Enjoy!

We’ve decided to share in the New Year’s celebration by releasing our jealous grip on this, our last episode of 2009.  It’s older than most – we were hoping to cover the holiday gap with prepared content – so we trust you can find satisfaction in our take on events that are weeks old by now.

Scott, for one, wanted to record a final show on the eve of the new year, but I plan to be drunk and immobile, and don’t intend to move from my comfortable spot in front of my computer, unless it’s to move to the comfortable spot in front of my television.  I can imagine any number of you doing the same.

We hope, as always, that you’ll enjoy the show, and that you’ll continue to enjoy it as we move into our fourth year.  We are proud of and humbled by our listeners, and wish we were equal to the task of thanking you for your time and attention.  Instead, we will simply clear our throats, shrug off what we see as a very unmanly display of emotion, and move on to the next in a long line of raving, hours-long fits of childishness.

There’s a chance this week that our familiar pattern of procrastination will run headlong into a powerful urge to post relevant information.  This particular episode should have been available some time ago, and we’re likely to push another one on you before the holiday week, so we hope you’ve honed your apetite.

We’re operating at near-zero levels of Arjay in this episode, but have compensated with a saturated mixture of Dave.  Fresh from the time-lost glaciers of somedamnwhere, Dave is once again in our temporary embrace.  We’ll soon lose him to another frozen hell, at which point Matt will have returned from his sandy nightmare and can once more fill the post of resident Air-Force guy.

There’s still hope for an indulgence at the following link.

Last week’s gap in coverage had almost nothing to do with the holiday season, but was instead the fault of a certain greedy co-host who, in his lust for consumer electronics, agreed to put on a second hat so he could take home a second paycheck.  That paycheck must now be poured back into a large, television shaped hole in the unnamed co-host’s savings account, with any leftovers to be applied generously around the insides of his PC.  I have it on good authority that it’s been time and money well spent.

What little time there was to spare between the working and the revelry and what-not was directed precisely where you’d expect it to be.  Assassin’s Creed 2 is the real star of this week’s show, and one we spent the lion’s share of our time discussing.  The evolution of Desmond’s tale has, as if by holy edict, moved beyond the perceived weaknesses of its predecessor, and claimed its rightful title of Damned Good Game.  The gameplay is refined, the mystery is elevated, the blades are doubled.  Clearly, they’ve gone about as fer as they can go…yessir!

We’ve gone on long enough about Modern Warfare 2 and we hope to put that topic to bed with one final installment as a few others on the show, myself included, finish the main campaign with a dip into the multiplayer.

On the other hand, we have Assassin’s Creed 2. A game we’re not likely to wrap up talking about for some time, and one during the recording of this episode that we’ve not even scratched the surface of.

And then there’s Left 4 Dead 2.

We wanted to breathe smoke at the following link.

It’s a big round of musical assholes at the jump-off tonight; 3 of the 4 hosts arguing over which of us is the perennial asshole and which is just filling in.  I like to think I’m on the job full-time, but Scott makes a dash for the title, and I may have to concede the race.  Which is fine, of course.  Better that than to be at a loss for words.

There’s truly too much to be said about Modern Warfare 2.  I don’t know all the words a person would need to express himself fully after finishing this campaign, and light-stepping around the spoilers hasn’t made things any easier.  I’m pretty sure the game was just too awesome to be good, and I hope my fellows can lay down some of their own opinions when they finish it themselves.  Or IF they finish it…

We aspire to feature parity at the following link.

Any ground Infinity Ward stood to lose to the enthusiast and idealist backlash in recent weeks has probably reached its maximum.  Modern Warfare 2 is alive and thrashing at retail, and there’s nothing left now but to count the player numbers online.  We may be acknowledged members of the disgruntled minority, and we’ve certainly never had trouble nursing a grudge, but we’d like to examine the game now on its own merits, without harboring any sort of rebuke for the men behind the scenes.  We make a last pass at discussing the peaks of the controversy in this episode, and hope to make room for a practical discussion in the weeks to come.

Despite the past successes of Bioware, or the songs of devotion sung by their many fans, a shamefully high percentage of players will never experience the world of Dragon Age.  It’s a magnificent game filled with magnificent flaws, and it’s unapproachable and impenetrable in any number of fantastic ways.  It has complicated sensibilities, and its roots are clearly showing, which is why it won’t be quite the thing for everyone.  For my money, however, I couldn’t be having a better time right now, and I couldn’t be happier that the experience seems to transcend the platform of choice.  A refreshing change from the divisiveness and bitter hard feelings of the recent past.