Topics Include:

What we are drinking

What we are playing

Back to basics it just GUI J and B Dazzler

We take a trip down memory lane?

All this and more!

Intro song “Beer” by the band Psychostick, go check them out at www.psychostic.com

This weeks outro song is “Shes Fine” By DJ Kahled

Direct Download (right click, save as)(to get the link you must post first, then you will see a direct download link, copy that and replace the direct download link that you see here. Only the red section will change)

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B Dazzler, Burnout Paradise, Castle Crashers, Fable 2, GUI J, Game Hounds, PS3, PSP, PlatformNation.com, Playstation, Podcast, Rockband, The Gamers Pub, TheGamersPub.com, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, beer, microsoft | 1 Comment »

A big thanks this week to Mark Rea, Gamer Tag: “A Dark Knight 2” for suggesting “Shock Top” beer in this picture from his iPhone.  It’s a Belgian white wheat ale from Anheuser-Busch with 5.2% alcohol by volume.  Mark gives it a “Beerific Buy”.  BDazzler is drinking it for show #45.  Tune in to get my take on this beer.

Want your picture on the Pub wall? (Not the bathroom wall, like GUI J)  We welcome beer suggestions via pictures, emails, or even shipped to us for those micro brews with limited distribution.

B Dazzler, beer, listener, suggestions | No Comments »

Hey Bros n Hoes, the Xbox360 Fanboys, have taken the liberty of breaking down the Halo 3 expansion teaser that was released yesterday. So, if most of you can take off your fanboy, hate eyes, and look at what Bungie may be doing, I think you’ll find it and interesting spin that I cant wait to play. Oh, I forgot I’m not allowed to say that cause if I like Halo I’m not a real gamer. Oh well ODST, FTW!

GUI J, Halo 3, The Gamers Pub, TheGamersPub.com, microsoft | 1 Comment »

With that little teaser, let it be known we are bringing back “The Gamers Pub” gaming night. We are looking to hold them on Saturdays around 10-11 P.M. Eastern you let us know what games you want to play on The Gamers Pub’s forums at www.platformnation.com also we will have a poll up so the community can decide what multiplayer games all us Pubbers should own. More to come soon, so go over there and help us make our community better. Also the hosts and writer at TGP will be learing up our friends list over on XBL so if you send us a friends request make sure to tag it with some sort of message containing The Gamers Pub, so we know who you are.
Thanks,
GUI J

The Gamers Pub | No Comments »

Bachelor party last night, don’t know where I am…so no Gamers Pub this week. Sorry, I still love you, the cake is in her thighs. Someone help me find my keys?

GUI J

The Gamers Pub | 4 Comments »

Lat Sunday was Rock Band 2 day. I just got off of work and went to a homeboy’s place and played it. The good news is that instruments from both Guitar Hero and Rock Band work on the sequel. And although my friend did not pony up the five dollars to import Rock Band’ s setlist, the game automatically recognized his DLC, which is great.

Another important thing: No Fail mode, a.k.a Drunk Mode, works as advertised. Believe me when I say it was tested.

Benjamin Salmon’s Take:

Although Rock Band 2 is little more than a system update, it’s a very welcome one. The user-interface to kick off local multiplayer got a much needed overhaul. With the original, I often found myself leaning over the drumkit’s D-pad to coordinate the set-up. However, giving the band a stable of musicians to work from streamlines the process significantly and should make getting a ramshackle room of folks together to play the game much simpler.

More importantly for me, the guitar tracks have had the challenge bumped up a bit. For the most part, I found Rock Band a bit of a cakewalk, except for that god damn, hell-sent Molly Hatchet track. I play on hard and typically score five stars, although I gave a shot at expert today, but that didn’t go well at all. The game served up one of it surprise video shoots (not much changes, you get more fans and there’s some pretty rad effects onscreen) with Spoonman as the track. I held it together pretty well, but the solo destroyed me, leaving me demoralized and embittered.

Among the new features are Challenges, temporary setlists that go out over Xbox Live for bands and players to compete in. I’ve played a couple of them, but end up ranking pretty low, as I’m playing solo. But as soon as I convene my band, this should be one of the things that keep me coming back.

I’ve yet to give online play a shot yet (GUI J?), but it worked just fine in the original and I expect it to be no different this time.

Regarding the import of songs, it’s as painless as advertised. The only DLC I have is my beloved Doolittle by Pixies, and it showed up automatically. I did pony up the cash to relicense Rock Band tracks, and its all nicely displayed in the Rock Band 2 library.

The true test is tomorrow. I’m packing my 360 and all my gear out to my brother’s and I’ll let my nephews bang around on the drums and shred on the guitars under No Fail mode. It’ll probably just be a glorious symphony of missed notes, but if they have fun, that’ll be the final nail in the coffin of my sister-in-law’s resistance to getting a 360. And then my band will have a new guitarist and I can live out my dream to be a drummer.

All told, Rock Band 2 unsurprisingly seems exactly like how Rock Band would have turned out if Harmonix had another year to work on it. And that’s just right.

The Gamers Pub | No Comments »

Wow, notes and everything…

I figure it’s about time to post about this.  It would be a bit boring to listen to on a podcast, so I figured a post with some helpful links was the way to go.  I’ve learned a lot with some simple internet research, and I want to help speed you along with my newly found wisdom.

Here are some main things to think about:

• Style: Learn about different styles of beer.  Not all beers are meant to taste the same.  Some are suppose to be bitter, some more watery.  If you don’t know how the basic style is generally meant to taste, you may miss the boat when doing a review.  Check out a bit about beer styles from Wikipedia.  I may post more about some beer styles in the future.
• Temperature: Not too hot, not too cold.  That’s right, beer can be too cold!  At least as far as a decent review goes.  If a beer is too cold, it can numb your taste buds, and hide flavors.  I’ve found an average recommended temperature for lighter, low alcohol beers is 45°F and darker, higher alcohol beers is 55°F (Canadians must do their own °F to °C conversions).
• Glassware: Yep, what you drink out of can make a difference in the taste of what you are drinking.  So this means, for a true beer review, don’t just swig your swill out of the bottle (or dare I say can… ugh!)  Research different glassware for different styles of beer.  Here’s the Wikipedia page on beer glassware just to get you started.  Here’s another topic that might get its own post sometime.  PS  Make sure it’s clean too.
• More than one review at a time: There may not be many serious reviewers out there, but here are a few, quick tips for multiple reviews at a time.  First, try to drink from least flavor to most flavor.  You might get a general idea from the color/darkness, but lots of hops, special spices, and strong fruits can ruin you palate for less flavorful beers, that may be darker.  Second, cleanse your palate.  It’s not just for snooty wine tasters (no offense to the winos out there, I enjoy some wine now and then too.)  If you’re serious, some water, plain white bread, and/or air popped popcorn will keep your beers from running together.  Avoid salty or greasy foods that can affect your taste.  Speaking of food, don’t review on an empty stomach as it can change your mood and perceptions as well as make it too easy to get drunk, and that won’t help anyone learn about the beer, including you.  On a smaller note, sample sizes usually don’t offer enough for a proper tasting.  Also, very smokey environments, (second hand or first hand smoke) can really screw up your taste.  Lastly, take some notes.  You’ll forget beers and get reviews and tastes confused.

Now, on to the actually review:

• Appearance (A): Take a look at your beer before you gulp it down.  It’s pretty.  Look at color, carbonation, head and how long it stays around, clear or cloudy.  Ultimately, does it look like something you’d want to drink?
• Smell (S): Not just a sniff, but really stick your nose in it (not the actual beer) and take a long, strong smell.  Taste and smell are closely related, so noting smell can help you notice more subtle tastes later on.  Some smells to look for; “Malts: sweet, roasty, smoky, toasty, chocolaty, nutty, caramelly, biscuity? Hops: dank / resiny, herbal, perfumy, spicy, leafy, grassy, floral, piney, citrusy? Yeast will also create aromas. You might get fruity or flowery aromas (esters) from ales and very clean aromas from lagers, which will allow the malt and hop subtleties to pull through.” – this quote is an excerpt from beeradvocate.com.  I couldn’t say it any better.
• Taste (T): Ah, here’s the big one, the one we’ve been waiting for, so don’t just gulp it, savor this moment and really taste the beer.  Here you need to note flavors which should be simmular to the smells.  Make special note of balance of flavors (is one aspect too overpowering?), or was it brewed for certain “dominance in character?”  Perhaps most importantly, does it fit the style?  (If you don’t like a light beer, first why are you reviewing it, but if so, be open minded enough to say it’s good for the light beer style.)
• Mouthfeel (M): This one sounds a bit weird at first.  Mostly, look for, well, feel or body!  Reviewers typically use terms such as heavy or light, thick/chewy or thin/watery, smooth or coarse.  Also look at carbonation: is too flat or over-carbonated?  Do the bubbles tickle GUI J’s uvula?  Wait, that’s a different review altogether…
• Drinkability (D): Here’s the final, over-all vertict.  Buy or steal from a friends party?  OK, maybe a bit more detailed.  Was it easy to drink?  Did it make you want another?  I usually throw-in a value for the price too.

That’s the basics as I see them.  If you have a different take on it, leave us a comment or shoot us an email.  Send us your review on a beer and we may read it on the show.  Any one want to try some wine?

Now that we know how to do a real beer review, let’s dumb it down for GUI J and make some simple “Four Word BEER Reviews” at the Gamers Pub forums.  I just created a new sub-forum, so go there, read the rules and review away!

Footnotes: Most of my information comes from Beer Advocate (beeradvocate.com) and links provided there and www.Wikipedia.org.  If you want to get really serious about beer reviewing beer and become a professional, look into Beer Judge Certification Program (www.bjcp.org)

B Dazzler, GUI J, Review, beer | No Comments »

Here is the new trailer for this weeks upcoming Burnout Paradise update, I cant say I admire what a developer is doing more, than the Criterion Kids. This is how in game DLC should be, as one of the Pubs most loved games, the only question I have for you guys and gals is. Why don’t you own this game…B Dazzler, Ben, Tabari..you bastards!

Burnout Paradise, GUI J, The Gamers Pub, TheGamersPub.com | No Comments »

Topics Include:

What we are drinking

What we are playing

Too many B’s GUI J is dubbing this the B’ach episode

PS3 Spectacular are GUI a BDazz Xbox fanboys or are they frugal gamers?

All this and more!

Mr.B4 is in the house and he has a serious case of turrets syndrome!

Intro song “Beer” by the band Psychostick, go check them out at www.psychostic.com

This weeks outro song is “Listen to DJ’s” By Long Beach Dub All-Stars

Direct Download (right click, save as)(to get the link you must post first, then you will see a direct download link, copy that and replace the direct download link that you see here. Only the red section will change)

Subscribe to this podcast:

 

 Standard Podcast [103:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

360, Arcade, B Dazzler, Burnout Paradise, Castle Crashers, Dead Space, Desz, GUI J, Marketplace, Mr B4, PS3, PlatformNation.com, Playstation, Podcast, Rock Band, Rockband, The Gamers Pub, TheGamersPub.com, XBL Radio, XBLA, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, beer, microsoft, psn, sony | 4 Comments »

Hey Pubsters here is something I thought you would enjoy.

“Taken from NBC.COM”

ST. LOUIS — Ten angry beer drinkers are trying to derail the largest brewery takeover in history.

The group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming Belgium-based InBev’s $52 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. would violate U.S. antitrust law if completed as planned in the coming months.The suit, filed in Anheuser-Busch’s hometown of St. Louis, does not seek financial damages but asks a judge to block the deal. The Department of Justice often reviews large acquisitions to determine if they are legal under U.S. law. But attorneys behind the lawsuit said they want to halt the deal regardless of the verdict in Washington.

“The Justice Department can do whatever they want. They have no absolutely no effect on private actions,” said Joseph Alioto, the lead attorney in the case. He declined to say Wednesday who was funding the lawsuit.Anheuser-Busch said it will fight the suit.”We believe that the claims alleged in the lawsuit are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend against them,” Gary Rutledge, vice president of legal and government affairs for Anheuser-Busch, said in a brief statement.Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona would not confirm or deny whether the agency is reviewing the case.InBev’s proposed purchase of Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, Michelob and other brands, was met with a wave or legal challenges when first announced this summer. Shareholders filed more than a dozen lawsuits, some trying to stop the deal, others trying to hasten it. Anheuser-Busch even sued InBev before it accepted the offer, characterizing the bid as an illegal scheme.InBev Chief Executive Carlos Brito said this summer the deal wouldn’t violate U.S. antitrust law because InBev is a niche player in the United States, selling brands like Stella Artois and Beck’s. Brito said adding InBev’s portfolio to Anheuser-Busch’s roughly 50 percent market share would not make a sizable difference in the company’s U.S. market dominance.The suit filed Tuesday challenges the deal’s legality on different grounds. It says the merged brewery, to be called Anheuser-Busch InBev, would have a monopoly over beer production in the United States. The lawsuit argues that combining two of the world’s biggest breweries will reduce competition.”If InBev is allowed to purchase Anheuser-Busch, there no longer would be any significant major potential competitor to influence pricing and marketing practices in the United States.” the suit says.Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are listed as 10 individuals who drink Anheuser-Busch and would be affected if the company raised prices.Barry Ginsburg said he joined the suit because he is worried how the deal might affect his hometown of St. Louis. He said plaintiffs in the case care about more than paying a little extra for their beer.”This is bigger than us,” Ginsburg said. “We all have a pretty good idea what happens when people have a monopoly, and when it’s a foreign company that has a monopoly.”Alioto is also suing to stop the proposed acquisition by Delta Air Lines Inc. of Northwest Airlines Corp. In that case, he represents a group of passengers who claim the deal would violate antitrust law.

GUI J, The Gamers Pub, TheGamersPub.com, beer | No Comments »