The 6th episode of the peoples Worlds Wildest Dudes podcast.

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Discussed:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

The PS3

Movies, Games and Video
EDIT: For some reason iTunes is having difficulty with this episode. I’m trying to fix it, but it’s being a real bitch.

Majoras mask (2000)

The next game on the list was the last of the N64 titles Majora’s mask. The story of Majora’s mask takes place directly after ocarina in a far away place called Termina. I think the idea is that link is on some journey to find his old friend Navi (screechy impatient fairy from ocarina) when he gets attacked by the skull kid and has Epona stolen from him. I realize that many Zelda fans see this game as a bit of a disappointment and bit of a bastard to get through, but Majoras mask is an excellent game with many original ideas. This game is a brilliant example of how new Zelda games never fail to try something different.
The key element where this game expands on ocarina is the introduction of character transformations and the restriction of a three-day cycle. Masks as well as items are needed to proceed in this game allowing for some fun new game play. Several masks are needed to complete the story but there are 24 masks in total and some are extremely difficult to get. The three transformation masks are the Deku shrub, the Goron and the Zora. Each has different abilities such as the Goron can roll very fast, the Deku can spit bubbles and fly (a bit) and the Zora can swim and cool shit like that.

The idea of this game is that an angry looking moon is going to crash into Termina and funk the place up in exactly 3 days (about 54minutes real time) but of course you learn songs that slow, speed up and turn back time to day 1. The time line in this game is hugely important as events happen at certain times allowing you to get certain masks only if you talk to the right people at the right time.
This was the second time I had completed Majoras mask. I managed to get all the masks this time with a little help from FAQs for one particular mask allowing me to get the Omni link mask (a powerful mask used only on the last boss).
This really is quite a complex game and would take forever to discuss fully but this play through took me 7 day to finish. In conclusion Majoras mask is an excellently clever game and should be given more of a chance. I think the main reason less people liked it than other Zelda titles is that it’s difficult, different and a sequel to the greatest game ever made, but awesome none the less.
6 down 7 to go.

7 and 8. Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (2001)

I am going to discuss the next two together not because they are too similar but because I played them both at the same time. Ages and Seasons were designed to be connected with each other. The idea being for example you had Ages and your mate had seasons, you could connect your Gameboy colours and swap items and stuff (but since I have no mates). You also got codes off people in the game that you would tell people in the other game to get secret hidden super items. The key element for each game was of course time and seasons, this allowed you to explore map in many interesting ways in each game.
Oracles of ages and season have every thing that the previous handheld Zelda had (links awakening) and so much more, minus the terrible glitches. The dungeon design, story line, graphics, puzzles, music, boss battles and other general Zelda stuff is more than fine, but what really makes these games special is the linked ending. If one game is played as a sequel to the other by a linked password then you get extra story line and more importantly extra boss battles. After you defeat Twinrova, who are the witch bitches from Ocarina and Mojoras mask (actually they’re nice in Majoras mask?) you then have to defeat Gannon who is otherwise barely mentioned in the game. After Gannon is defeated you then receive another code allowing you to play through again with extra shit but I had put an ridiculous amount of hours in to these two games already and had several more still to play so my Seasons and Ages experience ended with Gannons defeat.

Episode 5 of the Worlds Wildest Dudes podcast for your ears to listen to and your brain to ignore.
 

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Discussed:

A bit more Dark Void
Cod mod 2
CSI: Hard Evidence

Which US procedural television drama would make the best video game? (none probably it transpires!)

The best and worst games ever

Famicomuser has a go of Just Cause (a game he’s never played) for 5 whole minutes.

Just Cause – 5 Minute Thing from worldswildestdudes on Vimeo.

Gonna piss off a few people me thinks.

Look, its not that I hate Cod Mod 2, its just that it can be a pretty frustrating experience at times and I was having a particulary difficult session tonight as I worked through the final stages of the single player. I just wanted you all to get a flavour of what the rubbish Call of Duty playera go through from time to time.

Enjoy.

Worlds Wildest Dudes – Cod mod 2 from worldswildestdudes on Vimeo.

I am what could charitably be called a gaming sadcase. This is someone who spends just as much time reading and talking about games as playing them, so for a game to be released that I had never heard of made me think a tiny wee bit. But these games must be rubbish to come out with zero hype or marketing you might ask. Ordinarily you would be right. Recent titles such as Damnation, Velvet Assassin and Wet have proved that if you are unaware of a game before it gets released, it may just be total shite.  I mean, if you have not heard of the game, or it’s not based on a famous movie, then why would I buy it? Dark Void got pretty mediocre reviews.

Well I rented Dark Void and it was quite good. If the journalists         reviewed the game and not the marketing campaign, it would have received more praise. Or maybe the publisher should have put on a lavish ‘review event’ to guarantee the 9s and 10s (everything else might as well be knows as a less than 9!) So screw your heads back on Journalists.

Dark Void was pretty good. Bit like a good Iron man.

Episode 4 of your Worlds Wildest Dudes podcast. Featuring our first guest on the show, Jamie! Who gives us (and you) an insight into the world of games retail.

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Discussed:

Afrika

Dark Void

Jamie gives us knowledge!

And then tries his hand at Wario Land Shake Dimension for 5 minutes.

Edit: I have to apologise to Tom from brake for frogger for calling him Dan on the podcast.  Dont know why i dont do more research, but sorry anyway man!

The next game on the list was links awakening on the game boy. This was the first handheld Zelda title and is a direct sequel to a link to the past.
Although this game is many Zelda fans favorite, I have to be brutally honest and say my experience of playing it can be described as nothing more than shite. I am well aware that the dungeons, world map, items and general Zelda content are great but the game (if your unlucky like me) can be a glitchy bastard.
The game ending glitch I experienced was the very renowned screen warp; it was about 4 hours into the game when it happened, and unaware of this glitch I accidentally pressed the select button at the very moment I was travelling between screens causing me to warp inside a dungeon I had not yet entered. I left the dungeon only to find myself jammed in a door I didn’t have the key for…………..GAME OVER.
I did actually start the game again and managed to complete it eventually using glitches to get past other glitches I came across (funking mess). There is one thing I will say for the game, starting a new file and playing with the screen warp can be a lot of fun providing you have completed the game before. You will find yourself arriving in strange rooms like excess unused code from when the game was being made which is interesting and strangely creepy.
The game was later re-released on the game boy colour as links awakening DX in 96 which had the addition of colour and I think (don’t quote me) the removal of glitches. So in conclusion great game but be careful or just play DX instead, it’s a better game anyway.
This game took me a few days to complete and overall I did enjoy it (I suppose). Ocarina baby here I come.
4 down 10 to go

Ocarina of time as everyone should already know was the first Zelda on the N64 and is one of the greatest games ever made and definitely my favorite game of all time, in fact I’m quite confident that it is my favorite thing in general.
Ocarina was the first Zelda game to adopt a 3D gameplay style and was highly successful (rated 1st on game rankings until Mario galaxy released) very few games at the time managed to pull this off, Mario 64 being an exception (in my opinion tomb raider didn’t).
Basically if Ocarina were a woman it would be a hot piece of ass and that’s all there really is to say………but I will say a bit more. There are thousands of reasons why this game is so great but here are a few; the sheer scale of the game. At the time Ocarina was very impressive and although it is now 12 years old it’s still an extremely playable and enjoyable game. It has a huge map with loads of interesting areas or regions if you like and a lot of interesting people and species. You play as both adult link and child link allowing u access to two quite different worlds where one is relative peaceful and the other is relatively fucked! The Zelda series was also greatly improved with the introduction of Epona (links trusty steed) which made the game a lot more interesting. The great dungeon design and 9 awesome boss battles also helped make this game truly special. There is a lot to do in this game even when you’re stuck such as mini games at the castle market and collecting big Poes, heart pieces and gold Skultulas. I got the game fairly close to release when I was about 9 purely because my gran forgot she had already bought me a birthday present, which was awesome because most 9 year olds don’t have 45 quid to spend on a game (vodka doesn’t grow on trees!).

The first time me and my twin brother played through Ocarina the world of gaming was very different, I didn’t really know about the internet and none of my friends had the cartridge, so when we got stuck it was literally for months, like the time I got stuck in the lost woods for about 4 months (didn’t even realize the music was changing). On my most recent play through of the game I just realized how much I missed gaming experiences like that, its a lot easier to get lost in the atmosphere a game when you’re a kid, playing it again reminded me of that.
In conclusion, if you haven’t played this game you really should, it is a classic and fully deserves all the praise it receives. This play through took only 4 days and I was looking forward to going straight onto Majoras mask.

Week 4
I think it’s safe to say, favorite title of this week’s pick has to be PunisherMax continuing with #4. The Kingpin’s devious plots are becoming clear, this is a guy hell bent on running his own corner of the world, and we get some great Dillon drawn bloodbaths to boot. It is a little sad to not have that fantastic pairing of Ennis and Dillon on this title, but writer Jason Arron (Scalped, Wolverine-Weapon X) is doing a superb job and I’m totally hooked. Looking forward to seeing where this title goes and love The Mennonite character introduced in this issue, kicking butt pilgrim style.

As a huge fan of Stephen King, and I’ll fight to the death with anyone that considers his works to be purely airplane fodder, I’ve been enjoying the comic adaptations of the Dark Tower series from day one and the current series, Battle of Jericho Hill, is no exception. Writers Robin Furth and Peter David have done an amazing job of continuing were Roland left off in Wizard and Glass and I think the Jae Lee (who does the majority of the covers) art style fits beautifully, even the often grotesque images look lovely in their own way. The only complaint I would have is the irritating frequency of delays for this title, The Stand comic (out this Thursday) is solicited at the same time but is reliable and so is storming ahead story wise.

Soloman Kane continues this week with #2 of Death’s Black Riders. This issue is actually a re-telling of a classic Robert E Howard story Rattle of Bones, but done beautifully. I love the harsh, almost unlikable edge the character has when confronted with the choice of bestowing life or death upon another man. He would only be your first choice of travelling companion if you had absolutely no skeletons in your closet. And yes, I’m trying to be clever as in this issue Soloman Kane is confronted by a pretty active closet skeleton.

Although I enjoyed this month’s installment of Kirkman’s Haunt, I feel this title is lacking direction for #5. And the preview for the next issue says it’ll be a stand-alone issue telling the back story of a character we’ve only just met, so not a comic I’m going to be desperate to read that week. I would rather see a story of the ‘Haunted’ brothers’ relationship with one another. I know we’re getting snippets of back story, and I’m not suggesting they should give away anything they’ve got plans for i.e. the situation that caused them to resent each other. But I would rather read about a character I’m already invested in rather than read about another lady spy using her sexual wiles and Krav Maga to get where she wants.

The last comic I just want to give a mention to is the Tails Of The Pet Avengers one-shot. It’s just super fun, colourful and entertaining. I love Lockjaw and his Pet Avengers and look forward to anything featuring this crew and think every one of these little tales was a treat, particularly the Redwing story.

Here you go, a bit late, but I don’t mind. Episode 3 of the Worlds Wildest Dudes podcast.

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Big Mass Effect 2 discussion this week, spoilers from 20 – 36 minutes (so, you might want to skip over that bit if you haven’t played it yet).

We also discuss, Halo 3 (whit?)

Some XBOX 360 Indie titles (Good way to spend £3)

And as usual, we talk about our fellow podcasters like we actually know them persanally and are going to marry them!

And then Willie plays the first 5 minutes of Sega’s Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.