THE BIG TALK

• Valve reports seventh year of 100% sales growth on Steam.
• Kuma / War designer sentenced to death in Iran on propaganda charges.
• Speculation: New consoles from Sony and Microsoft this year at E3?

OLD SCHOOL

• Super Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi – SNES
• “Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi follows closely the standard set by the first two Super Star Wars games, with the return of selectable characters (on specific levels), multiple playable characters and Mode 7 quasi-3D vehicle sequences. The controls are identical to the second game, and this installment also includes its predecessor’s password save option.
  It loosely follows the plot of Return of the Jedi, although some of the levels aren’t seen in the film at all, such as Luke Skywalker having to fight through the Death Star to get to Emperor Palpatine. In addition to the standard Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, new playable characters include Princess Leia Organa (in Boushh, Slave, and Rebel uniforms) and Wicket the Ewok. Bosses include the Jabba the Hutt’s Palace door droid, the Rancor beast, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. Vehicle sequences include the Endor speeder bike chase, and a cruise in the Millennium Falcon.
  Luke Skywalker no longer has 9 Force Powers to work with but 5 and it is easier for him to “recharge” his abilities. He also cannot use any variation of the blaster in this game. Interestingly, Darth Vader is far easier to beat in this game than in Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The final boss in the game is Emperor Palpatine, who is unforgivingly difficult as he is able to levitate and shoots lighting all over the throne room, annihilating platforms and walkways. The final levels detail the attack on the Second Death Star’s main reactor.”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

- Direct MP3 Download
- iTunes Link
- RSS Feed
- The Frogpants Studios ULTRA Feed (iTunes link)

HEADLINES

• The Final Score has NOT died or gone away, we’re just taking a little break to re-tool and re-organize the show.
• Here is a synopsis of what’s going on, but please download this episode and listen to the full details. Now, the short version: When Nicole had Mateo about a month early, we took the time to ask ourselves if we wanted to continue the curent format of The Final Score. We really love doing the show, but we feel that we can make the show more unique and give it a voice of its own. We are taking some time over the holidays to chill and let things simmer while we discuss and figure out what new direction the show will take.
• In the meantime, Scott will pop in here and there to give a mini-review for a game that he’s been playing (and the first one’s below).

Mini-Review: Super Mario 3D Land

• An amazing gaming experience with a great soundtrack and fantastic graphics. Excellent use of 3D integration in gameplay with a great blend of 2D traditional platforming Mario. Listen on for the full review…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

- Direct MP3 Download
- iTunes Link
- RSS Feed
- The Frogpants Studios ULTRA Feed (iTunes link)

HEADLINES

• Minecraft is no longer in beta… it’s really out now!
• Skyrim update coming just after Thanksgiving.
• Call of Duty: Elite to be up, running, and fully functional by Dec 1.
• Starhawk betas to start showing up on Tuesday, Nov 22.
• Gamecube turns ten!

GIVEAWAY

• Get your own copy of Skyrim for the PC (via Steam)! We will give it away next show, courtesy of Doghouse Systems! Just send us an e-mail to podcast at finalscoreshow dot com and let us know why you should win!

SOUNDBYTE ME

• Saints Row: The Third "The Soundtrack"

OLD SCHOOLS

• Arcade: Time Pilot
• “Time Pilot is a multi-directional scrolling shooter and free-roaming aerial combat arcade game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, released by Konami in 1982, and distributed in the United States by Centuri. Debuting in the golden age of video arcade games, it is a time travel themed game that allowed the player’s plane to freely move across open air space that can scroll indefinitely in all directions. The Killer List of Videogames included Time Pilot in its list of top 100 arcade games of all time.
  According to his account, Yoshiki Okamoto’s proposal for Time Pilot was initially rejected by his boss at Konami, who assigned Okamoto to work on a driving game instead. Okamoto secretly gave instructions to his programmer to work on his idea, while pretending to be working on a driving game in front of his boss. When Time Pilot was a success, Okamoto’s boss claimed credit for Okamoto’s idea. The free-roaming style of gameplay used in Time Pilot was influenced by Namco’s Bosconian.”

• Console: Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
• “Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2; later released for the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It was re-released on the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits title. Its gameplay is based on the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons.
  The game takes place in The Sword Coast and The Western Heartlands, areas in the Forgotten Realms. Each chapter of the game takes place in a different region: in the first chapter Baldur’s Gate is explored, in the second the Sunset Mountains and the third the Marsh of Chelimber (the latter two being areas known to fans previously only as maps).
  The game’ story follows the quest journey of three characters: Kromlech, a Dwarven Fighter; Vahn, a human arcane archer; and Adrianna, an Elven Sorceress, all of whom are playable. An unlockable characters, Drizzt Do’Urden is available to play through the main quest after completing the game and a survival mini game.”

• PC: King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
• “King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the sixth installment in the King’s Quest series of adventure games produced by Sierra Entertainment. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, KQVI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its in-depth plot, landmark 3D graphic introduction movie (created by Kronos Digital Entertainment), and professional voice acting (Hollywood actor Robby Benson provided the voice for Prince Alexander, the game’s protagonist). KQVI was programmed in Sierra’s Creative Interpreter and was the last King’s Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.
  The name of this sequel is a pun on the common phrase “here today, gone tomorrow”. This pun is related to the sudden disappearance of Prince Alexander, who is the heir of King Graham. King’s Quest III: To Heir Is Human also contained the word “heir” in its title and also featured Prince Alexander (then known as the slave Gwydion) as the main character.
  KQVI was initially released for MS-DOS in 1992, on a then-staggering twelve floppy disks with dialogue and narration presented in text only (with the exception of the intro sequence, which was fully voiced). In 1993, an MPC version on CD-ROM was released for Windows and MS-DOS. The Windows version contained higher-resolution character portraits seen when a character was speaking. This version also featured full voice-acting and a retouched interface (the icon bar and items were increased in detail and the text boxes were re-colored from yellow to brown). The game was also ported to the Commodore Amiga (released 1994) and Apple Macintosh.
  Each version of the game had different versions of the intro video. The disk version panned around Daventry’s entire throne room between conversations. The ship was in 2-d. The CD version had more cuts and fades showing less of the throne room. The ship was fully rendered in 3-D. Some of the other versions only show stills subtitles or text with no images.”

DONE DEAL!

• Steam:
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy (75% off) – $2.25
• Best Buy:
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Collector’s Edition (PS3) – $14.50
• Amazon:
• Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II – $4.99
• Direct2Drive:
• Medal of Honor – $4.95
• AltDotGames:
• Don’t forget to check out AltDotGames for all the weekend deals!
• Black Friday Deals:
• Black Friday deals are everywhere!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

- Direct MP3 Download
- iTunes Link
- RSS Feed
- The Frogpants Studios ULTRA Feed (iTunes link)

HEADLINES

• Please welcome Mateo Xavier Spagnuolo to the world… he arrived on 10/28/2011 a little ahead of schedule, but Nicole, Marc and baby are all doing good.
• Lego Universe will end in January 2012, offices closing
• New 3DS Zelda in the works.
• Call of Duty Elite for PC won’t be ready at launch.
• Somebody bid $1,725 for Modern Warfare 3 on eBay.
• Saints Row: The Third pre-orders surpass those of The Second.
• Changes to PSN/Plus Terms of service.

GIVEAWAY

• Congratulations to Ron Standmoore who wins a PC copy of RAGE!

SOUNDBYTE ME

• Uncharted 1, 2, and 3 soundtracks are all out!

OLD SCHOOLS

• Arcade: Cadillacs And Dinosaurs (1993)
• “Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Arcade Game is a 1993 arcade game released by Capcom. It is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up based on the comic book series Xenozoic Tales. The game was produced as a tie-in to the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs animated series which was aired during the same year the game was released.
  In Cadillacs and Dinosaurs the player has access to several attacks. Each character has two special moves; one that is performed by pressing down then up and the attack button, and the other which loses health on contact and is performed by pressing the attack and jump buttons together. When two or more players play together, placing their characters on top one another will trigger a team-attack.”

• Console: Toki (NES – 1989)
• “Toki, known in Japan as JuJu Densetsu is a 1989 shoot ‘em up platformer arcade game, or a “run and gun” developed and published in Japan by TAD Corporation and published in North America by Fabtek. It features elements of tongue-in-cheek humor combined with the action. The player takes control of an enchanted ape who must battle hordes of jungle monsters with energy balls from his mouth (described humorously as “monkey-spit” or “monkey-vomit” by some gamers). The ultimate goal is to destroy the evil wizard who cast a spell on you; therefore transforming yourself from an ape back into a human, and rescuing the kidnapped princess. The game was ported to several video game consoles and home computers.
  The game is a typical platformer in which the player must traverse several levels with a miniboss at the end. Despite his apparent handicap, his slowness as an ape, and the fact that almost any attack can kill him, Toki is able to spit powerful shots that will help him in defeating enemies and obstacles that try to slow him down in his mission. There is a timer for each stage. Toki can make use of items such as power-ups for his spit; lucky rabbit feet which can give Toki bursts of super-human agility and jumping skill; clocks which add extra time to the countdown; fruit which can add to Toki’s bonus points; keys which unlock bonus areas; a special helmet that protects him from upwards attacks (the helmet rather comically resembles an American football helmet); extra lives; and magic coins (food in the Genesis version) which when collected in abundance can obtain Toki an extra life.”

• PC: The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994)
• “The Elder Scrolls: Arena is the first game in the Elder Scrolls series. It is a first-person computer role-playing game for MS-DOS, developed by Bethesda Softworks and released in 1994. In 2004, a downloadable version of the game was made available free of charge as part of the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls series, but newer systems may require an emulator such as DOSBox to run it, as Arena is a DOS-based program.
  Like its sequels, Arena takes place in the continent of Tamriel, complete with wilderness, dungeons, and a spell creation system that allows players to mix various spell effects into a new spell as long as they have the money to pay for it.
  The game is played from a first-person perspective. Melee combat is performed by using the mouse, and dragging the cursor across the screen to attack. Magic is used by cycling through a menu found by clicking the appropriate button on the main game screen, then clicking the spell to be used, and its target. This makes playing as a mainly magic-using character quite difficult. The game world is very large. Players may explore outside cities into the wild. There they may find inns, farms, small towns, dungeons, and other places of interest. As the terrain was randomly generated, it may be repetitive to some. It is not possible to reach other cities without using the fast-travel feature. Several hundred towns, dungeons, and NPCs are available.
  Arena has been noted for its tendency to be unforgiving towards new players. It is easy to die in the starting dungeon, as powerful enemies can be encountered if the player lingers too long. This effect gradually disappears as the player becomes more powerful, and more aware of the threats that loom everywhere. Ken Rolston, lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, says he started the game at least twenty times, and only got out of the beginning dungeon once.”

DONE DEAL!

• Steam:
• Lots of great deals on games at Steam.
• AltDotGames:
• Don’t forget to check out AltDotGames for all the weekend deals!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

- Direct MP3 Download
- iTunes Link
- RSS Feed
- The Frogpants Studios ULTRA Feed (iTunes link)