The Wired Fish Podcast Season 2 – Episode 3

Ahoy Fellow Fishes! Another week, another podcast goes up. Actually… several weeks… for this episode anyway. But I digress. On this episode of the Podcast, we look back on what made us sad pandas in 2011. Then we talk about what we’re anticipating the most in 2012. And finally what we see as our Games of the Year for 2012. This episode is extra long, so for your convenience we’ve split this episode into two parts. After the break, Part 2 and timestamp table of contents.

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The Captains Speaketh – New Review Format

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Hello everybody, and welcome to the great big review policy discussion. Since it would be best to write reviews that we can add to the big review databases in the internet for exposure, naturally the first thing to discuss would be our review policy.

The reason that I want this to be in conversation form, of course, is because we have no single review structure, and thus, the way each of us rate our games will be entirely different because of the different contexts that they are placed in. Thus, I ask you all this to begin : What is your criteria for ranking a game?

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MMOFPS Hits World Record of 999 Players

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You’re not reading that wrong. That’s nine-hundred ninety-nine players. Just shy of one-thousand players. The game in question is Man Vs. Machine, a game developed by MuchDifferent. Looking more like an experiment than a full-on game, Man Vs. Machine places players in one of two roles: Man or Machine. There’s only one map, one weapon, what looks to be a couple of visors, and a shitload of players against each other. The 1000-player matchup splits the teams in half. 500 for the humans, and 500 for the machines. You can see how many are playing at once at any time. Once you’re spawned, madness ensues as bombs explode in the distance and lasers zip by you. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. Some of the comments the players make are pretty funny (you’ll have to change the resolution to 480p). Today’s tech ain’t quite ready for something like this as the graphics, weapon variety, and models are sparse in this game to accommodate so many people playing all at once. But just thinking about where multiplayer will eventually go might get some out there mighty giddy.

Just think, a medieval game that plays like this. Or even better, Dynasty Warriors!

What it Looks Like When 999 People Play a Video Game at Once [Kotaku]

Retro Weekends – Chrono Trigger

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I could start this article by simply saying “Classic” and be done with it, but that would be a disservice to the game. Topping many gamers’ lists of best games of all time, Chrono Trigger has stood the test of time for many generations. This was the game that tapped into the imagination of many gamers back in the 90s. It set the standard that RPGs would follow in years to come. It has been released on many platforms, ensuring that you could play this game on something you have. Let’s travel back in time and talk about Chrono Trigger.

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Silent Hill HD Collection Releases March 2012

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The Silent Hill HD Collection collects two titles in the Silent Hill Franchise: Silent Hill II: Restless Dreams and Silent Hill III. These titles are both remastered in HD quality (720p) and also feature redone voice acting and musical score enhancement. Fans of the series are on both sides regarding the new voice acting for Restless Dreams. These changes were the reason the release date was delayed although it seems that the developers actually paid attention to their fans. Restless Dreams now has the option for the old and new voice acting while Silent Hill III only has the redone voice work.

I am happy to hear that there is a HD Collection title from a great survival horror franchise but the collection itself seems incomplete. Normally collections comprise of three games such as Konami’s recent Metal Gear Solid HD Collection but there are only two titles. A HD port of Silent Hill I is probably a more difficult project than an upscaled PS2 title but it would’ve been nice if Konami included another game like Team Silent’s Silent Hill IV: The Room. Including a copy of the PSOne version of Silent Hill I is also a possibility but defeats the purpose of a “HD” collection.

The HD Collection is slated for released on March 6, 2012, a week before the release of Silent Hill Downpour, for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Below is the official trailer for the collection:

Note: The retail price is $39.99 but GameStop’s website has it for $49.99 with no bonus. Your best bet is Amazon or any other retailer with the retail price.

New Xbox To Deny Used Games?

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No one knows for sure, but it’s one hell of a ball to drop if the rumors turn out to be true. According to Kotaku, a “trusted source” told Kotaku that along with the next Xbox supporting Blu-Ray and a new Kinect, the system would reject used games if the player happened to put one in. A rep emailed Kotaku later on with the usual PR bullcrap and dodging the speculation with, “Beyond that we don’t comment on rumors or speculation.” If the the no-used game feature is true, services like Gamestop and GameFly would suffer immensely, GameFly especially. Since this generation began, publishers has been fighting tooth and nail to halt the selling of used games with DRM, Online Passes, or simply skipping retail and selling online only. This would be the first time in consumer electronic history that used products would be banned.

Sources: The Next Xbox Will Play Blu-Ray, May Not Play Used Games (And Will Introduce Kinect 2) [Kotaku]

5 Songs to Celebrate Chinese New Year

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I forgot that Chinese New Year was happening this week. Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) is celebrated for four days (first day is the eve of it, the other three is the real deal). This year marks the Year of the Dragon, one of the more awesome signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Plus I was born that year too. So what better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than to listen to some Chinese inspired videogame music. Since most games back then were made in Japan, there’s a slight tinge of stereotyping by the Japanese here, but then again they made some awesome music. More recent games have been a bit more fair when using Chinese instruments and melodies and creating something worth listening to. Since most of the songs I’ve heard came from fighting games, most of these will be from that genre. Anyway, get the fireworks ready and start-a-listening! Continue reading →

Watch Daikuma Play Rocket Knight… Right Now [Offline]

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Vodpod videos no longer available.

Well, this is a hard looking game from the amount of times Daikuma’s lost and ragepaused.

Retro Weekends – Abadox

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What’s the goriest game you could think of? I’ll give you some time…. Okay, now how about the Super Nintendo/Genesis, can you think of a gory game for that one? Got some? Good. Now how about the NES? Not a lot huh? Well, that’s the point. The NES wasn’t really known for having much gore in the games that released on it. While there were some games that skillfully dodged Nintendo of America’s Judeo-Christian-Puritan-No-Sex-No-Violence Morality code, there were some that made your wonder “How the hell did this make it past the censors?” One of those games was space-shooter Abadox.

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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City In-Depth Preview

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Capcom’s Resident Evil/Biohazard franchise has been known to deviate from their original formula of survival horror present in Zero, I, II, III, and Code Veronica X. These games have been known for their atmosphere, voice acting (which is hilarious in the old versions), fixed camera angles, and tanky controls. There have been spin-offs such as Resident Evil: Outbreak and Resident Evil Gaiden, the latter of which some people don’t even know exists. It was not the release of Resident Evil 4 that revolutionized the franchise. Such mechanics as a third person over the shoulder view with precision aiming and a more action oriented experience was received positively among gamers and critics alike. Almost seven years later Capcom plans to add a third person tactical theme to the Resident Evil franchise. Will this title be a hit like Resident Evil 4? I doubt it but I certainly hope it does well.

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Executive Meddling Adds Online Pass To Twisted Metal

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Online passes are some of the most unfair things you can add to your game. While I’ve rarely sold/gave away any game I had (the most I’ve given away was 3 my whole life), I’m certain this is something that would concern anyone with the trigger finger to sell their own games on a constant basis, or buy used games a lot. David Jaffe, creator of Twited Metal, said that he wouldn’t want an online pass in his game considering how much of an emphasis the game has on multiplayer. However in the end, it was Sony that made him put the online pass, and he made it clear that it wasn’t his company, Eat Sleep Play, that made the decision. Big ups to Jaffe for thinking about the little guy. But damn Sony, damn.

Twisted Metal Will Require an Online Pass After All [Kotaku]

My Little Pony takes over Skyrim, beware of Fluttershy!

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Hide your children, the ponies are coming! A recent mod for Skyrim changes all the dragons in the game into ponies from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. To be more specific, the dragons have now become a legion of Fluttershy that bring destruction to any and all who cross their path.

I have to admit, while I’m not a pc gamer, this is one of the main attractions of pc gaming in my book. I really like the notion of random user-generated mods and content that can be creative, fun, and add more replayability to titles. f you’d like the mod for yourself, you can find it here. But you must excuse me for now, I have to go back to watching Fluttershy burn down some towns.

Via: Joystiq

The Wired Fish Podcast Season 2 – Episode 2

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Ahoy Fellow Fishes. This week is half SOPA, half retro. Because of how close the ruling of Protect IP is, and the protests and blackouts against PIPA and SOPA, the time has come for us to finally talk about the two and how catastrophic these bills are. On a lighter note, we resume our regular wackiness with retro stuff and what we grew up with as kids.

[MAJOR UPDATE 1] As of this time, ruling of PIPA has been postponed indefinitely. Ruling of SOPA has been shelved indefinitely. The battle may be over, but the war is still on. We want these two bills to be killed off completely. From the looks of it, the authors of both bills are hoping to postpone it long enough to try passing it without the public noticing. However, we were able to catch these bills as they were flying through Congress and stop them in their tracks. We can do it again!

[MAJOR UPDATE 2] After the indefinite postponing of the two bills, the ESA had dropped support of the bills. While it’s awesome and all, it’s somewhat meaningless now. In light of all this, I guess your can kinda skip the first half. But I still recommend watching just to see how bad these bills are. But if you’ve had your fill of SOPA and PIPA, you can hit the break to see which time to skip to.

As usual, timestamp table of contents after the break.

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Resident Evil 6 Announced, Hachi Resolves to Get His Evil From Foreign Distributors

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Behold, the horrors of Resident Evil h!...I mean 6!

Source: IGN

Earlier this week, news broke about a teaser site that, in all likelihood, was to build interest for the new Resident Evil game. And lo and behold, here we are, a new one announced and on the horizon.

From what little was gleaned from the site, the game is set ten years after the Raccon City incident. Seeing that people are getting a little too loose with the bioweapons again, The President of the United States (also known as the man who gave us that BITCH Ashley) has decided that revealing the horrors that occurred in that fateful affair might help to curb the resurging bioterrorist tendencies of the world around them, and he calls his old pal (and RE2 and RE4 protagonist) Leon S. Kennedy to be with him when he makes the announcement. This being a “not terribly pleasant” game, something goes wrong, the president is “transformed beyond recognition” and shit goes down.

Of course, all of that could have been avoided with the RIGHT man in office. Mechs trump bioterror any day...

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SOPA/Protect IP Battle – Round 2

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Huh, we seem to back in this. Back in November, websites all around had censored their names in protest of two pieces of legislation. Today, Jan. 18, 2012, some websites have outright shut down in protest. Some have chosen to remain online, but make it clear that they are in protest, like Google. I’ve gone to some sites today and have received 503 errors. Our platform, WordPress, has censored out articles on their home in protest as well. Our latest episode of TWFP has half the episode dedicated to talking about SOPA and Protect IP. That will be put up Tomorrow.

Since November, we’ve gotten a better idea of who’s for and against SOPA. For game companies, you already know that Capcom supports it, saying that the “ESA represents us in these matters” and the ESA supports SOPA (fuck what Svensson says). However, some companies that are part of the ESA have come out against SOPA and Protect IP, including Epic Games and, more recently, Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft, Zynga, Notch, and others have joined the fight against SOPA and Protect IP. The bill’s writer, Lamar Smith, put on his slick-bastard hat and postponed the SOPA hearing until February, in hopes that the hype behind the Super Bowl will distract the public. Yes, it’s during the weekend and Congress doesn’t do weekends. But to put in perspective, in Japan, that didn’t stop Ishihara from passing a manga censorship bill when Japan was still suffering from the Earthquake and Tsunami last year. Mr. Smith is hoping to pull a Ishihara to get SOPA passed. Make it loud and clear to him that we won’t stand for hit bullshit!

I highly recommend that you got to americancensorship.org and email your representatives and senators and let your voice be heard. If you’re a New York City resident, there is a protest happening today in front of the offices of Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Both of them support the two bills. If you wish to join, RSVP and head on out there! If you want to know more, Gizmodo has a great rundown of how crappy this bill is. KYM also has one too (though you’ll have trouble going there today). Jason Harvey of Reddit also breaks down some of the terminology of the bills and how it could affect the infrastructure of the internet. Stuttering Craig from ScrewAttack and Daniel Floyd and James Portnow from Extra Credits have taken a stance against Protect IP and SOPA and have posted a message stating that if ESA continues to support the two bills, they will not attend nor cover E3, the ESA run and funded games convention.

Don’t let these bills pass! All of your favorites websites, including us, will fold under these two bills.