Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 337

Our Live Panel at PAX East 2013

Shawn, Elysium, Julian, Cory, Jeff Green and Justin McElroy talk about why they game in front of live audience at PAX East. We must have caught the sound guys off guard because the first 20 seconds or so are missing. Sorry about that!

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.

Chairman_Mao's Timestamps
00.01.34 What was the tipping point?
00.09.49 What's the experience that draws you in today?
00.19.00 How do you manage your gaming time?
00.25.18 Is there something you wish that gaming as a whole would do better?
00.38.08 If gaming suddenly vanished from your life, what would you miss the most?
00.45.12 Audience questions

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Intro/Outtro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

Comments

A lot of question about the future of this or that in the podcast lately. What about the the future of game journalism and game podcasting? More intimate? More investigative? Any thoughts.

I'd like to see a really good Star Trek game, set during TNG using either the TNG crew or a crew you create yourself, that really captures the exploration and non-combat experiences of the show.

I know Nintendo doesn't Kickstart but can we get a re-imagining of Gumshoe, please?

Slumberland wrote:

I know Nintendo doesn't Kickstart but can we get a re-imagining of Gumshoe, please?

It's a shame the Wii didn't spark a reboot of pretty much every Zapper and Super Scope game ever made.

shoptroll wrote:
Slumberland wrote:

I know Nintendo doesn't Kickstart but can we get a re-imagining of Gumshoe, please?

It's a shame the Wii didn't spark a reboot of pretty much every Zapper and Super Scope game ever made.

I'd play a reboot of Duck Hunt.

McIrishJihad wrote:
shoptroll wrote:
Slumberland wrote:

I know Nintendo doesn't Kickstart but can we get a re-imagining of Gumshoe, please?

It's a shame the Wii didn't spark a reboot of pretty much every Zapper and Super Scope game ever made.

I'd play a reboot of Duck Hunt.

There was a spiritual successor tech demo tucked away in Wii Play.

EDIT: Started listening to the show. This certainly isn't going to help with PAX withdrawal

Just sent a link for this podcast to my wife. She swore she would never marry a gamer. Oops. Its not that she resists my "hobby", as a matter of fact she has grown more understanding of my gaming habits and my attempts to balance with marriage, kids, and life in general WAY more than I have of her hobbies...no not crochet, but still I figured she would appreciate that comment. Well played gentlemen, well played!

Someone should point Jeff Green at Heroes of Might & Magic V & VI which are effectively reboots of the franchise with a completely new setting.

Also, Might & Magic X was partially greenlit (according to one of the producers in the Ubisoft PAX East booth) due to the success of Legend of Grimrock which is really cool to hear. Definite proof that indies are shaking up the market.

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce. You guys have such a cool little (probably large) thing going and I'm glad to be a part of it.

LegacyR wrote:

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce. You guys have such a cool little (probably large) thing going and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Cory had it right - pick a game and jump right in. The Bioshock Infinite thread is pretty hopping right now, but we've also got big sections of the community into SC2, TF2, and other venerable MP games.

McIrishJihad wrote:
LegacyR wrote:

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce. You guys have such a cool little (probably large) thing going and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Cory had it right - pick a game and jump right in. The Bioshock Infinite thread is pretty hopping right now, but we've also got big sections of the community into SC2, TF2, and other venerable MP games.

Don't forget to join the Steam communities too.

LegacyR wrote:

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce.

I certainly am.

shoptroll wrote:

EDIT: Started listening to the show. This certainly isn't going to help with PAX withdrawal :(

Not at all. Listening to this makes me want to go back. I had forgotten that after the panel I wanted to talk with Certis a bit more about Remember Me, how important I feel it is that the protagonist is not only female but is non-caucasian, and that its sales may be more important than Tomb Raider's because it's a brand new IP. Imagine if a brand new IP with a non-white female protagonist sells enough to warrant a sequel.

Then again, just how disappointing were the sales numbers for Mirror's Edge? Also a non-white female protagonist that I know a lot of people were looking forward to and played, but will it really matter if it's not making CoD numbers?

Ah, tangent. My point is, for as much time as I spent with various friends both new and old throughout PAX, it didn't feel like enough.

LegacyR wrote:

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce. You guys have such a cool little (probably large) thing going and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Welcome to the party, pal.

Mirror's Edge sold a little over 2 million globally across all 3 platforms according to VGChartz. No idea how much they spent to make it, but considering Battlefield 3 sold over 7x more copies, it's obvious where EA (or their shareholders) would rather allocated DICE's resources

Also, was it just me or did PAX East have a stronger female presence this year? It really angers me to go to these events and see how much disservice the industry is doing to the audience by rejecting protagonists of different genders or ethnicities.

Nice job guys. Short and sweet though. Could've listened to a couple more hours. Next time reserve the space for two hours.

My reboot idea: King's Quest. First person perspective. Heavy on exploration/discovery. Some basic combat, but not the main focus. Moderately open-world, but advancing the story would open up new locations. And puzzles. Actual intelligent puzzles beyond the basic quests offered by most RPGs of today. Engaging characters, mysteries, story twists, multiple branching story lines.

The slightly more RPG version of this idea is go full Quest For Glory. This would essentially be Skyrim with way more deep quest/story/objectives etc.

shoptroll wrote:

Mirror's Edge sold a little over 2 million globally across all 3 platforms according to VGChartz. No idea how much they spent to make it, but considering Battlefield 3 sold over 7x more copies, it's obvious where EA (or their shareholders) would rather allocated DICE's resources :(

So with a total series sales of 850k, I should stop holding out for DICE to make Rallisport Challenge 3?

LegacyR wrote:

I would like to say that attending this panel was really the first experience I had listening to the GWJ guys or having any contact with the community and it was awesome sauce. You guys have such a cool little (probably large) thing going and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Welcome! We're glad to have you.

PaladinTom wrote:

Nice job guys. Short and sweet though. Could've listened to a couple more hours. Next time reserve the space for two hours.

Ha! If only. We're lucky that they give us a spot at all. Thankful, even.

Doing this panel was such a joy. Thanks to everyone for listening, and for everyone that attended.

shoptroll wrote:

Mirror's Edge sold a little over 2 million globally across all 3 platforms according to VGChartz. No idea how much they spent to make it, but considering Battlefield 3 sold over 7x more copies, it's obvious where EA (or their shareholders) would rather allocated DICE's resources :(

To be fair, Mirror's Edge was and still is a pretty unusual game, even without taking the non-caucasian female protagonist into account. I don't remember any games from 5 years ago which had a AAA budget and didn't focus on some form of combat. That's not to say that the protagonist had nothing to do with it I just don't think it's the whole story.

Demiurge wrote:

Doing this panel was such a joy. Thanks to everyone for listening, and for everyone that attended.

You are more than welcome!

PaladinTom wrote:

My reboot idea: King's Quest. First person perspective. Heavy on exploration/discovery. Some basic combat, but not the main focus. Moderately open-world, but advancing the story would open up new locations. And puzzles. Actual intelligent puzzles beyond the basic quests offered by most RPGs of today. Engaging characters, mysteries, story twists, multiple branching story lines.

Has anything been said about Telltale's upcoming King's Quest game? The Fables one was announced today, it's weird they were both announced at the same time but so little has been said about KQ. Especially with all the hullaballoo over the other Sierra alums getting back into the game.

Demiurge wrote:

Ha! If only. We're lucky that they give us a spot at all. Thankful, even.

There was a pretty good sized crowd this year despite going up against Gearbox and lunchtime. Really hope you all return next year. Out of curiosity, do you have to pitch a topic to the organizers before you're given the go-ahead? The GWJ Panel seems to be one of the few podcast panels that has a predetermined topic. Just wondering if this is an extension of the show's format or if you're required to have a specific topic in mind in order to improve the chances of getting a panel slot.

Gems134 wrote:

I don't remember any games from 5 years ago which had a AAA budget and didn't focus on some form of combat.

I'd point out Portal or Animal Crossing: City Folk but I have no idea what the budgets were on either of those projects.

I love that you guys turned the "how to get more women involved in games" question into "how to get your partner more involved in games." I'm a woman, I play games, it's my thing, it's why I'm here. But my husband... Ugh, my husband, I love him to death, but he has little to no interest in video games, and whenever I talk about them, he barely even listens. I managed to sit him down to play Walking Dead a while back, and he did get through 3 episodes, but I'm still counting the experiment as a failure. He show no interest in picking up the story, feels no attachment to the characters, and expressed disappointment that we weren't actually playing together (that I only sat beside him and commented on his choices). I too wanted to have him play Portal, but the game still sits unplayed, forlorn, on his Steam account.
But he is a TV person, so we too sit through bad reality TV shows and talk about them. Heaven knows I dislike TV though, but I make an effort.

So MMOs, right? GW2 is on sale, and I've been debating "gifting" a copy to my husband........ :p

Love the podcast, and I particularly enjoy these live episodes, the positive energy pouring out of them is just downright infectious. Keep doing what you're doing, guys!

shoptroll wrote:

Has anything been said about Telltale's upcoming King's Quest game? The Fables one was announced today, it's weird they were both announced at the same time but so little has been said about KQ. Especially with all the hullaballoo over the other Sierra alums getting back into the game.

There's a KQ reboot?? Holy moley, how did I not know this?!? Now I'm super excited, the King's Quest were a central element of my gaming childhood!!! They better not drop the ball...

I get a lot of people into games, but then, I'm careful not to push my own interests and I try not to judge. Farmville is a game that some people genuinely liked for a time. I don't like it, but I don't have to. They do.

Some people like the Mania games, or the Dash games, or the object finding games. They get really, really good at them. The sheer APM and multitasking skills of some time management aficionados would probably get them into Diamond League in SC2, if they cared to try.

The important principle, I find, in convincing other people to try a game is to give them what they want. That is, I don't just recommend games that I personally find awesome so I can have someone to talk to. So not "Do I find ME3 awesome?" (I do), but "Would Bob find ME3 awesome?"

shoptroll wrote:

Someone should point Jeff Green at Heroes of Might & Magic V & VI which are effectively reboots of the franchise with a completely new setting.

Also, Might & Magic X was partially greenlit (according to one of the producers in the Ubisoft PAX East booth) due to the success of Legend of Grimrock which is really cool to hear. Definite proof that indies are shaking up the market.

Also, the King's Bounty games, which are reboots of the game that inspired HoMM

If I was going to pick something to get rebooted, it would Torment.. no Ultima.. no Wasteland..

But seriously, Alpha Centauri, Tie Fighter.

Tanglebones wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

Someone should point Jeff Green at Heroes of Might & Magic V & VI which are effectively reboots of the franchise with a completely new setting.

Also, Might & Magic X was partially greenlit (according to one of the producers in the Ubisoft PAX East booth) due to the success of Legend of Grimrock which is really cool to hear. Definite proof that indies are shaking up the market.

Also, the King's Bounty games, which are reboots of the game that inspired HoMM :P

Right, forgot about those.

Alpha Centauri, Tie Fighter.

I'd go for a Tie Fighter reboot if only to finally see what everyone goes ga-ga over.

I'd love to see an Unreal reboot.

Tanglebones wrote:

But seriously, Alpha Centauri, Tie Fighter.

I think we're more likely to see a Tie Fighter reboot, especially with the Disney acquisition of Lucas-stuff, than an Alpha Centauri reboot. I think I remember one episode of Three Moves Ahead talking about that and basically saying it's never going to happen for reasons I can't really remember.

shoptroll wrote:

Also, was it just me or did PAX East have a stronger female presence this year?

I didn't really notice any change in gender ratio from previous years, but there were tons more cosplayers this year. Also, more set photography of cosplayers. That's really becoming more and more of a thing.

I could see a Rogue Squadron-ified Tie Fighter reboot on the WiiU that used the gamepad for gyroscopic controls and info display being GREAT.

Someone at PAX - I'm blanking on who now - was talking about how awesome an Oculus Rift Tie Fighter game would be.

Love the guest voices. McElroy is great with you guys. This is a good time to get Jeremy Parrish back on the show.

Do it!!??11

On the subject of making buying games a better experience.

I want more 'feelies.' I miss those, but I don't want to have to double the cost of the game to get them. I dropped $20 to get 4 of these guys at the Bethesda Booth.
IMAGE(http://s0lidarity.trovebox.com/photo/3/create/a5bb9/870x870.jpg)
Once PAX was over and I busted them out of their packaging, I wished that I had dropped another $20. I normally consider myself very much in control of impulse buying and I can't tell you the last time I payed MSRP for a game. If more publishers and developers pushed these out, I would be glad to support them.

Tanglebones wrote:

Someone at PAX - I'm blanking on who now - was talking about how awesome an Oculus Rift Tie Fighter game would be.

Just name the price...your money is mine.

I remember playing the original Star Wars arcade game (sitdown version) and wanting to save all my money to buy one back in 1983. This could be as close as I could get to that dream of a 5 year old! Maybe it is because I fall prey to Nostalgia too often, but not only did I love Tie Fighter, but if you throw in a VR aspect I would have no choice but to buy in.

Eleima wrote:

I love that you guys turned the "how to get more women involved in games" question into "how to get your partner more involved in games." I'm a woman, I play games, it's my thing, it's why I'm here. But my husband... Ugh, my husband, I love him to death, but he has little to no interest in video games, and whenever I talk about them, he barely even listens. I managed to sit him down to play Walking Dead a while back, and he did get through 3 episodes, but I'm still counting the experiment as a failure. He show no interest in picking up the story, feels no attachment to the characters, and expressed disappointment that we weren't actually playing together (that I only sat beside him and commented on his choices). I too wanted to have him play Portal, but the game still sits unplayed, forlorn, on his Steam account.
But he is a TV person, so we too sit through bad reality TV shows and talk about them. Heaven knows I dislike TV though, but I make an effort...

I have never been successful getting my wife to play video games. At a certain point you just have to accept that not everyone is a video gamer. Some people just do not enjoy them. It is one of the reasons I spend so much time posting here. I know at least a few people will be interested in discussing games and all the cool stuff involved with gaming. My wife patiently listens to me drone on about about some game I am playing, but I know she is just flattering me...and I love her for it.

My wife, like your husband, loves television and we have found several shows to get into and share together, since she loves everything and I get really into certain shows. Right now we are both digging Game of Thrones.

I think you need to give television a chance, because gaming is much more of a commitment for the uninitiated. Plus, television is not like it used to be. There are so many mind-blowingly great shows to choose from, both recent and not-so-recent, that there has got to something out there for both of you. Many critics think we are in a new Golden Age of television and I have to agree. More often than not I prefer watching a television show over going to the movies.

I enjoying ripping on the characters on the Real Housewives of Wherever, but there are some truly phenomenal shows out there in all genres. There are literally thousands of hours of amazing stories out there just waiting to be devoured. I started to make a list for this post, but it became too cumbersome. There are that many good TV shows.

My favorite way to experience reality television, by the way, is The Soup. I have been watching it since Greg Kinear hosted it (Talk Soup) and with Joel McHale at the helm for several years it better than ever.