Sorry about the lack of a proper Rebel episode last week. In case you missed it, we just couldn’t get our recording act together due to schedule issues that were unavoidable. But, come hell or high water, we’re recording Game Club and Rebel FM this week; Game Club on Tuesday evening, and Rebel FM on Thursday. This is where you guys come in.
Previously we experimented with asking you guys (and girls) what you wanted to hear us talk about/comment on during the podcast, and we really enjoyed how that worked out. So, given that, take this chance to comment here and throw out some ideas for this week. If there’s one super fantastic idea, we’ll do that, or, if there are a lot of great ideas (which is very likely), maybe we’ll do a lightning round of topics for the second segment. If you like an idea that someone else has mentioned, be sure to add your opinion about it in reply. In the meantime, we appreciate your understanding about last week, and I promise that if it ever happens again, SOMEONE will post about it (like they were supposed to last week)!
-Arthur
1) If you were a hot dog starving in the desert, would you eat yourself?
2) Gaming burnout
I second that.i also wuld like to know ur thoughts on AC2. i would also like to know all the movies in the world that changed or enhanced your live thurout the ages.And what you think of the band TOOL (that ones been killing me all week)
I’d like to hear some thoughts on the initial info on Assassin’s Creed 2.
2 things:
1.) Why are there no left handed control schemes? What is with this dextro-centric nonsense?
2.) Why do 90% of game developers hate the color blind?
Those should be suitably random.
Wow is suppost to put out a version in the new patch for the color blind
World in Conflict has a color blind mode too. Surprized me at first.
I agree that game developers don’t do enough to help color blindness.
With more males than not having some degree of color blindness, developers should be cognizant of their key demographic and program games accordingly.
I had a color blind friend beat the shit out of me at puzzle fighter once. I am so embarrassed by this that I bring it up constantly.
What are your Favorite ‘Underratted’ or ‘Unheard’ of games/ Favorite games in general?
Just throwing out some random ideas i thought of on the spot. Maybe some of them will be good
1) Initial info on Assassin’s Creed 2 (second to Dragonzigg)
2) Demigod, What do you guys know of it?
3) Get a job yet?
4) If there was a game that you would want remade, even if its just a graphical upgrade, what game would it be?
5) Left 4 Dead survival pack is going to be out soon, or so they say, what do you think it is going to be like. What is the Survival mode going to be, is it going to be like Gears’s Horde more?
What would your dream job be, and why?
I think you guys should talk about the xbox game Advent Rising.
Advent Rising was my favorite game of all time,but got less than steller reviews.From what I remember the game was meant to be a 7 part series and the soundtrack was done by Tommy Tallarico.The game was published by GlyphX games and from what I can tell they have been gone since.
(Could you explain what happened to this great game.)
Apart from the halo series there has not been a franchise that has continually told a story through two or more titles.
I think an “epic poem” like the halo series needs to be attempted.I cannot recall any game that went beyond more than 3-5 different games that tell continually the same story.
I guess my question is do you think a series is attemptable,and who would try it?
-Benjamin for NC
GT:CrimpyElephant
O yeah and love the show,keep it up!
One more thing:Would you consider it for a future game club?.
++++Game is on steam for a mere TGI Fridays meal…$10
*Update:::More research
The guys that made the series were ousted by Majesco, so they went and made their own development team called Chair Entertainment (which was actually recently purchased by Epic, which, unlike Majesco, is actually able to sell their good games.) Majesco still has the rights to Advent Rising, but if Chair can get it back they’ve said they’re interested and all for moving forward with the sequels.
–Maybe you guys could use your hook ups to get some information from Chair.
Ahh the notion that Halo is some kind of epic poem really tickles me
Then a proud Elite warrior asked them:
“From where have you carried
these blue-lit grey guns,
these primitive trucks,
masked helmets, battle rifles?
I’m the Covenents’ messenger and Arbiter.
Never have I seen braver strangers.
I expect you’re here
to find adventure, not asylum.”
The brave one answered him,
he of the Spartan tribe,
hard under his helmet:
“We are Satans’ table companions.
Master Chief is my name.
I am pretty badass.”
Tickles you in a good way,or in a daddy dont touch me way?Like do you agree or disagree?
I’d love to hear you talk about your feelings about so-called “art games”, why you think they’ve appeared of late and where you think their place is in gaming?
What are you looking forward to playing the rest of the year? I plan on getting both Infamous and Prototype, but there does not seem to be a lot of hype for either of those games and I cannot think of any other major games that are definitely coming out this year. Will we have to wait for E3 to see what everyone’s 2009 holiday lineups will look like.
Infamous or Prototype.
Which are you getting? and why
Do you have any games that you feel all gamers should play at least once for some reason (i.e. amazing story/gameplay, technological advances, innovations)?
- Games from the last generation I should have played
- Morality in games; I remember when I saw the GDC co-op Ryan mentioned that he always plays good; I do as well… I will go as far as to reload a previous save in some games to avoid evil actions. Is that kind of hard lined activity a trend? Are there good players and evil players? Does anyone switch and/or go with the flow, or is everyone polarized?
- The game first game you played to such an extent that it made you decide that video gaming was less a hobby and more of a passion.
Do you think some gamers attitudes are becoming more radical as they attempt to sustain an identity whose meaning and connotations are in flux?
Discuss:
- BioShock 2 gameplay footage
- Shadow of the Colossus film
- Six Days in Fallujah: how can you say/presume that something is “trivializing” the Iraq War when you don’t know a damn thing about it because the game was only announced two days before you took a stand against it?
- Assassin’s Creed II: apparently, the dude’s name is pronounced EH-zee-oh
- Patapon 2 to be digital-only? Is Sony perhaps slowly killing off the UMD format in preparation for a UMD-less PSP 2?
- Have publishers crossed the line into absurd ridiculousness when it comes to promoting their games? Or did that happen long ago?
- Great cover artwork, or GREATEST cover artwork? And do you guys think there should be a “canon” of must-play video games, à la the Criterion Collection or the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry?
That should be enough to get you guys started.
Alright, so I lied about the whole “I’ll try to use less HTML next time” thing. Sue me. I don’t think I borked your comments section this time, though!
Oh, one more thing: is this not the most awesome technology on the planet? Don’t you want it to be implemented at every sports venue?
I also would like the topic of the game Six Days in Fallujah to be discussed. Can video games portray serious subject matter such as the Iraq War without exploiting it for entertainment? Can games be on par with movies or books in informing people about significant, catastrophic events? I think they can.
Ahh.. I dunno about that. Games are primarily for fun and entertainment only (as much as you “games are art.. narrative blurr blarhgh blururrrrr” crowd like to protest it). I just think that a military operation that occurred not less than 10 years ago in a war that is still shipping caskets to us on a daily basis should not be drawn on directly in a medium that is primarily for fun. It just seems tactless to me. The phrase “too son” exists for a reason. sometimes its too soon.
I partially agree with you based on games that we have now. The shooters we have now are all about the glorification of violence with cheap kills, thrills, and online multiplayer team death matches. All of these things would not be appropriate to include in a game about the recent Iraq War. Maybe it will be in 10 years. But games can evolve from being primarily known as a medium that people use just for entertainment. I don’t see why a game developer can’t tell a story that may be controversial through a video game in a tasteful way. Six Days in Fallujah may not succeed in doing this, but that doesn’t mean that future games that make the attempt will suffer the same fate.
What about talking about your guys’ pile of shame.
I am interested in this as well.
1. Do you think Brick and mortar retail will be able to compete in the long run? I feel that steam, and direct 2 drive as well as PSN, and XBL have built good infrastructures to the beginning of digital downloads. How long can gamestop survive? Will used games support them forever?
2. Griefing in MMO’s? It seems that at least chuf has played a lot of MMO’s. Just curious to see if you’ve ever been griefed (gotten items stolen, or tricked, played a prank)
or if you have ever griefed other players online.
I think your anecdotes of your online escapades are gold. Even though I only played daoc for a year, it was enough for me to understand the hilarity of your stories. Keep up with the great podcasts. Props to your cat, for adding character to your podcast, and also random Oakland ghetto noises.
Have a good trip to the UK Aegies.
What is your take on the “Games as Art” debate?
I would love to hear more Anthony Civ/Viva/Sad dating stories
Will there be a console FPS backlash or will we continue to get Halo 5, 6, 7 etc..
Explain yourselves. First Nick,then Phil,now scheduling conflicts with Chuf and yourself. Will there be a ESG backup crew in the event this happens again?
I just want more Anthony Civilization stories.
I’m with Doug about a discussion on “Gaming Burnout”. Every gamer has probably gone through a time that you just don’t feel like playing a game for a while and do other things.
Yeah.. for me it’s called “having a girlfriend”.
Could you talk about the Beatles rock band?
Here’s something that I’ve been thinking about ever since Sony announced the $99 price point for the PS2…
Obviously the PS2 has one of the biggest software libraries of any console, and has proven to be a very successful console for Sony. However, is it possible that the maintained level of focus on the PS2 is actually hurting the progression of the PS3? In terms of console purchases, any gamer that purchases a new PS2 system is that much further away from buying the next generation PS3 console. In terms of software purchases, PS2 owners still have a number of worthwhile games released over the past year or so (and many gems from years before) to keep them occupied, thus making the upgrade to the PS3 less pressing. I think it’s fair to say that Microsoft powered down the original Xbox system far too soon after the release of the Xbox 360, but is it possible that Sony is doing the exact opposite, with the prolonged focus on the PS2 proving to be detrimental to consumer investment in the PS3?
I write as a PS2 gamer that desperately wants to purchase a PS3, but simply cannot afford one (grad school loans and mortgage payments, anyone?); with Lego Indiana Jones/Batman, Star Wars: Force Unleashed, and some older games like Bully and Mark of Kri, I’ve still been able to enjoy my PS2 over the recent years. And yet, putting aside my personal PS2 enjoyment, a more forceful shift away from the PS2 over the remainder of 2009 may be a necessary move for Sony.
Well this isn’t much of an idea for an ongoing segment on the show, but I’d like to know what has been your most enjoyable or nostalgic memory of your PC or console of choice. If that doesn’t work out, I’d think we’d all like to hear what and why your gaming rig of choice is you favorite! Cheers.
You guys should talk about your favourite metal, and if you don’t like metal, why.
metal band.
My favourite metal is Caesium
My question concerns genre lines. Is it alright for games to be easily classified into certain genre classifications? Is it beneficial for a game to attempt to cross genres and where is the line crossed before a game tries to accomplish too much at once? Is there room for a new genre that does not exist yet, or are there any games that you think will soon be known as it’s own genre? Keep up the great work guys!
What are your thoughts on episodic games? Will we ever see a game series that release smaller chunks say every other month and with a heavily serialized narrative. Basically, if you compare the majority of the triple-a titles to movies, what I propose would treat them more like TV Shows. Anyway love the podcast and bring back Robert Ashley. The episode he was on was without a doubt, the best one yet…
What are your reactions to other podcasts that came out of the 1upocalypse, such as A Life Well Wasted, or Out of the Game. Also what is your favourite Otter Pop name, mine being little orphan Orange, which tastes a lot like Mountain Dew LiveWire which is probably why I like LiveWire so much.
name=flavour
Main Question:
Which do you prefer, game innovation or evolution?
Follow-ups:
-Based on your responses, is this good/bad?
-Do you think they are mutually exclusive concepts?
-What developers do you feel are the most innovating?
-Evolutionary?
To quote Robert Ashley: Why do you play videogames?
Put another way: Why do we waste our lives on this crap? Are games actually worth all the time and money we spend on them?
ALTERNATE QUESTION: I understand Anthony got a religious studies degree? Let’s hear him talk about eschatology.
Demigod dropped today (early by a day on both Impulse and at GameStop). Talk about the single player. Haven’t gotten into it yet, and although I could definitely use a tutorial, I sincerely hope the single player isn’t simply that.
What’d you miss at GDC and IGF (those who got to go)? Zeno Clash?
Infamous releasing early (in May), the converse of this situation being more common (IMO delaying games for quality purposes A-OK), are there pro-s and cons to bumping releases up in calendar? Bad for marketing? Confusing to customers? Buzz created?
Seen any games which are on the horizon? Velvet Assassin? Patapon 2?
Were do you guys ( and girls as the case maybe ) see the Video Game industry and Video Game ‘ Journalism ‘ in 10-20 years? How will it be diffrent from now? Well the industry have finally reached adulthood or will it be stuck as a adolescent for the for seeable future? And how is the Journalism side of things going to adapt and evolve?
And what are you guys reading right now? What books would you suggest people should read?
And what album are you most ashamed to have in your music collections?
How do you guys like resource management/micromanaging in RTS games? Are you a fan or a detractor? Basically, do you prefer the “Relic approach” or the “Traditional RTS approach”, ex. Age of Empires or Warcraft.
Also, do any of you listen to the band Opeth? If not, you should.
What do you think is an appropriate solution to people who blatantly exploit glitches in competitive games? How should these fuckers be punished?
Cheers.
Dan from Glasgow
Assassins Creed/Assassins Creed 2? Its one of my favorite games so it would be cool if you guys talked about it, even if its for 30 seconds. There is not much info on the new 1 but whatever is cool with me. Thanks guys.
I was wondering what WiiWare or virtual consol games you recomend that people might have missed? I have been having a ghard time trying to sort through all of the games that are available and figuring out what is worth playing.
This goes along with the “free-lance lifestyle”: so how does everyone balance time with games and time away from games? Basically asking how you time manage in a industry that you choose to live in (and are surrounded by) 24/7?
I have a scenario for you guys to work out…
Your plane crashes in the Alps. Who will you eat first?
My main question
1) What are your favorite childhood gaming moments?
Also, the podcast needs more Robert Ashley, crazy off-topic stories, and RTS stories from Anthiny
Strange food you have eaten.
Great food you have eaten.
Gyros should be included.
What are your thoughts -as a gamer- on the culture in gaming press of having masses of speculation, previews and media releases months/years before games are released? I stress “as a gamer” because the finicial benefits for the press and development side is obvious.
From my own point of view, Half-life 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 stand out as good examples of game experiences which were spoilt because i read and saw too much stuff about them before playing. Despite avoiding all plot spoilers, the impact of the game was still dampened by having see all the screenshots and videos.
I am aiming to play hl2:episode 3 without having seen a single piece of preview information or media release other than that vague concept art they have already released. It will probably be the first time I’ve done this for a game and im sure my experience will be better for doing it.
Hey guys love the show, It’s was the first podcast I ever listened to and now I listen to many other but this one is my fav. I started listing for Phill and Nick but very quickly Auther and Anthouny became my favs. I’d like to here what games and anouncments you guy are lokking forward to in the next year or so. Personally I am looking forward to Uncharted 2, God of war 3, Halo ODTS, and finding out what Crytech the talented developer behind crysis is up to and if, in what way they will be bringing crysis to consoles.
Or can I get a quick hit of you guys. Real qucik tell us what you though of FF: Advent Children. I thought is was a smart move fan wise, and buissness wise for Squar to make to movie in house and release it mainly for DVD. I think this is how the Halo moive and God of war movies should be made.
Im happy as long as you guys/sometimes girls talk about whatever is keeping you interested this week, be it movies,music,games or a freaking Donkey show………
Just keep being entertaining and allowing your cats to rip shit up! Perhaps for next episode you should slip them a little bubonic kitty-chronic………im talking cat-nip.
I was wondering what all of your opinions are on downloading games illegally? I know you’ve touched on this and talked about it before. Do you believe this is the cause of pc games selling less copies then their console counterparts.
Also on another note I would like to thank you guys for making me see how wrong it is to download games illegally. I download the demo of world of goo rather then downloading it. BTW i love the game thank you for bringing it up in your past podcast’s.
What do you think about the way that games are currently cataloged into very specific genera?
A new game coming out is labeled as a RPG, Adventure, Sandbox game, etc. basically as soon as it is announced.
Is this a convenience for web site organization and fans, or have these genera become too limiting? Is creativity being stifled because developers are trying to shoehorn their vision into a preset box that defines a certain type of game?
Online games, such as Flower, seem to be less hampered by this problem. Will PSN, XBLA, and the I-phone hold out as sources of creative, innovative, and experimental games or will they too fall into the trap of blockbuster-itis in which every game needs to sell mass numbers and attempts to use a formula to achieve this?
You should guys need to compile every word that Nick Suttner ever said on previous episodes (and 1upFM), make an audio bin of all those sound clips, and then add him back to the show through clever editing.
Arthur: What do you think of MadWorlds, Nick?
Virtual Nick: I….its real fun….the…Mad…worlds…Okami is one of the best games of this year….two thousand….and…nine….great designer clothes….and….good time….bye guys!
Arhtur: OK, later, Nick! Heh, wow! That guy knows his video games
:Anthony stares into the void of all existence that is Arthur’s face:
Anthony: Um….ok, I’m going to go count my Gamespy cheese. Later, bitches.
:rides off on segway:
are you guys going to PAX this year?
I mentioned this in the bully thread, but in case it doesn’t get noticed there: Can you guys take away the necessity for 4 episode game clubs, I don’t see a reason why there has to be exactly 4 episodes for each game, as it would be a lot easier to decide the amount of episodes based on the game. The 4 episode thing makes it difficult to include longer and shorter games, as some can’t be stretched into 4 episodes and others can’t be fit into that amount. I really think you should give it a shot. As long as the community wants to play a game that takes 6-8 episodes of game club I don’t see a reason to fight against that, they wouldn’t vote for it otherwise. At the very least I think you should put the idea up to a poll. Even if you include the backlog and game club together the entire project is still new and it’s been less than a year since it started. The 4 episode thing was a good starting point but I don’t see a reason to keep it anymore. Regardless of your decision, I’m still a huge fan of the show and only suggest this with the shows best interests at heart. You guys are awesome and keep up the great work!
I disagree 4 episodes is the right amount, and its good that it limits it to games not over 20 hours. I love following along with you guys, but it’d take a lot of effort on my part to plod through Persona 4 or Fallout 3 with you. Not to mention, how difficult it would be for them to keep up. Except well more than 2 Game Club delays per game, if it’s a giant RPG.
If the game club is divided into the appropriate amount of episodes to match the game’s length, then I don’t see why it would be difficult to keep up. On the contrary, it’s hard to keep up with a lot of games that try to get squeezed into 4 episodes. There were a lot of suggestions of these kinds of games in the threads, and at the very least I think it should be put to a vote. Like I said, if people don’t want to play anything but 4 episode games then they won’t vote for them; however, I don’t think those games shouldn’t be considered at all.
Also Fallout 3 and Persona 4 are extreme examples, and there are just some games that will always be on the fringe of the fringe time wise, but there are plenty of RPGs and slightly longer games that could take just a few more episodes. I’m seriously against limiting these titles from even going to vote because of the episode limit, if you don’t want to play a long or short game then don’t vote for it.
On a more constructive note, I love this podcast called Filmspotting ( I think they have a website at filmspotting.net) where they review 2 to 3 films a show and always end with a top 5. The top 5 goes from anywhere from being “top 5 brother films” to “top 5 heist films”. I think it could be cool if you did the same thing with games. It would only work if you guys were into it, but it could be cool.
Top 5 shotguns, top 5 breast physics, top 5 GTA rip-offs, etc.
In light of the recent reviews of Noby Noby Boy, I would like to know what classifies a game as a game.
I’m sorry, I feel like I am spamming the comment section here–I would edit if I could–but I wanted to make a game request: Could you guys cover The Path for PC? It’s basically an “art house” game–one that makes Braid look like Super Mario Bros. It’d be cool to see you guys discuss it and the merit of the ideas it’s trying to throw out into the game industry. I haven’t played it yet, but I respect your opinion and I think you’ll have things to say about it that won’t overlap with discussions on games you’ve had before.
Suggest games to play while listening to podcasts. I’m sick of Lumines and I don’t really like Peggle. Wandering around the wilderness in Fallout 3 works, but it’s annoying to have to pause the podcast and crank up the Xbox volume whenever you happen on a piece of plot.
Agreed!
1) I just recently played the Penny Arcade XBLA games, and I think they’re great. What do you guys think of them?
Surprised this hasn’t been asked yet!
What music have you guys been listening to recently? I checked out Pains of Being Pure at Heart on Arthur’s recommendation and really like it. Also their guitarist is in a band called the Depreciation Guild wherein their rhythm section is a Famicom w/ sequencer cart. Also the man likes his DFA1979 and Icarus Line, so I trust the man’s taste.
Hey guys I am a huge fan of the podcast and check the site regularly.
I had never heard of any of you though until you started rebelfm.
If I could squeeze a question in I would love it if you would discuss your biographies a bit so that maybe the viva pinata stories might make more sense.
I am not looking for war and peace here just the basics to catch up all the listeners like me who started late.
Thanks!
Ideas?
1.Well I’d like to hear Impressions about “The Pitt” or “The Mythic Map Pack.”
2. Just Go off and be random for a whole 30 minute segment. See where you started and where you end.
3. Video Game Release dates, Good or bad? To put it more complex. Which is better? Not knowing until it’s out very shortly or knowing for 4-5 years. This also brings the question… ( below)
4. Cancellations, With longer hypes you have the chance of Big disappointment when delay or cancelations come around. Would this be the same if we wen
t to a shorter period between announcing the game and release?
5.Cats
Thats my ideas. Out of all of them I’d love to hear you guys discuss your thought on release dates/hype time and cancellations/delays.
Do you think the argument that games are not a mature medium while constantly being compared to movies and music is a fair one? Personally, I do not believe gaming should be lumped in direct comparison with movies or music because as a truly interactive entertainment experience, it is different enough to stand on its own.
While I do believe the gaming industry has some maturation to undergo, I think that the numerous podcasts and gaming websites where intelligent conversations constantly take place are evidence that there may be more maturity in gaming than many give credit for.
Why does anthony hate me?
Video Games: Metaphor for sex?
Taking a cue from the recent Onlive discussion: do you think that the system will be shunned by people who have been playing games for a long time, let’s say 15 to 20 years, and are simply used to having physical copies of their games and keeping them (as IIRC Anthony put it so eloquently, the shelf-whores)? And will this actually affect its success?
And on a completely unrelated note: which later on cancelled game did you look forward to the most? I still bemourn Fear Effect Inferno.
Also seconding the comments on release dates, previews and hype. Just look at Beyond Good & Evil 2; one trailer, and about a year later, this is still the only thing we’ve seen so far.
Somebody up above suggested Advent Rising.
I second that motion. It’s easily one of my favorite games for the Xbox, despite it’s shortcomings. And I’m saddened b the knowledge that there will never be a sequel.
BRING BACK THE ANTHONY:ON SEGMENT!
Seriously, he’s given me the biggest laughs as I am a fan of random BS
When is game club going to play Ethernal Darkness. I’ve been waiting to play it.
P.S. love the show I’ve never missed an episode Rebel FM or Game Club. Keep up the fucking amazing work.
hey, love the cast.
how about a segment where fans can ask you to talk about one game from something like more than 5 years ago and everyone on the podcast has to give their opinion on it (or experience with it).
would be a nice way to get a bit of talk about older games going on and might lead to some interesting tales.
my suggestion would be wasteland.
1) Robert Ashley describes ______.
2) More Anthony Civ and MMO stories.
3) Favorite (Top 3, 5, 10, or the like) games of all time/decade/last gen/current gen/whatever, and why? Maybe favorite of each genre as well?
4) I second The Pitt, and third the Advent Rising suggestion. I played it on PC, and loved it and its beautiful soundtrack. Game Club?
5) Bioshock 2 discussion. I’m particularly interested in the effects playing as a Big Daddy will have on the gameplay.
That’s all for now, I think.
I wanna know about how you and anthony feel in general about your lives and the future of the podcast. Is it something you’re just doing for funsies, or is it a viable financial option(i’m guessing no if people are taking jobs elsewhere). Is the audience here? What makes a successful podcast? I only ask this kinda stuff because this is my favorite podcast and I’d like to see it succeed. I think you guys are the most funny and interesting of the whole lot of videogame writer/journalists or whatever.
Listing your favorite games seems like a decent idea as mentioned above, however I was wondering what you guys thought about games with multiple endings, mostly games that make you take decisions to determine whether your good or evil. Do you think games like that will ever truly capture the character of the person playing, or will it always be either a) your good b) your bad c) your neutral? As it was once said (by somebody who’s name slips my mind) all software can determine is 0s and 1s so your decisions are all either 0 or 1, and by making you make multiple decisions is creates shades of gray, while never truly capturing the emotions/characteristics of the player. (I might have butchered that, but you can probably still get the point)
Also more Civ stories from Anthony, those stories are the best and they single handedly made me go get civ4 and play it (somewhat Anthony style) and it was great, well until the whole game slows down due to my crappy laptop.
When you start accepting sponsors for your podcast do you have an obligation to put out a podcast the week that your advertising partner’s game is released?
1. Online gaming on console vs. PC. It could be my imagination, but in my experience with online multiplayer gaming, it seems PC players are more mature and cordial than console players. I imagine it is because parents get consoles for their kids to game on rather than building them gaming PCs. (Not to suggest that ALL of the younger set are immature in the online gaming setting.) Do you guys also notice this? What can be done to create a better experience for console players who don’t want to hear racial slurs or jokes about sexual orientation all the time and instead want to focus on playing?
2. Talk about the merits of mouse/keyboard controls versus gamepad controls (and vice versa) in different game genres like FPS and RTS.
That’s all I’ve got for now. It’s the PC vs. console gaming show!
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Talk about Scuba Cats and if they really exist
Here’s one for you guys. Recently there have been reports that Microsoft has started planning for its next console to be released two or three years out. Do you think they will learn from their mistakes and make the hardware more robust, or have all the people who have bought multiple 360′s throughout its life enabled Microsoft to continue to cheaply manufacture their console hardware?
I think that Microsoft will make better hardware quality wise, because doing so not only will save them from losing a lot of money from repairs, but it’ll greatly help sales if people that switched consoles due to RROD, and everyone else who was anoyed by a broken 360, hear that there has yet to be any major flaws with the console.
I think this may have been mentioned on a previous episode, but I’ll ask anyway: What outside music do you listen to when playing games (if any), are there specific genres of music you listen to for a specific game, and are there certain games/genres of games you can’t listen to outside music during? For example, I tend to listen to Ska music when platforming, “epic” music (Within Temptation) when playing online FPS’s, or rock when racing. Some genre’s though (RTS’s spring to mind) I can’t listen to outside songs in, since sound is too important in them for me (I like being told I’m being attacked by a blaring trumpet noise or whatever).
Also, on purely selfish reasons I would love a podcast (or segment) about turn-based strategy games (Fire Emblem, Advance Wars) and tower defense games (Ninja Town, Pixel Junk Monsters). I’m fairly recent to these types of games and love them quite dearly.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this before, since I don’t feel like reading all the comments, but what do you guys think about digital distribution? Not in a small scale like downloading some PSN games or XBLA games but like say if the next PSP was to drop UMD’s and be download only (well we all heard the RUMORS). And even on a larger scale, say PS4 drops blu-ray and has a few Terabytes to store all those full games you’ll download?
I think lots of things would factor into that such as monthly download limits I know I don’t have any but with my ISP the max package you can get now where I live is 60GB (I had a limited offer for unlimited). So that could affect many people conserning downloading games.
Have Tyler and Robert on again and talk about Texas some more.
Make a whole show about the Castlevania games!
Sometime during the show, you guys could even take turns whipping each other and see who is the toughest guy of the podcast.
And don’t forget to have your cats cosplay as medusa heads.
Thank you!
I see you like castlevania….
Talk some shit about some indie games, I’m tired of the cool nerds club never getting called out for being sucky sometimes.
I’m curious to hear you guys talk about the usage of deus ex machina in games. The usage of this device came to mind lately when I was playing RE5. The laser weapon you get later in the game to fight that specific boss just seems to come out of nowhere to solve your problem, no real reason why it should be there other than to allow you to fight that boss. Is it possible that maybe games aren’t taken seriously by the public at large because a significant amount of them rely upon deus ex machina in some fashion or another in their stories, and would games be accepted alongside movies and books if this was changed?
I recently gave a speech on the topic of game violence and Mature content in games and the maturity of games. The people I surveyed mostly parents and adults 22 to 40 viewed games as toys, not art, or a sophisticated form of entertainment. When I asked gamers ages, 16 to 25 their feelings on the state of games they said they wanted to be taken more seriously, but did not support the idea of making games more “mature” in content. It seems to me that the community of gamers want to be better treated by people outside the community but are only truly interested in “play” and not a true maturation of the content that we as gamers enjoy. Games like Heavy Rain may address this issue, but one game in hundreds doesn’t change the way we play/experience the games we play. What are your thoughts and feelings about this? Are games more for blowing shit up and having “good dumb fun” or are we lacking what gamers truly want, mature adult topics and true depth of content, not depth of game play?
I know some of the big news over the past week revolved around Assassin’s Creed 2, but can you guys just pass on that topic for the week? I picked up Assassin’s Creed from the Wal-Mart bargain bin over the weekend and it managed to lose that new game sparkle pretty quickly. Even though I’m bored with it, I’m a poor college student and I will finish regardless. So the news of AC2 is fairly uninteresting, we all read about it and there isn’t a heck of a lot to talk about anyways. I know you guys can use that time in more informative/interesting ways.
Phew!! Anthony’s stories nerdom stories get me through the week. I was worried that because of phil’s departure this was another sign that Rebel FM may go away…but thanks for the reassurance that it certainly will not.
With the recent release of Final Fantasy VII on PSN in Japan, could you please speak about why Japan’s PSN seems to kick North America’s PSN’s ass? With more ps1 and ps2 games comming to PSN, I would gladly re-purchase several of my old games so they look decent on an HD screen. But it seems the games I want are only available in Japan..
I could understand this for PS1 and 2 PAL only titles, but not NTSC titles released here back in the day.
Thanks, you guys rock!
Agreed, the Japanese PSN seems to get all the good stuff.
man just try playing through that game nowadays. I bet you get 10 hours in max an turn that shit off.
i want to hear some griefing stories.
How you deal with crippling loneliness and depression. When you wake up in the morning and wish you could just go back to sleep because you know it’s going to be another day of soul crushing nothingness and isolation. When all you want is for a little recognition in the world for something but instead you’re confined to a circular resistance of servitude and anonymity, I mean yeah sure college kids pay you to write their papers for them and they get good grades, but you, you can’t go to college because you’d never afford it and you’re denied financial aid because you “earn too much”, even though you struggle to pay your rent every month… so what do you do? You sit around playing WoW because you don’t own a console and the lack of socialization in other PC games is painful and you listening to video game podcasts because the voices in your headphones trick you into thinking that you’re taking part in some kind human interaction… as if someone would speak to your worthless ass outside of requesting you do something for them.
Yeah. Talk about that.
There are many new and exciting pharmaceuticals for people just like you.
1. How Hollywood still doesn’t understand how to correctly translate video games to film/tv, i.e. Bioshock being a movie and Chun-li writer penning the Shadow of the Colossus script.
2. Amazon selling XBLA codes. Will this also translate to DLC? Will this have a significant impact on points bought directly from Microsoft, as it is just as convenient and doesn’t result in leftover points? Also, Amazon has already shown it will put these codes on sale, will Microsoft react with Non-Gold member sales prices?
3. Community input: Does giving the community what they want actually make a better game? (Gears of War 2 begs to differ but Infinity Ward could still do it right)
4. How Steam and Impulse have the power to revive dead games through free weekends and sale prices i.e. Unreal Tournament 3.
5. Eat Sleep Game Nights. Lets make it happen.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RPG?
You guys seem to have a good grasp on the full spectrum of games, both past and present, including RPGs. I’m sure you’ve noticed that console RPGs have fallen by the wayside in the shadow of the first person shooter.
Why is this, and when are they coming back?
Do you place the emphasis on multiplayer emerging, starting with the PC and transferring to consoles?
Is it that the X-Box 360 is, by and large, the most prolific console in the United States, and because it focuses on the first person shooter, the industry is forced to?
Has your average gamer’s attitude, attention span, and willingness to devote time to a story arc that might last for several hours?
I’m sure this has been discussed before, but with the approach of FFXIII as well as a slew of new RPGs, are we going to see the industry take notice and balance out what type of games are available?
Thanks, you guys are supremely entertaining.
what is the best 2d platformer you have played recently
The best 2D platformers, recently or ever, are Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Bionic Commando (NES) and….
…………wait for it………….
Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers (NES). Yeah. I went there.
Oh, and Mega Man 2
I’ll throw out several topics and hope a few stick, with notes on relevant facts where I know them:
1) Six Days in Fallujah – Bearing in mind that it’s Atomic Games actually developing the game, not Konami, their history working with Marines and development history (The Close Combat series, especially Close Combat: Marines), and their statements about soliciting input from insurgents and civilians as well as Marines. I’m an Iraq vet, and my $0.02 is that I’m cautiously interested. I want there to be room for “Serious” treatments of this subject in video game form, and even if this specific project fails I hope that there will be others in a similar mold. I doubt there’s time, but could you see about getting someone from Atomic Games (NOT Konami) on the Podcast via phone/skype/etc for an interview/discussion of the topic?
2) I know this one’s going to be roundly rejected, but how about a discussion of IP law vs. consumer rights with regards to video games? People tend to toss off rather simple and shallow maxims “DRM SUX!” or “Pirates are evil!” or “Used game sales take money from developers!”, and despite everyone saying they’re “tired” of the topic there’s actually very little substantive discussion of the issue. For reference:
2009 FTC Conference on DRM: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/drm/index.shtml
First Sale Doctrine in US Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine (the “licensed, not sold” argument and provision of EULAs were created specifically in an attempt to circumvent this consumer right)
Softman v Adobe, where the court found that “licensed, not sold” was not a valid argument (the relevant portion of the discussion starts on page 9): http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/CACD/RecentPubOp.nsf/5738d25e31f54e3988256a8100701ebd/1c0109b1a49387b288256b48007a04cd/%24FILE/CV00-04161DDP.pdf
Now, the interesting part: the Softman v Adobe decision and related decisions basically hold that the “licensed, not sold” part of EULAs are invalid due to the nature of the transaction. However, digital distribution and DLC have a different “nature” than the purchase of a physical disk. Is the nature of the transaction -sufficiently- different from the elements in the case I just linked that the “licensed, not sold” argument WOULD be valid for something on, say, Steam or XBLA?
Anthony, Arthur, Tyler what i want to know is …
when you guys piss do you just unzip your jeans, pull down your undies and pull it out? or do you guys unbuckle your belt, unbutton your jeans and then pull it out and piss?
The latter seems like overkill but i know some people do it, go figure.
This question has boggled my mind since a teenager. Hope you can shed more light on the subject.
thanks for a great podcast to entertain my workweek. keep it up.
-Mauricio
Unzip -> pull through is the easiest and fastest way, my friend.
While this is the fastest method, it only takes one zippering of your wang / scrotal sack when you’re going commando before you’re back to the classic pull down method.
Also, being the fastest is not always a bonus. I do the majority of my pissing at work, and the extra 10 seconds it takes for the pull down is 10 seconds away from my desk and soul emasculating job. Using cups of coffee consumed daily as an estimate for average bathroom visits, 3 in my case, this works out to a 1 minute urinal vacation daily, factoring in both pre and post lizard draining pants configuration.
What ticks me off is how Sony is trying to compare how they are more successful than the 360 on blockbusters games. Hello you idiot, you don’t have enough games to go around so the only games that are going to sell are multiplatform blockbuster games. 360 is selling more games than you have ever sold on any blockbuster so to manipulate numbers to make your product more competitive shows a lot of weakness. Get it together and lower the price point that will move hardware and gain some market share and stop trying to make lame number manipulation to get some disconjointed press.
-GTA Chinatown Wars has been estimated that it sells 200,000 to 400,000 copies. What do you think this means for future M rated games on the highly successful platform the DS, and was there anything that either Rockstar or Nintendo could have done to reach a larger audience with the game?
-Games in the media are either portrayed as just for kids, or simulations for death row murders. Where, and why do you think these conceptions of gamers come from, and do you think that as gaming gets older, that those thoughts will disappear. Also, how does the Wii and the DS play a role in this conception?
-Do you think Nintendo will have the same success that it had with the Wii and the DS next generation, or do you think that they are not even really planning for the next, just doing updates to their already successful systems.
Thanks guys .
Reply to your first point:
I don’t think it means anything for M-rated games. It may mean something for GTA games on the Wii and DS in the future, because it’s proving that there’s a big enough audience to buy those games. And, I think appealing to a broader audience isn’t hard for Rockstar, because if the game has the Grand Theft Auto name on it, kids are going to want to get there hands on it, and most of the time they do get there hands on it. The new DSi parental control feature could piss off some of the developers that are making Mature rated games, though.
On a side note, did anyone else find the GTA: CTW appearance in South Park funny as hell?
Reply to your third point:
Well, you could argue that Nintendo is a huge name now, even though it always was, and thus their next console cycle being successful. No doubt in my mind their next hand held will be successful, because, as far as I know, all of their handhelds have been, right? Considering they haven’t had much competition until the PSP came around. As for their next box, which they will definitely have, will probably be successful. Nintendo was huuuge in the NES and SNES days, they ruled the video game industry. There the reason your parents ask you if your playing the Nintendo when your playing your Xbox or Playstation. But, they did eventually start to fall again with the GC and the N64, being no where near as successful as their first two consoles. The only way their next console is guaranteed to be just as successful (I’ve used that word too much) is if they keep the Wii name too it, because brand recognition is huge. Also, if they can keep it at a really low price point, and be the cheapest of the 3 (or 4?) consoles that are out next generation when it launches. Also, the possibility that Microsoft and Sony could have their very own motion controller makes this subject interesting too. No question, I think, that Nintendo will have a motion controller.
Do you feel that game journalists accept to many perks from publishers. Do you think it takes away from the integrity of a review or preview.
In the movie industry a movie that is not available to critics before release is basically a known flop. I would like review copies to be in the same sort. Not that a journalist has to stay in the “good” with a publisher to get a review copy, but it be a nail in the game coffin if they do not.
Video games movie adaptation.
Why does Hollywood find it necessary to cram a video game experience that takes 10-15 hour to finish, into a movie that only has a 2 hour run time? And what’s even more perplexing, is that most of the time, they have to hand these adaptations to the worst people in Hollywood. For example, handing the Shadow of the Colossus movie to the moron who wrote the new Street Fighter movie. There’s plenty of great filmmakers and writers in the industry, many of them can be found in the indie side of it, but for some reason, developers seem to only focus on Hollywood names, and since they can’t afford the best and brightest, they’re stuck with Hollywood’s worst instead of indie’s best.
I think there’s ample room to talk about the industry’s fear of the AO rating. Only 23 games on the ESRB’s website have earned an ‘AO’ rating, and only 5 of those were not games designed around nude women or graphic sexual activities.
Personally, I think there’s a lot more room for content clarification between a game like Dawn of War 2 (M – Blood and Gore, Violence) and Postal (M – Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence) than the descriptions on the back of the boxes can accomplish. Based on the descriptions of those two games, it sounds like DoW2 is the more potentially offensive game, which anyone who has played Postal would disagree (remember, this game was banned for sale from stores like Best Buy). Obviously the system has matured since Postal, but I still think the AO title shouldn’t be as much of a Taboo.
I’m all for AO titles being available for sale in B&M/Online venues, mostly because I think the Mature rating is being stretched a little too far, and the AO rating is not being used (in cases of extreme violence) when it should. Compare footage of ‘Thrill Kill’ on YouTube to God of War, for example. Situations like Postal’s in which it was not stocked on store shelves proves to me that retailers are willing to pick and chose what games they will allow on a title-by-title basis, so the argument against AO because it won’t be sold in stores may currently hold water, but I don’t think would hold up, should the industry accept AO as a valid rating for non-sexual game.
Whoops, I meant to include that ‘Thrill Kill’ was an AO rated game based mostly on the graphic violence, whereas God of War is Mature.
Would you rather see a film that is a straight up literal transition of a game, such as if the first Resident Evil had been about Jill and the gang in the mansion, or would you rather see an original story based around the game, much like the actual first Resident Evil film? Or would you rather that the two art forms stay apart from each other?
What it takes to become a video game journalist. And what should someone aspiring to become one do to better his/her odds at getting the job.
Listen UP touched on this quite a bit, but I’d like to hear your guys opinions on Konami and Atomic Games’ Six Days in Fallujah.
Personally, I think it’s complete and utter retardation on their part. God knows how the mainstream media will react to this, let alone some of the soliders and troops that could have actually been a part of it. It’s just… too early. The War on Terrorism is still currently going on, and it’s just too soon to create it in a virtual world where you can get the emotional feelings of everyone that took part in that battle just six years ago.
As far as I understand (though this could be incorrect) the U.S. troops went into Fallujah, and peace was maintained in the area, that is until (according to Wikipedia, link here) the U.S. soldiers killed 17 Iraqi civilians. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m picturing a first-person cutscecne, similar to the way Bad Company does it, of all the troops marching in, and then slaughtering a bunch of innocent civilians, whether they were provoked or there was reason to kill them, I don’t know, but that would seem rather, well, just crazy. Obviously I don’t have a huge understanding on what took place in this battle, and what events they plan depict in the game for that matter, but I don’t see this game getting released… ever.
Ehh… quick Ctrl + F search shows plenty of comments on Six Days in Fallujah.
@SJS
I can’t speak for all veterans, obviously, but for my part I think it’s a good thing that they’re at least trying, dependent of course on how the subject matter is handled. Given that they’re working with several dozen veterans of the battle, and most other vets I know are similarly supportive of the project (in principle, at least) I think that most who are of my generation (mid-to-late 20s) are more comfortable with the idea of a story told in video game form and with the amount of time having passed and are more concerned with HOW the story is told.
Which do you guys find more enjoyable, LAN parties, or getting together over the various console online networks, such as XBL? Keep in mind, accessibility is not an issue for this question. Just pretend you’ve all been able to gather without too much hassle, had enough TV’s and controllers for the LAN, and so on. Which do you prefer?
Do you think that the general gaming public is more cynical and pessimistic than ever? It seems most of the crowd is quick to jump on a “this game sucks” bandwagon long before the game is released. You can head to any gaming blog that enables comments to see what I’m talking about.
One topic that I think would be worth discussing is morality systems in video games. I wrote a blog entry over at Gamasutra that generated quite a bit of discussion about this topic, and it was awarded blog of the week by the Gamasutra staff. I raise two main points – one is that games with morality systems tend to actually only offer you one option – kill things – and then tells you there are nice and mean ways to do that. The other one is that the desire for “game balance” means these systems are often completely devoid of meaningful consequence, which is entirely necessary if morality is to mean anything. If you’re interested in what I (and others) had to say, here’s the link:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AdamBishop/20090309/832/Morality_In_Video_Games.php