The Rumble Pack Posts

Is that a pepper in your pocket, or are you just happy to be listening to the show? This week, the guys take on their DLC music catalog in Rock Band Blitz, even if the squishy default controls and calibration issues frustrate. They also answer your latest voicemail questions, asking about Borderlands 2, favorite co-op moments and those pesky 3DS indentations! Justin loads up his PlayStation Vita with PSone Classics, Kaz gets lost in the expanses of Guild Wars 2 and Tom deals with beeps and/or boops. Plus, deciphering Tetrisphere, just wanting to know where the gold is at, the return of “Das Boot” and the Forza Horizon dream team.

Relevant Links:

Game Freak’s HarmoKnight

Telebunny/GameSpite on Mendel Palace

Highlight (just for iOS)

Battiste & Dupree Cajun Grill (aka Junior’s)

Gaming magazines have come and gone – mostly gone, actually – but the impending shut down of Nintendo Power hurts more than most. It’s not just that it’s been a gaming journalism pillar for 24 years, or that I’m feeling a rush of nostalgia every time we see those iconic, colorful covers in the many Nintendo Power eulogies posted this week. If all I had from NP was fuzzy memories and ratty players’ guides, I’d simply shrug and move on. But for whatever faults the magazine had throughout the years, it was hugely influential in shaping my gaming taste and my appreciation of the medium.

Before Nintendo Power, my gaming diet consisted as much of licensed crap like Ghostbusters II as it did of Super Mario Bros. Chalk it up to youthful ignorance, but I had no idea how many classics I was passing up. All of that changed when my parents bought me a subscription to Nintendo Power. Suddenly, I was introduced to an entirely new genre, the RPG, right around the golden era of Earthbound and Chrono Trigger. Annual reports from Space World opened my eyes to games from Japan, some of which would never reach our shores. I quickly latched on to favorite developers like Capcom and Konami. Regardless of the magazine’s function as corporate propaganda, I feel as though each issue opened more doors than it closed.

Live from Rumble-Con ’12! This week, the Pack answers questions about the maybe-not-catastrophic Windows 8, the latest Humble Indie Bundle, the adorable Tearaway on the Vita and storming a castle in the heart of Ohio. Justin’s jumbo pockets can barely contain the 3DS XL, Kaz plays a turn in Eclipse, Tom grooves to Sound Shapes and Tony gets hooked on Puzzle Craft. Plus, mixed feelings towards New Super Mario Bros. 2, the next stage in the transfarring revolution, scrambled eggs all over our collective face, Papo & Yo, the beautiful Dust, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive anticipation and holiday overalls.

Relevant Links:

4 Color Rebellion’s Petit Computer Guide

Passion Pit would be perfect for Sound Shapes

Dan Pinchbeck on Dear Esther‘s Storytelling

Who: Everyone

What: Uncharted 3 multiplayer

Where: PlayStation Network

When: Thursday, August 23rd at 9:00 p.m. EST

Why: Because PlayStation 3 never gets Game Night love!

Our PlayStation ID info can be found here.

RSVP here

New comic con reviews here.

Tiny episode, tiny games and big laughs! This week, the guys keep it short, with a revealing voicemail messages about embarrassing games and a discussion about console/PC dynamics. Justin gets goofy with Kingdom Hearts 3D, Kaz feels the groove in Sound Shapes and Tony plays the Grand Poobah of MOBAs, Dota 2. Plus, the value of a good user interface, the beloved Bug Village, Eye Pet Confessions, obligatory references to Chex Quest, “Bumperskates” and game sitcom crossovers waiting to happen.

Relevant Links:

Good Old Family Fun from Disney

Our Custom Sound Shapes Levels

BioShock Infinite‘s falling apart! The Last Guardian will never see the light of day! Final Fantasy Versus XIII is dead! Sounds like it’s time to panic…or is it? Over the past couple weeks, there have been lots of headlines about long-delayed games suffering turbulent development cycles, causing many to wonder if the turnover and copyright issues meant cancelled games. But all I keep asking myself is how any of this is news. Hugely expensive creative projects with staffs of hundreds? How could that not be turbulent?

The reaction was the loudest in regards to BioShock Infinite, probably we know plenty about it already. A cut multiplayer mode and a handful of producers are moving on to other projects, which suggests that Infinite might look radically different from when we last saw it (or not). But would that be such a big deal? Irrational’s vision for the original BioShock changed dramatically over time, and the final results were mostly incredible, ending aside. Those folks have earned a little faith! There are countless beloved games that bear little resemblance to their original concepts, as well. Halo started out as a real-time strategy game before Bungie reconfigured it into a FPS powerhouse. Mother 3 began as an N64DD game before the scenario ended up on the Game Boy Advance roughly a decade later. Even Shadow of the Colossus, from Team Ico, ditched the multiplayer and Ico’s horned heroes from “Nico.”

Warning: “The Dark Knight Rises” spoilers at the 1:28:00 mark!

Oy vey! A reunited Pack (and simulated Kurtwood Smith) have lots of laughs in this loosey-goosey episode. This week, the guys answer voicemail questions about Space Marine, digital 3DS releases, Wii U controller uses, foolhardy Steam spending and more. Justin and Nick are madly in love with Sound Shapes, while Kaz wanders through the DayZ wilderness. Plus, Tony’s miniature painting, Jewish Thundercats, dating a Virtual Boy, “Troll Hunter,” Last Story vinyl, Zombie University, the charting simulator Tony never wanted, longing for Kansas City, unholy Pikmin love, Transformers: War for Cybertron, Deadlight dread and more.

Before Organization XIII, before 385/2 Days…heck, before Sora and Riku, the heart and soul of the Kingdom Hearts series used to be the Disney franchises that were woven together to form a bizarre, yet wonderful, RPG. Though there obviously needs to be a framework to tie everything together, what mattered most was interacting with Pinocchio, Cinderella, Aladdin and dozens of other beloved characters in new and exciting ways.

While I’m currently really enjoying Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, I can’t shake the feeling that the Disney ties have become almost an afterthought. I love “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” more than most, but why are we revisiting Monstro the whale again? Why am I playing through a direct-to-DVD musketeers movie to which I have no emotional connection? It’s a major issue the series will face when it gets to that inevitable third installment. The good news is that there are still plenty of awesome Disney films and television that are presumably viable…

This week, the Pack channels Henry David Thoreau as the guys look back on life before the Internet. The web pioneers start off the show answering your voicemail about very literal Steam sales, couch co-op gaming and the action-packed Resident Evil 6. Justin digs up the forgotten classic Mole Mania, Kaz flies to Hawaii and back in Microsoft Flight and Tom scares everyone with his encyclopedic Spelunky knowledge. Plus, Tiny Tower/Pocket Planes roadblocks, something.something.whatever, the Squirt web-ring that wasn’t, Tony Hawk HD moping, Dyad and bean-related dystopia.

A Horrifying Glimpse Into Justin’s Psyche (Our Pinterest Account)

Space Jam’s 1996 Web Site: A Retrospective