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Straight Up Dorkin' It Podcast Episode 6

Now with more JarJar and Lucas hate. Covering Star Wars Force Unleashed multiplayer fiasco, and Nien convincing himself to give the new Indiana Jones a chance.

Straight Up Dorkin' It Podcast Episode 6

Episode Links
Bungie Says Goodbye to Frankie
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (IMDB)
Star Wars Force Unleashed-No MP for 360 or PS3 (Kotaku)

My Lament for Multiplayer

I hate the fact that I suck. I am a competitive guy, but my multiplayer skills are absolute rubbish and it drives me crazy. When a new game comes out I do well, but as time rolls on, everyone but me seems to get better at a game and I continue to get worse. I become a total jobber.

Like Brooklyn Brawler level.

Yet somehow I keep convincing myself that it will only take 1 more game to finally have things click. Like I'm some kind of savant who has the all the skills of an MLG player, but they are lying dormant until that one "a-ha" moment.

So what I need to see more of, is a single player, multiplayer.

Perfect example: ShadowRun.

I could play multiplayer matches, by myself, against AI competition. I can train against the AI at different difficulty levels. It allowed me to get better in a montessori school fashion; at my own pace. Why do so few games do this? Got me, but I have to imagine that there is a world out there of gamers who would love to play these type matches where they can get better at the game without team killing, name calling, on mic chewing, excessive swearing, and general anger because I am the anchor on your team. That's a win/win/win situation.

Straight Up Dorkin' It Episode 5

On this weeks show we talk about the new features on Gears of War 2, Matt Damon, the book "Grand Theft Childhood", Matt Damon, the Halo 3 Tourney winner is announced, and more Matt Damon!

Straight Up Dorkin' It Podcast, Episode 5

More links from this episode:
I'm F'in Matt Damon (YouTube, NSFW)
GDL Party in Indy
Gears of War 2 Forum on GDL

When Single and Multiplayer Made a Baby

I am an Old Skool gamer. I mean real old skool. If you've ever had to type "load" or "run" on a C64 then you as well qualify for that blessed badge of honor. When I started gaming, most games didn't have a point, or even an atainable ending. Look at Gauntlet. 100 levels with no real ending. ET, Pitfall, etc were all the same way. About the time that the NES came out there was a revolution. Suddenly there was a plot in gaming. Stories were told, no matter how abstract or thin the plot may be, it was there.

It was during this time that I became a hardcore gamer, I think I sank more hours into Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Metroid, Blaster Master, Bionic Commando, and Contra then anyone else I know. I feel in love with the single player mode, which was the only mode unless you had a friend over, be even then it wasn't nearly as fun as playing alone because not all of my friends were any good. I would have settled with average, but alas, their kung fu was weak.

More recently I've gotten into the multiplayer gaming. Admittedly, I was late to this party and only started playing online MP in the last 2 years or so. It's fun, all except for the usual reasons. Mouthy minors, team killing, and the general fact that I feel sometimes I shouldn't even own a controller any more after seeing the talent out there. Even still, MP was a mistress of mine that I secretly enjoyed her company.

Somewhere along the time line of modern gaming, someone who feels like me must of had the right person's ear, because a new breed of game was born. We're not talking bad cross breeding like Uruk-kai here, we're talking about taking the best of both worlds. Kind of like how Liv Tyler got the best of Steve Tyler and Jeri Hall.

When I first played Gears of War online Co-op, my jaw hit the floor. Perfection was actualized. I got to play with a friend online, and best of all, if a locust killed me, it didn't tell me to "suck" this, or teabag me. In fact, I always had a teammate who had my back. We were in it together. And we could use strategy! We could call out where we were and coordinate attacks. How cool is that?

Since then, co-op has reached new heights. In Halo3 you could have a 4 player game, and even with a little scoring meta game that put a little head to head competition in as well. Marvel:UA, Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, Army of Two, even GTA IV has co-op in it. Upcoming mega hit titles like Fable 2 are incorporating a drop in/out system on their game, and it is an RPG.

So thank you, like minded game people who started co-op. Your love for SP and MP has created what should become (and already is fastly approaching) a main feature of all future gaming titles. Co-op gameplay, FTW.

Straight Up Dorkin' It Podcast Episode 4

This week on the show we talk about the Madden cover boy/athlete, online leagues and franchises, GTA IV, and the upcoming Ninja Gaiden II.

We have also added the ability to listen to the latest episode in your browser by just using the media player in the right hand column. Enjoy.

Straight Up Dorkin' It Podcast, Episode 4

Some links from this episode:

Madden 09-First Online League Details (ign.com)