The Flickcast

The Flickcast Presents: The Best of 2011 – Video Games – Part 3

Posted on December 29, 2011

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.

The Flickcast Presents: The Best of 2011 – Video Games – Part 2

Posted on December 28, 2011

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.

The Flickcast Presents: The Best Video Games of 2011 – Part 1

Posted on December 27, 2011

2011 was one heck of a year for gaming. Once again, the Call of Duty franchise set records for the largest entertainment launch in history. A game that was only in Beta was able to sell millions of copies and spawn an ungodly large community to the point they had a convention before the game was officially released. There were tons of critical darlings encouraging developers to rethink how they create games.
Take a look this week at the awards The Flickcast (along with The Bitcast team) are proud to present for gaming in 2011

Think Outside the Box Game: Portal 2

While many may argue that Minecraft may be the most deserving of this award, they need to remember one thing. In Minecraft, there are no rules. The expanses of the box are too extreme to find the outer boundaries of. Within Portal 2, players are asked to explore new viewpoints of physics, matter and… well, portals. The puzzles in Portal 2 completely overtake the complexity and creativity of the original, which in itself was groundbreaking. With additional toys at their disposal and the introduction of a cooperative mode, the team at Valve came up with a game that redefined both the puzzle solving and FPS genres all at once.

Check Out the Latest ‘The Hobbit’ Production Diary

Posted on December 27, 2011

Filmmaking is often a fun and very collaborative process. In the past, however, it usually took place mostly in secluded locations where the majority of fans never saw it or even really knew about it until a particular film was released into theaters.

Now that we live in the age of the Internets, the possibilities are almost endless as to how filmmakers can involve an audience in the entire process of creating a film. Case in point today is Peter Jackson and his production of The Hobbit.

The director has released another in a series of videos giving audiences a look at the ongoing production of his epic. In this one, Jackson talks about the cast, locations, logistics and a lot more sure to make fans everywhere even more excited for the film’s release.

Check out this very cool video after the break. Look for more from Jackson and company as the film progresses and, of course, expect to see The Hobbit in theaters on December 14, 2012.

Monday Picks: ‘Scrooged’

Posted on December 26, 2011

Merry Christmas to all the fans of Monday Picks. This week’s pick in celebration of the holiday season is Scrooged. Richard Donner (The Omen, Superman I & II, Lethal Weapon series) directs this modern comedy version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Bill Murray stars as media mogul Frank Cross, the head of IBC Networks who has risen to the top of the company by being a cynical, conceited, and cruel individual. Frank is in charge of a forty million dollar production of a live television broadcast that is to air on Christmas Eve.

When company executives show Frank the latest commercial for the broadcast, Frank belittles and insults his staff and shows them an incredibly offensive and violent commercial he has produced for the broadcast, which he plans to air in place of the original. Corporate executive Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait) confronts Frank on the commercial saying that the ad is in poor taste and will frighten people. Frank goes along with Loudermilk’s suggestion and then has him fired just days before Christmas.

Check out the First Traler for the ‘Game of Thrones’ RPG

Posted on December 26, 2011

Yes. Winter is definitely coming. This time, it’s coming to your gaming consoles and PC, as Game of Thrones is getting it’s very own RPG adaptation.

Straight from the relatively small game publisher Cyanide Studios, who had put out a Game of Thrones strategy game earlier this game, and also were the minds behind the popular “fantasy” football game, Blood Bowl, comes the first George R.R. Martin and HBO-sanctioned Game of Thrones video game to date.

The game looks to stem from a few other popular games in the genre such as Skyrim, Dragon Age, and Assassin’s Creed with the aesthetic and feel of the environment, with some of our favorite characters from A Song of Fire and Ice making cameo appearances throughout the game.

With major distribution on XBox 360 and the PS3, the game is set to hit shelves early next year, just in time for the second season of the show to air on HBO. Take a look at tons of the game’s characters and events in the trailer after the jump, and prepare for the oncoming winter.

The Bitcast: Episode 9 ‘The Few. The Proud’

Posted on December 24, 2011

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.

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New Trailer for ‘The Grey’ with Liam Neeson Released

Posted on December 23, 2011

If there’s one thing we love around here it’s Liam Neeson. He’s a cool customer who usually ends up in movies we relly enjoy watching like Batman Begins, Taken or the recent Unknown.

We especially like to watch when he’s demonstrating his “particular set of skills.” Those are seemingly in full effect in his latest film The Grey.

In The Grey, Neeson is pitted against a new foe, one that will stop at nothing to make sure he, and the people he’s protecting, don’t make it out of the wilderness alive. I’m talking about, of course, a pack of hungry wolves.

Yes, you read that right: wolves. Neeson is even a badass when he fights against nature. To prove my point we’ve got a new trailer for The Grey to share with you today.

Check it out after the break. The Grey, which in addition to Neeson features Dermot Mulroney and James Badge Dale, is directed by Joe Carnahan and hits theaters on January 27.

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