Hey everybody!

We’ve got a long one this week!  We may have gone off for a little bit too long on Blood Bowl.  Just know that Alex edited out a lot more than he left in!  We discuss the R.U.S.E. beta ever so briefly (which is a good description of how long we played the beta, as well), and then move into headlines before Alex can get distracted by his Games Workshop fanboyism.

Headlines:

“Nintendo Wii made me nympho!”

Magazine editor claims Rockstar got him fired, the magazine claims the editor had it coming, and Rockstar just wants to stay out of it.

Microsoft has given MekTek.net clearance for the free release of MechWarrior 4.

Another free browser based game – this time Lord of Ultima.

Would you be willing to pay more for Xbox Live if you got television content through it?

Study claims that “brain games” do little to exercise that gray lump in your skull.

British video game retail chains owns its customers’ souls.  MWAHAHAHAHA!

We’ve got a blooper this week, and remember all that Blood Bowl talk we skipped over in the episode proper?  By popular demand, we tacked it on to the end of the episode.  If you’re interested in our thoughts on future prospects for Blood Bowl, Cyanide, Games Workshop, and turn-based tabletop board game conversions, be sure to listen through the credits.

Wanna get in touch with us?  We’ve got plenty of ways!

• Twitter: @StingRay02 and @Mollarom
• Email: feedback@thewayofthegame.net
• Voicemail: (203) 794-GAME (4263)

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Asterix Omnibus written by Rene Goscinny, illustrated by Albert Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge

First published in 1961 Asterix has been one of the two pillars of European comics for FIVE decades. The tales of a fictional Gaul village in the 1st Century, holding out against the Roman conquest have sold millions of copies. This omnibus collects the first three stories. Astrix the Gaul which introduces the titular hero, his best friend Obelix and their village. Asterix and the Golden Sickle has the pair attempting to buy a new golden sickle for their villages druid, Getafix, and running up against a band of sickle smugglers. The last story Asterix and the Goths has Getafix kidnapped by the Goth chieftan Choleric, who hopes to use the druid’s magic to aid his plans for conquest…

The stories of Asterix are amusing as hell. Full of bad puns, running gags and broad physical humor. Its no wonder that for decades millions of people have been following the adventures of the clever Gaul and his friends…

Hello again, folks!

So, I think we used to have a schedule for our show topics.  I’m not positive we still have that schedule.  We’re wingin’ it, folks!  Hope you enjoy the ride.

Games!

• Turf Wars Online
• iDuel Online
• Tiger Woods Online
• Blood Bowl Online
• Dawn of War 2 Online
• Magna Carta 2 Online

We also follow up on the ongoing melodrama between Activision and the former employees of Infinity Ward.  I’d link to the articles, but there are a ton of them, and I am really, really tired.  So, I’ll just link to Penny Arcade, and you can find the relevant links in their post!

Hooray for making use of other people’s work!

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Nixon’s Pals written by Joe Casey, art by Chris Burnham, letters by Rus Wooton

Nixon’s Pals is about one of those simple high concepts that you can’t believe no one thought of before. In this case its this, Nixon Cooper is a parole officer for super-villains. Of course coming up with the concept is just the start. Casey and Burnham deliver a sharp bit of supers/crime mash-up fiction. With characters that have realistic motivations and problems and that are visually striking to boot…

And Nixon is perfectly done as an old-school crime/noir hero. Battered, pushed about and then battered again. But never broken no matter how much it piles on…

Mike from the Bear Swarm! podcast joins us on the show this week.  He’s here as part of their Take a Couple of Months Off Grand Tour.  ;-)

We start with our usual discussion of what’s on our radar this week, which led to a discussion of the merits (or should that be demerits) of Final Fantasy XIII.  Blood Bowl, Magna Carta 2, and Turf Wars Online are all discussed, as well.

We also put Mike through the Top Ten wringer, harassing him about his decision to flaunt some of our rules, while also admitting that he makes some valid objections to those same rules.  The list won’t make a show-note appearance, so you’ll have to listen to hear Mike’s shocking (Shocking, I say!) pick for Number One.*

*Mike’s Number One pick may or may not be all that terribly shocking.

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Smoke and Guns written by Kirsten Baldock, art by Fabio Moon

I don’t normally pick something up just for the art. ‘Cause that’s how you end up like my roommate owning a copy of Oktane. But I’m a sucker for anything by brothers Moon or Ba and this was only 12 bucks…

Its a fun little piece, about gun-toting cigarette girls. Their city is divided into violently defended sales districts, but Scarlett keeps straying out of her Puff district into that of the Belles. Which eventually escalates into a war between the two crews…

An enjoyable romp with hot women and lots of frenetic gun play…

Cheaters never prosper, but apparently they can survive brain stabbings.

Hey folks!  We’re back to full strength this week.

Jonathan’s had some interference, and iDuel Online is his only contribution to this week’s Whatcha Playin’ section.  Alex has had a bit more luck, with Magna Carta 2 and Solium Infernum under his belt.

Headlines:

• Nintendo 3DS has been announced. Speculation abounds. Here’s hoping it’s not a 21st Century Virtual Boy.
• Blood Bowl Legendary Edition has been announced. Here’s hoping this isn’t an April Fool’s Day prank.
• Microsoft is already exploring technology for Natal 2. Here’s hoping they remember to release Natal 1 first.
• The Penny Arcade Adventure series has been cancelled. Here’s hoping lessons are learned from this.
• Alex is unnervingly pleased by the idea of GameCrush, and Jonathan can’t stop laughing.Here’s hoping Jonathan can control that during the interview scheduled with the GameCrush folks.
• Chinese CounterStrike cheater is stabbed in the brain, and lives. Here’s hoping they removed the cheater impulse along with the knife.

That’s it for this week.  Be sure to join us next week when Mike from the Bear Swarm Podcast joins us!  Woo!  A real guest!

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Richard Stark’s Parker the Hunter adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke

Most of you are probably more familiar with this one as the movie adaption Payback with Mel Gibson. Or maybe even the ’67 Point Blank with Lee Marvin. But the Parker in those two is a cuddly puppy of love and forgiveness compared to the original. And that brutal bastard is the one you see in Cooke’s adaptation. This Parker is out for revenge and his missing money. But he wasn’t so much betrayed and robbed as beaten to the punch. Parker is a master thief and a cold-hearted machine…

And not enough can be said about Cooke’s art here. His simple inks evoke the noir style better than anything I can think of elsewhere. Cooke brings the full emotion of the story to..well not the light. But to well-defined shadows…

The Holmberg & The Producer review…

Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC

Studio: W! Games

Owned by EA? No

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