Duffyside

" @Duffyside said:

1. Members get to download the 2 hour podcast via iTunes. Non-members can download the first hour via iTunes, and they have to go to the site to download the second part (if getting less people to listen to save on bandwidth is actually the goal. Which still seems CRAZY to me). End of the first hour has a fifteen minute pitch (hey guys, if you want the second half, just go the giantbomb, click on Bombcast, blah blah blah. Then, they have an idea of actually how many people are downloading the podcast, and can tell advertisers "this number are listening to just the 2nd hour, and we estimate this much increase for the first).    

The thing about iTunes is that feed is coming FROM Whiskey Media servers. It's all coming from the same source. iTunes just works as a directory, pointing iTunes users to various podcast feeds. Apple doesn't host podcast files or anything. So the bandwidth issue isn't fixed by that. HOWEVER, I have to echo your sentiments- I'm pretty bummed by the news as well. It doesn't seem like the best idea from a community standpoint. Still, I was already planning on doing the monthly subscription because I want to support these guys- this shit just makes it fucking mandatory for me now. Just thought I'd clear that up for you- until I started making my own podcasts I was very unaware of how all that iTunes jazz worked.  "

This is incredibly depressing and disappointing. I'm not an internet business guy, so maybe I'm missing something? Maybe? But... why do this? I don't even understand the logic other than "if we do this, less people will download 2 hours worth of our content, and that's great." Why is that good? Wouldn't videos cost more money bandwidth-wise? Isn't this place basically a video site? What am I missing? 
 
This site is run by incredibly  smart people. I... jh-... dude what!? 
 
So many ideas are going through my head on how this could've been done better. 
 
1. Members get to download the 2 hour podcast via iTunes. Non-members can download the first hour via iTunes, and they have to go to the site to download the second part (if getting less people to listen to save on bandwidth is actually the goal. Which still seems CRAZY to me). End of the first hour has a fifteen minute pitch (hey guys, if you want the second half, just go the giantbomb, click on Bombcast, blah blah blah. Then, they have an idea of actually how many people are downloading the podcast, and can tell advertisers "this number are listening to just the 2nd hour, and we estimate this much increase for the first). 
 
2. Members get the full unedited version? If that's actually not horrendous? 
 
3. Record an extra fifteen minutes for Members. 
 
4. Cut the podcast length. Seriously. By 30 minutes. Take out the DSi-Ware stuff, being stricter during the first segment, ta-dah. Ryan saves on editing a bit, everyone saves half an hour. 
 
5. Three man team with special guests who aren't employed by Whiskey. 
 
6. Make an extra bonus hour and sell it for 99 cents every week, or free with year memberships. 
 
7. DUDE ANYTHING BUT THIS WHAT ARE YOU DOING? 
 
This is unbelievable to me. I was totally onboard with buying a membership just to support these guys. I was thinking to myself "these are some smart, good people. Whatever they're going to do for memberships, I'm sure it'll be ok." This one announcement made me go from a day-one subscriber to completely hesitant. How insane is that? I would have subscribed with everything they announced, minus the podcast stuff. So, it would change nothing for me personally to just subscribe, because that's exactly the same situation for me. But... DUDE WHAT!?
 
Sorry folks. Did not mean to write that much. /rant

I can watch the old TNTs, but not this new one. I... guess I'll watch Monday Night Comat again...?

I missed the live feed, and can't watch the archived stuff. Is this happening for anyone else? 
 
What's the deal?

Backwards compatibility does not equal framerates at this level, removed jaggies, true 720p, or trophy support. People who are claiming conspiracy aren't thinking logically. 
 
No one is complaining that Microsoft has stopped supporting its backwards compatibility (though that's probably because no one wants that garbage). No one expects Nintendo to have an extra compartment in their consoles so you can stick your old NES, SNES, and N64 games in and play them at your whim. 
 
Etcetera.

I disagree with Jeff on The Old Republic trailer. I've been of that mindset most of my life, sort of outraged at trailers which are nothing like their actual gameplay. Final Fantasy VII comes to mind.  I'm also a person who pretty much hates MMOs. Combat is boring; there's not "oomph" to it, as there is no solid contact animation, and how many swipes with a lightsaber can someone really take? 1? 2, tops? 
 
But this is different, for me. Let me stress: FOR ME. That's totally what I want to see out of Old Republic footage, because that lets me know if I'll be interested in the game, which I now am. 
 
Star Wars has been just butchered by the man who created it, and I long for someone to give it life and meaning again. To make it fucking awesome. These cg trailers have done just that. 
 
The only reason I would want to play The Old Republic would be to experience the world. The atmosphere. The setting. The characters. The narrative. And amazing lightsaber battles, something that even the original trilogy never accomplished. 
 
For all that, I can deal with fairly tedious combat. If that's what I have to do to read a lot of good Star Wars fiction, and every few hours get some amazing cutscene, or new world to explore, or new interesting plot twist, so be it. 
 
The gameplay is really the last thing I want them to show because, well, like what Jeff said... we pretty much know what that is going to be, right? It's going to be just like every other MMO. Y'know... click on shit. Ok, fine; what else you got? Oh... oh shit... all right, I'm listening.

For all those who, like me, missed the original banner ad: 
 
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/26/1398282-tnt_mw2.png     
 
via Dave on twitter (@enemykite).

Is there any way an American consumer could buy a PSP Go and get the European deal? Could I just register it with a European address, like  
 
"MCIV Jolly Sauerkraut Boulevard 
Athens, Finland, V IV IX III I"

"Hey Matt, what's been going on over there at Screened.com?" 
 
"Not a huge amount!... Er, actually, wait... a lot of stuff! Go check it out." 
 
Hahaha.