Bombin' the A.M. With Danielle Riendeau: 07/14/2014

I'm starting a whisper campaign for GB to poach Danielle from Polygon because, let's face it, the site could use more upper-body strength.

Nice to see new faces on the AM Bomb!

Really enjoyed this episode!

Ah yes, the age old "I went to our secluded office space and couldn't find a quiet room" excuse.

edit: Really, at some point, the "noise" he would have been facing would be Vinny. Or maybe some other random people. And I say go for it.

#notallanimeavatars

The movement is real!

Anita has been shown to make things up whole cloth. She'll create a scenario in a game that is actually possible in the game (because physics engine and ragdoll), but that few if any actual players do in that game and likely isn't an intended behavior as driven by the mechanics as written in the code. Hitman Absolution is one example of a game that does track a bunch of player actions. 10% of the kills in the game by players are civilian kills (source: IGN and IO Interactive). A very tiny section of the game actually allows a player to kill any women at all and the vast majority of players do not kill them. Anita makes it seem, on video, that the whole game is about killing women and dragging their bodies around like a piece of garbage, ie objectification. BUT in the game killing civilians yields score penalties. There is a disincentive to kill any civilians. You ARE given points to kill guards; men. 80% of player kills are guards. You are very specifically rewarded for killing men in a game about a hitman who is hired to kill people. Anita cherry picks, constantly. I do not doubt that women suffer in society. That is quite quantifiable. Nobody needs to make things up to show that. She is not worth listening to or keeping track of if some very simple peer reviewing tears her 'arguments' to shreds.

Cool alas wolfless show

Danielle seems really cool, should see if you can get her on for more shows.

Klipklop Kleptok

Ironic, because Danielle became a permanent Idle Thumbs podcast member the same week of the controversy over Giant Bomb's new hires.

Have Patrick and Alex discussed that fracas at all yet? They were both vocal about it on the day it erupted, but I'm yet to hear about it on Bombin' or see it addressed on Patrick's tumblr.

I've enjoyed Danielle's work since the Jumping the Shark days. I was psyched when she became a regular on Idle Thumbs, and I'm looking forward to listening to this episode. Bombin' the A.M. continues to get some really cool guests.

It would have been funny if Danielle used her New England accent for the whole episode that she used in Idlethumbs without bringing attention to it.

Thumbs/GB combo works for me!

Cool, Danielle was a nice addition to Idle Thumbs also.

Video games!

He specifically said in his post that the violence against those women was not rewarded. I think that Hitman Absolution is thoroughly gross on an aesthetic level and I don't think you need to misrepresent the game like she does in order to say so. When she throws in examples that don't make any sense it can only detract from her argument as anyone who has actually played the games will immediately call it out even if they agree with the overall point.

Best guest.

@dreamscythe: Reward doesn’t only include literal reward within the game. Anyway, I deleted my comment since this is such a stupid thing to discuss about under such an excellent video. It’s not like Sarkessian distractors have any kind of will to understand anything. They want to misunderstand.

Danielle's description (and the combat preview videos) got me to buy Abyss Odyssey in anticipation of tomorrow's release. Ace team being the devs helped.

I don't always agree with Danielle "Reindeer" Riendeau's articles on Polygon, but you don't have to agree with someone to respect and appreciate them. I was happy to see her join the Idle Thumbs crew after her run of guest appearances, and it's great seeing her show up over here as well!

@conmulligan: I'm with you. Danielle is fantastic! She was the best on the old GameShark podcast, she's the current best on Idle Thumbs and would the absolute best on Giant Bomb. She's so awesome.

Aw, it would've been great if Patrick called this episode "Bombin' the A.M. with Klip Klop and Reindeer". Such a missed opportunity.

Danielle is awesome.

She boxes? *fist bump*

If @patrickklepek wants to polish up that hardcore Chicago accent, he can always dust off that copy of Midtown Madness.

Danielle is hilarious and is always a positive addition to any social situation.

She's on Idle Thumbs now and the latest episode had me cracking up so hard. She's a great addition to that podcast!!

YO JUNIOR MINTS? OOOOH, DROP A BOMB ON IT!

I really enjoy your show, it's really nice to have guests show up and have very casual conversations about games. Great job.

"Japanese white guys"?

@patrickklepek Time for you to watch some Black Adder Goes Fourth

I really appreciate the fact that gaymerX was talked about, with the horror stories I've heard about e3 and the homophobia and discrimination that happens, an open place with that upfront (whether your gay/straight/trans) you just go and accept people for being normal or wacky.

EDIT: I wish I could've heard the Wolf's opinion about it all this week too, miss ya @alex

While I haven't played the new Divinity game, I'm amazed at how this series (which was originally a Diablo clone) is constantly changing the ways for you to explore their world in new and well-designed ways.

Hmm, well I think the fashion trend for the young there is to have fair skin.

All that anime avatar talk has made be self-conscious of my choice of images to represent my internet self. Oh, and of the fans that choose the medium of anime as a their major source of arts and entertainment. Makes me want to write something to try to explain it.

Anyway, good show!

@david_maurer: I'm just glad someone is making more traditional RPGs while everyone else, including Bioware, is chasing after that sweet Skyrim money.

@mc_hify: That phrase certainly made me sit up and say "huh?!"

@conmulligan: Truth. Girl is good on a mic. See: Idle Thumbs.

IdleBomb or GiantThumbs?

Yo @animasta Klepek just called Zeno Clash games as having "deep profound flaws" (21:53). You gonna take that lying down?! (I disagree a lot)

Either way, Abyss Odyssey looks cool as heck for a deep-looking 2D action game with procedural elements.

Zeno Clash 1? it does have it's flaws.

Zeno Clash 2 is pretty much perfect though

I mean "deep profound" is one step further (I think he's only legitimately played the second game), and he doesn't even expand on that! What the what?!

Facepalming so hard

@patrickklepek You talking smack, breh?

Go all Hokuto no Ken on ya!

Haha, I did also kind of snicker at this.

Enjoyed the guest. Seems to be some good talent at Polygon, but I can't bring myself to visit the site because of two people in particular.

I've also noticed some of the most misogynist shit on Twitter coming from dudes with furry avatars.

That was one of the most ridiculous "observations" I have ever heard. I have been out of anime for years at this point but I am pretty sure I am still correct. Anime is a platform not a genre. To say "man a lot of those assholes have anime avatar! Something is wrong with anime/people with anime avatar." is kind of ignorant.

Some guy with a movie avatar called me a chink, man people with movie avatar are racist pricks. Come on patrick, not like this. You are better than that bull shit.

I really liked Danielle, hopefully she'll be on more!

Danielle is really awesome. She's great on Idle Thumbs too.

Yeah, I'm an idiot. I just meant Japanese men.