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I recently read the article by Stephen Johnson of G4TV about the recently crown Miss America, Caressa Cameron from Virginia.  Ms. Cameron used the competition as a platform to speak out against video games.  She actually suggested parents should: "Take away the TV, take away the video games, set some standards for our children." She went on to suggest kids should be outside, "playing imaginary games with sticks in the street like I most of us did when we were little."

While Miss America's advice is relatively sensible, consider the source. Is Cameron suggesting that little girls should be discouraged from playing video games in favor of participating in beauty pageants?  In order to be a pageant queen like Cameron, you'd have to devote a considerable amount of time to all the skills needed for Miss America-hood. Like wearing a sparkly dress; and waving and walking at the same time. All that is time when you're not "playing imaginary games with sticks."

So Cameron is suggesting it's better for girls to bleach their teeth, scrub their personalities, and starve themselves to earn the right to parade around in front of America and Rush Limbaugh (a Miss America judge) in order to be rated and evaluated like heads of cattle than it is to play video games. I’d rather see my daughter taking out noobs with headshots in MW2 than teetering around on too-high high heels and being evaluated for her looks by old men.

Now as for the fact that for some reasons video games continue to get the bad wrap of teaching children bad values, whatever happened to the parent actually taking responsibility for their lack of parenting?  I have seen many individuals that have happily let their child play video games for hours on end just to get the child out of their hair.  What is that teaching kids?  Video games have some value to them.  Right now my kids are playing video games that are teaching them, math, spelling, problem solving skills, and so forth.  I am glad they love playing the games because since doing so their school desire to do their work has increased because they are learning in a fun way.  Now are they monitor as to how much time they spend playing those games of course!  Are they encouraged to play outside and have some good old fashion fun?  Yes!  So I really think that Ms. Cameron needs to pull her head out of the bucket and stick to world peace or something like that because she clearly doesn’t understand the world of gaming.
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This movie stars Jackie Chan, Billy Ray Cyrus, and George Lopez

Overall it was a great movie that had many funny moments as well as the slap stick fighting style Jackie Chan is Famous for.  Billy Ray Cyrus is thankfully not in the movie as much as he could have been and George Lopez part was different then most characters he has played in the past.  I found myself several times shaking my head at the stupidity of the villains and their lackeys in the movie, but it was a family movie and they couldn’t go with a darker villain like you would find in a traditional bond movie. 

Overall it is a good comedy/family movie which we give a B-. 
 
 
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Steve Jackson Games
Card game for 3 or more players
Illustrated by John Kovalic

Munchkin really is a “Must Have” for anyone who enjoys tabletop roleplaying games for true fun value. Munchkin is a card game that likes to poke fun at RPG’s like Dungeons and Dragons - the hack 'n slash dungeon crawl variety. Honesty the games tagline says it all:

Kill The Monsters * Steal The Treasure * Stab Your Buddy


In Munchkin, you kill monsters and gain levels hoping to reach level 10 and win. As you play and kill, you gain treasure that you can use for bonuses, trade with other players, or sell off items to buy more levels. You can change your race (Human to start, also Elf, Dwarf or Halfling) and class (wizard, thief, warrior or cleric) all throughout play, and cause general chaos and mayhem. The other players can play cards to screw you over left and right, which is where the big fun in this game is.

The rules are even munchkiny. There are lines in the rules like "start the game by rolling dice and arguing over this sentence and if a word in missing any meaning". They even say you can cheat, as long as you're not caught! And the cards are just hilariously drawn and worded. You'll have so much fun stabbing your friends!

Some of the inspiration for the game came from the book also by Steve Jackson Games titled The Munchkin's Guide to Power Gaming. There's a lot of gags in this game, such as the monster "Gazebo" (you must face the gazebo alone!). It is worth the somewhat steep SRP of $25.

Munchkin is a great party game, you will have loads of laughs, and you'll end up making new in-jokes and references in your group when you play this game.

 
 
It's a game of choice, as established by its risk-taking but somewhat flawed predecessor, and this focus expands in the world of Fable 2 -- not only can you take the path of good or evil, but you can also choose someplace in between. How Fable 2 accommodates these decisions is found in the open-yet-focused world of Albion, a setting for people who like freedom -- in moderation. 

Similar in scope to games like Oblivion, but not quite so vast that you ever feel lost, Fable 2 manages to strike a clear line between its primary quests and its side quests by detailing which is which in its menu system. If you ever become distracted by the need to make money (which you will) and get sidetracked by a job (bartending, blacksmithing, chopping wood, gambling, etc.) or a side quest, Fable 2 -- unlike some RPGs -- allows you to check up on your primary objectives and see what your quest status is, where you need to go, and what you've already accomplished. Getting to any quest is as simple as finding it in the menu and confirming that you want to teleport there (assuming you've discovered the region it's in). Of course, for people who prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, you can simply run from zone to zone while exploring and fighting along the way. The purely optional glowing "bread crumb trail," which always points you in the right direction, keeps you from getting waylaid. While it may sound like it makes things too easy, it's merely convenient -- especially when you're constantly roaming off the path to sniff out treasure chests and "dig spots" found by your faithful canine companion (more on him later). With treasure chests, dig spots, and even secret underwater areas in bubbling points scattered around ponds, oceans, and lakes, it could be really easy to get disoriented chasing after Fable 2's many temptations. So, simply put, the glowing trail is a real lifesaver, especially in underground caverns (which, while mostly linear, occasionally offer multiple paths to explore). This is probably the reason that Fable 2 ditches the tiny overhead map that fans of the original Fable will fondly remember. Now, if you want to check the area map, you need to pause the game to pull it up in the menu, which wouldn't be too bad if the menu screen wasn't so laggy. The glowing trail is useful in a lot of ways, but if you're simply trying to get your bearings and figure out where you are in relation to, oh, the barbershop, you'll soon wish you had a minimap in one of the unused upper corners of the screen. The sluggish menus also make simple tasks -- like using multiple status-enhancing potions in a row -- quite cumbersome, as you have to re-enter the menu system after using each item. This gets pretty annoying.

Menu gripes aside, another of Fable 2's big additions is the aforementioned pooch partner (who you can name -- and rename -- once you purchase a collar for him). Your pet is useful in a number of ways; the first and most obvious is that he's good at sniffing out treasure and dig spots (which, with a spade, results in more treasure). This might suggest that it takes the challenge out of finding free loot, but when you're dealing with Fable 2's lush, overgrown woodland areas, finding the lush, moss-covered treasure chests can be quite challenging. You can improve your dog's loot-finding abilities (as well as his ferociousness in combat) using training books

The highly improved combat system is where Fable 2 really shines. It's glorious to behold, and this is where the game really separates itself from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republics and the Legend of Zeldas of the day. Featuring excellent melee-combat mechanics and an initially awkward but eventually elegant five-tiered spell system, Fable 2 keeps its fights out of menus. The combat and magic work so well because they're carefully entwined. The magic system features five tiers, all controlled by holding down the B button to charge between the five tiers (the higher the tier, the longer the charge). By using these Will spells in tandem with melee attacks (a quick tap to activate a tier 1 Time Control area-of-effect slowdown paves the way for bullet time-style carnage with swords, ranged attacks, or even more magic), Fable 2's combat proves incredibly flexible -- and as customizable as every other facet of the game.

The script is clever, well written, and frequently hilarious. Even the most serious characters often punctuate their ominously intoned orations with things like "Friday is poker night," which sounds mundane on paper, but in the right place, it's a genuine laugh-out-loud moment. The consistently awesome voice acting really helps -- even the tiniest, inconsequential peons in the world of Albion are rich with character and wit, and for the primary characters, the voiceovers are peerless.
 
 
Wow!  2009 is finally over and the year as a whole was amazing journey for us here at Dungeon Crawlers Radio.  2009 introduced the birth of the show.  The quicks of both Revan and Malak learning the mechanics of the show and how to better work with each other.  We were invited to the 2009 CONDuit convention (Which we hope we are invited back this year!). We suffered a fatal blow to the show when our hosting company closed up shop on us.  During that time we fell out of exsistance in the public eye, while we mad scrambled to come up with a solution.  That solution showed up a moth later when Drew Carillo a good friend of the show and host of Utah Caffiene.  Called Revan letting him know of his show on UtahFM.  Revan immediately contacted UtahFM and proceeded to work towards getting us on the air.  When the call came in to do our show live on the air starting in September we quickly agreed.  So at the beginning of 2009 on Janurary 11th we recorded and place our first podcast and technically our first show out to the public.  Our goal from day one was to get a live on-air show and in less then a year we achived that goal.  So here it is 2010 and just days away from our one year anniversary, what do we have in store for Dungeon Crawlers Radio?  Many things are coming your way this year.  We hope to take the show to new heights!  Have interviews, live shows, guests, and so much more!!  We hope that 2010 is a great year for not only us here are Dungeon Crawlers radio but for you as well!

-Revan and Malak
 
 
So what's the point here? Well, odds are good that you're a 4th Edition D&D player. If you are, odds are also good that you know folks who play other editions. And if you know folks who play other editions, odds are especially good that you've heard the complaint I'm about to address.

Before we go any further, let me say one thing: I don't mind if you're playing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Edition. If you're having a great time and your campaign is fun, keep doing what you're doing.

Personally, I wouldn't trade my 3rd Edition campaign memories for anything. If you're playing another edition because you're having fun, I'd say you're doing so for the right reason. Gaming should be about fun first and foremost, after all! That said, as a true believer in the current edition, as we have said all D&D players give 4th Edition a try at some point.

Anyway, if you're like me, you've likely heard some unfounded criticisms about 4E and been frustrated by them. A lot of misconceptions still float around in cyberspace, often spread by people who haven't even played the game. But I want to address one of the strangest here:

All roleplaying has been removed from D&D with 4th Edition.

The next time you hear this myth bantered around, invite these folks to your next 4th Edition session and show them firsthand the roleplaying opportunities available in the game.

Fourth edition doesn't include some of the mundane mechanical elements of character building that 3rd Edition did. For example, certain skills (I'm looking at you Craft and Profession) enabled a player to feel like his character had some sort of grounding in the "real world" of the campaign. Odds were good that you never made a Craft or Profession check in your game, but having ranks in that skill made you feel connected to your character's background. In 4th Edition, those skills are gone. Why? Because a character's statistics don't represent the absolute truth of a character's story. That's right -- one of the reasons those skills are gone is they hindered roleplaying.

Now if you want to say your character was a blacksmith's apprentice and knows how to make his own sword, just say so. Don't worry about feeling forced to reflect that story decision mechanically. Just write it on your character sheet.

Then you've got skill challenges. While they do include mechanical elements, they provide a structure that DMs can use to navigate complex non-combat situations. Most importantly, this is the first time the game has given DMs an easy way to reward characters for their participation. In other words, 4th Edition includes incentives to incorporate roleplaying (and other non-combat) situations into your game.
 
 
Do you remember the old childhood days sitting in fronto fthe TV watching Sesame Street on PBS?  Do you remember when you'd see a wall, table, or desk with a plate of cookies on it you knew who was going to soon appear!  Out of now where Cookie Monster would lurk up from no where see the plate of cookies and just devour them in seconds, with bits of cookies flying everywhere!  What happened to Cookie Monster?  Now he is on some agenda that cookies are only sometimes food?  He loves fruits and vegetables?  What happened to our favorite monster?  Are we so afraid of obesity in our children that we have to change charcters like cookie monster?  Now that he doesn't always eat cookies is he still Cookie Monster?  Check out this clip from the Colbert Report.
 
 
Well Dungeon Crawlers Radio has been live on the air with UtahFM for a month now and we would really like to hear your feedback on the show what you like, what you don't like, or any suggestions you have.
We are still testing the waters as to what we can do and what we can't.  What you as a listen enjoy and what just down right ticks you off!  So be a part of the show and help us out by giving us your opinion about the show!
Continue listening in every Monday Night 10:30 to midnight!
 
 
Come join Dungeon Crawlers Radio on Family Night, Monday September 28th @ 9:00pm.  Revan and Malak will be going through the twisted halls of Terror, panic, and horrors with zombies, ghouls, and a few demons mixed in before the airing of their show that night!  Last year Nightmare on 13th was voted one of the scariest haunted attractions in America by the Travel Channel!  We can’t wait to see what scary horrors they have in store for us!  We will see you there! 

 
 
Yes you are reading the head line right after months of greasing the squeeky wheel UtahFM has agreed to give Dungeon Crawlers Radio a Monday night time slot right after Utah Caffeine with Drew Carrillo.  Both shows are centered around things geek so begins the Monday Night Geek!!  So tune is every Monday Night from 10:30pm to Midnight starting September 21st 2009!