Who Burned My Toast?

Who Burned My Toast? 62: Resident Evil - Our Revelations

2012-01-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hey Internet, it's time for another full hour of the bull session with the Who Burned My Toast crew. This week we get some hands on time with Capcom's Resident Evil Operation Racoon City as well as Resident Evil Revelations. We discuss how these new entries into the series play well as talk about the newly announced RE 6 trailer. Let's just say that the trailer reveals more questions than answers.

Have you seen the future of gaming? We think we may have. At this year's CES, Razer announced it's gaming tablet called "Project Fiona" that boasts a dual analog control set up with touch screen controls. Do you think tablet gaming is the wave of the future?

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Come join the Who Burned My Toast Platoon. Search for Who Burned My Toast? in the Platoons tab on the Battlelog website and play Battlefield 3 with us on the PS3.

Musicast Ep 17: Megaman X

2012-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

Dev: Capcom
Publisher: Majesco
Producer: Tokuro Fujiwara
Art: Keiji Inafune, Hyato Kaji, Ikki Tazaki, Tatsuya Yoshikawa
Writer: Keiji Inafune
Composer: Setsuo Yamamoto, Makoto Tomozawa, Yuki Iwai, Yuko Takehara, and Toshihiko Horiyama

Megaman X for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1993, is my favorite Megaman game in the whole series. Please enjoy the music.

If you have a video game you'd like us to do a musicast of email us whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com.

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WBMT Episode 61: 2012 Year of the Raptor

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone from the Who Burned My Toast crew. We took a long hiatus over the holidays to recharge and explore the world. We've missed you and bring to you an episode chock full of gaming content, opinions, and of course the weird and the profane. It wouldn't be a WBMT podcast without a few good stories mixed in that may or may not involve fecal matter in a South American country. We also wanted to let you know that we are using Swapnote on the 3DS and if you want to share messages with us, please feel free to send us your friends codes to whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com. It's good to be back and we hope you enjoy the show.

Brad and Amado

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Come join the Who Burned My Toast Platoon. Search for Who Burned My Toast? in the Platoons tab on the Battlelog website and play Battlefield 3 with us on the PS3.

WBMT Episode 60: We dream of Mexican pointy boots

2011-12-06T21:05:00.001-08:00

If you couldn't tell from this fantastic image, we may have gone a little off topic this episode as we triumphantly attempt to get back into our stride after the short holiday hiatus. You can look forward to our thoughts on Mexican pointy boots, Brain imagery research, WWII bombs, the Universe and so much more. And by some miracle we do manage to talk about video games. The new Ace Combat game for 3DS, Battlefield 3, and Zelda Skyward Sword all get our thoughts and impressions.

Also, we started up a platoon on the Battlefield 3 Battlelog. Come join the Who Burned My Toast Platoon. Search for Who Burned My Toast? in the Platoons tab on the Battlelog website.

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Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy. My impressions and/or review... whatever.

2011-12-04T12:43:00.001-08:00

Update Dec 10 2011: The price for Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy has dropped to $29.99.

I've always been a sucker for air combat games. Ever since playing Top Gun on the NES, it's been a love affair for me. When Namco Bandai announced an Ace Combat game for the 3DS, I was on board faster than Maverick on a MIG-29. After six hours of crashing into mountains and shooting down bogeys here is my thoughts to help you decide if this is a game for you.

Assault Horizon Legacy may have a similar name to the console Assault Horizon game, but the 3DS version is a much more traditional Ace Combat game. Your going to get a large choice of fighter jets, weapons, customizable parts, replays, rocking soundtrack, and a lot of dog fighting. Assault Horizon Legacy doesn't skimp on content by any means and after a 6 hours campaign you will still have to unlock and purchase a ton stuff if you want to get everything in the game. So you're going to have to go back and replay missions for higher scores or check out the extra missions for fun. But even with all that the game still felt a little light and not quite a full experience. The games story about the USEA vs the Rebels pretty much boiled down to a us vs them argument with no real gut wrenching plot point to drive the action. When I blow up hundreds of fighter pilots, I like to feel like I'm taking out the bad guys. I won't spoil the games ending for you, but the first thought that popped in my mind was "Wow they phoned in this one". Overall the missions were pretty standard fair and the game is rather easy, so any sense of tension felt lost compared to other Ace Combat games.

On that note, the game did hold my attention enough for me to finish the entire game once through and it did have it's gameplay tricks to keep the game interesting. The counter maneuvers have become a staple in the series and it allows you to get bonuses for staying within a enemies range and use it to get behind your opponent with a press of a button, perform an impossible aerial feat, and shoot down your target with panash. The game also employs a missile dodging mechanic that allows you to save your ass by doing a barrel roll with a well time button press and pointing the control pad in the right direction. Speaking of controls, how does the game feel on the 3DS?

On the standard control settings the game plays pretty straight forward with one circle pad being used guide your fighter, so it's easy to keep your enemy in your sights. Your aircraft will not roll when you move the circle pad left or right. But as you all know this isn't the way real planes behave. Real aircraft require you to control the pitch, yaw and roll all the same time. The pitch and roll is easily handled with the one analog pad. The issue with playing with the expert controls is that the yaw (moves the plane left or right) is handled by the d-pad. This unfortunately is less than ideal when your trying to line up a target with precision while your upside down screaming towards the ground. To not be allowed to control all planes movements simultaneously is an issue with a game based on flying. While the yaw in the game does not actually move your plane all that much, your going to have to adjust and learn when best to use it. Not a deal breaker, just a fact of gaming on the 3DS. Where is that second circle pad Nintendo?

The last thing you may be wondering about is the games 3D graphics and it's overall performance. The game really does have excellent visual at times, boasting some impressive lighting effects with minimal slowdown only occurring when there is a lot of enemies on screen. When you add the 3D effect it does really feel like you have a tiny airplane flying inside your 3DS and makes the replays a little more exiciting. The 3D doesn't enhance the gameplay at all and actually makes it a little challenging to see your HUD elements on the screen when the depth is turned all up all the way. The game oddly does not include an Attitude Instrument on your HUD either, making it impossible to know when your upside down if your lost inside a cloud and can't see the horizon line. One level in particular in the game is almost entirely a thick layer of clouds and I failed the mission repeatedly only because I couldn't tell which way was up or down. Granted everything on the screen feels a bit small and your field of vision is limited greatly when you switch cockpit mode; it looks cool to play in that way but finding your targets get a little more challenging.

Overall the game is decent for the 3DS's first foray into the Air Combat series. My personal opinion is that at the $39.99 asking price, it feels a little underwhelming. Like most 3DS games I've played they feel a little light on content and overall quality. If your a huge fan I would recommend picking this game up when it's price drops a bit if your really looking for a some dog fighting action. By no means I think anyone would be completely disappointed picking up this game. Ace Combat Assault Horizon gets the job done, just not as good as it could have.

Score: 3/5 - Buttered Toast

Pros:
• Real aircraft and customizable parts
• Great Soundtrack
• Good amount of replay value for those who wish get the best scores

Cons:
• Weak to non-existent story
• Controls are not ideal with only one circle pad in expert mode
• Mission and level designs are a little lackluster
• No Streetpass functionality

WBMT Episode 59: Battlefields and Dragons of Skyrim

2011-11-14T21:14:00.001-08:00

We can't hit every epic game that is coming out this month, there is just way too many. But we do get our hands on Battlefield 3 and Skyrim. We give our impressions and thoughts on these big titles as well pound some beers in the process. Is that professional? No. Fun and informative? Yes. Do we care? Heck no! Plus we decide on whether to Marry, Boff, Kill Uncharted 3, Skyrim, and Zelda. What game did you choose to spend your hard earned dough on? Let us know in the comments section.

Also, we started up a platoon on the Battlefield 3 Battlelog. Come join the Who Burned My Toast Platoon. Sign up and search for Who Burned My Toast? in the Platoons section.

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Musicast Ep 16: World of Goo

2011-11-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Developed by: 2D Boy
Published by: 2D Boy, Nintendo 2008
Art by: Kyle Gabler
Music: Kyle Gabler

This week I’m going to playing for you the soundtrack to one of my favorite puzzle games to come out this console generation, no not Zak and Wiki. Although, those of you who listen to the podcast know my love for that game, anyways the soundtrack you need to be listening to right now is World of Goo! Enjoy this weeks Musicast and thanks for listening.

To check out the soundtrack for yourself head on down to http://kylegabler.com/WorldOfGooSoundtrack/
and pick it up for free!

If you have a video game you'd like us to do a musicast of email us whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Heads up comic book and Batman Arkham fans, Derek Fridolfs episode incoming.

2011-10-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

As the title of this post suggests I just want to inform you people who pay attention to the blog that our next podcast we'll have our good friend Derek Fridolfs coming on to talk about his new project. Here's a quote from his deviant art account:

"Back from another fun NY Comic Con. It was great getting a chance to see so many fans and your words of encouragement help fuel the creative battery for another year. Thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hi, buy a print, a page, or a commission. It was fantastic meeting all of you. And while DC wasn't ready to announce what Dustin and I have been working on, we're still hard at work on it and will have plenty to show for it once it comes out next year.

But I can announce one project I'm on…BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED!

Today is the release of the Batman: Arkham City game everyone has been raving about in anticipation. And after the success of the Arkham City comics, both the mini-series and the online digital chapters, it was decided to make a regular series out of it. Yup…an ongoing comic that takes place in the Arkham City universe, and I've been lucky enough to be the one to write it!" - D

Click the link to go to his page and read the rest. It's all very exciting. Anyway Here are a few images he gave us to show you all :).

Interview: Bob Sabiston talks about the development of Inchworm Animation for the Nintendo DSi.

2011-10-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I heard about Inchworm Animation and rushed off to download it from the Nintendo eShop onto my 3DS. Ever since the days of Mario Paint, I've always had a soft spot for animation programs and really enjoy creating scenes of cats juggling balls of yarn. I emailed Inchworm Animation support and, lo and behold, the programs creator Bob Sabiston himself answered my question directly. We got to talking and the conversation was so interesting that I asked him to do an interview with us. Bob graciously answered my questions and now I'm happy to share with you his thoughts on Inchworm Animation and its development for the Nintendo DSi. Thanks again Bob!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your company, Flat Black Animation.
My name is Bob Sabiston and I am the principal employee of Flat Black Films. I work with a lot of artists here in Austin doing a form of animation known as rotoscoping, which is done by tracing over video footage. We are best known for the movies "Waking Life", "A Scanner Darkly", and a series of commercials for Charles Schwab. I do all the programming for the software we use, and in recent years I have branched out into apps for iOS and Nintendo, including the new DSiWare title "Inchworm Animation."

Let’s start with an easy one. What is your favorite animated character or show?
Lately it is the Disney show "Phineas & Ferb.". It is funny and clever. I also love Disney's "Alice in Wonderland", "The Little Mermaid", Pixar's "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles", and Miyazaki's "Spirited Away."

Did you go to school for traditional animation, or is that something you learned on your own?
I went to school more for computer graphics I guess, at the MIT Media Lab. While there I got interested in computer animation and taught myself hand-drawn animation for my second short film, "Grinning Evil Death". (1991)

What inspired you to get into a life of animation and software development?
I have always been into art, drawing and painting, since I was little. I got into computers in high school and was just very inspired by the whole Apple II scene - Richard Garriott's "Ultima II & III" especially, and the Infocom text adventures. I had a friend and in high school we got into programming.

Animation as I say I got into in college, inspired mostly by the little animations on MTV from people like Henry Selick, the traveling shorts festivals with work by people like Mike Judge and Bill Plympton, and then the early Pixar's shorts like "Luxo, Jr.". That one was a biggie for me and a lot of people.

"I ran into a lot of difficulty finding anyone who wanted to publish an animation program."

Why did you choose to develop for the Nintendo DS?
In my thirties I had a girlfriend with an old gameboy, and playing the Legend of Zelda on that really made me want to make something for a small device. I started playing around with home brew for the gameboy color, and then when the DS came out I knew I had to try to write some kind of animation program for it. I wrote to Nintendo and gave them my programming credentials, told them I wanted to make an animation program and asked them to approve me as a developer. This was back in 2004 I think.

What was your biggest challenge while developing Inchworm animation?
It just took much, much longer than I ever expected. Five years, though I wasn't working on it the whole time. It also grew into a more ambitious project than I originally planned. I ran into a lot of difficulty finding anyone who wanted to publish an animation program (this was years before Flipnote Studio). In fact I only was able to get it out there eventually because they came out with the DSi and allowed developers to self-publish.

Inchworm isn’t the only animation program on the DSi. What are some of the cool features you think make it stand out?
Well it is as professional as I could make it. It has nice antialiased lines, transparency, 15 bit color, layers, patterns and basically no limit on the size of drawing you can do. You can adjust the timing of individual drawings on each layer - so you can have a background layer which does not move, and another layer which moves quickly, etc. You can hold on a frame for a while to give it emphasis. There's a cool pattern editor in there. You can also set up a bank of frames and draw on them as they loop, which is fun and can make cool-looking effects.

And the greatest thing, which only got added when I moved form the DS to the DSi, was the use of the camera, so you can do stop motion and time lapse photography and incorporate that into your animation. Also you can export to the SD card in SWF format as well as frame sequences.

Were there any features you really wanted to program into the software but couldn't? If so, why?
There is a huge other portion that I actually did program, a timeline with keyframes and groups of layers, where you can move objects around without consuming any more memory. You could program camera moves and cutscenes. You could also insert sound effects with an included sound effects library and even record your own sounds.

It is heartbreaking that I had to pull it out, but it was looking like I would never get it finished so I had to simplify. All that stuff works though and I even did the interactive tutorials for it, it just needs extensive testing and debugging. If I ever do a 3DS version I will for sure get that back in there, because that timeline stuff will be extremely useful for manipulating 3D layers.

Are there any lessons have you taken from past software development, such as Rotoshop, that you applied to Inchworm animation?
Yes, the antialiased line code is basically the same, I ported it to the DS's fixed point arithmetic and 15 bit graphics. There is also a very useful facility in Rotoshop which allows you to draw underneath a layer, rather than on top, and that is in Inchworm too.

"They do not seem to have the same approach to developers as say Apple or Android, where anyone can do it."

What is it like to be a small developer working with Nintendo? Any words of wisdom for small developers out there looking to work with the Big N?
Well it takes a lot of patience. They do not seem to have the same approach to developers as say Apple or Android, where anyone can do it. They prefer to work with established, larger companies I think. Me not having any prior experience with them was detrimental, as I was unaware of a lot of procedures and standard practices. I think I was very lucky that they put up with my ineptness in a lot of areas.

So basically you need to have your shit together, if you will pardon my French. You probably need to have the semblance of a company and a decent amount of money to put into it. For example, the development equipment is several thousand dollars, and to put out a title costs several thousand more once you deal with insurance, ratings boards, QA costs, etc. So it is not like a hobbyists thing.

Gamers can share and upload their animations to www.inchwormanimation.com. What is the “studios” section and are there any future plans for the site?
Yes the studios are just where you can go in and look at each user's gallery of uploaded animations. We have been lax in getting that live on the site, but it is basically ready to go now. We recently added the ability to tweet and Facebook post links to individual animations.

There is so much I would like to add. I want to provide HTML5 support so the site is viewable on iPads and iPhones. It uses flash right now. I think we will soon have a button where it will export the FLV file for you, so you can post them to YouTube. We may even just have a "post to YouTube" button. I would like to have comments and ratings for the animations. I would like to put a sound recorder on the site to attach soundtracks. But we'll see how far we get. I just have one friend working with me on that stuff and he is pretty busy. And I am getting the European submission ready.

What’s next for Inchworm Animation and Flat Black Animation? Will we see a 3DS version with 3D animation capabilities?
As I say I am almost ready with the submission to the European market. I had to get the incredibly long instruction manual translated to German, French, Italian and Spanish.At first I had some volunteers and students doing it but in the end I am getting a professional QA company to go over the work and get it all right.

Last week I added a video onionskin feature to that version, since it was easy to do and people have asked for that. It's a bonus feature for people who have been waiting for it over in Europe. I wish I could issue an update for the US version...

I woul love to do a 3DS version, it would be cool and like I say I have all those features that didn't make it into the first version. I applied to be a 3DS developer and am waiting on approval. But whether I go through with the whole project depends on some other factors like our film projects, how the 3DS sells in the longer run, etc...

Thanks again for your time, Bob. Is there anything else you would want 3DS/i owners to know about Inchworm Animation before you go?
That probably about covers it! Thanks for asking me to do the interview.
___________________________________________________________

Available on:
Nintendo eShop for $4.99
DSiware for 500 points
www.inchwormanimation.com

Musicast Ep 15: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World The Video Game

2011-10-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal.
Published by Ubisoft and Universal Studios.
Art by: Paul Robertson, Stephane Boutin, Jonathan Lavigne, Justin Cyr, Jonathan Kim, and Mariel Cartwright.
Music: Anamanaguchi.

I didn't read the graphic novel, nor did I ever care to. As fun and interesting as it might be, I was more interested in the game for a couple of reasons.
Anamanaguchi I heard was going to be doing the whole soundtrack to the game. They are an 8-bit chiptune punk rock band that I had once heard. I really enjoy their music so I was very excited about this.
The other super attractive thing about this game is the main artist. His name is Robert Paulson... no I mean, his name is Paul Robertson. His work is familiar to me because of one really cool video. Here it is:

Big thanks to Edward Fonseca for the recommendation. If you have a video game you'd like us to do a musicast of email us whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com.. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Community Spotlight: Resistance 3 PS3 Review

2011-10-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi people. I'm excited to give you all another review from our community spotlight series. This is basically us hosting your own reviews, previews, opinion editorials, or anything really.

Once again Mr. Eric Geer graces us with a review. This time he sent us his review of Resistance 3 for the Playstation 3 system. We think it's awesome if you want to join in on the blog and take part in the conversation. So if you have something interesting or anything your passionate about, let us know by shooting us an email at whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com.

Thanks again Eric.

Resistance 3:
By Eric Geer 
The story starts 4 years after the Operation Black Eden(Resistance 2), where the United States is now the only nation surviving against the Chimera occupation. Joseph Capelli(You) and a group of survivors are living in secrecy, they went into hiding from the chimera patrols over 2 years. This is where you start in Resistance 3—holed up underground like a rat—which makes sense when you have followed through the events of Resistance.

Resistance 3 takes you through a war torn world that is changing rapidly from the Chimera take over—the landscape and scenery are slowly forming and being made in the eyes of the Chimera. Overall, Resistance is a solid shooter. The movement, accuracy and weight of the guns feel great. It doesn’t stop there, Insomniac games has pulled through again and offered up some of the same guns from the previous games as well as some strange new ones. You can see the full list here: http://resistance.wikia.com/wiki/Resistance_3_Weapons. One I found that was funny, but not particularly useful in all cases; was “The Mutator.” You end up shooting either globs(that can be charged for a super glob) or can be shot as a mist with your secondary, which cause the enemies to start to bulge into monstrosities, similar to those exploding zombies you find in Dead Nation or Left 4 Dead, but they stay in one spot and if used correctly can act as mines for other enemies that come your way.

Overall the guns and weapons are great fun in Resistance 3, and they only get better the more you use them—the campaign weapon upgrading isn’t determined by what guns you WANT to upgrade, but rather the guns you USE MOST. This upgrading happens automatically—so if you want the best version of a particular gun—USE IT. Another welcomed feature that went missing was the weapon wheel. Thankfully its back and you can hold onto all the strange and crazy guns you find along the way.

A couple other features that you may have missed from Resistance 1 include split screen and online campaign co-op as well as non-regenerative health. I enjoyed the non-regenerative health as it adds a level of throwback nostalgia, as well as a reason NOT to get shot—the intensity increases exponentially as your health diminishes and there are no health packs in sight. Only time the non-regenerative health can be frustrating is when you have to move through sections where you are required to kill EVERY enemy in order to move to the next section—this doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does and you are just about to die…you may find yourself rage quitting because you have to start from the last check point.

Moving away from guns now and welcomed returns, Resistance 3 tells a solid story though sometimes caught up in a repetitive cycle of enemies. You will run across a few new enemy classes, particularly a new flying chimera that fly around and find themselves nice perching positions to snipe you out. There are other’s but don’t want to spoil too much. The game mechanics/or level design can be somewhat repetitive and often times cyclical. Something similar to this: Story, small enemy, medium enemies, large enemies, story—rinse and repeat—sometimes you may sub large enemies with lots of small and medium enemies. Overall it goes through the same process, but where it fails to be fresh in this matter, it makes up in atmosphere—generally through the first three quarters, while the latter quarter you find yourself seeing lots of chimera architecture and the innards thereof. As Joseph Capelli you are on your way from Oklahoma to New York—so you will see lots of changes in landscape geographically but more so in variation of how strong the Chimera presence is and how much it has changed the landscape and this is all done through a wonderful new look and a large improvement graphically than either Resistance 2 or Resistance 1. The game looks good and mixed with the interesting atmospheres the game places you in a world of its own.

While we have looked at some good and bad things thus far, let’s delve deeper into some of the irks and miss-steps that I think make the game good, but not excellent. Often time, you will be working with an NPC on a particular mission—and many times this NPC has a mind of its own, whether smart or dimwitted. You will find yourself either sprinting after or more frustratingly waiting on NPCs to open doors or tell you the next objective. I found this most frustrating towards the beginning and end of the game—first you want the game to really get going only to get stuck at some door while hearing lots of guns and explosions going off just out front, or on the flipside you want to find out what happens at the end only to get stuck by an NPC clipped on the edge of the map or not even moving towards the next objective.

While you have the super smart and super dimwitted NPCs you might run into a bit of the same with the enemies. Either too smart or too stupid. Many times you will run into a some enemies and enemy classes that as soon as you enter a particular area will automatically see you(good luck sniping without enemy fire all over you, or avoiding those close-courters enemies when they know you have entered the map). Other times you will find that you are standing very close to you and just don’t see you and you can pick them off with just about any weapon in your arsenal (shotgun included). While there are some great points and some not so hot points—its feels like a good game, but it also feels a bit like the same thing. Insomniac did a great job, and they listened to fans, but I’m not sure they listened to the beat of their own drum and this is quickly noticed with the Competitive multiplayer—It doesn’t feel like anything new, it feels tacked on much like we have seen with the loads of FPS multiplayer games that have come out. It’s got typical match types: Team Deathmatch, Chain Reaction, Deathmatch, Breach, and Capture—you have probably played them all in a different game labeled under a different name. The weapon level up system is focused on skill points(surprise) and you will use them to upgrade your weapons, gain titles, and acquire gadgets(which are actually quite fun—an example of this is a “Decoy”—which can be used to project another self next to you—but beware of running it into walls or other objects as it will scramble your decoy and give away your true self). One thing I sorely missed from Resistance 3, was the large scale 8 player coop missions from Resistance 2. I thought that these were incredibly fun and would have liked to have seen this included opposed to the competitive multiplayer—it has more originality and feels fresh even years after the games release.

Overall, I would recommend Resistance 3 to FPS and single/co-op campaign players. I would not recommend this game solely on the multiplayer, as it’s just not something compelling enough to keep, IMO, your attention. While I may not be your average gamer and won’t fall into the standard Multiplayer gaming, there are definitely find a few that will find hours of fun in upgrading weapons and playing with the gadgets of the Resistance world, that you won’t find in other worlds.

Good:

Solid Shooting
Story Telling
Interesting Weapons
Atmosphere
Graphics
Interesting New Enemies
Weapon Leveling System
Co-op is back

Bad:

Repetitive-Enemy Cycles/Style/Level Design
Stuck in areas until enemies are dead
Enemies too smart/too stupid
Feels like more of the same
Competitive Multiplayer

Ugly:

Waiting on/Running after NPCs
No large team co-op

Rating:
Buttered toast. (2/3)

WBMT Episode 57: Goodbye Jobs. Goodbye Steve.

2011-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

With the recent passing of Steve Jobs, we get the crew together and discuss Jobs influence on the computing industry and the world. Whether you're an Apple fanatic or a hater of all things sleek and shiny, there is no denying that the world of computing and Apple itself has dramatically changed since the early 2000's. This is mainly due to Steve Jobs own handling of the company and it's products. Don't think don't leave any stone unturned and delve into the companies questionable business practices either.

We also give you our thoughts on Dark Souls, Aliens Infestation, and Dead Island with our usual dose of the biggest news happening in gaming that you should be paying attention too. So sit back, lock it up and enjoy this weeks show.

What are you thoughts on Apple? Do you love everything Apple or loathe the fanboys?

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Aliens Infestation releases for Nintendo DS today. We're excited and here's why you should be too.

2011-10-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Aliens Infestion for the Nintendo DS lands its way onto store shelves today. Sega may have had this game flying under the radar with little promotion and it may seem like releasing a DS title at this point in time makes little to no sense. But I'm here to tell you that there are some good reasons why you should at least give the game a look, we certainly are. To be honest I haven't played the game, so I'm going with my gut instinct on this one. So come join me and let me tell you why you should be excited for this game. Here, let this trailer whet your appetite.

Reason 1: It's made by Wayforward
Does Shatnea's Risky Revenge, Contra 4 or A Boy and His Blob ring any bells in your head? Wayforward has a great track record of making old school 2-D style games and mixing it with fantastic animation. It's almost as if the company is writing a love letter to the genre every time they make a game. When you play one of their games you can really tell these guys know what their doing and can do it damn well. I can't possibly think of another developer that is more equipped to bring a 2D side scrolling exploration Aliens game to life.

Reason 2: Art and Design
Aliens Infestation features characters designs from the famous comic book artist Chris Bachalo. Which is kind of crazy since the game features 20 different colonial marines for you to play as. Which to me begs the question, why do we get so many Marines at our disposal? My bet is that in this game, you're going to die in many gruesome ways.

Reason 3: 2D action retro gaming FTW
From all the descriptions and information about the game. There are two things that get me really excited for this game. Exploration and tons of weapons. This game sounds like Metroid with Flamethrowers and Grenades. To be honest there isn't enough of these type of games around for us to play anymore. Love live 2D!

Reason 4: It's an Aliens game, need I say more?
This reason you can chalk down to nostalgic fan service, but for anyone my age it's hard to ignore anything Aliens related. The Xenomorphs are the quintessential scary as shit, bad ass movie monsters of cinema. The movies were so defining for Sci-Fi horror that no one has quite ever captured the magic and impact that those acid bleeding Aliens did in the 80's. If you're a young gamer and haven't seen an Aliens movie, do yourself a favor. Get a copy of the movie (1 or 2), grab your youngest sibling, turn of the lights, and scare the crap out of them and yourself. Then play this game! It will be good times for all.

Musicast 14: Sega Arcade Classics - Altered Beast & Golden Axe

2011-10-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

SEGA! This week we're doubling up and featuring two, yes two game soundtracks. Altered Beast and Golden Axe were ported from the Arcade to the Sega Genesis early in its lifecycle. These classic games were cemented in many young gamers memories because of their great music and brutal gameplay.

Come enjoy these classic distinctive gaming tunes.

Hey! Send us feedback on this not so new series. Love it or hate it? Let us know. Also don't forget to send us in your requests of game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Episode 56: Gameageddon!

2011-10-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

It's another episode of all things gaming fellow nerds. We invite our friends Lorenzo and Mr. Libation on the podcast to go over the huge list of games coming up this holiday season and oh man there are a ton. The sheer amount of releases is truly staggering and it's going to put a big hole in your wallet, so get ready for Gameagaddon!

We also read read the answers to our new weekly Facebook community question. What game (if any) would you want given one of those classic HD remakes? Let us know what game you would like to see an HD remake too in the comments section. Enjoy this weeks toast! Also who is going to milk Nagini?

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Music Podcast 13: Demon's Souls

2011-09-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Back in 2009 my world was invaded by a black phantom. This black phantom was called Demon's Souls. A spiritual successor to King's Field which stood apart from all other games of it's kind. In part due to it's design, but mostly due to it's difficulty. Most people after playing this game seem to recall the old days of gaming; when you knew whatever you played was going to kick the crap out of you across the street.
I even reviewed Demon's Souls back then. I gave it a Buttered Toast which is basically a 2/3. Since then I've returned to playing it and as I stated in the musicast I'm 4 play-throughs in.
Anyway Please enjoy this weeks Musicast. Oh! Also visit preparetodie.com to pre-order Dark Souls which comes out October 4th.
FROM SOFTWARE in join development with SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN STUDIO (SCE Japan Studio).
directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FROM SOFTWARE and Produced by Takeshi Kaji from SCE Japan Studio.
Music composed by Shunsuke Kida.

Community Spotlight Dues Ex: Human Revloution PS3 Review

2011-09-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

What's up nerds? Behold, our first community spotlight is here for your reading pleasure. What is the community spotlight you ask? Well it's a place to highlight the fantastic listeners and followers of Who Burned My Toast who wish to share their thoughts with the group. If it's interesting, we'll post it up, maybe make fun of you or possibly shower you with praise.

Our first member who stepped up to the plate is Eric Geer. He was gracious enough to send us his review of Dues Ex: Human Revolution for the PS3. We think it's awesome if you want to join in on the blog and take part in the conversation. So if you have something interesting or anything your passionate about, let us know by shooting us an email at whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com.

Thanks again Eric.

Dues Ex: Human Revolution PS3 Review
Reviewer: EBGeer

“The game is set in 2027, 25 years before the first title, where corporations have extended their influence past the reach of global governments. The game follows Adam Jensen, the security chief for one of the world's most powerful human augmentation corporations, Sarif Industries. After a devastating attack on Sarif's headquarters, Adam is forced to undergo radical surgeries that fuse his body with mechanical augmentations, and he is embroiled in the search for those responsible for the attack.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex:_Human_Revolution)

Disclaimer: As a lazy gamer, I ganked the above abstract from Wikipedia to save both time, and provide a plot description.

Prior to truly stepping into the game you get a taste of what’s going on with some synopsis and background of the story as well as a bit of training to learn out to maneuver your character Adam Jensen. I will first touch upon the things I enjoyed about the game because my negative viewpoint far outweighs the positive.

Have no doubts, there are some good and even great aspects of this game. The story and atmosphere are incredible. When you first enter the world of Deus Ex you want to stay and it really draws you in. The world is beautiful and it has its own character—which is nice for a change since most games have a hard time doing this. The game is fairly open world when you are in what seems like the hub world of Detroit 2027 but when you end up on main missions the gameplay becomes very linear.

It’s obvious when you enter, that choice is going to be a key part of your gaming experience--and it is—most obviously through your actions. The first of these major actions you much choose in one of your first missions is whether you are going to play Stealth or Combat—which has an effect throughout the entire mission and game—But your other choices are going to be through conversation---and this really grabbed hold of me as a very well done aspect of this game. Very reminiscent of Mass Effect or Fallout series’ you generally end up with a Good, Bad, and Ugly response or conversation piece, which I loved. But beware; each of these options will hold you accountable. You will lock up other options if you opt to be a badass straight off the bat. Throughout you go through missions based upon your main plot and side missions based on those people you meet or information you find out from various means (hacking computers, talking to random NPCs, etc.) This is all very interesting and carries you further to your final goal of finding out who is responsible for the attack at Sarif Headquarters.

For each mission you complete and experience you gain you end up getting praxis points, which are points you use to upgrade your character—there are plenty of options though some are useful and others not so useful. These can be upgrade to augment and enhance your mind, skills, and body (Is your body ready?) These points can be found throughout levels, purchase them, or through experience. This is extremely intriguing and would have continued to do so if I made it through the game—though I didn’t and probably never will.

Outside of these good points mentioned above there are some bad things that have to do with both gameplay mechanics and game design.

The first issue I had as this is first and foremost was that as a FPS, the shooting kind of sucks and your character feels far from augmented and is fairly weak from the standpoint of a “hero”, only a few shots and you’re a dead man(wait for the reload..just keep waiting). Also, the POV depending on what you are doing will switch between 1st and 3rd person. While walking around you will be in first person, but if you move in for cover you character will then be moved into 3rd person—which in some ways can be disorienting especially if you are in a firefight and want to get your bearings on your next landing for cover. To complicate this, the control are out of the ordinary/non-traditional FPS controls and because of this are not reactionary—for the first couple hours it’s like a guessing game on what your character will do next because you end up button mashing to find the right one. Though once you get the hang of them they aren’t bad—then your run into the second issue of item grabbing—this isn’t terribly important, but when you come up to the unconventional/unsuspecting boss battles(to be described further) not being able to pick up an item(exploding barrels, fire extinguishers to blow up) it becomes quite frustrating—it could best be described as fickle. In fact, the controls just feel out of date.

The boss battles were the real make or break for me in this game. Throughout most of the game you are sneaking/running/hiding and occasionally shooting when the necessary because your character is a weak PoS—then you get into the boss battles, which then turns the game into a traditional FPS(think Doom/Quake bosses)and (spoilers) the first boss basically continually walks at you with a chain gun and explosives—meanwhile you are weak, and your fickle/limited inventory(which prevent you from carrying to much at once—more often less than you need—though this can be expanded through praxis points) you end up running around in circles or sneaking behind walls while he continually knows where you are and continues to shoot and throw grenades at you. From what I have seen and heard about the other bosses, it only get harder—UNLESS—you search online (google) for what their weaknesses are and pick up those items or make those upgrades prior to reaching the bosses. If you are ill prepared, which likely you will be, you will most likely be in a ride for some trouble—If I had continued on
from where I left off the likelihood is that I would have to restart the game because I failed to pick up the “appropriate” inventory(wait what happened to “choice”?!?!?!)—therefore wasting my life so I could get back to that point with a shit ton of grenades and blow Robocop up.

Continuing along the lines of other game issues/game design choices that I found completely frustrating and NOT fun are the following:

Load times:
For a game that will definitely come down to trial and error the load times(on PS3) are obnoxiously long especially when it may take you 5-10 tries to get past a particularly difficult part.

Inventory/Management thereof: Where’s the ammo? FPS should give you the ability to shoot—I found myself looking for ammo more often than shooting because there wasn’t enough space in my inventory to hold onto a decent store of bullets. Also, managing your items in your inventory is a game in itself—many times I found myself dropping precious guns because I had no ammo and had to pick up other shitty guns because I had ammo—even if it was only 5 bullets.

Hacking:
This game is hacktastic! And it definitely is not fun—especially when it sets off an alarm. Whether entering doors or computers(which are a great portion of the game) you will find yourself hacking—outside of missions it’s not bad because there aren’t really alarms—in missions well if you mess up—you will be hunted down by the NPCs that seem to know exactly where you were hacking from. Just know you will be hacking and it is not intuitive and it is not fun—from the start it seems to be a guessing game—after you do it a few times it gets better but they get progressively more complex.

Enemy AI:
They seem either too stupid or too smart, meaning they will know exactly where you are even if you disappeared out of sight into a vent. And if you sound an alarm forget fighting because all the enemies in a given location or area entire level will come for you and will know exactly where you are(And remember Adam is a weak PoS). On the flipside they will know where you are and if you wait long enough just suddenly forget about you—everything about you, and you can walk right up behind them and take them out with your augmented blade arms.

This game is old: Lots of things seemed old in this game—whether it was gameplay or mechanics, it just seemed out-of-date (Left a bad taste in my mouth)

Cardboard Boxes: In the future there are only cardboard boxes. Although they do nothing for you and there is a low chance you will find anything underneath or in them, there are cardboard boxes fucking EVERYWHERE!!!

Good:

The atmosphere, story, moral choice and conversation hold a dear place in my heart because it was the only thing keeping me going.
Augmentable body and skills.

Bad:

Controls
Load times
Inventory or lack thereof
1st/3rd Person perspective switch
Hacking
Old game mechanics/game design
Enemy AI

Ugly:

Boss Battles
Hacking
Cardboard boxes
Adam Jensen’s voice

Ep 55: Nubble Double

2011-09-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

What has been seen, can't be unseen. Nubbageddon is upon us and after waiting ever so patiently for the Nintendo Press Conference and TGS to give us more details on this ugly attachment, we give our thoughts on Nintendo's newest add on. As usual, Nintendo didn't say much about it and instead decided to focus on a megaton announcement for the 3DS. Monster Hunter Tri G and Monster Hunter 4 are confirmed. Ouch Vita. So listen up and let us know what you think of the Nubble Double.

As mentioned in the podcast we're asking for donations for our friend Mike who just got his house robbed. Even $1.00 would be appreciated. Let's get this man back on Fallout 3.

Also we wanted to give props to our friend Mr. Spastic and let you know about his new album release titled Lucid. We give you a taste on the podcast, but you should really check it for you self. It's free and spectacular. http://www.8bitpeoples.com/discography/by/mr_spastic

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast 12: Star Fox 64

2011-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this one coming from a mile away, but it's only fitting to listen to classic music from one of the N64's greatest games. So to coincide with the recent release of Star Fox 64 3D, here is the soundtrack in all its Midi glory.

Game Developed by: Nintendo EAD
Published by: Nintendo
Composer: Koji Kondo, Hajime Wakai

Hey! Send us feedback on this not so new series. Love it or hate it? Let us know. Also don't forget to send us in your requests of game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011 Live Blog. Prepare for horrible Japanese translations

2011-09-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is probably a horrible idea and is a blog first for Who Burned My Toast, but with minutes to spare before the conference starts I am going to live blog the conference the best I can.

Prepare for misinformation and lots of horrible translations, since I don't know Japanese. So kick back and check up every so often to see how its going. Oh crap it's starting.

8:00 PM: Things start off with a skyward sword hi-res intro. Godd damn it someone needs to move the camera up. Half this carp is cut off! Hi-Res Cut scene and now Miyamoto is on stage with with sword and shield. Talking in Japanese.

8:04 PM: Four Swords Zelda, shows characters playing in all the different Zelda games in honor of Zeldas 25th. No release date given yet.

8:05 PM: Miyamoto is breaking out the wiimote with motion plus. Fears of E3 are running high. Will the demo go well this time? I don't think so. Don't do it Miyamoto San. Don't lose your honor! So far it looks like Miyamoto isn't playing at all just mimicing different cut scenes and explaining in hand gestures. Is this a good sign?

8:08 PM: They are showing all the gameplay elements possible with Wii motion plus... holy shit just saw link in a mine cart and catching butterflies! Lots of environments being shown.

8:10 PM: Epic boss battle with link flying around a giant bird-fish thing. Bosses are huge in this game.

8:11 PM: Game Montage for 3DS games, Tekken, RE Revelations, Animal Crossing, Monster Hunter shown!

8:14 PM: Wii game line up until the Wii dies in Japan. It's already dead here. Nothing new here so far.

8:16 PM: Showing sales chart for consoles.. snore. Comparing Male Vs Female. A Pink 3DS Shown! No second nub here. Ladies Nintendo has you covered.

8:19 PM: Super Mario Land footage. Looks more and more like a Super Mario 64 Galaxy love child.

8:20 PM: Mario Kart. Looks like you can live view your friends playing Mario Kart from the friends menu somehow. If I could read Japanese maybe it would make more sense how it works. Now Mario Tennis... Mario Mario Mario. NOW PAPER MARIO! Coming 2012.

8:21 PM: Luigi's Mansion coming 2012 and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games. First Eyes on Animal Crossing. The graphics look marginally improved over Gamecube, but I don't play Animal crossing. I heard Wifi in there but that's about it! Short short demos.

8:23 PM: Something weird is happening on screen. Mii characters are running around in home environments with distorted sounds and Mii heads place on real people. I cant explain it, it's weird as fuck! It's something new that's for sure. Looks like a game staying in JP only for sure.

8:26 PM: Showing off a new card battle game. Where is my Japanese official Amado to identify what series this is. Why is it all in Japanese! What a horrible Idea this is!

8:28 PM: AH fuck cool. Small demo of the Fatal Frame game. Showed the user using AR to take pics of a book in real time to capture ghosts!

8:30 PM: New game with trailer, looks like Dynasty warriors for 3DS with 4 player co-op or VS. 2012.

8:32 PM: SqaureEnix logo and a anime chick... where is Amado? New game with a cellshaded drawing art style. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is the name, coming in 2012 JP. It's obvious this is just a game whore event. It's new game, after new game.

8:35 PM:Project Mirai, Super cute anime miniature anime character singin and dancing to music. Rythm Game. Don't expect this one to come out in the US. My ears are bleeding from the Japanese high pitched pop music... gooooooddddd make it stop.

8:36 PM: Good stuff, RE Revelations and Ace Combat 3: Cross Rumble, Tekken 3D Prime Edition, Theatrhythm. Why does square have to name shit like this? It's confusing. Dragon Quest 3 coming Nov 2 2011, JP only announced. They don't care about us here cuz America sucks. It's all Reggie's fault.

8:38 PM: LOL, a new love plus is coming to JP, MGS 3D Snake Eater, and oh boy Kid Icarus in early 2012. They are explaining the cards that I played with in PAX, but alas don't show them in use. They are flying through this stuff.

8:40 PM: Megaton! Monster Hunter Tri 3G Trailer. Looks like Tri, more weapons, dual weapons, bow and arrows, more robust online area, some new monsters, environments look similar, some monsters with different color palletes, one with glowing green hands. It's seems more bright and colorful than Tri for Wii.

8:44 PM: Monster Hunter Dev on stage peddling his game on 3DS. Sorry I forgot his name! Waiting for the nub reveal.

8:46 PM: They are making hand gestures to me look like nub talk. It's coming out in Japan 12-10-2011.

8:49 PM: He has left the stage, another trailer for Monster Hunter. It looks like real time or in game engine within a new environment not seen previously with your character leapving from rock tower to rock tower trying to escape a monster.

8:50 PM: Hunter in now riding on top of the monster attacking it, MONSTER HUNTER 4! Confirmed for 3DS! Japan only for now! So looks like 3DS is getting more Monster Hunter Love than previously thought. Will Vita see the same love?

8:53 PM: That's it, conference is over. Not a single word about this second analog nub and how it's going to work with Monster Hunter. Maybe this is a Capcom only attachment at this point. Now they are showing Tatsunoko dubbed animation. I have no idea what they are saying but it's funny as shit. They are talking about MH Tri 3G and being happy!

8:57 PM: This cartoon in infinately entertaining... it reminds me of Space Ghost or The Brak Show and they keep showing MH Tri 3G stuff and it's great. You can customize your inventory on the touch screen. This whole event is really for Monster Hunter... lol. http://www.copacom.co.jp/monsterhunter/3g/

Well I hope the experiment went well and you enjoyed it. They went through the information quick. So the internet was wrong and no new 3DS model was announced. All we can really confirm is that in fact yes, the 3DS has some third party support under it's wing. It's looking pretty good in Japan at the moment. I'm signing off kids!

PAX 2011: Part 2 - The Hangover

2011-09-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

Better late than never we always say. This is part 2 of our Pax Prime 2011 podcast series, technically Episode 54. We originally recorded the podcast live with two Destructoid community member's Eric and Thomas of 2drunkassholes@twitter.com after a long night of hard drinking and vomiting. It however was a train wreck of opinions and mom jokes. We will somehow figure out a way to get the good parts of that recording out to you in the near future. But lets forget about the past and talk about the future of the games we played on the last day of Pax.

We wrap things up and give away an XBox live avatar Retro City Rampage t-shirt and a discount code for Fangamer.net, so you can purchase awesome video game clothing and accessories. The games we talk about include; Heroes of Ruin, Jurassic Park, Street Fighter X Tekken, Retro City Ramapge, Aliens: Colonial Marines, SSX, Fire Fall, and BloodRayne. We hope you enjoy the show and thanks for listening.

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Eyes on Aliens: Colonial Marines at Pax Prime

2011-09-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Are fan's going to get a game worthy of the Aliens name?

"Get away from her, you bitch!" is a quote from Aliens, one of my favorite 80's movies that haunted my childhood dreams for years. So it was a fantastic surprise for me to stumble across the Aliens: Colonial Marines booth at Pax Prime this year. I got my ass in gear, hustled into line, and awaited to be escorted into the large sliver like sardine can to get my first glimpse of the game in action with a guided tour from SEGA and Gearbox Software.

I was shuffled into a dark room with 19 other people, with a couple PCs, and two giant LCD screens. No cameras or pictures were allowed for this preview, so I am going to give you my best impressions of what Gearbox is trying to do with Aliens: Colonial Marines.

First off, Gearbox wanted to make it clear to us that they are pulling out all the stops to help make this game the definitive Aliens game to come out in the series history. To be honest there really hasn't be an Aliens game in my mind that has totally nailed the series completely. One of the ways that Gearbox has put its best foot forward is by building from the ground up a new lighting engine specifically for the game. Their goal was to capture the look and feel of the movies atmosphere as close as possible. The authenticity doesn't stop here however, Gearbox even brought in the original designer of the U.S.S. Sulaco to complete the ships design beyond the movie set just for the game. My first true impression of the demo was that Gearbox wasn't messing around here.

Light... sometimes it's better not to see how your going to die.

Now that the spiel was over, it was time to see the game in action. As the game began its opening cinematic on the destroyed Hadley's Hope colony, you see a warped base with a gaping hole seeing into the landscape of planet LV-426. In the distance you see a black silhouette of an Alien scatter across your field of vision. Oh fuck. It was explained that Aliens: Colonial Marines takes place one month after the thermonuclear explosion from the Aliens movie and The Company has sent more marines to investigate what the hell happened to everyone. This leads to the main feature of the game and what they were going to specifically show us in the live demo. Drop in and out at anytime four-player co-op is how this is going to operate. You can be at any point in the game and a friend (or friends) can hop into your game without any hassles. If they've decided to leave mid level to go grab a six pack, no worries you can keep on playing. As the demo was running, they showed this happen in real time and it looked like a smooth and easy experience.

The developers then lead us through some of the environments and showed us Aliens and Marines getting destroyed in horrific ways, which is always a crowd-pleaser. Aliens smashed out of air vents and snatched Marines, dragging them into the darkness kicking and screaming. Weapons were equipped with the famous radar screens, showing how hopelessly surrounded they were by the hoards of Aliens. You'll be able to upgrade weapons and your marine, but not much more info was given in the demo. The sounds effects of the Aliens and the weapons sounded really good, almost as if they were directly grabbed from the movie and left me impressed.

Environments on Hadley's Hope felt spot on using the same vibe from the movies, with narrow coordiors, dark passages, Aliens infested lairs, and large cargo bays filled with the famous yellow exosuit cargo-loaders. Now I didn't see any gameplay using the exosuit directly, but characters in the environment were running around fighting Aliens one on one. I got the distinct feeling that you will be able to use these as well to kick some Alien ass in the game. You will also have the opportunity to play levels on the U.S.S Sulaco and on LV-426's surface.

Exosuits are badass. I want to be badass.

Overall the game look great running on the PC. It was smooth, fast, and had some really slick lighting effects. The Aliens looked very detailed and their animation were excellent. The only thing that I noticed right off the bat is that the Aliens seems to move slightly slower than I would have expected. It could be a minor design decision, but from the looks of it your going to be plenty busy with Aliens attacking you from all directions. I wouldn't worry about that too much. The developers did show off some of the new Alien designs that you've not see in the movies. One particular Alien featured had a large head rack similar to a triceratops (minus the horns) that proceeded to smash Marines flat against walls. It looked brutal and got a few groans and ooohs from the crowd.

The demo felt like it went by way too fast and I was inundated with a lot of visual stimulus in a short amount of time. The co-op mode I think is a good direction for this game to focus on, protect yourself and your friends from Alien hoards sounds like an excellent time to me. The developers did give us a sneak peak of some of the unfinished areas of the game showing off more level environments and a boss battle with a Queen Alien. All amazing stuff.

Aliens: Colonial Marines appears to be shaping up nicely and I think fans should feel confident that the series is in capable hands and that Gearbox will deliver a good game. They've been on a roll recently and from the looks of it, they're giving this game a lot of love and tender care.

Keep an eye open for this one in Spring 2012 on PC, PS3, and 360. It's a good time to be Aliens fan.

Look out! Games of Sept 2011 maybe worth a $#!^

2011-09-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

It’s September 1st today and you know what that means? It means there are a ton of games to look forward to this month. Here’s a short list of the ones we find even mildly interesting.

Resistance 3 - 9/6/11
It’s a first person shooter. It’s a PS3 exclusive. It’s the third part in a series; which means you’re probably interested in this because you’ve played the first 2 and want to see more story. The end.

Driver San Francisco PS3, 360 9/6/11
This demo I got to play at E3 2011. It’s a driver game and back when the first one was introduced I loved it. I only spent about 20 minutes with this game and it was just a demo but it could be cool.

War Hammer 40,000: Space Marine - PS3, 360 9/6/11
I really know nothing about this game and in actuality probably shouldn't be in "MY" list but I decided to include it because I know a lot of nerds love Warhammer. Yeah I'm a whore, so what wanna fight about it?!

Rise of Nightmares - 360 Kinect 9/6/11
We got to watch people play this at Pax 2011. We decided not to play it because controlling a first person zombie murder simulator didn’t look all that fun. Take one step forward to go forward. Twist your upper torso to turn your character in different directions, and flail your arms in all sorts of ways depending on what weapon you’re using. There’s definitely some novelty to this game -- maybe like a party game you’ll show your friends but I can’t take this game seriously.

Dead Island - PS3, 360 9/6/11
Really fun, fast paced game play. First person zombie melee survival horror is the best way I can describe this game. Your weapons degenerate which means you’ll constantly be looking for another item lying around on the ground to use when necessary. Amazing gwaphics. One of the highlights of Pax for us.

Bloodrayne: Betrayal - PS3 9/6/11
Bloodrayne wasn't exactly one of the most amazing games ever at the beginning of it's life. The movies made by Ewe Boll weren't anything close to amazing either. So it really surprised me to know that they are trying again with this series. This time however I am very excited for it. I love beautiful artwork, I love beautiful woman, and I love ultra violent games. This is a great combination.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten 9/8/11
It’s Disgaea. If you know what that is you’re already going to buy this game. If you don’t know what it is know this; this game can be the last game you ever play. Turn based strategy RPG in the same vein as Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions but with way more items, dungeons, and abilities.

Star Fox - 3DS 9/9/11
One of the games everyone knew would be fun to play in 3D. Star Fox is a futuristic third uhh person space shooter that you all have probably already played on the Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, or the Gamecube.

White Knight Chronicals 2 - PS3 9/13/11
Semi old school grindy RPG that somehow got a successor. Someone must have enjoyed it. I never played it but I've heard mixed reviews mostly landing in the "Bad" section. Still I think this might be valuable to JRPG lovers.

The Gun Stringer - 360 Kinect 9/13/11
One of Kinect’s big titles. A little skeleton puppet is the main character and you are the puppeteer. One of the most original looking games for the Kinect. Definitely something to look out for.

God of War Orgins Collection - 9/13/11
Warning! These are the PSP games in their new HD release. Don’t expect those graphics you got spoiled with on God of War III. Still this is a great addition to the God of War games. I once heard a whole interview with the developers of these games and they were pretty disheartened with the way the games sold on PSP. They knew that the PSP is a heavily hacked system and because of that they wouldn’t get the credit they so rightfully deserved. Still they put forth so much effort in the creation of these games that I fully recommend buying this if you’re into the God of War series at all.

Bit.Trip Saga - 3DS - 9/15/11
Bit.Trip games are some of the most creative games on the Wii-ware. A lot of people really like these games so this is going to be a great addition to the 3DS titles. We definitely need it too as things are looking bleak for this amazing little console.

Gears of War 3 - 360 9/20/11
It’s big muscular linebackers with guns which have chain saws as bayonettes. What more can you ask for of a third person shooter? Hopefully a multiplayer that isn’t broken :P

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair PS3 9/20/11
Visuals very similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Competitive Gameplay includes a co-op mode, which plays like the "Boss Rush Mode" of previous 2D Castlevania games, but with several rooms and items to find, culminating in a boss to fight. It also includes a versus mode, with battle occurring between players. Some bosses are able to attack players on their way to the fight. The game features playable characters such as Alucard, Soma Cruz, Jonathan Morris, Shanoa and Charlotte Aulin, all from previous 2D Castlevania games. P.S. This came out a year ago on the 360.

Resident Evil 4 HD PS3, 360 9/20/11
If you've never played Resident Evil 4 and were sorely disappointed with Resident Evil 5 you must play this. I mean honestly, what kind of human being are you? Have you not heard that this is the best Resident Evil game yet? Ok so I might be trolling a little bit with that last one, but it is contested. Play it. Play it now.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 Innocent Sin - PSP 9/22/11
Any person who’s interested in Japanese RPGs will no doubtedly already know about this game. If for some reason you don’t, you should know about the Persona series. The most recent game done by the same development team is that recent game called “Catherine” that sold gangbusters. This is a must for JRPG fans.

Child of Eden - PS3 9/27/11
Chid of Eden is uhh... it’s umm... Honestly I don’t know exactly how to describe it to you but it’s a game that kind of seems like it’s a space shooter of sorts. It’s in first person, there are tons of pretty colors, fireworks, and trance-like music. I say pick up some hallucinogenics and have fun.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection - PS3 9/27/11
2 of the most renowned PS2 games of all time ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are loved by all. We highly recommend this collection.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD - PS3 9/27/11
Tactical espionage in the third person Tom Clancey’s Splinter Cell games have come a long ways. Very fun and exciting games worth your buck if you’re into the espionage games.

Like I said these aren’t the only games coming out this month but these are the ones that I find the most compelling. I do however want to ephasize one of these games. Dead Island. Sure zombies aren’t new to video games or anything in fact I think Call of Duty just release a zombie moon pack last month and the PS3 should be getting it very soon, but Dead Island does something a little different gameplay wise. Makes you fear for your life! If that’s your cup of tea like is it mine; go pick that up.

Hmm... On second thought, the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus I've been told is essential to every gamer. No wait Bloodrayne: Betrayal seems fun and Resident Evil 4 HD is another essential. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair looks like a ton of fun...

So umm. Yeah those games.

PAX 2011: Part 1 - Doin' it live in the streets

2011-08-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's almost 3 A.M. and day two of PAX Prime is over. We did the podcast live in the streets of Seattle in order to bring you up to date with what we've seen and played in this two part podcast series. Lets just say that downtown Seattle is a pretty lively place. We would have gotten you up something yesterday, but we instead got drunk and passed out. So yeah, sorry about that. No we're not.

The three big games we got to play at the show and spend most of the podcast discussing is Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and Rage. There's a whole lot more we cover, so download the episode and keep an eye out for part 2 coming soon.

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, and King's Field. Know you're JRPGs.

2011-08-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

Dark Souls is an upcoming PS3/360 game due to release in October of 2011 in US Sept of 2011 in Japan Published in US by Namco/Bandai, and developed by From Software. If you’ve not heard of it or seen any footage you either don’t pay attention to gaming news and media or are purposefully dodging it.

I want to talk to you about Dark Souls. Before those of you reading this run off thinking there isn’t much more about Dark Souls anyone can tell you, know that this article is for you too.

Most of us that know of Dark Souls’ existence and anticipate it’s release this October, only really know about it because of it’s predecessor Demon’s Souls. A commenter on our Youtube channel actually just dropped a megaton in the comments field. Yeah yeah I’m sure some of you who are reading may know about this, and if so you are excused from the room and can go back to raping people in Demon’s Souls.

This Youtube commenter’s name is sentyuu. So out of nowhere this guy says:
“Don't forget to this game is sold by BANDAI NAMCO but made by FROMSOFTWARE.
FROMSOFTWARE is awesome company.
If you think that you might love this game , you should play the "KING'S FIELD".
Do you know "KING's FIELD"?
That is almost　of origin of the "Demon's soul" ＆ "Dark Souls".
I apologize to you my poor English. I commented because there is only Namco Bandai in the title. I anxious about it.“

Now I know this is a bit misspelled but as he states he’s not from ‘round these parts. I’m guessing he’s Japanese. That makes the most sense to me that he is Japanese for 3 reasons. 1 - because he was apologetic and courteous, and 2 - because this game called “King’s Field” originated in Japan. 3 - His name is a dead give away says our commenter friend RevSchroedter.

So what does King’s Field have to do with this post? Well if you understood what user Sentyuu said you’d know that the developers of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls also developed a game series called “King’s Field”. I being the round-eye-light-skinned-USA-born-Mexican that I am have never once heard of a game called “King’s Field”. A series of games which began in 1994 through 2001, beginning on the PS1 system, and ending on the PS2 with “King’s Field IV”.

So why is this important to me a person who just wants to sadistically kill my fellow gamers for my own progression? I don’t know, maybe like me you actually care enough about Demon’s Souls that you’d like to understand how seemingly out of nowhere From Software created such a moody interesting game which oozes creativity, atmosphere, and style.

That was the Trailer to King’s Field. The original game for PS1 released in 1994 in Japan. Listen to the Music; look at the graphics. Don’t they give off that same Demon’s Souls feelings? Actually in my opinion between the King’s Field games, and Demon’s Souls they went a different route with the atmosphere. The main thing I notice is the music. Of course I’d bring up the music, if you know me in anyway you’d know that there’s going to be a King’s Field Musicast coming... which there is. But anyway yes back to King’s Field.

King’s field was a full polygon, real-time, free roaming, first person perspective RPG in the same vein as Oblivion. Anyway these were and continue to be incredibly popular games even as old as they are. They went so far as to port some of them to PSP and PC. Here’s a trailer for “King’s Field IV.

So by now you realize like I did after watching these videos that Demon’s Souls didn’t actually just spring out of nowhere. Demon’s Souls is the spiritual successor to King’s Field. It does better what these games first introduced. In almost every case it takes what foundation they laid with King’s Field and just made it better.

So now we’re here. We’re currently awaiting Dark Souls and you ask why the hell did you just drag me through all that stupid information? First of all that’s rude of you to talk to me that way, and secondly I’ve read that even though Demon’s Souls was a spiritual successor to King’s Field, Dark Souls is going to be more similar to it. By now you must have heard that there is no longer a Nexus (the hub like area in Demon’s Souls where you pick your levels and upgrade your weapons) in Dark Souls. It’s going back to the more real-time free-roaming experience that was King’s Field.

If you or anyone you know has ever been interested in Japanese RPGs and are getting sick and tired of them saying that nothing good or innovative ever comes from Japan anymore; Bring them here. Show them this and let me just say to those people who are now reading this: Play some Demon’s Souls, and join us in anticipation of Dark Souls, it’s biss (@ _ @ ).

Call of Duty Black Ops: Rezurrection is Alive!

2011-08-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm a self professed Trayarch poo-poo-er. But I do have to admit that this new “Call of Duty: Black ops Resurrection pack” is pretty damn cool. Let me explain.

I’m sure most of you know that Call of Duty was the product of the guys who started up infinity ward. These guys were also the guys who started up Medal of Honor. They eventually had issues with EA and had to leave the company or were forcefully removed; I forget the details. The fact is that after that they went to Activision and started up Call of Duty. now the first Call of Duty games I wasn’t that interested in because well honestly I didn’t really pay that much

attention to who made what game, so I figured it was just a copy cat Medal of Honor game.

Flash forward to now when they’ve had a spout with Activision and they left the Call of Duty games in the hands of Treyarch. I believe Treyarch was shoehorned in to make sure there was a Call of Duty game every year.

I didn’t really like World at War that much. Not because I hated Treyarch per se but mainly because I’m kind of tired of the World War 2 games and weapons. So I skipped it. I did however hear about the zombie mode they started with that series. I still wasn’t interested enough in it to buy it but I noticed it. A lot of people really love the Zombie mode in that game. Maybe it’s dumb, maybe it’s overdone, maybe it’s just an attempt to cover the fact that it may be a smidgen worse (mechanically) than the better made Infinity ward games. Whatever the case it’s their ace in the hole.

Everyone who bought World at war loved the zombie mode. It started something different, something new. And now that this game Black Ops is out they are really cashing in on that cow. They are about to release this map pack for 14.99 that doesn’t just add zombies, it changes the game quite a bit. They took the formula that made them popular with World At War and pumped full of Nitrous Oxide!

This new map pack is World At War’s Zombie Horde mode on crack. They’ve added new weapons, and put you in space for at least one map I’ve seen adding a whole new element to the zombie disemboweling battle physics. Zombies in Space! Take a look at the trailer for this and tell me you’re not at least a little interested:

Like I said earlier I skipped World at War and all of it’s Zombies because I just wasn’t ready for a new FPS, and I’m not really into WW2 scenario, but because I skipped it, I’m even more intrigued with what they’re doing now.

So there’s the already released “Black Ops Escalation” DLC which includes “Call of the Dead” pack. The moment I seen this trailer I realized that these people have their finger on the right pulse. If you don’t already have this or even know what’s going on in “Call of the Dead” let me try to explain. Here’s the description:

"A shipwrecked crew of fearless explorers is hopelessly stranded in an abandoned Siberian outpost. Their dream of discovering the true origins of the Element 115 unravels into a hellish nightmare."

The cast of characters in this game includes Sarah Michelle Geller, Danny Trejo, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker, and the super famous by zombies himself George A. Romero as an enemy. If you don’t know who these people are freakin’ google it.

Anyway All you Black Ops people out there. Go buy this. Give Treyarch their due, and pay them for content that is in fact there because you demanded it. Any of you people out there like me that initially didn’t want to buy into Black Ops for the reasons I mentioned above, I think it might be time to give Treyarch a little credit where it’s due, and try their game out.

Musicast 11: Mushroom Men The Spore Wars

2011-08-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm not cool enough to have played this game when it came out. I do plan to change that in the future because after hearing the music and talking about the story I'm very interested. Even the concept art is really good!

Thanks to our friend Eric for the request. Enjoy.

Game Developed by: Red Fly Studio
Published by: Gamecock Media
Music by: Les Claypool (of Primus fame)

Please let us know what you think of this not so new series and don't forget to send us in your requests of game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 53: 3DS Failure to Launch

2011-08-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Your bi-weekly dose of video game news and opinion is here, ready for consumption. The crew is joined by our PC and gadget guru Drew Aydelott. He gives us some pointers on what your going to need to get Battlefield 3 up an running on your PC.

The portable gaming market has seen some drastic changes in the last three years. Smartphones are now a more viable and capable platform for gaming on the go. With the launch of the 3DS, it's becoming clear that things really have changed and Nintendo is experiencing a rough start getting the 3DS of the ground. We discuss the future and our thoughts on what is happening to Nintendo right now. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or email us at whoburnedmytoast@gmail.com

Here's a list of things we waste your time talking about this week:

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast 10: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

2011-08-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

If you were paying attention recently a little known game was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D is here and along with that came a limited edition release of the Ocarina of Time soundtrack for anyone who registered the game with Club Nintendo. Well I am happy to say that we have procured a copy of the soundtrack and will be playing it for you on this very installment of the WBMT Musicast. Anyway listen up.

Developed by: Nintendo EAD
Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto
Music composed by: Koji Kondo

Please let us know what you think of this not so new series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Musicast 09: Cho Ren Sha 68k

2011-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

What you've never heard of it? Yeah I know. Well here's your chance to be cool once again, like you were after you snorted that pepper off of your desk in Jr. High. Yes that's right, after listening to this you'll command a new respect among your pears.

Cho ren Sha 68k was a game that was made for the "Sharp 68K" gaming system that was only released in Japan. How would I know about this game at all you ask? Well they went through the trouble of porting it to windows! Here's your chance to be cool again.

CLICK HERE to download the full game. Believe me you won't regret it. As you can see in the image above this is a classic space shooter, also called a "Shoot 'em up", or that other stupid phrase people like to us that I won't use.

Anyway listen up.
Developed by: Famibe No Yosshin
Music composed by Ruzarin Kashiwagi.

Please let us know what you think of this not so new series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 51 "Eating Isn't Cheating!"

2011-07-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman. The return of Derrick Vermin! Or as Brad calls him in the episode "Derelicte". Dereelllliiiiictteeeeee!! -- Wait what? Ok whatever.

We have nothing on the agenda this week, which means one thing. Randomness! Actually we did have one thing we wanted to talk about. We talked about all these rumors we keep hearing about a PS4 or an XBOX 720 possibly coming in 2012.

Is the game industry ready for the next generation of consoles? Are we the gamers ready to buy a new generation of consoles? Are we all just a bunch of monkeys acting out our instinctual behavior? Tune in to find out what we think about it. We go pretty far down the rabbit hole.

Here's a list of some of the things we talked about:

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast 08: U.N. Squadron

2011-07-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

Come and join us in celebrating 4th of July with Jets and the music from what is regarded as one of the best side scrolling shooters of all time, U.N. Squadron (Area 88 in Japan). The music comes from what I consider a golden age of Capcom games with memorable soundtracks that have stuck with an entire generation of gamers. U.N. Squadron may be lesser known but is just as good as they come. Enjoy!

Original Composition by: Manami Matsumae
Rewritten for the SNES by: Takashi Tateishi & Mari Yamaguchi

Songs played in order:

Introduction
Front Line Base
Enemy Airforce
Boss
Forest Frotress
Forest Fortress 2
Boss 2
Ground Carrier
Qustermaster Corp
The Canyon
The Minks
Qustermaster Corp
The Seavet
Porject 4 Fortress
Final Boss

If you remember playing U.N. Squadron let us know. Would you be happy to see a re-release someday? Feel free to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. Thanks for listening!
You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 50: Yup, it's another Zelda podcast

2011-06-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a relatively quiet since E3, but that doesn't mean we can't give you an hours worth of gaming content and chortles. It's hard to believe that we've made it to the ripe old age of 50 this week. It's been a blast so far and to celebrate we talk about another old fart that just got released, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. Now that the remake is out for the 3DS, we let you know our thoughts and how the game holds up after 13 years of being the most beloved game of all time, Link is the hero of time after all.

In developing news a group of Nintendo hardcore fans have launched a campaign called Operation Rainfall to get some currently unreleased Wii games into the United States. Since Nintendo of America seems to be ignoring their fans, the fans have taken the matter into their own hands. Currently Monado (Xenoblade Chronicles) in the top videogame bestseller list on Amazon due to the fans pre-ordering efforts. We'll see if Nintendo will sniff out the money like a kid looking for cookies.

If you've had a chance to get your hands on Zelda Ocarina, let us know what you think in the comments section. Thanks again everyone for listening, we love you (in a hetero type of way) and enjoy this weeks toast.

Topics Covered this week:

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast 07: Final Fantasy VII

2011-06-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

We invite you to join us in celebrating the music from one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Final Fantasy VII.

Directed by: Yoshinori Kitase
Written and Produced by:Kazushige Nojima, Yoshinori Kitase, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Tetsuya Nomura
Composed by: Nobuo Uematsu
Art by: Tetsuya Nomura and Yusuke Naora

Songs played in order:

PRELUDE
MAIN THEME
OPENING BOMBING MISSION
STILL MORE FIGHTING
ANXIOUS HEART
AREITH’S THEME
RED XIII’S THEME
CAIT SITH’S THEME
FIGHTING

MAIN THEME
OPENING BOMBING MISSION
STILL MORE FIGHTING
ANXIOUS HEART
AREITH’S THEME
RED XIII’S THEME
CAIT SITH’S THEME
FIGHTING

SENDING A DREAM INTO
OFF THE EDGE OF DESPAIR
YOU CAN HEAR THE CRY OF THE PLANET
THOSE CHOSEN BY THE PLANET
THE BIRTH OF A GOD
JENOVA

Please let us know what you think of the new series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 49: E3 2011, Your Movies are Boring!

2011-06-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

With E3 finally behind us we can talk about all the things I got to play during the 3 day event. We usually provide links for everything we talk about but if I did that I don't know how I'd sleep tonight!

So take it as it is! This weeks show is a two and a half hour info packed, hoarse voiced, questions answered episode on all things that I got to check out at E3. Here's a list of the things we talked about:

SquareEnix: Dead Island, FFXIII-2, Dungeon Seige 3, Deus Ex, Wakfu (mmo)
Konami: Metal Gear Peacewalker, Snake Eater, Silent Hill Downpour,
Namco Bandai: Dark Souls,
Bethsda: Skyrim, RAGE
EA: Mass Effect 3, Battlefield
Capcom: Dragon’s Dogma, SF X Tekken, Street Fighter 3 third strike online, RE: Racoon City, Resident Evil Revelations DS,
Atlus: Catherine, Cursed Crusade
Ubisoft: Driver, Assassin’s Creed whatever, Rayman
Nintendo: Wii U, Mario 3DS, Mario Kart 3DS, Star Fox Multiplayer, Luigi’s Mansion, Heroes of Ruin, Kid Icarus,
Sony: Vita, Xperia Play (minecraft), Resistance 3,
Microsoft: Renegade Ops, Captain America, Gears of War 3,
Warner Bros: Arkam City, Lotr War in the North (why is it always the north?)

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast EP 06: Portal

2011-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

Portal came out of nowhere in 2007 as an innovative action puzzler that quickly became one of the best games to come out in recent years. It was time to make a slight shift in the Musicast format and do game from this console generation. I couldn't think of a better games soundtrack to feature than Portal.

Portal: Composers, Kelly Bailey and Mike Morask. "Still Alive," was written by Jonathan Coulton.

Portal II: Composers Mike Morasky. “Want you Gone” by Jonathan Coulton

I hope you enjoy the ambient techno sounds from the series. This is defiantly music that you can just kick back and put on as background music as you grind your way through your day job. I know that's what I'll be doing.

Please take a moment to leave your comments below and let us know what you think of the new Musicast series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks you would like us to feature. We hope you enjoy listening to the show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 48: L.A. SNOIRE

2011-05-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome back listeners to another fully stuffed episode of Who Burned My Toast. We waste no time and dive into our thoughts on E3 and discuss our most anticipated games of the show. One of our very own, Amado Bustos is going to make his way down to L.A. and see if he can bust his way into the expo. We're asking you to send us in your requests for the games you want to know about and we'll report back with Amado's hands on feedback. We may have to bribe a few developers, but we'll do what it takes to get you the information you deserve.

If you couldn't tell from the imagery above, We're talking about L.A. Noire in great detail. Brad has been playing L.A. Noire diligently and is going to let you know if Rockstar newest game has lived up to the hype or is a complete snore.

So listen up! All this and much more on this weeks episode of Who Burned My Toast?

Here are the topics we discuss this episode.

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast 05: Phantasy Star I & II

2011-05-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Phantasy Star is one of the most popular PSP games out there. On the Dreamcast too it was very popular. But before Phantasy Star went online it was just a sci-fi themed first person view RPG on the Sega Master System.

Some call it the greatest RPG series of it's time. Some call it the greatest RPG series period. Whatever the case for you, Phantasy Star is something you should take a lot more seriously in the future.

How many of you can remember playing any of the Phantasy Star games?

Phantasy Star I: Music Composer Tokuhiko Uwabo (bo).

Phantasy Star II: Music Composer Tokuhiko Uwabo (bo).

Please let us know what you think of the new Musicast series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy listening to the show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 47: The End is Nigh!

2011-05-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

We love video games at Who Burned My Toast, but we also love to talk about the craziness that is going on in the world. This week we spend time discussing some of the signs of the Apocalypse that have lead us to believe the end of days are nigh. There is a lot of "information" out there and we try to get you mentally prepared for Judgment day on May 21st 2011. Have you seen any of this May 21st talk in your neighborhood?

On the games front we are patiently waiting for E3 to arrive in the coming weeks. To pass the time, Brad has been playing Conduit 2 for Wii. The first game had a lot of potential and Wii fans have been waiting to see how this one was going to turn out. We let you know how we think it turned out.

All this and much more on this weeks episode of Who Burned My Toast?

Here is a list of some of the topics we cover this week on the show.

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast EP 04: Mega Man

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

He's blue and cyan... MEGA MAN! Well on this North America game box art he's more of a yellow and bluish color, but that's beside the point. We go back to one of the greatest classics to ever grace the NES console and feature music from the first three games in the Mega Man (a.k.a Rockman) series.

We hope that this episode brings back fond memories of the glory days when games were designed to kick your little kid ass. I believe most of us remember the good old days of challenging platformers and Mega Man was one of the best to come from the NES era.

Mega Man: Music Composer Manami Matsumae.

Cutman
Fireman
Bombman
Elecman
Dr. Wileys Castle

Mega Man II: Music Composer Takashi Tateishi.

Intro
Metalman
Flashman
Quickman
Woodman
Airman
Crashman
Bubbleman
Heatman
Dr. Wileys Castle

Mega Man III: Music Composer Yasuaki Fujita.

Enemey Select
Topman
Sparkman
Hardman
Magnet man
Needleman
Snakeman
Dr WIleys castle

Please let us know what you think of the new Musicast series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy listening to the show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Nintendo makes it official, now let's really talk about Project Cafe.

2011-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

We can now officially confirm that at least two things are true about Nintendo's new console. In a recent investor meeting, Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo will be releasing the successor to the Wii sometime after April 2012. We can also confirm that Project Cafe/Stream or whatever you want to call it, will be revealed and playable in June at this years E3. Combine this with the fact that more 3DS games coming down the pipeline, it's starting to look like Nintendo is going to have a pretty decent showing at E3. Sorry Zelda Skyward Sword, looks like you may get bumped as the main event after last years botched stage demo.

Other than that those few bits of information, we've got nothing but rumors and talk from "reliable" sources. So I don't feel like running down the list of things that could be true or not. But I do feel like there are some things that this new system is going to need to accomplish in order to be successful and I want to hear what you guys think about it.

I feel like Nintendo is in somewhat awkward position at this juncture and may have had to push out a new system earlier than they really wanted to. Between the large drop in sales (don't worry Nintendo is still filthy rich) for the Wii and the ever waning support/sales of big third party developers. It's become clear to me that Nintendo saw that it was losing too much support and interest in the Wii brand overall. Plus lets face it, most Wii owners other than the hardcore adopters just don't buy as many games as PS3/360 owners; unless it involves gyrating your pelvis or turning New Super Mario Bros. into a drinking game.

After the jump is a list of issues I think Nintendo needs to address in order help get this console streaming onto your faces... I mean living rooms around the world.

It feels crab, man

HD Graphics is Not Enough
Nintendo is going to be releasing it's next console possibly very close to the end of the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360's life-cycles. It could very well happen that Microsoft or Sony may take an opportunity to knock the wind out of Nintendo's sails by letting gamers know that their new consoles are only a few years away. It's going to take a lot more that just an upgrade to 1080p HD graphics and the standard Nintendo first party games to get most gamers to jump ship for a new console. There are quite of few gamers left with a bad Nintendo taste in their mouth and most might say, "Why bother buying this when the Playstation 4 or Xbox 1080 is coming in 2014?" If that happens you can put Nintendo's new console into the dumpster with the Dreamcast.

Make 3rd parties your best friends.

Third Party Support = More Winning
This one has been a sore spot for Nintendo and its fans for a long time and I think Nintendo really felt the third party burn with the Wii. The best way for Nintendo to secure a good future is to really (I mean really this time) reach out to third parties and get them on board early. Give them a platform they can feel confident in and will help make them lots of money selling games. The last I checked people like to make fistfuls of money for some crazy reason. The Wii managed to be successful for awhile by attracting a whole new demographic of people willing to buy into Wiispor... I mean console, but they didn't buy a wide variety of games in high volumes. After a few disappointing sales of some "Hardcore" games, a lot of developers started jumping ship and focusing their efforts on HD competitors where the grass seemed greener.

The console should be a beast.

Double the POWA!
More power might not necessarily equal success as we've seen in the past, but this time around Nintendo may need up the ante a little bit in order to get gamers and developers to take notice. Technically the extra power may not prove to produce a giant leap in graphics, but it may prove a point psychologically to people that Nintendo means business and has dipped its balls in marinara sauce so they can get a taste of home. It's also going to be vital to stay ahead of the future consoles tech as long as possible, since in a few years Nintendo's new console could look very old, very fast. And you all know how fickle and gullible we gamers are for amazing graphics, that we'll gump over the next big box of horsepower in two seconds flat without even saying goodbye. Plus can you imaging how amazing Mario's mustache would look with full bump mapping in glorious 1080p.

XBox Live changed everything

Online Functionality is Crucial
Nintendo can't really afford to screw this one up if they are really serious about capturing all the audiences in the market. If their online structure isn't even half of what Playstation or Xbox is offering you can call this console dead in the water. Heck, I would take a direct copy of either one of other systems networks (well, maybe not the PSN network) in terms of functionality and it would be like Nintendo received a message from some online gaming god. There is some signs of hope with the Nintendo 3DS, but its too early to tell for sure if they are going to Nintendoify it to death or not. It's going to be 2012 Nintendo, if your system can't or won't let me play games and chat online with my friends with ease, then I don't know what to say other than your bat shit stupid, period. If there is even a whiff of bullshit in Nintendo's online network, I think you will see a lot of gamers take a pass on the system. I put up with a crappy online infrastructure on the Wii, but never again, ever.

NO! We don't need
another Bubsy

We Need New IPs
I really feel that this is also going be even more crucial in the coming up generation. If Nintendo manages to only wrangle in big third parties and have them deliver their bread winners, that still wont be enough for most gamers. The Nintendo faithful will be just fine and dandy with the next Zelda and I personally can't wait to see a new Metroid with all the bells and whistles of a powerful system. But what about the rest of the gaming community? A lot of people are getting tired of seeing the same Nintendo franchises over and over with slightly better graphics. Nintendo has a lot of talent and second parties at its disposal. If they could show gamers a list of totally new games for them to get excited about, that would go a long way in securing a good fan base. It would even be nice to see a few exclusive third parties games come to the system, even if it was only exclusive for a year or so. It's a strategy that has paid off for Nintendo's competitors and its about time to see something entirely new from them.

Nintendo has a lot of money its earned over the last 6 years of success with the DS and the Wii. It may be time the spend some of that money on really putting themselves out there. We will see Nintendo come out swinging like Tyson at E3 this year. By the looks of the gaming industry in its current state, they better.

What do you think Nintendo needs to do to have a successful new console launch?

Ep 46: Why does it say paper jam, when there is NO PAPER JAM!?

2011-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Holy s#!t, it has been extremely busy in the world of gaming over the last two weeks. Nintendo confirmed at their investor meeting that they are indeed showing of their new console at E3 and will be releasing it sometime after April 2012. Then the big whopper lands at our feet. The PlayStation Network gets hacked and it looks like it's the biggest data breach in history. The PR nightmare for Sony is still happening as we speak, but more importantly it is certain your data has been stolen, so take the necessary steps to protect yourself.

SEGA!

It's not all doom and gloom on the podcast as we bring in a guest host, my cousin Jesse (unofficial Mortal Kombat Expert) to talk about our thoughts on the new Mortal Kombat. Is it a flawless victory?

We also bring breaking news of a new console from Sega. We'll just let that bit of information stew in your brain for awhile. All this and much more on this weeks episode of Who Burned My Toast?

Here is a list of the topics we cover this week on the show.

Get the podcast on the go and subscribe on iTunes

Musicast Ep 03: Castlevania

2011-04-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the anniversary of the resurrection of someone very important to us. Someone who has changed lives by the masses. Someone who has a myriad of books and movies dedicated to telling the story of his life. Someone who has followers willing to do anything and everything it takes to see his return. I'm talking about our friend Dracula.

This week's Musicast is dedicated to Castlevania. One of my all time favorite series by Konami. Happy Dracula day everyone.

Castlevania: Lead Designer Akihiko Nagata. Music Composer Kinuyo Yamashita.

Story BGM: Black Knight
Vampire Killer
Stalker
Wicked Child
Heart of Fire
Voyager

Castlevania II Simon's Quest: Lead Designer H. Akamatsu. Music Composer Kenichi Matsubara.

Story BGM: Password
Bloody Tears
Silence of Daylight
Monster Night
Dwelling of Doom
Dracula's Castle
Game Over

Castlevania III Dracula's Curse: Lead Designer H. Akamatsu. Music Composers Hidenori Maezawa, Jun Funahashi, and Yukie Morimoto.

Story BGM: Encounter
Beginning
Aquarius
Clockwork
Pressure
Mad Forest
Dead Beat
Outro: Evergreen

(Update) PSN is still down. What, want to fight about it?!

2011-04-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

(04/26/11):
Another updated from Sony. User account information have been compromised. Email and Passwords and address information has been taken. There is no word on Credit Card Information but I wouldn't sit around waiting on that one. Change your passwords on any account you have the uses the same email as PSN and keep an eye for scams and your credit card accounts. Thanks Hackers, your awesome. Way to show the gamers your fighting the good fight.

http://us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/#non-us

(04/25/11):
We've got an update on what may have caused PSN to go down. CFW software codenamed "Rebug" allows people to log in as if doing it from a developer console giving them the ability to ad funds to any PSN id using a dummy credit card. Read more here. Thank's Richard (IronGiant) for the link.

(4/23/11):
Oh man! As if it's not enough that fanboys everywhere are fighting about XBL and PSN Microsoft throws fuel into the fire! If you're not sick of babies fighting about dumb shit yet, here's more comments field underbelly to look at.

(4/22/11):
If the answer to that question is YES. Then I found the perfect place for it. Kotaku, a very well respected (or not) site about video games, technology, and lots of other awesome stuff has the perfect battleground. To the comments! 1,400 comments and counting.

I love the comments section in most of these big sites. it's like... It's like turning over a rock in the middle of the woods -- so fucking gross to look at, but so damn entertaining to read!

Seriously though PSN is down and Kotaku is keepin' the kids updated. Go there, then come back here, and please tell me what your favorite comments were :D!

Ep 45 Nintendo breaks out the Duct Tape.

2011-04-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Episode 45 of Who Burned my Toast is ready! We'd be remissed if we didn't first mention Nintendo's new console rumored to be at E3 this year. There are some crazy details coming out of... well, everywhere.

As of this episode we've also taken up roles. Brad is now in charge of Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS and DS. I'll be in charge of the XBOX 360, PC, and the PSP. We'll be sharing responsibility for the PS3 since we both have one and are interested in both.

Thanks for listening and enjoy this weeks Toast!
Here is a list of the topics we covered on this weeks show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Battlefield 3 12 Minute Gameplay Trailer is out now! It will make your eyes bleed.

2011-04-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

We just got the email from EA with a link to 12 minutes of gameplay footage of Battlefield 3. The video is hot of the presses, so were posting it here for your enjoyment. Get in on this before some server crashes.

The Glowing Stars, Peelander-Z, and Anamanguchi rock out at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco

2011-04-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Peelander-Yellow (a.k.a. Kengoswee) and me

Last Thursday I walked my fat ass down to the DNA Lounge and checked out the 8BitSF concert featuring some great bands. We posted about the concert last week on the blog, I hope you got a chance to go down and enjoy the show.

I took some video and pics of the concert while I was busy drinking copious amounts of PBR and collecting Miis on my 3DS with StreetPass. It was a really entertaining concert and I would recommend you keep an eye out for these bands if they come around to your neighborhood. I apologize in advanced for the shaky cam, I may have had a few too many drinks. To check out the videos of the bands I captured hit the jump link below.

The Glowing Stars had their first live performance that night and made a good impression with the audience. The band is composed of the duo team of Lizzie Cuevas on Guitar and Matt Payne on Drums. This 8-bit indie style rock band mixed it up with a Gameboy, Keytar and performed a great cover of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". Overall it was a good first time out of the gate, even though they had some technical difficulties with their Gameboy on one song. You should check out their new demo at one their sites theglowingstarsband.wordpress.com

Peelander-Z hails from New York City and feature a style of music they dub "Japanese Action Comic Punk". The stage show is something truly not to be missed. The band donned Anime/Pro-wrestling style outfits featuring themselves as Peelander-Yellow, Red, Green, and Pink. Their stage antics included a giant squid, human bowling, an crowd exercise routine, and a whole lot more crowd participation; Peelander-Z are true rock stars. At one point in the show they even replaced the entire band with people from the audience and commenced to crowd surf. It's been awhile since I've been entertained this much by a band. And best of all, I got to learn my vowels as you'll see in this video.

Anamanaguchi comes back a second time in less than a year to the DNA Lounge. It's also the second time that I've seen the band live. They were good the last time, but it seemed they have come back with more energy and stage presence this time around. The crowd was definitely larger and maybe the extra energy oozing from the shirtless crowd (yes there was lots of shirtless men for some reason) got the band amped up. Anamanaguchi has this fast punk almost poppy sound that I usually don't go for, but mixed with their 1985 NES it somehow just works. I think the band is going to keep growing in popularity if they keep this up.

I had a great time at the show and I hope you enjoyed a taste of the bands. If you a fan of 8-bit or chiptune music DNA Lounge in San Francisco is the place to find some good shows. So go out and kick ass, figuratively of course.Also here are some bonus photos from the show for your enjoyment.

MUSICAST 02: F-Zero

2011-04-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

As promised we are continuing our Musicast and episode 2 is here and ready for your listening pleasure.

I'll be your host this week and will be featuring one of my favorite racing games of all time, F-Zero. The soundtrack to F-Zero brings back fond memories of playing video games late into the night at my cousins house and screaming at the television wondering why this god damn game was so hard. The soundtrack does a great job of fitting into the futuristic universe that the series was set in as well as matching the sense of speed the game produced with its Mode 7 graphics.

F-Zero: SNES
1.Mute City, 2.Death Wind, 3.Big Blue, 4.Port Town, 5.Silence, 6.White Land I, 7.Fire Field, 8.Red Canyon, 9.White Land II

F-Zero X: N64
10.Red Canyon

F-Zero GX: Gamecube
11.Mute City, 12.Feel Our Pain, 13.Bio Rex

Please let us know what you think of the new series and don't forget to send us in your requests for game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

3DS Needs more Ninja... Tenchu is the answer!

2011-04-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

Argue all you want with me, but Tenchu: Shadow Assassins for PSX was an amazing game. Sure it had it’s flaws. Mostly camera controls, but to me it was on par with Metal Gear Solid. I had the Japanese version, then I got the American version which actually came with the bonus Ayame in a thong code (not pictured here or anywhere on the internet).

This was a game that required you to navigate a 3D environment in sandbox style levels armed with a grappling hook, a Katana (if you were Rikimaru), dual short Katanas (if you were Ayame), some ninja stars, and an assortment of handy ninja gear. The missions included but were not limited to assassinations, escorts, information retrieval, and infiltration.

Tenchu featured a fresh game concept. It had a meter that would tell you the status of the enemies and your proximity to them. If unaware of you it would show as a question mark followed by a number representing your distance from your target. If you were heard or seen, the question mark would then become an exclamation point — indicating that someone has been alerted of your presence, but was still not convinced that they had heard or seen anything. If they were to spot you in a close enough proximity that question mark would become a double exclamation point outlined in fire! This meant you had better get the hell out of there or whip out your weapon because you’re about to receive a Samurai style ass-whoopin.

The other big innovation that definitely was the hook for me, no not the grappling hook (although it was awesome), was the “Stealth Kill” system. You had a “Stealth Button” which actually made you duck down, stick to walls, and sneak around without making a sound. Once you got close enough to the enemy without being detected, you could initiate a “Stealth Kill”. In the first versions of Tenchu there were only about 1 or 2 animations that occurred when you did this, but each and every time you did would result in an instant kill and a grotesque scene with serious amounts of blood.

In later games they expanded the characters and the animations for the “Stealth Kills” utlimately leading to, in my opinion, the best of all the Tenchu games: “Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven” for PS2. It really is one of the most under appreciated games of all time. In that game you get to control a bone crunching strongman of an assassin Tesshu who instead of using a weapon in any traditional sense uses bone shattering punches and grapples.

All this isn’t for nothing sirs and ma’ams. I bring this up because of my new found love of 3D technology. I need a good Tenchu for my 3DS. The 3DS needs more Ninja, period. And not just a shitty “Tenchu: Dark Secret”-like game. An all new most amazing 3D version. Or if nothing else I could go for “Tenchu: Return from Darkness” which is actually a PSP port with new missions and weapons :D. Throw in some of the 3DS' bells and whistles and you have yourself a complete package.

Street Pass for trading custom maps or mini clan battles, Augmented Reality for a shuriken throwing mini game like that one old school ninja game, System Coins for unlocking new ninjitsu tools and stealth kill animations, online wifi for some co-op shadow murder missions, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood style cat and mouse game, and leader boards of course. So many possibilities.

I wouldn’t even bring this up if it had not already been announced that Acquire, the developer responsible for the original Tenchu, was working on a 3DS game. Sure it could be any number of games: “Way of the Samurai”, “What Did I Do To Deserve, This My Lord?”, or probably a “Class of Heroes” RPG. Still one does tend to have hope in times of darkness... and don’t kid yourself, these are times of darkness for the 3DS.

Anyway are there any other Tenchu lovers out there that also happen to have 3DS' or are soon to buy one?

What creative ways can you think of for the team to utilize some of 3DS' features with this awesome IP?

Thanks for reading
Amado Bustos

Ep 44: 3DS in my pants

2011-04-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's podcasting time baby! We come at you on this 44th episode of Who Burned My Toast with all 3DS action, all the time. I know, I know, we've been talking a lot about the 3DS lately. But this time we open up on the system and give you all the dirty details. Our real thoughts on the price, the games, and the hardware. We also let you in on what music we'll be playing on the next Musicast.

Thanks for listening and enjoy this weeks Toast!

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this weeks show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Our 3DS Impressions - Dual Strike Article

2011-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

What’s up everyone? We’re back with an exciting second installment of our Dual Strike Article series that feature our real time discussions on a particular subject. If you couldn't tell by the Miis riding the hype train, we’re discussion the Nintendo 3DS. Amado and I both rode this train all the way to Nintendotown and bought the system on day one. Now that we’ve had some time to play around and ponder the amount of money we spent on the device. We discuss what we like, what we hate, and where Nintendo should improve our 3D snuggle bunny.

I’ll go first and start of the discussion to get things rolling. I’ll start by saying why I wanted to get a 3DS in the first place. I usually don’t adopt handheld systems on day one. I didn’t even get an original DS until a full two years after its release. But the DS made me a believer in handhelds and from what I was seeing in terms of the 3DS hardware and software, I felt like the 3DS was a safe bet for me. Plus I don’t think I could have waited two years to get my hands on it, because I have a feeling these things are going to sell pretty dang well. Do I feel like I got burned by the hefty $250 tag? Nope.

Amado why did you pick up the 3DS?

Because I’m portable gaming system whore. No seriously I am. I don’t know what it is about portable systems. It must have something to do with some kind of residual survival instinct of mine to want to carry awesome sauce stuff with me at all times.

Secondly probably just because I actually got to check it out at E3. I’ve always liked the idea of 3D video games. I just never wanted to use glasses, so the glasses free really caught me by surprise.

If all they did was upgrade the DSI’s CPU and add all the features the 3DS has minus the 3D I would have bought it anyway. After all it is Nintendo and it will have good games on it.

That’s right you got to play the 3DS last June during E3 and I remember you were sold after about 2 minutes of watching a video in 3D... without playing any games! It was similar experience for me as well, once I got to play it in San Francisco I felt like it was a worthy upgrade to the DS. The 3D screen does work really well and the graphics are pretty slick. Although the window to see the 3D is small, it hasn’t bothered me with my play style. It does make my eyes tired though if I’m playing late at night, but I also stare at screens all day for a living so I’m sure my eyes want to murder me with a rusty spoon by now.

Hey now! I did actually play Battle of Giants or whatever that stupid Dinosaur game was. Some of those videos were pretty awesome too; like the Resident Evil one and the Metal Gear Solid 3 one omg. That’s what I’m really waiting for, some of those great games that usually come to PSP and in 3D WOAHOAHOAH! Man at that time I didn’t even have a chance to really check out anything about it, but it does come with a ton of preloaded stuff doesn’t it?

It sure does! It’s definitely enough to keep you busy for awhile if you couldn’t stomach the admittedly mediocre launch lineup of games. There are things like the 3D Camera, Mii Maker, and the Nintendo 3DS Sound that are fun to tinker with, but the built in AR games and Face Raiders are the real show pieces of the system that I’ve spent the most time with. I love taking pictures of things and applying them in Face Raiders. I’ve always wanted to import my face into a game ever since I read that they scanned faces into Goldeneye 007 on N64. Now the dream has come true for me!

I was really surprised about the Mii Plaza where you can collect Miis via the StreetPass and use them to play two mini games, Puzzle Swap and Find Mii. But I haven’t had time to dive into them too much yet. Wherever you look on the system there are little surprises and touches of Nintendo, both good and bad. LOL.

Like the Ninendo Music application :O! As you know I’m an audio dork, so I pay a lot of attention to audio details. First I want to note this: Since the 3D is so finicky, and they basically know right where your head is going to be, that knowledge isn’t gone to waste. If you’ve ever owned a decent TV and messed with the audio settings you might have noticed the that you can switch them from “Mono”, “Stereo”, and sometimes “Expanded”. Expanded always sounds somewhat surround and that’s exactly what the audio features is called on the 3DS “Expanded” I first noticed it while playing face raiders, but it’s a nice touch.

Second thing is the awesome Music application itself. It’s a game all on it’s own. You can add songs to your “Top 10” or just your “Street Pass” playlist. Yes I said street pass playlist. So when it’s active it’ll seek other 3DS and exchange info about other peoples street pass music info eventually developing a “top street pass” music area where you can check out what is most popular by other 3DS owners in your area. You can check your compatibility with other 3DS owners too... assuming of course people in your area own 3DS’ and you pass them sometimes :(.

Best of all though are the “Visualizations” :D. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Visualizations? Oh your talking about the all the different music visualizations as your mp3 plays. The Excite Bike and the plane flying one are pretty great. I really like recording sounds and messing with them in the sound editor. I made a recording using my catch phrase “Fuck Your Face” especially for you, but I realized that even though your on my friends list I can’t share or send you anything at all from the system. It seems the 3DS still has some online growing pains to work out. I love the design of the user interface of the Home menu and Streetpass is a good/interesting way to share with random people (if you can find them). But if I can’t even share an 3D photo, a Mii, or even Pictochat with my friend over WIFI, then why have a friends list in the first place! It seems currently it's easier to share with strangers with spotpass. WTF Mate?

Did you know you can actually play the Mr. Game & Watch visualization?! :D How awesome is that, just keep bouncing the soccer ball off your head. Ehem ok, sorry I’ll stop.

Look man the system has some kinks it needs to work out.

I would say it's a major kink in the ass!

Yeah well it’s not the only kink you’re right. Mine has actually had “error” in judgment 3 or 4 times now.

You mean it got shitfaced and its poor judgment made it knock up a few hookers? :-0

Yeah something like that. To be honest though this little system has a lot of potential, and I think that’s what I bought into. That’s what I paid for when I decided to buy this system on launch. Nintendo usually isn’t the type of company to release something that is buggy but they did. Maybe they are picking up some bad habits watching the other companies.

Is that the freezing black screen I've heard about? I haven’t had my system fail on me like that yet. It seems maybe the system did get a little rushed out the door to make the year release promise they made at E3.

Did the launch game line-up give that away? One of the main games they teased all the nostalgites with was that Kid Icarus game, and it didn’t even release with the system! Oh oh and let’s not forget Ocarina of Time! And yes... black screen of death “Please hold the power button down to turn off the power, then try again”. Try again?!!! F-U Ninty...

Wow, it almost doesn’t reboot? That’s doesn’t sound like my Nintendo. I hope it doesn't turn ugly. We’ll have to keep an eye out and see if it's a widespread problem.

Yeah, I think Nitnendo thought things would go out smoother. It is funny that they have a ton of games for launch but nothing particularly noteworthy, the games are coming right? Another fact that makes it seemed rushed is the fact that the eShop Channel, Internet browser, and possibly a functional friends list are not even coming until a future firmware upgrade in June. I hope it doesn’t brick systems like the PS3 3.60 Firmware... ziiiiinnnnggg.

Ahahah! Yeah this whole firmware thing actually made me think: Does this mean every update cycle there are going to be bricked 3DS’? I hope not.

About the launch games though. When I was at E3 I met a couple developers. I asked them about the 3DS, and if they had gotten any dev kits or anything like that. Apparently Nintendo hadn’t shown them anything up to that point. So literally most if not all developers didn’t even get a dev kit until after E3. That’s less than 1 year between now and then, of course these games aren’t going to be fully developed! It seems they had a choice. “Should we focus on the systems bells and whistles or should we focus on game play?” Games like Puzzle Bobble could have been much more fun if they had more time, and maybe with more time Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars could have utilized ANY of the 3DS’ features besides the 3D lol.

I think I remember reading that the 3D part of it was also a last minute inclusion in the specs... so maybe they’ve been playing catch up ever since. From the looks of it they spent their time making sure they had something that could sell the concept/system to people by creating Face Raiders, the AR games and the rest was kinda pegged in there. Ouch, did I just say that? :-P

You’re mom gets pegged.

Oh, your a riot! Go get a day job at the local corner why don’t ya. Well my last comment may be a little over dramatic, but really it looks like they are trying to make the 3DS more online focused. It feels like the base is there and they just need to fill it out and make it better. It’s really my only qualm with the system. If they can make it easy for me to communicate with my friends I would be a happy camper.

You’re mom has a night job at the local corner... ahhh ok ok I’ll stop. Honestly man I think we’ve said all there is to be said for now. The system is a good system even without the 3D, but you can’t say it doesn’t add another dimension! Oohhh I’m good.

LOL *throws up a little. Yeah man, it feels like a great system and its got more potential to grow for sure. I have no regrets picking one up at launch even with the issues I brought up, and yes the battery doesn’t last much longer than 3 hrs on max settings. Just use your charging cradle and you should be fine people. Settle down. GET N OR GET OUT!

We’ll be chatting some more about this on the episode 44 of the podcast coming up on Monday.

If you have a 3DS what are your thoughts now that you've had the system for almost a week?

SUPER AWESOME! - DNA Lounge show!

2011-03-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

PeeLander Z, Anamanaguchi, and The Glowing Stars @ the DNA Lounge on April 7th, in San Francisco 375 11th St.

Seriously. This is an amazing line up! Don't believe me? Click those links up there for samples and CLICK HERE for more details!

MUSICAST Ep 1 Legend of Zelda

2011-03-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

So we're changing formats yet again! We try to keep you all on your toes ;). We'll be doing these Musicast episodes every other week so stay tuned.

To kick this series off I chose Legend of Zelda. In this episode I talk a little about the series, the designers, and the composers. Mostly though I play some choice songs from 3 of the early games, including the Gameboy version.

Legend of Zelda

Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Link

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Please do enjoy.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ep 43 Playing Minecraft in Japan

2011-03-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Donate! Japan needs your help! If Captain Planet were here before you he'd slap the silly out of you until you helped. Then you can slap him silly for not being in Japan helping already.

This weeks episode is just the two of us. We bring the awesome to your ears not just with our sultry voices, but also with great tunes found on ocremix.org website! Listen here, then go there and support that thriving community. But then come back k?

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this weeks show.

Featured music for this episode: OCREMIX.ORG

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

EP 42: The meaning of life, the Universe, and everything

2011-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

First and foremost we would like to encourage everyone to donate what they can to help the people of Japan. Our friend Leonard is okay outside of Tokyo, but there are still a lot of people are are in need as the country struggles to deal with the continuing aftershocks, Nuclear reactor explosions, and people without homes trying to survive in frigid weather.

Our friend Bobby joins us again this week to talk about and play Advance Wars Days of ruin. Brad gets his hands on a Nintendo 3DS for 2 hours at the Nintendo 3DS Demo Pod tour in San Francisco and give us his thoughts on the little device that could. Everything else this episode is just icing on the cake. It's a fully loaded hour of Who Burned My Toast! Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this weeks show.

Help Japan by donating what you can to a charity
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
42
SoulEye releases PPPPPPowerup! a collection of 18 Indy artists remixes of PPPPPP
Brad's PS3 dies after installing Firmware 3.60
We want Advance Wars for 3DS Dual Strike Article
3DS hands on impressions
3DS Demo Tour in San Francisco video
Nicolas Cage is amazing in Deadfall

Featured music for this episode: Advanced Wars Days of Ruin Soundtrack

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Nintendo 3DS Demo Tour in San Francisco with video reactions from "Real" people.

2011-03-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I got a chance to check out the Nintendo 3DS at Pier 39 in San Francisco during Nintendos hands on Demo Pod Event. Nintendo brought its guns out blazing with dozens of demo units with marketing materials and plopped it right in the middle of one of San Francisco's biggest tourist hang outs. They had all the launch games ready to try out for as long as you wanted. Go and check Nintendo's website to see if there is a demo event near you. We captured some video of the event with real people reacting and giving their thoughts while playing the device for the first time.

If you would like to see more of the event, I've posted more images at the jump and for my in-depth thoughts on the 3DS, listen up for the next episode of the podcast. Episode 42 coming Monday.

Below are a series of pictures from the event, with some brief descriptions of what I saw.

The Demo Pod. Where the magic happens.

Shooting my own face in Face Raiders. My favorite game on display.

The launch lineup of games for the US.

Periscope mode in the game Steel Diver.

These guys wouldn't leave the Pod after they kicked everyone else out.

If you see this bus, chase it down.

Move that bus!

3DS Advance Wars anyone? Hell yeah we want it! - Dual Strike Article.

2011-03-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

Before you go any further into this article I feel it needs a quick explanation. One rainy day Brad and I were discussing this exact thing on instant messenger. We realized that there are a lot of really cool things one can think of in regards to the new Nintendo 3DS, and a new iteration of Advance Wars.

Since we both really like the series and had a good deal of input we decided to try something new. This is our first attempt at an ARTICLE DUAL STRIKE! Where you'll actually get a full explanation, along with actual conversation between the two of us. PURAASSSUUUMMAAAA!

AMADO:
Ok so I get why it was once called Advance Wars, it was because the first one debuted on the Game Boy Advance, but we’re now going to be on the 3DS. Maybe it’s time we changed the name to... ummm... actually I think the Advance is stuck now because of branding so I’ll shut up about that.

What I really want to talk about is ADVANCE WARS 3DS OMG! Have you ever played an Advance Wars game? Seriously? No? Something is very wrong with you. I Highly recommend this game to anyone. No, seriously anyone. It’s one of those games that can be enjoyed by everyone, don’t you agree Brad?

BRAD:
Oh sure force me agree with you, you red headed Mexican bastard child. But I really have no choice but to also recommend the series to any gamer, especially anyone into turn based strategies. For me the series finds that perfect balance of being really easy to play, but also has a depth of gameplay that is satisfying as well as challenging. It’s a fact that Advance Wars will kick you in the nuts, place them on a satin covered pedestal, and then force you to eat them T.V. dinner style while watching re-runs of Golden Girls (Blanch is such a skank ho).

AMADO:
I see... Golden girls, right. Any-who allow me a brief moment of your time for those of you whom have never played it. Those of you who have, and are on board already skip this next paragraph:

Developed by Intelligent Systems; Published by Nintendo; First released September 10th 2001. They made: Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising on the Game Boy Advance. Advance Wars Dual Strike and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the Nintendo DS.
Take it away Bitch-face!

BRAD:
It’s a tactics turn based strategy game where you command your own little army. Capturing cities, gaining funds, and deploying units for battle against up to 3 other armies. Your army is deployed onto a grid like map and your goal is to either destroy all of your enemies or take over your opponents headquarters. Once you get into the thick of it, your going to gain access to different types of soldiers, vehicles, and commanders that will require you to learn their advantages and disadvantages in order to fight another day. Factors such as terrain, ammunition, fuel, resources (cash money), and squad numbers will inevitably leads to either rubbing your success in your friends face or shoving your foot up their ass. Speaking of asses...

AMADO:
Rubbing success into your friends faces. Right I do remember doing quite a bit of that. So now let’s get into the why we want them to bring it to the 3DS!

I’ll be the gimmicky one and say it first. 3D. You can’t tell me that 3D screen technology doesn't excite you in the slightest, I just refuse to believe it. I mean you did watch James Cameron’s Avatar didn’t you? Because I’ve seen the 3DS in action first hand I’m a believer brothers and sisters. What stuck with me is that they didn’t just throw it in as a stupid, ahh watch out for that tree! Omg water shoots at your face! Instead they understood that it is better used to enhance the depth of field. You’d literally be looking into a box where a battlefield is living and dying inside your 3DS like a bloody violent little diorama. With tanks!

BRAD:
It’s hard to say how much the 3D is going to effect the gameplay on this type of game. Which is always been the big question with 3D gaming. Will it prove to be helpful in a turn based strategy game? One thing is for sure, having the 3D combined with Wii like graphics is going to produce some high quality visuals, especially in the battle cut-scenes where they show your two armies duking it out like Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. Just think about it, during an online WIFI match you would see your opponents missiles coming flying at you. Yeah, maybe I’m a sucker for cheesy 3D gwaphics.

AMADO:
I’m stealing this one. Augmented Reality! Can you imagine what they could do? I mean have you seen any of those AR videos? I’m probably going a few years into AR’s future with this one, but in my head I see it possible that instead of selling you just a cartridge, they’ll sell you a cartridge and a physical stage, maybe even selling custom battle stages post release. In episode 41 of our podcast we talked about Tabletop Gaming. I can see this as a bridge between us and our gamer cousins, the tabletop gamers. Anything you’d like to add Mr. Jerger?

BRAD:
I can see it now... Oh no the enemy is launching their gigante Amado testicle force attack! That’s what I see in the future of AR gaming with Advances Wars. In all honesty it could be cool as a side feature where you could play like that and actually interact with the objects (like that Invisimals game for PSP) against your opponent in real time in the same room. Very cool idea. Practical, not really... testicles... I leave you with that thought in your head. I’m actually interested how the pedometer feature could be implemented, What do you think?

AMADO:
Is that the walky county thingy?

AW Days or Ruin artwork by Ryo Hirata

BRAD:
Yes, ass face.

AMADO:
Ok yeah, so not Pedobear ok. I’m not so sure about that one honestly let me think...

BRAD:
Well I was thinking with the pedometer feature you earn in games coins that you can spend in game. For example you could use the coins to gain extra fuel or resources for your tanks etc. Things of that nature, I like to think outside the 3D box you know. Don’t you dare make a Mom joke or I’ll cut you...

AMADO:
Threats of bodily damage from almost 400 miles away hold no weight. However, I will take the classy route and not kiss and tell. As for this Pedometer thing, I don’t know if they should do that due to balance. Then again maybe if you were terrible at this game, having that option available to you might be the win button that has been so prevalent in games lately.

The last thing that sounds kind of interesting to me is the Street Pass thing. any ideas?

BRAD:
Well Amado, I really like turtles, so I’m actually hoping they add a infirmary for baby turtles where I can raise all my cute cuddly baby turtles, and trade them with my friends :D.

AMADO:
What does this have to do with Advance Wars?

BRAD:
Hey stop putting words into my mouth and let me speak or I’ll bring out the big guns (kisses bicep). Well I think the pedometer could be used for single player game in someway. But obviously your not interested in that, so Ill jump on the street pass bandwagon. With Street Pass function turned on it seems that the only thing you would want to trade with someone is stats or maybe maps that people create. In Days of Ruin you could download maps online and use them for yourself or upload your own. This way you could get them from anyone at anytime. But there should be something else you could receive from someone that would be interesting.... maybe your Brontosaurus pea brain has a thought hidden in there. Hello!? Knock knock, anyone in there? McFly?

Amado:
Grunt... *scratches nuts.

Brad:
I didn’t think so. In all honesty the Street Pass thing doesn’t interesting me all that much. Maybe once I get the 3DS in my hands I’ll get a better feel for what it has to offer. I did have an awesome thought about playing the game online that would be really rad, well two thoughts. I know it’s crazy I just had two thoughts, just hang with me. My first idea was about when you play online against other people. While your playing the game the 3DS could be recording/photographing your faces during key moments in the match. At the end of the match it could display them for everyone to see in a battle replay of sorts. Plus if you end up being the winner of the round you could add a nice victory shot of your nut sack to really Pwn your friends. I seem to have an obsession with nuts today, strange. Anyways the second idea that would be much more reasonable would be to be able to take pics of your face and place them on your little soldiers so you can see yourself running around in the game. I just think things like would be fun to do and make the online experiences more unique. I wonder what other things they would do to the online part of the game.

AMADO:
Hey! I was watching a movie, but I’m back.

Nuts as a victory shot. I’m interested. Actually though I do have a thought about Street Pass. I was thinking... you mentioned game stats. I’m seeing kind of like a local scoreboard. Being in Fresno I’ll likely never pass anyone else with a 3DS unless I know them. In San Francisco though where you live and other more commute heavy cities I can see this becoming something cool. You probably take the train with the same people every day and if they have a 3DS and are playing this as well, you’ll constantly be getting updates on their scores, passive aggressively competing with them lol.

Anyway that’s it for me man. I’m sure there are tons of other things that we can come up with in this article but I really doubt anyone is still reading at this point! Any final thoughts Brad?

BRAD:
Testicles.... large testicles.

AMADO:
Aww jeez Brad what a way to end the article.

So I pose this question to anyone out there that has played any of these games.
Can you think of anything awesome the 3DS will do with the Advance Wars series that we’ve not seen up to this point?

Is the PS3 Firmware 3.60 bricking consoles? It happened to me.

2011-03-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

Now I'll never know how to get the worm!

All of you have probably heard the news that Sony has released a new firmware update today. Version 3.60 came out and with that comes some great things. Cloud storage and a new beefy security to fend off all those evil pesky Pirates. This all sounds fucking fantastic, except for one thing.

The firmware bricked my 40GB PS3. I'm dead serious. After installing the update and restarting my PS3 all I got was a red blinking power light.

I went ahead and tried the normal routine of turning it on and off a few times with no luck. So the next option was to try and start it up in safemode and that was a failure as well. The best I could do is get it to turn for for a second then it would power back down.

Has anyone else had an issue with Sony's latest and greatest firmware 3.60 update? Let us know.

After every firmware release it seems, I hear the tales of systems bricking across the land and sea. But I never thought it could happen to me. Sony has burned my toast. FUCK.

UPDATE: 3/12/11 So I called Sony Support. My PS3 is dead and of course its identified as a hardware failure. But I still have my suspicions. It was awfully convenient for it to die directly after the update. Yes I know the software isn't the issue but something happened during that process. Here is the video of the current state of my PS3. According to the light sequence you see that means, death.

Monster Hunter Live Action Role Play!

2011-03-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard the term LARP? It stands for "Live Action Role Play" which is what this video is.
This group of Japanese umm... Kids put together some amazing costumes and weapons! I bet they probably are well recognized members of the JP cosplay community. They all came together and choreographed this little piece. They even memorized actual attacks, stances, and taunts for the video lol.

Hate on Larpers all you want, at least they embrace what they are to the fullest and aren't afraid of judgment from others... well maybe a little since they don't show their faces in this video.

They even got all the sound effects!

Thanks to "samurai syber judgemagister" on www.capcom-unity.com for sharing.

Ep 41 The Mystical Tabletop Gaming Ninja

2011-03-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

This episode we are joined by our good friend Bobby in order to help us understand a different aspect of "gaming". Gaming at its roots. We're talking about Tabletop gaming.

Confused as you might be when entering one of those gaming shops; They are our cousins. Love your cousins (no not that way sickos!).

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this weeks show.

Featured music for this episode: The Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Your thoughts on how to best play Monster Hunteron the 3DS.

2011-03-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

Come to me MH 3DS.

Three or four weeks ago (I can't freakin' remember, I'm old dammit) I put out a call for the community to give me some feedback on their thoughts about how they would like to play Monster Hunter on the 3DS. If and when the game screeches it way onto the system, there are some interesting ways Capcom could change up the controls for the dimensionally aware handheld. I yelled, I did unmentionable things in an alley, and I begged on the blog for feedback as well as made my way to the Capcom Unity forums to get some thoughts from the hardest of the hardcore. Here is what I got back from the Monster Hunter fanbo... errr I mean community. Tee hee.

Coffeewithgames.com thoughts on MH 3DS controls.

Coffeewithgames.com filled out one of my templates with his thoughts on playing the game and said "I think the touch pad could be used for interesting things... still not sure about the dash/evade buttons I have set up... as I think flicking the Circle Pad twice in one direction would be a great way for it to register evade... but I don't know how that would function over time...so a button press it is!"

Many people here and on the Capcom Unity forums made their voices loud and clear. Some took the challenge with grace and some decided to start a flame war between the 3DS and the NGP (PSP2). Luckily, I weeded through the trolls to bring you some of the best ideas and hidden gems from the fans. Here they are in all their glory.

Flame shields were raised.

Regulas wrote:
"I've been thinking. Why don't they just keep the same exact controls the PSP has?Who ever said the analog had to be for movement and the D-pad for the camera? Why can't it just be the D-pad for movement and the analog for the camera? Think about it. "

Kevin wrote: "same controls as psp just use the touch screen for the camera, it would take some getting used to but i think it would be the best option."

Ashiee wrote: "Simple - I wouldn't.
If the next MH game goes to 3DS I refuse to buy it. I'm not paying $350 for a darn handheld console that wrecks my eyes, makes me dizzy and makes my hands hurt after 15 minutes of play.And if I have to control ANYTHING with the stylus I'll be even more PO'd with it."

Ryan wrote:"Even if Monster Hunter did come on a handheld with two analog sticks, attacking would be very hard. You'd have to make another claw move just to attack, and in my opinion having a great game like Monster Hunter and only being able to move the camera and your character, would be a waste of time. And honestly, a 'claw' move on MH3DS would work out smoothly. I'm thinking of an auto-camera type thing, you move your character and the camera autmatically moves with you. And then of course every now and then you could use the D-pad to move the camera to take a potion while looking behind you. It'll all work out great if Capcom plans to follow through with it."

oz78 wrote: "Erm, It's official? monster hunter 3rd's going to PSP2? Shouldn't we just drop what's going where, how they work and try and look at what's good for each handheld?"

Asou808 wrote: "I think i would have to break my left index finger in an awkward position to be able to play on the DS."

Shade wrote: "My idea: Option for camera on touch or items on touch.
Camera on touch wouldn't change any other controls. For item on touch, y=R (put away option on touch screen) L and R are camera, and every thing else is the same. Wouldn't take any getting used to, methinks. Or you could do L+Slide is move camera, but I don't think it would work as well."

Snake wrote: I'm a little too lazy to make a picture for the controls. I think the touch screen should be the Menu, the motion controls could be used for the camera turning, you wouldn't have to turn the 3DS that far to make the camera rotate and it wouldn't knock off the 3D since there are games that use mainly motion controls."

Ashiee wrote:"You need to seriously get over people saying the 3DS is a DS, because IT IS A DAMN DS! The NGP IS a PSP. It is a PlayStation Portable console. 3DS is a DS with an extra control stick and 3D capabilities. That's ALL it is, so shut up about it not being a DS - it is. If it WASN'T, well it'd look nothing like a DS."

I threw in that last one for laughs.

Don't trust this man, he's crazy.

Snow wrote (Capcom Community Specialist): "Very carefully..."

Well that's it everyone. Thanks for all the people who gave feed back and I enjoyed reading everyone's ideas and woes about playing Monster Hunter on the 3DS (even though only some of us (Amado) have touched the thing yet). The last response from Snow I thought was not only a joke, but I think it was also a coy hint of things to come. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who told me that Capcom is focusing on another Monster Hunter for Nintendo. Seriously. But don't take my word for it.

NEStalgia rhymes with Nostalgia. O is for Obvious.

2011-03-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

What word does NEStalgia rhyme with, hmmm… Maybe nostalgia. We here at Who Burned My Toast are all about nostalgia. We love it. We breath it. We thrive on it. So what exactly is this game nostalgic about? You can probably guess but click on the "READ MORE" button anyway!

Developed by a man named Ben Mallahan on a creation system called BYOND by Silk Games. This game mimics the JRPGs of old such as, Dragon Warrior, Dragon Quest, old school stuff like that.

So what right? I mean those games are supposed to be left right where they are--in the god damn graveyard. Who needs random encounters, turn based battles, questing, and stupid dungeon crawling? You do bitch. Not just you either, you and your friends! That's right sluts this isn't just any 'ol romp through nostalgia hills, this is a romp through nostalgia hills while holding a flamethrower, incinerating all those slimes 'til they are crispy and tasty!

This is a Cooperative MMORPG which is free to play. It does have a subscription, as you would expect, but all it does is give you more character classes and customization features.

Wtf are you still doing here? Click this link and install it (PC ONRY). If you like it play it. If you love it then pay for it and get more out of it. If you hate it well then you're probably normal.

Does this antiquated style of games deserve a revival?
Do current generation features actually give this style of games more value?

Ep 40: 誕生日おめでとう

2011-02-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Link! The Legend of Zelda turned 25 years old on Feb. 21st and on this episode we talk about one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history. We're joined by new host Derrick Vermin and listener of the podcast Lorenzo Romero. We discuss some of our favorite Zelda memories and how the series has changed or not changed over the years. Also we figure out who's pre-ordering a 3DS and why. All this and more on Who Burned My Toast.

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this week.

Legend of Zelda
3DS
Marvel vs Capcom 3
Hard Corps
Battle Toads Meme
Lost in Shadows
Amado learns about Racism
the Zelda Project

Featured music for this episode: Zelda Series.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Sony's legal battles explained by Groklaw.net

2011-02-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Judge Judy will settle this shit.

If your like me, you may be wondering why in the hell the PS3 seems to be a hot bed for hackers and why its big daddy Sony is in the headlines almost daily. To say the least there is a struggle between Sony and a percentage of its users that has gotten to the point where legal action is being taken by both sides.

Until GeoHot came into my life and released the news that he was jailbreaking the PS3 and handing out all the keys to the castle, I wasn't paying attention much to the PS3 hacking scene. Once that happened Sony has taken action on him and the debate between hacking, freedom, piracy, software licenses and corporate power have been all the rage.

The basic gist of what happened is this. Sony realized that having the ability to install Linux (or other OS) on the PS3 was becoming a security risk by way of piracy and hacking (i.e. losing cash). So Sony decides to release a firmware update that when installed removes that function and if you chose not to install it you would lose access to PSN and the ability to play any new game. This of course pisses off all the Linux users out there and they file a class action lawsuit. Then in order to get Linux back onto the PS3, hackers have taken arms and spent the last year trying to jailbreak the system so people can have freedom to do what they want on the hardware. Now Sony is mad/crazy taking names. The innocent gamers suffer.

If I wanted to write a ten page blog post explaining it all to you, I couldn't. I don't have the legal knowledge or the stamina to do it, but luckily www.groklaw.net has done it for me with an article detailing aspects of the case with transcripts of the current class action lawsuit against Sony for the removal of the Install Other OS feature. It's particularly interesting since its directly related to Sony's new case against GeoHot and sheds some light on the perspective of both parties. Some things you read may make you angry or upset, but at least you'll have a better understanding of both sides either way.

Sony is in a interesting predicament and it seems they are in a losing battle. On one side, they look like dicks. On the other side they get dicked by their users.

Here is the direct link to the article

Who's being the bigger dick? Sony or the hackers?

Primal Carnage (not Primal Rage) - Dinosaurs rule your face.

2011-02-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Dinosaurs, I love you.

What is it about boys and Dinosaurs? It seems that from the moment a boy can comprehend the idea of a giant lizard monster that terrorizes all other creatures, They fall in love. This game, Primal Carnage, developed by Lukewarm Media and built with the Unreal engine, looks great. Video below.

What is it?

It's a co-op first person shooter with a real Jurassic feel. Scientist, Commando, Trapper, Firestarter, and Pathfinder - these are the human classes announced so far. I emphasize human because you can also pick from the Dinosaur classes: Tyrannosaurus, Raptor, Dilophosaurus, Pteranodon, and Compsognathus. Each of these classes have their own ups and downs so you'll have to coordinate with your teammates like any other first person shooter. As of now they are saying up to 20 people in each match so 10 vs 10, but the games can start at 5 vs 5.

Omg when can I play this?!

Primal's development is still in it's infancy. This video is from an alfa build and is already showing a lot of beautiful things. Sure it's not doing anything completely new with the FPS genre but damnit it has Dinosaurs! So I'm thinking something like Left 4 Dead but instead of the already-beaten-to-death-but-still-grinding-it's-bones-like-a-horny-tween-after-a-Twilight-film zombie horde (take a breath) we have Dinosaurs. Nothing beats Dinosaurs.

Who are these guys?

Lukewarm Media, a newly formed independent multimedia design company based in... Actually scroll down on this page. A map with pins representing all the contributors peppered all over the globe. Using EKI One®, "middleware for emotion and artificial intelligence", these guys and gals are cooking together what looks like a very fun and amazing experience for gamers on the PC and Linux platforms (Xbox 360, and PS3 show up on wiki, but wiki sometimes lies). If you want to know more about them please visit their site here; and if you have an extra dime or more burning a hole in your pocket you can donate on the Primal Carnage website.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this game, so keep an eye on the blog for updates.

P.S. Monster Hunter Monster Hunter Monster Hunter!!!

Ep 39: Clever Girl

2011-02-21T00:49:00.000-08:00

This weeks podcast is all about Dinosaurs thanks to the recent announcement of "Jurassic Park The Game" by Telltale Games. Back in the mid 90's Dinosaurs were infinitely more popular than zombies and we talk about some of our favorites games featuring Dinosaurs. We hope they start making a comeback soon to terrorize the video game industry. Because really, who doesn't love to see people get eaten by a T-Rex while they're sitting on the toilet?

What are some of your favorite video games featuring Dinosaurs?

Here is a list of the topics we covered on this week.

Piracy again
Games with Dinosaurs: Jurassic Park The Game & Primal Carnage
Dead Island game trailer
Hunting and drinking Iguana blood
Chick Chick Boom WiiWare demo
The Prince of Persia movie is horrible
Sony S1 Tablet

Featured music for this podcast: CHO REN SHA 68K

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes