Modern Portable Gaming Systems

The Pull Bag is the GCRN's place for everything

you need in the comic book world. We focus on

new and current comics while also tackling a

few back issues here and there. So join the entire

GCRN crew and see what issues the hosts have

with today's panels. You can find The Pull Bag

on iTunes and GeekCastRadio .com. Make your great

escape into comics. This week on off the cuff

we talk about the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo

3ds and our phones Too bad they don't make any

funny noises when we turn them on Oh wait, hang

on can you make it do funny noises I can Give

one second Hahaha! I'm a dumb hick That's right

All right, so the first part here we're gonna

be talking about what we've been playing That's

wonderful does anyone else want to break out

another sound effect from their phone wait wait,

I think there's more My phone plays Tetris music

Are you just clicking on everything? I'm sorry,

I don't have any fun ones. You know what? Ah!

Okay. Okay, well now that's no Thank you for

sampling all the iOS sound effects You should

just use that as a sound board during the podcast

I was gonna say I'll just start answering like

heartbone marks wouldn't just turn into the Rosie

O'Donnell show every time somebody mentions Miyamoto

we're gonna have to play some kind of song ding

ding are you ready to start yeah because we should

probably cut all that out because I people are

gonna think I'm a bigger idiot than I already

am oh no I'm leaving I'm not doing all that work

stop ringing damn you See I put mine on vibrate

for the podcast. So do I well we're gonna talk

about what we've been doing or playing rather

and The second segment will cover PlayStation

Vita and the 3ds and our phones for portable

gaming part 4 part 4 the conclusion Yeah When

I'm one episode longer than it should have like

all good franchises So Trying to think of anything

I've played since Bioshock and Because we don't

even want to talk about Bioshock. No, we're going

to talk about Bioshock on next week's episode

all Bioshock all the time And it'll be spoiler

-heavy first episode of off -the -cuff spoilers

spoiler cast or something like that is what I've

heard those type of things called but we could

call it the Bioshock a ruin or episode. I wanted

to call it not safe for work But I thought that

might get people to actually listen So But I

recently started playing SimCity again Because

Jason actually Jason picked it up. Oh good for

him And he got me to sit down last night and

I played online with them. We were on Skype I

always play that game standing up, I don't know

why you sit down. I lost another six hours of

my life to that game yesterday. I played from

10 p .m. to 4 a .m. And then I played for another

five hours this afternoon. But it's a lot more

fun when you can actually play with somebody.

To think about the paint you could be watching

dry instead of playing that game. In the background

I had, I finished the first season of Fosters

on Netflix. Well, at least you did something

worthwhile. And then I think I'm halfway through

the first season of Ed, Edd and Eddie. This show

I just can't get into. I love that show. People

appreciate it more in my older age. I just like

all the innuendos. Like a fine wine, it is ripe

with maturity. I just like all the innuendos

they put in there. In your endo? Yep, in my endos.

Okay. So, they've actually brought back quite

a large number of features that were disabled

the first week the game came out. Are we talking

about Edited and Edi or are we talking about

City? Oh, okay. Sorry, I got lost. Just a second.

Back on the page. They finally brought back cheetah

speed, which means you don't have to sit there

and wait for stuff to happen. It's way better

than link speed. Yeah. I'm trying to think if

there's anything else big that's actually happened

and I didn't even know they brought that back.

I know they were testing it last weekend on their

test server and I missed out on that but when

I signed on last night I had an update and Jason

said that cheetah speed was back and that made

the whole thing a lot better except now there's

a weird glitch where I think the way they enabled

cheetah speed was to the game only saves to the

server at certain increments like real -time

increments now instead of in -game increments

so if you're playing in cheetah speed and you

jump over to your buddy's city to look at it

any changes you made right before you left your

city don't get saved I haven't had a way of trying

that out yet today I just I just realized that

that was what was happening. So I'm pretty sure

if you play on normal or slow and you jump to

another city, your stuff will sync up the right

way. But one of the reasons they removed Cheetah

Speed is because it was pinging their servers

constantly with all the updated changes that

were taking place. And so I'm pretty sure the

way they fixed that was just to have it sync

at real time increments instead of when the game...

wants it to so unfortunately the game doesn't

tell you when it's saving okay uh yeah my dog

is annoying me really yep i thought he was bringing

a little more flavor to the episode well it's

it's no different than zander giving color commentary

well hey he has his opinions too he should be

allowed to express them he should be he should

be Other than that I haven't really been playing

too much of anything because I'm like in this

Weird funk that was made better on Wednesday

by Dan are coming to visit. Well, I am pretty

sexy you are So What have you guys been playing

Yeah, Joe, what have you been playing playing

games this week Well, it's been a it's been a

busy school week and I've been spending my days

in the shop But that means I get to come home

and turn my brain off. I tracked down a copy

of an old game for 360 Ace Combat 6 Fires of

Liberation. Okay, and and I about I The reason

I decided to track it down was back when I worked

at GameStop It was in the demo in the arcade

unit for the 360 and I You know because I showed

up three hours early to my shift all the time

I'd sit there and I'd play that demo over and

over again at the First level of it, but you

know I really enjoyed that I should probably

buy the whole game So I did And the flight is

great, the combat, all the controls are wonderful.

The cutscenes in the story are like something

out of a bad Japanese anime drama movie. It's

just horrible. And thankfully I figured out how

to skip those cutscenes because I just rather

fly the plane. I don't care about this. Have

you ever played Hawks? No. That's the Tom Clancy

one with the voice controls, right? It does have

voice controls. I never used them. Jason and

I primarily played it because it had four player

co -op. And so you could get up in the air with

your buddies and go on missions. Everyone could

pick a different plane depending on what kind

of role they wanted to play. How's the flight,

I guess, in compared to something like something

we've all played? It's arcady. Crimson Skies.

I haven't spent very much time with Crimson Skies,

I was not an Xbox guy. Crimson Skies is awesome!

Love that game! I think the only time I played

it was the one time I stayed the night at Andy's

house when he was still in his apartment. And

that was actually the first time I'd ever experienced

Xbox Live for the most part, which we just ended

up making fun of kids in Halo 2. I still make

fun of kids, but we do it at malls now. I didn't

mean to hijack the conversation, but the combat,

it does this weird thing. There's a standard

mode where you're behind the jet or you're in

the cockpit. And there's an action mode where

the screen goes static and you can see everything

that's flying around you and you still have control

over your jet. So it's a lot easier for you to

do like... to loop around on a guy and do barrel

rolls and see who's coming at you. But it's weird

because you have to have a really good sense

of depth perception as to how far things are

away from you. But the minute you let your finger

off the button, it snaps back to being behind

you. It's weird. But it was just a lot of fun

to be able to play an air combat game in co -op

with modern jets. So well, I'll check that out.

I have that's been fun. What else? Oh, oh I found

I went digging through my DS games looking at

Seeing if I still had the boxes for whatever

games I had had next to my DS case upstairs and

in the stack I found chrono trigger and I thought

sweet I can actually finish this game and Convenient

we're on the handheld episode. So I took my chrono

triggered cartridge upstairs stuck it in the

DS and Loaded up the first mission and it had

been so long since I played it's like, you know

what great I have no idea where I am or what

the story is. I don't remember any of this and

so I turned it down and I put the thing down

and I resolved that that I wasn't gonna be able

to play Chrono Trigger anymore cuz like I don't

want to sit to the beginning of that game again

I've sat through it. I don't know how many times

I've never beaten it Did you ever figure out

where you are? No, never figured out where I

was. I can tell you. Well, I picked the game

up the next night and started playing from the

beginning again. And I really do enjoy some Chrono

Trigger. I don't really get tired of it. I don't.

I really hate a lot of JRPGs, like to the point

where they annoy me within the first 15 minutes.

and I can't get into them but there's something

about Chrono Trigger that I will put my life

into and I think this time I'm actually going

to beat it and a different attitude that I have

this time playing it I'm not skipping or not

avoiding combat like I usually would and and

it's so far it's been so much easier just because

my experience level is probably where it actually

should be. Well if you need any sort of help

I can I can help you out because I remember that

game I've actually I've beaten that game more

than any other game I've ever played it in Chrono

Trigger doesn't really get In my opinion Chrono

Trigger doesn't really get good until you get

to new game plus Because then you get to go find

all the you know the 26 different endings and

It just gets a lot more interesting because you

can Like you know all new game plus modes you

have everything you finish the game with and

it becomes a breeze to just go exploring in there

So it's actually kind of a shame. You've never

been able to finish it How how much exploring

is there actually? Well, I can't imagine that

type of game where there's Collectibles or well,

we know like when I when I say exploring I mean

like oh, I want to go see what this ending is

Well, it doesn't take you 40 hours to get to

that ending It might take you like you know A

couple of hours to get to that to a particular

ending because you have your your super powered

and basically There's a point in even when it's

your first time through the you can one hit just

about any guy including bosses Up until maybe

a quarter of the way through the game and then

like your next time through like it's if you've

if you've You know gone and gotten the correct

items or whatnot you can It's probably like halfway

through the game before something starts actually

challenging you. It just makes it a lot easier

to Get through it to find different endings.

That's what I mean by exploring Yes, yeah, just

YouTube all those endings. Oh, I Didn't have

YouTube when I played it in 95 So you keep leveling

up after you beat it 1 2 3 4 times your level

still going up. Yep Wow, is there a cap? it's

Eventually all the stats for your characters

become star star okay, and I don't know what

that means it I mean the the levels do eventually

cap, but it's like because it's not everything

levels up in the same manner so Eventually some

stats will say star star and other ones will

still say you can level up But I don't think

your actual character level ever stops. I know

I never maxed anybody out and all the time. I've

played the game But I did go through it enough

so that every character that you could possibly

have in the game has the best gear in the game.

So that's at least, I don't know, 14? 14 to 21

times? But that was on the Super Nintendo. I

don't think I ever finished it on the DS. I want

to get that on the Super Nintendo again. I should

have got that when I had a chance. I have a copy

of it. Have my original copy actually that's

worth a lot of money with my original save That's

what I should do. I should just give you that

and then you can just use my new game plus So

But no, I'm glad you're playing Chrono Trigger

and you know, that's that is probably my favorite

game ever so Awesome, that's what I've been playing

Haven't been playing anything else thought I

was playing something PlayStation art. Let me

borrow a Tomb Raider So I'm gonna while I have

one day until I need to get back to work But

I'll throw that in tomorrow and fiddle with it.

Yeah fiddle fiddle I Said fiddle not diddle.

Yeah, it's all the same to me potato potato Alright

next Daner hmm Well, let's see I Pretty much

played one game that we're not gonna talk about

until next week Well, I guess you can say did

you like it? I mean you finished it. I thought

it was incredibly good I I Will definitely say

that like The thing that was funny to me is I

was like after Tomb Raider was like man I don't

know how anything is gonna be more surprising

and better than Tomb Raider was this year and

then to go right into Bioshock and be like man

I don't know how anything couldn't be better

than Bioshock this year. Um, so I Challenges

have been laid down the last of us in my mind

because it seems like every new game I pick up

is better than The one before and Tomb Raider.

I was incredibly I was just very impressed with

and Yeah, I think it's shot in Bioshock even

More so but I don't think the thing with Bioshock

is I don't really think it really Reveals the

true Genius and how interesting it is until The

end until like the last three hours of the game

until Bioshock infinite 2 starts Yeah. I'm really

interested to play it a second time, but I really

want to set it down and walk away from it for

about a month before I try to go back and play

it again. I feel like it's to me that game is

kind of like Journey where I don't want to play

it again. Like I got what I... I feel like I

feel like playing it again. Just do in my in

my opinion playing that game again would dilute

the experience for me because a lot of it was

the the holy the holy crap moments and reveals

interesting because of some of the things that

are revealed in the end of the game will make

things that happen during the game have another

perspective I can see that but if you like you

and I we We had assumptions, we formulated assumptions,

and you went through the game with those assumptions.

At least I did. Well, I had an assumption from

the get -go that I made in the first three hours

that I told Andy and my boss, Joe, and lo and

behold, it was completely true. So I was excited

by that. But, you know, we'll talk more about

it next week. I played Rayman Origins for the

first time this week. And that game is just gorgeous.

Very fun, beautiful action -adventure platformer

game that's just really super stylized and just

has a very fun look and a fun feel to it. It

was an appreciated change of pace compared to

Bioshock. And it was something nice to play around

the kids I The only Raymond game I've Game I've

played is on my iPhone and that one actually

looks gorgeous as well So I don't know if there's

a demo for it or not, but I know it was like

only like a dollar or two yeah, it was I Picked

it up during the PlayStation the the plus sale

And it was only like Seven I want to say was

like 750 or eight bucks for a man Maybe it was

more than that. I know it was less than 12 but

It was I really enjoyed it great and also got

I got great in for Easter Lego Batman 2 and me

and him played that a little bit over the weekend

and I Much like Sean mentioned several episodes

back it It is like I wrote Superman because he's

super super douchey in there and he's everything

that I uphold Superman to be. Just a pompous

ass. Batman just hates him and it's wonderful.

I really like the dynamics of it. It's also hard

to get used to a Lego game where everybody's

talking to because this is the first. I know

it's the first one that they did talking in,

but it's also the first Lego game I've played

that's had talking in it, and it takes a little

bit of an adjustment because I'm not used to

it, but it's interesting. I'm looking forward

to it. I also picked up Lego Lord of the Rings,

but Graydon won't be getting that until his birthday,

so as far as he knows, it's not here, but it's

fun. It's a good time. I can't wait till Oliver's

old enough for those Lego games. I'll be all

over playing those. I think yeah You can always

come over and play with Graydon The games that

is borrow him Yeah, we had fun playing Batman

2 on that demo that one day Yeah, and that was

the whole thing that sparked you to playing Batman

2 and that game stopped together was a whole

thing that sparked me even getting Lego Batman

2 for him, so But yeah, I really haven't had

a chance to play a whole lot because Bioshock's

been consuming majority of my time when I had

time so Hopefully by I'll have tackled a few

games by the next time we sit down again Spec

Ops the line is the next one on my list Good

deal Anything else Short yeah Like your face.

Oh Come on that didn't even make sense That's

crazy all right. Well. We'll take a break right

here and If Joe wants to plug the Geek garage

sale Hey fine, so Joe if you want to go ahead

with a geek garage sale plug go for it sure Thanks

for reminding me because I wouldn't have thought

of that We're doing the geek garage sale again

It is June 22nd and 23rd. We are at Apparitions

Comics in Grand Rapids and we'll be there from

10 till 7 on both Saturday and Sunday selling

all sorts of geeky stuff. Action figures, movie

memorabilia, video games. Star Wars! Transformers!

Cheated Root Ninja Turtles! Batman 1989 Movie

Collection! Mask! I've even got a guy coming

to sell some Magic the Gathering stuff. And I'm

also working on somebody the taste of just smell

desperation and and acne cream Gathering cards,

that's because I used to play so well, this is

one hell of an ad yeah So we'd love to have you

out if you if you're available and you're nearby

even if you're not nearby drive. It'd be fun

And if you come from far enough away, I'll give

you a whole list of all the geeky places in Grand

Rapids to go. You can make it a whole two hour

trip. What's that? You can make it a whole two

hour trip. Yeah, man. Well, I don't know. There's

lots of little backdoor video game places you

can hit. Like, anyway, thanks. Go find us on

Facebook, geek garage, geek stuff, garage sale,

and you'll get all the updates. All right, Joe.

It's it's your decision. Do you want to try and

do that again without Danner? You know throwing

in his two cents and all that or do you want

to just leave it like it is? Okay What oh it

was supposed to be an ad and then if we started

talking about it Which means it's a discussion

not an ad Anyways, all right. So whenever you're

ready Danner Ready for what? What are we doing?

You're bringing us back in. Yeah. Oh, am? Okay.

Welcome back to our final discussion about the

history of handheld gaming. We have beaten everything

to death up till this point and are now entering

the current generation of handheld gaming systems.

the PlayStation Vita and the 3DS. We will also

be talking about how handheld gaming has also

shifted some with the smartphones and iPads entering

the gaming foray. So, first, where do we start?

I would suggest Vita. But it was a Vita first

or was it 3ds 3ds was first have do any of us

have a 3ds? Well, we can talk a little bit about

it Michael we can talk about why we don't have

one we could a Joke could tell us about his experience

with playing one And yeah in the target or wherever

you play that So a little bit of information

first The Nintendo 3ds was first released in

February on February 26th 2011 And less it had

a Less than spectacular is less than spectacular

to launch Which caused it six months later in

July 28 2011 to drop from the $249 price point

down to 169 Because of the disappointing sales,

Nintendo Decompensate offered 10 free Nintendo

Entertainment System games and 10 free Game Boy

Advance games from the Nintendo eShop for consumers

who bought the launch systems or in the launch

window. That's a first. Yeah, it is a first.

In case you didn't know, the 3DS is not just

a fancy name. It's a 3D handheld gaming system

that uses stereoscopic 3D effects without the

use of 3D glasses or additional accessories.

It's essentially a pop -up screen that creates

the 3D... experience on the 3ds which you can

also Ratchet it back. So and you don't do the

3d now who's who's played with one because I've

played with one of them at launch I've played

one of us by yeah, and I also knows when I was

playing the 3d I was Pretty much immediately

annoyed with it and ratcheted off 3d and found

a way more enjoyable without the 3d Yeah, that

was well because I found the 3d be it's the the

window to actually see it is very tiny Yeah,

and so it's like well first of all I don't I

do not like 3d I do not care for it in any way

shape or form So I was like I was just like you

Dan is like well the windows too small for me

to even hold this comfortably and be able to

you know see it so just off and then The game

games were perfectly playable I guess to clarify

the window thing, it's the screen, but when the

stereoscopy, is that right? Stereoscopy? I don't

know how you say that. Stereoscopic. Yes, the

3D stuff. When it's switched on, you have to

line it up with your two eyes, so you have to

hold it at a certain distance, and if you tilt

the screen left or right, it breaks the 3D, and

it looks very... Weird you can't really play

the game when it's doing that so basically you

have to hold it super still which I Thought was

really funny because they put a gyroscope in

the handheld to games that require you to move

it Which is defeating that purpose, but you're

supposed to move. You're not just supposed to

move your wrist You're supposed to move we're

going to like when you're steering like a Mario

Kart game You can't very well twist the system

and because you'll lose the 3d. I don't think

that happens. I think they're smart enough to

do it but i think they're aiming for those like

uh not to be sexist here but for those those

girls or those those guys that uh when they're

playing a game they actually move the controller

in front of them thinking it's going to move

like they move with the controller i think that's

always been nintendo's thing with the motion

control is to get those little i don't know i

had friends that would bounce the controller

when they wanted to make mario jump but and they

would bounce too They're not just making the

controller bounce in their hands, it's like they're

bouncing. I think that's exactly where motion

controls came from, were from those people. but

I When I worked at GameStop was working at GameStop

when the 3ds launched and so I came in X number

of hours early and got my hands on one I had

a ton of fun with the AR cards that came with

the system their little playing card sized things

that you throw down on the camera and use the

the the two cameras, you can take 3D pictures

with the 3DS and so you point the camera at the

card and things will come out of the table or

wherever you set the card and there's some really

fun games that require you to move around that

card and like shoot at it and because things

are coming up and flying at your screen and that

was really neat and really where the 3D shines

where you kind of need it to be able to look

around and see what's behind the thing. That's

sitting there at the table, but well for playing

most games. I can't imagine why I'd ever want

it in 3d It's more of a novelty just like watching

3d movies are I don't need it It's just there

to be fair though the augmented reality stuff

can be done without a 3d camera Yeah, my phone

can do it the Vita does it Vita does it oh yeah,

but it made it cooler It was it was function.

It looked more like a window. It's the only thing

that that's really I don't know made the 3D worthwhile,

I guess. And I think that maybe is the problem

with 3D movies and with the 3DS is that the 3D

doesn't serve a function, it's just an oddity.

That you don't need it to play the game. It's

just something that is an additional feature.

Yeah, and it's not one that I think people have

really been asking for at any point. I have to

admire Nintendo for... Did anybody ever ask for

3D anything, really? I don't think so. Keep with

one eye, probably have. Dude, this movie's not

in 3D, your glasses suck. I don't understand,

none of this stuff is in 3D. You have no depth

perception. That's not the point! We're gonna

get our letter from our one, one -eyed listener.

I found this episode very offensive. Well, maybe

we'll get lucky and he's partially deaf too,

so we'll only hear half of it. He can only listen

to the right channel of the audio It's it's talking

to himself on the podcast. It's bad though because

the podcast is rendered as in mono So yeah crap

They can hear everything Maybe they don't understand

English Now this is how they're learning English.

That's that's unfortunate Nobody should come

here for an English lesson. Well, bad English.

I can't even pronounce stereoscopic. I know,

Jesus. Stereoscope. Stereoscropey? Scropey? Scrop

-a -grope? Scrodom. Stereoscrodom. Three dizzles?

Like stereoscro. Nintendo three dizzles? I never

had anybody come in and ask for it that way.

I That's what I've started calling real day or

3d movies is just I have no desire to see it

in three diesels I Did buy avatar on 3d because

it was on sale somewhere and I don't regret that

I mean I needed the movie just because it's a

milestone not that it's a good milestone, but

I have I have it because I have the 2d version

of it like the the ultimate edition but for a

long time avatar was a panasonic 3d exclusive

and I always thought that was dumb but finally

I don't own avatar so suck on it both of you

it's it's no longer a uh obviously it's no longer

a pan panasonic 3d exclusive so If your version

has special features, can I borrow that? It's

got all the special features that are the special

features. Yeah, I'd like to borrow that someday.

But anyway, I guess steering it back to 3DS,

the cost I think scared a lot of people away.

I think a lot of people couldn't conceive of

what the 3D was going to look like and weren't

willing to reserve or commit to the thing. well

i think a lot of i mean even a lot of us that

were even skeptical of it were was like how the

hell is this gonna work and then i need to get

my hands on this before i'm even gonna think

about touching it or anything like that but i

think the biggest problem was is the fact that

because so many of us actually waited to get

our hands on it like in a store display the fact

that they're fixed to the store to play and you

can't pick it display and you can't pick it up

and actually hold it in your hands and actually

Get on that right angle for the 3d to look right.

I think they are kills It's it's magneted to

the display. You can pick those up you can yeah,

you have to tug They're there Could you are a

tugging things? I oh, yeah The problem is the

tugging the problem is if you tug a display at

Best Buy you're inevitably gonna set off an alarm

I don't know how many times we've gone and picked

up one of their fake cell phones that they have

in there and It's like it's a fake one. They

still have the alarm thing set to it and it's

got the cord on it and I you know I pull it out

like you're supposed to but for some reason it's

still attached to the thing, but it just goes

I'm like Okay, whatever. I'm not looking at this

crap anymore. I don't even know what I'm doing

picking up a fake phone I Sat down and played

with a 3ds at Target today. I got to Got there

early didn't have to pick up my son from daycare

for a while So I put about 10 15 minutes into

Luigi's Mansion and I've heard that's good. I

think Mean I might have to think harder about

this, but I think the 3ds is the first Nintendo

system that I did not buy at launch like all

the way back and That says something about what

they did with that and I think you know We're

going by the fact that you didn't buy the Wii

U at launch either No, I didn't buy that next

system either because you know Nintendo's been

letting me down as as a fanboy But I think it

also had a lot to do with where handheld gaming

is going. Do I really want to buy, it was 250,

now it's 160 something. Do I want to buy that

big of a system and buy $40 games that I might

not put a lot of time into because it's, I'm

sorry, handhelds are toilet games. This is, I

come from the generation of playing Tetris on

the toilet. That's what Game Boys and DS's do.

And I don't know if I... It just it convinced

me but that's it Let's go back to read him every

single one of these retro handheld episodes the

toilet episode now You know what the reason?

John surprised you didn't go out and get the

3d s so you couldn't take 3d pictures of your

junk while you're on the toilet That would be

awesome And I bet you there's a little Nintendo

proprietary video and a picture editing software

in there I could add googly eyes You asked for

it, Mike. I'm not asking for anything. Frankly,

I think you did. If you want to go spend $170

to take pictures of your junk. He's going to

send a picture. Because of this, Joe next week

will go out and buy a 3DS. And Mike will get

to send a picture and go, what the hell is this?

And then turns inside, oh my God. Side note here.

It's not an elephant. Jason is sending me texts

saying that he is drunk off his ass. And that

he is the Queen of Marzipan. Oh, well... Excellent.

Anyways... He's the Queen of Marzipan? I said

he's drunk off his ass and he's playing SimCity.

He said he's online and feeling sexy. Well, I

guess he has a thirst that only you can quench.

Or maybe we bring him on for color commentary,

but it's already colorful enough. Oh, yeah, I

Would just get out of hand I just the 3d as the

only sticking point with me for it was the fact

that it's The 3d like I just have no and I don't

like buying stuff and disabling features. I hate

that Plus I don't know And I'm not a big Nintendo

guy haven't been since the 64 It is the first

hand like like Joe though it is the first handheld

from them that I didn't want to buy When I came

out, but I did skip the DS until they made it

smaller See and I was all I bought the DS right

at launch Hope that we had a whole crew of people

at that store that we're getting it to and we

all wanted to be in on the game And I think it

was the group mentality thing. I think that had

a lot to do with it But I was a Nintendo fanboy

at the time. I'd have done it one way or another.

I Was just doing what the crowd was doing Here

pressure. I think I'm gonna end up with a 3ds

Sooner than later. Maybe maybe by the end of

this year. I'm fairly positive that I will never

own a 3ds I'm willing to make that statement.

I'm pretty sure I will never own one Yeah, I

won't I'm required to you're required to yeah

for the museum uh -huh you can wait for someone

just to donate it to you it belongs in a museum

Not really and Joe's museum Yes, it does I'm

just gonna has the nub right That's a nice got

a little analog stick a little rubber divot,

but it's a nub like the Vita or that not the

Vita the PSP Yeah, okay, but I was playing on

Luigi's Mansion I kept reaching for a second

analog stick to control the where Luigi's turning

that was kind of distract distracting Yeah, this

wasn't my cup of tea Not really mine either,

but I'll get one eventually and take 3d pictures

of my junk I don't want those. You can give those

to Jenny. You can send them my way, Joe. I don't

judge. So, yeah, we're going to take a break

and come back and talk about the Vita. I don't

want to talk anymore about 3D pictures of Joe's

junk. Coming to Grand Rapids, Michigan on September

21st and 22nd is Grand Con Gaming and Comics

Convention presented by Celebration Cinemas.

Join us in playing or chatting it up with fellow

enthusiasts in a community that understands your

passions. Get lost in the adventure of your favorite

role playing game. Admire costumes and art from

vendors and attendees. Meet the creators behind

your favorite mainstream and independent games

and comic books. Check out unpublished games

and sneak peek at things to come. You can get

all this and more at Grand Con. For more information,

please visit www .grand -con .com. Alright, we're

back on the other side of a Grand Con ad and...

And we're going to talk about the PlayStation

Vita. Alright, the PlayStation Vita was released

on February 22nd of 2012. God, it really doesn't

seem like it. It seems like it's been out longer

than that. Well, it was out longer in Japan,

wasn't it? December 17th, 2011. They only had

a three -month jump on us for Japan and parts

of Asia. And then in Australia, it released on

February 23rd. 2012 because Australia always

gets everything last Because They're way down

under I was gonna say because they used to because

they're all a bunch of convicts, but oh It's

it's okay. They're a prison colony. They should

be proud of their heritage. I mean Look at us.

We're a bunch of Winers mostly we're mostly idiots

now, but It's you know, they have culture. Oh

my god speaking of America and being idiots I

I finished Assassin's Creed 3 and I completely

forgot about it Anyways going on It was a forgettable

ending it was everybody keeps telling me moving

right along moving right along I Whoops, um,

oh my god, I can't keep a train of thought right

now This is why we need a drunk Jason. The problem

is I've just drank two beers and now I'm kind

of... It's the last time you drink on the podcast.

I guess. When you have to host it. I apologize.

So the Vita is actually a pretty sweet piece

of hardware. I was reading something. Yeah, so

it's... a pretty sweet system. I own one, Mike

owns one. Joe, have you even touched one, played

one, felt one? I might have touched yours once.

That sounds hot. I know. The thing about the

PlayStation Vita is, in my personal opinion,

it's probably one of the... That probably the

most enjoyable game system I've had and I've

only had it for a short period of time So there's

a chance in my opinion may change in a year or

so, but who knows But a lot of the things that

are I think are very interesting about the Vita

is it being it already being out and in the marketplace

but having already been announced to be such

a intricate part of the PlayStation 4 lifecycle

when the PS4 comes out. That was awesome. I hope

that in the future we get to see more of this

where, hey guys, we'd like to sell you this new

product. Here you go, here you go. And then six

months later, oh, you know, we got this other

thing coming out and guess what? You already

have 25 % of it in your hands and watch what

your thing can do that you have already. That's

what sold me. That was amazing. I was sitting

around, you know, I've liked it. I like the PlayStation

Network and I've liked the Vita. I liked the

PSP when Ali had it. And I wanted one, but the

$250 price tag was just like, that was a sticking

point with me for some reason. I really don't

know why. And I was waiting for it to come down

to 200. I was sitting there waiting. And then,

you know, the PlayStation 4 announcement that

it's going to have, you know, off TV play just

like the Wii U remote. But that, you know, it'll

function when it's not around. Also, that it

connects to the PlayStation 4 over Wi -Fi and

not through some imaginary form of wireless technology

that Nintendo uses that doesn't reach any farther

than like 30 feet. Had me that's what made me

go. Okay. You know what 250? That's fine That

said it's sitting on my nightstand collecting

dust I I plug it in whenever the blue home light

stops flashing at me. I Plug it in to recharge

it and maybe I'll hit the store and download

whatever is free. I'm PlayStation Plus for it.

And then I put it back on my nightstand. I there

hasn't been Game for it yet that makes me want

to play it and I know that I'm in the minority

there between Dan or and I but I I've tried it.

I've tried a fair amount of different games like

I downloaded the one the one game that I've liked

so far was Wipeout 2048 I think it is yeah. Yeah,

that was actually fun and looks really good.

Granted, most of the games on the Vita look pretty

good because the screen is gorgeous. It's ridiculous.

But like the, I guess, and I know why they did

it because it's part of this, it's what cell

phones are doing now. I'm not a fan of all the

touch crap that it does. Well, and I think we've

discussed this before. other handheld systems

in length about how the launch window of a gaming

system is kind of skewed and I think the Vita

is no exception to that where the games come

out and overuse all the extra accessories and

extra things on the system because that's kind

of what Sony once they want to show off all these

new features and they want all the games and

the launch window to Utilize these features mm

-hmm, and then they overuse them to the point

where it's like okay. I'm I'm over this I get

it. I get it. There's a goddamn Touchscreen I

get it. There's a back touchscreen. I understand

that and they just utilize it for dumb shit and

Then usually after the launch window we finally

start to get games that you know are Yes, they'll

utilize a few Features on there, but they won't

overutilize them and they'll use them more sparingly,

but they'll use them smarter Speaking of overutilized

in my digging through all the old DS games I

got to play feel the magic again a launch title

everybody forgot about that is so nuts so nuts

I One of the reasons I was they announced limbo

was coming to the PlayStation Vita Yep, and immediately

like the the subtext to the headline or something

was without touch controls and I was like Yes

Because that's like a game I would want to play

because with an OLED screen the black on white

is going to look amazing and from what I really

liked what I played on the Xbox, but I was kind

of like Ah, this would be fun to play if I had

a handheld. Certain games like that, like Dust

is a game I'd like to play on a handheld. And

then, speaking of Dust, they've got the Miramasa

Rebirth, which I'm probably butchering that name.

And then there's another game coming out this

fall called Dragon's Crown. And they're 2D side

scrollers with hand -drawn art, and they look

amazing, and they're full of colors. And that's

the kind of stuff I want to play on the Vita.

Along with you know some other some other things

here and there, but there hasn't been one thing

that makes me I mean I don't regret buying it

I do not because I'm I'm I'm thinking ahead like

you know playing games, you know cuz Ali Like

the last couple nights when I've been playing

some city allies like do you want to come play

that in bed? And you know you can just sit there

next to me well because she doesn't like going

to bed You know without me when I'm home, and

it's like I choose to stay out there on the couch

and play sim city because it's easier to do that

with a mouse and stuff like that but it's like

sure i'll go you know just sit in bed and play

you know uh infamous second son on the second

screen um but i just can't find like uncharted

got like all the touch stuff and uncharted and

the motion stuff just got in the way of the game

for me And I'm playing Uncharted right now and

it's just, there's two things going against it.

All the features of Vita being overutilized in

Uncharted and the fact that I just came off of

playing Tomb Raider. And now all the things that

I never thought were wrong about in Uncharted

came before our president because of how well

Tomb Raider was put together. So it kind of got

two things working against it. for me right now.

I'm so glad that you seem to have come around

to realizing how much or what the parts of Uncharted

that I get fed up with. And I still maintain

the fact that Uncharted 2 is still one of the

greatest games of this generation. Yeah, I got

to get I still maintain that and I will continue

to maintain that. And you still stick by. I shouldn't.

I need to finish. You need to play one or two

so you can appreciate two. I get it. I mean,

I feel the same way that I think people should

play Assassin's Creed 1 before they play 2. Yes,

they should. Even though Mike did. I watched

Jason beat his head against the wall trying to

finish the game. Watching is different. It's

like. I tried videos. I tried playing it. And

then as soon as I was like, as soon as I ended

up doing the same thing like three times in a

row, I was like, man, here you go, Jason. I will

sit right here next to you while you beat your

head against the wall. So I. Yeah, don't want

to I got I got the story that's pretty much all

you need to get out of an Assassin's Creed game

But I'm wondering how much of the uncharted thing

is compounded by The smaller, you know, it's

not it's not like a I mean the Vita is a nice

piece of hardware But it's no even how even with

you know, two analog sticks and and all the buttons

and stuff like that it's still not as good as

a you know a full -on playstation controller

and your tv there's i know but there's some things

that i think the vita does very smartly like

even some of the vita control stuff or vita proprietary

stuff that like uncharted does i was really like

the rubbings were cool yes the holding the envelope

up to the a light to the back camera can take

in the light source and you can see through envelopes

and stuff like that. That kind of stuff is cool.

Well, I was more talking about the, you know,

criticizing Uncharted on the Vita for its combat

and how different it is from... I mean, I do

agree that the combat in Tomb Raider is better

than even in the Uncharted series. Well, but

the combat in the Vita version is awful. awful,

it's pretty much unplayable until you get a Automatic

weapon and even then it gets better, but it's

not great right Sorry, I just felt the need to

combat I was gonna say and it's I think it's

more so that game I think they focused on so

many other features that the combat may have

suffered for that game, which is fine It's a

launch game. I don't expect launch games to ever

be perfect I've been around long enough to know

how these things work. If the best came out at

launch I'd actually be more scared than anything

else. But Assassin's Creed on the Vita plays

very well. I was actually impressed with the

combat system on Assassin's Creed. I really like

that system and that game for the system. For

me it was the first game I played on the Vita

because I Waited to buy my Vita until the Assassin's

bundle came out because I'm weird and I like

my systems to be white so Call me racist. What

is it? How does the combat translate from Assassin's

Creed 2 because it seems like the the like the

combat from Translate really well feels exactly

like the combat from Revelation 2 I would say

it's more like the combat from Revelations and

from Brotherhood. It doesn't feel quite as smooth

as 3 does. Well that's probably a hardware limitation.

But it feels a little more, the brutality seems

to be more present in the Vita version than it

does in the... Assassin's 3. She just whoops

ass. The main character in the Vita version is

fantastic. It's a great story and I really enjoyed,

even if it has the Barbie dress up elements,

the fact that your different costumes hold different

attributes to what you can do with your character.

I thought it was different and it was interesting.

And apparently it's gonna be the same dynamic

for the interface that they're going to use for

Assassin's four does Is it new costumes in the

way that Assassin's three changes costumes where

they like basically just dye his robes a different

color? There's a like because she is a aristocrats

daughter and she's the daughter of a slave and

a French aristocrat so she can dress as a slave

and blend in with the slaves and then you can

dress as the assassin but then you can dress

as a high society and in high society you can't

run around and climb but it's easier to blend

okay so it's the different dresses that are different

garbs that you wear in the game allow for certain

amenity in the game. Okay. So, I mean, like I

said, it's an interesting concept. The first

thing that always annoys me about any games that

uses, you know, changing your clothes. Final

Fantasy X -2 ruined me on that because I thought

that was the dumbest system ever. That you, they

got rid of your leveling dynamics and they gave

you costumes. And I'm just like, this is Stupid

I wanted to play Barbie dress up with a bunch

of characters. I Would cut my penis off and you

know go play with Barbies not saying that you

know dudes to play with Barbies are Wrong I'm

just saying that if that's right I did I I can't

I I don't even know where I'm going with this

but Okay, so going back to the hardware side

of Vita instead of talking about its games mostly

The one thing I really like about the Vita, cross

game party chat. Yeah, cross game party chat.

Because here's the awkward thing about the Vita.

It has more RAM in it than the PlayStation 3.

So that little bit of extra RAM allows it to

have the cross game chat because it doesn't affect,

it's actually set aside. for that specific purpose.

I would also say the thing that I like about

the Vita so far is the fact that we discovered

this together when playing All Stars on the Vita

is the the fact that it's one of the first systems

I've owned that I don't need to buy proprietary

accessories to use the system. I plugged my iPhone

headset into my Vita and use that to chat with

Mike, which was wonderful. So I can pretty much

plug any headset into the Vita and use it for

cross chat or conversations or Skyping or whatever

on the Vita. And at the same time, you really

only need headphones because there's a mic built

into it obviously. Yeah. So, but it's nice. I

sometimes it, okay. it looks a lot better than

it feels only because it looks like it should

be when you look at it and you know you don't

have it in your hands the the color schemes like

the the silver and the black it looks like you

know an iphone 4 like it's the same build quality

like it looks like it's metal and glass yeah

and then you pick it up and it's plastic and

glass in fact i'm not even sure if the front

screen is glass It could be. I'm pretty sure

it's all plastic. I'm not saying it feels weird,

it's just deceptive looking. But at the same

time, it does feel good. I did have to buy an

accessory that adds triggers and an extra grip

for my hands. I looked at that the other day

at Best Buy, I almost bought it too. I should

have let you use it while you were here. I didn't

even think about it I know I brought it up when

we were talking on the phone, but I never asked

when we were there But I because what was happening

was when I was trying to play Uncharted on it

I kept I was very aware of where my hands were

and weren't resting on the system and Just subconsciously

I was going wow if I keep playing this game like

this my hands are going to hurt But while I was

playing a charted my hands you know never hurt

or felt um i'm trying to think the right word

for it it's good it feels the best in my hands

out of any system it's just it's big enough to

feel right and it's just light enough to not

be cumbersome if i felt like i could rest my

hands on the back like it's because sometimes

i don't know what the touch screen is going to

do because some some games use it some don't

and i'm very like aware of it being a button

Yeah, of some kind. It's like I don't want to

put put my hands back. There's like I'm not aware

of it being a button until the severely design

flaw The worst so far the worst experience with

the back screen has been and if anybody's played

it. They'll probably know what I'm talking about

Strangers wrath For the Vita I've heard of this

the problem with strangers wrath is the fact

that they attach the melee to the back screen

And so it's a regular button that you would constantly

use throughout the game. There isn't a specific

place that we use it. So anytime you inadvertently

touch the back screen, he may lays and it really,

you really have to hold your fingers on the very

outside of the of the Vita. And it just to me,

when I'm holding my hands like that, it kind

of makes my hands cramp up. That's what I'm talking

about. Like those dimples that they put there.

Yeah, that's where I keep trying to rest my fingers.

And then I feel like I'm just kind of like I'm

not cradling the system. It's just kind of like

on my fingertips. And I'm like, I don't want

to play it like this. And that that grip I bought

kind of makes it a little easier on my hands

because I can actually like grab onto something.

I built a Sculpey clay grip extender for my Gameboy

Advance. There was something about hitting like

a shoulder button that gave me a cramp. And so

I made this. inch and a half thick piece of extendo

grip that I stuck onto the side of it that made

it. I had to do it myself. Well the the case

also allows uh because it has just two shoulder

buttons and that hitting those can be kind of

awkward too um for me anyways and what the the

grip I have does is turns those into actual triggers

like you'd find kind of on the 360. Yeah, and

it puts them at a more comfortable angle and

basically what happens is when you pull it There's

a little button that actually pushes in on the

button on the actual shoulder button for you

I haven't noticed any control issues resulting

from that like I thought I would but definitely

makes it a lot easier to hold and I Do appreciate

the fact that there are two analog sticks on

it Even though I haven't played a shooter other

than uncharted I think the biggest disappointment

with it is because they went the classic Sony

way with the proprietary memory cards That are

way overpriced and if you sneeze you'll lose

it Yeah, cuz they're tiny So that's a real slick

piece of hardware, but like I said, I'm just

waiting for a game that I like have to sit down

and finish and on it and I think that's gonna

come with like the Miramasa rebirth and the Dragon's

crown and hopefully Transistor yeah, really hoping

to say I'm really really intrigued by a The Killzone

game that's coming out for it because that looks

very I'm not a Killzone fan But that game looks

pretty promising from what I've seen so far so

not saying it's going to be I'm saying it looks

promising it could be a piece of Steaming pile

of crap just like Call of Duty was Because Call

of Duty was fucking terrible on that system Well,

it was like a reskin something else Pretty much

is what I heard like even though the character

animations and everything were exactly like another

game But it wasn't resistance. I think was resist.

Well, it's the same guys who did resistance did

Call of Duty Okay. Yeah, that's what it was.

Basically everyone that that played the resistance

on the Vita and they played Call of Duty, they

noticed that it was basically resistance -free

skin right down to how... And it's all multiplayer.

There's no single player on Declassified. I have

it. I haven't traded it in yet. It's actually

still in the little peg. I was going to say Andy.

Andy, I know, bought it. He popped it in and

he loaded up one multiplayer game and... That

was all it took. He said, yeah, it doesn't play

or feel anything like a Call of Duty game. But

Declassified 2 is coming out this year. I'm sure

it'll be just as good. I know a different developer

is making it too. Alright. It was a rushed shot

from what it sounded like. Have you, I mean,

George, do you have any opinions about the Vita?

hearing how much you guys have been talking about

it, I guess more you Art than you Mike, but it

sounds like a system that I probably didn't know

that I wanted until now. And I'm looking at both

the 3DS and the Vita going, you know, I don't

even know what's on that system. And I kind of

feel disconnected from it. Maybe it's because

I don't work at GameStop anymore. I don't see

these things passing in front of my face every

day. But there there's probably software on both

systems that I can't live without and just don't

know it and With how much the Vita is gonna tie

into the ps4. I'm not saying I'm gonna get one

of those at launch but that is A kind of a reason

to get it, you know sooner than later also All

right Well, do we want to move on to talking

about gaming on cell phones sure 50 years ago,

a little old man brought his little blue box

to a junkyard, and now Dr. Who is a cultural

phenomena worldwide. Join the Geekcast Radio

Network and Mark Who 42's Who -niverse as we

review Dr. Who episodes, past and present, discuss

the Doctor's friends and enemies, See where the

doctor's been, where he is, and where he's going.

Sit back and grab a Jelly Baby and join Marku42's

Hooniverse. It's the ride of this and every other

lifetime. Fantastic. Allons -y! Um... Joe, do

you do any gaming on cell phones? My cell phone

is a dumb phone, so it doesn't do any gaming.

Do you do any gaming on Jenny's phone? We play

the occasional game of Angry Birds Which I don't

know would you guys say that was like one of

the first Legos I Don't know what you're talking

about. I don't know what you're talking about

either. I'm was playing with something No, it's

not Joe. It's Danner. I don't know what you're

talking about anyways with Lego playing here

anyways Would you say that Angry Birds was the,

I don't know, not the first, but the first important?

I would think it was probably the biggest hit.

I never got the appeal of Angry Birds because

before Angry Birds hit on the iPhone, I played

a dozen other games that were just like Angry

Birds. They just didn't have like it was the

exact same gameplay. They just didn't have they

just weren't colorful birds. And so I when it

hit and it became this thing I was like I don't

get it like and I've tried playing it and It's

just like all the other games. I played like

it before I was like why is this a success and

the other ones aren't Well, they did something

right because there's Angry Birds soap and backpacks.

Yeah. Oh My god, it's a bubble bobble with birds.

That's all it fucking is So I mean I played this

game where it was a very simple version It was

you're throwing a stick of dynamite across the

screen trying to blow up a building And you could

throw like different types of explosives and

whatnot To try and knock down to the building.

It was basically the same thing. I just didn't

didn't get it My you first nope you know you

were going I was going to change the topic kind

of so I think you should finish Oh, I was just

going to say what the first game I actually played

on my phone was, but... I'll dive in. It was

Flight Control. I jumped on the iPhone, you know,

when it debuted in 07, and it didn't really get

any type of real games or anything for like a

year. And one of the first games that came out

on it was a game called Flight Control, and it

was a very simple game. I'm trying to think of

what another game like it that I can relate it

to but you have it's a top -down view and you're

looking at an airfield with like a runway a red

runway a green runway and a blue helicopter landing

pad and from off the screen will come like a

red jumbo jet and you tap on the jumbo jet and

you draw with your finger you draw a line to

the runway and you land the plane and then a

yellow one will come on screen and then you tap

on the yellow one and you draw a line to the

yellow runway and you try to eventually they

throw like all these different types of planes

some move faster than others but they're all

like either blue red or yellow and you have to

like you know play the air traffic controller

you have to get them lined up the right way you

have to make sure their flight paths if they

cross that they're not going to collide with

each other um and that was really addicting and

then they made it um multiplayer so you could

if your screen was really full You could divert

planes to the guy that you're playing with so

you could send them off screen And bury him under

planes and it was basically like a game of Tetris

like who can juggle the most planes at once But

that was like my first the first real Cell phone

game I played besides lemonade tycoon Lemonade

tycoon. Oh boy You played that haven't you Joe?

No, I haven't played much of anything. Oh, well,

Lemonade Tycoon is on dumb phones. It got its

start on the Motorola Razr and stuff like that.

It's one of those very simple, like, I'm going

to set up a lemonade stand, like a tech space

adventure kind of thing. And before you go out,

you say, I need to buy this much ice. I need

to buy this much sugar. And I need this many

lemons. And then you go set up your lemonade

stand in the corner. And it runs this little

simulation. And it's like, You see you see like

a line of customers line up and, you know, after

so much time, it's like you either run out of

lemonade because you ran out of stuff to make

it with or you have like extra leftover and you

wasted your product. It's kind of like one of

those. How do you manage your products? And you

can make the lemonade too sweet so people won't

buy it. It's it's or like too sour and they won't

buy it. It has to be like just right or and it's

like it changes like if it's like a bright, they

always tell you like how hot it is outside. So

it's like, OK, maybe I need to bring more ice.

It was very it was complex, but it worked on

a cell phone. There's actually a version of it

for smartphones, which is actually kind of fun.

So. But yeah, flight control was the first game

I played with the exception of. Lemonade tycoon

which I played like a decade earlier so Anyways

back to you Joe where I was headed here is I

think We are at a very interesting point in video

game history Where a lot of our traditional handheld

company while companies I say that plural Nintendo

and now Sony getting into the market with a handheld

Where these cell phone games are kind of? Finding

their niche and really stealing it away from

the big boys with their handhelds is price points

and the types of games that they're being that

are being offered on these little devices and

it's something that our traditional handheld

folks are really struggling trying to figure

out how to fix their business model or defend

their current business model without really fixing

it. But you guys have played more of the cell

phone games to really be able to talk about this.

But how are these things different from the experiences

that we've had on our handheld game boys? I was

going to say they're designed to be like single

serving games or quick pick up and play and put

down games. I know there's a lot of handheld

games there also. kind of like that but I mean

they're like there's something that you can spend

five or six minutes with and then set down and

then come back to a day or two later it's a lot

of those single serving quick instances when

I got a few seconds or when I have an hour I

get to sit there and play a bunch or if I only

have a few minutes I can sit there I think that

they're there because they're on your phone So

it's something you're gonna have with you and

I think they're a little more just diverse in

smaller chunks, they're little they're little

edible pieces of They're like mini candy This

is meal I Think I think the problem that the

that there is between our game honest gaming

on a smartphone and a portable gaming system

is that you're trying to the the guys that make

the handhelds are trying to come up with a justifiable

reason for you to carry two devices and i like

i don't even take the vita out of the house um

i because i've always got my phone on me and

but the one thing i can't stand that a dedicated

gaming hardware will always trump a smartphone

in my opinion is buttons I can't stand the smartphone

games where they shoot in the virtual D -pad

or the virtual A and B buttons. That said, there

are developers that have found an interesting

way to do like twin stick shooters, like Geometry

Wars, and another one that I've played, I think

it's called Beat Hazard. They take music from

your phone and they generate levels and enemy

types based off of the type of music that you're

playing. That's awesome. But what they did is

they took the on -screen dual analogs thing,

but they made it so wherever you put your thumbs,

that's where the analog stick is going to be.

So if you take your finger off for a second,

you don't have to look back down at where their

analog stick is. You just put your thumb back

on the screen and that's where the analog stick

forms. Do you ever have a problem blocking something

that you need to see by having your thumb on

the screen? On the iPhone, yes. On the iPad,

no. But another interesting thing is that the

Beat Hazard guys, what they did is they have

two sets of control options for you. Because

you know in a twin stick shooter one one stick

moves you around the other stick is your what

you're gonna fire at and What beat hazard did

is they have that control scheme? But then they

also have so you can play it with one hand Where

all you do is move the ship and it auto fires

at whatever's closest to you Well, I'd be handy

at geometry wars I'm not sure if that's in geometry

wars or not But it probably isn't because it

would skew how the scores and I know that's very

competitive But I like that stuff. Just with

you, Joe, just with you. And I do know that a

lot of the more popular games on iOS devices

tend to be the they're called runner games where

a character is just running and you tap the screen

to jump or you swipe down to make them slide

like under something. Mirror's Edge was released

on the iPhone in that regard. Faith or not, Faith,

is that her name? It's faith yeah, she just she

runs across the screen. It's like instead of

being a 3d runner It's a side -scroller and she

runs across the screen and you still do all the

parkour moves only if you wanted to jump you

swipe up and she jumps she vaults over an object

or if you swipe down she'll slide under a series

of pipes and the same thing with like melee and

guys is like if you If you swipe up when you're

approaching a guy, she'll kick him in the face.

If you swipe down, she'll slide underneath them

and keep running. And a lot of these games have

this mechanic where the more successful you are

at completing or timing your jumps correctly

and keeping your momentum, the faster the character

will move. So that's where the challenge comes

from, is that you're doing really well, but everything's

going to start coming at you faster. Another

popular game that kind of got that genre started

is called Cannibalt. It's like it started as

a flash game where a little guy it's like a 8

-bit Grayscale graphics a little guy just runs

across the screen and you click your mouse and

he jumps They brought that over to the iPhone

where you just tap the screen and he jumps and

that's all you do I like playing that game That's

a game like Dan or describe. You can just take

out of your pocket Sit down where you're like

waiting at the DMV or whatever and maybe do a

couple runs But the interesting thing about all

these games is that they tend to come with really

good music. Because they want you to play them

with headphones on. And then there's another

genre of games which is like The Simpsons Tapped

Out. Where everything is like time based and

it's like come back in five minutes, make sure

you check in in five minutes, that's when your

building is going to be done or stuff like that.

I mean there's every other game. on the App Store

is pretty much that type of game. They've just

now kind of started getting into more full -on

games, but I haven't really tried one yet. I

know they released Bastion, and I know later

this year XCOM Enemy Unknown is coming. So that'll

be interesting. I know Square has this really

weird release policy where everyone releases

their games for like 99 cents to like the most

I've really seen is $10. Square apparently thinks

their re -release of a re -release of a re -release

is like worth 15 bucks. Because they just released

Final Fantasy 3 for $15. Well, it's because people

pay that for... Bought secret fantasy. I bought

secret of mana when they dropped the price to

five bucks But I didn't buy it when they were

selling it for 15 But I I and the other thing

that the handheld console can't really compete

on with a smartphone is there the pricing model

You'll I don't think you'll ever really see like

I'd be surprised if I ever saw a cannibal on

the Vita for 99 cents. Are there even any 99

cent games on the Vita? There's free games. Like

I have Lemmings on my Vita and that was free.

Okay. I have Jetpack Joyride, which was a free

game also. Okay. And Sony's... Like they have

Vita mobile games and the mobile games tend to

be... Fairly like $2 .99 or less typically. Well

that's the thing unlike Nintendo Sony is actually

trying to play ball with the with you know smartphones

and They're allowing in all of these different

pricing models a lot of those will actually come

to fruition once the PlayStation 4 is out, but

You know Nintendo's very much go like no, it's

thirty forty dollars a game and Sony is kind

of like All right, if you want to release your

game for five bucks, that's fine I think that's

just where they've got them beat. I mean, hardware

is pretty much on par. Hardware is fairly equal,

I think. I think where something like the Vita

outshines the iPhone or an Android phone is just

the controls. Yeah, the buttons. I think because

my iPhone is better than the... the computer

I had right before the one I have now like my

iPhone is better than that computer was which

is ridiculous that I have something like that

in my pocket um and the one device thing and

maybe I'm just old -fashioned keeping my money

in a mason jar underneath my mattress but the

one device thing has always scared me like I

just and it's the only reason is because if I

drop it or break it Instead of just losing my

mp3 player or my gameboy or my phone it I lose

everything And yeah, I know cloud saves and that

kind of data stuff. I'm not so much worried about

but and and and even that there's still just

I don't like being too connected to the world

and I don't want my Nintendo DS device to let

me know that somebody just popped onto my Facebook

to say hello, you know, it's weird and I'm just

I Don't know. I'd love to see how many people

thought the way I did because I think I'm an

ever -growing minority of people who don't want

everything on one device. I don't use the music

app on my phone at all. I loved my iPod when

I had one, but it got stolen from work right

about the time I got my first iPhone. So I was

like, all right, well, whatever, it's gone. I

don't use the music app on my phone like at all

like I hate using it as a as an mp3 music player

I need like and that goes back to I need buttons

um like my ipod I could use it when it was in

my pocket uh because I could just like push the

button you know I could click the click wheel

through my pant leg you know I didn't have to

take it out and like open it up like wake it

up and say hey and no it was just oh I I know

that if I tap right here on my pocket it's gonna

pause or it's gonna skip to the next song or

you know the volume is gonna go up or down and

you just don't have you don't have that on devices

without buttons on them i'm not saying like as

a as a like a phone as a as like a computer or

whatever the iphone or an android phone they're

great but you know i i like buttons that do things

so and then here's the other question i guess

if would you We given $35. Do you buy? $35 $1

games or do you buy the $35 game with production

values plot and an emotional experience depends

on Depends on the game. Yeah, I mean See, I can't

really there are games on iOS I wish I could

well, I guess I guess the games also on Android

One of the first games that got a lot of hype

outside of Angry Birds, but it got a lot of hype

with, you know, people that play console games

and stuff like that was a game called Sword and

Sworcery. And it had this 8 -bit art style to

it that was very cool. Looked like an Atari game.

Looked great on the iPad. I remember that. I

have that on something, 360 or whatever. It wasn't

released on the 360. What am I playing it on

it was uh, it's on i think it was in the humble

bundle Yeah, it's on pc. That's what i'm playing

it on Thank you art, but that game was was great.

The music in there was great and they had this

Um, this weird thing where you they wanted you

to play with the phases of the moon So like you'd

get so far and they'd be like, all right, man.

I guess it's time for you to to check out and

we'll, you know, come back in like a day or so

and we'll have something more for you to do.

I mean, you could keep playing if you wanted,

but it was kind of like they intentionally, they

made this game that had this compelling story

to tell with, you know, with production values

like you're talking about and they broke it up

and they presented it in such a way that, yeah,

you can sit down and play a little bit right

now and come back when, you know, come back tomorrow

at about the same time when the moon changes

its phase and you'll see like a different world

or you'll unlock different paths. That was really

cool And the combat was all rhythm based Like

you tap the screen with the beat kind of like

a I don't say like Pat upon or something like

that, but kind of similar But I don't know like

I Don't think I'd ever pay $35 for something

on my phone No, like the screen and Sound quality

is not as good. That's not even that's what about

when the phone has the the buttons and the joysticks

But I mean they don't know I I don't know I if

it okay Yeah, I mean if they had like if it had

buttons on it sure I mean the screen size doesn't

really bother me I mean, but I have a five and

dinner doesn't And I've also been playing games

on it a lot longer. But the screen size on my

DS is really getting to me playing Chrono Trigger

is moderately uncomfortable at 11 o 'clock at

night. And then the. I think sound is an issue

either because if I'm going to play a game that

that I actually probably care about, I'm probably

going to wear headphones. So. No, I would never

pay 35. I don't know because I can't see a phone

with actual buttons on it and like a joystick

Like no one no one's going to do that. It ended

up being like an extra accessory that you carry

around with you which would defeat the whole

purpose of a mobile phone like I I Would never

pay $35 for something on my phone I think the

most I ever paid for anything was $15 and that's

because I wanted mirrors edge when it when I

got my first iPad. They only had Mirror's Edge

on the iPad and it was a launch game. I wanted

to play it and it was 15 bucks. That's the most

I've paid for anything on there. So it sounds

like you're willing to go on the record as saying

that we haven't seen the last of handheld gaming.

And I look at Nintendo's dismal numbers. How

do we know how? What 3ds's numbers are and what

Vita's numbers are sales numbers um Talks amongst

yourself I What I've heard is not good stuff

like I hear a lot of people out there that are

like I mean I see a lot of gems on the Vita and

I know Dan or does too, but it's like I I see

a lot of, I see what a lot of people are talking

about. Like there's, there's nothing they want

to play. Like I'm right there with those people.

There's nothing that I've, like there's lots

of stuff to play. There's lots of stuff to try,

but there's not something, there is not that

one thing that makes me go, I need to play this.

Yeah. Students aren't bringing Vitas and three

DS's to school. Like they brought DS's and Game

Boy advances. But how much that is because those

are, these are expensive devices that, you know,

I live in the ghetto. Are you saying? No, no,

I'm saying like I'm not gonna I'm not gonna throw

my Vita in a bag That's that's what I'm saying.

I'm not gonna throw my Vita in my back pocket.

That's no my Vita, you know, I I worked at GameStop

I know all sorts of people who buy these things

for people who have no business for little people

who have no business having them Well, I'm just

saying like how many how much of that is like

they're not gonna put it in their backpack to

bring it to school anymore Or how much of it

is that they don't even have one. They just have

their phone Well, if a middle schooler has one,

they're not going to be smart enough to not do

that to their system. Of course, if you do that

to your system, it's going to break. Now, for

the 3DS, man, this is it's not sales that they

have. It's units that have shipped. Nintendo

released a units shipped number. Yes, that's

not good at all. They never as of December 31st

of 2012 they shipped 29 .8 million I Think the

3ds is doing better than the Vita Because it's

a Nintendo system yeah, but It's some look I'm

trying to look at the numbers it says It was

the fastest selling console in Australia with

200 ,000 units sold. And the 37 weeks of availability.

That's pretty piss poor. Yikes! Poor Nintendo.

So it's broke the records in Australia. Now the

Vita says... On Wikipedia it says there's been

2 .2 million sold by June of 2012. So obviously

that's like a year out of date and they sold

Most of these sales numbers are out of day. There

was a Black Friday sales number in there somewhere,

but I lost it. Oh Yeah, Black Friday or Black

Friday week thousand units sold on Black Friday.

Yeah, well that week So I like I I think that

I I think the DS is doing better than the than

the Vita like I said But the the issue that everyone

is also the DS also has going for the backwards

compatibility with the DS Yes games But the I

think Vita has Vita has a wicked download section

Yes, one that's even got me jealous You can download

PS1 games, you can download PS2 games, you can

download the Vita games, there's PSN games, there's

mobile games, there's... But just because they

can download from all those sources, it's still

kinda limited on what you can get. I mean, they're

not exactly transferring games over quick enough

to be available for the system. In my opinion,

I still think it's fairly limited. I'd like to

see more content. I Had it and I lost it Shoot

the nice thing is is pretty much everything you

plant the system looks gorgeous though I will

except for PlayStation 1 games. I can't I don't

know Chrono Trigger doesn't look bad. I might

be there I just I tried Xeno gears. I mean Xeno

gears looks fine. I mean, it's just pixel scaling

it It'll smooth it. But the problem is it can't.

You can't pixel scale because the screen isn't

the right. They didn't do this. Well, they didn't

do the right. They didn't do the screen the right

way. It's not a. It's trying to think of what

the word is for it. It's. It's what they did

with the iPhone when they went from the first

iPhone to like when they added that retina, the

retina display, they doubled. The number of pixels

so it's the same resolution just everything's

like four times that like they didn't it's not

like they took they didn't take the Vita screen

they didn't take the PSP screen and like The

ratio isn't right from the PSP screen pixel wise

from the PSP to the to the Vita so when you're

Even when you're playing like a Vita game those

look I think the Vita games look weirder than

a place it or PSP game looks weirder than a PlayStation

game Because it's still like PSP games for pixels

and even though there's it's like, you know,

you're still displaying on a pixels It's not

the correct number of pixels So there's some

formatting issues, but the you know with a PlayStation

game being that they're like, you know designed

for a tube TV They those tend to look a little

better But what I was the my original thought

was Smartphones have gotten me more comfortable

with downloadable content I'm more I'm more willing

to You know pay you know five ten dollars for

a game on my phone and just have a digital copy

of it I guess they made me more comfortable with

digital copies I'll never be comfortable with

digital copies rather. I'll never think I actually

own anything part of that. It's also because

it's not like Like maybe it's just the iTunes

model. I think Apple just kind of nailed it and

everyone else is you know, everyone else is similar

to what Apple does but The there's a difference

between a digital copy and like a digital copy

that has like always on DRM So I don't have to

worry about a server going down and not being

able to play my game but It's got me a lot more

comfortable and especially with the Vita. I've

gone digital only I'm not buying any physical

copies of games for it Partially because I want

to kind of treat it like I would treat my phone

where it's like if I'm out and I want to play

a game I don't need to worry about whether or

not I brought it. I just have it And I'm it's

got me kind of leaning towards the digital only

for PlayStation 4 as well Only because only if

they can deliver on their promise of as soon

as you start downloading it you can start playing

it while it's downloading like if they are actually

able to deliver on that promise. That's a weird

way to do it. Well, it's not... I mean, I saw

the thing, but... Well, Steam has... No, not

Steam. Blizzard does that with their games. Once

it gets to a certain... Once a certain point

is downloaded, you can actually just start playing

the game. Because I think they download it in

the order that you would play it. Like, it's

a... I don't know, it's a controlled download

system. So... And it works out, it works pretty

well. And if they, like I said, if they can deliver

on it, which they seem to think they can, then

why not? So I'm sure there'll be like, collector's

editions for something that they'll sucker me

into going out and buying a copy of a game for.

As much of a collector as I am, I don't get sucked

in by that stuff anymore. Well, I never did.

I'm kind of bummed out that I didn't get the

Tomb Raider Collector's Edition. I guess it's

because I didn't realize it came with a figure.

Because it would have been pretty cool to have

the classic action figure three -way with Mike

Cole and Nathan Drake and Lara Croft. Don't know

certain games. I will like I don't I'm I'm not

getting like a collections edition for last of

us I didn't get the collections edition for Bioshock

infinite I don't know So I don't I see the as

long as they can continue to add I Think it's

just gonna come down to price really Like how

long are people gonna want to pay $30 for a handheld

game? Think you're gonna see a lot of free -to

-play games start to show up eventually even

like full full -blown games So But Anyone else

have anything they want to add I wonder if we'll

ever see the day where Nintendo will give away

their Mario Brothers game But to play level 1

-2 you need to drop in 99 cents. I would you

probably see it sooner rather than later. Yep

Because they have that system built into the

Wii U So or God forbid they go back to oh look

you died give us 25 cents And we come full circle

So, all right Danner any closing thoughts Not

really I'm really enjoying the Vita system and

I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do

with the ps4 I'm also enjoying the Having an

iPhone and they pick up a playiness of the of

it it it's great for pooping All right, well

that's it for the Off the Cuff Portable Gaming

Special Part 4. If you want to get in touch with

us, you can comment on our parent site at geekcastradio

.com or send us emails at feedback at geekcastradio

.com if you think we are completely wrong in

our assessments. You can find myself, Michael

Powers, on Twitter, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation

Network at boothninja81. You can find me on Twitter

at art Danner on Xbox live is weapon space 12

and on PSN at X 51 the machine man Joe You can

find me on Facebook at geek stuff garage sale

the the page to like Xbox live at Viva I old

fire for zero five two V's for the W And same

thing for the PSN. All right. Well, come back

next week if you want to. We will be doing a

spoiler cast on Bioshock Infinite. So if you

haven't played it, probably don't want to listen

to it. I won't be there. Are you following me?

I'm just making a phone with my phone. Couldn't

I like Joe, mostly? Nobody? Don't. No look on

my face. What? I'm not editing any of this. Don't

put the dog in here with me. I'm way too lazy

right now to edit any of this. He's recording

all this to say no. I'm not hiding anything from

you. I guess you're just gonna have to listen

to the podcast. I have a guilty look on my face.

That's it. I'm gonna name this podcast What's

Dan Are Hiding. Oh, wonderful. You tell us listeners,

what's he hiding? I love you. You're beautiful.

Seriously, close the door. No problem. What are

we talking about today?