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Month: August 2008

Episode 59: The Ramble Pack

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Tony, Tom and Kaz we sad to hear that both Justin and Nicolo were detained for the week. Without them the podcast would be very silly. So to keep the silliness under control they invited friend of the show Jarrod Maistros (Jard) to keep the peace. They found out that there is some silliness that you just can’t control.

 Things start off with a bang concerning Galaga Legions and Final Fantasy IV DS. Which turns into a short trip down memory lane to revisit some SNES RPG classics. Then in a Rumble Pack first, we seriously discuss World of Warcraft, seriously. And we pick apart the short gameplay demo of Force Unleashed, is the force with this one?

Reportin’ from Urbana

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Looming deadlines, exhaustive reading assignments, and late night study sessions – it’s all rushing back to me now. Though I’m completely overwhelmed by the size of the Champaign Urbana campus and back to square one on the social front, it feels good to be a student again. I’m sure this sentiment will change in a few short weeks when I’m downing (heavily caffeinated) Dews and stalling out on my lead paragraphs, but right now the “professional journalist” title seems within my grasp. I’m just one “intensive” year away.

The bad news is that this fast track comes at a price. If I learned one thing from last week’s orientation, it’s that I’m going to have very little time for recreation. Couple that with the discovery that my dormitory internet connection is tenuous at best (though this probably will change as the semester progresses), and it should come as little surprise that I will need to drastically decrease my involvement in The Rumble Pack Podcast. Believe me, this is a hard sacrifice to make, but my perpetual loafing had to come to an end at some point. That doesn’t mean I’ll be leaving the show completely. Right now, we’re considering pre-recorded addresses or rants to tag to the end of our shows (think Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes,” except maybe even more crotchety), and you can check back here for weekly blog posts every Monday and reviews every Tuesday Saturday.

Episode 58: Masochistic Gaming

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This week in the The Rumble Pack. Tony, Nick and Tom dissect exactly how they’re having fun with Bionic Commando: Rearmed.  Tony talks up The Marriage and a boat load of other fancy “indie” games.

Then Tony and Kaz try and determine if Madden ’09 has improved from 08, except one of them played ’08 and one played ’09. Hilarity ensues. And Kaz ignites Tom’s love-hate relationship with Interactive Fiction (Text Adventures), by talking about Frotz for the iPhone.

Oh, and the whole group gets sidetracked by Too Human’s review performance.

Episode 57: 1 Part Artsy, 1 Part Fartsy

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The first annual meeting of The Rumble Pack Art Appreciation Club convenes. Justin’s love for Pixeljunk Eden begins to wilt, Nicolo brings the goods (and a super villain sighting) from this year’s Otacon, and Tom, Tony and Kaz rave about Braid’s fourth dimensional fun. And while we’re all pleased with the downloadable gaming push, we ponder why gamers are so quick to pack away their old favorites

Later in the episode, the group breaks into a discussion of  game pricing which winds, as is traditional for The Pack, into something totally different. Enjoy!

**Sunday Night Community Match: Soul Calibur 4 on the PS3 agan (hopefully the soul still burns!)

Pixeljunk Eden (Video Review)

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Click here!

As far as I know, this is the first game that allows users to instantly upload videos. Expect more video reviews if this feature is made available in future releases.

Just to reiterate, I don’t dislike Pixeljunk Eden. Just look at the final verdict. I know that the above video has a negative spin, but that’s only because the few missteps are so glaring in a game that gets almost everything else right. Eden is so often transcendent, with one of the few virtual worlds that truly feels alive (one of the few instances in which “organic” is not at all pretentious). Not even the vomit stained walls of Garden 6 can take that accomplishment away from Q Games.

Episode 56: A Thick Issue

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Are you ready for some Soul Calibur IV minutiae?! Guard Impacts, heaving bosoms, and rebalanced characters – par for the course with fighting games, but is it still enough? The Rumble Pack sounds off. If fighting games aren’t your thing, we also discuss some downloadable heavy hitters. Tom and Justin offer valuable Geometry Wars 2 pro-tips, while Tony extols the virtues of Pixeljunk Eden’s artsy-fartsy swinging to a skeptical Kaz.

After the break, we talk about the Fat Princess weight debate. We discuss gaming obesity, virtual depictions of women, and broader implications of an irritated gaming community. Put a smile on your face, grab some cake, and listen up!