Staring at Screens.

First episode post of 2013, and it's a heavy one about video game violence. But first, Vick runs up buildings in Prototype 2, Joel gets some fresh perspective while playing Fez, Dave's sensibilities are offended at all the sex and violence in Hitman: Absolution, and Eric (surprise surprise) doesn't kill anybody in Dishonored.

In today's episode we discuss the tenuous correlation between violence in video games and violence in real life, especially in the light of the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the subsequent scapegoating of video games by the NRA. Along the way we talk about violence in games like Spec Ops: The Line, Far Cry 3, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter; and how the treatment of video game violence differs from the treatment of violence in other media.

Now we don't purport to be expert commentators, and as mentioned in the recording, we're sure you, dear listener, have Opinions (with an uppercase O) on this topic. We would love to read these Opinions, so write us ([email protected]) or tweet us (@StaringScreens) and we'll get this discussion rolling.

For further reading, here is the Time article that Eric mentioned.

In our first ever in-person recording of Staring At Screens, Dave and Lisa argue about who was first to play You Don't Know Jack before the other played it before it was cool, (Ubernostrum!) Vick accidentally downloads and gets addicted to Clash of The Clans, Joel completes not one but two games — Fable 3 and To The Moon, Dave wax-agons lyrical about Super Hexagon, and Eric gives us the low down on Street Fighter x Mega Man. We also weigh in on that The WarZ Steam store fiasco. Let the buyer beware, kids.

To round up the year, we talk about our individual Game of The Year picks along with Honorable Mentions. Long-time listeners may get a sense of deja vu. We also received (one piece of) gushy fanmail! Eeyur! (Don't stop sending those in.)

This will be the final episode of Staring At Screens for the year. We'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to all our wonderful listeners for your support in 2012. We'll still be checking our email ([email protected]) and Twitter (@StaringScreens), so do write us, and we'll talk to you in 2013!

On this week's episode, we start salivating over the upcoming free Street Fighter x Mega Man that is free for PC. Did we mention, it's free? In other non-free game news, Joel finally completes Assassins Creed 3 which allows him to get started on Halo 4, and Eric compares Darksiders 2 to Devil May Cry 4 and Torchlight 2 among other things.

In the second segment, Vick rips Fable 3 a new one and we embark on a discussion on what makes or breaks an open world game. Along the way we touch on Skyrim, the GTA games, Red Dead Redemption, Fah Kai Far Cry 2, Just Cause 2, Saints Row 3, Sleeping Dogs, and Fallout 3. So many name-drops! Listeners, you definitely get your money's worth this week. Y'know, I mean you would if this podcast weren't free.

In next week's episode we'll be talking about Art Film Music. Thrilling stuff. Stay tuned!

http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=9702

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http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/29/1reasonwhy-we-are-all-responsible/

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/06/513794/

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/113776

http://gambit.mit.edu/projects/hatespeech.php [NSFW]

We want to hear from you if you have any feedback or comments, especially if you are from the gaming industry itself. Send us a mail at [email protected]

Apologies in advance for the worst Gangnam Style pun you'll hear this week. Possibly ever.

Fun, laughter, peace and joy on this week's episode of Staring at Screens! Joel spends way too much time on Assassins Creed 3 (yes, still), Vick finishes Assassins Creed 2 (but she hasn't found all the feathers… yet), we find out just how not a Star Wars fan Lisa is when she talks about Angry Birds: Star Wars, and Dave finds a hidden gem in Fah Kai Far Cry 3 (It's got hyper realistic hands, people!) but isn't too enamoured with the Halo 4 single player campaign.

In the second half of the show we share some of our Christmas gift recommendations for gamers as well as things we want for Christmas (you know, in case any of our listeners really really love us.)

If you'd like to find out how to send us presents or try to impress Lisa with your Star Wars lore ("laser swords"), drop us an email: [email protected].

Or join our growing Twitter following and get updates on interesting video game news! @StaringScreens

On this week's episode, Lisa eviscerates EA's Theme Park iOS and tells us how far the game has fallen since its Bullfrog heyday. (Spoiler alert: Pretty far.) Dave plays Clash of The Clans on iOS, though no one seems to be impressed. Joel finally gets to play Assassins Creed III on PC, and Eric picks up Darksiders 2 at 50% off in the Steam Autumn Sale.

Speaking of which, we highlight some of the deals from the recent Steam Autumn Sale and help you, dear listener, to get your credit cards primed and ready for the main event: the Steam Winter Sale. WAH, STEAM AH!

All this and more on Episode 8 of Staring at Screens!

PS. As of writing this post, the final day of the Autumn sale is underway. Our thoughts, very briefly:

25 Nov

• Dishonored; 50%; $29.99 — Excellent game. Great price for a new release.
• Civilization V GOTY Edition; 75% $12.49 — Pretty cheap, but die-hard fans of the series will prefer IV in favor of V. (Die-hard fans of the series will probably already own this anyway.)
• Orcs Must Die 2; 75%; $3.74 — At this price, why the hell not? Much better with friends to play it with, so buy a few copies and gift them!
• Arkham City GOTY Edition; 75%; $7.49 — Why haven't you played this yet?!? BUY.
• Torchlight II; 50%; $9.99 — At this price, We'd buy multiple copies for friends. Even friends on Mac, because the Mac playable version is inevitable.
• Sonic Generations; 75&; $7.49 — We're drawing a blank with this one. Never played it. Maybe if you really like Sonic?

26 Nov

• Counter Srike GO; 50%; $7.49 — Are people still playing Counter Strike these days? Maybe if you owned a LANshop…
• Call of Duty MW3; 50%; $29.99 — This is the first time MW3 has been on sale, we think. It is what it is, for half the price.
• Alan Wake franchise; 75%; $9.99 — Everything Alan Wake is 75% off! Which is good, because you're going to need money to buy adult diapers because Alan Wake is piss-your-pants scary (if you are like Joel!)
• Castle Crashers; 67%; $4.99 — Only if you've never played this on XBLA, and even then try to get a bunch of friends to purchase this because it's $5 and it's an online multiplayer beat 'em up and you really get bang for your buck if you play this with buddies.
• Legend of Grimrock; 75%; $3.74 — Old-school RPG dungeon crawl. At full price, this game isn't for everyone, but at $3.74, why the hell not? BUY.
• The Witcher 2; 75%; $7.49 — A bit of a niche fantasy IP, but this is well worth your time at this price. (Another game we need to get around to finishing.)

Send questions and comments to [email protected]! Just because there's a sale doesn't mean you can forget about writing to us.

This week the team's been going back to old not-super-new games. Vick flexes her Kinect muscles with UFC Fighter Trainer before raving about Assassin's Creed 2 (yes, finally). Dave picks up (and Eric revisits) Sleeping Dogs, and Joel finally musters enough gumption to get started on The Walking Dead. We also potentially offend Italian and Cantonese people everywhere. Ayy! We are a-sorry!

In the second half of the show we talk about rival game franchises and draw comparisons between pairs of games that demand it: GTA vs Saints Row, Dance Central vs Just Dance, Maxis' Sim franchise vs Bullfrog's Theme franchise, Rock Band vs Guitar Hero amongst many others. Eric also educates us about the intense competition between Capcom and SNK back in the day.

Also here's a link to that now legendary EVO 2004 SF3 match between Justin Wong and Daigo. 8 years after the fact and this video still gives us the chills. Plus a gif of Wonder Woman parrying, discovered by Vick. Just because. (Thanks Julia Segal!)

If you have already listened to the show, and are back looking for a particular picture, it's here.

Send questions and comments to [email protected]! Just do it. You know you'll feel good afterwards.

Mass Effect 2 - Suicide Mission.

Oppa Gangnam Guile - http://youtu.be/GBeoGFvwHEc

This week, Eric, Joel and Dave spend the first half of the episode completely geeking out on Assassin's Creed 3 and Dishonored, since it's all that we've been playing!

After the break, Vick joins us for a somewhat-halloween special as we talk about the games we are too scared to play - not because they are scary, but have frightened us off for one reason or another. Also, more on Vick's hatred for first person shooters. Joel's thoughts on the Hitman: Absolution trailer. Dave doesn't like volleyball games, or just one in particular. Eric tries to talk about DOTA, but couldn't. Why? You'll see.

Send questions and comments to [email protected]! We've been getting lots of great comments but we need more questions else we sound like we're just flattering ourselves! Cough.

After being separated for two and a half episodes Eric and Vick are finally reunited! Don't read too much into that. In this episode the alleged-nerds talk about Mark of The Ninja, Torchlight 2 and briefly (too briefly) about Dishonored, while the one self-professed-non-nerd talks about a book on game design that she bought. ("Because it was on sale," she protests.)We also discuss the use of morality systems in games and how that affects our enjoyment of said games. Incidentally we also learn who has sadistic Sim-torturing tendencies. Prepare to be truly disturbed…Finally we've got mail! But we'd love to get more, so write to us at [email protected] so we know you still love us.