Blue_Element: Are you playing that from an actual SNES or are you using an emulator?

jdodson: I own the original, but I am playing it from an emulator.

Blue_Element: What emulator are you using?

jdodson: This was on my Mac and I used... snes9x

Blue_Element: Cool! That's the same emulator I use!

jdodson: Awesome, yeah its a good one.

WhiteboySlim: I can't say I've ever seen one of those psycho guys and said to myself, "Gee, I wish I could play as one of them!"

However, after looking through the skill trees, he does seem to be an interesting character and I would like to give him a try at some point. However, I won't be picking up the new class at this time. I might wait for the price to drop. I'm already going to be getting the next expansion as part of my season pass and I still have yet to finish the 3rd DLC, so I have plenty BL2 to keep me busy for now. Plus the idea of going through the main storyline with a new character again is not that appealing. :\

Adym: Watching the video, that's almost exactly how I normally play first person shooters, so I'm interested in Krieg.

I still don't own BL2, but maybe at the next big sale I'll pick it up.

jdodson: @adym Id wait till the Game of the Year or as you say, a sale. Reason is the base game + all the DLC will run you about $100 so waiting is good :D

Adym: I'm not sure if the people in this video are random actors, or if I'm missing some inside jokes? I of course recognize the main, angry guy, but the rest I'm not sure about.

scrypt: Planetary Annihilation has been on my radar since the Kickstarter campaign. It just looks like so much fun, and I love that stylized art. Can't wait!

That NES looks pretty sick, too. I've been jonesing for classic Nintendo games lately, but only have access on the Wii, at the moment. Just isn't the same without that old controller in your hands, after blowing on the cartridge to get the game to load.

jdodson: NES cart blowing, good thing digital gets around that :D

I tossed in a about $10 for a nice USB gamepad a while ago from Gamestop. I am just kind of allergic to rebuying games on the latest platform. I keep my old carts though, never get rid of that stuff. Always want the gold Zelda cart in my collection as well as the Power Glove.

The Power Glove, is so bad...

jdodson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya0F83Bmbl4

scrypt: I never had a Power Glove, but always thought it was pretty cool. I think the coolest thing I had, controller-wise, was the NES Advantage, but it's long gone now, along with all of that collected gaming history.

jdodson: NES Advantage wasn't too bad. Joytick style controller that worked pretty well. I think I played it a few times as a kid, but always loved it in Ghostbusters 2 :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6NhfRFSaFo

jdodson: E.T. heh. I had that on Atari, it was kind of fun except it only held my interest for minutes. Still, kind of a crappy charm to it.

I have thought much about the best game of all time, for me. I think the best game of all time has to be Tetris but I don't love Tetris, its only very good.

I guess it would have to be a game I come back to with regularity. Something that hit me and left and impression I can't shake. I guess... it would have to be.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Its like a good blend of short and good. Had some awesome bugs that let you warp around, the whole Thief/stealing items business was cool.

Second place is Final Fantasy IV. Same ish reasons for the most part.

scrypt: This question (all time favorite game/music/book/movie...) always gives me a case of mild anxiety, in as much as I can never really decide, because of taste changes and my desire to focus on the present rather than the past. Then I think, "A favorite all-time game should be able to transcend change in taste/time," but I don't know if that's something I can cope with :). It's much easier for me to try to isolate games of a specific genre that stand out as favorites, but even then, the list would be too long for this project.

Uuuuuaaaaagh...! I'm going to have to go with Journey, as a singular all-time favorite. It embodies everything that I love about what video games can give. It gives you a sense of spacial freedom and discovery, and it wraps it all up in an eternal, unspoken story of time and community. Journey also has this great impression of classic games that I grew up with, while offering an absolutely beautiful, high-definition landscape. That, tied with Austin Wintory's musical scores, make this game very much a living, breathing thing.

Some of the games that I was weighing against, for the sake of perspective, in no particular order:

Fable 2
X-Wing
Bionic Commando (original NES, not the crappy remakes)
Ico
Beyond Good & Evil
Portal
World of Warcraft
Civilization (I or V)
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine (seriously, I love this game)
Halo 3: ODST & Halo 4 (for multiplayer)
Skyrim

scrypt: I forgot MYST!! Dammit! I had intentionally left off Bioshock Infinite, but that should be in there, too. And EVE online...

Thanks, Travis!!

Travis: So, I may pick a few more out of your list because now I want to replay Portal, but so far Link's Awakening and Journey. I'm looking forward to those.

Travis: I've played Journey before, but I'd certainly welcome replaying it. Such a beautiful game.

scrypt: I'll be going back to play it again, too. I also want to tackle Link's Awakening somehow. Don't think I ever actually played that one.

jdodson: scrypt: Do it, Link's Awakening is great. Let me know how it turns out when you do :D

scrypt: Forgot that Link's Awakening was a Gameboy game. Is the 3DS version just as good?

jdodson: I bet its based on Link's Awakening DX, which added a color dungeon and some other special stuff.

Travis: Yes, the version on 3DS is a direct port of Link's Awakening DX.

scrypt: Cool. I've been thinking of picking up a 3DS anyway!

Adym: I had to think about this for a while, but one of my favorite games that I had forgotten about is Goldeneye 007 (for the 64). Really for the multiplayer though. The game was good enough, but the 4 player deathmatch games were so much fun back in the day!

jdodson: Its a good game Adym!

Travis: It sucks a bit that there are no free tables. Just one would be good enough. It does seem to be the closest thing to authentic pinball I've ever played.

jdodson: Going to download it, thanks for the tip scrypt!

jdodson: Awesome interview thanks WhiteboySlim!

For a bit of an update as to what they are working on now, check this:

www.secretsofgrindea.com/index.php/blog/2579

Travis: I think all of Valve's games will end up there this year. Maybe not the first Left 4 Dead since those campaigns are available in 2, albeit changed a bit to include the additions in 2.

jdodson: I think you might be right save DoTA 2 as that isn't even on Mac yet. That said, they might bring it to Linux first, that would be kind of neat.

beansmyname: Hmmm....Contemplating grabbing the Orange Box just to have the option, if that's what it takes. Ever since I saw Team Fortress 2, I've been waiting for the Orange Box. Already have Portal and TF2. Would be nice to round out the set and even if it's not on sale, it still seems worth the purchase cost.

Anyone know if purchasing the Windows version is sufficient for access to the beta?

beansmyname: @beansmyname If you purchase The Orange Box, the betas for Linux will be available to you.

jdodson: Yeah, I think bean is right :D Because the box copy in a store on PC gets you Steam Keys which translate everywhere.

PS where do you buy the Orange Box on PC, the store? Does Steam sell it as a bundle any more?

Travis: Yes: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/469/

jdodson: Well shit. Ok, apparently I Google no so good in my....

Ok. Thanks Travis :D

/shamed

Travis: I fully agree with the top three. I loved NHL '94 a surprising amount for a sport that I knew nothing about before playing it.

jdodson: Like Tyson's Punch out was highly listed so that's good. Always wanted to play Tecmo Super Bowl.

Personally I would have put NES Golf and Wii Sports on the list.

scrypt: I think the big thing with the Saint's Row games has been a progressively more outrageous attitude of "Why? Because you can!" It's a fantasy version of GTA, which I've always appreciated, even though I've never played more than a few hours of any Saint's game. This 4th iteration is a little more appealing to me, mostly because of the super powers. Well...and the dubstep gun. That's just genius.

Travis: I did play an hour or so of SR3 after posting this, and I have to admit it's quite a blast so far. I mean I had a gunfight while in freefall. When does that happen?

beansmyname: "On the one hand, this seems like a game trying to be too much, throwing in so many different mechanics that it becomes a muddled mess."

That's pretty close to what I said about SR3 before it came out. I anticipated that there would just be too many elements thrown together haphazardly. Instead, I discovered the game had too many elements very carefully thrown together. SR3 is over-the-top without going too far into the realm of absurdity to make it a caricature of its own cleverness.

Still, not as much fun after the missions are complete as SR2. SR2 remains playable LONG after the story missions are done.

Travis: I just came here to post this. We narrowly avoided another post war.

jdodson: Safe! :D