Let’s shut Robot Panic down with greatest science.

I have rebuilt an arcade machine.

Come. Come with me! I will show you wonderful things.

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Hi there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? True, we’ve let Robot Panic sit relatively silent for a long time now; not out of laziness (at least, not completely), but because we’ve got other plans that we’re not quite ready to unveil yet. So I figured, since the site is just sitting here, why not post the occasional bit of content for the few people who either have us in their RSS feeds or bother checking the site to leave comments on the podcast? I’m not saying this is going to be a regular thing, but perhaps I’ll drop by from time to time as we wait for the new site to launch.

I want to talk a bit about games. We’ve not been a dedicated “gaming” podcast for nearly a year now, and I’d also like to talk about that. I know us moving away from gaming was a disappointment to some of our listeners, and I’m sorry for that. As we explained many times both on the show and here on Robot Panic, we just got tired of limiting ourselves to one field of discussion every week. It’s true that while we lived together all those years ago, one of the things that helped the three of us bond was our mutual love of video games. But would we really still be putting up with one another fourteen years later if all we had in common was gaming? Christ, I doubt it.

But that’s not the only reason we backed off of a gaming-centric podcast. Yes, there’s the issue of our family lives and the fact that raising children and pleasing our fickle brides chews up much of the time that would otherwise be dedicated to gaping at a television with a controller in our hands. But honestly, a major factor – for me, at least – in broadening our podcast format was the fact that the podcast was making me enjoy games less and less. You see, the way we did Team Fremont Live/Drunken Gamers Radio was not sustainable for a group of guys with jobs, families, and lives in general. We liked talking about the most current crop of games, lest we should come off as dated. After all, gaming enthusiasts rarely remember which games were released last week, let alone six months ago, and we prided ourselves on keeping things as current as possible each and every week. For some strange reason, listeners seemed to like our reviews and some even came to rely on us for purchasing decisions. Bizarre, but that’s how it was.

Because of this, we burned through games faster than we could ever possibly finish them, and this became increasingly frustrating for me. It wasn’t just the cost associated with buying the games, it was because more and more I had stacks of games that had only been given enough attention to inform my opinions for the podcast. And before I could go back and actually complete these games, we were on to the next week and the next batch of releases. To put it another way, it was like I was buying one or two new books per week and only reading about a third of them. What a waste! (more…)

By Tiny 777

My little guy is all grows up, he’s all growns up (sniff). Please enjoy this unbiased kick ass review of what looks to be a really cool game. And hey his spelling is a lot better too! -Ryker_XL

Bulletstorm is a first person shooter created by Epic Games (creators of Gears of War) and People Can Fly.  The game hit stores on February 22, 2011(Xbox 360, PS3, and PC), which resulted in Gears of War 3 being pushed back to winter 2011.  While most people felt let down that Bulletstorm was being released earlier than Gears of War, the awesome thing is that the multiplayer beta to Gears of War 3 is included.  This gives all the Gears fans the chance to get a glance at the upcoming multiplayer of Gears. This is included in the purchase of the “Epic Edition” of Bulletstorm (The Epic Edition is every copy of the game, no specialized pricing is on the Epic Edition).

Before this game came out, people were giving it crap for pushing Gears 3 back but when I looked at it, it looked to be a hell of a lot of fun. I asked my Mom if I could buy the game when it’s released and somehow she said yes. I was stoked for the release of the game but was too busy to go out and buy the game with baseball in the way of my Best Buy hunting for this game. My Mom was nice enough to buy it for me and give it to me when I returned from practice. When I came home she said, “It was the last one, we had to ask for help to find it.”  I was surprised and glad that I got the game. Once I got my hands on the case I ripped it open and put the disk in. It was time to play Bulletstorm.
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Alright, we’ve established on multiple occasions that the PC Engine and its American counterpart the TurboGrafx-16 (including its multiple add-ons and redesigns like the Turbo Duo, the CoreGrafx, etc.) were the greatest consoles ever released. Right?

Right?

Good. Glad you’re on board.

“But John,” you ask, “If these consoles were so good [which they were], why didn’t they ever receive a successor?” Well, my simple-minded friends, that would be a good question…if it wasn’t so absurdly stupid. You see, the PC Engine family of consoles did indeed receive a successor; at least in Japan. The heir to the NEC/Hudson console dynasty came in the form of the PC-FX, a machine that looked like a mini PC tower and consisted of a small library of games that were heavily inspired by anime and, in a few cases, hentai. In fact, this latter trait is one that is unfortunately most often associated with the console. Inevitably, when one brings up the PC-FX, it is immediately met with a response that goes something like, “The PC-FX? Isn’t that the console that had all those dating sims and nudie games?”

Okay, so there were a few of those. Maybe more than a few. Maybe if you had a stack of PC-FX games sitting in front of you and you randomly grabbed one, chances are the objective of that game would be to get a girl to take off her clothes and blow you. But here’s a tip: if you’re talking to a PC-FX aficionado, don’t lead with that subject. They tend to get a bit indignant.

Now that we’ve discussed the white elephant in the room, let’s get down to business. The PC-FX is an incredibly unique system with games unlike nearly any other console I’ve owned. The design of the unit is super-cool and I love having it around simply for it’s “neat-o!” factor.

But that’s just me and my opinion. Here are some facts:

1) The PC-FX was a 32-bit system released in late 1994, only in Japan.
2) It used only CD-ROMs, ditching the Hu-Cards from the PC Engine.
3) It had a six-button controller that looked like the PC Engine controller mated with that of the Saturn.
4) Instead of buying it as a full console, you could by a PC-FX card for your PC. Cool, eh?
5) The console was designed to be the ultimate 2D platform, resulting in it being severely underpowered when compared to the PlayStation and Saturn.
6) Just over sixty titles were released for the PC-FX

Those are the basic facts about the console itself. We should probably get down to talking about the games. (more…)

When talking with people of a mature age, the consensus of fighting games is that they are too hard and intimidating to play with in multiplayer, or at all. I disagree. Fighting games in multiplayer are like playing a game of chess by tapping a xylophone. The chess game of outwitting your opponent is up to you. I will teach you how to operate the xylophone. Please set aside a hour for study time. This is a strategy guide for learning how to get a couple wins in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

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I cannot recall what prompted me to, but I remember going to the store one day craving a new game for my Dreamcast and I ended up taking a chance on a full-priced, new copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. At that time, I was kind of out of the whole fighting game scene – not that I was a hardcore fighting game fan to begin with – but the sheer chaos and fun that resulted from the insanity of the 3-on-3 tag fighting in MVC2 was most likely the catalyst that got me back into enjoying fighting games again.

MVC2 stayed in my regular rotation for so long that it resulted in my Dreamcast being hooked up to my television for way longer than it should have. I remember in my first apartment, my roommate and I would have nightly tournaments with our neighbors and we would play that game into the wee hours of the morning. For the longest time, I anxiously anticipated a sequel. This being Capcom in the middle of their Dreamcast run where it seemed like they published half of the Dreamcast library, I thought it seemed like a sure thing. I just did not expect it to take eleven years.

Eleven years have come and gone, though, and last week I finally got the sequel to one of my all-time favorite fighting games. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is everything I wanted it to be as it brings back the fast and furious 3-on-3 tag fighting we grew up with. Where should I start? How about the roster? Instead of the monstrous 50+ roster we got with the previous game, MVC3 features 36 characters, which is still quite a bit when compared to most other fighters on the market. On paper it looks like Capcom just sliced 20 spots, when in reality a whole lot more cuts were made because of the surprise amount of new characters debuting.

I do have to gripe a little about some characters that got axed; just keep in mind Capcom is already promising DLC characters down the line. With that said, why in the holy hell is Ken not here? It is almost tradition for every Capcom fighter to have both Ken & Ryu, but here we have Ryu & Akuma, and that’s just not the same. Plus, no Servebot? His Hyper-Combo was one of the defining highlights of MVC2. I am also a huge Iceman fan and find his exclusion among the roster to be a big one.
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I know I am nearly a year late to the party, but that is how long it took me to knock Yakuza 3 out of my backlog. Actually, I breezed through the first four chapters of the game when I bought it last summer, and it promptly got whisked away into the backlog when the first half of 2010 was hammered hard with an unbelievable amount of tip-top games. The first couple months of 2011 I have dedicated to making some headway into my backlog, and the last couple weeks I have belonged to Yakuza 3. And with the release of Yakuza 4 just a month away, what ideal timing would it be for me to freshen everyone up on the series’ PS3 debut.

Once again, you control Kazuma who is now trying to put his dark past behind him. How does he go about changing his ways? By running an orphanage in Okinawa of course! Having Kazuma living a peaceful life in an orphanage would not make a great game, so naturally the land it is built on happens to be in the way of a pesky resort deal that is trying to rear its ugly head. It would not be a Yakuza; game either if this resort had ties to the Prime Minister and a bunch of Kazuma’s old Yakuza running buddies. Thus we have Kazuma’s impetus to getting dragged back to kicking some Yakuza tail!

Even if you have not played the first two Yakuza games, Yakuza 3 is still a good hopping on point because it features recap videos for both of the prior installments in the series to catch you up on all the events that have led up to third game in the franchise. The narrative is by far the strongest part of this game. It tells a great story even when I thought it started off kind of ridiculous with Sega making sure you get to know each and every single one of orphans that Kazuma is in charge of.

I kid you not, of the nineteen hours it took me to finish Yakuza 3, about five or six of them were spent doing mandatory quests for the orphans. This was my only real gripe with the story. I get setting up how good Kazuma has it and how happy he is with his life, but there was just way too much time spent in the orphanage. Eventually though, Sega reeled me in and got me to care about those orphans and to make sure no evil resort would be built over their orphanage!
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A while back, I wrote a pretty lengthy article on the new super hero MMO, Champions Online. Despite fantastic graphics and excellent storytelling, this new MMO from Cryptic had a hard time maintaining a solid customer base. I’m not sure if it was the lack of necessary grinding, or if people simply preferred City of Heroes, but server populations shrunk shortly after launch. 

So what’s an MMO to do? Throw in the towel like APB? Not these heroes! Cryptic has launched a free-to-play version of Champions Online. The game is essentially the same; the same zones, enemies, and missions. The limitations come in limited character archetypes and less overall powers. You can still experience the world in a pay mode and have access to unlimited powersets and costumes. They even re-upped the lifetime subscription model and it’s on sale for $239.  (That’s only a good idea if you plan to play for over 15 months). 

So like The Defender, I am calling all DGR heroes who might be interested in kicking butt together to sign up.  It would be great to create a super group and bust bad guy heads together. Who’s with me?

Ryker XL, aka “Tarantula”

http://www.champions-online.com/account_creation

You know, I think I talked about most of this stuff already, but it’s too damn awesome not to be remembered for this year.  Let’s begin! 

Back Dynamite:  Okay, so technically the movie was released in 2009, but how many of us saw it in the theater? The awesomeness of this film became truly widespread when it was released onto DVD back in February. The internet was abuzz at the uniqueness of this film, and after at least six different viewings this year I can see why. The brilliance of this film isn’t in it’s clever writing, quotable one-liners, or how it never really takes itself seriously; no the magic comes in how every time you watch it you pick up on something new and funny. It has become my “go to” movie whenever I have company over, and I’m always thanked when the film is done. As of last week, this film was one of the few Netflix streaming videos that won’t allow you to have a Netflix party with. The reason? Everybody would be doing it as this movie is even more awesome in a  shared viewing. I don’t believe Netflix has the bandwidth available for the nightly Black Dynamite parties that would no doubt be going on.  Until then, I say you go just go and buy this film.  It will sit nicely next to The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Caddyshack.

The Walking Dead: You know, the sad thing about a zombie movie is after two hours the feature ends and we are left wondering what happens next. But what if we could watch what happens to our survivors for a long period of time? At least that was the concept behind the popular comic series developed by Robert Kirkman. For a comic, The Walking Dead is unique as it focuses far more on character development and less on the zombie hoard.  The zombies, in fact, act much like a dangerous natural element that the characters have to deal with and less of a plot element. The other cool thing about The Walking Dead is how real it is. People resort doing doing some pretty nasty things to one another in their quest to stay alive just one more day. Main characters come and go and we should expect that in a world where the dead rule the Earth. This past Fall, AMC released a six-part mini-season based on the comic. I was both excited and a bit anxious as to what we might see onscreen as Hollywood has a tendency to mess things up or dumb things down for their audience. But this was AMC, and the first episode stuck true to the comic storyline. And with over five million viewers, it was the highest-rated premier on AMC and became the most watched cable series for its demographic. The storyline would eventually split from the comic, but the overall tone and emphasis of character development over action stayed the same. AMC has picked up this classic for another 13 episodes, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. 

No Ordinary Family:  2010 had some great TV shows: Madmen, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, but this little show on ABC has become a guilty pleasure for me. The show is essentially a live-action version of one of my favoriute films, The Incredibles. The Powells are an ordinary, dysfunctional family who gain super powers after their plane crashes in Brazil. The father (Micheal Chiklis) has super strength, can leap several blocks, and is seemingly invulnerable. The mom (Julie Benz aka Rita from Dexter) is super fast, and as a scientist by trade she is more than curious about how they got their powers. Their kids (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett) have lesser powers as the girl can read minds while the son has become a Reed Richards super genius. There is a bit of Heroes-like mythology going on in the back-story, but the real strength of the show is the characters and how they interact with one another and grow from their new found abilities.  Whomever is writing the reboot of the Fantastic Four should pay attention to this show, as Disney and ABC “get it.” It’s campy and fun, and even the bit characters play their roles to the tee. Even the unlikely pair of Chiklis and Benz seem to pull off a believable couple together. Bottom line, the show is just plain fun, and I hope I get to see more of it in 2011.

Kinect: I’m one of those people Microsoft was targeting when they thought up Kinect. I don’t own a Wii, but I am interested in what it can do. But with all the shovel-ware and stories about it collecting dust, I could never get myself to drop the cash to jump into the experience. Kinect seemed like a more logical transition for me, and upon purchasing one last Fall I can finally understand what motion gaming is really all about. Folks can argue that there really isn’t a lot out there right now, especially for the hardcore gamers. I can admit that may be true, but I am also convinced that Kinect is here to stay and that the future looks bright for the peripheral. I say this for many reasons, but mainly because the tech just seems to work and there is something magical about gaming with no controllers. It has revitalized the gaming experience for my entire family, and for me that is well worth the money I paid for it. Here’s hoping that the new titles that come out for the system are as tantalizing and cool as Dance Central and Kinect Sports.

Red Dead Redemption:  I might piss off some Grand Theft Auto fans out there, but Red Dead Redemption is a better game.  In fact I do believe that it is RockStar’s BEST game yet and one that I can’t seem to stop playing. Maybe it’s the newness of the Old West that got me hooked. Or perhaps it was the amazing storyline and characters. Or maybe it was the surprise ending that got the internet abuzz with discussions. Whatever the reason, Red Dead Redemption is in my top ten list of favorite games ever played and the new DLC keeps me coming back to the environment for more fun partners.  Not to mention that the DGR night we had in the game, holding the fort from sleazebags on our server was quite frankly one of the best times I have had on Xbox Live ever.  Thanks guys (and Token). 

Inception: Christopher Nolan has proven that he’s the King of the Mountain when it comes to directing movies. Not only did he make us rethink how we view one of the most iconic super heroes of all time, but he can take us to places we never dreamed of before. Such is the case of Inception, a movie that is as close to perfect storytelling as I can remember. We follow Leonardo DiCaprio and his team into the world of the dream and are left wondering if what we experienced was ever real at all. When asked if he could explain what he actually meant by the end of his film he stoically explained, “If I did that it would ruin the entire reason why I filmed Inception. The movie is supposed to leave you questioning. If you feel that way, it did its job. The man is a stud, and I can’t wait for how he ends his Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming Superman project.

Lost Finale: Never has a show left me feeling so satisfied and with so many unanswered questions at the same time. For six seasons we watched the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 unravel the mysteries of the strange island they were stranded on. The storytelling and acting were top notch, and the show spawned several podcasts as viewers tried to decipher the clues left behind in each episode. Whether you enjoyed the final episode or not, Lost and its canon have secured their place in our society and lore. Just the other day my colleagues warned us not to open the hatch when dealing with a sticky project. It is a show that I will miss, and one that I will also enjoy revisiting on BluRay. 

Mass Effect 2: This is my pick for the Daryl Awards this year. Why, you ask? No, not just because I can bone alien creatures (ohhh yeah) but because the character development in this game is so strong, I actually miss them when I am not playing. Bioware has simply mastered the dialogue tree and you can’t help but feel a connection to the characters in the game. That, and it’s the only game I can remember that built on my decisions from the previous game. Countless references to seemingly unimportant characters and my encounters with them solidify that the world of Mass Effect is uniquely mine; there are no two universes that are exactly alike. They fixed the combat system so things flow much smoother and no more tedious armor and weapon upgrade guessing games, just lock, load, and kick ass. Downloadable content for the title has been nothing less than stellar and the last installment (Lair of the Shadow Broker) dramatically changed the universe I play in. I have to wonder how the addition of that single piece of content will affect Mass Effect 3. That, my friends, is sheer brilliance in game design. 

Good BAD Movies:  As Hollywood searches for some creative ways to express itself without rehashing old ideas (thanks but no thanks Yogi Bear) certain directors have seemingly created their own genre by making really bad movies that are just plain FUN to watch. The story-lines (if any) are paper thin, the acting is laughable, and the effects are ridiculous, but for some strange reason they work. Maybe because these movies know they are bad and never try to be anything other than what they are. This summer, we saw what may be the goriest and most awesome killer fish movie of all time, Pirhana 3D.  A movie that took the 3D realm to new heights with 3D boobage (and mind you there was not one boob onscreen that I didn’t care to see, they were all excellent). It was campy and fun and one of the best times I have had at the movies this year. Later in the fall, I gathered my fellow DGR faithful for a Netflix showing of Bitch Slap, a movie that truly must be experienced in a group setting. The movie was awesomely terrible and one that I plan to enjoy with a group of friends over and and over again. Let’s hope that we see this trend continue as directors take their craft just a bit less serious. It may not make a good movie, but if we are entertained I certainly don’t care.     

Robot Panic:  I remember when I got the email from Hilden, “Hey Ryker thanks for submitting all this cool shit. Here’s access to the blog and keep up the good work.” Those that read my stuff know that I haven’t always been a good writer, in fact we might be able to make a pretty good argument that I’m the opposite. But at least I have the opportunity to contribute to a community that shares my interests and is pretty bad ass. I’ve also been blessed to help the guys do their live shows and that is a real treat.  I am always impressed with their passion in delivering a great show every week, and just how genuine they all are.  Last Summer we all got together at Moe’s for the 5th anniversary show and bonfire (sorry about your neighbor’s house Moe). It was one of the best times I have had all year; hanging with the good friends I have made here and enjoying a night together.  For the real magic in all of this isn’t in the articles I write, or the awesome shows the guys do, but it’s in the community that we all share. So thanks to all my friends here, your are truly amazing.  Here’s hoping for a great 2011!

ESPN 30:30 Box Set - ESPN has been running this incredibly awesome series of thirty sports documentaries this year to celebrate 30 years on the air. ESPN reached out to some of Hollywood’s top directors to create these films that celebrate some of the most talked about and under-appreciated moments in sports. The first box set just went on sale last week, and it collects the first fifteen films of the series. This collection covers such memorable spectacles as the OJ Simpson car chase on June 17, 1994, the rise and fall of the USFL, the Wayne Gretzky trade to LA and the tragic death of Len Bias.

No more Lost - I had a very strong love/hate relationship with Lost. For every good episode that saw a major plot development or great moments, it was usually followed with an episode that killed off one of your favorite characters or added yet another unneeded question to keep the WTF balance in check for the series. With Lost finally ending after six seasons in 2010, I am grateful that I will no longer have to anticipate any more episodes of this bizarre program that sent me on a whirlwind of emotions like no other show before it. I promise to never waste another moment on this show again…unless ABC will somehow manage to re-release the entire series in chronological order.

The Book of Basketball - This was actually released in 2009, but the paperback edition just hit shelves a couple weeks ago and it includes all kinds of bonus content! I finally finished the hardcover edition of this book a few months ago, and even only being a casual hoops fan I found it to be an extremely informative and entertaining read. Bill Simmons knows his hoops, and his humorous writing style features all sorts of imperative footnotes that makes catching up on basketball history fun for everyone!

Season Two of The Tester & WCG Ultimate Gamer - As much as it pains me to lay this out there, I love both of these shows. Say what you will about reality television and the usual hi jinx that it contains, but I was entertained by second seasons of The Tester and WCG Ultimate Gamer this year. Both shows are eight episodes and features video game themed challenges where the goal is to win to become either the next PlayStation game tester (yes, really), or for a one year roster spot on WCG USA. There are a few characters and moments on each show that are pretty groan inducing I will admit, but that is par for the course with almost any reality show. If you can manage to stomach that, than you will be in for a fun ride that brought back memories of old video game contest shows like Video Power and Nick Arcade.

Heavy Rain, Alan Wake & Red Dead Redemption - If you happen to remember my article half a year ago here ranking the top 10 games for the first half of the year, you may recall that it was a particularly strong first half of the year for games. Rest assured, now with 2010 nearly in the bag, I can say without a doubt that 2010 is the first year where the first half year of releases easily outclassed the second half. It outweighed it so much so that my top three from the first half of the year are my top three for my overall game of the year. And I hold all three of these games on a high pedestal with not much ground separating them in my rankings. Pardon the cheap plug, but to hear my final top 10 rankings, please subscribe to my podcast where we will be having our game of the year episode within a few weeks.

Pinball FX2/Marvel Pinball - Hats off to Zen Studios for their consistency at pumping out nonstop awesome video game pinball tables! Almost every time I sit down to play games, I tend to warm up with a couple of runs on a pinball game made by Zen Studios. Whether it was them supporting Pinball FX and Zen Pinball with frequent DLC tables throughout most of 2010, and then proceeding to blow us away with Pinball FX 2 and its amazing evolution of table design and leaderboard upgrades. They did not stop at Pinball FX 2, because just a couple months after that fine release, they pump out Marvel Pinball, with four more addicting tables themed after some of the best superheroes in the Marvel Universe…and Blade. I dare you to download a table or two and not get hooked to the amount of sheer fun each table provides and the addictive nature of score chasing everyone on your friends list.

Miz as WWE Champ - This just would not be a “stuff of the year” list from me without a couple wrestling mentions. Mike “The Miz” Mizannin had quite an interesting journey to becoming the current WWE champion. From debuting in the entertainment world ten years ago on The Real World, to riding the MTV reality circuit for a few years until finally debuting in WWE in 2004 on its Tough Enough competition. Being one of the few Miz fans from his early beginnings in WWE when no one thought he would last a year in the company, I nearly lost it when he finally proved all the doubters wrong and  won the WWE championship.

The Nexus John Cena Beatdown - Just one more wrestling moment to add to this list. If you used to be a wrestling fan, odds are you watched during the WCW/WWF Monday Night Wars when each company was raising the bar each and every Monday to get you to flip the channel. With no real competition, WWE has become complacent with its storytelling and features less and less must see moments each year. In 2010 they managed to capture some of that old fire with the debut of the Nexus stable. Here they made an impact with an 8-on-1 beatdown on John Cena and literally tore apart the ring and beat up the entire ringside staff in a moment completely unprecedented. The Nexus has since become one of the most interesting stables of wrestlers in quite a few years.