ChristianSpicer
Neo Member
Poor guy is starved for attention
No one has insulted him for a few weeks.
TELL. ME. ABOUT. IT.
I'm a middle child...so I blame it on that...and my parents...and that one teacher in 6th grade.
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Weekend Confirmed Episode Whimsy | Let's All Love Loving Things
- Thread starter HamPster PamPster
- Start date
TELL. ME. ABOUT. IT.
I'm a middle child...so I blame it on that...and my parents...and that one teacher in 6th grade.
I said we'll do our best not that we were cancelling the show!
My "best" comes a few drinks in anyway AMIRITE? (See Tenchu shirt pic et al.)
BootlegSnackz
Member
these guys haven't talked about Dragonborn yet have they?? They barely talked about Dawnguard. Hate when new stuff comes out and they don't talk about it.
I understand it's just DLC, but Cannata made such a big deal about Skyrim and he doesn't even play it (i know he mentioned he's not much for Vampire stories, but I think Nicole might have been the one to bring it up, when Cannata was drunk in that one horrible episode) I guess it's Bethesda's fault for releasing DLC so late I guess.
I do actually need to go back and listen to Far Cry 3 talk...i'm hearing it's a lot like Red Dead Redemption and I know they loved that game.
Maybe i will get it with some Christmas money if I hear more good things from the crew.
I understand it's just DLC, but Cannata made such a big deal about Skyrim and he doesn't even play it (i know he mentioned he's not much for Vampire stories, but I think Nicole might have been the one to bring it up, when Cannata was drunk in that one horrible episode) I guess it's Bethesda's fault for releasing DLC so late I guess.
I do actually need to go back and listen to Far Cry 3 talk...i'm hearing it's a lot like Red Dead Redemption and I know they loved that game.
Maybe i will get it with some Christmas money if I hear more good things from the crew.
Has she been on the show since Doritos-gate?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Nope.
She was on immediately following it, but not since Detective-GAF put together the pieces on her involvement in the PR-masquerading-as-press machine.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Jeff Cannata: When you talk about storytelling in video games, you REALLY need to play more Japanese games. It's a bit unfortunate that no one brought up Yakuza since two people on the show finished (???) 4.
I also think the choice mechanic just breaks down and becomes very "video gamey" (or "Mass Effect-ey") in episode 5. Maybe it's because I can't help but see the gears grinding, but it's just it was a massive let down when I saw certain things happen in episode 5, not because they were good for the story, but because of the limits of their storytelling engine.
I also think the choice mechanic just breaks down and becomes very "video gamey" (or "Mass Effect-ey") in episode 5. Maybe it's because I can't help but see the gears grinding, but it's just it was a massive let down when I saw certain things happen in episode 5, not because they were good for the story, but because of the limits of their storytelling engine.
I only know the bare bones of the dorito thing, how was she involved?
Oh shit, I didn't know that. I played the hell out of that during my free trial period. Great game--I'll go back for sure.
PowderedToast
Junior Member
yep, but i wasn't even thinking yakuza. so many special games that don't tell story through cutscenes or dialogue/decision choices. just seems really restrictive to consider the walking dead approach to storytelling as the only way forward. it isn't. i personally find it quite inelegant and contrived as design. that's just me
i know it's cannata hyperbole but sometimes idk man
I find it weird that you can bitch about heavy, ham handed storytelling and then call Walking Dead "the greatest video game story ever told." Episode 2 is the most obvious, heavy handed, rote, generic and awfully written dreck this side of Halo 4. Course, Jeff probably loved that garbage too.
Jake Tower
Banned
I said we'll do our best not that we were cancelling the show!
My "best" comes a few drinks in anyway AMIRITE? (See Tenchu shirt pic et al.)
PowderedToast
Junior Member
truly *wipes tear*
HamPster PamPster
Member
like all good zombie fiction, internet commenters are the real monsters
She wasn't directly involved on the more-publicized Keighly or Wainwright end of things, but it came to light that Machinima (who employ her) take money from publishers to make videos of their games. Some thousands of copies of NFS:MW were given to Machinima along with money so that they'd get a lot of videos of people playing the game just before launch.
Andrea was active on Twitter around this time promoting these videos, and was also involved in some Wainwright-like retweets to win swag. I don't think any evidence more direct than that ever came to light. That, coupled with what people had previously noted was an apparent desire by her to regurgitate the talking points of certain upcoming games in the week or two prior to release led to a good deal of suspicion about her.
Garnett said he'd look into things and get to the bottom of it, and she hasn't been on the show since. I'm not sure if that's because he turned up something he didn't like, or if it's simply been a conflict of schedules during the busy fall months.
Doublesith
Member
Jeff's favorite game story prior to The Walking Dead was Heavy freakin Rain. I learned long ago to disregard his opinion on game story writing.
True, and he has praised Halos story.
Garnett, now would be an awesome time to bring Ariel on. I'd love to hear the devs perspective on the games reception, sales and difficulties. Especially post "online fix" patch I'd love to hear how they made some of their decisions there and why making a competent online experience was so completely beyond their grasp.
Use your access for good journalism!
LQX
Member
Far Cry 3 has better gun play than BLOPS2? Wow!
And this talk of COD having to go away from what makes it the most popular game year after year is so damn redundant. Worse I bet he wont touch the multiplayer to really get a feel of the wealth of gun options. Ugh, just play something else...like Far Cry 3, Halo 4 etc.
Also cant say I disagree with Jeff. Walking Dead actually choked me up, rarely if ever does a game do that to me. It had a more emotional impact on me than the comics for sure but it is in no way better than the comics. Would be curious to see how far he got into the comics.
And this talk of COD having to go away from what makes it the most popular game year after year is so damn redundant. Worse I bet he wont touch the multiplayer to really get a feel of the wealth of gun options. Ugh, just play something else...like Far Cry 3, Halo 4 etc.
Also cant say I disagree with Jeff. Walking Dead actually choked me up, rarely if ever does a game do that to me. It had a more emotional impact on me than the comics for sure but it is in no way better than the comics. Would be curious to see how far he got into the comics.
Just wanted to point out to Jeff 2N1T that Dark Souls is not a game like Trials and Super Meat Boy (games that I also love). Yes it's a challenging game, but it's not trial and error. It's a game that asks you to pay attention to your surroundings, and even run from combat every now and again.
I don't think The Walking Dead is as big of a moment as Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns because there's too much jank. It would be like if either of those comic books had completely awful art (you might not like it but still), they wouldn't have the status they do. I really hope Telltale are working on a new engine or something because the animations are really dodgy, especially in more actioney scenes.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I'm sure Garnett will get to it in 2016.
Neuromancer
Member
But Pitch Black was excellent.
Even if that hoary old chestnut about stealing resources away from the singleplayer side of a game in order to create multiplayer modes were true, how much more does the singleplayer portion of Far Cry 3 need? If that game feels in any way bereft of content to you in the campaign, you really--really--need to reassess your expectations.
(for what it's worth, I think the co-op in FC3 is a whole mess of fun. I love objective + horde-mode-style games and this one is right up there with BFBC2's Onslaught in my book)
(for what it's worth, I think the co-op in FC3 is a whole mess of fun. I love objective + horde-mode-style games and this one is right up there with BFBC2's Onslaught in my book)
I watched that movie with my sister and she screamed at the TV every time something that made no fucking sense happened. It was the most pissed off I have ever seen her :lol
awilliams213
Member
Glad to hear positive talk about P4 I dont think either of them will finish it but good luck.
WrenchNinja
Member
Great P4 talk, cant wait to hear more impressions. Close the case, Garnett!
Jeff's tailgate rant was beautiful.
Jeff's tailgate rant was beautiful.
Neuromancer
Member
Weekend Confirmed 144 - Holiday Special Part 1 - 2012 retrospective
I downloaded Life is Magic on the strength of Jeff's recommendation, anyone want to buddy up? (I picked a Mage btw)
ChristianSpicer
Neo Member
The NRA blamed video games...Video Games has finally issued its own press release:
http://youtu.be/A_PlMbyW2QI
'Merica!
http://youtu.be/A_PlMbyW2QI
'Merica!
Neuromancer
Member
Thank you Mr. Video Games
Why would you thank him for all this tragedy?
Neuromancer
Member
For taking responsibility for his actions
DidntKnowJack
Member
James, I can't believe people were arguing with you about this year's AAA games being somewhat disappointing, or at the very least not bringing much more to the table. You were right on the money.
Good god, that last segment. A lot of yelling, circular arguments... and then to end it we have Andrea (urgh) deciding to just agree that the people she was arguing with were dumb.
And yes, James was right. Jeff should understand his point considering he awarded a preview of a game his GOTY just a week ago.
I thought James was entirely off the mark with his argument. Especially with his argument that Uncharted 2 was any kind of example of a counterpoint to what we saw this year.
I mean, what was Uncharted 2, exactly? It was all the same exact gameplay issues as Uncharted 1 (long, tedious waves of enemies combat, broken up by unengaging auto-platforming interludes and mediocre puzzles) lacquered up with a lot more explosions, spectacle, scripting and OMG GRAFICKS! In addition to not fixing any of the problems with UC1, it even introduced bad stealth to the mix to muddle things further.
His argument of what he wants is basically a summation of everything that's wrong with this fucking industry, not some sort of brass ring we should be reaching for.
Whether you liked it or not, Uncharted 2 blew people away in 2009 and is still one of the best received games of all time. Then Red Dead and Mass Effect 2 shared most of the fame in 2010, Skyrim in 2011... and not a single AAA game in 2012 hit like those games.
None of the 4 games I mentioned were my personal GOTY, but that's completely besides the point when you're talking about "people" feeling disappointed and why that is.
None of the 4 games I mentioned were my personal GOTY, but that's completely besides the point when you're talking about "people" feeling disappointed and why that is.
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
I'm not arguing why I want something, I'm arguing why people were disappointed.
And I'm not trying to put UC2 on a pedestal, but when it came out, it was like "holy shit." the same way Gears 1 was, or any other number of games (Red Dead, Skyrim, ME2 - all as mentioned above... even Mario Galaxy etc). Surely we can look back on them now and find flaws, but damn those games were amazing especially in their time and place
my point was, and perhaps not as eloquently made as I would've liked, that the high expectations for this batch of highly marketed AAA games, ended up making this year a disappointment to some (ie, none of the hugely hyped games really blew people's minds as they have in the last few years). Many very good games still means a good year. The fact though that even in my top 5 (Dishonored, Xcom, Journey, Walking Dead, Fez), that none of those were the blue-chip games, kind of shows what I mean.
That's not to say the year sucked, or that it was a down year for games - simply put, the disappointment felt by the hardcore gamers who DO play all the big franchises, shouldn't be surprising to anyone. And I was trying to explain what I saw the root of that disappointment being, and why I understood that it existed.
state_vector_collapse
Member
At least I've saved myself some time by reading this thread first. The show is at its absolute worst when it gets shouty.
I guess I've differed in the sense that I've found the hugely hyped games largely just other members of the pack for a decade or more now. I never thought Uncharted 2 was anything exceptional. I did and do think it was a good game, but never felt it was anything truly remarkable.
I find arguments like yours, coupled with the thoughts of the podcast on E3 being nothing special (or even soulless) anymore to be symptomatic of a group of people who are more interested in hype than quality. Apologies if you weren't even involved in the E3 segment of the show - I can't remember now.
That attitude represents to me everything that is wrong with the games industry. This attitude that wowing people is more important than solid fundamentals feels like a plague overtaking the entire retail segment of this industry. Going back to the example of Uncharted 2, I've felt that every Naughty Dog game after Crash Bandicoot 1 was stronger on spectacle, yet weaker on gameplay fundamentals than their previous title. This is a general trend in the industry that I find extremely unappealing.
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
You raise fair points, ones i'd love to discuss further, when i'm not about to go to bed. I may check back in tomorrow.
I wasn't on the E3 section. I personally still think E3 is really special, but I also know what it's like to sort of be jaded by it after now having been to 13 of them, especially if you're on the inside where you get to see most of the games prior to the show. Also more discussion for later.
And I'm not saying it just has to blow you away presentation wise / spectacle. Certainly Halo 4 and AC3 blew me away from a graphics / spectacle / story perspective. I think you pointing out gameplay is the exact reason why some of those massively marketed games this year sort of fell just short of the expectations, because they perhaps didn't surprise or delight us the way Dishonored or Fez or Journey or Walking Dead did.
That said, any time you discuss expectations vs. how it turned out / surprise vs. disappointment, etc... you inevitably MUST discuss hype, as that's where the expectations come from. If there's no hype (or expectation), you can't be disappointed.
anyways, bed for real, I'll try to write more tomorrow.
appreciate you listening and the thoughts though