Solo-Cast 1: Now with 100% Less Pandas

I, Ed Beers, would like to apologize for SEVERAL things bout this podcast. 1, sorry for the poor quality of the audio, still figuring the exacts out for using my handheld camera's mic in place of the profession mics the team proper uses. 2, I want to apologize for trying to do a solo pod-cast at near 3 am in the morning... That's just a bad idea all together even if you're nocturnal. 3, sorry for how lack luster the news I reported on was. And lastly, I apologize for me recording it Saturday evening and Sunday morning and only getting this all up by Tuesday. Do try to enjoy

The Wii U-Have got to be kiding me

Ed Beers

Well, it was bound to happen, Ed Beers here again with the news we would have up on a LUG-Cast but well, life keeps happening, hard. So, to try and keep up with gaming news (nearly) as it comes out. And the news of the moment is, of course, the Wii U finally having a price point and release date... Joy.

Nintendo announced this Thursday that the Wii U will be coming to stores this year, November 18th in the US, December 8th in Japan. It will come in two different packs, one bare bones 300 dollar pack that comes with the system, the gamepad, 8 gigs of internal flash memory, and all the cords you need to plug it in. The other pack is a 350 dollar pack, with 32 gigs instead of 8, comes with the series of mini-games full of reference to games you wish were in the launch titles Nintendo Land, and gives you a 10% digital discount on online purchases till 2014. Though they have not spoken to how much additional gamepads will cost in the US, there is a estimated cost in Japan roughly around 180 dollars US, but there isn't much worry over that since there's no talk yet of games that will use multiple pads for gimmicky I mean original inspired gameplay.

Now the box itself, from what I understand, the inner workings of the Wii U are suppose to be better, faster, and hold more than the aging last leg consoles PS3 and 360. That might be true, I would have several ways of checking that if any of the info on what's inside the box was confirmed, could compare and contrast like people have done with the image above of Arkham City Vs Arkham City: Armored Edition or whatever fancy name they've given it. I'll try to be fair and wait for actual fully finished gameplay for me to compare when it does come out, but till then, well consider what a internally powerful juggernaut the Wii failed to be I feel justified in my disbelief.

The system will be using at least single layered Blu-ray discs for their games which at least means we won't have another format war. However it feels that having the box play actual DVDs or Blu-rays just would detract from the true gaming focused machine that it is... Right... So tell me then Nintendo, more about this TVii program you are so proud of. That's right the Wii U will have a 'free service' that allows you to watch on your TV or on your gamepad shows from other services you already pay for, like Hulu, Netflix, or even TV recorded onto your home DVR... But nah having it play DVDs would just, you know, distract you from how game focused they are now.

I, have to be honest I do not get a lot of things about all of this. Why is it coming out in the US near a month before? Why does it not come out with any games (that are likely to be around 60 dollars per)? Why does it not come with any wii-motes or nunchucks which you may or may not need for many of these games? Do they think only people who bought a Wii will buy a Wii U? Do they not want new people to join in? Why do they not want their machine playing DVDs and Blu-ray discs but are fine with video and TV streaming? Why are people drooling over the idea of spending 300 to 350 plus tax on a system without a single REAL game? ... No I do not think of Nintendo Land as a real game. I mean sure, there's the whole talk of Bayonneta 2 coming to the system exclusively, but there's barely anything else that isn't just a specialized port of a pre-existing PS3 or 360 title. I don't get wanting a version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 where you can grab a mushroom and grow giant, the game's as bizarre as is with devils and orges flying around fighting bears. I mean I didn't really enjoy what they tried to do with the Wii, but I at least understood what they were going for, what they were trying to do. I don't even have that advantage to explaining the Wii U. I don't get the price or what Nintendo is trying to do with this... I don't hope that it does badly but I'm not actively rooting for it, sorry Ten-dog, We've been tight for a long time but, I just don't get this.

I think I'm Over(strike) Fuse, and it's not even here.

Ed Beers

Hey, it's me, you're buddy. Say, remember that new Insomniac game being published by EA? That silly action filled looking trailer a couple E3s ago? And it had that quirky feel to it, looked like if The Incredibles met TF2 they got drunk and made a beautiful looking baby. Yea you remember, Overstrike 9, everyone was looking forward to more news about it last E3 and were disappointed that there wasn't any. Well now there's new news, a new title, and most disappointingly, a new more generic look.

If you think you notice a bit of a difference between this trailer to what you may recall from the old trailer way back at E3 2011, well, you're not wrong. While the earlier trailer didn't give any exact gameplay, we felt it gave us a sense of what to expect. True more realistic look than Ratchet and Clank, but not as serious and trying to find it's footing as Resistance. Something smooth, kind of retro evil genius style to things... And what are we given over a year later? A trailer that to me looks no different than every other third person run around with friends shooting things games. I trust that, since it's Insomniac there should at least be decent weapons, but this trailer feels, lacking. Feels as if the quirkiness and silly feel as been ripped out for generic one-liners and machismo. With any luck the visuals will change around, the gameplay will be more interesting, and once we actually hear characters talk there will be that charm we know from the game makers... Or we get another EA game that could have been awesome.

Final Fantasy 13-3: 3rd times the charm

We yet live! Thanks to all of you for staying with us during this dry spell. Ed Beers AKA Jake here with a video game news update. Straight from Japan just as they're celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy... dear lord I feel old... On September 1st the people at Square Enix reveal that yet another sequel to Final Fantasy 13, the FF that everyone wanted but near no one was pleased with, is currently in production. Titled "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13", you are put in control of everyone's grumpiest Final Fantasy lead this side of Squall, Lightning. However, as oppose to the usual 40-60 hours of story and wandering and side quests, they've gone for a more Majora's Mask approach and have given you 13 days before the world ends.

Yes it seems, that along with 13-2's focus on time travel, as well as their 'once you get past the first 20 hours of gameplay it gets really good' experience in FF 13, time seems to be the focal point of this number entry in the series. Papa Final Fantasy 8 would be so proud. Though I have yet to see exactly how those days pass, wither it's in real or game time and if time passes even when you aren't playing, I have to express my general confusion and frustration at Square for yet again adding a time limit to one's gaming. For more on that subject, feel free to read my less than kind review of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.

Course they aren't just telling us 'oh, well, you have to see how fast you can level up and save the world in 13-ish days'. They are trying to expand on the time system to better use, such as having a monorail system between towns that runs on a time table, that certain people or groups only come out during certain times of day, and of course the ability to reverse time through achieving goals such as monster killing. Personally, I have never been one to enjoy the prospect of a ticking clock over my head reminding me of how much I've wasted wandering about enjoying the view. While I'm always for the release of more games from one of my childhood favorite developers, I can't help but worry that they're much more found of Lightning and the Final Fantasy 13 series than any of their fans are.

Still, with the promise of a more action based gameplay style, rumors of Lightning being able to hang from cliffs or dodge around corners, as well as having full control over her moments during battles, things could be much worse. Guess we'll just have to wait for this year's Tokyo Game Show for a better idea of how this game will or won't work.