Gamers Corner

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Episode 7 Timeline:

0:00 - 20:07
- Halo 3 Patch 1.1!
- Esh vents his frustrations about certain player stereotypes on H3.
- Vapor and Esh's GB experience on Shadowrun with a player named Elemental.

20:07 - 56:38
- Gears of War 2 Annouced for November 2008.
- Vapor does a poor Marcus Fenix impression.
- Trailer overview.
- Side note: We don't bash Gears the whole time.
- Timeframe of release ideal for sales.
- Esh's prediction on the Gears 2 Shotgun.
- Esh's prediction on the Gears 2 Netcode.
- Esh breaks down client-side and server-side hit detection.
- Lobby System? Matchmaking? Host options?
- How Vapor got banned from the Epic forums for asking a question prior to the game's release.
- Measuring a game's success.
- Things to listen for from Epic Games and CliffyB.
- A plea to gaming journalists.
- The chainsaw.
- Cooperative play prediction.
- Prediction about custom options for starting weapons.
- Esh hopes Gears 2 is a good game.

56:38 - 1:19:27
- Vapor's astonishment at gamers when Gears 1 came out.
- How many players that play H3 never played H2.
- The lack of motivation for Cliffy to give us options.
- What about the weapon slide?
- What Esh wants to see in Gears of War 2.
- Active Reloads.
- Torque Bow.
- Grenades and tagging.
- Remove the frustration.
- What Vapor wants to see in Gears of War 2.
- Close out.

Download this episode (62 min)   

0:00 - 7:00
- Intro.
- Shadowrun Online Tournament Filled!
- Thanks to all the people who helped.
- Why teams split to form new ones.
- Why Vapor and Esh are going to lose.
- Our goals to rebirth SR.
- Players that wanted to play but didn't get registered in time.
- The willingness of long-term players to teach those who need instruction.
- Esh tells Vapor how he sucks.

7:00 - 32:43
- Frontlines MP Demo.
- The positives of Demo.
- Quick recap on what is Frontlines and who are KAOS.
- Ease of use is a big problem (no lobby, difficult to communicate, etc.)
- Vapor's first experience with the demo.
- Vapor has a crappy internet connection.
- 50 players online max with dedicated servers.
- The issues with voicecomm and why Esh thinks KAOS did it the way they did.
- Voicecomms should have been on option for custom games.
- Planned patch to fix voicecomms.
- Esh's thoughts on what hurt the development of Frontlines.
- Vapor's thoughts on the 50 player max.
- Vapor liks the sound effects and the massive battlefield.
- If you like going solo (aka Lone Wolf), you might enjoy it.
- Functionality is missing.
- Recoil and bullet spread.
- Will casual gamers enjoy it?
- The analogy of buying a car.
- History behind Halo 2 Matchmaking and Lobby System.
- Takeaways for developers that listen.
- How CoD4 got the functionality right.
- 3 games that all developers should always have when developing a game.

32:43 - 1:02:03
- Gametrailer's video of roundtable discussion with 3 developers.
- Aaron Lobe, Greg LoPiccolo, and Cliffy B (ARGH!)
- Talking about Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc.
- Lack of clarity on three platforms (and why do I care?).
- The "Hype Machine" and Access Hollywood.
- The short-term approach of game development.
- Lobe disagrees and mentions how smaller games still can sell well.
- Innovation in design for 2007?
- Was Mass Effect innovative?
- Was Call of Duty 4 innovative?
- Rock Band was innovative.
- Cliffy's thoughts on sequels.
- Marketing over innovation (applying that belief to Lost Oddysey).
- Battlefield: Bad Company is about marketing.
- The shift in developer focus.
- Current generation of gamer's turned on by graphics.
- The "bar" set in the industry.
- Doom 3's marketing and gameplay.
- What if movie's followed the same marketing plan?
- Cliffy's thoughts on the controller.
- How assigning multiple functions into one button can become problematic.
- Close out.

Download this episode (59 min)   

0:00 - 16:34
- Microsoft needs to set standards in multiplayer gaming.
- Sundance's reaction to his first LAN experience of Call of Duty 4.
- Esh asks Sundance about Gears and why it's on the circuit.
- Sunny comments on the fist fight over Gears of War and the nintendo power glove.
- Call of Duty 4 online tournaments filling up.
- Sunny explains the costs and how a game earns it's spots on the circuit.
- How the community needs to approach MLG with issues.
- Come with solutions, not problems.
- Prize money an issue? Not sure about that.
- Happy meals!

16:34 - 34:38
- The future of competitive gaming.
- Vapor comments on CGS and Team3D and how MLG may evolve to that setup.
- MLG compared to the World Series of Poker.
- Costs of events.
- The maturity level of gamer's impacting their attitude towards MLG.
- Esh explains how the community was upset in the Shadowrun thread prior to the ESPN announcement.
- Sundance talks about Clap and Synide and their mindsets.
- DON'T KICK THE BABY!
- Sundance's theory for how he would have to set up a CoD4 circuit event.

34:38 - 49:34
- The ESPN and MLG partnership and what it means.
- YOUR HEAD WILL EXPLODE!
- What competitive gaming could look like in 5-10 years.
- The community clash between MLG and Gamebattles.
- CPL and how it's dying. The fears around MLG suffering a similar fate.
- The possibility of MLG creating their own game.
- Painkiller getting dropped from CPL and what they added instead.
- What happens if the well gets dry for good competitive games?

49:34 - 59:20
- 1v1 style shooters and how they could fit into MLG.
- MLG's passion around shooters and how other genre's don't fit into MLG.
- Unreal Tournament 3 and it's competitive potential.
- Sunny's final thoughts.
- BYOC LAN idea.

Download this episode (60 min)   

0:00 - 1:00
- Intros to the show/Sundance.

1:00 - 10:15
- Sundance explains long-term and short-term goals of MLG as a league/company.
- Comparing MLG to NBA/NFL etc. How gaming is a sport.
- Differences in goals/target audience from when MLG started as compared to now.
- Sunny gets a valentines day call! (couldn't edit it, too priceless!)

10:15 - 12:31
- Sunny's first competitive gaming experience :-).
- Beer for winning MLG?

12:31 - 32:20
- This section is all about Shadowrun.
- Sunny comments on how Shadowrun fits into MLG's goals and gives his thoughts on the game.
- How last year's events played out with SR.
- Why it was dropped from the circuit and why Call of Duty 4 doesn't work for the circuit.
- An idea for making it spectator friendly and Sunny's comments on that.
- To understand it, you have to play it.
- Twisted-Bullet, listen to this!
- What could make Shadowrun easier to follow?
- What is the future of SR online tournaments?
- SR community needs to listen to this!
- What the community would have to do to get SR back on the circuit.

32:20 - 50:40
- Who is Sundance? (probably should of started with this, but what the hell, better late than never :-)
- Vapor says, "Back your game!"
- The MLG and Ubisoft relationship.
- How the relationship started with Ubisoft.
- What elements in Vegas 2 might have come from MLG?
- Sundance and Nexy player models maybe?
- The MLG map in Vegas 2 and how it was designed.
- What sort of things should competitive gamers look forward to in Vegas 2.
- Vapor comments on Sprint.
- TACTICAL DESTRUCTION!!
- The Embassy Suites bomb scare and how it came full circle.

50:40 - 1:00:00
- How the relationship with Bungie has blossomed over time.
- Hello Kitty for MLG!
- Sunny comments on Bungie adding customization options to Halo.
- Why haven't other developers learned from Halo's success in it's functionality?
- How IW screwed up LAN lobby in CoD4.
- Why PC gaming is on the decline while console is on the rise.

Download this episode (51 min)   

0:00 - 2:50
- Intros and a new take on Shadowrun and MLG.

2:50 - 4:57
- Bungie Update and Vegas 2 MLG Map Video Overview.

4:57 - 51:02
- Comparing Frontlines to Battlfield 2.
- A short background of DICE, KAOS, and Battlefield.
- Explaining the Frontlines game mode.
- Doorstop explains the "Oil Fields" map and how the game mode applies to it.
- Vapor explains "Squads"; what they are and how they impact gameplay.
- Eshelon explains the experience of playing Frontlines to players unfamiliar with Battlfield 2.
- Comparing Battlefield: Modern Combat to Frontlines.
- Doorstop explains the vehicles in Frontlines and how they are balanced for play.
- Methods for taking down a Helicopter, making it balanced.
- Explanation of "load-outs" and "roles".
- Specifics on the recon drone detailed.
- NOTE: CP = Control Point. It's referring to a point on the map that you want to capture and control.
- Switching roles mid-game.
- Doorstop explains "tickets"/"reinforcements", "bleeding", and how victory is determined.
- An overview of the strategies to prepare for in Frontlines.
- Vapor gets slammed for losing his train of thought. Sorry Vapor, it was too priceless to edit out :-).
- Voicecoms and how they will work in Frontlines.
- Eshelon gets Vapor psyched up about a new demo on the marketplace only to let him down.
- How to play smart with your roles.
- Doorstop gives a further explanation on the EMP role and how that role upgrades over the course of a game.
- Eshelon explains how the single-player demo is a POOR representation of the final product.
- Some further details on the demo itself (map and server details) and it's length of availability.
- Eshelon explains "dedicated servers" and how host-advantage is no longer an issue.
- Vapor details the additional content that KAOS is working on even prior to the game's release.
- Doorstop adds some final thoughts on how the game will be amazing.
- Vapor and Esh close out.

Download this episode (53 min)   

0:00 - 1:18 Intro

1:19 - 2:30 Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 MLG Map Overview and other MP information.
2:30 - 8:35 Bungie Updates. Purple rain is scrapped :-(.

8:35 - 32:11 Esh picks up the slack of the show with Shadowrun and MLG. Rob speculates on 2008 circuit info. Lack of MLG news coverage on SR. User story submissions. SR Online Tournament needs more teams! How to determine predictability for attendence at MLG events. MLG MATH!
(SPECIAL NOTE: This was recorded PRIOR to Brick posting the "Adopt a N00b" news story.)

32:11 - END Defining skill in shooters. Applying the logic to Call of Duty 4. Comparing SR's individual skill to gears/call of duty etc. Ladders vs tournaments.

Download this episode (47 min)   

Special guest: Rekoil
ALL ABOUT VEGAS 2.