Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 180

God of War 3, Darksiders, Pain (What?), Supreme Commander 2, Lots of Twittering Tweets, Your Emails and more!

This week we turn to Twitter for a pile of questions and topic ideas! 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

"Washaway" (Ian Dorsch) - www.willowtreeaudio.com - 0:28:12
"Impeller" (Ian Dorsch) - www.willowtreeaudio.com - 0:45:28

Comments

Rabbit's daughter is now podcasting...Kinda cute following in her dad's shoes.

This might be an interesting idea but I'd be willing to listen to hear what Rabbit's and Elysium's kids talking about childhood and gaming, watching and doing stuff their dads love to do. Just bring them on like the wives episode, that'd be a great Father's Day episode.

the game you were thinking of with the one hit kills was the ps1 game Bushido Blade.

also as far a new game for project natal or the ps3 wand thing that i would want to see is an on rails shooter based on the movie "Killer Clowns from Outer Space", i think theres plenty to work with as far as boss battles, plus for those ppl that actually have Coulrophobia it would be that extra bit of scary.

anyway great podcast keep up the good work

Red Steel 2, recently released on the Wii, requiring WM+, is a shooter with motion-sword brawler elements.

Also, WSR Swordplay is a great game, and a good illustration of the problems of motion-controlled fighting games that don't have direct, solid, matter-to-matter and force-to-force feedback. It solves those problems, btw.

I recommend more time spent playing those games. Nintendo is rumored to be working on a motion-controlled vs. games code named "Dynamic Slash."

Lara - you hit the nail right on the head with your opinion of Natal. Gaming with no controller = real life:) I am in no way excited about Natal, and the whole trend of controller-less gaming confounds me. I like my controllers!

Rabbit - good luck to your daughter with your podcast! I would give it a listen, but my wife already thinks I am weird for listening to strange internet men on the computer. If I added to that mix 9 year old girls talking about ice cream - I think I would be asking for trouble.

I am HORRIBLE at creating avatars for myself in games. I'll spend a good hour or so and then finally give up. But, still, I refuse to use one of the pre-made characters.

My (female) Shepard from Mass Effect ended up being this pinch-nosed, lantern-jawed freak with bright red hair. And yet, it somehow made the character more interesting to me. I wouldn't change her now — even though I have a hard time looking at her face.

lostlobster wrote:

I am HORRIBLE at creating avatars for myself in games. I'll spend a good hour or so and then finally give up. But, still, I refuse to use one of the pre-made characters.

My (female) Shepard from Mass Effect ended up being this pinch-nosed, lantern-jawed freak with bright red hair. And yet, it somehow made the character more interesting to me. I wouldn't change her now — even though I have a hard time looking at her face.

Could be worse.

I think kb&m are better suited for first person melee combat than motion controls, but the offerings are unfortunately very sparse.

Rat Boy wrote:
lostlobster wrote:

I am HORRIBLE at creating avatars for myself in games. I'll spend a good hour or so and then finally give up. But, still, I refuse to use one of the pre-made characters.

My (female) Shepard from Mass Effect ended up being this pinch-nosed, lantern-jawed freak with bright red hair. And yet, it somehow made the character more interesting to me. I wouldn't change her now — even though I have a hard time looking at her face.

Could be worse.

My Shepard and that Shepard could have really, really terrifying-looking babies together.

I just paused the podcast to listen to both episodes of Vague Ideas. Holy crap, that reeks of wholesomeness. I couldn't stop smiling. Just adorable.

In response to the last voice mail...I play games on multiple platforms, but multi-platform collector's editions hold absolutely no appeal to me.

Movies, especially recent Disney packages, have been moving towards the Blu-Ray/DVD collections because it's an easy cost-benefit win for the movie studios (as Julian pointed out on the podcast) and it allows for delivery of the same experience across remarkably different mediums. As a consumer, I'm really happy to pick up the Snow White Blu-Ray/DVD collection because I'm going to be able to play that movie for my daughter in two completely unique situations:

- With Blu-Ray, we can watch the movie in the highest possible fidelity in our home theater downstairs, with the big-screen, stereo setup, and everything.
- With the DVD, she can watch that movie virtually anywhere: in the car on our portable DVD player, on the laptop when we're on the train, at a friend's house, etc.

Both versions serve a distinct purpose to me and, even though the combo pack may be a little bit more than a straightaway DVD release, I'm willing to pay extra for the additional flexibility.

Games, on the other hand, rarely (if ever) provide a transferable and distinct experience across platforms. Outside of peripheral differences like achievements vs. trophies (yo) or friends lists, most PS3/360 multi-platform releases aren't appreciably different -- for PS3/360 games, I'm playing the game with a dual-analog controller on an HDTV in both situations -- and there's no real benefit from getting both options because the in-game experience really transferable between platforms. If I fire up Assassin's Creed II on my X-Box 360 and run through a couple of missions, I can't just jump over to the PS3 and pick up where I left off.

And, even if there was some kind of cross-console cloud support a la Steam, why would I be motivated to switch? When the PS3/360 experiences of a particular game are so similar, those peripheral differences I mentioned earlier are more than likely going to keep me rooted on one platform for that game, unless some kind of catastrophic console failure occurs. It's an edge case and, given the expenses involved in cross-platform development, it's a costly one.

Now, if you were able to give me a cross-platform release that spanned a console and handheld...like, say, a downloadable PSN version of Final Fantasy Tactics that allowed me to play multiplayer skirmishes through the PS3, but gave me the ability to build up that multiplayer party on the go through the PSP...that would be much more in line with the Blu-Ray/DVD combo example I mentioned earlier and, as a result, be much more appealing to me as a transferable experience with distinct benefits to both versions. But the digital nature of this mythical FFT combo pack wouldn't really make it collectible anymore, would it?

Vague Ideas: Good lord that's adorable. Nice to get a sneak peek of what I can be expecting to hear around the house in about 6 years.

A quick comment on Supreme Commander 2 vs. Demigod: SupCom2's multiplayer is all Steamworks based, and way way way better than the horrible Impulse Reactor thing built into Demigod. I've played it pretty much only multiplayer since I got it, and haven't run into a single problem yet with being able to either host or join games that my friends are in.

Gaald, quit hatin' on wireless connections. It's never given me any issues... oh wait.

Also, my favorite ice cream flavor is Chocolate chip cookie dough, w/ banana chunks in it.

Lara - Best...Female Doggoes...Evar!

It's 10 seconds later and I still have shivers going up my spine.

Bullion Cube wrote:

Lara - Best...Female Doggoes...Evar! :-)

Holy sh*t, yes. That was perfect!

Bullion Cube wrote:

It's 10 seconds later and I still have shivers going up my spine.

If by shivers up the spine you mean kinda turned on, then yeah, me too.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

trophies (yo)


IMAGE(http://maaadddog.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/1233600467037.jpg)

IMAGE(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___1FrkCwxA0/RxP5_ml3GnI/AAAAAAAAAKc/sUUaPop5UbQ/s400/respekKnuckles.jpg)

Punch Punch Go!

Why couldn't I have picked a catchphrase like "Whatchu talkin' bout, Rabbit?"

Lara + alcohol = potty mouth?

By the time I finish creating a new RPG character I'm always too tired to start playing the game. Great episode, even without the Seans/Shawns.

The Vague Ideas podcast sounds like a good one to listen to while playing some Bad Company 2.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

And, even if there was some kind of cross-console cloud support a la Steam, why would I be motivated to switch? When the PS3/360 experiences of a particular game are so similar, those peripheral differences I mentioned earlier are more than likely going to keep me rooted on one platform for that game, unless some kind of catastrophic console failure occurs. It's an edge case and, given the expenses involved in cross-platform development, it's a costly one.

And if platform royalties do make up $7 of a $60 game, is paying $75 for a game worth it to be able to throw it on whichever of the three systems you have at hand? It's a nice equitable idea, but much more realistic on the freer PC side than the console, as Blizz and Steam demonstrate.

As for re-releasing old games (i.e., keeping them in print for new audiences and platforms), there's no need to update graphics and sound, essentially "colorizing" old games—let alone updating gameplay to modern tastes! If newer audiences can't get to grips with older games, then the onus is on them to change, not the game. All the software needs is updated compatibility. GOG.com says hi!

So anyone have a link to the Bone comic in the iTunes store? I went looking for it right after listening and I don't see it anywhere. I see a couple of sites talking about it, but no love from the store.

Pain has a great bowling mode. One player shoots the ragdoll at the pins and the other defends them with the environment.

I have the David Hasselhoff avatar for Pain. It's awesome, especially when he yells "I'm David Hasselhooooooooooff... and you're not!" just before hitting an explosive barrel. I also bought the punker, because it's funny to launch him at the theme park and make him ride the kung fu ride.

I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the movie studio expansion, though. The theme park was okay, but I think the city was the best designed of the levels that I've played.

I was so pissed when the introduced trophies after I'd already made some of the in-game achievements, though. I'm never going to break a million points again. I'm not sure how I did it the first time. I've actually gotten a number of the achievements, but the trophies don't read the save files.

Bone: Issue 1.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id294...

Not a cheap way to read them, but fun!

Oh, wow, after listening to the show I went to the Pain website and watched some of the gameplay videos, including the David Hasselhoff one. Pretty sure my officemates are wondering why I can't stop laughing. Thanks for bringing that game to my attention!

Gaald wrote:

Yes, there's sex; yes, it's cheesy; and yes, it's a quicktime event.

rabbit wrote:

Oh, so just like real life!

This is so very sigged.

KaterinLHC wrote:

Why couldn't I have picked a catchphrase like "Whatchu talkin' bout, Rabbit?"

No, I think you got it right. Your catch phrase works well on many levels.

So Rob, I want to know if pummeling a guys face repeatedly in FPS mode in GOWIII is worse than a gratuitous screen filling caboose shot from Bayonetta?

I am always intrigued by people who have no problem chainsawing a head in half but can't stand seeing a nude shot/sex scene...

Hmm, arcade in Western MA? Where in Western MA?