Oh boy. Holmes screaming legit hurt my ears, but I liked the episode. Kinda wished Jim talked about Xenoblade though.

@Andre Doucet

I haven't listened to this episode yet, but I know they talk a decent bit about Xenoblade in the last one. Maybe check that out?

Haven't finished it yet, but it's great so far. I burst out laughing when Jim proposed Dark Crystal II and he said "and I'll be the crystal."
BTW, it probably was part of the joke and I just didn't understand that part, but Jim Henson died more than 20 years ago... It made it funnier to me that you seemed to think he was still alive, but yeah.

Also, Jim, I'm sure you'd be just as great as Holmes if he left you alone for a bit. You should try that next episode.

Those water shows were also known as 'duck shoes'.
Ugly things, never had a pair.

for some reason I find that header to be creepy as fuck

You're wrong about about Han solo Jonathan Homes

http://www.showbits.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/hanshotfirst.gif

Listening to Podtoid at around midnight, when I'm extra punchy and laughter-prone, is definitely one of my favorite things in life. Please never stop.

I liked the very end of the episode, it drips with editing panache.

Im saveing this one for my drive to pax! hope my question about finding holmes at pax was answered !

Holmes and Sterling, you guys are the greatest of Podtoid. Before Sterling and Holmes, the podcast was kind of hit or miss, but you guys are so freakin' funny and it just works.

Anyhow, Holmes, as president, do you also endorse Japanese Poop Burgers?

(http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/japan_feces_meat_viral/)

Hey Jim, I know I'm a week late but hearing about your professed love and enjoyment of abortions made me think you should hear this song by one of my favorite bands Xiu Xiu. The song, like most Xiu Xiu music, is a beautiful nightmare and it's actually called "I luv abortion":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zws32OZ8RaM

I don't get how Jim can hate David Cage's stuff but like Jenova Chen's. The initial stages of Indigo Prophecy, in my opinion, trump anything Chen has done. Not to say the game didn't quickly turn into shit, but it had its moments.

I tried Journey recently and all I could think was why Jim didn't call it on the same bullshit he highlighted in the Art Games Jimquisition. Throwing in a third person view and the most basic level of platforming into a game doesn't make it not a guided tour of the world, just a guided tour where you jump every so often. I can see no distinction between the gaming press's reaction to Heavy Rain and Journey. They're not artistic leaps in gaming, they've just been marketed to reviewers that way, and the presence of studio figureheads and self-professed auteurs David Cage and Jenova Tidus Sephirothington Chen reinforce that marketing. Hell, I don't see why these guys are figureheads at all. I've tried their stuff numerous times and it's OK, but not nearly deserving of the kind of praise they get.

I don't believe in relative review scores. If an art game is slightly better than its genre competition but still bores me and makes me regret the $15 I spent on it, it's not 9/10 just by virtue of being better than the last one I wasted my money on. Art games occasionally stick with me for various reasons, mostly story related, but I've yet to find one I truly like.

"don't get how Jim can hate David Cage's stuff but like Jenova Chen's."

At least Chen doesn't try and write embarrassing "mature" dialog.

Just seems to me you like Cage better than Chen. I like the opposite. Hey, different views n' stuff.

Hearing about how much work Byrne put into Lone Survivor makes me feel a lot better about accidentally buying the OST twice.
Also, I'd be all over a 3DS version.

I'll just leave these here:
http://sirtobbii.deviantart.com/art/Escape-from-New-York-Podtoid-294146010?q=favby%3Asirtobbii%2F48941164&qo;=1
http://sirtobbii.deviantart.com/art/Zapped-3-Podtoid-294159152?q=favby%3Asirtobbii%2F48941164&qo;=0

Goddammit I love Holmes talking alone, it's not like it's the best part, but he's so awkward. Funny as hell lol

The first 30 seconds were the funniest thing I've heard in a while. I've only been listening for about 10 shows, but I'm hooked.

@Jim Sterling
I guess I just don't like how vague Chen is. Often, I feel like it's vagueness for vagueness's sake, presenting something that never really meant anything to begin with like it's some kind of genius visual metaphor. Like, the visions the ghostly statue thing gives you are neat, but they didn't really tell me about the world, it just gave me a preview of the next level. And it's hard for me to care about a world where no stakes are set. OK, I get that I'm supposed to get to the mountain, but why?

After level 3 of Journey, it seemed like every level was going to be the same "find three orbs, one drawing, and the exit while nothing really happens" shtick for three or four more hours. For a game that supposedly breaks conventions, it seemingly embraced repetitive level structure while rejecting any sort of actual gameplay. It felt like it took the bad parts of conventional games without the good.

In Indigo Prophecy, I was hiding evidence of a murder, including the body, within the first five minutes of gameplay with nary a collectible in sight. Then The Matrix or something happened, but it started off pretty good.

Also, Chen renamed himself after a Final Fantasy character. That's fucking weird and something I would expect from either a massive weeaboo or an auteur parody like Virgillio Armandio rather than a real person with a functioning brain.

Oh, I and don't "like Cage better than Chen", I just dislike him less; I don't much care for either of them or the praise they bafflingly get. Guys like Jasper Byrne and Matt Thorson who do so much more with so much less are the ones truly deserving of that praise, and to your credit, Jim, you've promoted guys like them before. But they don't have publishers who aggressively market them as the geniuses they actually are, and so they fall under the radar of sites like IGN. It's that part that really pisses me off, that talented designers are being overlooked in favor of OK designers with more money behind them.

How many Willem Dafoe pitches have we heard now, and this is the first time we hear Holmes' uncanny Dafoe impression?!

Nah, you guys usually say 2 or 3 political or religious things every week, especially in these last few episodes. It's usually Jim, but Holmes does every once and a while.

Personally, I have beliefs on both sides, so no matter what any podcast or other such show that mentions politics will at some point say something I don't agree with. I can understand why the mentioned reviewer is alienated by it, because to be honest, when hosts that you really like to listen to start saying things from a point of view that you just can't relate to at all, it makes you feel like you're unwelcome and excluded. It's only with one or two things for me in this podcast, though, so I just see past it like I would with friends that share different political views.

And no, I'm gay, and I think the whole Jim/Holmes thing is hawt.

I'm straight an I think the whole Jim X Holmes thing is hawt...

I feel like when there was 3-4 people on the podcast that Jim and Holmes was holding back. But now you have gotten rid of those negative Nancys that like to leave early and you guys have ripped off your pants. BTW thanks for having me relearn David the Gnome and learning about Kidd Video.