I’ve decided to go a different route with the Bluecast. Directly using the radio station is awesome, but it’s also costly and limiting in a way. So, I’ve decided to go with TinyChat, a program that allows for multiple people to broadcast while hundreds can join in on the chat. Pretty much the same experience for the listeners…but I have yet to test it out. The Bluecast link for TinyChat is here. As for when it broadcasts, it may be a bit random. It will definiltey be on the weekend and I’ll let you know via Facebook or Twitter before hand and during. It will still be recorded and uploaded as a podcast, so again, there may not be much of a change for listeners.

Also…this summer so far has been dead. I know that’s normal for the gaming industry, but I’m resorting to Lego Star Wars – and loving it.

Here’s some information about the developer: LINK.

Here’s a link to the radio station’s page for the show. The pic they put together is pretty wicked:

The plan now is to get a pic with the new core crew of the Bluecast.

Sean has spring break this week. I was able to get Borderlands from GameFly for some DLC play time. Unfortunately Sean has been sucked in by the crap that is Modern Warfare 2. He better have a good explanation during the show Saturday. We planned to do some Battlefield all-day, which I believe is a superior product, but nothing. No BF, no Borderlands. So I’ve just been playing a bunch of Sonic games.

I’ve also been playing Afterburner: Black Falcon on the PSP in anticipation of Climax on XBLA. This is a must-own PSP title. It has tons of missions, fighters to unlock and upgrade, plus it can be a quick-play style game or you can sit down and work at perfecting the missions. There’s a lot of value here.

First of all, there is a web cam set up to watch what’s going on. Some days I may be in my pajamas, others, I may be clipping my toenails. Or, there will be contests based on what’s going on in the studio. No concrete decisions on prizes, but they would probably be along the lines of video games, t-shirts, the toenail clippings, etc. There will also be mini breaks during the show where I play music from a variety of video game soundtracks. Call in, or even text in the chat room the name of the song and game it’s from to win a prize.

Yup, calling in. The real benefit here is to be able to call in and yell at me for my opinion on Ubi’s DRM…or any other topic we may discuss. And again, just join up in the chat room during the live show if you’re afraid of what you may sound like over the phone. It’s a dreaded feeling I’ll have to endure for many Saturdays.

So to sum this up: Live Bluecast Saturdays 5-7pm cst, will still be available for download, and ability to harass me on-air.

As a graphic artist, we hope to use Chad’s skills to start a webcomic of our own. And this week you should start seeing him post regularly. Stay tuned!

Also make sure to follow the BlueGamer Twitter, as I will post regular updates live.

If there’s anything specific anyone requests to see, let me know.

Here’s what I’ve been playing:

RA3 Uprising
Wheelman
R-Type Dimensions
Retro Game Challenge
Matt Hazard

Hopefully you’ll be here from me soon…

Red Alert 3. I’ve spent so much more time with this game in the past week, it is just amazing. At first I wasn’t impressed, but after a little more time I can see what it’s doing. It is also totally a co-op game. Every aspect promotes co-op play.

Dawn of War 2 Beta. I was afraid of the changes that could be made for this sequel, but after playing the Beta, my love was right back where it needed to be. It’s less of a base-builder, which is how I prefer my RTS’s, but it still has the base-building mechanic, so I totally dig it.

My 360 died. Yeah, it RRoD’d. I sent it out on Tuesday and just got the confirmation that repair is complete. Halo Wars and RE5 demo, here I come.

Killzone 2 demo. My post from CoG:

Graphics look great, but very jaggedy. I guess the screenshots and videos we see are with AA turned up. With the graphics smoothed out, it would be the best looking FPS. The controls are ok. I think it’s odd how they give you some options…but leave others out. Very awkward…and speaking of which, the dual analog setup for the DS3 is just annoying. The ‘C’-shape required by my thumb and pointer finger puts too much of an unnatural strain on my hand. Remember, the original pad was designed before analog…they should have done a redesign with analog sticks.

But playing it was fun. Like what has been said, it’s your normal generic run-n-gun FPS. That’s not bad, but it’s not going to stand out. I think the cover system worked well too. A similar system was used in Shadow Ops.

I see no reason to give this a bad score despite controls. It’s not doing anything wrong really, and it seems to be a fun title.

In the past few months my PC gaming time went down. This was due to my Gateway P6860FX overheating and just shutting off. So, after a long time of research I came across a laptop cooler. ZALMAN ZM-NC2000 B Notebook Cooler. Not only does my PC no longer shut down, but my in-game improvement has sky-rocketed. I clearly get more frames in-game, and I can even now use higher AA than I could stomach. So, I was able to improve my laptop’s gaming performance without even upgrading the CPU to the $300 intel I plan on using in the future. This laptop was definitley worth the price.

Bluecast. This should start back up soon. I was hoping to do one last weekend, but PowerGramo won’t work correctly on my system, which I attribute to Vista64. I don’t have an XP system to use, but I’ve been eyeing a netbook lately, and I now have a reason to jump on one.

I have my PAX badge. I’m even getting the media emails where I could set up interviews for some great content.

But because of other things, I won’t be at PAX this year.

Things will change though, and here’s what’s going down:

By October (most likely), I’ll be in Brazil. My gaming will be limited to my 360, PC Gaming, DS, PSP, and PS3 remote access (and possibly a PS2). I’m not sure how easily I’ll be getting the newer games for each platform, but, TecToy was a huge distributor in Brazil for Sega from the Master System to the Dreamcast. I’m thinking I’ll be able get my hands on these products. Not only do they have a badass portable Genesis, but there were some games produced exclusively in Brazil. Also, word yesterday is that Microsoft is introducing an Asian/Latin America only gamepad with a modified D-pad. So really, I don’t see my gaming habits dwindling too much, but I’m obviously going to try to be out often to enjoy my stay in Brazil. Really. It’s all about Brazil.

While there, I’ll keep this blog updated about my gaming experience in a foreign land. But when I get back, the site will get an over-haul. I’ll be using new software and trying my darndest to make this place look slick. Along with that, we’ll reintroduce the Blucast as well as a Videocast. And my goal is to attend as many gaming cons as possible. My life will be very different at this point, so I should have the time for this – but who knows, things change.

But on to the gaming…

There are an amazing amount of great GBA games I’ve been meaning to play through. The other day I noticed my GBA Micro sitting on the ‘handhelds’ shelf. He’s a cute little guy – I miss using him. So, I set off to Gamestop to see what they had. I picked up Sigma Star Saga, Gunstar Super Heroes, and Blackthorne. All for a total of $15. Sweet, eh? But there are more I’m looking for:

Sonic Advance 2/3
Ninja Five-0
Guardian Heroes
…
Ok, I had a huge list in my head…I guess I need to write this stuff down (or just update it here).

I had Too Human next on my Gamefly queue, but instead got TimeShift. I must have been too late making Too human the only game on my queue… Anyway, Time shift is great. Graphics, Story, Gameplay…great game. But you know what made it underrated? The constant delays and apparently an entire re-design. It turned out great IMO, but you know how game reviewers are with this games. This is one game that I suggest everyone try.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Holy crap. I barely remember playing the original, but the game play in this just felt so familiar. So punishingly familiar. TimeShift threw me of course, but I should be back into this one soon enough.

Next gaming plan? Well, my birthday is the 30th. Maybe I can talk my family into getting me Mercenaries 2?

Also, my plan is to have a Bluecast done Wednesday morning. I’ve had people ask when the next one will be, so I know I need to pump one out ASAP. I’ll be off, and have had a whole night of GTA before hand, so we’ll have a lot to talk about. And we’ll have Jose talk some Mario Kart, seeing as neither Sean or I plan on getting it.