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Joystiq Podcast

Chris Grant and team does something they should do more often, have a guest, and it is former 1up.com editor of something John Davison. He likes Mirror's Edge and explains that the designers were able to convey a sense of self by placing the camera in the character's eyes and giving brief glimpses of Faith's limbs. Furthermore, that little blue dot that is in the middle of the screen was added to keep us from vomiting because it replicates a trick that ballerina's use to maintain their equilibrium - focusing at a single spot.

More after the jump....

As I played through the Force Unleashed, I noticed that after defeating one of the most powerful Jedi in the game, she exploded in a bolt of lightning. Now having seen Jedi die in all the other movies, I know there were some variations: Yoda faded away while Qui-Gon Jinn left behind a corpse. I could not figure out how this new phenomenon of a lighting-explosion-death fits the series mythology. I therefore created this chart to determine how a Jedi will die.

Brainy Gamer
Michael Abbott hosts a one hour discussion with Leigh Alexander
and Mitch Krpata about survival horror in October without anyone mentioning Halloween or saying "Mmmmm Braaaainy Gamer" like a zombie. However they do a decent analysis:

* The genre uses a restriction of resources or controls to induce fear
* There is a difference between western and eastern horror.

P.S. BGP was a fairly decent discussion of the genre but if you want to hear the best deconstruction of a genre I have ever heard you must listen to this
Retronauts discussion about Survival Horror. They reason that survival horror is what it is because it relies on the feeling of dread as its primary game mechanic. It really is a fantastic podcast.

Giant Bomb
The following games are "pretty good":

• Dead Space
• Little Big Planet
• SOCOM
• Age of Booty
• Fable 2
• Saints Row 2

1up Yours
Using all of the drum terminology he knows (high/low tom, rolls, ride and crash), Garnet fully endorses the $200 rock man simulator known as Guitar Hero World Tour.

Podcast Digest is a new weekly column in which I give they highlights of some of the more interesting gaming podcasts.

Retronauts - A guest heavy roundup of all upcoming retro remakes that were featured in the Tokyo Game Show proves that most of the retro content is appearing on mobile phones and hand helds. Jeremy Parish says that Spelunker is still bad event in the HD form and it seems as if most of the developers know that the game is bad. We also hear that Klonoa was one of the best platformers to play on 9/11.

With the Genesis (aka Master System) turning 20 the team uses a cute but ultimately time consuming alphabetical listing of facts you never knew about the system. The most interesting revealed that Sega did so well in America because of the great leadership of Michael Katz and that I completely missed Lock-on_Technology.

Whew. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes..eh dust, yes dust, the Game Intestine has made it onto a new hosting platform with new technical powers. This site, if configured right, can now shoot lasers.

This change is not just a technological one. I will be also updating it more with regular blog posts and new walkthroughs. Yes a new walkthrough. The full plot walkthrough for Starwars: The Force Unleashed will be posted by the end of the week.

Until then look around and try out the new Game Intestine.

"On The Road" was first published 50 years ago today and everyone who likes books is all "Greatest American Book", "a true portrait of what America was feeling at that time." I have read it and it is kinda true that it is one of those media corner stones that gets what it is like to live in America.

There are other American media triumphs that do the same thing. For movies you have Scorsesy Films, paintings there is Edward Hopper, photographs are Richard Avedon, and with music most people say anything by John Mellencamp.

Between session of Halflife 2, Episode 2, I went to go see Juno (the start is weak but ends much better) and was glad to see that the main love song is The Moldy Peaches' Anyone Else but You.

The song is significant because it nonchalantly shows that the songwriters are gamers. From the second verse: 

I am in the Halo 3 beta again (because of the Rule of 3 not due to some sort of bundled-in sales promotion. The new halo is kinda the same, its like a super-caffeinated halo 2 mocha. Everything is shinier, louder, and faster. The one thing that I love more than anything else about this beta is the overall sense of glee in everyone playing. Every time you chat it up in the lobby, fellow combatants say how much fun they are having, They offer new tips for the new weapons, they report on what happened in their last game.