<p>Chris was at GDC this week. Mumbles couldn’t make it. This means no Spoiler Warning. It also means the Diecast is a little lighter than usual. But! We’ll have a special GDC-focused Diecast later this week. In the meantime, here is your weekly dose of NERD:</p>
<p>Hosts: <a href="http://www.chocolatehammer.org/">Rutskarn</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)">Josh</a>, and <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale">Shamus</a>.</p>
<p>Show notes: <span id="more-22616"></span></p>
<p><strong>0:30 Rutskarn is playing Alpha Protocol.</strong></p>
<p>Of course, no discussion of Alpha Protocol is complete without mentioning the Disclosure Alert LP:</p>
<p>And I’ll repeat my suggestion here: We need a term for the “first ten minutes of Morrowind” problem. The thing where an otherwise engaging title has a horrible and off-putting intro.</p>
<p><strong>26:00 Josh is still playing Dark Souls.</strong></p>
<p><strong>38:00 Rutskarn answers Diecast mailbag question from last week, “What game would you give to a different developer?”</strong></p>
<p>From here we launch into a discussion of LA Noire.</p>
<p><strong>42:00 Shamus is still playing Path of Exile.</strong></p>
<p><strong>45:00 MAILBAG!</strong></p>
<p><em>1) How do you feel about cheat codes and what are your favorites?</em></p>
<p>We get into a really interesting conversation about what happens when the player hits a frustration point and how they respond when they overcome it.</p>
<p><em>2) Roughly: What’s the difference between good DLC and bad DLC?</em></p>
<p><em>3) Do you think the relative shortage of female protagonists has anything to do with the additional difficulty of animating hair?</em></p>
<p><strong>Under no circumstances will we be discussing feminism this week. I know this kind of strayed a tiny bit close to that, but let’s not do it. Nothing could possibly be said this week that wasn’t said last week. </strong></p>
