The Bloggings of The_B

I promised I’d have something in the works.

So I would like to welcome you to my Christmas gift, the very first DoubleYouTeeEffCast. Joined by my good friend Andy Lamb we sat down and decided to talk about the year in gaming. Of course, we manage to fly readily off topic and end up about talking about stuff from all over the decade and beyond but I’d like to think this adds character.

Also adding character (read: highlighting the amateurism) is my voice, all the background noises, the disappointing segways and even this running order in which I forget to actually note the times for the first few items. I’ll update it at some point, but I’m away for the next couple of days so you’ll just have to make do.

Download it from here – I’m not going to iTunes it yet for three reasons: one is the quality (or lack thereof) two is the fact that – for now – it’s a one off, we may do more in the future. Thirdly is I just don’t like iTunes.

So that running order then:
Intro
Duke Nukem Never
Command and Conquer
Pandemic
Open world games 13:22
Pushing Tech 16:12
Valve in 2009 18:35
Achivements 20:40
Consoles! 23:30
Games of 2009 30:50 (Ben induces Mariorage)
Left 4 Dead 2 32:58
Modern Warfare 2/The Problem with Boycotts 37:49
Champions Online 41:08
MMOs & Subscriptions 45:12
Indie Games of 2009 46:40 (I manage to mispronounce Spelunky spectacularly)
Return of Monkey Island 57:05
Games of 2010 1:04:05

And the link to the podcast itself. Enjoy, or don’t and of course comments are open. They might be ignored but they’re certainly open.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oh dear, I have neglected this place somewhat of late haven’t I? Well, better change that soon then…(I’m such a tease)

In the meantime, sum stuff wot I wrote:

Some words on difficulty in games over at Citizen Game.

Finishing off the Tales of Monkey Island reviews on The Reticule.

Also my opinions on Borderlands and Modern Warfare 2, also on The Reticule.

And of course if there’s anything I’ve missed check The Highlights and in my regular reminder and hopping on the bandwaggon of futility – follow my Twitter.

If you’re one of the people who have come here to read Left 4 Sims, please please go and gander at the latest entries on Alice & Kev, the blog that helped inspire my tale. It’s just got to a heart rendering crescendo and is about to end. And I know I’m about a week late from everyone else, but I’ve been caravanning in Skegness on holiday, alright?

Anyway, if you haven’t already go read. *Sniff*

(Also apologies for the lack of updates over here. I’m still writing for The Reticule and Gaming Daily if you want to read my stuff (and more soon) so that along with real life issues has meant this blog has suffered as of late. I shall try and correct that in due course.)

Well, I’ve just got the Flipnote Studio software that’s just been released in Europe for the DSiWare channel – it’s basically a program for DSi that lets you create animated notes complete with sound and allows you to post them onto the web. Here’s my profile page, and here is my first creation:

So far, I’m really enjoying it. The software is amazingly powerful with a surprising amount of depth for something free, allowing you to add your own sounds using the Mic or indeed anything you’ve recorded with the DSi sound, and lets you import your own photos from the DSi camera.

The website is also home to some extraordinary creations. These were particularly chucklesome examples:

I definitely recommend a download, and given it’s free you’ve got no excuse really if you’ve got a DSi.

Wait, what am I saying? Of course I am:

Thanks Valve!

Also

Due to many requests, added server ConVar “tf_overtime_nag”. When set to 1, it keeps the broken announcer behavior

CAN’T STOP THE OVERTIME!