jackgb

Mario Sunshine seems bad, but I guess I haven't played it so I just asked for the results. Anyway I listen to the whole thing every week and enjoy it, if only for the tangents. Also, I was shouted out for my birthday a few weeks ago and it made me absurdly happy. I tend to listen to podcasts in chunks rather than one sitting (which is why I've never really understood Patrick's "Who has time for a 3 hour podcast?" line), and I drive a lot, so the extra runtime is actually quite beneficial. That's why the Beastcast is only the 3rd longest podcast I listen to on a weekly basis.

Joined up.

I live out in the boonies (the nearby "big town" with a college has a population of 10,000). It looks like the local Wal-Mart got about 18 units. I was told last night that nothing would be sold until 6:00 am so I stopped by on my way to work this morning at about 8:30 and didn't see any out. I asked the guy at the counter when they might get more, and he said "We still have a bunch in the back, no problem." Plenty of games out, plenty of accessories. I think I'm likely to beat Zelda and eBay the system and game combined for $300, but it's cool picking up a console on launch day. I wonder if the wider availability here is a function of people here in the boonies relying more on online retailers for novelty items, depressed economic conditions in the area, or even a broad indicator that demand isn't overwhelming/supply is decent.

Peace Walker is my favorite in the series because it's so focused on gameplay and customization, and Ground Zeroes/MGS V seems like it would be completely baffling without playing it. Still, not sure it's a good fit for video, except for the Monster Hunter fights. Maybe Dan should play through it and they can stream certain missions/cutscenes in co-op.

@davidfox1983:

As a not-quite-fan of the series who has nevertheless made his way through a lot of Metal Gear in the past year or two, in the vein of Drew, MGS3 (or at least the updated version on Live/PSN) was definitely the easiest and most accessible game of the first three. Plus it has a lot of retro military tech stuff that Drew is sure to eat up, some really neat (and not overly frustrating) boss fights, and a story that's relatively straightforward.

I still say Peace Walker HD is the best in the whole series. Come at me.

I think the last mission is amazing. Going from Edge of Tomorrow suits to Starship Troopers suits is AWESOME.

I got deep into the multiplayer for all the games from 4 to Black Ops, but I'm a sucker for the campaigns. I really want to see what Sledgehammer can do with the extra time, but, like Jeff, I'm worried that the next two years are going to be disappointing. I like Treyarch's work, and I think Black Ops is seriously underrated and Black Ops 2 is the best campaign in the series from a mechanical standpoint, but all of the future tech in Black Ops 2 looks totally quaint in retrospect. The dessicated corpse of Infinity Ward already put out probably the worst or second-worst game in the whole series last year. Hell, even Sledgehammer is going to have trouble since they PROBABLY can't use Spacey again.

How many times is GG going to accuse people that have been doxxed of doing it to themselves for attention? What's more likely, that every single woman (and it's almost entirely women, let's be frank) being harassed after making any statement about GG or video games in general (notice the correlation?) is making it up, or that the so-called "ethics" movement has abusive members? People claim GG isn't an organized movement, and that it's the voice of the masses, except when they claim it's a monolithic movement where all ACTUAL members adhere to conduct guidelines, whichever is most convenient.

I don't understand the hyper-defensive nature of GG. Or rather, I understand why they're defensive of the movement's awful behavior (answer: because it's obviously awful), but the arguments don't hold up to any standard of decency. Is it really more important that our toys are reviewed properly or that people aren't threatened with death and rape for being women with opinions about video games? That's a trick question, because the premise that our toys aren't being reviewed properly has nothing to do with GG. Even if it does, it arises from a grossly skewed sense of priorities, where the safety and mental well being of fellow humans is less important than how video games are made or reviewed.

Do people supporting GG not understand the cognitive dissonance associated with using codenames for female devs and writers so that people don't accuse them of just talking about how to destroy women? All GG supporters say is "do your research", because accusing somebody's argument of being poorly researched is the easiest, college freshman-est way to go LA LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOU #ETHICS, but where exactly am I to do that? 4chan, the internet's neo-fascist teenager, where even worse behavior than this is easily found? All of these GG subreddits which exhibit exactly the behavior that GG defenders claim doesn't represent GG? Grow up. It's a bad thing. GG is a bad thing. What's happening to these people is a bad thing, and deflecting blame so that it doesn't taint an already tainted movement is a bad thing.

I like Dan quite a bit. I share many of his interests, he's a funny guy, and as said previously, he is enthusiastic as hell.

On the other hand, is he literally six years old? Has he never had a long-time girlfriend or parent teach him basic things about life? I'm genuinely perplexed. I mean, holy shit, the egg shell story.

"....AND THE TRICASTER AS HIMSELF"