GWJ Conference Call Episode 50

Episode 50 - September 19th, 2007

Heavenly Sword, Jeanne d'Arc, Quake Wars, Bioshock Lead Developer Ken Levine Co-Hosts!, No Bioshock Spoilers, The Donation Drive Winners! and more!

Right Click Here and 'Save As' to Download!
(A Gala 55.7 megs, 2:01:41)

What a show we have for you this week! Mr. Ken Levine joins us for the duration as we talk about the gaming industry at large, all the cool games we've been playing and yes, a little Bioshock too. Ian "Podunk" Dorsch returns with some Bioshock-inspired music and we also announce the winners of the 2007 Donation Drive Draw! We'll be posting them up on the front page here soon. What are you waiting for? Make with the downloading!

Want to support the show? Hit the Digg link just above (it's fast and easy to register) or review us on iTunes! Read on for show notes.

To contact us, email ! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.

Sponsor
Liongames.com

Links
Heavenly Sword
Lair
Quake Wars Enemy Territory
2K Boston
Bioshock

Music Credits:

Intro/Outro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

"Nocturne for Rapture" Ian Dorsch - 0:37:30
"Long Midnight" (Benoit Casey) - 1:32:00

Anime Junky
Donator V6.0
Nei's picture
Location: Citadel, Widow System, Serphent Nebula

... wow!

Congrats on 50th show!

Dang I have to wait another 10 hours to listen to it.

Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ

Chainsaw Queen
Donator V2.0
Mystic Violet's picture
Location: San Diego, CA

Trying to download.... Taking... FOREVER...

GAH!

BTW Congrats!

Office Linebacker
Donator V2.0
Kolbo's picture
Location: Chicago, IL

Gratz. There are a bunch of us sitting in a game of Gears waiting for the big reveal of the winner.

DOWNLOAD ALREADY!

Xbox Live: Kolbo21 /// PSN: KolboGWJ
Steam Community: Kolbo
WoW Blackhand Alliance: Klobben

Fists of Furry
Donator V3.0
mateo's picture
Location: Ticket to the edge. Nowhere To Hide. Lets go For the Joyride.

The download does take forever...strangely, just listening through Mplayer takes no time at all...maybe the RabbitCave is a Linux box.

PSI Level Ω
Donator V2.0
Vrikk's picture
Location: Mauling you at the doorstep.

4.9 kilobytes?! Awww man...

Yet even then we ran like the wind,
whilst our laughter echoed under cerulean skies...

Khaaaaaaaan!
Donator V6.0
Gaald's picture
Location: Just this side of crazy

Kolbo wrote:
Gratz. There are a bunch of us sitting in a game of Gears waiting for the big reveal of the winner.

DOWNLOAD ALREADY!

GEARS! GEARS! TF2 is awesome! You should all be playing TF2

mateo wrote:
The download does take forever...strangely, just listening through Mplayer takes no time at all...maybe the RabbitCave is a Linux box.

No big surprises here but I am betting 200 people trying to get the show all at once might be stressing the server.

"Can I have a job? I donut have much experiences, butt I always use an spellchecker spellchecker on my articles." - Sway

Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria since 2005!

Spoiler Fanatic!

Chainsaw Queen
Donator V2.0
Mystic Violet's picture
Location: San Diego, CA

Hahahahaha. I see... I see...

Now, would you kindly send me a PS3? Overnight shipping. Thank you.

It's Dead To Me
Donator V5.0
buzzvang's picture
Location: Korean Animation Studio!

If we haven't finished Bioshock yet, is it safe to listen to the show?

Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago

CEO
Certis's picture

buzzvang wrote:
If we haven't finished Bioshock yet, is it safe to listen to the show?

Absolutely. Spoiler free.

Certis beat me to it. - Elysium

CEO
Certis's picture

Looks like some of the money is going to podcast hosting. I'm personally pulling like 5 kb/sec. Yikes!

Certis beat me to it. - Elysium

Fists of Furry
Donator V3.0
mateo's picture
Location: Ticket to the edge. Nowhere To Hide. Lets go For the Joyride.

Congrats on the 50th episode guys!

Junior Executive
Donator
Axon's picture

Well done lads. You have set a standard I can only hope that podcasts in general emulate.

Gin and Tonics all round. Huzzah!

SteamID: Coyler
Xbox Live: Coyler

Baron Münchhausen
Donator V3.0
rabbit's picture
Location: The Basement

It's definitely an initial post thing. I just tried it again and it took 3 minutes. I don't know how many people have their RSS client (iTunes) on autocheck every 2 seconds, but obviously it's enough to kill the pipe.

Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter

"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le

Unprncbl
Donator V2.0
Duoae's picture

Great podcast guys! I'd agree that you guys are the most professional group of podcasters that i've come across.

I disagree with Rob about the "exclusives" driving console sales after 6 months. The problem is that later system sellers also have the added help of a price drop or two... but even then there will be people who fail to be interested in a console (whatever the price) until one specific programme comes out....

With regards to Steam and Pyroman: They still need to accept more responsibility for your account and their service. Imagine if your bank just said, "Well, it was your fault anyway so tough luck." if your account was compromised and your money stolen...

[edit2]
I liked Sin Episodes.... it felt like a solid, old-school shooter. Liked that.

A blog: by me!

Khaaaaaaaan!
Donator V6.0
Gaald's picture
Location: Just this side of crazy

Quote:
I disagree with Rob about the "exclusives" driving console sales after 6 months.

I don't think that was me.

"Can I have a job? I donut have much experiences, butt I always use an spellchecker spellchecker on my articles." - Sway

Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria since 2005!

Spoiler Fanatic!

Tunneler of Doom
Donator V2.0
Irongut's picture

You should call Nintendo and let them know you have VC content. That was one of the first things they asked me when I sent mine in for service/replacement. My impression was that it would alter their options in servicing your unit.

I didnt have VC content, so they actually offered an advanced replacement. I guess if they are saying a two week turnaround they are probably repairing your unit. Anyways, you might call to let them know your repair order has vc content dependencies and just see what they say.

Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ

Claw Shrimp
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LobsterMobster's picture
Location: On a picnic, going "La la la!"

Podunk, great BioShock song, I totally could've seen that in the game. Even if it was a little reminiscent of something...

NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.

Spore

Wiener Bombardier
Donator V4.0
Podunk's picture
Location: The People's Republic of Goodge

LobsterMobster wrote:
Podunk, great BioShock song, I totally could've seen that in the game. Even if it was a little reminiscent of something...

Thanks Lobster, I appreciate it.

Reminiscent? Why, whatever could you mean?

Xbox Live: CrankyBaby

baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.

What's a Tag?

I sent my Wii back. They sent me a new machine with all my VC games on there and all my saves and Miis intact. I had to redownload the internet channel and the voting channel. All my bookmarks and my voting record were still there.

However, your Miis will come back un-editable. And there is no guarantee that any of your saves etc survive except for VC games which they can easily put on a new machine. Also, according to the rep I talked to, you need to send your Wii in first to guarantee VC games will be put on a new machine (should you require one.) Note: I had the choice of having a Wii sent out to me immediately.

Office Linebacker
Donator
NomadHeretic's picture
Location: Chicago, IL

Great podcast guys, Jeff Green one week and Ken Levine the next, you're really pulling in some of the most astonishingly honest and genuinely nice people in the gaming industry for these podcasts and they're turning out fantastic. In a lot of podcasts I find myself fast forwarding past interviews because they really just come off as more marketing speak, but not with yours, keep these coming.

In regards to the comments about Stranglehold, I am one of the eight people in the world that bought it and I have enjoyed it a great deal, the single player is an absolute blast. It is short and it is just a run and gun shoot 'em up, nothing more, but it is definitely worth at least a rental if only to experience the pure chaos in the Chicago museum level. It also has one of the easiest achievements ever to unlock, "Meet John Woo" which is done by going to the Extras section on the options menu.

I had the same problems with it regarding multiplayer, after finishing up single player I thought I'd give multi a try and I have yet to find a single game of it being played online and nobody on my friends list even seems to have played it. At this point it definitely feels like a prime example of a game falling through the cracks and having a seemingly useless multiplayer feature tacked on for no reason other than the marketing guys demanded it happen. Frankly I have no idea how it would even work in a game where your character goes into bullet time, and it seems likely I'll never actually get a chance to find out.

And for the record, I liked Sin Episodes too!

Goin' Commando
Donator V5.0
Edwin's picture
Location: Miami, FL

Re: Steam Community

159 goodjer members with Played 145.9 hours this week in TF2. The game has been out only a day!

Unprncbl
Donator V2.0
Duoae's picture

Gaald wrote:
Quote:
I disagree with Rob about the "exclusives" driving console sales after 6 months.

I don't think that was me.

Damn all yous guys sounding the same!

It's a conspiracy i tells ya!

A blog: by me!

Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

Quote:
With regards to Steam and Pyroman: They still need to accept more responsibility for your account and their service. Imagine if your bank just said, "Well, it was your fault anyway so tough luck." if your account was compromised and your money stolen...
This is one of my major problems too, however all games have this problem. You can't return or exchange games, and if Valve bans your account or it's comprimised, or even if you're banned from VAC for cheating, there's no recourse. Everyone should be doing alot better at handling problems with customers.

Of course, they're never going to get better if we don't start holding them accountable ...

"You just checked in to Hotel Califoni-getyourasskicked!" Steely Dan said to The Eagles

Unprncbl
Donator V2.0
Duoae's picture

PyromanFO wrote:
Of course, they're never going to get better if we don't start holding them accountable ...

Believe me... i hold them plenty responsible!

A blog: by me!

Tunneler of Doom
Donator V2.0
Irongut's picture

I'm sure Uwe Boll is eye-ing the Bioshock IP and probably has already started a script in preparation for his pitch.

Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ

Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

Duoae wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:
Of course, they're never going to get better if we don't start holding them accountable ...

Believe me... i hold them plenty responsible!

I meant more complaining to them when you hear of something going on and trying to rally support for it. Actually gather cases where this has happened legitimately and try to bring attention to them. The reason these things go on is because nobody lets legitimate customers know that it's even a problem until it's too late and they're banned.

"You just checked in to Hotel Califoni-getyourasskicked!" Steely Dan said to The Eagles

Goin' Commando
Donator V5.0
Edwin's picture
Location: Miami, FL

Pull some strings with Fletch and get the guy from Zero Punctuation to join the podcast as a guest. Though it might turn out to be less of a podcast and more into an hour long rant about [something funny].

Lord of the Rats
Donator
Rat Boy's picture
Location: Hitting. It.

It will be impossible to make a good BioShock movie based straight off of the game itself. That type of game experience is impossible to translate to the screen, since the primary driver of the plot and source of all the emotional impact was...you, the main character. I don't think you could get that same impact watching someone else go through Rapture and everything going on there. A prequel showing the rise and fall of Rapture, maybe, but not the events of BioShock. So you can turn your dump trucks full of money around before you reach Ken Levine's driveway.

"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie

"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!

'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce

Tunneler of Doom
Donator V2.0
Irongut's picture

Psst. in case you forget... Jade Raymond... guest.... make it happen.

Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ

Unprncbl
Donator V2.0
Duoae's picture

PyromanFO wrote:

I meant more complaining to them when you hear of something going on and trying to rally support for it. Actually gather cases where this has happened legitimately and try to bring attention to them. The reason these things go on is because nobody lets legitimate customers know that it's even a problem until it's too late and they're banned.

The problem is that we can never tell when someone has been illegitimately banned... Valve hold all the cards and unfortunately, as history has shown, we can't trust pirates - or people who are pirates but say they aren't.

Edwin wrote:
Pull some strings with Fletch and get the guy from Zero Punctuation to join the podcast as a guest. Though it might turn out to be less of a podcast and more into an hour long rant about [something funny].

Or they could just get me to come on the show and i'll make people laugh... (at me)

A blog: by me!