Gamer Podcasts

Alright, listened to the Spec Ops discussion with Garnett. I wouldn't say he was being an asshole, though. I just feel he is being irrationally negative.

He brings up some excellent points, and it continues later when they discuss things like cut-scenes, but I feel he's forgetting things like the game having been focus-tested. Not to mention that, sure, a fully grown adult playing video games wants there to be calm moments where the characters are humanized. Now go to the target demographic of a game like this and I guarantee you they just want to go from combat sequence to combat sequence.

And in that regard I highly disagree with his dislike of the setting. While there's "chest-high walls" throughout the environment, they do a really good job of trying to make sure it all looks like stuff that would actually be there. Sure, if you're really thinking about it you can tell, but there's a surprising amount of stuff built to look different just for the sake of providing cover. I think he's not giving the developers the credit he really ought to.

There are some negative things stated, but all told I'm more on board with Adam Sessler and Other Guy. It's a good game, and while the story may not work a second time through after that ending, it certainly begs to be played again and is at least worth playing once.

I don't know what Garnett was looking for, but it seems to me that he had already played a game in his brain, and then sat down and said "Wait, this isn't what was in my head at all. How disappointing!"

I agree with the assessment that Garnett could have handled the discussion a bit more elegantly, but there was some good discussion about the game. Actually, I thought it was a really good episode in general. Adam Sessler didn't get on my nerves at all like he tends to do, and he made a lot of really good points throughout.

I really enjoy Sessler (on the podcast guest appearances, not familiar with his other work). He's smart and his literature analysis background really pays off when it comes to breaking apart arguments and remaining cogent (in contrast to Garnett...).

carrotpanic wrote:

I really enjoy Sessler (on the podcast guest appearances, not familiar with his other work)...

You might want to look over his video blog series, Sessler's Soapbox. It's were I grew to really appreciate his analysis from an older-gamer's perspective.

Yeah, I actually like Adam Sessler. In fact, 2010 PAX East I saw him hanging around, so I approached him, shook his hand and said "you're the only part about G4 I respect".

I need to work on the whole "not being an ass" thing when it comes to meeting people more famous than me.

I feel like Garnett's hosting style is what causes him to take all these extreme opposing stances. Actually, I think that's what makes the show work. He goes off on some crazy tangent or opposing viewpoint, and its up to Jeff Cannata and whoever else is them to talk him down from the cliff edge. It can be a bit annoying and predictable, yes, but it always creates some lively discussion. Which is a lot better than a bunch of single minded guys that all agree about everything like I've seen on other podcasts.

In further response, I just wrote up a blog post for Spec Ops I'll be putting up around Wednesday, but until then here's a summary of my thoughts and something I don't feel the WC guys effectively touched on.

In a lot of ways Spec Ops: The Line is trying to go for a similar sort of subversion as seen in Bioshock. Both of them are using tricks of the medium similarly to how a good horror director will take what the audience claims they don’t want to see and combine it with their inability to look away. In Bioshock, you were fooled into believing you had freedom, a notion the game damn near mocks halfway through. In Spec Ops: The Line, the game scoffs at the idea that you’re playing a hero of any sort.

Which is perhaps why I still like the story of Spec Ops: The Line. Sure, the story it tells has some flaws. The ending in particular is a little shaky as it calls into question whether all the events leading before it even make sense. Yet unlike film or literature, the point isn’t necessarily a message to the audience. It’s much more personal than that. It is about the player, and how playing these violent games where they gun people down makes them feel like a hero. All the pomp and circumstance and the chest-thumping fist-bumping hooting and hollering. It calls all of that into question, and presents the actions of the player in as screwed up a way as possible. Then, at the very end, it says “this is what you wanted all along”.

That’s a pretty damn strong statement, and even if the story is flawed logically, it is effective.

But then again, I'm willing to forgive the game for making little logical sense on a second run based on the payoff of the interactive narrative.

Recording Episode 4 of the Drunk and Nerdy Podcast Tomorrow night. Benticore is dead though. After my eye surgery I have become...

BLACK ODIN, CYCLOPEAN NEGRO AND SAGE OF THE STREETS!

So I got that going for me...

Benticore wrote:

BLACK ODIN, CYCLOPEAN NEGRO AND SAGE OF THE STREETS!

So I got that going for me...

"Meanwhile, I can't make heads or tails of that. Tell me, what's your angle, and I mean, before I go insane?" -Shub Youngman

Lothar wrote:

My rotation of podcast is the

Giantbomb cast - It's the best podcast still around
Idle Thumbs - Whenever they have it.
Comedy Button - such a great podcast.
Geekbox - mainly for ryan scott.
occasional rebel fm but I can't stand Arthur and think he ruins the podcast.
occasional gwj - I don't listen to them reliably for a long time.
8-4 play - I stil really enjoy it.
Retronauts - I still enjoy it
Game Informer - I like the topics and the roundtables.
Weekend Confirmed - I enjoy Garnett
Active Time Babble - I enjoy it.
All Gen Gamers - It's a really good podcast.
DGR - I listen occasionally.
PCGamer - I enjoy the PC Talk
Three moves ahead - It's entertaining.
Radio Free Nintendo - I enjoy it.

There's a bunch of others like Super happy funtime show, Most Popular Girls that I will occasionally listen to as well.

wow, well i love half of these so it looks like ill be downloading the other half to give it a go! have you gone back and re-listened to all the gamespy debriefings? worth it!

Finally decided to listen to This Year. podcast recap and began with Giantbomb 2007. Wow, there's no way to remember just how rough Leigh Alexander's guest spot is- it's an experiential thing. Rough.

demonbox wrote:

Finally decided to listen to This Year. podcast recap and began with Giantbomb 2007. Wow, there's no way to remember just how rough Leigh Alexander's guest spot is- it's an experiential thing. Rough.

I went looking for that and could only find 2008 , 2009 , 2011. Do you mean 2008?

My bad, I meant 2009.

demonbox wrote:

My bad, I meant 2009.

Yeah and as someone who actually listened to that entire string of E3 shows in 2009, the parts in This Year are the most flattering parts of that appearance. As a fan of her writing, I just kept saying "This can't be the same person" during that whole thing.

Yup. And then didn't she go back in 2010 and try to apologize for last year / justify it, and it was almost as bad?

I mean, I think the lady's writing is pretty good, but she just can't hold her liquor apparently.

I love Leigh's blog, but I tried subscribing to her twitter and found it completely unflattering. Kind of rambly, scrambled, and otherwise unprofessional. Interesting to hear that her in person personality might be equally as unflattering. I might just have to hear it for myself.

I can't recall if she's been on the E3 show once or twice, but I kept waiting for her to say that the Cubs suck (or whatever sports team she was deriding the night she said Activision spent $775 on their party). I agree the actual experience was bad, but man does she vomit words at a conversation in order to sound in control of her thoughts. Only, she's inconsistent, offensive, hypocritical, full of jargon, and seems desperate for attention. Also, I agree with the other posts that the things I like about her are very much not this- but man this is just how she sounds.

I agree, it seems an issue of handling her liquor but boy is it rough.

The infamous $775m bit (NSFW language). Bonus Celtics-hating, falling out of dress, and overenthused Brad-hugging.

In more than one E3 podcast since, they've said she won't be back. There's also this bit from this very thread.

There have been plenty of really drunk dudes who embarrassed themselves on the E3 shows, or you have Garnett, who is frequently drunk and make a fool out of himself. Wouldn't be notable at all if she was not a woman.

I disagree. If you'd like to give some examples, maybe?

I don't take Garnett into consideration as I haven't listened in years. The only comparable I can think of is that really drunk Scottish developer whose name I never caught, and I wouldn't want him on the Bombcast either.

No, after two years of Leigh going too far they'd had enough, I'd had enough. Call it sexist if you want, but I know the difference between fun drunks and annoying drunks. Carrie Gouskous was on the same year, same drunken environment, and she brought interesting points and fun stories.

You don't consider Garnett as an example because you haven't listened to the show, but you want me to do research and find the names of the other out of control drunks?

carrotpanic wrote:

You don't consider Garnett as an example because you haven't listened to the show, but you want me to do research and find the names of the other out of control drunks?

I assume we're talking about Giant Bomb, so if you've listened to the shows I would expect you to at least reference something. To be clear, I've got no problem with people drinking and podcasting. I take issue with screaming over other people and being generally unpleasant/rude.

And I already made my response to Garnett as an example - stopped listening years ago. if all the guys on the GB shows acted the same I'd stop listening to those as well.

No, I'm talking about games podcasts in general, since this is the thread for that. Let's see, this year on GBE3 Pachter was a smarmy asshole who wouldn't shut up about the same thing over and over. Drunk? Who knows. Mikey Neumann from GBE3 this year was sloppy drunk and annoying everyone. "Thanks for coming, Mikey" - Ryan. Jaffe in 2011 was pretty out of control. Some people try too hard, while drunk, and embarrass themselves. Some don't need to be drunk to attain this status (Luke Smith).

Jaffe was pretty bad in 2011, no doubt. He did better this year. I haven't listened to this year's E3 stuff as many times as the rest so I don't remember who Mike Neumann is, but I'll take your word for it. While I disagree with 75% of what Pachter says, I don't mind him as much as the rest of the internet.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Jaffe was pretty bad in 2011, no doubt. He did better this year. I haven't listened to this year's E3 stuff as many times as the rest so I don't remember who Mike Neumann is, but I'll take your word for it. While I disagree with 75% of what Pachter says, I don't mind him as much as the rest of the internet.

Let's ask Neogaf what they think.

Hey neogaf. Hey. Neogaf.

Neogaf.Neogaf.Neogafneogafneogaf.

Ugh. Man. I find his smarminess entertaining but he was really annoying this year.

Why is this about women all of a sudden?

I listen to a lot of gaming podcasts and Gouskous on GBE3 shows was one of the few that really turned my stomach. It was both sad and frustrating to sit through.

Garnett Lee has a reputation as a big drinker and his famous, drunken, "It's my show!" line at a pool-side E3 show way back was almost as bad.

Outside of that, I'm not familiar with other "out of control" moments on gaming podcasts outside of fun stuff like Cory Banks' famous Rock Band sexy dance. What was that song again?

Aaron D. wrote:

Why is this about women all of a sudden?

carrotpanic likes to stir up some sh*t

Who? Me?

jamos5 wrote:

I love Leigh's blog, but I tried subscribing to her twitter and found it completely unflattering. Kind of rambly, scrambled, and otherwise unprofessional. Interesting to hear that her in person personality might be equally as unflattering. I might just have to hear it for myself.

I'm sure she's a lovely human being in person and sober. On a podcast and drunk, though? Not so much.

carrotpanic wrote:

There have been plenty of really drunk dudes who embarrassed themselves on the E3 shows, or you have Garnett, who is frequently drunk and make a fool out of himself. Wouldn't be notable at all if she was not a woman.

That's the most ridiculous sort of strawman. I have heard drunk people on podcasts, and her drunk on a podcast is above and beyond. It is aurally unpleasant. It is offensive to the ears, I tell you. This is not a defect that could be corrected with the addition of a Y chromosome. Her ownership of a vagina does not bear on this. Give me credit for knowing the difference.

Nope. I've had to turn off Garnett and Jaffe because they were "aurally unpleasant" and offensive the ears, I tell you.