The guys talk about what they been playing before diving headlong into a busy week full of news and announcements, including Sony’s issues with Anonymous, and Capcom’s rather impressive CAPTIVATE ’11 event.

We seal the deal with a little tribute to all things Capcom, where the guys pick their favourite Capcom game of the last ten years (that isn’t Street Fighter 4) and big, imposing boss battles that made them poop their clothes.

Share in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.
Blast Processing theme song by Dan “String Vulture” Moore.

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Join Steve, Adam, Jon, and Dave as we get together and waste an hour or so of your time. Jon and Steve spend some time with Canada’s favorite pastime, No, not that one.. Hockey you fools (NHL 11 to be more specific)! Steve’s been playing a top secret game, and Dave shares his thoughts on Dead Rising 2: Case Zero while Adam shares his thoughts on the cellophane wrapper that still protects his copy of Metroid: Other M from the harsh Canadian climate.

The real meat and potatoes comes with the team’s discussion of their favorite beginnings and endings from videogamedom. *SPOILER ALERT*There’s also some cussin’, and talk of a God of War inspired adult film. There’s God of War, Heavenly Sword, Oblivion, Metal Gear, Darksiders, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain and so much more in this SPOILER packed episode!

What was your favorite ending? What game hooked you in the early bits and left you captivated? Should Adam bother opening that copy of Metroid? Share in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

Blast Processing theme song by Dan “String Vulture” Moore.

You can listen to the show with the player above, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

After a week off for Summer Vacation, Steve, Jon, and Adam return, with speak of obscure WWE wrestlers from the 1990′s. Adam shares thoughts on Dragon Quest (Warrior!) IX, Jon is a generation behind with Dragon Quest (Warrior!) VIII and Steve finally puts Mass Effect 2 to bed.

After that we celebrate the banner year that was 2010 thus far by picking our favorite games of the first half of the year, which game we are most looking forward to in the second half, and which awesome game none of you ungrateful bastards bothered to play whilst you were busy with Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Red Dead Redemption.

What was your favorite game of the first half of 2010? What are you anxiously awaiting for the rest of the year? What obscure gem do you think we should all be playing to while away the slow Summer months instead of going outside? Why not Let us know in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

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Opening Music: Overture by Koichi Sugiyama from “Dragon Quest VIII” bu Level 5/Square-Enix
Closing Music: Selbina by Naoshi Mizuta from “Final Fantasy XI” by Square-Enix

The Charge
Assemble your team.

Opening Statement
The first Mass Effect blasted onto the Xbox scene and revolutionized many elements of the action/RPG experience, from its brilliantly-realized new IP, the revolutionary dialogue wheel and the pants-drenchingly fantastic graphics. Bioware’s anticipated follow-up is here and it is so, so much better.

Facts of the Case
Mass Effect 2 brings back Commander John Shepard: Space Bad-Ass, whose recent misadventures with the diabolical, genocidal Reapers led to big explosions and traumatic bodily harm. Cerberus, the radical pro-human group, led by the enigmatic Illusive Man (voiced splendidly by Martin Sheen), brought Shepard in to face off with the newest foes: the Collectors, a bug-like species that’s been wiping out colonies across the galaxy and kidnapping humans for Lord knows what malevolent purpose.

But before he leaps in the jaws of surefire pain and horror, Shepard must put together his squad, an eclectic group of aliens and humans from all corners of space who will offer him much-needed skills and talents or, at the very least, give the bad guys another target to shoot at.

The Evidence
There are games. And then there is Mass Effect 2.

Bioware’s sequel is stunning on every level, and represents both a significant improvement over its predecessor and a new standard for what kind of interaction and storytelling is capable in a video game. Yes, I know this sounds like your typical message board fanboy hype/drivel, but I have to say, this game absolutely put me in the fetal position with its awesomeness.

I had almost completed the first Mass Effect, but drifted away in part because of the touchy combat mechanics and the godforsaken driving sequences. Both of these annoyances have been cleared up. The combat is much sharper and is actually fun as a full-fledged, cover-based third person shooter. When the firefights came, I welcomed them, especially the culminating battles, which were aided by an increase in difficulty, some great music and added emotional weight to the outcomes.

Shepard as multiple weapons at his disposal, from a handgun to a mini-nuke (and other assorted heavy weapons). These are upgradable and the selection is expandable and ammo is never an issue. So blast away, and if you get bored with shredding Blue Sun mercs with inferno ammo (note: you won’t), you can always slap them around with your biotic, Force-like powers. In typical RPG fashion you can improve powers and skills (both passive and active) with gains in experience and mission completion. The refreshing aspect to this character progression is you won’t feel like you’re grinding to upgrade.

Missions are fun and interesting. It’s rare that a RPG holds my attention enough to see me gallivanting around the game world doing side quests, but I was fully into it here. I knew there was going to be some bodacious shooting action to be had, a slice of cool dialogue to partake in and perhaps a tech or weapon upgrade lurking in a wall safe somewhere.

The main story is the bread and butter of Mass Effect 2 and, thankfully, it delivers. The Collectors are imposing villains, the mysterious Harbinger—who’s connected to the Reapers—turns up during firefights with the Collectors and talks enough trash to get you amped about killing him and his minions, and the shiftiness of Cerberus and the Illusive Man are pervasive question marks.

But what really grabbed me was the building of my team. On the surface, it might seem that planet-hopping to recruit characters could become a tiresome experience, but it was the exact opposite. Each squad member had a cool, action-packed story to fight through, as well as an equally interesting “loyalty” mission. As I was plowing through these missions I actually began to care about these fake polygons. Legion the Geth synthetic, Thane the assassin, Grunt the tank, Jack the insane biotic—I was genuinely concerned about these guys, and Bioware knew that I would, so that when the shiznit hit the fan and my teammates were put in danger as a direct result of my decision-making, bother, that stung!

I don’t recall another game that got me as emotionally invested in its story and characters as this one, and, for me, that is Mass Effect 2’s greatest achievement. Set aside its graphics (stunning, by the way), voice-acting (perfect), sound (is the soundtrack for sale somewhere?) and gameplay, all of which are top-shelf, just the fact that I legitimately cared about what happened to the characters represents a profound evolutionary step in the landscape of video games.

Closing Statement
Here’s all I have to say: I spent hours strip-mining planets so I could gain enough space minerals to upgrade the medical bay in my ship so I can have surgery on my aface that would eliminate the scarring that comes along with making “Renegade” decisions.   Is it too early to decree a Game of the Year?

The Verdict

Platform: Xbox 360/PC (360 version reviewed)
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: EA
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Rated: M (17+) for Mature.

Dave, Jon, and Erich convene for what may or may not be the actual 50th episode (either way, we’ll celebrate the milestone next week) by eagerly anticipating Dante’s Inferno, giving the Wii some hard-hitting love in the form of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and heaping more praise on both games in the Mass Effect series. Are you tired of hearing us talk about Batman: Arkham Asylum? Good news: Erich finally finished it. Bad news: he talks about it one last time. To finish, this week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum takes us all around the world, from London to the Bay.

Hammer out your own thoughts in the comments below, over to the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

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It’s a two-man show this week, as Steve and Erich pour one out for Conan O’Brien, dig into space sequel extraordinaire Mass Effect 2, go back in time with PS2 launch title Summoner, bemoan the Killer Croc stage of Batman: Arkham Asylum, wonder whether some games are just too darn long, and pay lip service to sports with this week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum “Super Bowl Special!”

Now it’s your turn. Leave your comments below, head over to the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or email us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

Ubisoft: Wow, just… uhhh… wow. That was about the most unfriendly, awkward feeling press conference i’ve ever seen. Not much for us hardcores, Nice CG Assassin’s Creed II trailer (though Sony gets the real coup there with the live demo at their press conference), some Splinter Cell Conviction stuff (which looked woefully lackluster to me, despite everyone else and their dog suddenly having a huge hard on for a beardless, un-scruffy Sam Fisher). No More Heroes II coming to wii, that should please quite a few people, and an insane amount of casual gamer rigamarole. James Cameron shows up to talk (and talk, and talk, and talk) about Avatar, both the game and the film, and Red Steel 2 is finally shown, and looks pretty damn cool!

EA: This is a little more like it. They get the casual BS out of the way early on, and start in on games. APB (Cops n robbers MMO from the guys who made Crackdown) looks pretty entertaining, Dante’s Inferno trailer is brief but kinda cool, Brutal Lenegd is looking awesome, and Ozzy Osborne is in there! Woah!! Saboteur is looking mighty fine, and Crysis 2 is coming! To consoles !! Peter Moore (still the man) comes out and talks a bit about EA Sports, announcing EA MMA, which will probably kick the living crap out of THQ’s recent UFC game. Wii fans also get a taste of Dead Space: Extraction.  Bioware popped by to show off Dragon Age: Origins, which will ship on October 20th for Consoles and PC, and looks like absolute GOLD. Mass Effect 2 is there, looks great, and comes in early 2010, and finally, just to wash the bad taste of the first few trailers out of our mouths, they present a stage full of goddamn JEDI! Followed by one of the single most kick-ass trailers i have ever seen, for their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic! Sadly it’s all in CG, and probably not even remotely representitive of the final product, but goddamn is it ever cool ,and that stage full of live action Jedi was hella neat.

So Ubisoft pretty much sucked up the joint, while EA actually made a decent impression.