Its a... blogcast?

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who leaves me kind words of encouragement and support at the bottom of my blogs. You guys are awesome.

I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone who inspires me to write. I have been asked a few times how I manage to think of something new to write about every day - and the answer is, just talking to you guys. Sitting in the IRC or on skype, sending PM's to people - there are a lot of clever kids in the Giant Bomb, and you are constantly filling my head with madness which I need to write about. Shout-outs go to several people in particular - Oni, Rowr, Virago, ZeroCast and most recently MattBodega. You guys hold this shit together.

So I figured it couldnt hurt to try something new. I spent a good hour yesterday talking to MattBodega about stuff, and it got pretty intense. I figured I would give him his share of the cradit and post up the entire conversation. Let me know what you think.

Skype Conversation - 01/November/08

BUT WE DIDNT AND YOU HAVE JUST READ IT!!

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who leaves me kind words of encouragement and support at the bottom of my blogs. You guys are awesome.

I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone who inspires me to write. I have been asked a few times how I manage to think of something new to write about every day - and the answer is, just talking to you guys. Sitting in the IRC or on skype, sending PM's to people - there are a lot of clever kids in the Giant Bomb, and you are constantly filling my head with madness which I need to write about. Shout-outs go to several people in particular - Oni, Rowr, Virago, ZeroCast and most recently MattBodega. You guys hold this shit together.

So I figured it couldnt hurt to try something new. I spent a good hour yesterday talking to MattBodega about stuff, and it got pretty intense. I figured I would give him his share of the cradit and post up the entire conversation. Let me know what you think.

Skype Conversation - 01/November/08

BUT WE DIDNT AND YOU HAVE JUST READ IT!!

WHAT IF I DIDN'T READ IT AND SIMPLY GUESSED WHAT THE CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF MAD LITERACY SKILLS!?

That's briliant. I agree, the morality stuff could really go over the edge if poked to hard, and mirrors edge is definitely going to seed some brilliant games. at least that's what i'm hoping. I think games are leaving the idea of "go here because i tell you to" and veering more toward "well you could do this... but what if we just let you do whatever you want". I think Little Big Planet is also in that same category, as it really involves the player, not just in a "LB A A AX RB" kind of way. you have to plan things. Make it your own.

haha. Pepsiman is crazy =)

Some day we'll have our chinese blog writing babies...one of these days...i know i dream

"Some day we'll have our chinese blog writing babies...one of these days...i know i dream"

Xero if you read the blog you would realise that TokyoChicken is not, in fact, insane.

However we have our suspicions...

"WHAT IF I DIDN'T READ IT AND SIMPLY GUESSED WHAT THE CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF MAD LITERACY SKILLS!?"

Confidence goes a long way for many things. Nice post, thanks again Sweep.

SWEEP IS PRETTY GOOD BUT THE GUY HE WAS TALKING WITH SOUNDED SUPER HOT AND SMART.

That was an awesome conversation to read about. You should blog more conversations or have it in audio form, either way works! :P

I'M GLAD I'VE SPAWNED A NEW ALL-CAPS FAD BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF MAD LITERACY SKILLS! ALL CAPS MAKE EVERYTHING CLASSY, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET!

DEEP, MAN. DEEP.

Very enlightening. Though I would argue having a little counter go above your head can be helpful. What I mean is, I've picked morality choices in games that I thought were good but I received some evil points from. Wanting to get the "good" ending, I could redo it the way the game wanted me to to get the good alignment points. You may not agree, but it seems like it has its uses with a picky game...

Morale meter should be a new concept page!

"Morale meter should be a new concept page!"

Done and done.

"Sweep: We should totally have podcasted this entire conversation =/"

I'd agree about the morality meter stuff, me and my friend acually started to debate some of the decisions in GTA and what ones would be considered good and evil whereas Fable 2 clearly labels the good and evil options as such.

"WHAT IF I DIDN'T READ IT AND SIMPLY GUESSED WHAT THE CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF MAD LITERACY SKILLS!?"

Yeah I agree with Matt, morality meters are dumb. Clearly, the flavor de jour in videogames is moral decisions. Bioshock, GTA 4, Fable 2, Fallout 3, even Spiderman: Web of Shadows, all these games feature moral choices. But whereas some games make it more subtle, like GTA 4, the opposite end of the spectrum is Web of Shadows which just asks DO YOU WANT TO BE GOOD OR BAD? Fable 2 is slightly more subtle than that but really not much. Fallout 3 has some more grey areas where it's not just binary choices, but there is usually a third option. It's still a pre-written choice, but at least there is more room for neutrality. And then there's The Witcher, where you have to make lots of choices over the course of the game, and you don't necessarily know how they will pan out. Often, you're forced to choose the what you think is the lesser of two evils, as it is never a perfect choice, and the results can be... unexpected. I think The Witcher has the best implemenation of moral choices and their consequences in any game so far, simply because it's all gray, there is no Light/dark choice or anything, no morality meter, the world is a pretty bad place, and no one is strictly a good guy, everyone has character flaws or bad aspects to them, and as such it feels far less videogamey in its interpretation of the choices/consequences concept. It really is a game that needs to be played by anyone academically interested in this morality concept. Get on that Matt/Sweep!

sort of dumb.
Fable 2's morality crap works well

that being said, judging by the demo, Mirror's Edge isn't exactly innovative.  It's not radically diferent
The most innovative game thus far:

Thank you for your contribution SmugDarkLoser, you raise several interesting points - specifically when you mention that "Fable 2's morality crap works well". How very insightful. However we were actually discussing the concept of applying morality to such a mathematical spectrum. Not about how the design works within the context of the game.

Secondly - saying that Mirrors Edge isnt Innovative is just wrong.

"Innovate - verb (used without object)
1.to introduce something new; make changes in anything established."