Hark, ye players of the silver ball. Gather, fellow devotees of Our Blessed Lady of the Triple Jackpot. Pinball FX 2 is here, and there is much to rejoice.

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We’ve got a special episode this week, but first! Games!

Alex has confirmed once again that he hates the Madden series, and he’s found a new game to hate in Guilty Gear 2.  Halo: Reach is just another Halo game so far, but Resonance of Fate hits every one of Alex’s happy buttons.

Jonathan’s got bupkis.

Sam’s intrigued by Quantum Theory, but not entirely sold.  Fallout: New Vegas, Arkham Asylum, Dead Space, Red Dead Redemption and others occupy his “To Be Played” shelf.  (We won’t mention how many games are on Jonathan’s TBP shelf.)

Then, it’s our special feature.  We’ve talked a couple of times about Ex Illis, a miniature war game with an interesting take on rules management.  We invited Fred Forrest onto the podcast.  He’s the President and Creative Director of Bastion Studio, and we got some good info about the inspiration for the game, the reasons for the choices they’ve made, and where the game is going.

After the interview, we play round three of Name That Game!  Sam hosts this time, giving Alex and Jonathan a chance to catch up to his massive leads.  Before this episode, the score stood at Jonathan, 0; Alex, 3; and Sam 4.5.  Can Alex overtake Sam?  Or will Jonathan lay the smack down?  You’ll have to listen to find out!

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Arcania: Gothic 4 is a third-person fantasy action RPG and the fourth installment of the Gothic series. You control an unnamed hero who seeks revenge on a faraway king whose forces have destroyed all he loves.

Sounds pretty formulaic, right? You got it. Read more »

I need to get the episode up and out there.  I’ll have honest show notes soon.  Promise!

Alex: Since Jonathan’s busy, I’ll fill out the show notes for this one. Sam and I start off by discussing why I’ve decided to dump Resident Evil 5 before completion. Jonathan mentions Minecraft again, and I’m beginning to see how shows were when all I could do was gush about Solium Infernum. Jonathan also mentions Dismount for the iPad/iPod. There’s just something about a game dealing with ragdoll physics, broken bones and sadism that brings a couple together…

Then we hurtle headlong into the brouhaha over Medal of Honor. They ditched the Taliban (or at least the name “Taliban”) from multiplayer, the game still isn’t being sold in AAFES stores, and the reviews… well, they’re not exactly stellar. Jonathan and I talk about videogame hype, wasted opportunities, and how I’m not a hypocrite. Sam patiently waits for us to stop talking about it.

We also talked a bit about OnLive ditching their monthly fee and how a guy who tried to trademark the word “Edge” has been slapped down.

And our grande finale: Jonathan quizzes me and Sam in his version of Name That Game. “Welcome to ‘blank!’”

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This week, Sam tries to host, and Alex and Jonathan destroy his intro.

Jonathan went to Archon in St. Louis and may have proven he still hasn’t learned his lesson about alcohol at different altitudes.  That said, he’s got his Iron Tyrants book (#1 BABY!), he’s got actual play of the game, and he’s got some sweet stories that didn’t really get told.

Alex attempts to get into a Yu-Gi-Oh game, Duelists of the Roses, to be specific.  He’s also rediscovered the joys of Soul Reaver 2, and is inundated with correspondence games.

In the tales from the game store corner, Alex has a story about the guy who just wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.

Sam talks briefly about his reasons for trading in Ninety Nine Nights, Alpha Protocol, Transformers: War for Cybertron, and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 1 & 2.  He also finally manages to work Limbo into the conversation.

To wrap up, we introduce a new feature to the show, “Name That Game!”  Much like the iconic game show of a similar name, Alex reads off a number of classic video game boxes, Sam figures out what most of them are, and Jonathan displays his total lack of knowledge.  We hope you like it, especially since we’re planning on introducing more stuff like it!

See ya next week!

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Thanks to Brad from Australia, we’re talking about free PC games this week.

First though, we establish that Alex is old, Jonathan is addicted, and Sam is drunk.

Sam is on a business trip, thus the inebriation, and the lack of games to talk about this week.

It’s not free, but Jonathan’s been playing Miner Dig Deep, an XBLA Indie game, and Minecraft.  He may be showing signs of addiction to the latter.  Alex and Sam aren’t all that concerned. (Hilarious video of the dude’s Minecraft house burning down.)

Alex has been continuing to play R.U.S.E., and has found out that it’s really easy to be cheap in that game.  Also, he’s got Resident Evil 5, Alien Breed 2, and John Daly Pro Stroke Golf waiting in the wings, but has been too busy playing with his paratroopers.

We also briefly discuss the news that the Japanese release date and price point for the 3DS has been announced.  We talk about the implications that has for the US release.  We’ve got nothing but speculation and conjecture, but that’s never stopped us before.

Finally, our free games!  In no particular order:

Loved
ASCIIpOrtal
Shift 3
Cursor*10
Super Mario Crossover
FUMBBL
Lone Wolf Game Books
Race for the Galaxy
Elements
Nanaca Crash

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Here’s the latest trailer for Blood Bowl Legendary Edition!

Blood Bowl Trailer from Alex the Producer on Vimeo.