PS3

Spent a fun couple of hours playing PomPom's Astro Tripper on the PlayStation 3. A download available for $5, it's a colorful, slightly abstract shooter similar to one of my favorites on 360 Arcade, Mutant Storm Reloaded.

My wife bought me the PlayStation 3 Collector's Edition of Resident Evil 5 on the day it came out. She knew that I hadn't yet decided which system I wanted the game for, and that I might end up trading it out, but she figured it would be a nice surprise to bring it home on release day anyway. The crux of my indecision came down to deciding between better graphics on a crappier system or slightly worse graphics on a more reliable system.

An Outdated Roller Coaster That's Still a Good Ride

HIGH Co-op is a great addition to the Resident Evil formula.

LOW The controls are way out of touch with current standards.

WTF A half-naked tribesman drops grenade rounds? Where were they hidden, exactly?

Is the game industry in a state of arrested development? We present our take on Heather Chaplin's incendiary GDC presentation. Plus, the proliferation of co-op, the viability of OnLive, and lessons learned from Leisure Suit Larry. With Chi Kong Lui, Mike Bracken, David Stone, and Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
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Topic and Game References:

• Final Fantasy 11
• OnLive
• Resident Evil 5
• Heather Chaplin on "Burned by Friendly Fire: Game Critics Rant" GDC 2009 Panel
• Fable
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Madworld
• Gears of War 2
• Leisure Suit Larry

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

I'm not entirely sure I'd classify BioShock as a horror game (it certainly had some creepy moments, though), but it's one of my favorite games and it's a slow news day today.

So, here's a trailer with gameplay footage for BioShock 2 courtesy of the folks at Game Trailers. Looks a lot like the first game to me, but that's not a bad thing.

The wife and I are doing co-op in Resident Evil 5 right now. Haven't finished it yet, but I'd say that we are at least halfway through, if not a little further.

Gotta say, it's fun enough and a good rental, but I think anyone who complains about the control system is justified and there are a number of other issues that just don't make any sense. For example, you can buy all sorts of guns and life-up items between missions, but not ammo? Instead, it's somehow better to have players breaking barrels (a truly fresh idea, indeed) to find boxes of ammunition scattered throughout tribal huts and swampland?

Another Sunday Drive through Los Angeles

HIGH Using one of the nonsensical (but fun) super-powers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

LOW Losing a car in a pink slip race because of the A.I.'s insane ability to rubber band back into the race even when they're off the map.

WTF Why do these games even bother trying to tell a story?