I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2009 is over. Like, there will be no more 2009. Ever again. Well, until the year 12009, but I'm not sure we'll be able to get the whole GameCola crew to do another podcast then.

Right; podcast. That's what I'm writing about. Michael Ridgaway, Zach Rich, Justin Luschinski, Alex Jedraszczak, Colin Greenhalgh, and sometimes Vangie Rich and Michael Gray all got together for a podcast to ring out the old year and bring in the New Year, which you know is gonna be better 'cuz it's written with Capital Letters.

Mega Man 10. Muffins. Dragon Age. Talking to a woman like she's a dog. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. A cat attack. God of War III. Halo: Reach. Singing. This podcast has it all, and you listen to it while Michael Gray entertains you with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the GameCola YouTube channel. Or, you could just stick around a while and check it out here:

Remember that podcast that Michael and Paul kept to themselves? The totally off-topic one? Well, now you can listen to it while Michael plays Mega Man Zero 3 in the background. Check it oooouuuuutt:

I was gonna post this earlier, but I didn't want to steal Michael Gray's holiday thunder. Enjoy a super-short celebratory video to ring in the New Year, from us to you. But, because we're the only ones who read this blog, it's more like... from us to... us.

We rock.

Welcome to The Ten Reasons: Decade Edition.  In this column, I'm going to discuss the various things that happened in videogames over the past ten years.  There were high points (2003, 2007), low points (2002, 2005), and transitions to new consoles (2001, 2006) in the 2000's.  Quite a decade!

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2000

In 2000, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Banjo-Tooie were released for the N64.  Normally, this would make it a banner year, but everyone ignored it because it was "too late" in the lifetime of the N64, and everyone bought the brand new Playstation 2 instead.

Too late?  Too LATE?  If they released Banjo-Threeie for the N64 today, I would still buy a copy!

So, basically, this was the year that two of the greatest N64 games ever were widely ignored.  Not a good year.  We should have let Y2K take this one.

2001

In 2001, a bunch of new systems were released, including the Gamecube, Xbox and GameBoy Advance.  You'd think I would have a lot to say about this, but you'd be wrong. For the first time ever, I am on top of the console race, with my personal copy of Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, which is still a great game.

2002

Several good games came out in 2002, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the best-seller lists.  In fact, the best-seller lists this year was dominated by Spider-Man.  Yes, a licensed game outsold Kingdom Hearts, Halo and Super Mario Sunshine.  What were we thinking back then?

This is also the year where Microsoft purchased Rare.  Nintendo fanboys made a major stink about this, because Rare made pretty much made all the best N64 games, and without any games from Rare,  the GameCube might fail to have a decent game collection.  Looking back on these arguments, I think we can safely say that the Nintendo fanboys were 100% correct.

2003

2003 was one of the best years of the decade.  Just look at the list of games that were released this year, if you don't believe me. There are classics like Beyond Good and Evil, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Splinter Cell, Fire Emblem, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Ware Ware, Metroid Fusion, Call of Duty, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Devil May Cry 2 and, of course, Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel.

This is also the year Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is released.  This is the first of six Cartoon Zelda games that get released in this decade.  I think we can safely say that the cliff-hanger at the end of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask will never be resolved.

2004

2004 had a hard time standing up to 2003, as most of the games that were released this year were sequels, like Pikmin 2.  Oh well.

Also, the Nintendo DS was released.  This definitely helps set the stage for what happens in...

2005

Game development took a backseat as the focus shifted to new consoles.  This is reflected by the fact that the top ten best-sellers list contains three Star Wars games and five sports games.  The Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 went through heavy development this year, and Microsoft wins the console race hands-down by releasing the Xbox 360, long before any of the other companies release their consoles.

2006 

Perhaps Microsoft released the Xbox 360 a tad early, seeing as it was outsold by the Gamecube during the first quarter.  Ouch.  But at the end of the year, the DS Lite, Wii and PlayStation 3 were released.  The biggest games this year are Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports.

2007

2007 was another great year for videogames, especially the Wii, what with Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Fire Emblem Wii and Metroid Prime 3.  A new trailer for Duke Nukem Forever was released, and I joined the GameCola staff.

In handheld news, the first and second Professor Layton games hit Japan.  Also, the second and third Phoenix Wright games hit the non-Japanese countries.  Multiple entries for popular handheld series in the same year?  Ah, those were the days!

2008

In 2008, the Wii grabbed onto the market and refused to let go.  The best-selling non-Wii game was Grand Theft Auto IV, which had to take 5th place overall, coming after Wii Play, which is a game I hadn't heard of until now.  Apparently, it's a repackaged version of Wii Sports...and it outsold Grand Theft Auto IV.

2009

In 2009, the best games were mostly a complete surprise.  In May, there were surpise announcements about a number of games, including Tales of Monkey Island, Super Mario Bros. Wii and Professor Layton 2, all of which were released this year and got great reviews.  Meanwhile, many of the big games that we did know were in development got delayed to 2010.

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So that's The Ten Reasons: Decade Edition.  If the 2010's are anything like the 2010's, I'll have to go through high school and college again. *shudder* Let's hope the new decade isn't just like the old one.

—Michael Gray

Does anyone remember last year when I made a blog entry about a fan-made movie for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? This one?

As the annoyingly large annotation says, the movie has now been completed, and you can watch it at any time you want!  What better film is there to add to your New Years Eve movie marathon?

Of course, if you haven't played the game itself, you might get confused, so what better way to prep for the movie than by watching my video walkthrough for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?

Source: VideoGamesBlogger

Monday:
Arcade Hoops Basketball – $2 (DSi Shop)
Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth – $10 (Wii Shop)
Eat! Fat! Fight! – $10 (Wii Shop)
Glow Artisan – $5 (DSi Shop)
Master of Illusion Express: Psychic Camera – $2 (DSi Shop)
PilotWings – $8 (Wii Shop)
Rabbids Lab – $5 (Wii Shop)
Sudoku Sensei – $5 (DSi Shop)
The Magic Obelisk – $5 (Wii Shop)
The Oregon Trail – $8 (DSi Shop)

Tuesday:
Gears of War – $20 (Xbox 360 Games On Demand)
Guitar Hero: World Tour (PC, Mac)
My Hero: Astronaut (DS)
Restaurant Empire 2 (PC)

Now that you've had your fill of holiday cheer, it's time to get back to the important things in life: whacking trees with frying pans and setting moles on fire. Paul Franzen resumes his run of the quirky SNES RPG EarthBound, complete with amusing audio commentary. If you were all caught up with his videos, jump right back in with the latest video. For everyone else, I'm in a jolly mood and have embedded the whole playlist below.



In case you're still stuffed from all those cookies and holiday feasts, you'll be pleased to learn that we are releasing Paul's videos at the easy-to-digest rate of 3 per day up until New Year's. Check back regularly to our GameCola YouTube channel for more!

If you need something to entertain you while you're waiting for the next set of videos to be released, try out my hilarious and ridiculous run of the point-and-click detective adventure game, Deja Vu. Hooray for shameless self-promotion!

To celebrate this festive season, Michael Gray has whipped up a little video something for all you good girls and boys:



For the rest of you, you all get coal.

Source: VideoGamesBlogger

When Michael and Paul got together to record Podcast #18: Michael and Paul's Excellent Adventure, they found themselves getting off-topic a lot. So much, in fact, that when they cut all the off-topic stuff out of the podcast, there was enough leftover to make a whole new podcast. So they did, and you're listening to it right now.

The GameCola higher-ups decided to call this podcast Off-Topic #1, instead of The GameCola Podcast #19, for two reasons:

1) To allow for more future podcasts that are just cobbled together from leftover podcast clips, and

2) Because the rest of the staff would be mad if GameCola allowed Michael and Paul to have two entire podcasts to themselves again.

Here's what you get to listen to in this podcast:

• Intro (0:00 - 1:54)
• GameCola columns and writers (1:54 - 6:17)
• Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials (6:17 - 15:17)
• Audio books, and the people who read them (15:17 - 17:40)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Turtles Forever crossover special (17:40 - 21:17)
• Anime, because Michael and Paul know a lot about it (21:17 - 23:38)
• Mega Man's family and follies (23:38 - 27:27)
• Paul's notes for Podcast #18 (27:27 - 28:44)
• The Gates of Life in the new GameCola (28:44 - 30:23)
• GameCola on YouTube and Facebook (30:23 - 34:27)
• GameCola on Wikipedia and TVTropes (34:27 - 36:10)
• Outro (36:10 - 36:36)

In case you missed it on YouTube, here's the latest GameCola Podcast, in podcast form! From Michael Gray:

Good News: I have started a video walkthrough for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 1): Mean Mido

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 2): A Tree with a Righteous Mustache

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 3): Link is a Pyromaniac

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 4): Gohma, a Brief History of Hyrule, and the Fairy Ocarina

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 5): Kaepora Gaebora, the Stalker Owl

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 6): Link Meets Princess Zelda!

Bad News: Due to technical difficulties (which is a fancy way of saying my mom's TV hates my N64), I will not be able to continue the walkthrough until next month.

After my hilarious (really!) run of the point-and-click detective adventure game Deja Vu (the mostly superior Windows version) became the proverbial camel that broke the straw's back, you are no doubt ready to watch us play a game other than Deja Vu. Fortunately for you, Michael Gray has played through Deja Vu II: This Time It's Not Deja Vu I, Or At Least Not Any Of The Fun Parts.

Watch Michael start a horrifically violent gang war so he doesn't have to pay his bar tab!* Laugh as Michael gets arrested because a blind man was offended that he wasn't wearing any pants! Marvel at the hideous typos!



*Alright, so that's not technically true. But it wouldn't surprise me if it were true.

Source: VideoGamesBlogger

Monday:
Bejeweled Twist - $5 (DSi Shop)
Blaster Master - $5 (Wii Shop)
Diatomic - $8 (Wii Shop)
Earthworm Jim 2 - $8 (Wii Shop)
Littlest Pet Shop - $8 (DSi Shop)
Master of Illusion Express: Matchmaker - $2 (DSi Shop)
Miami Nights - $8 (DSi Shop)
Moki Moki - $8 (Wii Shop)
Rubik’s Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH - $6 (Wii Shop)
Stunt Cars - $8 (Wii Shop)
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam - $5 (DSi Shop)

Tuesday:
Artist Colony (PC)
Konami Classics Volume 1 (Xbox 360) — Includes: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Frogger, Super Contra.
Konami Classics Volume 2 (Xbox 360) — Includes: Contra, Track & Field, Rush ‘N Attack.
National Geographic: Lost City of Z (PC)
National Geographic: Treasures of the Serengeti (PC)
The Search for Amelia Earhart (PC)
Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box (PC)
Viva Pinata: Party Animals - $20 (Xbox 360 Games On Demand)

Wednesday:
Alien Breed Evolution: Episode 1 - $10 (Xbox Live Arcade)

You've seen Michael Gray elegantly puzzle his way through adventure games. You've seen Paul Franzen use Michael Gray's elegant walkthrough to puzzle his way through adventure games.

Now, watch Nathaniel Hoover make adventure gaming into a ridiculous farce.

Watch him try to lap up leaky toilet water, shout at inanimate objects, and jam wooden chairs into his pants. Watch the Windows version of Deja Vu as it was meant to be played: as though the player really is Ace Harding, a confused detective with possible brain damage.