Giant Bombcast 02/17/2015

You didn't have to tap constantly. You had to tap it twice or thrice every couple of seconds at best and hold it to maintain speed. Constant tapping would only waste stamina.

It was actually fun for me, because I got into a groove fairly quickly and my thumb felt much better playing that game for 6 hours straight than it did after the easiest marathon in GTA V.

Alfred E. Neumann!

Brad speaking truth about HL2. It is a great game, but the way people talk about it being the best game ever gets old.

This is why I love the site and it's people from the beginning. Last week I wrote email about wanting to hear their gotg and here it is. Fantastic. Just got from work and what an evening it will be!

Smash Bros Brawl was definitely the "dorm room game" for my group of friends. We played the shit out of it all through college, even to the point where we modded it. And while we are all gamers and still play games, there were people who would drop in on us and play a few rounds and they would not typically sit down and play games as much as we do.

I'd like to see a podcast where Dan does half full on kayfabe and the other half as a straight shoot. Like a wrestling Two-Face.

I've downloaded Yik Yak now. All the Yaks in my area are people talking about how lonely they are, how high they want to get or who they want to sleep with. Good times.

I find it hilarious that people willingly gave their money to PM.

This I don't understand. GTAIV and Red Dead are basically the same game, but in different settings. Same controls, same movement, same shooting, same cover mechanics. The main characters are pretty similar as well.

The arc mines are GREAT.

Man my grandparents had a bookshelf that was basically full of nothing but MAD paperbacks that I devoured as a kid. That shit was insane.

Also this is the second time in as many days I've talked/heard MAD TV discussed.

@jeff@brad@danryckert So, on the subject of mech games - none of you hold any love for Shattered Steel? I still consider that Bioware's best game (if I recall correctly, it was their debut title).

It used a voxel engine, with terrain that could be blown to bits by your weapons. And it had nukes, with kinda devastating effects.

I forced myself to play through Red Dead Redemption after all the outlets were saying how amazing it was. I enjoyed it for a couple hours but the majority of the time I kept asking myself, "what are people enjoying about this?!"

The "ending" with the barn was complete crap. After killing hundreds of dudes, it made zero sense that I couldn't snipe a dozen from the second floor.

I'm still bitter, but I've learned my lesson and avoid all Rockstar games now.

Oh, and Molyneux has promised big since long before Black & White. Kotaku did a piece about his history last year, where they interviewed one of the people who worked on Syndicate Wars:

Diskett, who directed the tactical combat game Syndicate Wars (1996), remembers being excited about one specific feature: video playback. Billboards in the game would be able to display video footage that the programmers set them to play. But in talks with reporters, as Diskett recalls, Molyneux would promise that players could insert DVD movies and let them play on in-game billboards. "The journos at the time loved this and appeared to completely believe it, despite the fact that PCs of the day only just had CD drives, and computer DVD drives didn't even exist yet," Diskett said in an e-mail. "I was kind of disappointed that what was an amazing AND real, existing feature was kind of overshadowed by a totally imaginary feature that wasn't even remotely technically feasible."

"I particularly remember when [Molyneux] was talking about Syndicate, saying that the whole city is alive and everyone's got jobs," said Cooper. "And of course it wasn't that. But it was the fantasy of that. So I think that's what he's doing, is he's just creating a fantasy for the person he's talking to."

http://kotaku.com/the-man-who-promised-too-much-1537352493

@jeff takken u know?

RIP Jon Lovitz was the best part of that SNL Special

@bigevil1987: Yik Yak is really only worthwhile if you're a college student/near a college campus. I think it can be a lot of fun. It's like 4chan without the shitty worldviews.

"insanely slow progression", people playing games have become such freaking whiners. I have been playing evolve for 2 evenings and I already unlocked 3 characters and a monster. It doesn't take much time at all. Not to menetion it's fun to play. I don't feel the need to buy anything and I do not feel that I'm being held back content.

Oh my god that Molyneux interview... you can hear the teeth gnashing. Before even reading down to the point they actually say "Watergate" I'm thinking this is some Woodward and Bernstein sized chip on John's shoulder. John is channelling every irate gamer who feels they are entitled to thin air promises, and every publisher who has been sold a bill of goods by a developer. Like the 40 billion dollar videogame industry is somehow supposed to be morally pure of snakeoil salesmen.

Peter Molyneux: I was wrong. But it’s not a lie.

Bugger should drop the mic after that. It's amazing that he did this whole interview in a room full of his team. I would've left the room it seemed so awkward.

Anyway, I also say I'll do many things that I don't have time for, and don't complete when I think I will. And it weighs heavily on me. However I am not being paid to do them, they aren't especially important to anyone's world, and I cannot pass them off to anyone else to finish.

Video game design and the creative process has so many things out of Peter's control that I don't understand how any sane person can believe he is capable of doing the things he says. If you do, you're a sucker. Calling Molyneux a liar means that you fell for it.

And fucking stop giving money to Kickstarters. Just stop.

I don't think that's controversial really. Tekken was awesome and hugely popular.

I think the undeniable thing with Sould Calibur is that it was mindblowing on release and it's very good. But I think Tekken at it's best stacks up well against it.

Listening to the HL2:Episode 2 commentary, Gaben said at the time that Episode 2 is the second episode in a trilogy of episodes.

I hope they piss everyone off by releasing HL2 Episode 3 as well.

@artisanbreads: Yeah, you are right. Was just hoping to stir up some differing opinions in the comments.

Well it was a while since I played but I do remember having to tap quite often and it being tiring. I don't think it really added anything but hey to each their own I guess.

Psi-Ops did come out before Half Life 2. I actually never thought about that.

"Dirty Bomb" would be a great name for a GB porn podcast. Its totally weird and gross...but that would be what you'd call it.

Especially Brad, someone who loves a game that makes you spend 30+ hours grinding the same content over and over before you see the "real" game.

I wrote the email about gotg!

Jakub is Jacob, so You got that right Brad. Yeah, I've totally forgot to include a wii there, but it's a good idea to make it all around best game of generation and do not specify per console. Ohh and my name in Polish is pronounced... "Yakoob" ? maybe ?

Red Dead was great but it wouldn't be my gotg. One of those would win. no idea which one tho. Alan Wake, Darkness1, Burnout Paradise, GtaIV, Saints Row the Third, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Dead Rising1 or maybe Binary Domain.. see?! It really needs a serious debate !

You guys have been covering games for 20+ years, and its weird that you got immersed so much in a world?

.....What?

Roller derby is a 100% real sport these days. It's super athletic and quite dangerous. If you live in a decent sized city, you probably have a local team. Here's a video of a recent championship bout, if you're interested.

Just imagine the jiggle physics on Taka-Arashi!

wrestling terms are the worst

Can we please have an occasional segment in which Dan and Jeff talk in ludicrously OTT wrestling mark-speak and Brad and Drew are continually baffled, shocked and amused by the whole thing?

Console games of the PS360Wii generation off the top of my head:

- CoD4

- Minecraft

I don't particularly like either of them but those are probably the games of the generation.

Deus Gex.

I'm going to download it tonight and just post insane bullshit that comes to mind until one of my friends also downloads it and figures out it's me.

From also developed Frame Gride for the Dreamcast. It never came out in the US but was the first game I imported. It's basically a 1 v 1 arena game where players control mechs with a fantasy aesthetic: your swarm missile launcher shoots green fairies, for instance. After each round you collect gems that you can fuse to make new items. No repair costs, no ammo. Just robot fightin'. The controls are also remarkably good for a mech game and a Dreamcast game. All of the menus are in Japanese but they're not that hard to figure out.

Nailed the fadeout.

@ripelivejam said:

You guys are right. Like, it's not even close, 2 is by far the best.

I mean, original Soul Calibur is a good game for sure, but 2 is just so much better. It refined everything, and added good characters, like Talim.

Everything SC3 and onward is completely retarded though. They really shit the bed on character designs and pointless new features.

But yeah, cranky-old-man syndrome prevents Jeff and Dan from recognizing these facts.

I read the Molynoux interview referred to on this week's podcast and boy, was that something. I kept thinking about Denis Dyack. Like Dyack, Peter seems to want to defend against every specific accusation and plead not guilty to everything all the while admitting that he's flawed and incompetent and has made mistakes. He's just not flawed in any specific way or incompetent in anything in particular or has made any actual mistakes that he'll cop to. I do believe that Peter is telling the truth when he says he's passionate about what he does, but I also believe he actually thinks he can pull stuff on people and get away with it. Even when he gets called out on stuff he still thinks he can squirm his way out and keep doing what he does.

@sethmode: I was listening to the PlayerOne Podcast, most of whom were former EGM editors, that transitioned from the gaming media to the industry itself (if you want to listen). They were saying on the latest episode that this happens all the time with games. Ideas are constantly hit the cutting room floor though out the development of game. The last statistic I read was that only one in three Kickstarter games and one in four Steam Early Access games live up to their promise.

I don't want to make excuses for Peter Molyneux. He really shouldn't have over promised that game (especially when using crowd funding). However, he's a pie-in-the-sky ideas man. His ideas of how players interact with a game and how that game should make you feel are (were?) moving the gaming industry forward.

My real problem was the tone Walker with his interview. Here's a shocking question that will get everyone talking,,, In hindsight, I should have used Tim Schafer instead of Anita as my example. Remember Spacebase and Broken Age ... err part 1?

In the end, companies (and people) make promises and those promises don't live up to our expectations. It's an interesting tightrope to walk. Now, where is my PS4 suspend mode?

Game of the last generation: Dark Souls.

It's a national holiday, but nice try.

Jeff is right, the current Blues Brothers are just sad and pathetic. Like, whatever, maybe Dan Akroyd and Jim Belushi are actually super close friends, but to me, it just seems disrespectful to the legacy of John Belushi that this 2-man act that John and Dan created and made famous continues to be co-opted into this sad ongoing musical act between Dan and Jim and whatever random backup band Dan employs. And Dan and Jim are both way too old to still be doing it.

Also, they're right, Eddie Murphy just isn't even trying to be funny or entertaining any more. Whatever, he's mega rich so he can do whatever, but it's just sad that he let his career output fall into shambles.

Also, yeah, Jeff is spot on, Chevy Chase is 71. Can't blame the guy for being kinda tired of doing all the red carpet, live comedy stuff at that age.

Brad referenced Shawn Elliott in this episode...Now there's a podcast personality that I miss on the web.

Alright, so San Francisco and the post office. ;)

I'd love to see Sony find which stores broke the sales date on The Order and do what fine print contracts say.

Oh man, Jeff, roller derby is not worked at all.

Jeff is on point this week.

Gotta say had to roll my eyes at Brad talking about fighting games he knows nothing about. Tekken Tag 2 was easily the best in the series. And DOA still has a pretty thriving community around it. Sure, it doesn't rate at EVO but you'll see it at a lot of the tournaments on the way to Evo.