Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 106

Dead Space, SOCOM: Free Headset, Fallout 3, Galcon, Tough Questions With Shawn, Your Emails and more!

We had a full five man recording this week just in case Elysium had to run out and deliver a baby. Shawn uses the opportunity to ask some tricky industry questions to his distinguished co-hosts and everyone gets their balls broken over something. Good times.

To contact us, email [email protected]! 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.

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Intro/Outro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

"Los Pistoleros" Ian Dorsch - 0:39:54
"PodunkStump" Ian Dorsch - 1:05:16

Comments

"Big winner", I like how that sounds.

You guys should have a SOCOM expert as a guest on sometime...

Before the WoW addict email came up I was already thinking "please, please stop talking about the WoW patch, you're going to make me install it again".

Twice now I've been lured back to WoW by listening to you guys talk about it, hopefully I'm not going to make it a third.

one of us
one of us
one of us
one of us

More GalCon love! I simply can't get enough of that game.

Man, where can I download Los Pistoleros? The break music in this podcast is awesome.

GalCon is really much deeper than it seems. At level 7, I think, the enemy AI gets the ability to make mid-flight adjustments. You, however, do not. It's a completely game-changing development I wasn't expecting. Still relearning my strategies.

benu302000 wrote:

Man, where can I download Los Pistoleros? The break music in this podcast is awesome.

The whole song is still languishing in semi-finished limbo, but you can download the snippet used in the show here.

Getting a server error when I try to download this. Can someone recommend an alternate location?

Is GalCon related to the old DOS game Galactic Conquest? It was a risk-type game with a galaxy and you would send your ships from planet to planet by pressing the planet's letter, then you would have to guess what the other player did and prepare for it because you wouldn't see the results of their move for several more turns down the line. My sister and I used to sink hours into that game on our family's 386.

KingMob wrote:

Getting a server error when I try to download this. Can someone recommend an alternate location?

I seem to be downloading it fine from itunes. Have you tried downloading directly from the site?

From http://media.libsyn.com/media/gwjcc/... , and I'm getting an internal server error.
Is it you guys or my network connection?

KingMob wrote:

From http://media.libsyn.com/media/gwjcc/... , and I'm getting an internal server error.
Is it you guys or my network connection?

If you get an internal server error it shouldn't be your connection. It does however work here.

KingMob wrote:

From http://media.libsyn.com/media/gwjcc/... , and I'm getting an internal server error.
Is it you guys or my network connection?

No problem from my side.

Cheer! It is working for me now. Sorry to muck up the comments with this business.

KingMob wrote:

From http://media.libsyn.com/media/gwjcc/... , and I'm getting an internal server error.
Is it you guys or my network connection?

iTunes isn't working for me either, and I get a 500 error on the libsyn.com link above.
Edit: The link and iTunes are working now

Not a problem, we like to know if something isn't working right. Unfortunately I have no idea what might have been wrong.

Enjoy the show.

Regarding the intro: I feel for you Rabbit. I thought those aussie surfing T-shirts were the coolest thing for a very long time, to my fashion detriment. I looked like someone had eaten two bags of skittles then thrown up on me for most of my teens and early twenties.

I can't open the streaming or download to my PC.

I don't think rror is fixed.

EDIT: Works for me now.

On the Starcraft 2 front, the dev team said this decision was made before the merger and was completely the decision of the dev team. Also, I thought they said it would only be about one year between each of the games. i.e. terran game in 2009, zerg in 2010, and protoss in 2011.

You've also got to remember that each of these standalone campaigns are going to be just as large as the combination of all three campaigns from the original game. Whereas each campaign in the original game was 10 missions, this campaign in each episode of Starcraft 2 will be about 30 missions.

What I expect they'll do for multiplayer is just have different servers for different game versions so you don't see one player with extra units unavailable to the other.

Also, regarding the trend of Starcraft 2 being released in three stages, that's really nothing more than a rewording of the "planned trilogies" that several companies have been touting lately, no? Doesn't sound too disturbing.

Assassin's Creed: planned trilogy. Mass Effect: planned trilogy. Dead Space: unplanned whatever-we-can-get-out-of-this IP. Grand Theft Auto IV: plus GTA IV 'San Andreas' and GTA IV 'Vice City' (I can't back those up with anything official, of course, but we can probably guess that they or their equivalents are coming) could pretty much round out a 'planned' trilogy.

Most RTS games *do* come out with expansion packs that could add up to trilogies, if the companies had the confidence and/or foresight to announce them as such from the beginning. Let's call 'em "unplanned trilogies." Galactic Civilization II: Dark Avatar, Twilight of the Arnor, and Endless Universe. Sins of a Solar Empire and the upcoming Entrenchment; Stardock'll do a third if interest persists, no doubt. Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne expansion (okay, planned "duology"). Diablo II and Lord of Destruction expansion. And there's no way Red Alert 3 is coming out without some planned expansions coming out later.

I mean, was anyone too shaken up when the Lord of the Rings movies were a planned trilogy? Or that it was announced beforehand that it would be enough movie-watching content to span three DVDs? (Okay, perhaps that's an overly-obvious choice, since there were three books, so three movies makes sense, yadda yadda, but still.)

I guess this could be turned into an "expansion" versus "standalone" product argument, but I've already exhausted my welcome.

Nice to hear bloopers again.

Gears of War 2: The lancer bundle includes the price of the game.

You put it out there: A Levine/Jaffe ticket. Who would be the comparative competition? I'm not sure who I would put against them, but for some moustache-twirling action and in spite of him not being a developer, I'd have to include Uwe Boll. I'd say that's pretty much on par with the Republican primary write-ins for Voldemort.

Aside: Since you're now in the business of answering random questions now, what should I have for breakfast tomorrow?

Mordiceius wrote:

On the Starcraft 2 front, the dev team said this decision was made before the merger and was completely the decision of the dev team. Also, I thought they said it would only be about one year between each of the games. i.e. terran game in 2009, zerg in 2010, and protoss in 2011.

You've also got to remember that each of these standalone campaigns are going to be just as large as the combination of all three campaigns from the original game. Whereas each campaign in the original game was 10 missions, this campaign in each episode of Starcraft 2 will be about 30 missions.

What I expect they'll do for multiplayer is just have different servers for different game versions so you don't see one player with extra units unavailable to the other.

They also said that WoW expansions were going to happen once a year too.

They also pointed out that the multiplayer option was going be there intact with all 3 races from day 1 so no one should be at a disadvantage on that side of things.

I wish you guys would talk about World of Warcraft more. Maybe some other MMOs I don't play, too. I love hearing about all the levels... and places... and... silver... gold... things...

docbadwrench wrote:

Aside: Since you're now in the business of answering random questions now, what should I have for breakfast tomorrow?

Bagel. Cream cheese. Try the sesame with the garden veggie schmear.

Next.

Hmm.. What was that I just heard? That Blizzard might be looking to monetize Battle.net? Y'know, that idea sounds a little familiar... Almost like someone on these very forums suggested as much a MONTH ago, and was mocked for it. Someone who was also right about Hellgate going subscription-based. I wonder who that could have been. Surely someone AWESOME.

OK, two posts of sarcasm is enough. You guys know I love you!

LobsterMobster wrote:

Hmm.. What was that I just heard? That Blizzard might be looking to monetize Battle.net? Y'know, that idea sounds a little familiar... Almost like someone on these very forums suggested as much a MONTH ago, and was mocked for it. Someone who was also right about Hellgate going subscription-based. I wonder who that could have been. Surely someone AWESOME.

OK, two posts of sarcasm is enough. You guys know I love you!

Oh, Lobster. Your radness cannot be contained within the digital walls of this forum. Manly hugs!

... is that enough validation, or do you need more?

I'm right there with the guy who spaced out as his email was being read on the podcast. When I got my email read, I ended up completely focused on the podcast and nearly bust out laughing at the situation (and hatred) that ensued around my email. It was glorious!

Oh and what's with dropping the ball on an opportunity to sing a chorus of "I wanna friend you up" when talking about SOCOM? Actually, I haven't heard that line sung since episode 100... I miss it...:sad:

So dismissive of Saints Row 2! My pimping heart weeps...