RAPID FIRE - Episode Two!

In the second Podcast: What we've been playing, more news, a review of Red Dead Redemption and preview of the CS: Source Beta. A bonus on this week is special feature with new podcaster, Shelley, on the Games Industry and the first Rapid Fire Rant.

PODCAST REMOVED DUE TO HOSTING RESTRICTIONS
RAPID-FIRE ARCHIVE COMING SOON

Hit us up and let us know what you think!

To keep you entertained..

While you wait for episode two of the podcast to drop (it's being released, here, tomorrow!) we thought we'd get our collective heads together, and keep you all amused with some haikus. Here's what we came up with...

Breaking News!

Breaking News, Gamers!

Recording of Episode Two begins tonight.

Some hints at what'll be in the ep? Ohhh, ok. Only because we're starved for attention, and need your love like oxygen.

- A new feature looking at the business side of the games industry. Word on the street is that it may even feature... a girl!

- Read Dead Redemption, CS:Source Beta, Steam Upgrades, and Pac-Man, oh my!

It should be up for your audial pleasure by the weekend. Make sure you tape down your socks, because listening to this episode may blow them the fuck off.

Don't say we didn't warn you!

Rapid-Fire Rant: The Mod Problem

Each Rapid Fire Rant allows a writer to vent their spleen on a certain topic relating to gaming. Leave your thin skins at the door.

99.9% of all mods suck. There I said it.

For every "Research and Development" or "Portal Prelude". There's a dozen shitty Wolfenstien remakes or unfinished student projects clogging up the internet. Its time to sort the problem with mods...

RAPID FIRE - Episode One

First Podcast! What we've been playing, steam and starcraft 2 news, review of the humble indy bundle with music from pendulum.

PODCAST REMOVED DUE TO HOSTING RESTRICTIONS
RAPID-FIRE ARCHIVE COMING SOON

And remember: If there's something you loved, or something you didn't like so much - please, post here and let us know!

Rapid Fire Rant: On the Style of Reviews

Each Rapid Fire Rant allows a writer to vent their spleen on a certain topic relating to gaming. Leave your thin skins at the door.

Greetings once again, gamers!

I feel that I should take this opportunity to discuss my particular reviewing style with you.

I have always been particularly irritated with games reviews which focused so heavily on the technical aspects of how the game performed, how pretty it was, etc. I'm not a big lover of charts, and I've only ever run benchmarking software twice. Seriously!

What I choose to focus on when I write a review is the emotional aspects of the game. How does it make you feel when you play it? I think that at the end of the day, that's what defines a successful game. It's also why I hate trumped up Tech Demos like Crysis.

For those of you who still don't understand what I'm driving at - watch At The Movies or whatever. Do they talk about what sort of cameras the director chose, and what engine he or she used for any 3d effects? Did they instead talk about how they connected to the characters and the situations on the screen? The gaming industry seems to be the only place where an emotional product is mainly dissected in terms of it's technical qualities. And I'm pretty sick of it.

Thanks for listening, I feel better now.

Karl is a highly opinionated host and reporter for the Rapid Fire Podcast. He is currently attending Uni, and working towards his lifetime dream of becoming a Games Developer.

Better Know a Podcaster

Each "Better Know a Podcaster" post details a member of the Rapid Fire team.

Greetings, I'm Nick call sign "Humorous Llama" and I'm the other host of Rapid Fire.

My gaming history stretches from playing captain comic in 1989 through to Red Dead Redemption this week.

My first multiplayer experience was Doom over IPX and I've been LAN'ing ever since. I can appreciate any game, on any plaform.

When i'm not gaming I'm looking at the latest mods, blogs and news about gaming culture.

As of October 2009 i've been fighting for gamer rights as an admin of the Facebook group GrowUpAustralia. I've been known to organise events and send regular emails/letters to australian politicians amongst other activities.

My favorite games in no particular order:

Deus Ex, Baldurs Gate Series, Uncharted 2, Half-life Series,System Shock 2, Planescape, Wing Commander 4, Total Annihilation, Super Mario Galaxy, Red Alert 2, Katamari, Portal, Quake Series, Powerslide, Grim Fandango and the Left 4 Dead Series

Nick is an easy going host and editor for the Rapid Fire Podcast. He is currently working as computer technician and edging towards his lifetime dream of becoming a game reviewer/designer

Red Dead Redemption... Coming to PC this year?

While many of you are playing the XBox 360 or Playstation 3 releases of Red Dead Redemption (rockstar's 4 years in development free roaming western shooter ) you may be wondering where the pc release is.

According to a future issue of gamer informer, Red Dead is currently being worked on for the PC platform. Given Rockstars history of releasing PC versions for all its titles, rapidfire assumes this info is solid.

After clocking around 10 hours on the PS3 version, i can't wait to see how the game looks and plays on my pc. Hanging on for a PC version might just be worth the wait.
-Nick

Better Know a Podcaster

Each "Better Know a Podcaster" post details a member of the Rapid Fire team.

Hello, I'm Karl call sign DumbparameciuM. I'm one of the two hosts of the Rapid Fire Podcast.

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember. I'm just old enough to consider myself a member of the DOS 1.0 generation. Old enough to remember our 2600 baud modem. Old enough to remember how much of a relief Norton Commander was. My favorite games back in the day were shmups. I'd spend hours playing and replaying the original FPS games - Wolf3D, Doom and Doom 2, All the Duke Nukems. Even games like Heretic, Hexen, and Descent.

As I got older, my tastes expanded. I was soon a rabid Sega supporter - I owned both a Genesis and a Mega Drive. Favourites at the time included G-Loc, Road Rash, Sonic 2(of course), and Michael Jacksons Moonwalker. (The last one is an actual game. Check it out, it's one of the most hilarious things you'll ever come across). After being introduced to the Metal Slug series (at the now closed Sega World) I became a huge Neo-Geo fanboy, but could never afford a cabinet or even one of their handhelds.

It wasn't long before I was back to the PC though, spending lots of time with the new generation of 3d FPS games - I can still remember the first time I played Quake, which just blew my mind. Likewise with UT. The crazy speed just blew my mind. Only a few short years later, I joined the LAN scene, and found my element. I miss those days, and I'm always pestering the clan to have more of them.

Ever since, my main gaming focus has been competitive FPS. I prefer deathmatch over anything else, but that seems to be getting less common these days. I'm currently going through a Counter Strike renaissance.

What I've written here is only a very small selection of games I've played. I'd list everything, but that would be boring and obnoxious (and who really cares that I've put approximately three hundred hours into Creatures 2: Deluxe anyway).

Karl is a highly opinionated host and reporter for the Rapid Fire Podcast. He is currently attending Uni, and working towards his lifetime dream of becoming a Games Developer.

Rapid-Fire blog is live

Rapid-Fire is dedicated to critiquing all things gaming. Our intent is to update this blog tri weekly with links to our features/news. The Rapid Fire blog is also the place for articles and commentary which doesn't quite fit into our podcast.

If you haven't already, join our FACEBOOK GROUP, FAN PAGE and have a listen to our FIRST PODCAST.

Love us ? Hate us? Wish we had more content* ? ha! write it in the comments.


-Nick