Giant Bombcast 03-26-2013

Some truth bombs will be dropped

Not sure why you keep saying Hitman (3.6 million) sunk the company since according to all the news reports it has sold better than both Sleeping Dogs (1.75) and Tomb Raider (3.4)... Sleeping Dogs would be the black sheep of the bunch in that case, although gotta add that it's crazy that sales of 1.75 million could be considered bad...

Only a few minutes in and the guys have said the phrase "but bad" 3 times already.

I don't get the 'excitement' for Dive Kick. It's funny but that's it, who'd want to really play that for any real stretch of time? I know I won't pay money for it.

and the joke is because a lot of the best characters in SF all had dive kicks. Yun was god tier in 3S, Rufus is high tier in SFIV, and Yun + Yang used to be in the top 3 for SFIV pre-2012 edition. Wolverine was also considered really high tier in Marvel 3 (pre-ultimate) and has a dive kick.

THE PIE HAS EYES!!!

@neoneoane: HYPNO-EYES !!

Im pretty sure the Divekick joke started off because of Wolverine in Marvel 3 vanilla (back when he was god tier) since 1 divekick from Wolverine meant the match, or at least, the character was over, hence the 1 hit kill in Divekick the game. It was also "announced" when Marvel 3 was out.

Dont think it had anything to do with SF3 Yun / Yang at the time... but meh, who knows, only Keats I guess

@theyellinghorn: Lowell? I went there too. Ate half a slice of the Fat Chicken Pizza and almost cried.

For those not familiar, Fat Chicken Sub/Pizza = French Fries, Chicken Fingers, and, if I remember, mozzarella sticks. I tweeted this to Ryan and hoped they had ordered it :(

Great! I spend my wednesday (I live in Europe, so that's when the podcast comes out) listening to this. Always 5 stars.

Can someone tell me when the BioShock Infinite talk stops? I don't want to hear anything more about it before I finish it.

1:27:35

Comparing Android to iPhone when it comes to games market or as a viable games platform doesn't work and never will. Please accept that fact. I've got an Android phone that launched for $80 RRP, got another that launched for $600 RRP and I've used a hilariously bad Made In China As Hell $50 7" Android tablet.

Too many journalists, bloggers, analysts treat or want to treat all of those devices all the same, like it's Android VS iOS, when it's in fact about an OS you can put on anything because it's made for it VS a single locked OS only put on strictly specced devices.

Pick up some Android phones and learn something, staff. You'll enjoy the lack of "PLEASE PAY $5 TO SEE THE NEXT LEVEL" bullshit in games.

And the reason you see very few games premiere on Android is because it's infinitely harder to make any money there.

Was anybody else aroused when Ryan drank that breast milk for money?

No!

....yeah....

OMG that Vinny hair. And Drew's mad hockey hair.

@antivanti: Thanks dude

I have Windows Phone 8 and they have a very dedicated space for games there. There is a free games section, but honestly? I never look there. There are WP8 dedicated games simply called 'Xbox' games there, that just pack a punch of quality.

I owned an Android phone before this and what I enjoy about WP8 is the lack of thousands upon thousands of crap games everywhere. You need to look really hard for good games on Android, I need to look really hard to find a crappy one on WP8.

I have never owned an iOS device simply because I do not like how that OS works that much. I don't buy a phone for games, but as far as games go on those devices: I gladly pay a few bucks for a constant stream of great games instead of encountering an okay free game once every three months.

I might be exaggerating a bit, but you know what I mean.

The thing people tend to forget when making shit meringue pie is that you should let the shit cool at least 4 hours in the fridge before adding the meringue. Now, if you're making the lattice top shit pie then that should be served warm, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Some people like to put a slice of cheese on top of the pie, but personally I think that's fucking disgusting.

@patrickklepek: It's that, Nvidia's Tegra3 making an larger mess in the upper tier of powerful Android CPU+GPU combinations, every review on Google Market carrying "doesn't work on my device - 0 stars" comments.

Tech media continues to ask why Android isn't like iOS (and I get that vibe outta GB a lot, probably wrongly!), instead of asking what's WP7/8's excuse.

Im surprised because square enix well edios. is putting out some good games.

Soda Drinker Lite? No no no... Diet Soda Drinker.

Eidos is making them, square is funding it though. So at least some credit should go to them aswell :p

Would you guy's eat a shit pie if you had a nice tall glass of breast milk to complement it?

I want to defend Candy Crush Saga, since nobody else will.

It's not a groundbreaking game, by any means, but it does very little that a 90s or early 2000s arcade game didn't do. Patrick misrepresents the game, it simply gets really hard, then offers players boosters to make it easier, but I've played something like 80 levels in it and not put a single cent in it (alright, beyond unlocking two forced paywalls that act as level expansion packs).

There is no grind, that's why I do appreciate it and don't think it's scamming anyone. If you're good enough to make it, the game keeps going on forever. If you fail a mission you have five lives, then have to wait for them to build back up. There are no in-game currency purchases, so there is no grind. You either win or you lose. That's fine by me.

They should totally make a FF7 remake.

Because people would buy it. They should make it, cause people would buy it.

As far as I know, most of Sleeping Dogs was done. Activision simply didn't think it could be annualized and was decent enough to allow it to be shopped around to someone else. I doubt SE spent much on developing it (it's clear side content like the weirdly truncated dating missions was cut).

@jeff's "they never shoot at Elizabeth" thing, there's a line pretty early on where dudes make it clear that Elizabeth is not to be harmed because they want her alive. Seems like a pretty good justification for them never going after her to me.

Gosh that is such a dumb thing to ask. While it's true iOS has a superior selection of games and tablet optimised applications iOS on the whole is stale and lacking compared to Jelly Bean, not only in terms of design but also features. (notifications are still poor on iOS)

That's why I have an Android phone and an iOS tablet. Android sucks for tablet apps but the OS just makes for a nicer communication device, and let's be serious Android isn't really hurting for games either. I'm happy with ChuChu Rocket and Super Hexagon for quick blasts, I don't really care for phone gaming personally so I'm not too fussy about it, and well I can always get the latest iOS craze on my iPad if I'm that desperate.

Really the whole Android issue of devices having wildly different specs is no different to console vs PC. Swap iOS for the console spot and Android for the PC. Apples to oranges.

I'm prepared to switch back to an iPhone if Apple actually do something with iOS, so far though they have somehow fell behind Android which used to look and run like a total POS. Not bad, Google. iOS is practically the same as it was almost 3 years ago, it certainly has barely changed since iOS 5.

6 on my iPad runs fine, I just wish the homescreen was of more use rather than just that dumb block of icons, and the notifications are so poorly implemented. How have they not made it so the top bar shows if you have a notification waiting to be read? It's baffling.

They should just Kickstarter the Divekick controllers.

When Syndicate got revealed, the Internet rumblers were chastised for not being realistic about modern market realities (of course it's going to be a shooter) especially in light of dissatisfaction with the conversion of XCOM into a shooter. The end result was a largely successful recreation of the old school XCOM with nothing else in sight. Obviously disappointed Syndicate didn't work out financially, don't want people to be losing their jobs or anything, but I find that an awesome situation.

SE blaming Eidos and others under their wing for not meeting sales expectations is absolutely insane. Eidos went from almost fading into obscurity into one of the best developers of this generation since that purchase. And Sleeping Dogs as an original IP in a crowded open-world genre selling over a million is something that should be celebrated.

This is compared to FFXIV having to be burned to the ground and other FF titles being increasingly dismissed by the public. They have no one to blame but themselves here.

I do hope that SE can get back on track, and maybe a CEO change might help, but they really need someone with a vision and passion for story back at the helm of their games again. Sakaguchi was clearly that guy, and they are lost sheep without him.

Hooray for GiantBomb Pax East edition!

I loved the panel's and don't worry Ryan, I would of taken the money as well. :P

I wear a fedora then again I also wear a suit while doing so

Dave Lang makes mention on GB video/audio: Confusing as to where all the excitement is coming from.

Dave Lang makes game: Confusing as to where all the excitement is coming from.

Jeff, the fact no one is attacking Elizabeth is explained very early on in the story. I don't really see how it breaks your illusion in that way.

Say what you want about Square Enix's shift from original IP on home consoles to releasing truckloades of remakes on handhelds and treating each new FF title as a series in itself, the truth is that it's actually worked out well for them. That was never the problem, at least not financially.

The real problem for them has been home console development. Specifically games developed with the Crystal Tools. FF13, Versus 13, and FF14 -- three completely different games developed by three completely different teams, all suffering major delays.

Kitase stated that Crystal Tools proved to be problematic during the development of FF13, while Nomura said they pretty much had to rewrite the entire thing as it just wasn't suited for action games (Versus is indeed the only action game to use it).

Crystal Tools marked the first time Square Enix created a game engine that was to be used across the entire company, and something must've just gone terribly wrong there. I mean, a developer with decades of experience doesn't just become completely incompetent when faced with a little bit of challenge due to unconventional architecture -- plus, FF14 wasn't even a PS3 game when it was first released.

Ever since the restructuring they've started hiring foreigners for their Japanese R&D Department which now make up a third of its staff, and sharing code between East and West has become commonplace. Last I checked, their new Luminous Engine used code provided by Crystal Dynamics who were also involved in the creation of the Agni's Philosophy tech demo.

Assuming FF14 doesn't just outright sink the company, I can foresee a bright future for them. Just release Versus on PS4, start development on KH3 and a new FF game, maybe even greenlight that FF7 remake and Chrono sequel, and soon enough everyone will have forgotten this dark era.

I just realized during that Square talk, if they put of Kingdom Hearts 3 out on new consoles in 2014 or 2015, it will do gangbusters.

@rhaknar: When Marvel 3 came out, SSF4AE had just come out. It is the least balanced iteration of SF4 and Yun was super dominant in that game. So basically for a short while dive kicks were really overpowered. I think that's why Keits started making it.

Jeff, I am actually really looking forward to FFX HD. I realize I might be one of the few though, but I actually still play that game. Really like it.

@zevvion said:

If nothing else it's a total no-brainer to release an HD collection of all or some of their Ps2 FF games, it's just bizarre (and speaks to some level of incompetence) that it's going to end up taking two whole years to do so.

And despite how incapable SE has become in this generation, I still do think FFX is a great game, so you're not all alone.

I honestly dont think I've ever been on a flight where the person in front of my hasn't reclined their seat. But if everyone on the plane reclines their seats, wouldn't that negate the amount of space lost? #airplanemysteries

Absolutely. FFX is just a fantastic game and I'll definitely pick it up when it's finally released.

@will_m: Not if you're tall. Because you gain the ability to sit back a little more, but lose precious leg (knee) space. Not a great trade. Still though, you're right. Every flight it happens so you just have to expect it.

The fact that people are proclaiming Tomb Raider as a disappointment when it's getting a lot of acclaim, buzz, and solid sales numbers is staggering. The what, 3.5 million or so number it pushed is damn good, considering the Tomb Raider franchise was dead before this. It'll get like, at least 6 million this year I'm sure.

GB's PAX Panel was soo great this year.

This is amazingly accurate.

Recline on a plane? In front of me? Get ready for a bumpy ride, motherfucker

I think most of that keeps coming back to expectations and development time. I can't say for sure how long Absolution was being worked on, but it was a long damn time since Blood Money. Admittedly, yes, they worked on projects in between, but I want to say they had a team that was continually cranking on that. Combine that with Sleeping Dogs doing poorly commercially (who knows what kind of hoops they jumped through and cash was forked over for that) and Tomb Raider not being able to pick up the slack of both, and Absolution probably was a key factor. Also bear in mind that Tomb Raider has almost matched the sales of Absolution in about three weeks, with a fairly dead looking summer (I think?) and a holiday season left for it.

Wasn't "Wounded Knee" like in the late 1880's and a horrible Massacre of Indians?