Gamer Podcasts

I love GB, and loved the Pachtercast. But the first day E3 podcast is almost unbearable having to listen to everyone fellate Jonathan Blow, who comes across as perhaps the most pretentious game designer in the industry.

SallyNasty wrote:

I love GB, and loved the Pachtercast. But the first day E3 podcast is almost unbearable having to listen to everyone fellate Jonathan Blow, who comes across as perhaps the most pretentious game designer in the industry.

Then you get David Jaffe the next night...

He was complaining about Battlefield looking like Battlezone and they all talked about how it was the same game as Battlefield always had been. Which seemed odd with him making Twisted Metal right now.

MannishBoy wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I love GB, and loved the Pachtercast. But the first day E3 podcast is almost unbearable having to listen to everyone fellate Jonathan Blow, who comes across as perhaps the most pretentious game designer in the industry.

Then you get David Jaffe the next night...

He was complaining about Battlefield looking like Battlezone and they all talked about how it was the same game as Battlefield always had been. Which seemed odd with him making Twisted Metal right now.

They were talking about reactions to the press events, not the games themselves. It was part of a long discussion of how gamers expect press people to have certain reactions at these events (referencing Reggie's 'you want the same thing over and over but you want innovation at the same time' comment), which turned into a discussion of how their individual reactions to things (both games and press events) could be so different from the general gamers' reactions. They said repeatedly that they were confident that B3 would be great, but that the demo was a very pretty version of something Battlefield gamers already have, just as many TF, CS, and CoD players talk a lot about getting remakes of old beloved maps. They were all saying that it's strange for B3's demo to be praised as the highlight of the show, given that similarity to the other Battlefields, and they said explicitly it wasn't a comment on the quality of B3 itself.

I don't recall anything particularly positive said toward Jaffe. It was a discussion that included him, not a discussion about him.

CptGlanton wrote:

I don't recall anything particularly positive said toward Jaffe. It was a discussion that included him, not a discussion about him.

I didn't say it was about him, it just seemed odd that he was complaining about rehashing existing game play when that's kind of what he's doing. He was driving a lot of that piece of the conversation.

But they definitely talk about how new experiences should be valued more in that conversation. Then later they talked about Mortal Kombat some, which they all seemed to love. Again, kind of odd given the previous talk.

He always seems to rub me wrong. Sometimes he says interesting stuff, then in the next sentence says something that makes me think he can't clearly see what he himself is doing.

Jeff (?) did ask Jaffe about his making a new Twisted Metal while making those comments. His answer was ... vague.

I still don't see how their liking B3 or MK as an individual player, at home, contradicts their comments about the responses some of the E3 demos and trailers get. To me, one is a personal experience and the other is a discussion of marketing strategies.

CptGlanton wrote:

Jeff (?) did ask Jaffe about his making a new Twisted Metal while making those comments. His answer was ... vague.

I still don't see how their liking B3 or MK as an individual player, at home, contradicts their comments about the responses some of the E3 demos and trailers get. To me, one is a personal experience and the other is a discussion of marketing strategies.

Didn't you hear the part of the conversation of "Quake's been done, you don't need to keep releasing Quake"? That's what I'm talking about.

SallyNasty wrote:

But the first day E3 podcast is almost unbearable having to listen to everyone fellate Jonathan Blow, who comes across as perhaps the most pretentious game designer in the industry.

I'll give him this though, he articulated an issue with gaming that I've shared for years. He said he was just about to turn 40 and had grown up playing games all his life. Yet at this stage in life, he felt like he was an aging gamer whose demographic was being largely ignored.

There were games announced at E3 for "dude-bro" teens/college kids (shooters, etc.), games for children (Sesame Street), games for casuals (Dance Central 2). But there was a noted absense of titles for core gamers who are adults craving experiences that are mature and thoughtful.

I often wonder when the industry will catch up with the demographic who was reared on Atari 2600 and arcade classics like Space Invaders, etc. We're all grown now. We've got oodles of disposable income. Yet titles aimed at us specifically are few and far between. Maybe examples like Heavy Rain and L.A. Noire kind of fit the bill and hint at directions the industry could explore.

MannishBoy wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:

Jeff (?) did ask Jaffe about his making a new Twisted Metal while making those comments. His answer was ... vague.

I still don't see how their liking B3 or MK as an individual player, at home, contradicts their comments about the responses some of the E3 demos and trailers get. To me, one is a personal experience and the other is a discussion of marketing strategies.

Didn't you hear the part of the conversation of "Quake's been done, you don't need to keep releasing Quake"? That's what I'm talking about.

And that lead to the comment from Ryan that you can trace anything back to a previous ancestor. MW3 is the new Quake, but there was always a previous twitch-action game before Quake (I forget his example there, but it might have been Robotron), and another before that. I thought that Ryan was trying to imply that it's okay to have games be evolutions of previous generations, so long as you're clear that that's what you're getting and they are evolutions and not photocopies. I thought that he offered a good way of thinking about MW3 as well as a solution to the obvious problem of sequelitis.

CptGlanton wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:

Jeff (?) did ask Jaffe about his making a new Twisted Metal while making those comments. His answer was ... vague.

I still don't see how their liking B3 or MK as an individual player, at home, contradicts their comments about the responses some of the E3 demos and trailers get. To me, one is a personal experience and the other is a discussion of marketing strategies.

Didn't you hear the part of the conversation of "Quake's been done, you don't need to keep releasing Quake"? That's what I'm talking about.

And that lead to the comment from Ryan that you can trace anything back to a previous ancestor. MW3 is the new Quake, but there was always a previous twitch-action game before Quake (I forget his example there, but it might have been Robotron), and another before that. I thought that Ryan was trying to imply that it's okay to have games be evolutions of previous generations, so long as you're clear that that's what you're getting and they are evolutions and not photocopies. I thought that he offered a good way of thinking about MW3 as well as a solution to the obvious problem of sequelitis.

But wasn't it Jaffe that said it? (honestly can't remember.)

That was my point, he was saying some odd things considering his history.

I'm not complaining about the podcast itself.

Aaron D. wrote:

I often wonder when the industry will catch up with the demographic who was reared on Atari 2600 and arcade classics like Space Invaders, etc. We're all grown now. We've got oodles of disposable income. Yet titles aimed at us specifically are few and far between. Maybe examples like Heavy Rain and L.A. Noire kind of fit the bill and hint at directions the industry could explore.

I'm in that demographic. I would love to get a more polished version of either of those. To make a comparison to TV, I'm a fan of stuff like Sons of Anarchy, Justified, and The Shield, all of which are action-y but really do have some actual brains under the hood, too. I would really like for gaming to learn something from material like that.

Jaffe made several comments about MW3 being a meat grinder, but I'm definitely hearing the "MW is now the descendant of Quake" comment in Ryan's voice in my head. I might be wrong, too. I think that it's a worthwhile idea to explore.

Edit: Keep in mind that you're talking to the person who will likely be the sole inhabitant of the Twisted Metal Catch-All.

CptGlanton wrote:

Keep in mind that you're talking to the person who will likely be the sole inhabitant of the Twisted Metal Catch-All.

Untrue, sign me up to troll you =)

SallyNasty wrote:

I love GB, and loved the Pachtercast. But the first day E3 podcast is almost unbearable having to listen to everyone fellate Jonathan Blow, who comes across as perhaps the most pretentious game designer in the industry.

Compared to Pachter, Blow is downright humble. And at least Blow actually made a game rather than constantly just made wrong industry predictions. I listened to his GB podcast and there was far more fellating going on there. None of the guys called him out on anything but then they spent a good chunk of their next regular podcast going on about all the stuff they thought he was wrong about. Granted, that's far more of a grilling than most of teh gaming press gives this hack but it would have been nice if they'd done that in his presence rather than after the fact.

I'm having a crazy busy week but I'm still making the time to listen to these shows because hearing industry people talk inside shop is absolutely fascinating. Like Blow or hate him (and I like him quite a bit), he has a ton of great insights and unlike most corporate game makers, isn't afraid to speak his mind, even at the risk of upsetting his partners. More people need to do that.

Wow, 4 hours of giantbomb. That is one spicy podcast.

^^^ And I don't think they've even released a podcast with post Wii U impressions.

I have it on now and they are talking about wii u games. I think they started talking about it around hour 3.

Okay, gotcha.

I'm only 2+ hours though and assumed it was recorded before the Nintendo conference since they haven't said a peep about it yet.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

And at least Blow actually made a game rather than constantly just made wrong industry predictions.

He really whiffed on that prediction of monetizing CoD multiplayer, eh?

I truly can't understand the vitriol. Did he kick your puppy?

Edit: This Justin McElroy character is pretty fun!

The crazy thing about the Giant Bomb coverage is that, in addition to the podcasts, there's hours of video content that covers different stuff. It's incredible what those handful of guys pump out this week.

Today they had a pic on the front page of two of them doing a shot of some energy drink. I can see why.

E3 on a boat! Very NSFW.

Blind_Evil wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

And at least Blow actually made a game rather than constantly just made wrong industry predictions.

He really whiffed on that prediction of monetizing CoD multiplayer, eh?

I truly can't understand the vitriol. Did he kick your puppy?

Ignoring the snark, my problem is that he generally talks out his backside (often just to get a rise out of people and the clicks that come with that) but the gaming press trips over themselves to quote him and never calls him out when he's wrong. If you quote someone whose quote turns out to be completely inaccurate, a responsible journalist should bring that to light. It's really more of a problem with the press than Pachter himself and if anything the press is who I'm more frustrated at but he feeds into that. Also, he's said that anyone who opposes DRM is obviously a pirate. He just feeds a lot of misinformation into coverage of games and I really don't like the influence he has.

Also, everyone predicted Activision would monetize CoD multiplayer. It was the worst kept secret in the industry.

I still have two hours of Giant Bomb's day 1 podcast left and the day 2 show is also over 4 hours. Also, This is Only A Test from this week is almost 4 hours as well. Utter madness but this content they're putting out is absolutely incredible. It is incredible such a small team is putting out so much content that's also really great content. These guys have skills.

Jumping the Shark's E3 podcast end-of-day podcasts have been pretty good though the last one won't be out until Sunday apparently. They had 6 or so people on but kept things simple by going around and having each person talking about the best thing they saw that day and the worst thing they saw. The simplicity of the discussion kept me from getting confused with so many people on.

The day one podcast had an especially interesting discussion about Kinect and the "Kinect Enhanced" games. Tom Chick had a point which resonated with me, saying that putting Kinect in games like Mass Effect doesn't solve a problem.

I would like to listen to the Giant Bomb podcasts, but I can't commit the time to them and I'm not a regular listener either.

From today's GiantBomb, the first segment has something that had me laughing so hard, my face hurt. So damn funny.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

And at least Blow actually made a game rather than constantly just made wrong industry predictions.

He really whiffed on that prediction of monetizing CoD multiplayer, eh?

I truly can't understand the vitriol. Did he kick your puppy?

I still have two hours of Giant Bomb's day 1 podcast left and the day 2 show is also over 4 hours. Also, This is Only A Test from this week is almost 4 hours as well. Utter madness but this content they're putting out is absolutely incredible. It is incredible such a small team is putting out so much content that's also really great content. These guys have skills.

QFT to both of you. Pachter is fine to me, and he seems like a good enough guy, and the GB guys really work for your money. I am considering a Whiskey Media membership to show appreciation.

SallyNasty wrote:

I am considering a Whiskey Media membership to show appreciation.

If you're into stupid t-shirts, I highly recommend it.

I still wish I could have a cheaper yearly subscription to just GB, though. I like Tested and Screened but don't use them very regularly.

Blind_Evil wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I am considering a Whiskey Media membership to show appreciation.

I still wish I could have a cheaper yearly subscription to just GB, though. I like Tested and Screened but don't use them very regularly.

I don't use any of the websites besides GB, so I haven't subscribed. I would definitely jump on a cheaper subscription to just Giant Bomb. They make so much great content without the BS of other, similar websites.

CptGlanton wrote:

From today's GiantBomb, the first segment has something that had me laughing so hard, my face hurt. So damn funny.

This is terrible news! - I listen to these while walking to and from work...I already must look like some grinning/randomly laughing lunatic to passers by!

stevenmack wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:

From today's GiantBomb, the first segment has something that had me laughing so hard, my face hurt. So damn funny.

This is terrible news! - I listen to these while walking to and from work...I already must look like some grinning/randomly laughing lunatic to passers by!

That was a big issue for me when I was going through all the Idle Thumbs episodes for the first time.

Today's GiantBomb is only three hours. At that point, I don't even know what I'm paying for.