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Thanks to Jeff, Nick, and Rey, the Blogcast thrived during my absence last week. But I’ve returned from the exotic lands of the East Coast bearing priceless gifts! First, I speak with Ian Dallas, the creative director of upcoming PSN knockout The Unfinished Swan, to learn what really inspired this distinctive game — and why those monochromatic ink-blot levels are only the beginning of what’s in store. Then I catch up with Steve Masters, lead game designer for Assassin’s Creed III, to get the inside scoop on those jaw-dropping naval battles that blew us away during PlayStation’s E3 press conference. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to most efficiently dismantle a rampaging man-of-war battleship, put this podcast on your shortlist.

Of course, we’ve got the usual array of Blogcast niceties: Next week’s North American PSN lineup for July 31st, a slew of “player queries” and tips, a new Mystery Theme, even a new PSN Gem of the Week! Oh, and I share my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises (no spoilers) much to Nick’s chagrin. It’s a grand old time!

Stuff We Talked About The Unfinished Swan Assassin’s Creed III Naval Warfare The Dark Knight Rises Twisted Metal Spec Ops: The Line and why we play violent shooter games by Tom Bissell

The Cast Sid Shuman – PlayStation Sr. Social Media Specialist Nick Suttner – PlayStation Sr. Product Evaluator

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game
details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating
descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.