In a disaster of planning and poor taste, Kaz and Tony decide one fateful evening to record an episode of The Rumble Pack by themselves. Without the grounding grumbles of Justin, Neil or To,m the two become a whirlwind of tangents, off-topic discussions and mostly made-up science facts. Make sure you listen before Justin gets back to the States to pull the episode down. We’re sorry! ENJOY!
The Rumble Pack Posts
Grand Theft Auto V is upon us! Or more specifically, it’s upon Justin, who guides Tony and Kaz through the streets of Los Santos. After covering the controversial crime saga, Justin sails the crisp seas of The Wind Waker HD, Tony lines up his troops in Ironclad Tactics and Kaz sort of comes around on Brothers. Oh, and the guys tackle those first couple Steam Machine announcements.
Apologies for the late posting. Our four-person crew gathers to discuss Rayman Legends, Killzone: Mercenary and the past week’s news. Meanwhile, Tony tries to hold himself together when he learns that everyone owns, yet still hasn’t played, one of his top 5 games from 2012.
Neil may have gone to a Ke$ha concert, but we promise you that this podcast is glitter-free. This week, the guys try to make sense of the Nintendo 2DS, the wacky handheld that’s still prettier than the game.com. After an extended conversation about #Batfleck and nonprofit social media – stay with us! – Justin assembles his plastic army for Disney Infinity, Kaz gets his Brothers mixed up and Neil still doesn’t buy Shadowrun. Plus, gleefully hating on Divekick, Disney trivia, The World’s End, Plants vs. Zombies 2, the Xbox One’s snoozy launch lineup and Luigi’s Dream Team psyche.
Yeah, “Elysium” was pretty rocky, but the Pack isn’t about to let that get them down. There are tons of games to get excited about this week, including the long-awaited Pikmin 3, the zombie-centric iOS shooter The Drowning, co-op wonder Ibb & Obb, Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and subterranean platformer SteamWorld Dig. Plus, Kaz has a fancy new steering wheel.
Not even the Pack can resist talking about the Fez 2 kerfuffle, but there are just too many games to get sidetracked for long. Neil boards the Swedish Rymdkapsel on Playstation Mobile, while Justin beats Kaz to Salt Lake City in The Last of Us. Plus, revisiting EarthBound 18 years later, Attack of the Friday Monsters‘ kiddy Kaiju fun, resisting Dragon Crown‘s ample charms, Kerbal Space Program and inappropriate cyber nuns.
Relevant Links:
The short answer: probably not, but they’re still pretty cool.
The longer answer…
I have a pretty set routine when I get up for work in the morning. A quick shower, a shave and a hastily-made lunch before I finally depart. About two years ago, I added checking my StreetPass Mii Plaza to the list. With the exception of that one time when I accidentally obliterated my SD card, I’ve had my 3DS in my pocket every day since.
Why? Because even in those early days, when naïve early adopters were desperate for software that wasn’t Steel Diver, Mii Plaza was a rewarding, accessible, cooperative time waster. Like Animal Crossing, it has a finite number of gaming bits per day, and it doesn’t tease you in the same way so many free-to-play games do. But best of all was that it’s simple. I’ve sung the praises of StreetPass tech many times on this site, but I think the single greatest reason it works is because you can boot up your 3DS and check your shared data in a matter of seconds. No friends required. If you are looking for a new game that is an MMOG try destiny 2, thousands of people around the world play this game. If you already play destiny and you are having a hard time with the weekly nightfall missions then check out this destiny 2 nightfall boost website. This will help you complete those harder missions faster.
Puzzle Swap couldn’t be much simpler. Sure, you can buy new pieces with Play Coins, but the emphasis is on collecting pieces virally, passively completing your puzzles by working towards a common goal with strangers. With it’s branching paths, Find Me II is a little more complex, but brute force and patience will usually win out here, too.
Perhaps to justify the new $15 price tag, the new Mii Plaza suite is much more involved. Each game has multiple mechanics – Monster Manor with its interlocking rooms and ghost busting, for instance – and they all have lengthy intros that cause the experience to drag even more. Poor Flower Town probably would have had a better reception if you could skip half the dialogue.
Even if the experiences were more bite-sized, having six games to play suddenly each round becomes exhausting. Puzzle Swap and Find Mii worked because you were constantly working towards a specific reward. Maybe a new hat, maybe a completed puzzle. Now, each game has tons of achievements and a wide variety of new hats to score. I’m sure getting to the end if satisfying, but right now, that’s nowhere near in sight.
But despite all of this complaining, I’m just happy the games are fun.
I think it’s safe to say that Mii Force is the clear winner of the bunch. It’s basically Gradius with your Miis as the Options, but the wide variety of weapons and Mii configurations give this more depth than I ever expected. Warior’s Way is even more novel. Your entire Mii Plaza population becomes a feudal Japanese army, and you’re tasked with wooing wandering warriors to your side. It’s a very novel way of putting all of those convention-hall allies to good use.
So I have mixed collection. The games themselves are a great deal of fun, particularly when you’ve passed 9 or 10 people. I just don’t know if you’re going to want to open up your 3DSÂ the next time PAX rolls into town and your game is suddenly becomes a to-do list.
Full Steam ahead! This week, the guys are eying those summer sales and spend the beginning of the show talking about the changing economics of gaming. (Fun!) Meanwhile, Justin spends $50 on a 3DS game – Shin Megami Tensei IV. Can he convince Kaz to take the plunge? Neil lets the bullets fly in Hotline Miami and Kaz survives a little longer in The Last of Us. Plus, StreetPass hats, “Burn After Reading,” an Animal Crossing clock-check, Tokyo Jungle in your pocket, lamentable Native American baseball mascots and the infamous B&T.
To learn how sales enablement can impact your business and much more marketing tips, click on the link.
Thank goodness for listener questions! This week, the Pack delves into the mailbag to answer questions about The Last of Us, anticipated handheld games, League of Legends vs. Dota 2 and Animal Crossing: New Leaf strategies. Afterwards, Kaz passes on IBS to the next generation in Rogue Legacy and Justin covers a couple of obscure 3DS eShop tank games, Bugs vs. Tanks and Kokuga. Plus Game & Wario, New Super Luigi U, Hotline Miami on the Vita and color commentary (“Green! Orange!”) from Neil.
You must be logged in to post a comment.