As is our custom this time of year, we bring you tales of Gen Con, this time hosted by The Moose.  First, though, games!

Jonathan finished two games this week!  Stacking and N+ make it into the All Done pile.  Dust: An Elysian Tail gets nixed, though, based on a disappointing demo.

Alex busts out some Sleeping Dogs, and tells us about Papo & Yo, a game he won’t be able to actually play.

Sam’s plans to play Metal Gear Solid 3 collapse under the need to record this episode, but he’s got lots of Gen Con Virgin stories to share.  He’s returned, but he’s not the same.

In a brief news/topic hybrid, we rip on Christoph Hartmann for claiming that the only way games can produce unique genres and emotional games is if we have photorealistic graphics.  Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill 2, Bastion, Portal, and dozens of others would like to have a word with you, Christoph.

Finally, we wrap up with another installment of Identity Thief.  It turns out we are truly terrible at this game.

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This week, we delve into the games we’ve been playing.

Alex claims lack of time, and talks pretty exclusively about the new Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood DLC, the Da Vinci Disappearance.  The new modes are hit or miss, but Alex’s addiction means he’s still quite happy with the purchase.  He’s also given up on Operation: Flashpoint because it’s too hardcore.

Jonathan gives a final rating on Stacking.  He judges it Rental (Demo), but only because it’s kind of a niche game.  He also talks about a couple of portable titles that have no boob physics, What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 (PSP) and Cartoon Wars (iOS).  What Did I Do proves interesting, but baffling (in a good way).  Cartoon Wars proves boring and baffling (in a bad way), and earns a Skip It judgement.  Finally, he dug into Backbreaker a bit.  It’s an interesting twist on the typical football game, but has some issues that keep it from being a keeper.

Sam’s continuing to mainline Dragon Age: Origins and its expansions.  Awakening is a twenty-hour plus expansion that Sam enjoyed and recommends.  Witch Hunt is an hour worth of content and not worth the money.  He’s also about ten hours into Dragon Age 2 and has praise and shame to heap upon it.  Sam’s also in the Rage stage of grief over the delay of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and has chucked a bunch of games back into the used-game economy.

Before we get into an old-school themed Name That Game, Alex throws out a question: Why don’t Pokemon players battle each other anymore?  We’d love you hear your thoughts in our forum.  Also, send us an email, or leave a comment on the forum if you’d like a chance to pick an item from our prize pile.

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We cover some headlines this week, but first, we talk about Alex’s time in the Nyquil rehab center.

After that, Jonathan talks about some XBL games he’s picked up.  Stacking is an interesting, fairly entertaining adventure game, but he needs some more time with it before giving a rating.  He’s also picked up Galaga Legions and Space Invaders Infinity Gene, both updates to the classic arcade games.  Galaga is a little less insane than Space Invaders.  Take that as you will.  Jonathan’s been in rehab of his own, as well, and has cancelled his World of Warcraft account.

Sam has placed a number of pre-orders: Bulletstorm, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Duke! Nukem! Forever!: Balls! of! Steel! Edition! Inappropriate comparisons fly over that last title.  He’s also picked up his Marvel vs. Capcom 3 pre-order.  It’s pretty, button-mashy entertainment.  He also started and then immediately returned Enslaved: Odyssey into the West.  He’s also gotten rid of Nier, and hasn’t had much luck advancing Dragon Age: Origins along.

Alex has played Battlestations: Pacific, and had no luck getting an online game going.  Dead Space 2 ran aground on similar issues.  R.U.S.E. is consequently seeing a revival on Alex’s gaming schedule.

In the headlines, we revisit a few stories, try to skip a couple stories, and take about some new stuff:

• A followup to the FoxNews article: A response from Carol Lieberman, and one more.
• Rocksteady confirms Batman: Arkham City will be ‘single-player only’
• Kevin Butler Tweet Accidently Shares PS3 Root Key
• The Smithsonian is planning a video game exhibition.
• New Assassin’s Creed To Be Announced In May; AC: Brotherhood Sells 6.5M Units
• PSA: PlayStation Network content must be re-purchased on Xperia Play

Name That Game was…. forgotten.  Next week, folks!

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