by John Carle, Jan 4 2013 // 1:00 PM

In 2011, there was an incredibly close race between Batman: Arkham City and Portal 2 between team Bitcast for the Game of the Year award with Portal 2 coming out on top. This year, the conversation went a lot smoother.
While there were lots of games that got our attention to be nominated, there was one game that stood out amongst the crowd as the clear favorite on The Flickcast. Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Journey, Unfinished Swan, Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3, Slender were all great innovations in gaming in 2012 and all garnered huge followings. But there is one game that proved it was special to people on so many levels that when it came time to cast the final ballot on game of the year, it was a no brainer for the both of us.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Awards · Best of 2012 · Comic Book Games · Comics · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · The Bitcast · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: Best of 2012, Comic Book Games, Comics, Game of the Year, Image Comics, iOS, Mac Games, Mobile Games, PC Games, PlayStation Network, Robert Kirkman, TellTale Games, The Bitcast, The Walking Dead, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, Zombies
7 comments
by John Carle, Jan 3 2013 // 11:00 AM

This is it boys and girls. As the end of the week draws closer, so must our Best of 2012 awards from The Flickcast and Bitcast teams. Check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 from earlier in the week in case you missed them. And just remember to check back tomorrow for The Flickcast’s Game of the Year Award.
Most Epic Classic Mashup – Street Fighter X Mega Man
What makes a game a classic? Unlike some Facebook pages where the average age of the viewer is thirteen which refer to Super Mario Galaxy as “classic”, we believe that for a game to earn that title, it must stand the test of time. While many series have had ups and downs, a select few have endured and kept going for more than two decades since their inceptions. Two from Capcom actually both celebrated their 25th anniversaries in 2012 so what better way to end the year than with a mashup of the two.
To conclude the 25th anniversary of Street Fighter and begin the 25th for Mega Man, Capcom distributed a full length Mega Man format game entitled Street Fighter X Mega Man for free. Available on http://www.capcom-unity.com/mega_man, Street Fighter X Mega Man started as a labor of love by a fan of the two series. After going through all the legal red tape, Capcom not only accepted the Seow Zong Hui’s idea but actually funded the completion of the game (which was delayed for a week while Seow had to study for finals).
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Best of 2012 · Capcom · News · Playstation 3 · The Bitcast · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: 2K Games, Best of 2012, Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Capcom, Firaxis Games, Gearbox Software, Handsome Jack, Jessica Nigri, Juliet Starling, Lolipop Chainsaw, Mega Man, Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter X Mega Man, The Bitcast, Video Games, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
No comments yet
by John Carle, Jan 2 2013 // 11:00 AM

Don’t worry. We aren’t giving any more awards to Angry Birds. At least not today. But we do have four more games for the best of 2012. If you haven’t seen the previous two days awards, click here for Monday’s and here for Tuesday’s awards. Make sure to check back tomorrow for our final specialty awards and then again on Friday for the ultimate award from The Flickcast and Bitcast teams, the Game of the Year.
New IP With the Most Potential – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
With writing from R. A. Salvatore and art design by Todd McFarlane, many would have thought that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning would have the makings of a surefire hit. With over 300,000 units sold by March of 2012, Reckoning gave a good showing for a brand new IP and had many people talking about it. Unfortunately due to financial problems with a loan from the state of Rhodes Island, 38 Studios was forced to close and with it went the possible future of the Kingdoms of Amalur series.
Despite coming from a brand new studio, Reckoning had all the makings of a hit game. Beautiful design, interesting and complex story with tons of back matter and, the most important, incredibly fun combat and gameplay. It was a huge world with tons to do that players could get lost in. Whether or not they even cared about the narrative, there were unending areas to explore and enemies to vanquish. Now, one can only hope that someone else picks up this IP and gives it a second chance to continue giving more people the chance to explore its epic world.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Activision · Games · Horror · News · Nintendo · Playstation 3 · The Bitcast · Ubisoft · Video Games · Wii · Wii U · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: 38 Studios, Activision, Best of 2012, Big Huge Games, Blizzard, Call of Duty, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Diablo, Diablo III, Kingdoms of Amalur, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Michael Rooker, R.A. Salvatore, The Walking Dead, Tom McFarlane, Ubisoft, Video Games, Wii, Wii U, Zombie U
No comments yet
by John Carle, Jan 1 2013 // 12:00 PM

Thanks for coming back for Part 2 of The Flickcast Presents The Bitcast Best of Gaming 2012. Click here to see yesterday’s part 1 and keep coming back the rest of the week for more awards including the Game of the Year being awarded on Friday.
Most Awkward Romance – Halo 4
So thankfully we got a year off from the awkward bromance of Gears of War between Dom and Marcus as well as a lack of fistbumping from Salem and Rios in Army of Two. What we did have was a love story between a stoic soldier and the lunatic AI woman living in his head. (I know, when I put it that way it makes it sound like I have no soul.)
In Halo 4, players were able to see a true evolution in the character of Master Chief, John 117, as he began showing actual human emotions due to his connection to the AI chip that had been living in his suit with him for the better part of a decade. Like most women that a guy has lived with for that long (while he spent most of his time asleep), Cortana has started to go a little crazy.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Games · Microsoft · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · The Bitcast · Video Games · Warner Bros · Xbox 360
Tagged: 343 Industries, Activision, Angry Birds, Bad Piggies, Battleship: The Game, Best of 2012, Comic Book Games, Cortana, DC, Halo 4, Lego, LEGO Batman, LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes, Master Chief, Microsoft Games Studios, Mobile Games, Playstation 3, Rovio, Superman, The Bitcast, Traveller's Tales, Video Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Xbox 360
No comments yet
by John Carle, Dec 31 2012 // 11:00 AM

Welcome to The Flickcast Presents the Best of Gaming 2012. This is going to be a five part series throughout this first week of 2013 concluding with the Game of the Year being awarded on Friday.
Best Use of the PlayStation Network’s Voice Chat – Journey
So any gamer who has a PS3 already knows that people with microphones don’t really exist, especially compared to the plethora of expletive spitting, homophobic prepubescents who have claimed to have slept with our mothers that troll XBox Live. What they may not know is that some of the best communication that has happened in 2012 on the PSN comes from a game that actually doesn’t even allow for voice chat.
In Journey, players are placed in the role of a robed figure who has no voice at all but can make a singing tone. Those connected to the PSN will occasionally be placed in random worlds with other players but have no method of communication other than the singing tone. This means that players are actually tasked with creating their own non-verbal communication.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Awards · Best of 2012 · Games · Indie · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Star Wars · The Bitcast · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Angry Birds, Angry Birds Star Wars, Best of 2012, Far Cry, Far Cry 3, Indy Games, Journey, Mari0, Mobile Games, Playstation 3, PlayStation Network, Portal, Portal 2, PSN, Rovio, Star Wars, Super Mario Bros, ThatGameCompany, The Bitcast, Ubisoft, Video Games, Xbox 360
One comment
by John Carle, Oct 18 2012 // 11:00 AM

For all our Connecticut readers, head down to the Black Bear Saloon in South Norwalk on Friday night, October 19th. Black Bear will be hosting a “Battle for a Cure” event to help raise awareness from 6 to 9 PM to help in the fight against breast cancer. To help support the event, The Flickcast has teamed up with Harmonix to get some big raffle giveaways for the event.
There are going to be four Dance Central prize packs raffled off at Black Bear’s “Battle for a Cure”. The first three packs will contain a Dance Central backpack, a stack of bandanas, disco ball keychains, Dance Central 3 snap bracelet watches, a hat, stickers, a t-shirt and hoodie sweater.
But that’s not all. The fourth Dance Central 3 ultimate prize pack will include everything listed above PLUS a copy of the newly released Dance Central 3 and a sleeveless Dance Central dancer hoodie.
If you are free Friday night, head down to the Black Bear Saloon to help support the Battle for a Cure alongside The Flickcast and the awesome team at Harmonix. There is a $10 suggested donation at the door which gets you free hor devours, a drink special and access to the raffle, silent auction and more. There will also be a special Pink cocktail that night that for every drink purchased, a portion of the proceeds will be included amongst the donations to help benefit breast cancer research.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Games · Giveaways · Music · News · The Bitcast · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Black Bear Saloon, Breast Cancer, Charity, CT, Dance Central, Dance Central 3, Donation, Fundraiser, Harmonix, SoNo, South Norwalk
No comments yet
by John Carle, Jan 11 2012 // 11:15 AM

This is it. It’s the big one! Right before the New Year, we posted our awards for the best of gaming in 2011. But there was one all important award that we needed some extra time to deliberate on… The Game of the Year.
In this episode, JC and WallE forgo the usual format of the Bitcast and engage in a conversation where they, along with some input from Flickcasters Matt Raub and Cortney Zamm, decide on what game earns the coveted title of Game of the Year.
And The Nominees Are:
Continue Reading →
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn |
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Best of 2011 · Flickcast Presents · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Podcasts · Rockstar Games · SEGA · The Bitcast · THQ · Ubisoft · Video Games · Wii · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Back To The Future: The Game, Batman: Arkham City, Best of 2011, Child of Eden, Dead Island, Game of the Year, L.A. Noire, LA Noire, Madden 12, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Minecraft, MLB 12: The Show, Mortal Kombat, Payday: The Heist, PC Games, Playstation 3, Portal 2, Rocksmith, Saints Row, Saints Row: The Third, Skyrim, Super Mario 3D Land, Terraria, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, To The Moon, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Uncharted 3, Video Games, Xbox 360
3 comments
by John Carle, Dec 29 2011 // 9:00 AM

One thing we’ve learned is there are too many games and too little time to play them all. This also means there isn’t even enough time to give all of them awards, but we try our best. Today we take a look at both the most time consuming efforts of the past year as well as give some awards for games that deserve some notable mentions as well.
Game Most Likely to Consume Your Life: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Two Hundred and Fifty Hours. By most estimates, this is how long it’ll take an average player to explore MOST of the content of Skyrim. To give some perspective, if the average person works a 40 hour a week job, Skyrim would take six and a quarter full work weeks to complete. Now, we realize that most gamers work jobs outside of the gaming industry and cannot devote a full forty hours a week to a single game.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Best of 2011 · Comic Book Games · DC · Flickcast Presents · Game Trailers · Games · News · Nintendo · Nintendo 3DS · Nintendo DS · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Star Wars · The Bitcast · Video Games · Wii · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Batman, Batman: Arkham City, Best Of, Best of 2011, Commercials, DC, Dead Island, Gears of War 3, Homefront, Lego, LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Michael, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Orcs Must Die!, PC Games, Playstation 3, Robot Entertainment, Rocksteady, Skyrim, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Bitcast, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Flickcast Presents, Video Game Trailers, Video Games, Xbox 360
One comment
by John Carle, Dec 28 2011 // 9:00 AM
Yesterday we took a look at Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Capcom, Dark Souls and Portal 2. Today, we have a whole second set of awards to be given out for the best (and worst) of 2011.
Game That Shouldn’t Have Taken Nearly As Long to Come Out: Duke Nukem Forever
What happened in the time span since Duke Nukem Forever began development?
The entire Presidential run of George W. Bush.
This writer’s entire high school and college career.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and The Clone Wars were all released in theaters.
The XBox was released and ended its lifecycle.
Activision released 7 proper Call of Duty titles.
Lost.
A child born when development started would have grown to be a teenager.
The list goes on and on…
And the worst part is, after all that wait… Duke Nukem Forever wasn’t very good when it did finally come out. What was considered controversial when the game began production is pretty tame by comparison to what people are enjoying in gaming now and the humor comes off as sophomoric instead of clever.
While we can understand the desire to release a passion project to finally let it see the light of day, sometimes it is better to let it enjoy a quiet death with some dignity instead of coming out guns blazing as a failure.
Continue Reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Activision · Best of 2011 · Flickcast Presents · Games · News · Nintendo · Nintendo 3DS · Nintendo DS · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · The Bitcast · Video Games · Wii · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: 2K Games, 3D Realms, Activision, Best Of, Best of 2011, Burt Reynolds, Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem Forever, L.A. Noire, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, PC Games, Playstation 3, Rockstar Games, Saints Row, Saints Row: The Third, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, Team Bondi, The Bitcast, The Flickcast Presents, THQ, Toys For Bob, Video Games, Volition, Xbox 360
One comment
by The Flickcast, Dec 24 2011 // 11:15 AM

This week, JC & WallE get into it with their thoughts on the recent trailer reveals for The Last of Us, Fortnite, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Amazing Spider-Man and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. JC also gives his final edition of The Long Grind focusing on The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Don’t worry though, the Long Grind will return in 2012 with new epic games to discuss.
The Topic of the Week this week is a very special one. A few weeks ago, the Bitcast crew talked about realism in games. This week, JC had the honor of sitting down and talking to a member of the United States Marine Corps who was involved in the conflict at the Battle of Fallujah in late 2004, considered to be one of the harshest battles in modern warfare history. This marine shares his perspective on gaming, movies and television and how it relates to his experiences. We thank this individual for his time, his service and for sharing his experiences with us.
For their Now Playing, JC gives some insight in the recent Voltron XBLA release as well as how Christmas shopping reminded him of his time playing Dead Rising while WallE talks Madden 12. The duo even gives some not so subtle hints on what games they wouldn’t mind getting for Christmas.
Don’t forget to tune in next week for the Best Games of 2011 show and make sure to follow everyone on Twitter including @theflickcast, @thebitcast, @thejohncarle & @JWWallE. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to The Bitcast on The Flickcast iTunes feed.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn |
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in: Comic Book Games · First Impressions · Game Reviews · Game Trailers · Games · Interviews · Nintendo · Playstation 3 · Podcasts · The Bitcast · Trailers · Transformers · Video Games · War · Xbox 360
Tagged: Battle of Fallujah, Christmas, EA Games, Epic Games, exclusive interview, Fortnite, Interview, Madden 12, Marine, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Podcasts, Six Days in Fallujah, Skyrim, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Bitcast, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Last of Us, The Long Grind, Transformers, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, US Marines, Video Games, Voltron
One comment