The crew begins this week’s show with some reflections on QuakeCon: discussing Rage, Minecraft, and the problems a convention can encounter when all internet connectivity is routed through a single, consumer level DSL line. The discussion moves to some positive feedback for Monday Night Combat and Dragon Quest IX, while Jeff gives us a snapshot of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days and its grim delivery. While it seems that Jeff thinks this game and its system have potential, he makes it pretty clear that he’s not a big fan of its camera system, or its markedly limited content. Garnett gets pretty heated over Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light not having online multiplayer ready at launch, but quickly reminds us that this venom stems from his profound love for the game, and the franchise as a whole.
Shacknews discussions get some love as the guys recap some substantive topics. It’s Jeff vs. Brian and Garnett as they consider whether shooters are inherently juvenile, and the conversation moves towards the greater perception of the gaming culture, and the possible insight of Scott Pilgrim’s box office bomb. The “game collection” is also explored in light of the growing digital market, where a Steam purchase list can show more about us than the bookshelf that once housed DVDs and game cartridges.
In the news is the Xbox 360’s surprising recent hardware sales dominance, StarCraft 2’s record performance, and the lamenting of Realtime Worlds’ probable upcoming sale and recent layoffs. Release dates are also discussed for Portal 2, Dragon Age 2, and THQ’s Dawn of War 2 expansion pack.
To wrap up, the team jumps into the BioShock 2 discussion, highlighted by Jeff’s self-proclaimed prediction of “Sky-oShock”, and the ubiquitous debate regarding the meaning of “BioShock”, and the questionable choice to revisit the franchise in presently unclear ways.
This weekend gets confirmed with a powerful show that rocks from start to finish. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Lara Croft: Guardian of Light, Monday Night Combat, and a QuakeCon report get the party started on the right foot in Whatcha’ Been Playin? Your thoughts on maturity in games and balancing difficulty with reward lead off the Warning before the question of whether it’s okay to leave games unfinished finally gets discussed. Gamecom announcements alone could fill the Front Page but there’s also a quick review of the July NPD sales figures and, of course, Jeff tops it off with a little excitement for Bioshock Infinite.
Whatcha’ Been Playin: Start: 00:00:00 End: 00:31:21
Whatcha’ Been Playin and Cannata-ford a New Game: Start: 00:32:47 End: 01:04:33
The Warning: Start: 01:05:36 End: 01:37:20
Music Break featuring “Yaa I Get It” by Shad K Start: 01:37:20 End: 01:40:10
The Front Page: Start: 01:40:10 End: 02:16:21
Runtime – 2:16:22
Links → web | mp3 | iTunes | Zune | rss
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Weekend Confirmed continues to be stellar. I'm still amazed that there are people out there who call themselves fans of podcasts that don't listen to Weekend Confirmed. I think Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Jeff Gerstmann, and Sam Kennedy are probably the podcast dream team right now (+ Leahy for a fifth chair, among others).
I've been thinking about my podcast dream team since I read your comment. Mine would be Jeff Green as host, Garnett Lee, Hilary Goldstein, Arthur Gies and Jeff Gerstmann.
Zanzibar – I missed your original comment; I'm glad Jesse brought it back up. You guys both have some interesting choices; but I think I could ditch Garnett Lee pretty easily, to be honest. He's good, but I feel like he tries to 'own' his podcasts too much, where some of the better hosts are a lot more collaborative.
I feel like my dream-team has to include Shawn Elliot and Chris Remo; but anytime I even start with those guys, I start construction a cast that would implode through its own pretension. I have to give this a little more thought.
I actually have never liked Garnett Lee, as host or guest. Something about him has always rubbed me the wrong way. He was the most tolerable in his 1UP Yours days mostly due to the fantastic cast and the fact he was diluted quite a bit by the strong personalities like John Davision and Luke Smith.
I tried to listen to Weekend Confirmed regularly, as I really like Jeff Cannata but I found I just couldn't put up with Garnett on this particular show so I haven't listened for a while now.
As for my dream-team mine would also have to include Shawn Elliot and Chris Remo, I'd love to hear those two discuss games, I imagine it'd be immensely entertaining and interesting. As a Luke Smith fanboy I'd have to have him there too.
I included Garnett not only because I like him and I'm a big fan of his, but also because, along with Cannata, he's good at starting up more mature conversation topics. He's capable of conversing on a serious level about video games, unlike many other bodies that fill the chairs on mainstream podcasts. (Actually, maybe that's unfair — he seems more prone to serious discussion, but I shouldn't say that other people aren't able to converse seriously about games.)
I appreciate what you say with regards to him "owning" his shows. I tend to think that's a result of people telling him that the podcasts are his. Like with 1UP Yours and Listen UP; the fans and co-hosts were frequently telling him that it was "his goddamn show."
I think I'd have Ryan Davies as my dream host. (That sounded gay.) He's good at steering conversations but I think he seems more relaxed than Garnett. I like fun podcasts.
I'd have Justin McElroy and Robert Ashley there too. The Anthony Gallegos On segment would return, I Come to Shanghai would make the theme music, it'd be recorded in surround sound, and pink unicorns would run along a rainbow highway to deliver it to me on a weekly basis.
Not that I dislike Garnett Lee or anything…