So it’s been a little while since I hosted an episode; apparently I go away for a month or so and the whole damn world changes. We just talk about the games we would like to see, now, and we all get together and give each other money, and eventually – we hope – the games get made, I guess. That’s just the way it works now. Want a new adventure game from Tim Schafer? So do 87,000 other people – chip in and get it done. How about a Star Trek-inspired space roguelike? Got you covered. A sequel to Wasteland? Done. A new Shadowrun game by the original designer? Coming right up. A spiritual successor to Rainbow Six? That’s over here. Space combat? Yes, of course. A Zombie sandbox FPS with huge multiplayer ambitions? You want this one. Even Al Lowe is bringing back Leisure Suit Larry, for crying out loud. What were the odds of that?

So, yeah. I don’t understand anything anymore, but niche gamer wish fulfillment has literally become a free-for-all overnight. Just figure out what type of game a corner of the internet has been lamenting not having for 10 years or more, make a Kickstarter, put on your most convincing “I’ll make your dreams come true” face for the pitch video, and watch the dollars pour in. Well, sometimes. As we’ll be discussing, sometimes you barely make it. Sometimes you don’t make it at all. And who knows if any actual games come out of all this. But it’s a brave new world, and – spoilers! – one of our own is jumping in feet first with a Kickstarter of their own. You’ll have to listen to find out who. (I lied. It’s J_Arcane! And this is his game: Hulks & Horrors! You should listen, though.)

I did promise in the course of the recording to toss out some links, so here they are:
- The Dwarf Fortress Lazy Newb Pack (every time, Daniel. Every time.)
- The Neverending Indie Thread on CoG
- What Would Moly Deux? The Peter Molyneux Game Jam.

As we are wont to do, we talked a long time, so I’d best let you get to listening. Let’s give this thing A Kick(start) in the Rear.

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are James “Fuck Your Dreams I Want Pie” [Vigil80], Daniel [danielOut, also of fiftycal.net] and the no-longer-anonymous John [J_Arcane] of Bedroom Wall Press!
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed, and if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

Standard Podcast [ 2:24:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Picking up where we left off with The IMmies – and filling time during a slow release period – our trio of podcasters runs down the titles we’re most looking forward to in 2012. Listen in and wait for the “Oh yeah!” moment when we remind you of a game you forgot was coming. Of course, we also announce the winner of our IMmies giveaway.

Preceding that, we cast a critical eye at the well-worn “Top X Games of All Time” feature. Everyone likes lists, it’s true, but is this particular well running dry? Is it really “of all time” if it’s revisited and revised every year? Perhaps a new game comes out that deserves a spot, but what does it say when the previous #1 falls over 25 places down?

It wouldn’t feel right without What We’ve Been Playing. We weigh in again on Riddler Arkham City, Skyrim and sighting an actual Elder Scroll, our first forays into The Old Republic, X3: Terran Conflict (turns out the “time accelerator” is a real thing), and forays into the Diablo 3 beta, in which we now have at least two of the crew participating. And as we mull over the mammoths that are X3 and Skyrim, ask yourself: If you never saw the ending, did you finish playing?

Give our oh-so-optimistic episode a listen here.

Hosted by James [Vigil80]
Participant is Robert [Trebor]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

Don’t forget to check the Twitter, and visit the Colony of Gamers discussion thread to share the games you’re looking forward to.

Standard Podcast [ 1:25:16 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, here we are at the beginning of 2012. I know it crept up on me unexpectedly, but in one respect we are prepared: a ton of PC games came out in 2011, and as we are wont to do, we’ve gathered around the yuletide fire to praise and pillory them as we feel is deserved.

As was the case last year, this is one of our longer shows, and even with the excessive runtime I know we didn’t give everything the credit it deserves. That, dear listener, is where you come in. We’re running another IMmies Giveaway Giveaway this year, and here’s how it works. You either e-mail us (podcast@immortalmachines.com) or post in the thread over at Colony of Gamers, and tell us what your favorite PC games of 2011 were and why. We’ll pick one of you at random, and you’ll be able to gift one of your favorites to somebody else on our dime. You look like a hero, somebody gets to play a great game, everybody wins. So get on that, and we’ll announce our winner in the next episode.

So let’s dig in. There’s a lot to talk about. Without further ado, welcome to The IMmies 2011!

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are James [Vigil80], Roberts [Trebor] and Chris [JPublic]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Have you followed our Twitter feed? That’s a thing you could do. And if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

Standard Podcast [ 2:38:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

No, this isn’t the episode where we talk about Skyrim.  Next time, guys.

So here’s what I wanted to do:  I wanted to record a Deus Ex spoilercast.  This is a game with some great story bits, and some well-thought-out callbacks to the original game, both explicit and subtle.  I love me some game stories, so I wanted to talk about all of that.  But here’s the thing:  I haven’t finished Human Revolution yet.

“That’s okay,” I thought.  ”I don’t mind having things spoiled as a rule, so I’ll just let the other guys talk about it, and I can chime in with my opinions even on the stuff I haven’t seen myself yet.  It’ll be fine.”  Well, here’s the other thing:  None of us have finished Human Revolution yet.

How does that happen?  This was easily one of the most anticipated games of the year, for all of us.  We were seriously hyped for it before it came out, and we were eager to buy it as soon as it was available.  And please don’t misunderstand, there’s lots of stuff we like about it.  In some ways it might be a better game than the original Deus Ex.  But none of us have finished it?  How does that make any sense?

So we talk about that.  And other stuff, too – you’ll hear what else we’ve been playing, you’ll get our responses to your e-mails and tweets, the usual.

Mainly, though, we’re talking about Deus Ex, and how We Never Asked For This.

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are James [Vigil80] and Robert [Trebor]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Have you followed our Twitter feed?  That’s a thing you could do.  And if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

Standard Podcast [ 1:39:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download