Jar Time w/ Jeff: Happiness Is a Warm Jar - 05/11/2012

Jeff is once again spot on about DLC.

With great jar comes great responsibility.

I found the introductory part interesting and it's not really out of place. If you get into this type of coverage it would be near to impossible to not talk about personal events in some fashion and the depth you want to go into is really more reliant on what you're comfortable with being available on the internet. Good to hear you're past some rougher times!

On another note, I agree on the whole DLC situation. I'm paranoid, still mentally stuck in the times of having a physical collection of games to some extent and usually despise DRM in most of its forms, even though I understand the neccessity to protect one's product at some point. But at the end of the day good DLC really is just another content delivery device. In the "golden age" of PC expansions I would occasionally spent more than more than 100 € on a single game between the vanilla release and subsequent 30 € additions (Dawn of War + 3 expansions, Neverwinter Nights + 2 expansions etc. come to mind). And I don't regret those purchases because I either waited for a discounted collection even back then (NWN) or the damn games were just that good and worth every cent (DoW).

lol Jeff is so confused when he got a phone call

No worries Jeff. Family has always got to come first and your extended GB family understands. Best wishes to you and yours

I hope you get through this rough patch. All my best wishes and thanks for everything.

I know it's dumb, bus as a German I can't help but be amused when Americans get excited about driving 95 mph.

You know you have the whole GB community behind you, Jeff. We'll be here if you need us, duder.

Yep the dlc bitching is really getting old.

Jefferson, you da man.

What is that ringtone song from? Was that Outrun?

Just for the record, my Mass Effect 3 boycott is still going strong.

I kind of want them to have the house again at e3. but whatever im excited!

@Milkman said:

"Does Anime Vice still exist?" Really the question we're all wondering.

Has it ever really existed? I'm not quite sure.

Love me some JAR TIME!  
 
Hope you and your family are well Jeff, family is more importantly then video games after all. 

Now that's some real waffle talk.

Just Resubscribed to get my jar fix...

We've got Netflix on the 360 and PS3 in the UK now. The library kinda sucks though.

@Orange_Pork said:

What is that ringtone song from? Was that Outrun?

That's Space Harrier!

@Ithmoliar said:

We've got Netflix on the 360 and PS3 in the UK now. The library kinda sucks though.

Sounds like Netflix to me!

Jeff Gerstmann: Totally clueless about gaming laptops since 2012. Not even going to try to explain, it should be obvious.

Thanks again for the great feature Jeff! All the talk about E3 made this entry particularly interesting.

It really stinks that we've been forced to argue about this whole DLC nonsense in the first place. I totally get Jeff's stance on it, but it all still sucks that a lot of franchises are getting dragged down with it. I've definitely done my part though and avoided games where there were clear violations of ethics (everything they've done with Dragon Age, The Sims, and Mass Effect, for example. no more EA games, ever, for me).

Just from a business perspective, we really should be getting a release day price cut off of games that use it extensively on day one. Portal 2 may have released with loads of cosmetic day one DLC, but you could still buy it for 50 dollars or less on PC release (and it's on sale for super cheap, super often). Freemium is perfectly okay with me for that reason too, at least we're getting a great deal out of the matter. It's all in how it's done.

@Giantstalker said:

Jeff Gerstmann: Totally clueless about gaming laptops since 2012. Not even going to try to explain, it should be obvious.

LAN parties? That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

@Brendan said:

@Giantstalker said:

Jeff Gerstmann: Totally clueless about gaming laptops since 2012. Not even going to try to explain, it should be obvious.

LAN parties? That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

Or college I guess. Nice to save some desk space instead of bringing a desktop to a dorm situation.

@Giantstalker: Well, it's not, so you might as well explain it.

@bananas:

It's for people who move a lot, or travel a lot, and enjoy games. You can't bring a TV around, or one might not even be available, so a console is out of the question too. Handhelds don't offer games that interest these people (like myself). There a lot of people who live more of a "transient" lifestyle - I'm in the military, and constantly move around or get deployed places, and still like to play PC games. And additionally, it can do (almost) anything a desktop can do, making it useful outside of gaming as well. I think gaming-grade laptops, although large and expensive, are great for people like me.

I'm not trying to insult anybody's intelligence here, but it just seemed pretty obvious to me.

Is it just me or does Jeff's left ear lobe look swollen?

Jeff's comments about the last guardian not having enough US fans confuses me. Shadow of the colossus sold 5x better in the US than in Japan and was a greatest hits seller.

I'm envious of that pillow sausage in the back ground.

On disc DLC is shady as fuck, and I have stopped buying into Capcom's shit. Yet, i agree, those people should just stop complaining. I think people who are disingenuous, and feel fucked afterwards, deserves every pinch of salt. Yet, those who are unaware or are still faithful to the brand, still have the right to frown. The capcom team have great developers, yet they have become this unity that stands, and with no choice, to malpractice by people who know only of business and nothing of generosity for the community it caters to.

@hardindr said:

All kidding aside @Jeff I hope you and your family are well.

agreed

@Jeff Just wanted to say.. hope things continue to look up. Pretty sure that everyone who watches these jar videos are willing to hear anything you feel like saying. Sorry for being part of the bitch brigade regarding the new player and all.. kinda makes me feel like a shithead.

Well wishes to you and your family.

You just need to rent out a warehouse and make a home for your arcade machines. It's already happening. You are already part of the trade. You know a guy who knows a guy who has a line on a clean full size Virtual On machine and you will buy it and you will put it in your warehouse where it will sit unplugged and untouched until a a guy who knows a guy who knows you gives you a call one day and says "I'll give you 350 + my four year old golden retriever for it" and you will say "... maybe".

And that's how it will go.

Hey Jeff Gerstmann I hope everything is well with your family

@Brendan said:

@Giantstalker said:

Jeff Gerstmann: Totally clueless about gaming laptops since 2012. Not even going to try to explain, it should be obvious.

LAN parties? That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

In the past 5 years I've moved back and forth from the U.S. and different locations in Europe several times. (7 times maybe?) When you travel a lot, it's really the best method. Not to mention that if you go through the right channels on Steam, you can download English language games anywhere in the world. So that's nice.

Alienware is crap, though. I still can't believe people overpay for that crap.

anticlimactic ending :( should have ended with:

"What makes a good Mortal Kombat character?"

"ME PLAYING IT, BOOM!!!, IM OUT!!"

@Paul_Is_Drunk said:

@Brendan said:

@Giantstalker said:

Jeff Gerstmann: Totally clueless about gaming laptops since 2012. Not even going to try to explain, it should be obvious.

LAN parties? That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

In the past 5 years I've moved back and forth from the U.S. and different locations in Europe several times. (7 times maybe?) When you travel a lot, it's really the best method. Not to mention that if you go through the right channels on Steam, you can download English language games anywhere in the world. So that's nice.

Alienware is crap, though. I still can't believe people overpay for that crap.

Got a refurb Asus gaming laptop for 650 two years ago. Can run Witcher 2 at Medium settings, and Skyrim on Ultra, so there's a huge catalog of recent games that will run on it fine.. Gaming laptops are a viable thing, surprisingly good for the price, especially for the student that has to lug it between home, dorm, uni, etc. Was weird to hear Jeff so casually toss the idea away.

I agree with Jeff. Gaming laptops are pretty stupid, sorry this is how I feel.

I have no clue how Jeff is still single.

I didn't even notice this video dammit. Premium videos need to stick out more!

First, Jeff, good luck with you, your dad and family during this time. Sure, you don't have to go into the details, but its not terrible hearing a 2 minute little update every once and again, it makes you human man. Don't worry about it.

About DLC, me personally, I have dropped off a ton since last gen. I mean I was buying expansion packs for pc games, and hell, even for some xbox games (halo 2 map pack and Doom 3 Resurrection or whatever that was called), but this gen, I bought Shadow Broker, a the Halo 3 maps that came on the ODST game (so dunno if that counts), 1 Halo Reach map pack for 50% off, and that is really about it. I have been burned in the past by DRM basically with games, and even content like the original xbox stuff that was taken down that has really kept me from buying into it more as a concept. Basically at this point, I really only trust GoG and to a lesser degree, but still for the most part, Steam with my digital content. Everything else could be gone tomorrow and there is no way I can play that later. And I am one of those people who will take an old game out 5 years later and want to play it again. And if companies want to just take stuff offline, you have no recourse because basically now they are telling you that you "buying" a game is a long term rental.

And now EA has talked themselves into circles about why Online Passes exist, at one time its for server costs, another its to combat used games, all the while they are taking down games that are 18 months old, or selling online passes in bulk to gamestop. I mean isn't that not more than enough reason to be leery of all of this? Basically they want more money...end of story. They should just say that rather than putting up all these BS fronts.

Six arcade machines isn't crazy. You guys should get sixteen Atari Lynx and hook them up for multiplayer.

Jeff has weird fucking ears.

That had to be said.

We want to know Jeff. We care

@LegendaryChopChop said:

I agree with Jeff. Gaming laptops are pretty stupid, sorry this is how I feel.

I respect your opinion, but I'm kinda curious as to why? If you don't mind me asking?

As has been said many times over in the comments here, we do care and don't mind hearing about the personal stuff. It's more of a question of how comfortable you are putting it out there.

I honestly don't come to Giantbomb looking for day and date reviews, or hard hitting news. I've been here since day one for the personalities and the community.

@Matoyak said:

@LegendaryChopChop said:

I agree with Jeff. Gaming laptops are pretty stupid, sorry this is how I feel.

I respect your opinion, but I'm kinda curious as to why? If you don't mind me asking?

I know I'm not the OP, but I owned a gaming laptop and there are a few base-level reasons: gaming systems are already TITANICALLY cost-prohibitive, but throw all that on top of the fact that laptop parts are more expensive by default, and the cost skyrockets. Beyond that: there's really no point to it besides taking it on vacation. PC games don't really lend themselves to public-transit commutes and most gaming laptops are too large/unwieldy to be comfortably played in such a setting. They also tend toward obsolescence even faster.

@Undeadpool: This is true I like my gaming laptop but the only reason I have it is because my job has me living out of a suit case and I really like games so I relented, unless you are always taking your gaming computer with you, you shouldn't need a gaming laptop they are bulky for a notebook and expensive for a gaming rig

So, can someone recommend a "gaming laptop" that doesn't have a bunch of bloatware? No Dells, please. My M4400 is a piece of shit.

I use an Alienware Laptop, and that's admittedly because I am at college and I conned my parents into it with the statement "It's cheaper than a Macbook". Obviously, if someone isn't in my situation or a situation where one is always on-the-go but still wants to play PC games, I would have trouble understanding it.