This whole condo thing is taking up MUCH more time than I anticipated. As it stands I can handle PGR, and Just Talking along with my primary blogging activities, but my gaming post is going to be on hiatus for a little bit. Writing up a quick blog post about a recent happening doesn't require any critical analysis or deep intellectual thought, but I try to put some extra care into my gaming posts. I can't do that right now with all of my real world obligations. Instead of giving you all a half-assed post, I'm opting for a self-imposed break. If you follow my blog I'll still  have a post up on Friday's, but it wont be anything like what I normally do. Chances are it may not even be about gaming.

I hope you understand why I'm doing this. I will return with 1000 word ramblings as soon as things slow down. I appreciate your understanding with this.

Have a nice day.

-Chris

>For the first time since I started my blog (and writing editorials for TAG), I'm taking a Friday off. I figure traveling to Boston for the Penny Arcade Expo is a worthy excuse. I contemplated ranting about the announcement about Nintendo's 3DSi or finding some other story that I felt slipped through the cracks, but at this point I don't think it's worth it. If it's any consolation, I'm planning to record, edit, and post a podcast each day after everyone from the Talking About Games staff and any other people we can wrangle on sit around a table and crack jokes at each other. As far as chronicling my fun in Boston, I'm still not sure how I'm going to attack that one. I've thought about a running diary, I've thought about quick summaries of each panel I see and each game I can get my hands on. Or just a few summary posts after I let it all sink in. Regardless, you can rest easy knowing that I didn't take this "day off" lightly. I've established a level of consistency on this blog (and on Talking About Games) that I want to live up to. Like I said, I think this is a worthy excuse.

Have a nice day :)

On the latest episode of the Post Game Report, one of the topics we discussed was a recent survey released discussing the ESRB and its effectiveness among parents. For various reasons I don't think the discussion we had on the podcast went as planned. Maybe it was an earlier recording time, maybe it was because it was the first topic and we needed to get one out of the way before we hit our stride. Maybe it's because it's not something that should be discussed on a podcast.

Post Game Report - Episode 86: Team Woot (Download the MP3)

First, listen to Episode 79 of PGR.

Assuming you've made it to the end, then you know what this is about. If you just want to skip to the money shot, then welcome.

Talking About Games is preparing for the mother of all Round Tables for Modern Warfare 2. The core podcasters will all be participating, just in a slightly different format. We will be breaking up into teams for this recording and the end result will be a mashup of opinions, just bouncing off of some different voices for a change.

Group 1 - Parris, HeroicSuperman, GolfRat, Faitios

Group 2. JVB, Shayward23, SugarFree [me]

Group 3. RobbieJo, SoldierX01, Phoenix410

You've seen the mysterious tweets. You've endured the hyperbole. Hopefully, you've read the genesis. But all of that is a precursor to what all of this has been building up to. Here...we...go.

This is the pilot episode. For this one, I invited Parris on to chat about pressure, podcasting, life, Lost, Flash Forward and whatever else came up. Parris would say he is an old dinosaur in the podcasting "game", and it is that experience that I leaned on for this opening salvo. Again, this podcast isn't just going to be about video games, and it wont just be about Diabetes.

First things first. I couldn't fix the quality of the video. It sucks. I know.

Next. The only way to get the video uploaded to youtube was to split it in 3 parts. I've embedded the first video and a link to the "playlist." It should autoplay the rest of the parts.

Finally, I'll update the pre-jump with a link to my personal blog with my post about the day (right here) .

Enjoy.

So I managed to F up my camera. I don't know what I did, or how I did it. But the exported video is pixelated to high hell. I'm working on a workaround (redundancy ftw) to get a clear export for editing. What this means is that the final product will be delayed. I assure you it will be worth it...I hope. But I really don't want to put together this thing if you can't tell what is going on.

 I apologize for the snafu. I don't want to deprive you all of the magic that was this weekend. As I am wiping up the tears from my camera's demise I am working on a proper blog post that I'll put up here and my personal blog (http://tobesugarfree.com) in a day or so.

 If you caught my twitter posts, especially the ones with pictures (http://twitpic.com/photos/iam_spartacus) then you can start to get an idea of how awesome the day was.

 Except for that drive home. Holy balls it was late.....

No, I'm not going to put anyone on blast. Last time I did this I felt justified in my actions and that matter is behind us. Now on to better topics of discussion.

First up, a disclaimer - Neither I, the Post Game Report nor any staff affiliated with Talking About Games promote underage drinking. However, if you are of age I am proposing a PGR drinking game for future episodes.

To preface, this post is an addendum to an epic tangent we had during the recording of Episode 61 of the Post Game Report. It started with the state of podcasting in general but then we wandered into some specifics. I wish there was more time to flesh out our grievances with the state of the podcast world but I'm pretty sure you all wouldn't want to listen to us go around in circles for a couple of hours on the topic.

If you follow any combination of JVB, Parris, Chris Paladino, and even myself (@iam_spartacus) on twitter you have likely seen #waldorf thrown around. Waldorf is one of the muppets that sits on a balcony and is very bitter along with his good buddy Statler. Anytime you see #waldorf it means that someone is ranting. The past few episodes of PGR have taken this to the next level with JVB's "From the Balcony" segment, and I end it by saying "hashtag waldorf."

 Yesterday Parris took it to the next level changing his twitter icon to Oscar the Grouch. Oh, it's on.

So, if the revolution occurs and the TAG staff starts to adopt Sesame Street and Muppet Aliases, I am calling 'Typewriter Guy' (more info at the Muppet Wiki). It's the closest thing to a writer I could find on such short notice. I figure with a weekly editorial (and a daily updated blog found here: A Consequence of Hypoglycemia) I am worthy.

Larry can still be Scooter. HA.

To the show-runners of Talking About Gamers (aka Project 4 Square) and to the other eager-readers, what Muppet or Sesame Street character would you claim to represent yourself? Waldorf, Statler, Oscar and now Typewriter Guy are taken.

Have at it.