3
March 3, 2010
"Your Buddy, Space Marine" or "The Capper"
Video game news explodes, as two unrelated sentient robots -- one good, one evil, both out of control -- battle to the death for headline dominance. Amidst the wash of corporate power-plays, decapitations, and ASCII art, we also talk about the Indie Fund, and play some games.
Games Discussed: Flotilla, StarCraft 2, BioShock 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Far Cry 2, Blitz II: The League, Gears of War, Mass Effect 3: Everything's Gay Dudes Everywhere - The Ballad of Gay Shepard (If You Want Him To Be Gay), The Capper
2
February 24, 2010
Scoops Horn
This week the past returns, distilled to its core and a little prettier. And on a hex grid, most likely. Also discussed: Scoops horn. If video games made you fly, that would probably be really scary.
Games Discussed: Civilization V, StarCraft 2, Command & Conquer 4, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, Resident Evil 5: Lost In Nightmares, Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space, Team Fortress 2
The Idle Thumbs Podcast
Idle Thumbs casts its pod into your face with off-the-cuff, incisive, multiplatform video gaming discussion. No on-air schedules, no Skype. Hands-on accounts and stunning commentary abound.

The Idle Thumbs podcast is currently:
Chris Remo
Editor-At-Large, Gamasutra
Jake Rodkin
Community Coordinator, Telltale Games
Steve Gaynor
Designer, 2K Marin
♫ Music of the Thumb
Bask in the aural glow of the Thumb's digital music archive.
The Idle Thumbs Podcast 0:51
From Idle Thumbs ??: What is game?
Space Asshole 4:16
From Idle Thumbs 48: In Space
Remember 5:10
From Idle Thumbs 43: Jeff "Gone" Goldblum
You Gotta Use the Kid (To Kill That Old Snake) 1:16
From Idle Thumbs 22: Put On the Top Ghost
A Letter To Edge 2:44
From Idle Thumbs 18: Citizen Killzone
The Ballad of John Riccitiello 5:46
From Idle Thumbs 10: The Ballad of John Riccitiello
Sincerely These Nuts 1:24
From Idle Thumbs 8: Green Lantern is the Blindfolded Fool
Stop (Doing Interviews) 2:17
From Idle Thumbs 7: Stop Doing Interviews
The Wizard 1:41
From Idle Thumbs 5: The Wizard
The Fable of Love 2:56
From Idle Thumbs 4: The Fable of Love
Ultra-Boost 0:28
From Idle Thumbs 3: Field of Dreams
The Fanboy's Lament 4:20
From Idle Thumbs 2: The Fanboy's Lament
Wuxtry! (Let the Games Begin) - Love Theme from Idle Thumbs 0:33
From Idle Thumbs 1: Let the Games Begin
There were a bunch of good PC games this year
Posted by Chris Remo, December 8, 2009
As Gamasutra's resident PC gaming nerd*, I was again tapped to provide our PC-specific Best of 2009 awards. Since I'm not sure if Idle Thumbs is going to bust out another GOTY.cx this year, I figured I'd let you guys know what I thought of this year's offerings by way of my Gamasutra rankings.

The more I reflected on the list, the more I remembered that although this fall has been fairly unremarkable for the PC -- lots of competent but expected multiplatform games, mainly -- the first half of the year was jam-packed with amazingly interesting and unique PC games, many of which were exclusive, with an impressive range of indie to high-budget experiences.

Along with the digital distribution price war really kicking into effect, it's been a fantastic year for the platform. My opinion that the PC is not the place for mainstream triple-A action game experience was solidified; people looking at the platform through that lens (which is understandable, as it's how the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are sold) are likely to come away feeling the PC is comparatively anemic, but those willing to broaden their horizons and examine a more diverse array of genres and scopes will better perceive the true strength of the format.

Here's a quick alphabetical list of all the games I highlighted:
AAaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity (Dejobaan Games)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward)
Dawn of Discovery/Anno 1404 (Blue Byte/Related Designs)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Empire: Total War (The Creative Assembly) (Confidential to Nick: Ha ha.)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve Software)
Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap Games)
Risen (Piranha Bytes)
The Sims 3 (Maxis)
Tales of Monkey Island (Telltale Games)
Torchlight (Runic Games)
Trine (Frozenbyte)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Relic Entertainment)
Zeno Clash (Ace Team)

The full Gamasutra article has the Top 5 ranking as well as justifications for each choice. As with other blog posts, we still have no comments, so feel free to discuss in the forums.

*My colleague Kris Graft, who joined this year, has fortunately doubled our staff's PC gaming ranks.
The above post may contain: video games, PC games, Gamasutra, AAaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dawn of Discovery, League of Legends, Empire: Total War, Plants vs. Zombies, Risen, Dragon Age: Origins, The Sims 3, Left 4 Dead 2, Tales of Monkey Island, Trine, Zeno Clash, Far Cry 2, internet lists, Torchlight, internet lists are stupid, Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II
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