Giant Bombcast 01-29-2013

Jeff was right: The PC version of Saints Row 2 was terrible.

Twilight Princess looked shitty? Really? What's with the irrational hate on that? I thought it looked gorgeous, and I don't even like Zelda games.

I "get" Wind Waker, but I totally get the disappointment of it, like Brad said. They basically mislead everybody.

Did Jeff Disregard Homeworld? Ok then.

I will listen to this while doing revision like last week. Got a 91% on that test so bombcast is a catalyst to success

It bothered me slightly that, while discussing the email about manipulating space or time, no one mentioned the fact that space and time are intimately related in such a way that one could manipulate space to the point that time would also be manipulated.

Step ya physics game up bomb crew!

Oh man, Vinny's bit on Underworld was freakin hilarious.

I have never seen Ghosts of Mars.

Now I feel like I need to see Ghosts of Mars.

pretty sure Saints Row 2 for pc was outsourced to cd projekt, and they were given very little time to work on it. it just wasn't a priority at the time I guess, unfortunately.

@cadwr said:

Regarding minimums for credit card purchases, that practice is against the vendor agreements of the major credit card companies. If a business is requiring a minimum (or enforcing a maximum) purchase amount to use a credit card, you can report that business to the relevant credit card company. You can do the same if a business is requiring you to show additional ID to make a credit card purchase. From what I've heard Visa and Mastercard are somewhat lax when it comes to responding to these reports, but American Express takes them very seriously and will demand a change in policy with the threat of revoking the vendor agreement.

As a business owner I can tell you that is incorrect. When being sold CC services I was told that I most certainly could put a minimum purchase amount. Because every transaction cost me money. Those CC companies are trying everything they can do to get their machine in your store. Bottom line stores have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason as long as it is not discrimination.

Weird coincidence while listening to the Bombcast on the way to work this morning. While they were talking about people paying for things for the other guy behind them, the driver in front of me paid for my toll as I was going to get change in the cashier lane. I wonder if the person forgot about getting his change back or listened to the Bombcast as well... Anyway, fist bump to that driver! Also, I liked Lords of Shadow.

also glad to hear that about sim city. running power lines and water lines and sewers and subways and shit was no fun AT ALL. it was overly complicated and poorly explained.

@patrickklepek

I have to say, I don't think Disgaea (the original one) is that hard to get into. You do not need to be already into strategy games to play it, as it was the first game in that genre that I really got into and played all the way through.

@msavo said:

If Patrick thinks Fire Emblem is hardcore than I don't know how he'll handle other games in that genre. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are on the same level for me as very easy turn based strategy games.

Out of curiosity then, what games of the genre would you consider hard?

Slowly getting more excited about SimCity, but I have no idea how it will run on my machine. A shame I didn't get into the beta.

@Superkenon said:

@msavo said:

If Patrick thinks Fire Emblem is hardcore than I don't know how he'll handle other games in that genre. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are on the same level for me as very easy turn based strategy games.

Out of curiosity then, what games of the genre would you consider hard?

Gary Grigsby's War In the East

@CptBedlam said:

@paulunga said:

Wow, Jeff is that guy that hates the DmC reboot except for Castlevania. XD

Yep, isn't it funny how he despises the outrage of "oldschool" DMC fans and yet he complains on this bombcast how LoS doesn't have a bunch of features from past Castlevania games (that would make absolutely zero sense in LoS)? Sounds very much like hypocrisy to me. If he likes a rebooted game, it's because it's different (Syndicate, DmC). If he doesn't, it's because it's different.

The difference (which is significant) is that Jeff just doesn't care about the new Castlevania, while those extremely vocal DMC people were angry to point of circulating petitions and vandalizing Facebook pages and stuff.

There is a huge difference between "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I don't really care about it at all" and "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I'm going to scream about it for months on end and then continue to be angry when the game turns out to be alright."

I'm sure if this new Castlevania game ends up being good Jeff won't stamp his feet and cry foul about it like that vocal group of DMC fans have been doing.

The only cool part of Chronicles of Riddick is when Riddick killed a guy with a broken coffee cup. Other then that, the rest of the movie is shit.

@MeatSim said:

Slowly getting more excited about SimCity, but I have no idea how it will run on my machine. A shame I didn't get into the beta.

I have that problem too. And after the pains of Diablo 3, the always on aspect makes me seriously twitch. They'd better do this right. :|

Patrick: I don't think there's any reason to be afraid of getting into something like the Tactics series. I played the GBA one when I was thirteen. It's not all that difficult. Certainly was less stressful than when I played Fire Emblem  and did a chapter again when I lost anyone, save for a casualty in the final battl. I couldn't be bothered to play that battle again. 

But... But I live in Minnesota :(

also Dan Ryckert is a sweetheart

@squidraid said:

@MeatSim said:

Slowly getting more excited about SimCity, but I have no idea how it will run on my machine. A shame I didn't get into the beta.

I have that problem too. And after the pains of Diablo 3, the always on aspect makes me seriously twitch. They'd better do this right. :|

@Qlanth said:

@CptBedlam said:

@paulunga said:

Wow, Jeff is that guy that hates the DmC reboot except for Castlevania. XD

Yep, isn't it funny how he despises the outrage of "oldschool" DMC fans and yet he complains on this bombcast how LoS doesn't have a bunch of features from past Castlevania games (that would make absolutely zero sense in LoS)? Sounds very much like hypocrisy to me. If he likes a rebooted game, it's because it's different (Syndicate, DmC). If he doesn't, it's because it's different.

The difference (which is significant) is that Jeff just doesn't care about the new Castlevania, while those extremely vocal DMC people were angry to point of circulating petitions and vandalizing Facebook pages and stuff.

There is a huge difference between "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I don't really care about it at all" and "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I'm going to scream about it for months on end and then continue to be angry when the game turns out to be alright."

I'm sure if this new Castlevania game ends up being good Jeff won't stamp his feet and cry foul about it like that vocal group of DMC fans have been doing.

I'd also say there's a huge difference between making a game easier or more accessible or giving it a slightly different mood and just making it into game that is very much like the other games in a very well established genre. Past Castlevania games were special for a reason. Like the game or not, LoS is just another game with GoW style combat and 3rd person action puzzles.

You bastards, the end of this podcast almost killed me. The part with the gushers? Man... Good stuff!

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@squidraid said:

@MeatSim said:

Slowly getting more excited about SimCity, but I have no idea how it will run on my machine. A shame I didn't get into the beta.

I have that problem too. And after the pains of Diablo 3, the always on aspect makes me seriously twitch. They'd better do this right. :|

@Qlanth said:

@CptBedlam said:

@paulunga said:

Wow, Jeff is that guy that hates the DmC reboot except for Castlevania. XD

Yep, isn't it funny how he despises the outrage of "oldschool" DMC fans and yet he complains on this bombcast how LoS doesn't have a bunch of features from past Castlevania games (that would make absolutely zero sense in LoS)? Sounds very much like hypocrisy to me. If he likes a rebooted game, it's because it's different (Syndicate, DmC). If he doesn't, it's because it's different.

The difference (which is significant) is that Jeff just doesn't care about the new Castlevania, while those extremely vocal DMC people were angry to point of circulating petitions and vandalizing Facebook pages and stuff.

There is a huge difference between "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I don't really care about it at all" and "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I'm going to scream about it for months on end and then continue to be angry when the game turns out to be alright."

I'm sure if this new Castlevania game ends up being good Jeff won't stamp his feet and cry foul about it like that vocal group of DMC fans have been doing.

I'd also say there's a huge difference between making a game easier or more accessible or giving it a slightly different mood and just making it into game that is very much like the other games in a very well established genre. Past Castlevania games were special for a reason. Like the game or not, LoS is just another game with GoW style combat and 3rd person action puzzles.

You mean just like Syndicate was turned into a generic sci-fi shooter that looks exactly like the new Deus Ex? Yeah, Jeff liked that game too and his reasoning was "they weren't gonna make a real Syndicate sequel anyway, deal with it and enjoy this new good game". The same can be said about oldschool Castlevanias.

And Lords of Shadow's mood is btw closer to the earliest Castlevanias than the recent Igavanias on DS, which went way too far into anime territory and lost the European gothic vibe.

@Superkenon said:

@msavo said:

If Patrick thinks Fire Emblem is hardcore than I don't know how he'll handle other games in that genre. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are on the same level for me as very easy turn based strategy games.

Out of curiosity then, what games of the genre would you consider hard?

I'd say the Disgaea games are a step up from Fire Emblem. Also I hope I didn't come across as bragging or anything stupid like that because I think Fire Emblem is easy, I've just been playing them since I was young and apart from restarting a mission the odd time they aren't that complicated or difficult.

@CptBedlam said:

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@squidraid said:

@MeatSim said:

Slowly getting more excited about SimCity, but I have no idea how it will run on my machine. A shame I didn't get into the beta.

I have that problem too. And after the pains of Diablo 3, the always on aspect makes me seriously twitch. They'd better do this right. :|

@Qlanth said:

@CptBedlam said:

@paulunga said:

Wow, Jeff is that guy that hates the DmC reboot except for Castlevania. XD

Yep, isn't it funny how he despises the outrage of "oldschool" DMC fans and yet he complains on this bombcast how LoS doesn't have a bunch of features from past Castlevania games (that would make absolutely zero sense in LoS)? Sounds very much like hypocrisy to me. If he likes a rebooted game, it's because it's different (Syndicate, DmC). If he doesn't, it's because it's different.

The difference (which is significant) is that Jeff just doesn't care about the new Castlevania, while those extremely vocal DMC people were angry to point of circulating petitions and vandalizing Facebook pages and stuff.

There is a huge difference between "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I don't really care about it at all" and "If this doesn't have the stuff I want, then I'm going to scream about it for months on end and then continue to be angry when the game turns out to be alright."

I'm sure if this new Castlevania game ends up being good Jeff won't stamp his feet and cry foul about it like that vocal group of DMC fans have been doing.

I'd also say there's a huge difference between making a game easier or more accessible or giving it a slightly different mood and just making it into game that is very much like the other games in a very well established genre. Past Castlevania games were special for a reason. Like the game or not, LoS is just another game with GoW style combat and 3rd person action puzzles.

You mean just like Syndicate was turned into a generic sci-fi shooter that looks exactly like the new Deus Ex? Yeah, Jeff liked that game too and his reasoning was "they weren't gonna make a real Syndicate sequel anyway, deal with it and enjoy this new good game". The same can be said about oldschool Castlevanias.

And Lords of Shadow's mood is btw closer to the earliest Castlevanias than the recent Igavanias on DS, which went way too far into anime territory and lost the European gothic vibe.

And, again, if this Castlevania game ends up being as good as Syndicate was, it's pretty likely Jeff would change his mind about it. It's not like this exact hasn't happened a dozens of times before in his career (see: Saint's Row the Third).

I just don't understand why people are taking what, at the most, seems like total apathy about this series from Jeff's end making it seem like he is flipping his lid about it. Dude just doesn't care about new Castlevania games. Get over it.

@CptBedlam: I didn't say that the way LoS went was bad or good, just that it's not fair to compare two very different things. Jeff didn't have issues with changes, he had issues with changes to something he doesn't like. No shit you won't like if your brownies are turned into shit, but do like when they are turned into delicious money. It's ok to not like one franchise changing and not mind another one changing. Because not ever change in the universe is the same. If you just consider it "different" and ignore HOW it's different, you're just as bad as the people who say bitch at any change.

Also, Jeff has been pretty vocal that he'd love a proper Syndicate game still. He never said that Syndicate was a good replacement for Syndicate.

@MordeaniisChaos: @Qlanth: I am not criticising Jeff's taste, I am criticising his reasoning. Of course it's okay to like one thing changing and not liking another thing for the same reason. But just be honest about it. Jeff always acts as if he's above all that but him not liking Lords of Shadow is no different than others not liking how Syndicate has turned out.

@Qlanth said:

And, again, if this Castlevania game ends up being as good as Syndicate was, it's pretty likely Jeff would change his mind about it.

Who says Lords of Shadow isn't as good as Syndicate? It's weird anyway to compare those games but I'd say LoS is way better product and I am not alone with that opinion.

Disgaea is really not "made for people who like strategy games". I picked it up having never played that sort of game before, and it's very good about explaining everything. You don't even need to get crazy with the systems to get through everything, but the complexity is there if you want to dive in.

new music is soo much better

John Carpenter lost all credit when he made "The Fog". Ryan's pretty good at knowing when movies came out to with in 6 years.

... there IS a Homeworld 2! what are they even talking about o_O

also, the last warhammer game, mark of chaos, basically was a Total War game in all but name, only janky and poorly balanced, and mission driven rather than with the massive total war style campaign maps

@patrickklepek

Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea are not as complicated as you make them out to be. I played FFT when I was around 12 years old and I was able to beat it. There are several missions early on that are designed to stomp you into the ground so you could get a handle on enemy priority and moving your units where they are needed most. Disgaea is essentially FFT, but its a bit easier because of the way the game lets you abuse its systems. I remember the trailer displaying the fact that you could level up to insane levels despite only needed to be around 60 to beat the whole game.

You beat XCOM. You have a lot more experience than people who originally played FFT and Disgaea as their first step into the genre.

I think Greg put it quite well when he said that Disgaea is basically a love-letter to fans of tactical jrpgs in his review way back when. Also, it's a really funny game with great English voicework. I would recommend it to anyone to play at least once. As the poster below me said, you don't even NEED to mess around with levelling items or any of that shit to beat the main game. The post main game content is a different story.

also, I thought both Twilight Princess and Wind Waker looked great. idunno.

Breaking Brad: SOUP

YAY were sophisticated!!!!!!

@Max_Cherry said:

John Carpenter lost all credit when he made "The Fog". Ryan's pretty good at knowing when movies came out to with in 6 years.

i only watched bits and pieces of that movie in passing and i was disappointed when i confused it for one hopeful second for an honest to goodness Stephen King "The Mist" movie. :(

then they really DID make a "The Mist" movie and it was for all purposes pretty great :) (until that pretty much botched ending...)

@msavo said:

I'd say the Disgaea games are a step up from Fire Emblem. Also I hope I didn't come across as bragging or anything stupid like that because I think Fire Emblem is easy, I've just been playing them since I was young and apart from restarting a mission the odd time they aren't that complicated or difficult.

Nah. Fire Emblem's definitely one of those games that becomes pretty safe once you know what all to look out for (though I'd still say it's a pretty significant exercise in tactics on the harder difficulties). But on the other side of that token, it's a rather ruthless game until you figure all of that out.

I would think Disgaea'd be a lot easier for beginners to get into, because it doesn't matter if you lose a bunch of your guys in a battle, and going back to an old stage to grind out levels and money is always an option. Disgaea has crazy systems, but it gives you unlimited access to everything you need, while Fire Emblem is all about maximizing efficiency to get the most out of limited opportunities -- which I think is the steeper order for beginners.

Kudos to Vinny for being the ONLY one sticking up for Castlevania LoS. I LOVED that game. I thought it was incredibly well written and well done for what it was. The ridicule it gets from people is so undeserved. I'll even go as far as to say LoS > GoW 3.

Also, Patrick was within a hair of spoiling the ending for Vinny.

Hey bomb crew,

Patrick said something to the effect that if I can't handle perma death I shouldn't play fire emblem, but does this include strategy games or games in general. I like games, but I hate permanent decisions. When they occur in games it bugs me to the extent I stop playing them or I save beforehand and try every outcome or research faqs to get the outcomes I want. I am in no way claiming I'm good at video games (actually quite bad at them) so my interest totally outstrips my ability. So in short should I throw out my copy of x-com (was about to play it)?

I'm sure I'm not the first one to point it out, but just to be sure: the o in "Koch" is short.

@msavo said:

@Superkenon said:

@msavo said:

If Patrick thinks Fire Emblem is hardcore than I don't know how he'll handle other games in that genre. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are on the same level for me as very easy turn based strategy games.

Out of curiosity then, what games of the genre would you consider hard?

I'd say the Disgaea games are a step up from Fire Emblem. Also I hope I didn't come across as bragging or anything stupid like that because I think Fire Emblem is easy, I've just been playing them since I was young and apart from restarting a mission the odd time they aren't that complicated or difficult.

I would have to disagree with you there. I have played a lot of Disgaea but I find it much easier than the Advance Wars and Fire Emblem series. I think it is all a matter of opinion. I remember on the DS Disgaea the ability to grind experience pretty easily, while the Fire Emblem series doesn't let you do that, and there is no persistent leveling in the AW series.

The Shin Megami Tensei game on DS may have been one of the most difficult tactics games I have played.

Yip!

@MaharajaMD said:

Hey bomb crew, Patrick said something to the effect that if I can't handle perma death I shouldn't play fire emblem, but does this include strategy games or games in general. I like games, but I hate permanent decisions. When they occur in games it bugs me to the extent I stop playing them or I save beforehand and try every outcome or research faqs to get the outcomes I want. I am in no way claiming I'm good at video games (actually quite bad at them) so my interest totally outstrips my ability. So in short should I throw out my copy of x-com (was about to play it)?

Since you already have it, it seems like you should give it a shot and see what you think. There's nothing in X-COM stopping you from reloading a save when you lose a character, so if that's how you're happiest playing you should go right ahead.

It's funny how Jeff is knocking that Castlevania game for not have stuff that the classics had, yet they bash on the people who don't like the new DMC because it does not stick to its roots. lol what a joke.

I love that Ryan chose the 'Reject' ending for Brad's question.

Which Fire Emblem is Patrick playing? The new one coming out next week?

@DCam: yes

From Brad

1. "know the ultimate fate of our species"

- The answer is extinction

2. "are we alone in the universe"

- The answer is no we are not. Look up the Drakes equation.

@Phoenix87 said:

From Brad

1. "know the ultimate fate of our species"

- The answer is extinction

2. "are we alone in the universe"

- The answer is no we are not. Look up the Drakes equation.

1. or why not transcendence

2. Fermi's Paradox