Bombin' the A.M. With Scoops and the Wolf: 12/02/2013

Sweet!

Alex's Google Plus Avatar is both scary and awesome

Thanks guys! I just can't buy a Vita just to play Tearaway

I only love Knack (seriously).

"Visually stunning."

(seriously)

Damn i want t play tearaway ill wait till it drops in price

What the heck is going on with Alex's face?

Alex lookin' gooooooooooooooddd!

What, no? Pretty sure UK was Xbox country the last generation. Yes, Sony had it during the PS2 era, but not the PS3. EDIT: Oops, adressed.

I love my $200 Sony sound bar. It fits perfectly under my TV screen and the subwoofer is really good. I just wish it had more than 3 HDMI ports.

A Mac died, shocker!

Broken computers cannot hold the Wolf down.

Also, wasn't David S Gallant supposed to be a guest this week? What happened there?

Vizio is a totally fine brand. I've had a 42" class LED, 1080p tv that I've used for games and movies in my living room for the past 18 months or so and it's been great for the price that I paid. Someone will probably site black levels this, or contrast ratios that, but in my experience it's a decent tv. And I'm with Alex and Patrick, all I've ever heard is that Sony had the UK marketshare locked down for a while now. I guess it's just one of those things that everyone says but is not really based in fact.

About an hour after the show, I saw an article on Reddit saying the PS4 sold roughly 66% more in its first 48 hours than the Xbox One. Forgot the exact numbers, 100k maybe. Then again, it's pointless theorizing any relative system success when there are likely supply constraints for both consoles.

That said, it's hard to imagine Microsoft selling more systems in Europe than Sony, at least in the short term, as the Xbox isn't available in all countries until some time next year.

Again with the 'no stand out games in 2013 thing.' The only reason walking dead and X-Com were complete standouts from last year was because last year was a pretty weak year when compared to others. 2013 is probably the strongest gaming year in a while. Games like The Last of Us, Gone Home, Mario and Zelda are way better than just about anything released in 2012.

Um... I'm pretty sure the UK was pretty firmly Xbox territory this last gen, Patrick. You might be thinking of the rest of Europe.

Edit: posted too soon, got corrected in video :P

A poor man's "good" HDTV would be a little harsh but Vizio's are mainly good enough. As you mentioned, the black levels and contrast are ehh, I just don't like the poor picture quality which I notice every time I step out into the living room and see my roommate's 36" 1080p Vizio because I was busy looking at my Playstation Display I use with my PC.

If the Vizio tv was the only screen in the house to look at then I could see myself getting used to it.

Vizio is a fine brand, but if you are serious about gaming, it is not the brand to get.

I think Vizio has great tvs, but their response time on their panels is not so great. The one that is decent is the E50i-A1, that has about a 32 ms response time.

I just bought the Sony 802A though, that panel has a response time of 16ms in game mode which no other HDTV comes close to except for Sony's own 900 series. Was it more expensive? Of course, but then again I am paying a lot of money anyways. 16ms response time on a full size HDTV is incredible.

they didnt even mention gta 5 . assholes

Keep fighting the good fight. Rayman Legends GOTY. Fuck Brothers. Or don't because that game's amazing too but choosing sides here

"[Brad Shoemaker] is a complete piece of shit" - Alex Navarro

Made me lol. Mostly the delivery was perfect.

It's things like the disembodied voice of Alex Navarro that make me appreciate that I consume this show in audio form 99% of the time.

I don't see what the appeal of having a camera sign you into an Xbox One or a PS4 is when you can just set it to automatically sign you in when you turn the system on.

Really nice one today!

Why is this cutting off at around 28 minutes in when I watch it on my xbox's YouTube app? Sort of caught me off guard when the video just all the sudden stopped and was abruptly done. :/

Yea Slickdeals!

As long as you live alone and/or never let anyone else you your system.

Patrick talked me out of Tearaway the moment he said the words "and back" in reference to having to using touch controls in the game. That back touchpad or whatever you call it is the worst thing ever put into a controller/system. I hate games that offer or require controls using that thing. It means I have to hold the system awkwardly so as to not accidentally do something in the game. No thanks.

Given how Patrick and Alex seem to be the only people that use their respective systems, I don't see why it would be an issue for either of them.

@synthesis_landale said:

I'd still recommend trying the demo, it may surprise you. Tapping and poking is all that's required, and only near certain surfaces.

Microsoft just needs more data now. The reason the Kinect doesn't work is because we don't give them enough data and they need more. Give them your data everyone, they need data to make the device you bought thinking it would work, work. Don't be shy, just give them that data. They need it.

2013 in a nutshell.

So I tweeted Vinny, Brad, and Jeff about why they would not want to play Tearaway, but Brad said he just bought it and thought Klepek's sentiment was news to him.

Dredd in 3D is probably the best use of 3D in a movie, all those bubbles! Saw it in 3D at the cinema too.

About GOTY deliberations, I'm guessing Jeff will blindside everyone by picking Papers Please or Gunpoint as his GOTY.

I brought my Rift to my sister's house for the holidays. It is such a fun thing to demo because even non-gamers are blown away.

I showed my sister Dreadhalls, but using the controller was difficult. I probably should have piloted like you mentioned.

It was funny though because when I put my 3 year old nephew in First Law (Space sim) and all I had to do was explain what buttons did what and he was flying around with ease.

Keep spreading the word about Tearaway, it's gonna be a shame if it gets overlooked. Maybe they'll port it up to PS3/PS4.

@master_funk: the problem is that they are all standout games, which makes none of them stand out

I have a Samsung sound bar - it's awesome.

I think Patrick exaggerates how difficult it is to use the 3DS touch screens.

Yes, they're obviously not the same as the capacitive touchscreens on recent smartphones. But as long as you just remember "oh right, I have to apply force, and can't just lightly brush my thumb across the screen", it's perfectly accurate.

I get it. Most 3DS games aren't touch-based and mostly use the buttons and analog stick, so I'm with you, I barely use the stylus. But if I want to drop a memo pin in Link Between Worlds, or tap open a tooltip in Fire Emblem: Awakening, I just tap on the screen with my fingernail for all of 3 seconds. It is not the arduous/frustrating task that Patrick makes it out to be.

I was thinking the same, I mean if I played through Rhythm Heaven without problems, and even full S-ranked Ouendan 2 back in the day, how bad could the touch screen really be? A legitimate knock is that it is not multitouch but obviously all the games on the system are designed with *that* in mind.

Also there is a convenient receptacle for the stylus *right there* in case you can't use your fingers properly.

Furthermore, anyone who's dealt with a smartphone touchscreen's raw output knows that there is a lot of software data processing needed to get the feeling of precision; I doubt that the (3)DS screen hardware is actually that much worse on a pixel-precision basis (though it is relatively low resolution which skews in its favor in those terms)

@cigaro: Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't input lag only make a difference on a competitive shooter or fighting game? Both of which I don't think are Patrick's favorite genres. Even then, wouldn't the latency from your network be the bottleneck, not input lag? And if you're that hardcore about it, why not just use a monitor which would have response times of less than a third of what you have on your tv? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I legitimately want to know why this is talked about so much. I've gamed on displays with response times of 70ms or more and done just fine.

Input lag is an overrated concern when it comes to HDTVs. The biggest knock on the ST60 I bought earlier this year was the relatively high input lag, but it hasn't been an issue at all. It has had absolutely zero impact on my experience.

Regarding game of the year, I know somehow The Last of Us blew through the office without much fanfare, but that might be my game of the generation and I don't think that's an unusual opinion. I'm surprised it didn't resonate much with anyone on the crew.

@hippie_genocide said:

I honestly assume that the Rock Band calibration thing was a lot of people's first introduction to the concept that TVs have minute amounts of lag associated with their video and audio output, and now everybody thinks they know what they're talking about because they've played Rock Band.

Because you're right, if you're not playing a rhythm game, or playing a fighting game at a very high competitive level, it really doesn't fucking matter what the input lag is, in the majority of situations.

A good reason to get a Vita is fighting games, as they are pretty close to their console counterparts. You can practice all the arduous stuff on public transport, then go home and practice what you've learnt on the big screen!

YES GIVE ME A F-ZERO GAME NOW

Patrick was wrong about Sony having the UK on lockdown. It was outsold by both the Wii and the 360 during the last generation. Outside of Japan, the UK was the only other big market apart from the US where MS dominated the HD console space.

PS4 outselling the Xbone is a reversal of what happened in the UK last gen. The 360 released in the UK in December 2005 and cost £279.99 (and only £209.99 for the Core pack.) The PS3 did not release in the UK until March, 2007 and it cost £425. Because of the huge price difference and the 15 month head start the 360 dominated the PS3 in the UK.

Peggle is the first thing that makes me jealous of XBone owners.

Alex, Patrick, keep it up! I really like your show.