Giant Bombcast 11/12/2013

I love that Brad and Jeff are filling in for Brad and Jeff.

About the guy getting banned from Xbox Live - I don't get how come all their reactions were like "ohhh whaaat?!" Especially Jeff and Brad who have worked on games. The console is not out yet, it's not supposed to be out yet, obviously they don't want you playing it ahead of time. If I got mine early I wouldn't hook it up for fear of getting banned. When I used to know some guys in GameStop and get games early from time to time I'd never play them online cause I was worried I'd get banned for doing so. It just seems logical.

I don't wanna get all internet overreacty but this is one of the greatest bombcasts in a long while. Made me look like a crazy person laughing wildly on my train to work. Patrick's presence was great and was made even better by the editing.

This was amazing! I really enjoyed this podcast! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Another fantastic Vinny production. I loved every minute of it. Thanks for getting my through the work day!

oh wow. this is amazing.

Wow this was absolutely one of the best Bombcasts in a LONG time. Really, just super entertaining.

That Dark Souls rogue-like idea Brad was talking about would be cool for one level/area. I wonder how hard that would be to program.

I have a feeling that Vinny listens to a lot of radio lab.

Ninja Gay-den

Amazing one this week guys. Jeff Green needs to be a regular. Brad was great even with his"like"s. :D like :D like :D

Gran Turismo ≠ Gran Torino

The MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOBA talk continues to reinforce my point that you should never go PUG. You choose to play with people who can't befriend better people, you get what you deserve.

One of the best podcasts in a long time, Brad Muir is so funny and insightful, great banter

Best editing.

I think the opposite of what this person said, basically.

PROD. BY VINNY "VIN CO." CARAVELLA

This was the best podcast in so long. The sound effects and music Vinny put in...... FANTASTIC.

Gonna be going on an eight-hour trip fairly soon, so I saved this to distract me for two of those hours. I also intend to get some Monster Hunter and/or Persona 4: Golden in, so hopefully it won't be too terrible... Hopefully... T_T

The cop talk made me sad that Vinny and Dave never completed this series... Why guys, why?! It was such a great show.

I loved Patrick's sign off - cold as ice :)

I love me some classic bombcast, but i could get used this alternate universe bombcast as well.

best jeff and brad under-studies ever!!

What 'jump' part was Vinny talking about in Dark Souls? I don't remember that at all. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need to do that.

The shit talking in DOTA2 is not unique to games, its just competitive stuff in general. At least in DOTA you can report or leave. Being in a sports team is not a friendly experience.

EDIT: No offense to Brad, but your studio's games are good, but not great. Maybe you DO need an asshole in some cases, the quality of the game > peoples feelings. I love to hate/respect a good boss, leaders are not your friends imo.

Maaaan, the royalty free music. This is great. 65/65

I love the bombcast and the gb crew but when Vinny takes the helm it is always adventure, i think he needs to take over as lead from Jeff.

And that end with Jeff and the music, my god

I just popped in to say the Podcast was awesome as usual and Vinny I love when you host.

@masterrain: Bed of Chaos

Goon is a pretty good movie =]

I really liked the lineup for this podcast. Other Brad and Other Jeff played well off each other and off Vinny and Drew (and Patrick while he was there). I would welcome hearing them again on the Bombcast.

I like Vinny as a podcast host, too. I wonder if they'd consider letting him and Gerstmann do alternating weeks, because I really like them both as hosts...

Holy smokes was this podcast hilarious! I love Vinny as host. Brad :D and Jeff Green were awesome!

Vinny's sound edits and remixes come from an existing NPR podcast called 'Radiolab.'

It's a science/philosophy podcast where guests tell stories as a way of making their point. It's well-known for its distinct use of sound and atmospheric music. Vinny has mentioned in the past that he's a fan of their show, and he emulates it perfectly!

Vinny has mentioned Radiolab before, I love the inspiration!

just ask psycho mantis how to pronounce suikoden thats how I learned

@skillface:

u should dig up some old ones witih ryan davis on them

This was such an amazing podcast. One of my favorites recently. And I am glad to hear Brad Muir and Jeff Green's voices on the podcast once every so often. Really glad to have both of those awesome guys on.

This was one of my favorite Bombcasts ever. I feel bad saying that, since Brad and Jeff weren't there, but everything just clicked so well. I love Jeff Green and Brad Muir, and in some alternative universe they are totally part of the Giant Bomb crew.

@Dark Souls: that's one of its greatest strengths: it simply says "no". "No, there isn't a bonfire there." "No, there isn't a rote meta difficulty toggle from a menu." "No, we are not going to explain how Humanity works, here are clues." People don't know how to deal with that and alot of the emotional testing that makes up half of the difficulty of the games is relearning how to think for oneself again since From still provides the opportunity.

The "no bonfire before the boss" part also does something few notice: give purpose to the level, not just the boss. Everything else is window-dressing and a slog till the interesting and difficult part. In Souls, EVERY part is interesting and difficult, (NAL, whats that? :P).

Also, if this wasn't there the difficulty would be fewer difficult, and the bosses would have be more Maneaters/Smough & Ornstein in order for the game to stay reguarded as difficult, and then would be very fewer difficult. You see this alot over the last 8 years in games/series that were once famous for their multi-faceted difficulty sheer off most of those but make the bosses SUPER hard to compensate.

Heh, every time they're brought up, I go deep into deconstruction. Best $120 I ever spent on gaming.

OH GOD, Vinny's Blockbuster hellscape story.

Really great to have Brad Muir and Jeff Green on. We need to hear and see them more often. GB should hire Jeff Green! Fantastic job, guys.

I can't be the only one who hates the editing, right? It's a great episode, but the reason this podcast is so great is because all involved are hilarious, putting in background effects and altering timings just makes the whole thing feel cheap and unnatural.

I don't agree. I played Dark Souls without looking up threads or walkthroughs. I had barely any idea what even kindling was. I did it 20 times before I figured out what it did. Someone who looks it up knows it immediately.

In the end, all that stuff makes Dark Souls not a difficult game, just not accessible. It was difficult for me my first time. The second time through when I knew what was what I blasted through the game. Which brings me to your second point: not every part in Dark Souls is interesting and difficult. Everything is really easy. It was difficult the first time because you didn't know what the hell was going on and what certain items were. If you look up a FAQ, you'll blast through it. No bonfire before bosses may be the intention of having to do a difficult part again, but the reality is: it's just busy work. It's not hard. If you passed it once you'll pass it again. Nobody goes through those parts fighting. You'll just run to the boss. It's not interesting design, it's busy work and a waste of time.

I really like the gameplay of Dark Souls but I'm glad DS2 will be more accessible. I can get to the good parts of the game a lot quicker while cutting through the fat.

This was fantastic.

This is one of the best bombcasts i've heard in awhile! Thanks VInny for a refreshing crew to keep it up!

I love the random sounds at the end. Great bombcast

Jim Sterling mentioned that reguarding patches when he said consoles had gotten everything bad about PC gaming, but none of its benefits. I still believe that.

Suikoden is crazy because it's spelled like it's pronouned, and it's NEVER spoken to me right by someone who doesn't play it. Hilarious!

I don't agree. I played Dark Souls without looking up threads or walkthroughs. I had barely any idea what even kindling was. I did it 20 times before I figured out what it did. Someone who looks it up knows it immediately.

In the end, all that stuff makes Dark Souls not a difficult game, just not accessible. It was difficult for me my first time. The second time through when I knew what was what I blasted through the game. Which brings me to your second point: not every part in Dark Souls is interesting and difficult. Everything is really easy. It was difficult the first time because you didn't know what the hell was going on and what certain items were. If you look up a FAQ, you'll blast through it. No bonfire before bosses may be the intention of having to do a difficult part again, but the reality is: it's just busy work. It's not hard. If you passed it once you'll pass it again. Nobody goes through those parts fighting. You'll just run to the boss. It's not interesting design, it's busy work and a waste of time.

I really like the gameplay of Dark Souls but I'm glad DS2 will be more accessible. I can get to the good parts of the game a lot quicker while cutting through the fat.

"Not difficult, it just took a while before I could do it."

And I had just pointed out problems with single-focus difficulty in that post quoted too.

I find old-school EQ and FFXI grind-a-thons and spawn camping repugnant and clientele narrowing, but there is no question that it is actually DIFFICULT. "What I don't like" or "what I am personally much better than" is not an acid test of a difficulty, it's just preening away to get that single-focus reductive difficulty.

And someone get on drawing Elderly Dream Bombcrew!

Also, interesting predictions from the crew. Now to wait!

all though it only had one of the original members, have to say one of the most entertaining bombcasts in months

I feel a little traitorous saying this, but I enjoyed this more than the usual podcasts. Probably juat the refreshing change of something different.

I vote John Drake for replacement Vinny in the future.

In my opinion it's not even about giving the level purpose.

The "no bonfire before boss" part is extremely important because Dark Souls only works with the high stakes involved. You want beat that boss so desperately because you don't want to go through all of it again - and when you finally do beat him, it's the greatest feeling ever. It wouldn't be that way if the bonfire (like checkpoints in other modern games) was right before the boss and you could just grind against him without worrying at all. There would be none of the tension during the bossfight.