Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 260

RAGE, DOTA 2, The Binding of Issac, Board Games, Special Guest Jeff Cannata, Breaking The Status Quo, Your Emails and more!

This week Shawn, Julian and Cory are joined by Jeff Cannata from The Totally Rad Show! Thoughts on Rage, DOTA 2, The Binding of Issac, breaking the status quo and much more.

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/Outtro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

Burning Jacob's Ladder - Mark Lanegan - RAGE - http://www.rage.com - 54:30

Menu / Trailer Theme - Dota 2 - http://www.dota2.com - 1:18:37

Comments

Awesome, Jeff is one of my favourite podcast people, so this has made my day.

I've seen this Jeff guy, he's cool, so well done here.

I'd like to see more of Jeff on the podcast, it's been ages since I've heard someone sound genuinely excited about the games they're playing, it's refreshing.

On the downside, he enabled me on Rage, so add that to the pile.

Not long before I listened to this week's podcast I read Joystiq's middling Rage review. Almost sounds is if two different games were being discussed. I'll probably trust Jeff.

Jeff: I also pose for save games images! It also serves as a handy visual reminder of where I'm at in a game, especially if it's been a while.

Redwing wrote:

I'd like to see more of Jeff on the podcast, it's been ages since I've heard someone sound genuinely excited about the games they're playing, it's refreshing. :)

You should check out TRS on Revision3 (link in the show notes at the top of the page). Jeff and his two co-hosts review video games (and movies and TV shows). Of the three people on the show, I've learned to put more stock into Jeff's opinions when it comes to games (I don't watch their reviews for movies and TV). That said, based on everything I've read in the Rage thread, I'm probably going to wait until I can get it at half price before playing it.

When was this recorded? You were talking about a review of Rage, which just came out yesterday, and I thought id have embargoed all reviews until yesterday. I have Rage but no time to play it yet, and all the lukewarm reviews have concerned me I've made a foolish purchase. I'm glad at least Jeff seems to be really enjoying it.

When was this recorded? You were talking about a review of Rage, which just came out yesterday, and I thought id have embargoed all reviews until yesterday.

Right and the podcast came out today, so that's after the embargo.

Do you think nobody starts writing those reviews until 12:01AM on the day the embargo is up? The embargo means "don't release" not "don't write/record"

I really hope someone on the show plays Dark Souls other than Certis. Stop being scared off by all the claims of how hard it is and get enabled on how awesome the combat is and wonderfully realized the world is (dark and unforgiving as it is). There's a lot more going on than just being difficult. It's not Mega Man 9.

Redwing wrote:

I'd like to see more of Jeff on the podcast, it's been ages since I've heard someone sound genuinely excited about the games they're playing, it's refreshing.

He's like the Labrador Puppy of games journalists

Demon Souls was the first game recently that completely left you in the dark? Unlike Minecraft, in which surviving the first night requires tons of experimentation ( or YouTube videos) ?

Minecraft popularized Dwarf Fortress? Oh holy crap, you were lucky I was not on the podcast for that comment. I thought the entire draw of Dwarf Fortress was actually, you know, interacting with your dwarves? In Minecraft you're completely alone except for really stupid monsters that blip out of existence at every sunrise. I really don't get the rationale behind that particular comment.

Great episode. One minor quibble: the gom jabbar is the needle, not the box itself.

More Jeff please. Gauchos rule.

Tanglebones wrote:

Great episode. One minor quibble: the gom jabbar is the needle, not the box itself.

Hah! You're right indeed!

PyromanFO wrote:
When was this recorded? You were talking about a review of Rage, which just came out yesterday, and I thought id have embargoed all reviews until yesterday.

Right and the podcast came out today, so that's after the embargo.

Do you think nobody starts writing those reviews until 12:01AM on the day the embargo is up? The embargo means "don't release" not "don't write/record"

You misunderstood my question. I wasn't suggesting anyone wasn't abiding by the embargo. I was just curious how the podcast crew was talking about having read reviews if this was recorded before reviews were out. But I suppose they just weren't out for the general public to read. Anyway, I was just curious. No offense intended!

JediK809 wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:
When was this recorded? You were talking about a review of Rage, which just came out yesterday, and I thought id have embargoed all reviews until yesterday.

Right and the podcast came out today, so that's after the embargo.

Do you think nobody starts writing those reviews until 12:01AM on the day the embargo is up? The embargo means "don't release" not "don't write/record"

You misunderstood my question. I wasn't suggesting anyone wasn't abiding by the embargo. I was just curious how the podcast crew was talking about having read reviews if this was recorded before reviews were out. But I suppose they just weren't out for the general public to read. Anyway, I was just curious. No offense intended!

I was referring to rumblings from game reviewers on Twitter. Not published reviews, just industry people like Jeff playing the game early.

Certis wrote:

I was referring to rumblings from game reviewers on Twitter. Not published reviews, just industry people like Jeff playing the game early.

That makes perfect sense. That's how I've gotten most of my information about Rage too. Sorry for interpreting the word "review" so literally.

Anyway, I hope I'll get around to trying Rage soon. If not, it may get lost in the deluge of games that has just begun. And according to Jeff's impressions, sounds like I'd be missing out.

Certis et al., have any of you gotten around to trying it yet?

Nietzsche wrote:

Awesome, Jeff is one of my favourite podcast people, so this has made my day.

+1

Been watching Totally Rad Show since the first episode

Risk Legacy sounds like exactly the game I wanted as a kid -- but, yeah, what are those of us who don't play the same game with the same people every week supposed to do?

(I'm also reminded of an ambition I had for most of college before more or less giving up on: I wanted to use a grand-scale strategic game to create a setting for an RPG.)

Risk legacy sounds exactly what I want as an Adult. I will make people play with me.

Why do you guys say "Right" so much?
In the episode 259 I counted 178 times anyone said "Right". Don't get me wrong I love your guy's podcast; However, I am a new listener and not up to speed on this show's schtick. Is this some sort of running joke on the podcast?

profsim wrote:

Why do you guys say "Right" so much?
In the episode 259 I counted 178 times anyone said "Right". Don't get me wrong I love your guy's podcast; However, I am a new listener and not up to speed on this show's schtick. Is this some sort of running joke on the podcast?

Yeah, it's a long-running joke about statisticians with too much time on their hands. It was inspired by a forum post where someone broke down one of the weekly WoW raids into just the most microscopically detailed pieces of information and then ended every sentence with "Right?" It got so out of hand that at one point there was an entire sub-forum on the site dedicated entirely to out of control statistical analysis, but it eventually devolved into meta-analysis of the existing analysis, so Certis nuked it from orbit rather than let the joke carry on for too long. They'll still do it on the podcast for grins, sometimes. Other in-jokes on the podcast include "like," "compelling," "Bioshock," and "um."

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Other in-jokes on the podcast include "like," "compelling," "Bioshock," and "um."

And don't forget "visceral"! The podcast can be, like, an, um visceral, compelling experience.

misplacedbravado wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Other in-jokes on the podcast include "like," "compelling," "Bioshock," and "um."

And don't forget "visceral"! The podcast can be, like, an, um visceral, compelling experience, right?

You left one out.

Why do you guys say "Right" so much?
In the episode 259 I counted 178 times anyone said "Right". Don't get me wrong I love your guy's podcast; However, I am a new listener and not up to speed on this show's schtick. Is this some sort of running joke on the podcast?

It's a legitimate point -- honestly I've never thought about it or noticed. Probably one of those things where once you hear it's happening you can't un-hear it.

It's something we can work on.

Right.

Elysium wrote:
Why do you guys say "Right" so much?
In the episode 259 I counted 178 times anyone said "Right". Don't get me wrong I love your guy's podcast; However, I am a new listener and not up to speed on this show's schtick. Is this some sort of running joke on the podcast?

It's a legitimate point -- honestly I've never thought about it or noticed. Probably one of those things where once you hear it's happening you can't un-hear it.

It's something we can work on.

With a little bit of attention, it can be fixed easily by replacing every instance of "right" with "wrong."

I've noticed the 'right' phenomenon here, but in many other places on and offline as well. Seems to be the latest in a string of trendy verbal English tics, right up there with 'I mean' and 'you know'.

Tanglebones wrote:

Great episode. One minor quibble: the gom jabbar is the needle, not the box itself.

Damn you! You beat me to it!

Many games get recommended when listener questions are answered. Since those aren’t included in the show summary on the web site, here’s a list of the games and links that got recommended in this week’s episode.

World of Warcraft
Lord of the Rings Online
Spiral Knights
Steam Free Play Section
League of Legends
Double Dragon
Crackdown
Renegade Ops
Gears of War Co-op
Gunstringer
Dead Island
Red Dead Redemption