Xbox 360 Fancast 143 -- Modern Podfare
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Nov 16th 2009 at 5:45PM }
And yes, before you ask, there are dropbears. Our faithful readers have kept us apprised of the growing dropbear menace, providing us with crucial evidence, which you can find after the break.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander), Xav de Matos (Snypz) and Dave Hinkle (KnifefightYoDad)
Produced by Richard Mitchell
Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta. "Pine On" by Obits.
For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group
News:
Final Fantasy XIII hits Xbox NA/Euro March 9, 2010
Report: Alan Wake releasing May 2010
2 million log into Xbox Live at once, News at 11
Bible Navigator X hits Indie Games
Modern Warfare 2 sells 4.7 million on day one (take that analysts)
DROPBEAR WATCH:
An Orbital Drop Shock Bear embarks on his first mission (Thanks, Brian!).
China's dropbear training program accelerates at an alarming pace (Thanks, @wolvie75!).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Quinion @ Nov 16th 2009 5:52PM
Glad to see Dave back, love the china dropbear training program
Pablo @ Nov 16th 2009 6:21PM
LOL, love the bears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyeemtS1jII
CH3BURASHKA @ Nov 16th 2009 7:16PM
So, when's the DropBear Indie Game coming out?
CH3BURASHKA @ Nov 16th 2009 7:56PM
FOR GODS SAKE EPIN STANDS FOR EPIC WIN LEARN YOUR MEMES PPL.
DPolski @ Nov 16th 2009 7:31PM
Those pandas are pretty damn cute. ...just sayin'
Monkey Madness @ Nov 16th 2009 9:11PM
Hinkle needs to be a host for good now, yes the Xander, Xav and Richard show was cool but that guy is freaking hilarious. With dustin gone the humor and talk was that bit more sensible (not a bad thing) but Dave brings the LOLs.
In short keep Dave!
David Hinkle @ Nov 17th 2009 5:53PM
I love your body.
Monkey Madness @ Nov 18th 2009 8:19AM
Well I try.
myabsolution @ Nov 16th 2009 10:01PM
Hey guys, love the show as always.Just wanted to comment on something said at last weeks fancast.Ya'll were commenting on how boring and lacklustre Halo Wars felt, Hinkle even said he was an RTS lover and felt it was a dumbed down children's RTS. Now I have no problem with people voicing their opinions but I have checked all your game stats online and none of you have any recorded multiplayer games, EXCEPT Richard (hes played online a bit, but he also didnt share your guys opinion on said game).You can't really judge a game until you've played the multiplayer portion, to get a really good feel for how deep the multiplayer portion is, and just how well the balance/strat portions of an RTS mix. Isn't that usually the most important part of an RTS? The multiplayer?For an RTS, a console RTS, it not only set out to make the genre work on the console, but it did it without sacrificing too much from the strategy department. There are plenty of units and many ways to use them just like any RTS - and the only thing missing is the whole free base building aspect, but thats understandable seeing as how its using a controller and not a kb/mouse. The game also has anywhere from 5-10 thousand people on at any time, pretty damn good for an RTS, ten months old, and on a CONSOLE. No other console RTS has even come close to holding people over. As well, Robot (Ensemble's love-child), releases update patches, fixing bugs and constantly balancing any gameplay issues.Guess what im trying to say is that you shouldn't dismiss the game simply on first glance; it took me a while to see the depth and lasting appeal - which is in the multiplayer, but its all there and Ensemble's swan song RTS game was beyond my expectations. This is the first RTS game since C&C: Generals and its expansion that i've truely enjoyed, and that game received literally no support from EA; whereas Halo Wars still gets treatment and support, and is on a console nonetheless. Try the multiplayer, the cream of the game, before making such baseless statements that it doesn't deserve.Thanks, and keep up good work on your show! And RIP Dustin :(
Richard Mitchell @ Nov 16th 2009 10:51PM
See? I said it was good.
Seriously though, I logged a LOT of hours in the Skirmish Mode on the review build (not retail). It actually ate into my work schedule. Much more than it should have. Anyway, I'm playing it quite a bit again to grab the Achievements, and I think I'm getting sucked back in...
Xav de Matos @ Nov 16th 2009 11:27PM
Since I owned the game for about a month prior to its release on my debug unit, all of my multiplayer sessions are recorded on that console. Debug units are not connected to standard Xbox Live, it's a different service.
So, I have played it quite a bit... Enough to know I didn't enjoy it as much as some others did.
myabsolution @ Nov 17th 2009 12:20AM
thanks for the reply guys :) and my apologies on the giant blob of text, im using ps3 web browser, and this thing is god awful and wont allow spaces for paragraphs... go figure. And yea i didnt know debug units use alternative reality internets, thx.Yeah I knew Richard enjoyed it, but I just don't see it as a little kids RTS, its easier for sure, but its no where near care-bear level, and in fact quite a good game for strategy. Hoping for the inevitable sequel.
Aero @ Nov 17th 2009 7:18AM
Waypoint got me sucked back into Halo Wars to get the achievements too Richard. I sent you a message on Xbox Live and maybe we could play co-op together some time to get the co-op campaign achievement.
joeybeast @ Nov 16th 2009 11:20PM
Damn those commie bears. They are even worst than koalas.
Most people don't know this but Pandas do eat meat if they have to.
And they usually give birth to twins and the mother will kill the weaker baby.
shaun watters @ Nov 17th 2009 8:28AM
Hinkle must stay!!!
andyface @ Nov 17th 2009 10:09AM
I "played" DJ Hero at HMV and there was a bit of a lock on the cross fader, I reckon you could totally skip past it when trying to find it, but if it was more harsh, I reckon it'd make a really annoying clicky noise every time you go past the half way mark.
Rhamsey @ Nov 17th 2009 10:38AM
Oh god, pandas are training to become drop bears? Like they weren't dangerous enough as it was.
Hilltop @ Nov 17th 2009 11:23AM
COD MW2 spoilers to follow
When has Call Of Duty ever given choices about anything? You either die or survive, if you die you get to spawn again 10 seconds earlier and do it over again until you happen to survive the whole way through the game. I see no difference between the whole game and the "No Russian" mission.
First play through of "No Russian" I did try to kill the terrorists, but as you know that doesnt work out so well. Then I played through the mission with the assumption that you had to kill civilians or be ostracized from the group. With that mentality, the scene worked pretty well. Because I was trying to camouflage myself as one of their own, I was really surprised when the guns were turned onto my character at the end. IMHO this added significantly to my emotional vendetta against Makarov....I just killed a few hundred civi's to blend in, meanwhile this asshole planned to kill me the whole time.
Walking through without killing anyone......well that simply shouldn't have been allowed(it breaks the scene, and breaks the game with a long slow walk for nothing). Its pretty obvious a terrorist would notice you not shooting anyone. If your walking through the terrorists should have said "hey this guy is not a terrorist" and murdered you right in the airport. This could have lead to a COD4 type scene: bleeding out while watching them murder all the civilians at the airport, and the significance could have been explained after the fact when you enter another character. That seems much more emotionally charged than making you walk through(not shooting) the portion of the game. Meanwhile this leaves the option open to continue through the scene killing civilians in an attempt to blend it and get to the current ending of the scene.
anyway, just my 2 cents
dbellinger @ Nov 17th 2009 4:17PM
In regards to your MW2 conversation... this game was soooo much easier than MW1 and WAW. I played through in Veteran and it only took about four hours (tops!). The hardest was the first part of the farvelas and took about 20 tries. I remember in the original, the silos (at the end), was the hardest part and I had to try that section a couple hundred times (especially since friends and brothers had me do it for them). I'm not saying that it is not a good game, it is, I have a hard time remembering everything I did in the game because I was able to blow right through it. That being said, some of the spec ops missions are a lot of fun and especially difficult. I just don't have friends who are able to play with me when I am available.
----
desi k