Intermission: The Stephen and Bryan Show

Zach and Cameron are gone; lost in the hustle and bustle of life like so many wayward tumbleweeds. Stephen and Bryan are busy playing World of Warcraft and, without the peer pressure from their esteemed colleagues, have no reason to stop. You, listener, are a special VIP guest on their trip through Shadowfang Keep, a perilous dungeon teeming with ghosts and switches that don’t do anything. Although you can’t actually see or hear the game and Bryan leaves his brother alone for a full unedited ten minutes, the adventures you’ll have in Azeroth will never be forgotten. Monsters and unsanitary kitchens don’t phase the two heroes one bit as they depend on each other and moist cornbread to charge forth, never ever giving up until the bitter end, during which they give up. Best of all, Cameron will have a fit that this episode was recorded in the first place.


Random Encounters: Another Castle

This second installment of Random Encounters spins the eternal wheel of randomness and selects a game never before discussed on Disembodied Voices. Armed with the knowledge that they’re dealing with a Kickstarted platformer with randomly generated levels, Stephen and Bryan flounder (PUN– it’ll make sense later) around in an attempt to find say something coherent. Unfortunately, this only serves to confound them and possibly anger Jonathan Blow, so please listen in to give them moral support.

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Music: Precious Metals, originally from Pokemon Gold Version and remixed by Benjamin Briggs, Insert Rupee, and halc.

StarCraaaaaaaft!

From the deepest depths of the internet, within the farthest reaches of any known entity, there comes two men. Two men… who… aren’t really all that good at StarCraft II. But hey! They certainly like to talk about it! Cameron and Bryan have been playing ungodly amounts of StarCraft II and have loads to say about it as they discuss what could make the game better or worse and how they can improve on their tired and quickly failing build order! If you happen to like either Cameron or Bryan, or maybe you just like hearing about StarCraft II, this new Disembodied Voices mini episode entitled “StarCraaaaaaaft!” (that’s with seven As) will be right up your proverbial alley. Unless you don’t happen to have a proverbial alley. Then you might want to just leave. Not to force you either way, of course. These are all suggestions.


Random Encounters: Gone Fishin’

A new series born by necessity, Random Encounters picks a random video game from the void and forces the participants to talk about it. This inaugural episode is off to an exciting start with Gone Fishin’, an MS-DOS title that nobody in the world knows about (including the panelists). All sorts of fishing mechanics are explored in great detail, from SEGA Bass Fishing to World of Warcraft, with the entire whirlpool of discussion centering around the classic gem of the good old days, Gone Fishin’. Join Stephen and Bryan for this adventure, listeners. Otherwise they’ll be lonely.


Music: Precious Metals, originally from Pokemon Gold Version and remixed by Benjamin Briggs, Insert Rupee, and halc.

Game of the Year Award Thing 2012: Other and Game of the Year

This is it. The final episode of the Disembodied Voices Game of the Year Award Thing 2012. You can soon let out that breath you’ve been holding since early January, but not before two more hours of riveting entertainment that just might send chills down your spine. All the awards that couldn’t find a home among previous categories congregate in the Other segment as one, big party before stepping aside for the second phase: Game of the Year itself. This intense discussion quickly begins to resemble the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight as two games in particular are grilled under the spotlight of destiny. Which game will take away this grand honor? Don’t scroll down to not find out!


The Winners of Other and Game of the Year:

Best First Impression:

  • Darksiders II
  • LEGO Lord of the Rings
  • Borderlands 2
  • Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… Darksiders II

Best Surprise (In a Good Way):

  • The Walking Dead (Cameron)
  • Nintendo Land (Bryan and Stephen)
  • Spec Ops: The Line (Zachary)

A winner is… All of them!

Best Japanese Developed Game:

  • Dragon’s Dogma
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Nintendo Land
  • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed

A winner is… Dragon’s Dogma

Game of the Year: (!!!)

  • Darksiders II
  • Dishonored
  • Dragon’s Dogma
  • Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… Dishonored

Game of the Year Award Thing 2012: Story

Since before the recording of human history, people have told stories of great deeds, turning life to myth and myth to life through the ages, creating something intangible yet eternally meaningful– and all so the DV Cast can argue about video games! The Disembodied Voices Game of the Year Award Thing 2012 takes on the hefty topic of storytelling and everything that surrounds it, even if that basically just means talking about The Walking Dead and Thomas Was Alone for two hours. Vigorous debate frosted with a light layer of contention fuels this episode of tough choices and everyone was kind of tired so it’s a wonder the whole thing didn’t fall to pieces. Please do listen at your leisure as the adventure unfolds!


The Winners of Story:

Best Sequence of Narrative Events:

  • The Walking Dead
  • Spec-Ops: The Line
  • Thomas Was Alone
  • Silent Hill: Downpour

A winner is… The Walking Dead

Best New Living or Pseudo Living Entity:

  • Lee – The Walking Dead
  • Clementine – The Walking Dead
  • Thomas – Thomas Was Alone
  • Vaas – Far Cry 3

A winner is… Lee – The Walking Dead

Best Character Relationship:

  • Lee and Clementine – The Walking Dead
  • Lee and Kenny – The Walking Dead
  • Master Chief and Cortana – Halo 4
  • The Player and Claptrap – Borderlands 2
  • Thomas and Chris – Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… Lee and Clementine – The Walking Dead

Best Sense of Funniness:

  • LEGO Lord of the Rings (Stephen and Bryan)
  • Borderlands 2 (Cameron)
  • LEGO Batman 2: DC Heroes (Zachary)

A winner is… All of them!

Game of the Year Award Thing 2012: Sound

The hill are alive with the sound of the Disembodied Voices Game of the Year Award Thing 2012, and this time audio is the star. One of the more installments in recent memory, this episode goes over the musical masterpieces of last year, along with a voice acting prize almost awarded to Mark Hamill for no legitimate reason. Subjectivity clashes with objectivity as the (very different) members of the DV Cast try to make decisions without burning to ash. You won’t find a more exciting Game of the Year conversation on the Internet (or anyone still talking about Game of the Year, in all seriousness), so you have no choice. Listen, have a good time, and drop a comment if you have something you want to say!


The Winners of Sound:

Best Stuff You Dance To:

  • Darksiders II
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
  • Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… Darksiders II

Best Song of Thematic Representation:

A winner is… World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Best Stuff (Singular) You Dance To:

A winner is… all of them!

Words That Are Spoken Vocally:

  • The Walking Dead
  • Max Payne 3
  • Far Cry 3
  • Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… The Walking Dead

Game of the Year Award Thing 2012: Visuals

Round 2! Fight! Or, at the very least, engage in a rousing and civil discussion about video games. The topic rotates around visual splendor in the Disembodided Voices Game of the Year Award Thing 2013, so expect a lot of inadequate adjectives about the way stuff looks as two hours of quality podcast material unfold. The competition is fierce, pitting the most beautiful of landscapes against the most jaw-dropping of action sequences, and Season 3 of My Little Pony was inches away from taking home the prize. Enjoy the show, and feel free to be opinionated in the comments! Also feel free to be totally quiet. Your extroversion preferences are respected here at Disembodied Voices.


The Winners of Visuals:

Best Stuff You Look at Technically:

  • Dear Esther
  • Max Payne 3
  • Battlefield 3: Armored Kill
  • Assassin’s Creed 3

A winner is… Assassin’s Creed 3

Best Stuff You Look at Overall:

  • Journey
  • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
  • Darksiders II
  • Gravity Rush

A winner is… Darksiders II

Kirby and Meta Knight Present… Best Character Design:

  • LEGO Lord of the Rings / LEGO Batman 2: DC Heroes
  • Assassin’s Creed III
  • Dragon’s Dogma
  • Thomas Was Alone

A winner is… Dragon’s Dogma

Niftiest Visual Aside (props to Stephen for the name and correcting Bryan):

  • Sand Physics – Journey (Bryan)
  • The Panoramic Gamepad – Nintendo Land (Stephen)
  • Blinking – Dishonored (Cameron)
  • Griffon on Fire – Dragon’s Dogma (Zachary)

A winner is… all of them!

Game of the Year Award Thing 2013: Gameplay

It’s a new year, and that means it’s time to talk about the old one! The Disembodied Voices Game of the Year Award Thing  has arrived with a gargantuan kablam, here to round up 2012′s highest and lowest peaks with the subtle poignancy this podcast is known for. “Gameplay” is merely the first of many categories, so look forward to the coming weeks of more heated discussion and joyful reminiscing. The results of this episode are published below, which is an open invitation for you– the listener– to jot down your own winners in the comments. Friendly discussion and no hard feelings will follow. Unless you dig up the Dishonored vs. Mark of the Ninja discussion, in which case you’re blacklisted.


Opening/ending song: Full Mast, originally from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and remixed by Preenus.

The Winners of Gameplay:

Best Stuff You Play:

  • Mark of the Ninja
  • SSX
  • Dishonored
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown

A winner is… Dishonored

Best New Thingy in a Game:

  • Pawns – Dragon’s Dogma
  • Anonymous Multiplayer – Journey
  • Blink – Dishonored
  • Paint Mechanic – The Unfinished Swan

A winner is… Blink – Dishonored

Best Level Design:

  • Far Cry 3
  • Darksiders II
  • Legend of Grimrock
  • Dishonored

A winner is… Darksiders II

Best Stuff You Play With Additional Participants:

  • SSX
  • Nintendo Land
  • Total War: Shogun 2
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

A winner is… Nintendo Land

Espionage Santa Xperience

Welcome one and welcome all to the first annual Espionage Santa Xperience! To celebrate the gift of giving and, in equal turn, receiving, the DV Cast have each been randomly assigned another podcaster to shop for via Steam. But here’s the catch: The recipient must play his gifted game within one week’s time regardless of quality or malicious intent on part of the benefactor. The presents have been figuratively wrapped with care, awaiting this very day– Christmas– to be opened. Join in the jolly festivities to discover the secret treasures that lie within, and tune in next week to hear the results!

Opening/ending song: Christmas in the Village (Silver Bells), originally from Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals and remixed by Dale North.