Episode 16: The Sources' Duel

Official description
Confidential informants collide and megatons are dropped in this week's high-speed episode. We talk about gaming narrative as a pastiche of tone and suggestion, but you just want your damn cutscenes. Plus: Wired's Chris Kohler joins us to dismember your naked form with a samurai sword. Replayability: 3.7

Games Discussed
Afro Samurai, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, Assassin's Creed, Mirror's Edge, Full Throttle

Synopsis
Before the theme, Nick says that FarCry 2 is going to be talked about. After the theme Chris K. thanks the crew for allowing him on the podcast, and points out how creepy it is that all of Remo's games are alphabetized. They note how few PS3 games Remo has, and then seg in to talking about debug and development consoles. Kohler brings up Afro Samurai, and how creepy and sick it made him feel, and then Jake brings up a friend of his who is sickened by nobi nobi boy. Nick shares how Gears of War 2 disgusted him when he chainsawed through the stomach of a worm. Nick also says how he hates FarCry 2.

YouTube Timestamps

 * 00:36 — Intro - Featuring the internet's Chris Kohler
 * 01:05 — Alphabetizing Games - It's creepy and Chris (Remo) does it
 * 01:05 — PlayStation 3 - Backwards compatibility
 * 02:35 — Development and Debug Consoles - They are hilarious 80s VCR players
 * 04:45 — Afro Samurai - Hype and sword gameplay
 * 06:12 — Afro Samurai - Remorselessly, viciously killing scores of topless women
 * 10:21 — Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Gruesome death animations
 * 11:20 — Violence - Intensity of depictions
 * 11:46 — Gears of War 2 - Chainsawing through a worm
 * 12:37 — Noby Noby Boy - Kind of gross when you think about it, at least for some people
 * 14:38 — Afro Samurai - Sex and violence
 * 16:21 — Far Cry 2 - Thrust into a setting
 * 18:01 — Baby Pals - Islam is the light
 * 21:22 — Animals - Making sounds they shouldn't
 * 21:53 — Afrika - PS3 is THE console for African safari enthusiasts
 * 22:38 — Countdown to PS3 - yearoftheps3.info
 * 23:56 — Console I/O Ports - What does the orange hole do?
 * 25:57 — Iwata - He's buds with Chris (Remo)
 * 27:24 — GDC - Intended audience and fanboy pandering
 * 29:30 — Home - Sony bats .500
 * 30:40 — Break - Play "Sincerely, These Nuts" backwards here
 * 31:08 — Duels - Lighting a homeless person on fire does not qualify
 * 32:14 — Dueling Sources - Speaking for the Anonymous Source Guild
 * 38:37 — PSP - Heavier electronics can be nice
 * 40:06 — Duels - This week's theme
 * 40:23 — Portal - GlaDOS staring out a window with her hands behind her back
 * 41:49 — Story as Texture - One theory on its place in games
 * 43:45 — Dialog - It can be weird in games
 * 44:15 — Assassin's Creed - Ending
 * 48:04 — Mirror's Edge - Incorporating story more elegantly
 * 48:59 — Accepting Conventions - Noticing when they're contrived and there's another way
 * 51:07 — Witnessing Growth in Games - It's cool to see it in this moment in history
 * 52:28 — BioShock - Selling on aesthetics and gameplay
 * 55:37 — GDC - The week where the games industry is awesome
 * 56:17 — Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard - Parody
 * 58:03 — Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard - Movement and controls
 * 58:49 — Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard - Dialog and humor in games
 * 1:00:13 — Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard - Trailers for comedic media
 * 1:01:21 — Reader Mail - Story in Games - Oops, we already talked about that
 * 1:02:17 — Reader Mail - Games Journalists - Some are poop
 * 1:03:02 — Reader Mail - Replayability - Including discussion of Full Throttle and Chrono Trigger
 * 1:11:33 — Reader Mail - Real Life Invading Games - Walking back to your office in Counter Strike
 * 1:12:38 — Reader Mail - iMUSE - Some guy has opinions that are expanded on in the forum
 * 1:14:10 — Don't Call Him Fanboy - He know about what he talking
 * 1:17:14 — Outro - Thanks to Chris (Kohler)