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*sigh* Kat Bailey is leaving 1-Up for Gamepro.

C

Credo

Member
Congratulations on the new job, and thanks for 33 episodes of a great podcast, Kat. I hate to see you and the podcast go since RPGs are by far my favorite genre, but I guess the reemergence of Retronauts somewhat softens the blow. See if you can get the powers that be at GamePro to let you start some kind of podcast for them!
 
S

Sqorgar

Banned
graywolf323 said:
she also wrote a somewhat questionable review of Hyperdimension Neptunia for GameSpot (not as bad as the one you mentioned though)
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I haven't played Neptunia yet, but that review seems pretty much par for the course for a Compile Heart/Idea Factory game. Reviewer expects one thing, gets another, doesn't bother to stick around to see if another thing is worthwhile because games are made with a twentieth of the budget of Final Fantasy and it shows. Classic niche game review failure.

In the Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll review, she actively insults the game, the people who made it, the people who might play it, and for some reason, college students whom, I assume, have wronged her at some point with their ramen eating ways.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Stumpokapow said:
I hope you know that Jeremy already has a retro games-with-an-emphasis-on-RPGs website :p
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Yeah, yeah but it's missing the other two.

I also thought that a Ray and Jeremy tag team would have been perfect to take over IGN Nintendo after Craig left. A Scott/Jack/Jeremy/Ray Nintendo Voice Chat would have been bizarrely awesome.
 
D

DaBuddaDa

Member
Sqorgar said:
I haven't played Neptunia yet, but that review seems pretty much par for the course for a Compile Heart/Idea Factory game. Reviewer expects one thing, gets another, doesn't bother to stick around to see if another thing is worthwhile because games are made with a twentieth of the budget of Final Fantasy and it shows. Classic niche game review failure.

In the Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll review, she actively insults the game, the people who made it, the people who might play it, and for some reason, college students whom, I assume, have wronged her at some point with their ramen eating ways.
Click to expand...
How you can possibly come to those conclusions is baffling to me. Nothing you said is remotely close to her intent in those reviews.
 
S

Sqorgar

Banned
DaBuddaDa said:
How you can possibly come to those conclusions is baffling to me. Nothing you said is remotely close to her intent in those reviews.
Click to expand...

How can you not come to those conclusions?

Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Review said:
I have two theories when it comes to Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll: either it began life as a PS2 game, or it has a tiny budget. Because this is one awful looking game.
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First line of the review and she insults it multiple times. And yeah, the budget wasn't that high (like Neptunia). Are graphics and big budgets the only important thing in gaming these days? Because she returns to this well repeatedly over the course of the review.

Pro tip: When a game reviewer compares the graphics to a previous gen's, they didn't really play the game.

Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Review said:
Cheap is the operative word here though, isn't it? The budget was so tight that Tecmo Koei apparently didn't even have the cash to implement local multiplayer in a game with the word "Trinity" in the title (yes, the Wikipedia entry is mistaken when it claims there is multiplayer).
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The reason it is called Trinity is because it is the THIRD Zill O'll game. The previous two games, which started on the PSX, were turn based RPGs that had three party members. The decision to not make it multiplayer was one based on the history and purpose of the series, not Dynasty Warriors - which outside of the very basic combat system, Trinity has nothing in common with. Koei was not too cheap to add multiplayer.

Also, bonus points for using Wikipedia as the sole source of information on a niche Japanese title and admitting it.

Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Review said:
However, I'm envisioning Trinity being available for 99 cents a couple years down the line, and some very poor college student may want to grab it because they're bored and can't afford the latest shooter du jour. To those people I say, hey, if you don't mind forgoing ramen for a day, knock yourself out.
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Besides having a bug up her butt about things being cheap, she apparently hates poor people too. Now I'm being facetious, but crap like this does not belong in a game review. Ever.

I'm not used to or even expecting a lot of journalistic integrity from an industry which also has people like Jeff Gerstmann and Jim Sterling in it. But it'd be nice if reviews were less overtly cruel and there was some actual research and thought put into what was being said.
 
P

pje122

Member
Sorry that ATB is ending, but I can certainly understand the need for a more steady job with benefits. Please try to keep podcasting and keep us updated if you do.
 
M

mujun

Member
Sqorgar said:
How can you not come to those conclusions?


First line of the review and she insults it multiple times. And yeah, the budget wasn't that high (like Neptunia). Are graphics and big budgets the only important thing in gaming these days? Because she returns to this well repeatedly over the course of the review.

Pro tip: When a game reviewer compares the graphics to a previous gen's, they didn't really play the game.


The reason it is called Trinity is because it is the THIRD Zill O'll game. The previous two games, which started on the PSX, were turn based RPGs that had three party members. The decision to not make it multiplayer was one based on the history and purpose of the series, not Dynasty Warriors - which outside of the very basic combat system, Trinity has nothing in common with. Koei was not too cheap to add multiplayer.

Also, bonus points for using Wikipedia as the sole source of information on a niche Japanese title and admitting it.


Besides having a bug up her butt about things being cheap, she apparently hates poor people too. Now I'm being facetious, but crap like this does not belong in a game review. Ever.

I'm not used to or even expecting a lot of journalistic integrity from an industry which also has people like Jeff Gerstmann and Jim Sterling in it. But it'd be nice if reviews were less overtly cruel and there was some actual research and thought put into what was being said.
Click to expand...

There is definitely someone with a bug up their butt and my money is on it not being Kat.
 
kiunchbb

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
Long listener of ATB, I hope she will continue doing those wonderful podcast. Best of luck for her too.
 
Riposte

Riposte

Member
Speaking of GiantBomb, what they need are some serious japanophiles. I mean that jokingly, but dudes who can get off on hard arcade games at the least. (I doubt JRPG-fans would be the best source of that, lol.) And are not bothered by anime asethetics. A separate podcast is a good idea though.
 
E

Ellis Kim

Banned
I really enjoyed ATB, too. Good luck at Gamepro.

As someone already expressed, its a shame that this was before the pokemon B/W ATB ep, if there even will be one at this point.
 
B

Bento

Member
Sigh. If ATB goes down there will be no Podcast left for those of us that wants to hear gaming talk about Japanese games that is not exclusively dedicated to lamenting the decline of their industry (Rebel FM, the Bombcast etc) :I Some serious kudos to Kat and the people that have been involved for bringing a little spotlight to the games I fear far too many people miss out on :(
 
W

watkinzez

Member
Bento said:
Sigh. If ATB goes down there will be no Podcast left for those of us that wants to hear gaming talk about Japanese games that is not exclusively dedicated to lamenting the decline of their industry (Rebel FM, the Bombcast etc) :I Some serious kudos to Kat and the people that have been involved for bringing a little spotlight to the games I fear far too many people miss out on :(
Click to expand...

The Bombcast doesn't come across to me as anti-Japan at all. They get into some niche stuff like Catherine and Bayonetta, and if they do generalise about their industry, it's not derogatory. That's the kind of stuff that made Rebel FM unlistenable.

Anyway, good luck, Kat! Greatly enjoyed having a different set of tastes getting some focus on gaming podcasts for once. Crossing my fingers for a Gamepro show!
 
GhaleonQ

GhaleonQ

Member
I didn't know she had so many fans, though she deserves them.

Thanks for the posts, Kat and Jeremy.

watkinzez said:
The Bombcast doesn't come across to me as anti-Japan at all. They get into some niche stuff like Catherine and Bayonetta, and if they do generalise about their industry, it's not derogatory. That's the kind of stuff that made Rebel FM unlistenable.
Click to expand...

I would say that they're "establishmentarian." They parrot or have a slightly skewed take on conventional wisdom, most of the time. Right now, the industry wants certain things that Japanese developers don't do and they don't really care about looking for neat Japanese things the way they'll plug a B-minus American indie game. Giant Bomb reflects that in their coverage.

They're not hostile, but they certainly don't care in a genuine way. That's why I love the 1-Up Staff.
 
F

farnham

Banned
sad to see her go

kat made ATB one of my most favorite 1up podcast of all times (a tad behind gfw radio and retronauts but miles ahead of 1up yours and whatever else came after that)
 
Riposte

Riposte

Member
watkinzez said:
The Bombcast doesn't come across to me as anti-Japan at all. They get into some niche stuff like Catherine and Bayonetta, and if they do generalise about their industry, it's not derogatory. That's the kind of stuff that made Rebel FM unlistenable.
Click to expand...

What GhaleonQ said, plus:

For Catherine and Bayonetta their reaction is like "Oh man this game is crazyyyy! And so Japanese!" For their GotY podcast they only talked about Bayonetta's cutscenes/asethetics and didn't once bring up its incredible combat system. They are much more interested in movie-games. So yeah: "They're not hostile, but they certainly don't care in a genuine way."
 
Jex

Jex

Member
Monocle said:
I've long considered Gamepro the bottom of the barrel in terms of mainstream game magazines. Has it improved in the last few years?
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Dreams-Visions said:
I don't think I even realized Gamepro still existed.
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Hmm? John Davison went over there in 2009 and pretty much changed their entire focus.

Oh, and they just hired Ray Barnholt, so that's pretty awesome.
 
GhaleonQ

GhaleonQ

Member
THE Ray Barnholt said:
I start at GamePro this week, ready to resume eating press event food.(zine is not dead)
Click to expand...

With Kat's sadness comes a Ray...Of Hope. *This post written by the scribes of Final Fantasy XIII.*
 
Jex

Jex

Member
Someone needs to make a chart showing where all the ex-1uppers have left for over the years. They seem to have invaded every part of both the journalism and development industries.
 
L

LiK

Member
ninj4junpei said:
This reminds me that I need to listen to more episodes of ATB.
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Might as well. Even if they keep it, wont be the same show without Kat.

Kat was a big fan of Demons Souls when everyone else was shying away from it. I wonder who takes up the Dark Souls slack at 1Up now...
 
A

Azar

Member
notworksafe said:
Yeah, yeah but it's missing the other two.

I also thought that a Ray and Jeremy tag team would have been perfect to take over IGN Nintendo after Craig left. A Scott/Jack/Jeremy/Ray Nintendo Voice Chat would have been bizarrely awesome.
Click to expand...
Actually, Kat is a fairly regular contributor to GameSpite.
 
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