Podcast Audio:

 

Kickoff Question:

What would drive a 7 year veteran of World of Warcraft away from the game?

Gaming/Games/Console/Tech

Who’s ready for the iPad Mini?

I’m in! http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/16/brian-fargo-turning-to-kickstarter-for-wasteland-2/

Mass Effect 3 – Collector’s Edition sold out at GameStop :*( sad panda
Joe is playing Mass Effect 1….
Remember Karateka? You will soon be able to play it on your Xbox 360 or PS3 http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/jordan-mechner-remaking-karateka-for-psn-and-xbla/

Could this mean that there will be three giant robot games in 2012? http://kotaku.com/5885797/this-teaser-probably-means-that-a-new-mechassault-games-on-the-way

Books/Magazines/News
Forever Peace/Avatar for Real http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/darpa-wants-to-give-soldiers-robot-surrogates-avatar-style
Wahoo! One more step towards self driving cars! http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400400,00.asp

Movies/TV Shows

The Walking Dead is back!
Real Steel packs a punch!
Game of Thrones Season2: ICE ICE BABY http://io9.com/5885165/jon-snow-goes-to-iceland-in-the-new-game-of-thrones-making+of-video
Avengers Clip with Hulk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE09rUdpB94
Chapped Apps

Gateway drug = Ticket to Ride – Pocket Edition (Free)
Healthy Addiction – Ticket to Ride iOS Edition ($6.99)

Winamp for Android

From The Captain’s Chair
New Blender Short Films: Is this the fall of Hollywood?
http://www.blendernation.com/2012/02/14/potential-movie-and-interview/#more-26114 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1tvBJI4y2g&feature=player_embedded
http://www.blendernation.com/2012/02/15/the-invasion-animated-short-in-3-days/#more-26243 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zwpqy_obbKM
The Voice of Experience

ST:TOR – The Adventures of FennShea: Now at level 38 and have a crew of four manning the good ship Mantis. Bioware announces what people will be able to do with the Legacy System in the 1.2 patch. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/02/14/star-wars-the-old-republic-qa-reveals-plans-for-legacy-races-and-dual-spec-support-in-1-2/

Come on everybody let’s train Karate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJSZ1TwjcsQ

Tales from the Bunker

Why? Why would I do this act to my friends, in a word “trolls”.  The Urban Dictionary has a descent definition of what a troll is:

Being a prick on the internet because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can.

Yes the bane of the casual gamer of any type is the troll.  Some great boogeyman of common decency who leaps upon his victims using slurs, racial epitaphs and general rudeness to make fun of someone they have not met and with the bulletproof mentality of having a screen Avatar and no way to be tracked down and called on their brutality they can transfer their bullied lives to others.

I was a hard core WoW player for a while and worked on getting into raids and working my characters to have the ultimate gear and the right raid groups, necessary add-on’s, read the internet tactics on defeating bosses, scoured videos online to make sure I could reach the pinnacle of the game.  Then I took a few months off as work and economic pressures required me to change my life a bit.  Then I came back to my sweet second home, to have it been invaded by trolls.

Snarly, mean spirited and now with the ability to have cross server players in dungeons allowed even more “troll” like behavior towards your fellow Avatar characters.  Do something dumb because you were not paying attention and suddenly you were being called everything from “n00b” to horrible names, people dropping out of the party because they wanted the left handed sword of death from the 2nd boss of a dungeon and the magical ring of pure energy dropped for a caster class and the trolls would scream about how you sucked, the game sucked and possible incestuous relations between our parents, small animals and Satan.

So you win Trolls, all of you and your snarly, mean spirited, self righteous viewpoint and your horrible attacks on us casual gamers.  This is one online gamer who is hanging up his virtual hat for good.  Oh I will play some nice online games out there, some still allowing for the occasional troll to raid my peaceful ways, but the fun and thrill of being part of something bigger has finally and forever been changed.  I know my characters are still there for me, but they are time-locked in a world where should I even then bring them out for the next expansion they will face a world where they will be shunned, ridiculed and generally hated by their fellow Avatars for not being perfect.

I miss my characters, I miss their adventures and shall miss wondering what is the next adventure is going to be like.  Goodbye my friends, goodbye my fellow adventures and for anyone else I wish you good luck with the slaying of the trolls.

Kickoff Question:

Want to make $1 million, tell people you’re going to make a game. Has the tide of game publishing turned? http://kotaku.com/5883871/double-fines-new-game-is-a-24+hour-millionaire
Mechanical Turk https://www.mturk.com

Gaming/Games/Console/Tech

Welcome to The Gamer’s Court: Who should get the rights to use the word D.O.T.A. http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/10/blizzard-taking-valve-to-court-over-dota-trademark/

December 12, 2012 needs to get here NOW! http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/06/hawken-brings-pretty-multiplayer-mech-battles-to-the-web-dec-12/
Hawken needs a Kinect Interface!

Darknet (From Daemon) comes to life! http://9to5google.com/2012/02/06/hud-google-glasses-are-real-and-they-are-coming-soon/

Movies

See It or Pass It? “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 3D”

Please don’t suck http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/thebournelegacy/

Ladies and gentlemen… Sarah Palin http://io9.com/5883439/full-iron-sky-trailer-pits-sarah-palin-against-nazis-from-the-moon

From The Captain’s Chair

The Latest Viral Video. Tommy Jordan’s Facebook Parenting Post. Don’t mess with your Dad if he works in I.T. (and carries a gun) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU&feature=related

The Voice of Experience

The Adventures of Fenn Shea in SWTOR: Patch 1.1.2 – Now you can continue to run if you die and a bunch of classes got nerfed when fighting a boss. FennShea is now at level 34, I’m completed Act 1 and am off to take on the galaxy. http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes/1.1.2/272012

Entertechment Extra

Please let Will Farrell announce every basketball intro http://jezebel.com/5884170/10-things-you-may-have-missed-on-tv-this-week?tag=top

Entertechment Episode # 93 Date: Feb 4, 2012

Kickoff Question:

Super Bowl XLVI – is it really super?

Best pre-game ad: # of views as of showtime
Volkswagon – pre-pre-ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ntDYjS0Y3w 11577750
Volkswagon – pre-ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-9EYFJ4Clo&feature=related 2984829
Honda http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhkDdayA4iA 10529387
Or Acura http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUFSHzT2xuY 12417801

(or this Doritos commercial) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idIU8Htava0&feature=related 280818

Matt’s favorite – Flash Fans 2012 by Budwiser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0qZYqdsYAg 1016911

Joe’s Favorite – Audi Vampire http://www.youtube.com/user/FunnySBCommercials?feature=watch#p/u/36/XPJMUdPTbhA
Gaming/Games/Console

BlizzCon takes a year off, will this hurt the juggernaut that is Blizzard? http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/25/blizzcon-skipping-2012-due-to-jam-packed-schedule/
How to improve WoW and Other MMOs
EverCrack is now free to play…13 years later. http://kotaku.com/5880579/the-original-everquest-goes-free+to+play-for-its-13th-birthday

Star Trek Online is now free to play

Details starting to come out on Xbox’s next-gen console http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/source_next_xbox_wont_play_used_games.php#disqus_thread See “Open Letter to Microsoft”

ITS HERE..ITS HERE…..KINECT FOR WINDOWS http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwindows/archive/2012/01/31/kinect-for-windows-is-now-available.aspx
Just in time for http://www.blendernation.com/2012/01/31/ni-mate-enters-open-beta-the-kinected-bunny/#more-25950
Mod my Skyrim Dragon! http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/03/skyrim-creation-kit-out-on-pc-this-tuesday-with-a-surprise/

Books/Magazines/News

Pen/Paper Games/
25years of AC/20 to the HEAD!! http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board%20Games/Battletech+25th+Anniversary+Introductory+Box+Set/Acc-CYTBattletech25thAnniversaryBoxSet/#Battletech%2025th%20Anniversary%20Introductory%20Box%20Set

Movies
http://www.archetype-movie.com/ Best mini movie seen for a while?????

Intresting http://io9.com/5878739/john-dies-at-the-end-is-the-closest-thing-to-this-generations-big-trouble-in-little-china
Can we recast Big Trouble In Little China? Homework Assignment

Chapped Apps

The Steam App is here. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/26/steam-app-coming-to-ios-and-android/

Oscar app

Avid movie editor app

The Voice of Experience

SWTOR: The Adventures of FennShea Bought two mounts (vehicles) and now my B.H. is shooting Sand People. Hello level 31!

SWTOR: This isn’t the white saber crystal you were looking for. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/31/star-wars-the-old-republic-white-lightsaber-acquired-through-exploit-will-be-added-officially-in-future/

Game of Thrones Season 2 Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzXsqoJhtE

The first two rumours sound like legitimate early product info-drops, but the third rumour concerning used games made me sit up and take notice. Of all of the things to get people talking about the sequel to the Xbox 360, why would you risk getting your user base up in arms? There are two reasons in my mind why MSFT would do this: One, to get feedback on the issue of a “no used games” console; two, to get the word out that the next generation of Xbox won’t play used games so that in a year’s time, it’s old news.

Let’s just chat for a minute about the significance of used games. In the world of video games, “used games” are a bane and a boon. Used games are a bane for the people who make your favorite video games as they receive $0.00 on every used game that is sold. They are a boon for game retailers because the sale of used games is how they make a significant amount of their money.

There are arguments on both sides of the used game issue. Game makers say that it is not fair that they don’t receive any money when a used game is sold. Other people use the resale of furniture as an example of the manufacturer not getting paid when their item is sold on the secondary market. There is merit that can be found on both sides of the issue. Let me just tell you about my experience.

I am what you would call an “average gamer.” I do own an Xbox 360 and 75% of the games in my collection I have purchased used. There is a lot of thought that goes into purchasing a new game. I have to be “all-in” before I slap down $60 on a new release. But when we’re talking about $10 to $20 for a used game, I am more inclined to try new things. Here are two examples of how used games were able to convert me into buying new games, “Mass Effect” and “Assassin’s Creed.” When these two games were fresh on the market, I looked them over but because they didn’t have the words “Halo” or “Madden” in them, I was hesitant to buy them new. Fast forward a year and both of these titles were just under $20. Combine the used price with recommendations from my gaming friends and these two games were added to my collection. After playing through “Mass Effect” and “Assassin’s Creed,” it sold me on their respective franchises and I have purchased their sequels new the day they are released. There were other titles that I purchased used that were not as rewarding. But I don’t feel resentment because I’m not out a full $60. These are just my personal experiences but I know that others have shared them too.

There is a third reason that the rumour of a no-used-game console was leaked. This could be a warning “shot across the bow” to game retailers to give game makers a slice of the used games pie. This could be just the first of what could be a very big power shift in the video game realm.

Kickoff Question:

Name one superhero (who hasn’t already had their own movie) you would like to see on the big screen. How would you make their story compelling?
Superhero Database http://www.superherodb.com/class/

Gaming/Games/Console

SWTOR – The Adventures of FennShea week 3: 1.1 patch gets rolled out and all of the Rebels die. Plus, Matt rolls two alts (Sith Inquisitor & Rebuplic Jedi Knight) and the grinding slows to a crawl.

Wednesday’s SOPA/PIPA blackout.

       

As of the posting date of this article, both of the full soundtracks are only available bundled with the collector’s editions of their respective video game releases. Here’s hoping that at some point in the near future, they will be made available for digital retail.

Don’t forget we have a new RSS feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Entertechment

Kickoff Question:

2012 iCES. What impressed you?
Here’s what impressed Gizmodo: It’s our own Gadget Garth. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/01/the-best-thing-weve-seen-at-ces/

Gaming/Games/Console

SW:TOR Update: The Adventures of FennShea – Week #2 – Fenn gets a ship.

Joe’s Analysis… Just Saying…
Rakghoul = Zombie
Jedi = Ninja
Bounty Hunter = Pirate

Books/Magazines/News
Robopocalpyse Reveiw/Movie Overtones
“Robopocalypse

Steven Spielberg discusses his next project, an adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson’s book:

“”It’s a movie about a global war between man and machine. I had a great time creating the future on Minority Report, and it’s a future that is coming true faster than any of us thought it would. ‘Robopocalypse’ takes place in 15 or 20 years, so it’ll be another future we can relate to. It’s about the consequences of creating technologies which make our lives easier, and what happens when that technology becomes smarter than we are. It’s not the newest theme, it’s been done throughout science fiction, but it’s a theme that becomes more relevant every year.”"
”

Steven Spielberg discusses his next project, an adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson’s book:

“It’s a movie about a global war between man and machine. I had a great time creating the future on Minority Report, and it’s a future that is coming true faster than any of us thought it would. ‘Robopocalypse’ takes place in 15 or 20 years, so it’ll be another future we can relate to. It’s about the consequences of creating technologies which make our lives easier, and what happens when that technology becomes smarter than we are. It’s not the newest theme, it’s been done throughout science fiction, but it’s a theme that becomes more relevant every year.”

Leviathan Wakes/Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey

Out Of The Dark by David Weber (Spoiler Alert!)

“DV Rebel’s Guide To Making Killer Action Movies On The Cheap
by Stu Maschwitz” http://www.amazon.com/DV-Rebels-Guide-All-Digital-Approach/dp/0321413644 http://allbetsareoff.com/2011/06/plot-device-is-online/

Pen/Paper Games/
D&D: The 5th Edition beckons

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120109

What suggestions would we make to the 5th edition?

Movies

UltraViolet is dead, so how come the execs don’t realize it? http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/amazon-rovi-flixster-and-samsung-highlight-ultraviolets-ces-p/

MS One: Maximum Security — previously titled Lockout This movie is actually getting my attention

Some Riddick News http://www.iamrogue.com/news/movie-news/item/5584-katee-sackhoff-and-jordi-molla-to-play-mercenaries-in-riddick.html
Chapped Apps

Coming Soon:

http://toucharcade.com/2012/01/05/cthulhu-saves-the-world-coming-to-ios-soon/

From The Captain’s Chair
All Bets Are Off for Indy Filmmakers http://allbetsareoff.com/2011/06/plot-device-is-online/

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 VFX Breakdown http://vimeo.com/34678075
The Voice of Experience

The Star Wars Show

“Star Wars: Underworld” is reportedly the working title for the live action series. Producer Rick McCallum dropped hints that the series will deal with the the hive of scum and villainy that takes place between Episode 4 and Episode 5.

Katie (Starbuck) Sackhoff voiced a character on Clone Wars

You don’t know the power of the dark side: http://io9.com/5873879/french-fast-food-chain-offers-darth-vader-burger-with-black-dark-side-bun

To say that the “Call of Duty” franchise has made Activision money is like saying the Grand Canyon is kind of big. It is a sentence using sarcasm to state the obvious. “Modern Warfare 3” is the third in the wildly successful first person shooter series by Infinity Ward (this time with assistance from Sledgehammer Games) which includes “Modern Warfare 2” and “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.” For the purposes of this review, we will split it up and talk about the single player and the multi-player campaigns.

This bird is down*

Single Player: The single player campaign picks up right after the events of “Modern Warfare 2.” After killing General Shepard, what’s left of the now disavowed Task Force 141 make their way to a safehouse to regroup. Captain John Price is hauling a critically injured Captain John “Soap” MacTavish to safety. Meanwhile, World War 3 is unfolding all around them as Russian forces are being repelled from Manhattan. From there, the player is transported around the globe to various flash points in the storyline to twart the plans of the main antagonist, the Russian rogue Vladamir Makarov, as he attempts to get the nuclear launch codes from the Russian President. With of the military hardware being bandied about as superpowers collide, “Modern Warfare 3” is able to bring the focus to the single soldier level. The story is linear and involves a lot of “fight your way from point A to point B to point C,” but the developers throw in spectacular set pieces and create a few “Oh wow!” moments. Composer Brian Tyler picks up right where Hanz Zimmer left off and does a superb job of capturing the right tone and mood for the music of the game. Not much new is added to the various global missions. You’ll shoot bad guys, operate mounted weapons, provide overwatch support, infiltrate a villain’s diamond mine underground lair and smoke a cigar. After the success of “Modern Warfare 2,” you don’t want to change too much for fear of alienating your core players. The single player campaign didn’t carry the same weight as the first two parts of the story but it did provide about six hours of an action-fueled conclusion to this “Call of Duty” trilogy.

Single Player Score: 7 out of 10

Coming this fall to the CW*

Multi-player: This is where the “Call of Duty” franchise earns its stripes. This is why the game is a popular as it is. The developers have taken everything that works from the prior games and add a few tweeks. Multi-player in the “Call of Duty” world involves the player being rewarded for their time and skill playing the game. The more you play, the better you get and the more options you have for your online soldier. Along with leveling up your character, you can now level up your weapons. The more you use a particular weapon, the more options you have to outfit it with. Killstreaks are another way the developers have tweeked the online play. You now have the option of Assault killstreaks or Support killstreaks. Assault killstreaks work like before, your kills add up until you are killed and then reset. The Support killstreaks don’t reset when you die and (aptly named) the rewards are meant to support your team in objective based games. Along with the multi-player games of Free-for-all, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Domination and Sabotage, the developers have added a new mode called Kill Confirmed. Kill Confirmed is a team based mode where when you kill an opposing team member, dog tags appear over the body. Pick those up and your team is rewarded, but if an opposing team member picks up the tags before you do, it denies your team the points. Another new addition to the multi-player experience is Survival mode. This compliments the Co-op mode with a game format that sends wave after wave of enemy troops at you. As you survive the waves, you are able to purchase upgrades, ammo and support.

Multi-player Score: 8 out of 10

I have you now!*

Final Word: Action movie single-player, lots of re-playability in multi-player. What “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” does it does well and deserves its crown as the King of Video Games.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” is available for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC and Nintendo Wii. This review was played on the Xbox 360 with a review unit provided by Activision.

The Game Room Review scoring system is based on the 1 through 10 model with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest.

*Screenshots were taken from the PC version of the game.

One of the key features of the app will be the ability to create new loadouts and push them to your character. This will be the primary way that I’ll utilize the app as I’m the type of player who only changes my loadouts in the thirty second intermission between matches.

Reading the responses to Infinity Ward’s announcement, there are a lot of ungrateful and torqued people out there. From complaining to the delay of the app to the Apple/Android fanboy flame war, just calm down. I guess I just don’t understand how life changing this app will be to understand all of the complaints. You know, since it will be a FREE app. I don’t mind being in the minority of people to say, “Thank you,” to Infinity Ward and the developers for their hard work.