Braid Impressions - .K C U F .D N I M

Really this post should be more than impressions. After all I did beat the game.

I think.

Braid is pretty short and it's priced at 15 dollars which is 5 dollars more than most games on XBLA. It also doesn't have much replay value. Did I mention it is short?

Buy this game.

For the same reason Portal would have been a steal at 15, costs 20, and is worth the full price of The Orange Box.

The art design is odd, the game's screen shots look terrible, the main character looks like Conan O'brien, and any footage of the game is confusing as hell. You are going to have to trust me here. This is one of the best games I have played this year. One of the best in the last couple of years.

Everything surprised me. Everything. I thought I knew what this game was like. I really had no idea. I don't want to go into specifics, because much like Portal, every bit of this game should be experienced first hand. Don't watch someone play the first world, the last world, or any other portion of this game. You won't understand how amazing Braid is until every part has been played.

Braid is a puzzle platformer designed around the manipulation of time and how time effects the world. This is all the information you need to know.

Buy it.


Brad
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M I N D. F U C K. - snoisserpmI diarB

Tonight on JTV: Siren Finale

Tune in to 4PP on JTV tonight to witness the finale of Siren: New Translation for the PS3. I will be finishing up the last two chapters of this chilling survival horror. Check out the following links if you wish to watch any of the footage from the first three nights.

Siren: New Translation Episode 1

Siren: New Translation Episode 2

Siren New Translation Episode 3

Show starts at 10:00 PM (central) so be sure to check it out!

-Nick

The State of "The Dark Knight"

The Dark Knight is by far one of the best movies I have seen in the past decade. The film has already made over $400 million dollars in the box office and smashed so many records that I can't keep up with it. For some odd reason though, this is the first Batman title to be released without a video game coinciding with its theatrical release. Given that other games have been mediocre at best, this might seem like a good thing but I don't think there is any denying that a vast majority of people (myself included) would love to play a Dark Knight game. We know the game exists so why haven't we heard anything about it!? Well today, the Associated Press asks the tough question, "Where is the Dark Knight?"

Well surprisingly it comes down to several reasons, the primary reason being that no one expected the film to do so well. WTF!? In my opinion it's hard to grasp that concept because Batman Begins did amazingly well and the sequel's marketing campaign was massive to say the least. Aside from that, the delay can also be attributed to missed deadlines, the untimely death of Heath Ledger (RIP), and quality control. It is estimated that the EA missed out on approximately $100 million dollars in sales by not releasing a game at the time of the movies release. However, I do applaud them for taking the time to release a quality product and hopefully when we do get a Dark Knight game, it will be the game we all have been hoping for and not just another mediocre licenced game.

Check out the full article here: Source

-Nick

New Comic Thursday

Here's the next entry in the 5th Player, comic made by the fans and viewers of 4pp. thecosmicfly, made a comic about our Mascot Selection Process, which I found quite entertaining. Thanks again for the submissions. icarus94 and Mayor McFly have submitted the majority of the comics, but that doesn't mean that we wouldn't use someone else's. We'd love to more from you guys in the community. From the forums, I've seen a lot of really good stuff made by talented people. But I'll save that post for another day.

Goodnight,
David

PAX 2008, August 29-31

I've been going back and forth about PAX now for about three weeks. But with the recent announcement, things maybe have been pushed towards yes. It was reported that Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel will not be attending PAX this year.

In a Press Release it was stated

“There is no one else in the video game industry quite like Fatal1ty and we’re thrilled that he won't be attending our show” said Gabe, Chief Executive Officer of the Penny Arcade Expo, the greatest video game festival in the universe. “Seriously, if he even tries to come we'll kick him out.”

I don't know what Penny Arcade's reason to hate on Mr. Wendel, but I'm love it. I'm not about 85% sure I'm going to PAX. I just need to make a few phone calls. Anyone in the Seattle area?

David

Press Release taken from GiantBomb.com

Let Me Flash You?

Last night when working with Mike, he stumbled upon a flash movie that made us laugh. It seemed like an older popular video so I wasn't sure if I should post it. But here it is anyways.

Zelda: Heart for the Hero


Also here's another video I liked a lot. I posted this a while back, but with Juan going back and playing all the Resident Evils, I thought it was relevant. Becareful - RE4 Spoilers!!!!!!


David

I Love Math

If you listened to last weeks show or know me in general, you'll know that I very much love Geometry Wars. Recently Jeff Gerstmann from GiantBomb.com did a Q&A with K4rn4age, aka Scott Smith, who held the world record multiple times on the first Geometry Wars. It's a very interesting interview so I thought I'd pass it along to all those who have been playing Geometry Wars lately.

Q&A: A Variety of Vector-Based K4rn4ge

Thanks,
David

Howdy from the boondocks of travis' mind

Ok, first off. Here is me.

I know officially I am not supposed to apologize to the fans. It shows... well I am not sure what it shows. Maybe that I am better than yall, or whatever i do has a bigger and higher purpose which you, as a viewer, could never possibly comprehend. Whatever the case may be, I obviously should. I am not the most dedicated player on board here. I am not the most motivated nor the most active. Every two days I come on the show are for a couple of hours where i either make fun of viewers and play half a game, or where I don't talk during a podcast. I've discussed this to some degree with David, not so much with the others.
The following two weekends I will be unable to come to the podcast. This weekend I am moving a friend to arlington, next weekend I am moving myself to Seguin. And the weekends after that I am currently unable to tell you how that will work out. I am going to be a full time student at a University. My weekends will either be hectic, or asleep... an hour and a half away from david. I am unable to broadcast for i lack the knowledge of how to do so. The only way i know how is the way david does... but the item he uses is unavailable EVERYWHERE.


SO what i am trying to say here is.... I won't be seen for awhile. The days I do make it to broadcast will be far and few between unless i get my own way to do it. The times i can get on the podcast will be very spaced out as well. I would not be surprised in the least if we decided to get someone else to do the podcast while i become something else. Hopefully it all works out for the best.

Now I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.

I love you guys. Whenever i finally get to broadcast everyone is always so excited to see me, everyone asks me how I'm doing. They forgive me for purging them for no reason because they understand that i want a good time. If i say .... n*gger..... You know i do it all for comedy rather than a racial put down. You guys make broadcasting... awesome! I love nothing more than yelling for yall, even if i can't speak right for 2 days afterwards. The fans of this podcast are strong and growing, I am very excited to see where you all can take us. Because as everyone knows, no matter how well a band, show, movie, or podcast is, the fans are the ones who make them grow. otherwise... what would we be? just a bunch of gamers circle jerking each other in the attempt to make something of themselves.
I want to better myself for you guys, just... be patient. I have not and will not forget yall, I'm not leaving 4pp until I'm kicked out (which could happen, i say potty words). Just give me some time, I'm beginning my life. It's not totally oriented towards video games right now.


with love and all the juicy shit,
Travis

Xbox Dashboard, Major Suckage

After watching Brad struggle with Braid the last two days, I've decided that I'm very frustrated with the Xbox 360's dashboard system. I've had my problems with the 360 in the past. I had problems with the 360 having difficulty knowing what it was saving to and then losing the data. I had problems with RockBand and trying to get people set up online and controller's connected or disconnected. Recently, I had more problems with Unlocking Full Games from the Trial Versions with Geometry Wars 2 and Bomberman Live! and Brad has had the same problem with Braid.

What makes things worse is that I was there when Brad bought the Full Version of Braid for an unprecedented 1200 MS Points ($15) and played through the First Level oddly titled World 2. After reaching the end of the level we were greeted with a "Please Purchase the Full Version" message which cause us to restart the game and level over again. We did and progressed possibly a hour and a half through the first world again along with the following two worlds.

Tonight I watched Brad go to resume the game only to find that the Xbox was asking him to once again to "Purchase the Full Game." I'm not exactly sure if its a programming error, Xbox Live Bug, or an insane way the developer is trying use to mess with your mind, the game is all about rewinding time to redo things you messed up on the first time through. Whichever it is, it's really quite annoying and is making the Xbox experience very unenjoyable. It seems that every time I start to embrace Microsoft and their paid online services, something happens to sway me back the other way. Hopefully this new update to the dashboard will make improvements instead of adding to the frustrations.

David

Tonight on JTV

Join me tonight as I continue my journey through the f***ed u world of Siren: New Translation for the PS3. I will be playing through chapters 7,8, and 9 and then finishing the game tomorrow evening by concluding the final 3 chapters. So far, I have been very impressed with the game and am definitely excited to see where the game goes from here. This is a clip of the awesome conclusion to chapter 6 that we left off on. ***SPOILERS***

If you haven't seen our previous Siren episodes, feel free to check it out at the following links:

Siren: New Translation Episode 1

Siren: New Translation Episode 2

Join me tonight at 10:30 pm (central)

-Nick