Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 155

Brutal Legend Demo, Aion, Space Hulk, Special Guest Wes Wilson From Control Point, Community Gaming Issues, Your Emails and more!

This week, Control Point's Wes Wilson joins us to talk about his crushing MMO addiction, their recent love from Valve and what rabbit does in the tub when he's happy. Special thanks to Dumb Blond, Dead for the music this week! If you want to submit a question or comment call in to our voicemail line at (612) 284-4563.

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. You can also submit a question or comment call in to our voicemail line at (612) 284-4563!

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Intro/Outtro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

"Letters To Yuki" - We Won't Make Friends, We're Scientists (Dumb Blonde, Dead) - www.myspace.com/dumbblondedead - 0:38:36
"Time & Tax Payers Money" - We Won't Make Friends, We're Scientists (Dumb Blonde, Dead) - www.myspace.com/dumbblondedead - 1:04:35

Comments

First post, Great show!!!

Shamus Young has a good series on procedural content in games going at the moment, using FUEL as an example. He's mainly talking about procedural content as an aid to game artists - allowing them to say "create a believable forest in this area" instead of having to place each tree manually - but he raises some really interesting points.

Edit: corrected link

Excellent podcast. I'm looking forward to the prize drawing when you give me my brand new console!

(just kidding, but not really)

MMO talk and no Elysium? Was he aware of this golden opportunity to pontificate about WoW?

Interesting view on the solid state drive, Certis. I thought those fatigued like a flash drive, though, where the more you write and rewrite on them the worse they get at holding the data? Is that one of the old design limitations they've now overcome?

Anybody more curious about SSDs, check this out at Anandtech.

OCZ is the best performance to price ratio, but stay away from some of their older models. You want something with the Indilinx controller. Check the Anandtech article if you're unsure.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Interesting view on the solid state drive, Certis. I thought those fatigued like a flash drive, though, where the more you write and rewrite on them the worse they get at holding the data? Is that one of the old design limitations they've now overcome?

Definitely check out the article Pyro linked, more info than you ever wanted in there. But yeah, the indications seem to be that OCZ and Intel have gotten over that hump. There's a new tech called TRIM that should clear out old blocks (or some such) that will provide even more long term stability. Not sure if drives that support it are available yet, though.

Certis wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Interesting view on the solid state drive, Certis. I thought those fatigued like a flash drive, though, where the more you write and rewrite on them the worse they get at holding the data? Is that one of the old design limitations they've now overcome?

Definitely check out the article Pyro linked, more info than you ever wanted in there. But yeah, the indications seem to be that OCZ and Intel have gotten over that hump. There's a new tech called TRIM that should clear out old blocks (or some such) that will provide even more long term stability. Not sure if drives that support it are available yet, though.

The OCZs do support it. Generally, anything saying "Designed for Windows 7" supports TRIM, that's the new cool tech for hard drives in Win7.

Not only has Gabe Newell agreed to fly to Australia to see LaCabra's L4D campaign, he's agreed to record commentary for it.

Certis wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Interesting view on the solid state drive, Certis. I thought those fatigued like a flash drive, though, where the more you write and rewrite on them the worse they get at holding the data? Is that one of the old design limitations they've now overcome?

Definitely check out the article Pyro linked, more info than you ever wanted in there. But yeah, the indications seem to be that OCZ and Intel have gotten over that hump. There's a new tech called TRIM that should clear out old blocks (or some such) that will provide even more long term stability. Not sure if drives that support it are available yet, though.

Sounds sweet. I'll definitely look in that direction next time I need a new drive.

EDIT: Oh hey, sweet, I got my jet!

I just reached the part where rabbit said one of the greatest lines ever spoken on the podcast, and I just had to sig it.

MeatMan wrote:

I just reached the part where rabbit said one of the greatest lines ever spoken on the podcast, and I just had to sig it. :D

I am not ashamed of the fact that I will be playing Brutal Legend with reckless abandon.

If *Legion* wins, I can drive down and punch him for you, rabbit. No need to get Cory involved.

Vegan wrote:

Not only has Gabe Newell agreed to fly to Australia to see LaCabra's L4D campaign, he's agreed to record commentary for it.

Furthermore, he is paying for his own flight, and the money they raised is going to Child's Play.

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

I can never tell who is who.

FSeven wrote:
trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

I can never tell who is who.

What you all need to do is spend 4-8 hours listening to all 155 shows. Than you will never EVER mistake anyone's voice on the show again.

trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

Wes is twangier, Rabbit is slightly higher in frequency.

trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

I think Rob should just start applying wacky voice filters to people so that the audience can keep everybody straight.

"Dear GWJ Conference Call, I completely disagree with that robot voice guy. I feel very strongly that the guy with the Darth Vader voice was completely right, and you are all assholes. Especially the guy who sounds like Scooby Doo."

See? Problem solved. You're welcome.

Gaald wrote:
FSeven wrote:
trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

I can never tell who is who.

What you all need to do is spend 4-8 hours listening to all 155 shows. Than you will never EVER mistake anyone's voice on the show again.

Not only will we be able to tell Wes and Rabbit's voice apart, we'll be able to follow 20 conversations at once.

Another great podcast.

Man, I've been so tempted to get a solid state drive. They just need to come down in price still for me. I want one with some size. I've had problems in the past installing something on the non-primary drive which can be extremely frustrating. My primary drive now is 4x250gb WD drives in a striped RAID. I also have an 8gb flash drive devoted to ready boost (or whatever they call that feature). Performance isn't on par with the new solid state drives, but its not too bad. I love having basically 1tb for my primary drive and not having to worry about space at all. Of course with the RAID I also felt compelled to buy an enclosure and do frequent backups.

Let me know where to send my address so you can send me the sander cohen figurine.

Great podcast, except for all that MMO talk.
I've found that there are two game types I completely zone out to when listening to podcasts, games in MMO and Metal Gear genres (series, whatever). I listened to an old episode of Retronauts today as well and found myself not paying attention to that as I zoned out. Usually any game / topic will have something that will keep me listening, but not these things.
/rant

rabbit wrote:
MeatMan wrote:

I just reached the part where rabbit said one of the greatest lines ever spoken on the podcast, and I just had to sig it. :D

I am not ashamed of the fact that I will be playing Brutal Legend with reckless abandon.

You and me both. I don't expect to get much sleep during the week of Oct 13.

Although I won't go so far as to proclaim that I'll be urinating on myself while lying in the bath tub. Maybe I'll buy some Depends.

Great podcast. It was the highlight of my workday.

It was nice hearing Wes Wilson on the show. Now I have to re-subscribe to Control Point again. They got cut from my regular rotation because I have too damned many podcasts to listen to, but those guys are great and since I heart TF2, I have to return.

The ending thoughts on the complexity of games that are supposed to be basic intrigues me. Historically, I've been pretty good at figuring out games, but in my advancing age I've become less patient. I loved learning Munchkin because it has a pretty straightforward playstyle.

At PAX I glanced over at Quintin (and other GwJ'ers) playing Dominion and it scared me. It's all those giant stacks, I think. I know it's supposed to be more basic than it looks, but it sounds like they're upping the complexity to the point where I've already sort of lost interest.

Discussing community on a show like GwJ - where community is so central - seemed redundant, but it was still fun to listen to. I'm glad you focused on the differences in communities that emerge around specific games, because those are the most fickle. A lot of companies could learn from the best found in Valve and Blizzard.

Lastly, the next time you read an email from Jonman, you're required to take a swig of brandy and attempt his awesome accent.

PyromanFO wrote:
Certis wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Interesting view on the solid state drive, Certis. I thought those fatigued like a flash drive, though, where the more you write and rewrite on them the worse they get at holding the data? Is that one of the old design limitations they've now overcome?

Definitely check out the article Pyro linked, more info than you ever wanted in there. But yeah, the indications seem to be that OCZ and Intel have gotten over that hump. There's a new tech called TRIM that should clear out old blocks (or some such) that will provide even more long term stability. Not sure if drives that support it are available yet, though.

The OCZs do support it. Generally, anything saying "Designed for Windows 7" supports TRIM, that's the new cool tech for hard drives in Win7.

some further reading on SSDs: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/sto...

I may be a bit behind on some of the modern ssd controllers but I found this article really interesting. Windows is built to run on normal hdd and does a few things that are unnecessary and sometimes bad for SSDs and this article recommends certain tweaks that can be done to windows. Good read, and good writers.

and thanks for the entertaining show

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Great podcast, except for all that MMO talk.
I've found that there are two game types I completely zone out to when listening to podcasts, games in MMO and Metal Gear genres (series, whatever). I listened to an old episode of Retronauts today as well and found myself not paying attention to that as I zoned out. Usually any game / topic will have something that will keep me listening, but not these things.
/rant

I don't play MMOs either so I know where you're coming from, but it doesn't really bother me. There were a few episodes back in the day when they were a little too eager to compare other games - even non-MMOs - to specific parts of World of Warcraft and THAT totally lost me. It's been a long time since I've noticed anyone doing that, and for that I am grateful.

Ah the latest donor icon is a weighted companion cube. I was sure it was going to be an iPhone.

On the length of games; I tend to expect a full retail priced game to be at least 10 hours for the core game with enough good optional stuff for a few more hours (or multiplayer) less than that and I feel the 'money spent' to 'fun had' ratio is off. If it's a shorter game drop the price.

If I order and pay for a 12 inch pizza I'm expecting an 12 inch pizza when I open the box and not an 8 inch pizza being sold to me as the 12 inch pizza for the guy who is short on time.

I am tight with my money though :).

docbadwrench wrote:

At PAX I glanced over at Quintin (and other GwJ'ers) playing Dominion and it scared me. It's all those giant stacks, I think. I know it's supposed to be more basic than it looks, but it sounds like they're upping the complexity to the point where I've already sort of lost interest.

While it's true there's a lot of setup, in play it was simpler than Munchkin.

Gaald wrote:
FSeven wrote:
trichy wrote:

Okay, was I the only one that thought Wes and Rabbit's voice sounded suspiciously similar?

I can never tell who is who.

What you all need to do is spend 4-8 hours listening to all 155 shows. Than you will never EVER mistake anyone's voice on the show again.

We found our problems disappeared as soon as we'd met everyone in person.

So for those who are having trouble, I suggest becoming part of the in crowd.

Higgledy wrote:

Ah the latest donor icon is a weighted companion cube. I was sure it was going to be an iPhone.

I thought we were clear that Portal was an overrated game that only stuck in our minds because of the song. Is this Certis' way of implying the wiener bomb is also overrated?