**Breaking News**

For those of you who have been using the blogspot address...

Check - www.4playerpodcast.com

Thank you,
David

Top 5 Games of 2009, So Far

This week's Top 5 was uploaded.

038 - Top Five Games of 2009, So Far [download]

Also the show was uploaded to iTunes. We have two accounts right now and are in the process of moving away from MyPodcast.com. This will eliminate future problems with MyPodcast being down and also remove the advertisement in the beginning. The old one is the one with the dash (4-Player) and the new one is just 4Player if you want to update your iTunes subscriptions. The link should be updated on the page to the right.

Thanks,
David

Pictures on Facebook

For a while now, we've been taking pictures while doing what we do but until recently, I had no idea where to put them. Of course being an idiot, I never thought of putting them on facebook, so here we are.

Our official Facebook Page

You can always look here for pictures and events. Currently there are ones from E3 and PortCon.

Thanks,
David

Teshima Aoi - Hikari

I'm really excited about this game. At E3 during my meeting with XSeed, I got a closer look and found out that they were publishing it. It was a nice surprise. Above is the title song, if you like it go to the youtube page and there is a link to the download.

Here was the trailer for the Japanese release.


Here's the original Trailer I posted [Fragile]
David

Obsidian Impregnated but Killed Before Alien Could Burst from Chest

Alien is one of those IP's that has had a grip on me since I first saw the original film back in the mid 90's. The combination of the H.R. Giger's chilling alien design coupled with the sense of claustrophobia and dread that the movie inspired was unforgettable. While I haven't watched any of the films in several years, the franchise has been sitting in the back of my mind as an IP that I felt was waiting for technology to catch up before another game was made. 2008 seemed like the magic year with the announcement of Gearbox's "Aliens: Colonial Marines" and Rebellion's "Alien vs. Predator" but the project that had me the most intrigued was being quietly worked on by Obsidian entertainment. A game that will no longer see the light of day. A game that was tentatively titled “Alien Crucible” but simply referred to as Obsidian’s “Alien RPG”.

Don’t get me wrong, the projects being worked on by Gearbox and Rebellion both look impressive and entertaining but there is something about Obsidian Entertainment that I have always found interesting. They are considered the team that develops “B” grade sequels to established hits like KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights. The team is currently working on Alpha Protocol and the follow-up to Bethesda’s Fallout 3, titled “Fallout: New Vegas” which should release sometime in 2010. The strange thing is that, all of these titles are critically received as inferior games but with their own merit in terms of design and playability. As far as the Alien games in production, this game sounded like the only game that was taking a chance with its concept. Both of the other titles mentioned before, stick closely to first person action games where you either take control of the Alien or the marines. The idea of taking the franchise into the RPG realm seems like a strange but welcome fit for the franchise. As of June 2009, the game has been officially cancelled after months of speculation. The question remains however, what could this game have had in store for us?



Newly Revealed Concept Art
With nothing left of this game but some concept art, the only thing left for us to do is speculate about what this game could have been. We know it was an RPG but there is still plenty of room for speculation. Was this going to be a turn based RPG comprised of human characters that are scouring the galaxy trying to eliminate the Alien threat? Could you in-fact be playing as various members of an Alien hive? The art that was released today depicts two very different Alien designs, something that I think the series has lacked. I remember as a child, collecting the Alien action figures which included a number of different Alien designs that were never introduced in the films or video games. Obsidian looked like they were ready to tackle the Alien IP and introduce some new content. No information revealed thus far has hinted at a story or setting but the nature of RPG’s suggests that of the three titles being released, this game could have had the most to offer in regards to scenery and storytelling. I can imagine the game taking place aboard marine spacecrafts, the alien home world, earth, and countless other settings that the franchise could go. The reasons for the games cancellation are yet to be revealed but one could imagine that the game was too much of a risk for the team to take financially, perhaps the game wasn’t coming along as planned, or maybe the team was dispersed to work on other Obsidian projects. Whatever the reason, I hope that the other two Alien projects are able to satisfy my desire for a new interactive Alien experience.

-Nick

New Show Uploaded

The new show has been uploaded.

121: Nick's Hazy Birthday Show [download]

This week a full show. Brad talks about Ghostbusters, Point Lookout, and Hitman. Travis talks about Sims 3. David talks about Henry Hatsworth and Legendary Starfy. We go over some news topics. Then we talk about PortCon and the community while answering some viewer questions. And of course end the show with the 4Player Minute.

Also the show was uploaded to iTunes. We have two accounts right now and are in the process of moving away from MyPodcast.com. This will eliminate future problems with MyPodcast being down and also remove the advertisement in the beginning. The old one is the one with the dash (4-Player) and the new one is just 4Player if you want to update your iTunes subscriptions.

Thanks,
David

Tonight On The Feed...

Hey guys,

It's David from the 4Player Podcast. You haven't seen me on the broadcast all that much lately as I've been in and out of town for all sorts of things. I recently ran across some good fortune as my friend from Hooked Gamers Chris Davis got a review copy of the Conduit from Sega. It's mine to keep but only if I can finish it and review it by Monday. The only problem, I'm leaving out of town on Thursday for Screw Attack in Dallas this weekend and I probably won't be back until Sunday night.

So if you're interested, I'll start my adventure to beat the Conduit tonight. Probably starting around 10 PM Central time.

See you tonight.
David

Oh yeah, the guy on the cover, his name is Michael Ford. Chotch.

Brad's Laundry List - "New Found Love" Edition

I have discovered what is now one of my new favorite video game franchises. I had always thought the premise of Hitman was creative, but I never could get over the steep learning curve of the mechanics. Well my friends, that cliff has been conquered, and I am now a "silent assassin" for life. Fiendishly clever assassination scenarios and brilliant level design easily outweigh the iffy control mechanics and flaky AI. Add in a heavy dose of dark humor, and you can see how the series manages to stand up with the best of the genre (I'm looking at you Sam and Snake). A new Hitman is coming out in 2010 and I could not be more excited. Anyway, here is everything else I'm working on.

Completed:
Hitman: Blood Money
Fallout 3: Point Lookout


Working On:
Overlord - (33%?)
Assassins Creed - (5%)
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - (8%)
Crackdown - (65%?)
Klonoa Wii - (30%)
skate - (istillsuck%)


Temporarily Done With:
Prototype - (25%)
Ghostbusters - (60%)


Handhelds:
Mario vs DK: Minis March Again - (70%)
Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite - (0%)

Brad

Feeling Adventurous?

If you are and live in the Austin Area, Juan and I will be conducting a Austin Community get together. It was very last minute and spur of the moment, but here are the details.

Time: Officially from 8:00-10:00 PM (I will be there starting 7:30)
Location: Applebee's (Near Sam's and Best Buy)
5010 West Highway 290
Austin, TX 78735

We will be playing games and developing an Austin Community for socializing and game playing. If you're interested in meeting new people and playing games, feel free to come out. Most people will be personal friends of mine or Juan's but as the 4Player Podcast Community is also a big part of what we do, we'd love to add to it.

Hope to see you tonight,
David

This Week on the Feed: 6/28 - 7/4

Brad

Incoming Sleeper - 'Demon's Souls'

Below are a few videos explaining pretty much everything you need to know about Demon's Souls. This PS3 exclusive, developed by From Software and published by Atlus, is said to be a cross between Zelda, Oblivion, and Shadow of the Colossus. Oh, and it has online co-op. It hits this Fall and there are not many games announced that I am looking forward to more than this one. A word of warning though; I hear the game is fuck hard.

The Asian version of Demon's Souls is 100% fully translated into English, but I think I'm going to wait until the NA release (they will probably clean up the translation). People who are playing this version have been raving about it over on GAF, and Eurogamer reviewed the import and gave it a 9/10. Whatever, just watch these video features on the game:

Watch the video below in HD here.








Brad

My Triumphant Return

You may have noticed my absence in the past 2 months. My life took a hard turn and I have been doing my best to make the best of it. Unfortunately, that has made it very difficult for me to keep focused on the site and to stay enthusiastic about gaming. As with all life lessons, I must push forward and return to my former glory. David and Brad have been doing a fantastic job of holding down the fort and keeping the site going but there has been a lot of contributions that I have not made and I hope to rectify that in the coming weeks.

E3 was an exciting experience and I have a lot of stuff I still want to share my thoughts on. The coming months are going to be incredible for gaming and my life will be undergoing to some major changes that have me very excited. To start, I have now joined Twitter, and I hope to make the best of it so if you want to know what is going on in my life, feel free to follow me, if you are familiar with Twitter, everything you need can be found below:



As always, I thank the fans for all of your continued support and I can't wait to feel 100% again soon.

-Nick (That guy that played SAW at E3)

Why I'm worried about Platinum Games.

From IGN.com

(CLICK)

Brad

Help Out?

I was going through some of the PortCon pictures, this was one of my favorites. I was thinking about making it into a Motivational Poster, but I needed some help with the tagline.

Travis said he liked - "It's not gay unless you look them in the eye."

But I would like something more like "Drama, Work it out."

Any suggestions?
David

Pass Or Play?

I've got a decision to make today.

The Conduit.

I've never been all that excited about this title. First off, it's an FPS which in all honesty just isn't my genre of choice. Insert a generic Alien Race invades Earth storyline coupled with a chotchy name like Michael Ford for the main character and I basically passed the game on the spot.

I did have some time with the game at E3. Again, I wasn't too impressed. At E3 however, it was only a multiplayer demo so I credit that to it's lackluster experience and it's early playstation visuals. I can say though that I wasn't blown away by the controls, but they were competent, which I still haven't seen since First Person Shooters came out on the Wii. So in that respect, I've got some sort of hope.

So what is the debate here? The reviews have been mostly meh. Nothing fantasic. I was never interested in the game to begin with. It should be a pretty clear cut decision.

The reason's I'm thinking about picking this title up.

A.) It's a Wii title, you take what you can get.

B.) I don't really pay attention to reviews, Bionic Commando (Loved)

C.) This is the type of game you want to support.

I'm not saying everyone go out and buy this game. It's unproven, but we need to take chances sometimes, both in development and in purchases. Through working on the podcast, I've learned that if I had access to all the game I wanted to play, I'd play a shit load more games. Sometimes however, that isn't possible and it ends up hurting my game playing experiences.

Maybe I'll start doing GameFly. Anyone with impressions about The Conduit?

Thanks,
David

Itagaki on "Bayonetta"

1UP: What do you think of Bayonetta's character design? She's covered in hair.

TI: Covered in hair, is she? I dunno, Mr. Kamiya must have a lot going through his head. Well, in any case, I would first recommend laser eye surgery. I'm sure he's not that strapped for cash, right?

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Brad

This Week on the Feed

They say it can't be done. They say Brad will never finish Hitman. They say Brad has no patience. It can be done. It will be done. I'm loving this game.

I try to stay current with the games I play on the feed. So I rented this. I dunno, it's mildly entertaining so far. I will be finishing the game this week for sure.

In an attempt to determine if I want to buy Overlord 2, well... I suppose I should see if I enjoy the much cheaper first game. This will be interesting because Overlord is very similar to Pikmin, and I notoriously dislike (albeit respect) that game. Well I played the demo for Overlord 2 and enjoyed it -- the control over units is much more hands off as opposed to the, almost RTS like, babysitting of little plant dudes in Pikmin.

Fallout 3: Point Lookout.... As much as I love killing mutant hillbillies, I still don't know if I am going to buy this or not. I do love Fallout 3, but I'm running out of hardrive space. Fucking Microsoft! If it is as good as it looks though, I will cave for sure.

This beautifully crafted PS1 platformer has been beautifully remade. I love the original game, and this is the first Wii game I have ever purchased(I don't own the Wii). There are people who have played this game for an hour or two and wonder about the games simplicity. I could go on to explain how simplicity is a good thing, but I'd rather convince these people to finish the game.
Phantomillian > English.

Brad's Coffin Flip will be refined and mastered!

The things I do for Castlevania....

Brad

Seriously, WTF? Moving On

There's two things I'd like to point out about this picture. One, I hate ads. Even "tastefully" done ads by Google Ads (which is who does the one on the side there). Secondly, that ad creeps me the hell out.

So instead of focusing the creepiness, I think I'll talk about Ads and 4PlayerPodcast. We've been told multiple times, you guys should put up some ads. Start making some money. As much as it is a dream for us to quit our day jobs and do just this, I don't think it's going to happen by just putting up some ads on our blog. It's going to take a lot of work and sacrifices. To create something special and different we're going to have to do something special and different. We can't just be any old website and follow the normal procedures.

From spending time with the community at PortCon, I know we're on the right track. We have a great community. I've been told multiple times from JTV that our chat room is polite and helpful. I'm not sure if we ever officially thanked everyone for contributing to the E3 fund. But THANK YOU!

There is something different about our community. We are not the internet stereotype. We're not a drag on the internet society. More than anything, that it what is most important.

Thank you Stephanie, Jerry, Alex, Caroline, Trey, Joe, Ricky, Oswaldo, Nick and Joseph.

I will promise you, if there is a way to make a website without using blog/forum ads, I will find it.

David

Brad's Laundry List - "The things I do for Castlevania" Edition

It's been awhile since my last Laundry List, but I have a lot of games to add, so I better do it now. I seriously need to do these every week...

Completed:
inFamous
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Siren: Blood Curse
Bionic Commando
House of the Dead: Overkill
Fallout 3: Broken Steel
Parasite Eve 2
Jade Empire
Hotel 626
Ys Book 1
Portal [Round 3]

Working On:
Jericho - (UGGH%) [Developed by MercurySteam]
Scrapland - (10%?) [Developed by MercurySteam]
Klonoa Wii - (25%?)
Overlord - (0%) NICK
Skate - (0%) NICK
Comet Crash - (75%)
Viewtiful Joe - [Round 2](50%?)

Handhelds:
Mario vs Donkey Kong 3 - (60%)
Henry Hatsworth - (60%)
Soma Bringer - (70%)

Brad

Happy Father's Day

I know this is something non-game related, but it's Father's Day. PSY is one of my favorite Korean artists and this song always meant a lot to me when I saw it.

Happy Father's Day,
David