Sam is unable to record because [REDACTED DUE TO MORALITY CLAUSE].  Alex and Jonathan go old school and record a two-man ‘cast.

We start the show by discussing the demise of LucasArts.  Is it really something worth mourning or is the geekosphere reacting out of nostalgia?  We hope everyone who lost their job finds new and wonderful employment elsewhere, but we haven’t actually spent much money on a LucasArts game in a long time.

We also discuss how Sega Europe was forced to acknowledge that footage used in trailers for Aliens: Colonial Marines was misleading.  Alex doesn’t really care, because even the footage in the trailers failed to sell him on the game.  Jonathan gets it, but does a poor job explaining why.

Alex has completed Bioshock Infinite.  It’s made him forget just how much he loved Bioshock.  Relic gets discussed as Alex’s non-video-game game, basically an updated take on the board game Talisman set in the 40K universe.  Alex also met a younger version of himself while he was out of town last week.

Jonathan wants to know who wants to play Terraria with him.  It’s on 360 and PS3 now, and he’s down to get the game if anyone else is playing.  He also gets in his own non-video-game game by talking about the tabletop RPG Microscope; it’s very much a story game, but it’s a really interesting story game.  Jonathan’s also played some games provided free via Playstation Plus: The Cave, which may suffer from Jonathan’s favorite recent complaint, tonal inconsistencies; and Closure, a clever puzzle game that plays with light and shadow.

Finally, we wrap up the show with the MetaGame.  Defiance does not yet have a Metacritic score, and so we skip to our alternate game, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge.  Jonathan does really well this week, only two points off the aggregate score of 71.  Alex and Sam picked numbers close, though, and so not much has changed on the leaderboard.  For the next round, we pick Injustice: Gods Among Us: Jonathan guesses 89, Alex 84, and Sam 80.

As Defiance still doesn’t have a Metacritic score as of release, let’s ask this question: do you like the Metagame?  Let us know in the comments below.

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The more I read about Minecraft’s upcoming “Adventure Update,” the more I worry that Notch and Mojang don’t understand what they’ve created.  Notch and others have said they like what Terraria is doing with the summonable boss monsters, and that they want to add something like that to Minecraft, and I don’t get it.  In a way, it would be cool, but in another, that’s not what Minecraft has evolved into, and Terraria will always do it better.

Terraria works as an exploration/monster-slaying game because building massive structures on a 2D scale just isn’t all that terribly impressive.  Add to that, Terraria has a huge amount of stuff you can find, build, buy, and earn.  In comparison, Minecraft really has a very limited toolset, and I think that toolset lends itself to building up structures and making the world your own, because it’s not that difficult to hit bedrock, and it’s not that difficult to reach the sky, so what else is there but to build?  Plus, in 3D, huge structures feel huge, and can be explored from all angles, making them incredibly impressive.

Terraria also makes some design choices that promotes exploration and monster killing, rather than staying put and building.  Items don’t have durability, and stacks are considerably larger than in Minecraft.  Even your inventory is larger, I believe.  You can load up on wood and torches and have no need to return to the surface for a very long time.  Granted, you can take a workbench and furnace with you in Minecraft, and rebuild your tools and whatnot, but I’ve almost always found it more desirable to have a base of operations to return to on a regular basis, even if I’m playing on “Peaceful” difficulty.

The “Better Than Wolves” mod guy has the right idea.  We need more stuff to build in Minecraft, more ways to interact with the world, not more animals and monsters.  If I want to explore dungeons, hunt monsters, and collect loot, I’ll play Terraria.  I play Minecraft to pull an Ozymandias and say, “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!”

Granted, you and I may play Minecraft in completely different ways.  Granted, Minecraft is still in beta, and perhaps “Terraria in 3D” has been Notch’s intentions all along.  Granted, the Adventure Update could come along and cause me to drop Super Metroid as my greatest game of all time.  Granted, it’s not like anyone at Mojang is going to see this and suddenly cry, “How did we get it so wrong!”

I’ll grant you all of that, but I still think it’s important, because if someone comes along and combines the Minecraft formula with the “Better Than Wolves” philosophy, I could very easily be convinced to switch.  I’ve gotten my $15 of enjoyment out of Minecraft, and then some.  Notch can do what he pleases, but if someone else scratches my itch in just the right way, I won’t be ashamed to jump ship.

This week, we try to cover a topic, and fail.  We have some good conversations about games, though.

First off, Alex and Jonathan talk about the wildly different whether in their wildly different states.

Alex discusses Shadows of the Damned, a grindhouse-type game with an angry Mexican and a lot of penis jokes.  Despite Jonathan’s reservations, Alex also has nothing but good things to say about Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon.  We’re also looking to start up a regular, monthly AssBrodeo.  Check the forums for more info.

Jonathan pimps the Steam Summer Sale, which has ended already, and reminds everyone just how much fun Team Fortress 2 is.  He also talks about HOARD, a game about dragons, and Terraria, a game with Minecraft‘s addictiveness AND a purpose.  Bonus!

Sam wishes F.E.A.R. 3 was scarier, wishes Far Cry 2 was less realistic, and wishes Crysis 2 was eligible for marriage.  Jonathan and Alex are suitably disturbed.

Alex brings a themed version of Name That Game! to bear this week: Lousy Games!  He scraped the bottom of Metacritic’s barrel, and brought a number of truly terrible games to the table.

Next week, we really do get to our topic.  See you then!

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Oh, this is bad.  The summer Steam sale is underway, and I have a genetic predisposition that compels me to take advantage of really good deals, even if the sale item isn’t something I’d been wanting to buy.

Case in point, Valve is giving out “tickets” for accomplishing certain in-game, summer-oriented achievements.  At first, I was all, “I’m not buying games just to participate in some sort of cheap PR promotion!”  Then I saw that Toki Tori and AaaaAAaaaAAaaAAAaAAA!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity were both significantly less than five dollars.  I could swear I just blinked, but I opened my eyes, and I was looking at the “Thank you!” page.

I’ve also picked up Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale, Terraria, Time Gentlemen, Please!, and the Deluxe Edition of Oblivion.  There are ten more days of this?  I’m in trouble.  Will you be taking advantage of the sale?

And we’re back!  We had a plan, and then chucked it in favor of talking about a bunch of games.  We also introduce a new game this week, though it has no name as of yet.

Sam talks about how L.A. Noire has grown on him, once he realized it’s a puzzle game, not an action game.  He wants to get the crap scared out of him, but unfortunately F.E.A.R. 3 hasn’t released yet.  He also wishes he’s just looking over the “Motorcycle” menu in Forza 3, but we’re pretty sure he’s not.

Alex talks up Frozen Synapse, a game that takes the planning stages from the early Rainbow Sixes and turns it into a simultaneous turn-based tactical action game.  Alex also talks about L.A. Noire, and the World of the Living Dead beta.

Jonathan’s not had much opportunity to play more L.A. Noire, though he’s still very pleased with it.  In addition, he’s been playing the toddler-soothing music game, Chime, and enjoying it quite a bit.  Less enjoyable was Mindjack, a game with an awesome concept that falls flatter than a planker.

Other games that get mentioned include F.E.A.R. 1&2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, FortressCraft, and Terraria.

We wrap up the show with a new game, one involving terrible translations and full coffee.  If you’ve got an idea for a name for it, let us know!

Next week, an eye doctor and E3 predictions!

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