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Giant Bomb |OT31| I Think it Might Be for Show

ExCorps made me reinstall XCOM and man that is a baby-ass baby game, having played XCOM 2. At least at the beginning I'm just kind of yolo'ing through missions (on normal, mind you) with Ironman on. I know it'll get harder once mutons and chryssalids enter into it but it feels so barebones compared to XCOM 2. I miss that game's classes. I hope the expansion turns out well, I've heard most of the season pass DLC was bad.
 

JABEE

Member
Listening to the Beastcast, One thing that wasn't mentioned on that transition to video stuff they talked about online is what it means for actual reporting.

Reporting is still needed to make these great stories. Most sites like FoxSports are transitioning from original written content to recycled video content from other sources. Instead of paying a reporter to be at a game to cover it, they post highlights and viral videos ripped from Twitter and Instagram.

Less and less people will be paid to do the work of attending and covering an event. Also, stuff like Last Week Tonight relies heavily on newspaper clips and local news packages to support their stories. Without this system in place, there are no clips for the funnyman to talk over. John Oliver devoted an entire episode to this issue.

I feel places like BuzzFeed are devaluing the written stories to the point that people are no longer worried about losing them. Most stories people come in contact now are slideshows and lists that require no work outside of sitting in your office and just writing.
 

oti

Banned
Listening to the Beastcast, One thing that wasn't mentioned on that transition to video stuff they talked about online is what it means for actual reporting.

Reporting is still needed to make these great stories. Most sites like FoxSports are transitioning from original written content to recycled video content from other sources. Instead of paying a reporter to be at a game to cover it, they post highlights and viral videos ripped from Twitter and Instagram.

Less and less people will be paid to do the work of attending and covering an event. Also, stuff like Last Week Tonight relies heavily on newspaper clips and local news packages to support their stories. Without this system in place, there are no clips for the funnyman to talk over. John Oliver devoted an entire episode to this issue.

I feel places like BuzzFeed are devaluing the written stories to the point that people are no longer worried about losing them. Most stories people come in contact now are slideshows and lists that require no work outside of sitting in your office and just writing.

BuzzFeed does some excellent journalism from time to time. They're not just memes and gifs.
 
Abby Russell - ”Paris Is Burning"
Today we've got the very funny Abby Russell (Comedian with the Magnet Theater, Associate Producer for Giant Bomb). She's the real hero of this episode, so please say so in the comments below. We talk about listening to music between class.

'Dream Daddy' and Giant Bomb's Successful Pivot to Video (Ep. 47)
The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion banter about 'No Man's Sky' updates, mundane objects that look great in games, and Ben's plans for a video game bachelor party (1:20), then bring on their colleague Alison Herman to discuss the summer hit 'Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator,' a Steam game that subverts the tropes of traditional dating sims (8:40). Finally, Ben and Jason talk to Giant Bomb founding member and video producer Vinny Caravella about the origins of the site and how it anticipated trends in podcasting, streaming, and video that media members are still wrestling with today (32:24).

The 404 Show 1710: A conversation with Austin Walker
Waypoint's Austin Walker talks with Jeff about what it's like creating Vice's guide to gaming from the ground up, the culture shock of appearing TV, visions of solar eclipses and the future.
 

Nerokis

Member
Normal is pretty easy but still engaging enough.

I personally find no real enjoyment from the harder difficulty.

I'd play Nier A on Normal. It's still very easy (I never died) but it at least feels rewarding to set up your passives properly this way and it's flashy and mildly satisfying. I don't think the combat design is deep enough to go higher than normal.

Super late getting around to a response, but thanks much for this! Nier felt like a weird case, because people seemed to think normal wasn't much of a challenge, but also that hard didn't make the combat meaningfully more enjoyable. Glad to have some guidance.
 
The Nidhogg 2 quick look was fun, and as someone who never really saw anything from the first I love everything about the way that game looks. I actually expected it to be more like a Towerfall game where the round are super short. Do games often take 10+ minutes?
 
I hope when Alex is done with the first Mega Man collection, instead of jumping straight to the second one, he plays Mega Man Legends. It would make for a good change of scenery and would make for a good buffer. The game is also pretty short (around 6 hours for the main story, 10 if you do the sidequests). On top of being short, it's a very charming and funny game. I really want to watch the gang play through it.

And after getting through the second collection, they can play Legends 2. And after that: the X series.
 

JABEE

Member
BuzzFeed does some excellent journalism from time to time. They're not just memes and gifs.

That's true, but the thing they are known for is listicles.

Also, I was afraid when they said Jeff Bakalar was leaving and they had an announcement at the beginning of the Beastcast. I think it was a joke and he was only leaving for a week.
 

Hasney

Member
I hope when Alex is done with the first Mega Man collection, instead of jumping straight to the second one, he plays Mega Man Legends. It would make for a good change of scenery and would make for a good buffer. The game is also pretty short (around 6 hours for the main story, 10 if you do the sidequests). On top of being short, it's a very charming and funny game. I really want to watch the gang play through it.

And after getting through the second collection, they can play Legends 2. And after that: the X series.

No! Legends is too charming and the music too great to have the peanut gallery talking over it. I recently watched Kyle Bosman play all of it and it's just as good to watch as it is to play. So jolly.
 
The Nidhogg 2 quick look was fun, and as someone who never really saw anything from the first I love everything about the way that game looks. I actually expected it to be more like a Towerfall game where the round are super short. Do games often take 10+ minutes?

Honestly, it all depends on skill of the people playing. If one person is better than the other one, you can blown out pretty easily. If both people are evenly matched, the game usually goes on a while because no one really loses ground.

It's WAY more fun if both people are decent at it.
 
ExCorps made me reinstall XCOM and man that is a baby-ass baby game, having played XCOM 2. At least at the beginning I'm just kind of yolo'ing through missions (on normal, mind you) with Ironman on. I know it'll get harder once mutons and chryssalids enter into it but it feels so barebones compared to XCOM 2. I miss that game's classes. I hope the expansion turns out well, I've heard most of the season pass DLC was bad.

Yeah, I'm replaying it myself and I had forgotten how many UI & presentation improvements and control innovations they put in for the sequel; the game flow in XCOM 2 feels so, so much better, and tighter too. I've found a lot of it is little stuff, like how snappy commands and animations are, better button layouts, less pod activation jank, or the most noticeable change: attack animations that don't give away a miss milliseconds into it.

The biggest difference is the levels, though. I feel like I've seen all of the ones in XCOM 1--going for procedural generation and full destructibility improved things immeasurably. It gave levels back their mystique, while properly turning them into gameplay mechanics in their own right (e.g. fire spreading and burning out portions of the level in a more logical way, or just being able to blow up walls or elevated floors all the time) and, man, it's the best.

XCOM 2 is an incredible game. I've said it before, but I can't wait for the expansion.
 
I hope when Alex is done with the first Mega Man collection, instead of jumping straight to the second one, he plays Mega Man Legends. It would make for a good change of scenery and would make for a good buffer. The game is also pretty short (around 6 hours for the main story, 10 if you do the sidequests). On top of being short, it's a very charming and funny game. I really want to watch the gang play through it.

just watch the Super Replays
 

Zocano

Member
XCOM 2's combat tools and scenarios make that game. I like the forced timer keeping you moving but still prefer a lot of the breadth from XCOM EU's macro gameplay.

Playing through long war now so it's hard for me to think if it's really a baby game at the start cause it's been a while since I played EU vanilla. I do agree that it (EU) is less of a stonewall climb from what I remember but it's not necessarily a bad thing. But I think playing on classic vs normal is a huge distinction at the get go for vanilla.
 

Hasney

Member
Thought UPF was great

Ne61zcG.gif
 

BTA

Member
Most people feel that way, I found. Without saying anything, I love the slow burn of Cooper's journey into the real world. There's a real, sort of tragic and bittersweet element to the entire thing as you see Cooper trapped in a shell trying to remember things via certain keywords and actions. It's the aspect I feel most invested in because it's going to be a powerful moment when and if Cooper ever wakes up(as I said I'm not saying anything). It feels the most realistic aspect which is a weird thing to say but that's how I imagined Coop to be after getting out 20+ years later.

I think to me, the thing I dislike(dislike is kind of strong) the most and it's probably something on my part is that we never really know what kind of power the spirits really hold. Like how far could the spirits push their power and what are they capable of exactly? Like why could spirits from the Black lodge roam around but not spirits from the white lodge for instance? Is there a limit to how many Dopplegangers there are? Why do the spirits from the Black lodge have to return after sometime(presumably 25 years later)? and maybe this is something that was never meant to be explained fully but I kind of wish it did so that we get a better understanding of the unseen battle that's happening between good vs evil. Either way, I love the whole thing. There really is nothing like it and I could sit here and talk about Twin Peaks for hours, in a way that's the beauty of the show and universe.

You could tell Lynch/Frost were trying to expand the universe rather than keep it in one place which makes it more interesting and makes the scenes in Twin Peaks very emotional and beautiful in a weird way. Like meeting an old friend. I won't lie, I have all kinds of feels whenever an old cast member show up and also wish we spent more time there it's just that everything that's happening is outside of Twin Peaks yet it started in Twin Peaks more or less. The fact that they were able to bring most of the OG cast members plus continue the story 20+ years later is just astonishing. Also yes, I'm with you when it comes to Richard haha. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts as I really enjoy reading them.

Hah, thanks. I'll definitely keep sharing them then!

Regarding the spirits (beyond agreeing with you on all that), I think it's interesting how much of a focus the Black Lodge has even now? As I was nearing the end of season 2 I expected the finale to show some of the White Lodge as well and we're only getting that (...I think?) now. Also, I find it interesting that they've added this connection to electricity for the spirits now, mainly through Mr. C but also the evolution of The Arm.

Anyway, I just watched episode 8, which was... admittedly kinda boring? The concert scene did nothing for me and then all the atomic bomb stuff was, well, visually great but immediately overstayed its welcome and just kept going and going and going. Things picked up by the end but I have no idea what any of that means beyond the book having mentioned that area of New Mexico as well.

On that note- the book's been interesting to have as a reference point so far. It's clearly canon but we haven't really gotten a sense of how much/why the intentional changes matter, though I'm guessing some of that might be clearer as soon as an Ed and Nadine scene happens since the most obvious change was their entire relationship. I think the most intriguing thing so far is the confirmation that Annie still exists (I sorta expected "How's Annie?" to end up being incredibly important because she no longer existed in this... timeline? universe?) but given that she still has her original last name, is seemingly not Norma's sister? That's a weird choice, but sure, that works.

Oh, and it was nice to see the Annie stuff from FWWM pay off. Though I wasn't really a fan of Frank apparently not even telling Harry about it, even though it couldn't really go anywhere if he had? In general I'm not sure how to feel about all the "Harry's sick" stuff; I sorta wish they had just killed him off or didn't even mention him?

Got a light?
 

- J - D -

Member
Watching the MM Legacy Collection 2 Quick Look, I realized that I don't think I've ever set eyes & ears on MegaMan 8, ever. So it was interesting seeing how...chill it all seemed.

Like, the soundtrack is super laid back.
Opening
Stage Select
Tengu Man
Frost Man
Aqua Man

I'm probably gonna get this collection just so I can play MM8 for the first time. Seems relaxing.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
I'm about to spend 20$ to buy 3 golden skins for my ships in Elite Dangerous.... I think I am part of the problem now...

Oh, they sell skins now?
Just another reason to never install that game again.

I really wish I could like Elite. But there's nothing there.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything

I really love space sims but I felt like the whole game was just empty.
All the missions are the same, it doesn't matter in which system you are cause they all look the same etc.
I just found nothing entertaining in the game, except flying the ship.
 

swimbuff

Member
I'm about to spend 20$ to buy 3 golden skins for my ships in Elite Dangerous.... I think I am part of the problem now...
I would be right there with you but I'm playing the game on my Asian PSN account and it's not out in that region. Hopefully they put that shit on a webstore where you can link your PSN ID.
 

Hasney

Member
This Matterfall quick look...

Edit: this "Dan asks questions" segment is so tiring.

Yeah, I've not found much joy in East QLs recently. Serial Cleaner, Megaman Legacy 2 skipping the best games and that Matterfall one are rough.

Car Mechanic and Agents of Mayhem were fine.
 
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