Giant Bomb Bomb-All

Regarding L.A. Noire - I played the hell out of it when it came out. I really enjoyed it. I'm not immune to its faults, however.

In my mind, here is how any potential sequel needs to go:

First, the basic polish - tighten up the shooting and melee combat a bit. Blah blah. The same stuff.

As far as the L.A. Noire stuff, goes, however, they need to do a couple things. They need to hire an actual mystery writer and an actual police detective. The leaps of logic you were supposed to get from certain clues were beyond ridiculous. The whole point of a well-written mystery is that a sharp-eyed/witted readed/watcher/whatever can figure it out before the detective does. My wife watched me play through at least 6-8 hours of the actual investigations, and there were times when I'd get the right answer and we'd both go, "Wait, WTF? Nobody would ever confess just because you said that."

So hire people who are experienced in these areas, so that the interviews flow logically from the investigations. That would make more sense.

I also understand that for Noire (as a genre) to work, it seems like the the hero has to be fatally flawed, and tragically moving towards a very specific ending. For that reason alone, branching storylines wouldn't have worked. I understand that, but there still needs to be more of a mechanic for failure other than the captain screeching at you. Other than the Irish guy, I didn't like my bosses much.

My own personal request would be to set the next one in the 90s in the height of the gang wars. Hell, it could be half the same story - returning black Gulf War veteran comes back and decides to join the force - because of some issues in his past with gangs, LAPD decides he'd be perfect as an undercover in the gangs. The hero then has to balance doing the right thing by protecting his community with the huge amounts of deception he has to use with people he actually knows. Throw in a secret from before he joined the Army that threatens to ruin him, and BAM. Instant L.A. Noire II.

Having to finish an "investigation" before you're spotted by the gangs would add some pressure. Having to shake rival gang members so nobody sees you meeting up with other cops would be cool. Having less formal "street interviews" in your gang member guise would be interesting, and since an undercover main character wouldn't be able to do real interviews, you could play a second character who is working these cases from the formal side and does the interrogations at the station.

Also, it would be a good reason to bring back 90s music.

trueheart78 wrote:

Yeah, I'm on the tail end of the SR3 / Skyrim discussion. Not happy with how it's been handled, personally.

I found myself thinking about specific points never touched in the discussion. They discuss narrative and systems, which are more than fair ground, but the game is not just a culmination of these two points. I don't want to just turn it into a SR3 is the best game of the year discussion (pssst, it is) but there were some avenues which really do set it apart from other games that felt completely unexplored. To be fair, though, those dudes seemed pretty tired of talking by the end.

demonbox wrote:

To be fair, though, those dudes seemed pretty tired of talking by the end.

After 4 hours, I don't blame them.

MeatMan wrote:
demonbox wrote:

To be fair, though, those dudes seemed pretty tired of talking by the end.

After 4 hours, I don't blame them.

If I'm not mistaken they do a marathon on all the GOTY stuff. It was probably like 9 hours.

Blind_Evil wrote:
MeatMan wrote:
demonbox wrote:

To be fair, though, those dudes seemed pretty tired of talking by the end.

After 4 hours, I don't blame them.

If I'm not mistaken they do a marathon on all the GOTY stuff. It was probably like 9 hours.

I believe they broke it up onto at least 2 different days this year. You can tell because in the first few they couldn't really talk about renegade ops but by the end they couldn't shut up about it =)

I really enjoyed this year's GOTY discussions. Another wonderful job by those guys.

The more stuff they do, the guiltier I feel that I don't have a subscription.

My dislike of Brad was waning as I listened through the podcasts and then we got to the top 10 list, especially the SR3 vs. Skyrim, and out comes the person I detest. There were times I really expected to hear someone punch Brad.

garion333 wrote:

My dislike of Brad was waning as I listened through the podcasts and then we got to the top 10 list, especially the SR3 vs. Skyrim, and out comes the person I detest. There were times I really expected to hear someone punch Brad.

Yeah. I wanted to punch him. The whole "this game is big and ambitious" stuff gets really tired. His "voice of the common man" schtick gets old. Giant Bomb is largely the voice of the common man. They don't go as deep as an Idle Thumbs and unabashedly love AAA games. Just not to the extent of some organizations.

DSGamer wrote:
garion333 wrote:

My dislike of Brad was waning as I listened through the podcasts and then we got to the top 10 list, especially the SR3 vs. Skyrim, and out comes the person I detest. There were times I really expected to hear someone punch Brad.

Yeah. I wanted to punch him.

Me too, and I usually don't really mind Brad, but I guess those kind of dumb arguments are somewhat inevitable when you're trying to pick apart and compare your two favorite games of the year.

I just like listening to the deliberation process. And I was happy Dark Souls got some serious consideration from that group of dudes considering how much they love to hate on it

I have a lot of respect for the entire GB crew -- all very smart, very funny and their knowledge of the games and industry is pretty evident.

During the GotY I actually found myself more irritated by Jeff's comments -- he's very smart but sometimes resorts to an overtly negative and/or cynical view of things that can get a bit tiresome.

Overall though, my impression is all of them would be great fun to hang out with, drink a beer and shoot the sh** with. Pretty sad that one of the highlights of my week is listening to a new bombcast on the commute to work.

Dramatic Marlin wrote:

Pretty sad that one of the highlights of my week is listening to a new bombcast on the commute to work.

If that's sad, count me in the depressed crowd. I listen to a few podcasts, but theirs is easily my favorite each week.

InspectorFowler wrote:
Dramatic Marlin wrote:

Pretty sad that one of the highlights of my week is listening to a new bombcast on the commute to work.

If that's sad, count me in the depressed crowd. I listen to a few podcasts, but theirs is easily my favorite each week.

I don't think that's sad at all. We live in a very disconnected age. I can't speak for you guys, but the reason I like podcasts, especially podcasts like Giant Bomb and Idle Thumbs is because it's fun to listen to guys with my sensibility sit around and BS about things that interest me. I don't get this kind of interaction at work. The few people I know in "real life" that I might run into now and then aren't this way. It reminds me of my college years, when I had time and proximity to friends and we used to have fun like that.

DSGamer wrote:
InspectorFowler wrote:
Dramatic Marlin wrote:

Pretty sad that one of the highlights of my week is listening to a new bombcast on the commute to work.

If that's sad, count me in the depressed crowd. I listen to a few podcasts, but theirs is easily my favorite each week.

I don't think that's sad at all. We live in a very disconnected age. I can't speak for you guys, but the reason I like podcasts, especially podcasts like Giant Bomb and Idle Thumbs is because it's fun to listen to guys with my sensibility sit around and BS about things that interest me. I don't get this kind of interaction at work. The few people I know in "real life" that I might run into now and then aren't this way. It reminds me of my college years, when I had time and proximity to friends and we used to have fun like that.

While not the entirety of why I like podcasts, that is absolutely an aspect of my enjoyment of them. It's part of why I think those deep into podcasts begin to really glom onto the personalities they love, that it feels like a conversation you are invited into.

The nice thing about the Giant Bomb guys is they recognize that they don't have time to play every game, and therefore are willing to listen to one of their colleagues make an impassioned argument for a game. Thus, The Witcher 2 ends up as the number 6 game on their list, and only Vinnie played through it and Jeff played it for a cup of coffee. No one plays everything, and to pretend that you tried is to border on blatant dishonesty. There are some holes in everyone's resume, whether that be iPhone games, other portable games, or one of the consoles.

Dramatic Marlin wrote:

During the GotY I actually found myself more irritated by Jeff's comments -- he's very smart but sometimes resorts to an overtly negative and/or cynical view of things that can get a bit tiresome.

True, except that's how he always is.

He and Brad were both fairly insufferable there at the end of the discussions, but Brad's way of going about things in general irritates me to no end.

I've gotta stop listening to these end of the year discussions. After last year's I pretty much stopped listening to the Bombcast on any sort of regular basis. I'm noy sure I feel that way after this year's discussion, but I do cringe whenever Brad's on the sghow.

Okay, enough of that from me.

garion333 wrote:

He and Brad were both fairly insufferable there at the end of the discussions, but Brad's way of going about things in general irritates me to no end.

I think they were both scraping the bottom of the barrel in the end, and I was put off by the two of them. Jeff was claiming that every single Skyrim dungeon boss used Ice spells on him to counteract his sword/board character build. Brad was saying that Saints Row 3 had middling combat while ignoring that Skyrim is just as guilty. Both guys seemed like they were just tired and trying to throw anything at the wall to see what would stick.

If anything, I thought Patrick and Vinny did each did an excellent job backing their choices (Skyrim and SR3 respectively), in spite of the fact that they only talked for maybe 20% of the final Skyrim vs. SR3 hour. They were able to articulate their thoughts coherently, intelligently, and convincingly...something that seemed lost on Jeff and Brad in this case.

Anyway, I listened to all 9+ hours of their GOTY podcasts and freakin' loved it. It's great to get the perspective of how they come to the finalized Top 10 list, along with the other, specific categories. I also like hearing about games that didn't make the cut...they seem just as deserving, but not quite. Good to see props given for those that didn't make it.

I think what it comes down to is that Patrick and Vinny made their point once and shut up, whereas Jeff and Brad kept talking in circles around the same point or two.

If you want to get REALLY frustrated, though, try watching Ryan and Patrick's Endurance Run of Chrono Trigger, where the game gives them a FLYING TIME MACHINE, and then they LAND IT and continue to hoof it through portals. And then complain that the game makes you backtrack.

hbi2k wrote:

If you want to get REALLY frustrated, though, try watching Ryan and Patrick's Endurance Run of Chrono Trigger, where the game gives them a FLYING TIME MACHINE, and then they LAND IT and continue to hoof it through portals. And then complain that the game makes you backtrack.

Best part of that in retrospect has to be the celebration that took place upon receiving the revamped 2poch. "Wheee we're flying, wheee!"

Blind_Evil wrote:
hbi2k wrote:

If you want to get REALLY frustrated, though, try watching Ryan and Patrick's Endurance Run of Chrono Trigger, where the game gives them a FLYING TIME MACHINE, and then they LAND IT and continue to hoof it through portals. And then complain that the game makes you backtrack.

Best part of that in retrospect has to be the celebration that took place upon receiving the revamped 2poch. "Wheee we're flying, wheee!"

I never saw Chrono Trigger before watching the ER so I can sometimes see the mistakes their making. I would have made the exact same mistake because there was the comment about how "the controls/compass was fried" after Dalton tampered with it. To me that meant it could fly around but at the moment it was impossible to use it for time travel.

Now that I know I was wrong it makes it the most hilarious thing ever.

I find myself wondering if they'll have to figure it out at some point. As in, does the game make you use Epoch at any point? You can't do any of the Cyrus stuff, Rainbow Shell, or Sun Stone (or the Black Omen) sidequests without it. But you can access Lavos via the End of Time.

I think they'll figure out the Epoch flying thing soon, as one of Ryan's actual pals (Eric Pope I think) tweeted at him about it.

I'm a big fan of the quicklooks but I have to admit that one of my favorite in recent memory just happened, it's the Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog and It's almost got me wanting to play it but it looks crazy.

Lothar wrote:

I'm a big fan of the quicklooks but I have to admit that one of my favorite in recent memory just happened, it's the Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog and It's almost got me wanting to play it but it looks crazy.

When the explosion hits and they realize the wing is gone on the plane I could not stop laughing. Its a prime example of why the Quick Looks are so great -- they have so much personality and character that watching a video about a game I may not even play is entertaining and enjoyable.

Dramatic Marlin wrote:
Lothar wrote:

I'm a big fan of the quicklooks but I have to admit that one of my favorite in recent memory just happened, it's the Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog and It's almost got me wanting to play it but it looks crazy.

When the explosion hits and they realize the wing is gone on the plane I could not stop laughing. Its a prime example of why the Quick Looks are so great -- they have so much personality and character that watching a video about a game I may not even play is entertaining and enjoyable.

Agreed, I got such a laugh out of that such a great part.

Lothar wrote:

I'm a big fan of the quicklooks but I have to admit that one of my favorite in recent memory just happened, it's the Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog and It's almost got me wanting to play it but it looks crazy.

Before they even got off the ground, I looked it up on Steam and I don't even own a joystick.

If you liked the Flight Simulator QL, you gotta watch this one if you haven't. Stick around for the end. It's uplifting.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-...

^-----Seconded

The reason I wanted to resurrect this thread a few weeks ago was to complain about Patrick, but I'm starting to like him more. During the podcast, he'll make jokes and pause for approval from Ryan or Jeff, which is annoying. I think he understands that he's still the new guy in an established crew, so he will parrot the other guys from time to time--seriously, listen for it in the podcasts; it's fascinating from an academic point of view.

Having said that, when Patrick uses his own voice, whether it's in his news articles, in videos or when he's confident enough to say his piece, I really like him. He's clear and concise in ways that Brad and Vinny are not. Thankfully, he's been "his own character" more and more lately.

Each guy is flawed in his own way, and I like that. It shows their real personalities. I'm always happy to continue my support for this crew. I almost feel like GB is the NPR of gaming journalism.

It's always interesting to find out who gels/clicks with different personalities more than others.

I enjoy the whole GB crew, although I find myself disagreeing with Jeff's views more than the others. When he's on, he's ON but (by my world view) when he gets into a contrarian view -- there is no swaying him. Alternatively, I'm one of the fans that doesn't find Brad's views as frustrating.

Again, the whole crew is smart and entertaining almost always -- although Ryan consistently makes me laugh and I don't think I've ever found his position in a discussion one that I would argue with (disagree maybe, but not argue).

Grubber, I've heard everything you're saying about Mr. Klepek. Check out the 13:15 mark until the end of this video, see if you can spot the part where he fails so damn hard.

I disliked him as a podcasting personality way back in his 1up days, and nothing's really changed. I feel like he goes into each game knowing whether he'll give it a fair shake or not and sticks to it. This whole, "I hate fantasy but I love Skyrim" thing is just forced and weird. If you love Skyrim, isn't there a chance you've just been writing off fantasy unfairly all along? You're right though, he is concise. Really needs to get rid of his Kotaku habits, there's a typo and/or grammatical error in almost every news post at first, sometimes even in the headline.

Grubber788 wrote:

The reason I wanted to resurrect this thread a few weeks ago was to complain about Patrick, but I'm starting to like him more. During the podcast, he'll make jokes and pause for approval from Ryan or Jeff, which is annoying. I think he understands that he's still the new guy in an established crew, so he will parrot the other guys from time to time--seriously, listen for it in the podcasts; it's fascinating from an academic point of view.

Having said that, when Patrick uses his own voice, whether it's in his news articles, in videos or when he's confident enough to say his piece, I really like him. He's clear and concise in ways that Brad and Vinny are not. Thankfully, he's been "his own character" more and more lately.

Each guy is flawed in his own way, and I like that. It shows their real personalities. I'm always happy to continue my support for this crew. I almost feel like GB is the NPR of gaming journalism.

There's no right and wrong here, but I really find myself in each of the camps you post above. The only thing I would change is that I actually like Brad most of the time.

My take on all of the complaints about the GOTY podcast (who is irritating, etc)-- it's supposed to be contentious. They are aware of it and now even make reference to the fight that is to come. The argument game always funnels to one group arguing that one of the top 2 games is insufferable with another arguing the same for their choice of #1. In this case if you listened for the first time you might think half the crew hate Skyrim and half hate SR3. This is what I enjoy about the GOTY talks, it is contentious in as ridiculous a way as possible, though I do sometimes find myself irritated with it (as I should considering the frame for their conversation). It'd be wrong to take the GOTY and make large scale judgements of the bombast I think, but I do still enjoy it.

Subscribers -- this behind the scenes video of recording Ryan's bits for GoTY video was pretty funny. These guys would be fun to hang around with.