 2008 at 10:09 am
DJ: Dogmeat is in Scrapyard, South of Minefield. Until a good guide comes out, be sure to check out the Fallout Wiki to get locations, etc.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Dogmeat_(Fallout_3)
November 7th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
It’s all very interesting, but I see myself being really let down by Fallout 3. I wish I had a demo, because it just looks like it handles exactly as Oblivion… and I can’t take more of that static non-sense.
I was gunna go with FarCry2, but I have yet to pick it up and L4D might be what I need to get out of this gaming rut I’m in (and that’s right around the corner).
November 7th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Check it out. Found a cereal box in Left 4 Dead advertising free TF2 action figures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helfrich/3009616846/sizes/l/
November 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
“SanDisk has released ExtremeFFS technology” - - - Interesting choice of naming - Aparently on thier press release it stands for Extreme Flash File System, personally I think they have NFI , I mean WTF where they thinking ??
November 7th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
@ultimapunk I would be surprised if you were disappointed by Fallout 3 unless you really don’t like the genre or are just generally a grinch who hates fun in general. If you’re at all into RPG stat tinkering and moral choices, limb-targeting combat, or exploring big open worlds, Fallout 3 is about as perfect a game to come along in awhile.
The combat is dramatically improved over Oblivion with the VATS system as long as you’ve got action points to spend and the world does change to reflect the choices you make (I’m sure you’ve heard about Megaton).
That being said, if you’re more into shooters, Far Cry 2 is a lot of fun, but Left 4 Dead is much more likely to blow your mind (and hopefully not eat it)
November 7th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Oh my god, SPORE ON A BILLBOARD! What is this CRAZY city?
That was pretty funny… partially because that’s EXACTLY how I felt when I first saw the Left4Dead adverts.
I realize that the game is on the 360 as well, but it felt particularly good because of Valve’s PC roots.
… three cd key attempts before you try to reinstall
Logan, I read someone say this on the Kotaku comments section, but I can’t actually confirm it either, to be very honest. Though after thinking about it, it does seem a bit ridiculous.
edit:
Well, I didn’t have Red Alert, but I did have Spore… so I entered the incorrect cd key thrice, and it kicked me off the installation.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
@FlamingPeasant
Heads up, your Flickr page is set to private.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Valve is probably shutting down the Left 4 Dead demo after it releases because lots of people would just play the demo online with other people instead of buying the full game. Sounds crazy, I know (especially concerning the length of the demo) but there’s over 300 games for the Halo PC demo running at any one time. I’d bet this is in part because of the attention Bungie garnered after releasing the version 1.08 patch for the full game. There were less than 30 servers running for the demo before the patch was released, but now it has many more than the full game.
Oh and then there’s this:
Left 4 Dead Demo “Hacked” To Allow Extra Fun Times
I’ve been playing the Left 4 Dead demo most of this week. Been having a blast with it, too. But the demo’s fairly limited in scope; only two maps, then you’re done. Fortunately, PC gamers are nothing if not industrious, and already have come up with a few ways to squeeze a little more variety from the demo. And they’re not even “hacks”, really, just workarounds. One lets you play splitscreen co-op on the same PC. Another lets you play as the zombies. And perhaps the best one is from the clip above, showing that the demo has bare-bones support for custom maps.
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/l34k7qDeks4/left-4-dead-demo-hacked-to-allow-extra-fun-times
November 8th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Speaking of L4D billboards, I saw two within a five mile radius on a highway here in the Bay Area. Twas an awesome sight.
November 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Aesihr,
I’ve only exhausted myself on a demo once, and that was with UT2003. I played the shit out of that game’s demo for like a month… even though it only had a few levels. And then… I never actually got around to buying the game, even though its demo had provided so much addictive fun.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I did that with BfME2. For some reason the demo worked on my computer and the full game didn’t.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Yeah those billboards are epic, Nightwing94. But there’s just something special about being stuck on a crowded subway and catching a glimpse of the L4D hand through the swaying, silent masses. I read an article that argued that zombie movies just play off our fear of being in crowded spaces. If that’s true, advertising on BART is the best thing they could’ve done!
I also saw a Spore bumper sticker yesterday.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Logan,
I know you can’t openly talk about this because of your responsibilities, but when you hinted on the last podcast about some new hardware on the horizon (when you were answering the guy wondering if he should upgrade his 8800GT), were you referring to the new Intel processor, the Core i7? Or were you actually referring to a new upcoming video card?
*psst* If you can’t tell us that much, just shake your head if you were simply referring to the processor, and nod if you do know of a video card refresh coming soon.
I also saw a Spore bumper sticker yesterday.
I bet it was an EA employee.
I find that interesting actually. I can imagine a day when people get hardcore enough to start being political with their gaming bumper stickers.
While I actually find one-time game activations quite reasonable (more than constant cd checks), I would find it amusing to see a bumper sticker that said, “DOWN WITH DRM!”, or, “JACK THOMPSON WAS GOD’S GIFT TO KOTAKU”
November 8th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
@Pugnate that’s exactly what I thought when I saw the bumper sticker! Must be an EA employee.
November 9th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I found Fallout 3 to be boring.
- The combat was bad :\ I just wish’d they would have given me proper FPS combat instead of mixing the lame unsatisfying RPG stats into it. I thought it would be real time for people who like that or VATS for people who liked RPG combat but instead it was just a lame mix of both and just ended up being shit.
- Characters in the game were boring.
- Animations were all stiff and horrible, when people are moving across the land it looks like they are on ice.
- AI sucked
- The world was boring and annoying to explore. I hate having to spend 1 hour running across the map and getting lost because it’s very linear in the center of the town. I mean fucking theres rubble blocking everythign so you have to use subways which are boring. Why can’t I just climb over the rubble just like in real life?
- No vehicles killed the exploration for me and seeing as it takes forever to run everywhere I got to the point where I was on the aircraft carrier and just couldn’t be bothered with the game anymore and quit.
I don’t understand why people do side quests when it doesn’t matter when you do them. This isn’t a mmorpg so it can’t make you more powerful than other people and it’s all just saved to a file. So me personally I just want to do the story and the story SUCKED it was soooo poor up to the point I played that I just didn’t fucking care.
Another thing is once you’ve done a side quests you have nothing more to do with that chaarcter :\ I was like I want her to like me and then I wanna date her and have sex and have a family and raise my kids up to shoot mutants. Then I want to kill my family and move onto the next one. However there was none of that and nothing mattered, sure you had choices but making them has no effect on anything other than people wanting to kill you.
I thought it was a horrible boring game myself.
November 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
i’ve bought both fallout 3 and far cry 2 and have been spliting time between them and i have to say that i like Far Cry 2 just a tiny bit more then fallout 3, just seem more real and alive to me
November 9th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
The thing that pissed me off about Far Cry 2 was everywhere Iw ent I had people trying to kill me all the time and chasing me on the roads. Yet in the intro when you’re driving to the hideout thing you didn’t have everyone trying to kill you but they let you through. Now theres no way they know who I am from seeing the car because every car looks the same and you can’t see that clearly through a windscreen at like 400m away.
The game just became repetitive and annoying to play so I stopped.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:27 am
@ Miffy - Are you pissed off with Far Cry 2 or Fall Out 3 or both ? I’m a short way into Far Cry 2 atm and I can just sense the repetativeness crawling up my spine - itching its way to the boredom parts of my mind
November 10th, 2008 at 6:05 am
I have yet to see a Left 4 Dead advertisement. But I do work from home and I live in England. So that’s probably why.
Completed Fallout 3! I was wondering if this was the game you talked about a few pod casts back with the 50+ different endings? Time to max out unarmed skill sounds like you guys enjoyed that!
Keep up the good work, new subscriber to the magazine here ! (Yes USA version
)
November 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I hated both of them and it isn’t because I don’t like open world games because they can be good when done right like all the GTA game upto 4 were great. I loved playing SWG Pre cu back in 2003 before SOE/LA screwed it up by adding Jedi so I quit cause it ruined balance and broke the game even more.
However with Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 it;s like normally the small things thata dd up to make the experience crap, but with these two games they’re just boring to play. Both of them have massive amounts of nothingness to explore and while Fallout 3 has atleast some itneresting stuff I got fedup of running about everywhere. That was the major problem with both them games and then add on everything else I said and I just can’t see why people have rated them sooo highly. I just think it’s because of their names and their graphics.
The best games so far that I’ve played were..
- World of goo
- Dead Space
I can’t think of any others.
I really want to play Little big Planet but don’t wannt buy a PS3 but apart from that this year has been a disappointment. I’m not sure if I’ve become more picky or if it’s because I’m becoming bored of games in general or sick of the same old things… I dunno.
I didn’t even like Left 4 Dead it just seemed very repetitive and you can’tplay through the same levels over and over again because they’re sooo linear. It would be like playing through COD4 again and again where sure the enemy are standing in different places at times but you eventually become bored of the same linear level. So I’m thinking if the game doesn’t have any story driven single player showing how the whole thing started and it only has two modes… versus and the coop then :\ It’s gonna get boring very fast.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
@Miffy - agree on the Dead Space though - I,m playing it atm and thoroughly enjoying it, sure it has limitations in that the character is pretty linear. It would have been nice to crouch and jump. Ultimately the acid test is in the fun factor, and like you I’m finding it a lot of fun to play - and oh so quick to save and load.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I think Miffy needs a new hobby.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Miffy is correct about one thing though, World of Goo is among the top five pc games of the year.
It’s the Peggle of ‘08.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Wooo for World in Conflict! I am quite sure there will be lotsa happy face out there!
http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=57393
November 10th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
@Miffy I like Little Big Planet so far. Just playing the story mode co-op style. I like Fallout 3 a megaton more.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:13 am
@GunmanX
I’ve heard very little love for World in Conflict on this podcast (it’s all about CoH, C&C and SupCom apparently) but that game remains right up there on my list of truly *great* strategy titles.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Just for Logan breaded, deep fried bacon with gravy!
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/1259952,FOO-News-det05.article
November 11th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Far Cry 2, I’ve been playing it for a long time now and I’m still looking for something redeemable about it but I just can’t seem to find it but I’m going to soldier through it still and keep playing. So far there isn’t anything in it to compare with Crysis on, the gameplay is mind-numbing repetitive, it feels more like a GTA clone in a first person perspective.
And the malaria thing? getting annoying, doesn’t add anything but frustration to the gameplay.
Gun reliability and jamming, another element that should have been shot with force out of a cannon. It’s also frustrating and causing me to lose hair. Fortunately I was able to fix this with a “weapons always reliable” trainer. Yeah I know that’s cheating but it relieves the frustration of having a weapon explode in my face.
Weapon unlocks: That’s so console-ish it’s almost done the game in for me, almost to the point of having regretted buying the damn game.
If I were to review this game I’d probably stick it with a 65% and move on to something more worthwhile. It’s only good for one play through.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Oh and I already know why Activision dropped Ghosbuster the video game because they couldn’t exploit the market with sequels.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20984
Nice of them to admit they’re exploiting the market.
Also here’s some more of Kotick eating his foot:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20967
November 11th, 2008 at 5:08 am
“Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War drops tomorrow Australia wide for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 but we’ve already received the first PC version patch to get you in the mood.”
Excuse me —— or am I the only one to notice a patch out for a game before the game is even released !!
November 11th, 2008 at 11:08 am
@fragtastic: That’s a good thing. There are betas for a reason. Though typically devs/publishers don’t hand out beta’s AFTER the game was “finished”. Either way, MP is nothing special over CoD4, so ultimately the quality of the SP mission is what is going to determine a potential purchase for me, though its really low on the list.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Is anyone else with me in wanting to know why most of the top games for PC come out at the same time. I mean we have Fallout 3 Dead Space Red Alert 3 Left 4 Dead Call of Duty World at War Far Cry 2 Tomb Raider and more
So the question is if you had to pick only one from the list about what would it be and why.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:51 am
There is nothing to admit when they say “exploiting” the market. They mean they want to maximize on their investment, and that won’t be possible without a sequel.
They’d love to make more use of the investment they made in developing the assets and engine for the first game.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
@BloOdymAN: “I like Fallout 3 a megaton more.” Oh, I see what you did there!!!!!! To all, the Survival Edition of Fallout 3 was restocked on Amazon.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
For all us Aussie gamers out there ; this is for you - we have to make our voice heard against this - it WILL happen and if you don’t make yourself heard it will be too late;
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4111/1224238260703ua3.gif
November 11th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
The other day I made a slideshow to go with a song I like, and a couple of mates said it reminded them of Fallout (I disagree though
). Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtTir4PDgI
Though, I have to say, they deleted my link from Fallout 3 official forums, saying it was inappropriate. So if you agree with them, I’d really like to know.
Cheers.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Okay. Who’s played Left4Dead by now?
I just played through the two demo chapters for the first time. It was incredible. Even though it was on single-player, I found the experience highly exhilarating. The characters sometimes may have had quick aim, but it was not always so. Sometimes no one else but I saw the character that were about to be in danger. I love the pipe bomb.
The AI Director seems to be very nicely designed. I’ve come across small hordes in a couple different sections for both playthroughs. The second time through I never encountered a tank. I can’t wait to get the final version of this game. And I can’t wait to get some more time to play through this over the internet before the trial ends.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
@The Typer: I played through the demo chapters cooperatively, and it is definitely a contender for game of the year. The AI Director does a great job of spreading out the infected and boss infected so you never know where one will be. I am definitely looking forward to this game even more than I already was.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Pugnate, I’d rather have an original title that’s fun than a really bad sequel that stinks to high heaven. Activision says they’re dropping those titles that don’t have a sequel potential that they can exploit.
“With respect to the franchises that don’t have the potential to be exploited every year across every platform, with clear sequel potential that can meet our objectives of, over time, becoming $100 million-plus franchises, that’s a strategy that has worked very well for us,” Kotick said.
Basically they want titles they can make sequels with so they can keep churning out the same unoriginal crap year after year to maximize their profits.
Now I have nothing against them making profits, but at the expense of quality? At the expense of the gamers enjoyment? What’s the limit?
I think it’s time to start speaking to Activision using the most powerful tool in our arsenal: Our Wallets.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Left 4 Dead kicks ass.
Pipe Bomb rules, but I liked the cocktail even more. And I got thrills when I shot the gasoline and it exploded into flames. Brilliant brilliant stuff.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:18 am
This is for you Logan
http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf0560ul5.jpg
November 12th, 2008 at 2:53 am
L4D public free demo up on steam
November 12th, 2008 at 3:00 am
For the record its a great game. Im definitely getting it
November 12th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Regarding Left 4 Dead: They tweaked Expert to be harder with the most recent patch, and my god, is it one hell of a challenge. A freak out on anyone’s part, even with four humans in peak FPS prowess, spells doom for the entire party. Not impossible, but DAMN does it make teamwork absolutely necessary. I have never cursed during a game so much, and hearing the voice chat from three of my buddies as we get swarmed is worth the entry fee alone.
I can’t believe how much fun I have had in two levels. I am wondering how the boss zombies will work though, as the Hunter and Witch I must assume may be pretty hard to operate? I can’t wait to see how they do it though, this is a multiplayer game I am actually super-gung-ho about.
No wonder Whitta is obsessed already.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
The Witch isn’t playable, but everything else is. The Hunter takes a little getting used to, but once you figure him out it’s easy.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Nice, I was wondering if the Hunter would be playable. When you attack, does a swarm of zombies accompany you like in Co-op?
November 12th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Nope, unless you time your attack to coincide with a horde attack. Or, if one guy is a boomer, he can puke on the survivors, which causes a horde to rush in. Then the other guys playing as smokers and hunters can go to town.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Has anyone closed a door on a witch yet? I’m curious if she’s able to tear through them easily, like the opening trailer illustrates.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I haven’t done so. But the demo doesn’t put the witch (at least on hard and expert) behind too many doors. She’s normally in the dark, but out in the open. And running to a door. Well, I guess I could try that.
What difficulty setting does co-op or multiplayer set to? Or is it optional?
I like that you can shoot through doors though. If Valve ever gets the chance, I hope they can implement that into Episode Three (if there are wooden doors or metal doors to break).
Expert proves to be a really tough challenge. I still haven’t beaten the demo with it yet. Hard was a blast, while still proving difficult.
I can really see why Valve would shut down the demo after several days: Withdraw syndrome is bound to kick in and create panic. Plus, the demo has a very high replay value. So high that I can see people avoiding the purchase.
I really like the zombie models and the animations. The way the zombies really have that mindless walk and loose feel about them and how they’re uncoordinated with their hands and legs, especially when shot, it’s a nice classic feel for zombies. To think that the best animations from 2008 would be zombies, that’s pretty awesome.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Not only can you shoot through doors, you can shoot through *walls* a la Counter-Strike. Very handy for when you hear a Boomer and you suspect he’s hiding around a corner.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
wow L4D sure is a lot of fun
November 13th, 2008 at 5:28 am
I’d be playing the L4D demo if it weren’t for the fact it likes to lock up on me every time after 2 minutes of playing.
November 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Looks like Microsoft is finally trying to get into the Steam game:
Microsoft to digitally distribute PC game titles
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10095987-62.html
It looks like they’re not just behind the times when it comes to patch distribution. I don’t like this mention about Fallout 3 DLC though. Anyone hear anything about that? Will the Fallout 3 DLC only be distributed via the Windows Live Marketplace?
November 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yeah L4D is quite a game, and only the demo is out. And from what I understand, and the guys over at PCG can dispute this, the levels we are playing now are the simplest, most “tutorialish” levels, meant to get you into the game. ALso, Expert is a huge challenge. A group of buddies and myself couldn’t get past it. We ALMOST did, but then I accidentally shot our last survivor after the final attack.
Can NOT wait till release.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
@GunmanX - yes, the first couple of maps are the easiest of each campaign. By the fifth, the difficulty ramps up considerably. And Versus mode? You’ll crap your pants.
November 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
@ Dan S:
You are currently making my projected play time of Fallout 3 cut out significantly. I am having a rough time during this super-deluge of gaming goodness. Will it ever end!?
November 13th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
It kinda sux in L4D when u get some childish annoying person who takes it upon themselves to kill all the other players on the team just to be annoying. Player killers ala Diablo style !
November 13th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Votekick!
Its a lot easier with 4 people lol.
Also, btw, Dan S. Do you know if there is a “join on the fly” system in L4D? Like, if I start a game with 3 people and an AI fills in a characters spot, can a person join the game and fill that slot in during the game? Or do we have to restart it all to include him? I haven’t been able to test it in the demo.
November 13th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
@GunmanX
Multiplayer (including versus mode, I believe) is all join-on-the-fly, yep. It actually should be integrated in the demo — anyone that exits your game can have their slot re-filled, and players players that go idle for a few minutes are swapped for an AI automatically. Restarting isn’t necessary, but the voting system lets you change difficulty or return to the lobby without having to re-invite folks, it’s nice.
Also, look forward to a massive, seven-man podcast dropping later tonight, we just wrapped.
November 13th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
fragtastic I was reading on the L4D forums over on steampowered.com and there seems to be a group of people hellbent on ruining other peoples fun. They say this game is catered to greifing and us anti-greifers should just get lost.
I’d show you the post but it looks like the mods have already removed it.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Nothing starts off a podcast well like a good old fashion Hamlet reference. (Just read it…gotta love high school
November 1st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Great podcast. I’ll have to agree with one of the comment, i reached a point too where i just didn’t want to complete fallout 3, as i felt such an open game should not “end” the normal way. So much to see and you really feel you can go anywhere.
______________________
My Strategy Games