Ah, another BitCast and another lapse in recording. Never fret, dear listeners, we never forget! Hark! Gather ’round all ye fans and listen to the wisely compiled words and dare to keep up, for it is always an adventure when we embark on a quest to bring ye all the best in radio-like video game banter.

This week we get medieval on:

• What We’ve Been Playing
• Download Games, in particular Braid and Pixel Junk Eden

This Week’s BitCast Music:
Song: Bitches Brew
Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Bitches Brew

Download Episode 51

Over the weekend I was thinking about how there’s a lot of different things that come up here and there that seem to completely take over the conversation relevant to whatever the broader topic is despite whether or not it’s remembered a month later. In the video gaming world this is particularly the case and I wanted to create this (hopefully) recurring feature to remind us all about things that we just might have forgotten about.

For this inaugural post I was inspired by thinking about how everyone has seemed to move on from GTA IV and MGS 4 already. It’s funny though since when each one came out they were both almost universally hailed as the second coming of Christ. Hell, even we devoted two BitCast episodes to each. So I can’t help but wonder, why is no one talking about these games any more? Though I haven’t played MGS 4 my opinion of GTA IV was widely noted and I can’t help but question if this game is so great why is no one talking about it still in the same way that we still bring up something like Portal or Bioshock when measuring a good game?

What say you? Am I crazy or just over-thinking things?

I know this news is a couple of days old but it’s still worth noting since those of you who have been around a while might have noticed that Dan and I have a slightly disturbing little fascination with this series, despite never having played it. After announcing that there’s a Wii version heading stateside (which had immediately cemented my need for a Wii) they snuck in a North American Xbox 360 release, Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. Here’s the feature list directly from D3’s site:

* Control Two Super Sexy Sisters and Their Sword Swinging Samurai Skills – Master sword swinging martial arts at their finest on the ground and in the air, slashing, swinging and thrusting into zombie enemy hordes.

* Exclusive Dress-Up Mode – Go behind the scenes to expose the hottest samurai wardrobe on the planet. Unlock an arsenal of customized clothing and looks to maximize and personalize the Onechanbara experience.

* Go Deep Inside Aya, Saki, and the Legend of Onechanbara in Multiple Gameplay Modes – In addition to the main Story Mode, players can experience the game in Free Play Mode, Survival Mode, Quest Mode and more to let gamers dive deeper into the Onechanbara experience.

* Killer Combat Control System – Each character has a variety of moves, weapons, and throws to combat enemies on the ground and in the air, and can unleash killer Rage Mode attacks when desperate and surrounded.

* Co-op Multiplayer – Invite a friend to join in the fight with Co-Op mode and try unique fighting styles together to rid the world of zombie infestation.

Dress up mode? “Go deep inside Aya AND Saki”? Sign me the fuck up.

I’ll be in my bunk…

After the world was turned over three weeks ago and the PS3 version of Burnout Paradise was updated with Cagney the first of the major free updates to this already stellar game hits the 360. Now no matter which version you’re playing you’re getting an even better game, for free.

Three cheers for Criterion, one of our most under appreciated developers.

[Major Nelson] but hit the jump for the full details from Criterion’s site as they were listed for the PS3. Continue Reading »

Earlier this week I played the reinstalling Windows game. I won. That’s allowed me to get back into Crysis a bit here and there and now I remember how damn good that game is.

On the spur of the moment I decided that I wanted Soul Caliber IV on the 360, which is unusual since I normally don’t purchase fighters. This one is deep as all hell with the different modes, skills, character creation and all that. Quite a lot of game to played here if you’re in to that sort of thing.

Yesterday I picked up Geometry Wars 2 and much like Jimmy I’m head over heels for it. I liked the first Geo Wars (back in PGR 2) and Evolved. I LOVED Geometery Wars Galaxies on the DS and that fun gameplay has translated well in to the sequel.

That’s about it for me, What’cha Been Playing?

Busted Tees has been introducing a new shirt design every day of this month and today’s is particularly noteworthy:

I must say that it warms my heart that they used the gray handle…

Hit up their site to purchase.

OK, so I’ve got some potentially good news and I’ve got some potentially bad news for you, what do you want to know first?

The good news? OK!

Valve’s Doug Lombardi was interviewed in OXM UK recently and mentioned the desire to bring some of their older titles like the original Half-Life and Counter-Strike to the 360 as downloads now that Portal is on its way.

“We’ll certainly consider [bringing old games like Counter-Strike to XBLA],” Lombardi told OXM UK. “If you look at what we’ve done on Steam, we try to make all our games available and we’re always reviewing the prices to keep them current. We’d love to do that, but this is our first step at doing that beyond the PC.”

Ready for the bad news? When he was asked about the PC Team Fortress 2 updates coming to the 360 he mentioned that they’re still trying to work out pricing. Now, I don’t think you should read that as “We’re going to charge you for the stuff PC users get free” but we all know how Microsoft is by now.

[OXM UK via Shacknews]