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Weekend Confirmed Episode 50
by Garnett Lee, Mar 04, 2011 12:00pm PSTFrom the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the stars aligned perfectly for a tremendous 50th episode. Legendary podcast alumnus John Davison and Mark MacDonald return to the show along with Shacknews editor Xav de Matos and Q-Games producer Ariel Angelotti. Iwata's keynote provides the starting point for the conversation, which then quickly turns to the long lineup of games seen at and around the show. Some of the big titles include Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, SOCOM 4, Brink, Guild Wars 2, PixelJunk Shooter 2, and many more. It's definitely a "must-have" show.
Weekend Confirmed Ep. 50: 03/04/2011
Subscription Links:
- Subscribe to Weekend Confirmed in iTunes
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If you're viewing this in the GameCenter application, you can play Weekend Confirmed Episode 50 directly.
Weekend Confirmed comes in four segments to make it easy to listen to in segments or all at once. Here's the timing for this week's episode:
- GDC Special Part 1: Start: 00:00:00 End: 00:31:55
- GDC Special Part 2: 00:32:42 End: 01:03:59
- GDC Special Part 3: Start: 01:04:56 End: 01:39:55
- Featured Music "Hiyah" by Knights Errant: 01:37:32 End: 01:39:58
- GDC Special Part 4: Start: 01:39:58 End: 02:17:39
Knights Errant serve up their track "Hiyah" in this week's Featured Music spot. The band consists of Ben Jendras, Conor Ryan, and Jerry Willoughby from Chicago. They have been playing together since the early years of traumatizing adolescence, and like their name sake, struck out to create some noise of their own, disregarding the constraints of genre/style, not caring as long as it rocked. Catch up with them on Facebook and MySpace.
Original music in the show by Del Rio. Get his latest single, Small Town Hero on iTunes. Check out more, including the Super Mega Worm mix and other mash-ups on his ReverbNation page or Facebook page.
Jeff can also be seen on The Totally Rad Show. They've gone daily so there's a new segment to watch every day of the week!
Remember to join the Official Facebook Weekend Confirmed Page and add us to your Facebook routine. We'll be keeping you up with the latest on the show there as well.
Comments
How do I download this again? I don't see any link to stream or dl directly.
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http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/
I'll post the link again when the next episode goes up.
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I have two.
#1. Any PSP or NGP title that ends up on PSN should work on a PS3 as well. This would not only hugely beef up PSN, but it would also be a great motivator for people like myself to buy a handheld. Then I could truly continue my home experience while I was on the road!
#2. Make a freaking real, home-console Pokemon! Pokemon XD was fine, but wasn't as full featured as the handheld Pokemon games, and did not have the same overworld experience. Instead, it was little towns connected by a map and a loading screen of your character on a moped. Why would anyone want a game like Colosseum when they could play a true Pokemon game in a setting that best suits it; wasting away on a couch?
Do any of you have any "no-brainers"?
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The obvious answer seems to be: Reviewers review new games, and such DLC is included with a new game. However, I could see some people saying that DLC by definition is content not included on disc and is, therefore, should not be part of reviewable copy.
I, for one, am of the mind that reviewers should take into account this DLC as it is part of the overall "retail package."
Also, and the thing that originally got me thinking about this, is Special Edition type DLC. I read a review pointing out how great it was to see Shuma Gorath in Marvel vs Capcom 3 and my first thought was, "What? Where?" I see a much stronger case for not including this type of DLC (at least not initially, or at least pointing out it's cost) in reviews than for not including new purchase DLC.
Thoughts?
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There are a bunch of possible reasons, but my friend suggested that part of the reason was the growing popularity of MMA. In the same way that the popularity of modding culture in the early 2000s causes a boost to the racing genre (specifically NFS), the whole idea of fighting and martial arts is gaining popularity. Even games with only tangential relation are benefiting from a halo effect.
These people may not need a yearly update for the UFC game, as the disappointing sales of UFC 2010 showed, but they might love UFC 2009...and think that Street Fighter looks cool too. Mix with a bit of nostalgia, and you have a genre that could possibly be back on the rise.
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Is there a setting in the options to have the game automatically call your teammates racial and homophobic slurs and then make lewd comments about their mothers?
If no, then surely, the idea has no chance of catching on.
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John Davison is god.
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The problem there to me, is that aside from outrageous terms like "dicktits", I basically just described every single first person shooter ever.
To me, the entire genre is juvenile and in some way...designed for 14 year olds. That doesn't mean I don't love it. It also makes it easier for me to forgive games like Bulletstorm, and enjoy them for what they are...fun.
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"I'm going to go on the record and say that I believe the middle-class game is dead. It needs to be either an event movie: day one, company field trip. Battlefield: LA -- we're there. Avatar -- we're there. The Other Guys starring Will Ferrell and Marky Mark? Nah, I'll fucking rent that, I don't really care -- right?
"Or it has to be an indie film. Black Swan -- I'll go and see that. I'll go to The Rialto or I'll go to the AAA Imax movie. The middle one is just gone, and I think the same thing has happened to games."
In response to that, Jim Sterling (yes, I know; I don't care; go read the article) wrote up this response editorial: http://www.destructoid.com/defending-the-middle-class-game-195661.phtml
First of all, if we agree that there is such a thing as a mid-range game, it should come with a mid-range price tag. A huge part of the reason for Deadly Premonition's success was its $20 MSRP, which was further reduced on Amazon to secure the title a #1 chart placement. Namco Bandai made a prudent decision with the release of Majin, universally lowering the price from $60 to $40 just prior to launch. It's rare for Namco to be the industry leader in anything other than DLC nickel-and-diming, but the reduction of Majin's price is something that I feel the industry as a whole needs to adopt.
Sixty dollars as a standard price tag just doesn't cut it anymore. Games are expensive, and quality titles are constantly being released. Something has to lose, and it's not going to be your Epics, your Rockstars or your Bungies. Value is determined by what people are willing to pay for an item, and if the middle-class game is dying, then the market has spoken -- most gamers aren't willing to pay $60 for the likes of Singularity. I'd say somewhere in the $30-40 price range is the sweet spot for middle-class games. If it's got half the hype of Gears of War, then make it cost half as much.
Release dates are also a huge consideration, and one that constantly frustrates me. Those three Namco games I mentioned earlier were all released in the months of October or November. Not only were the titles squashed together in a very tight window, that window also happened to be during the year's busiest release season.
I know that publishers really don't like delaying games into the next financial year, or even the next financial quarter, but if a game is not going to set the world on fire, they need to let go of the "we're releasing it for $60 in Q4!" mentality. There's a fate far worse than being "a middle-class game": there's the fate of middling sales; not enough for profitability, but too much to financially write off the project. Epic should know this well; it's what happened to UT3, and part of why they said, "Fuck this, we're going with Gears for the next few years!"
I know that publishers and developers have a lot of pride about the $60 price point, but if your game isn't truly going to set the world on fire, releasing for $50 or $45 in late July isn't a bad thing.
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I loved Dragon Age: Origins. Adored it really. I think I, like a lot of people, were concerned that everything that made DA:O special would be lost as the series moved in a more action-oriented direction. And I think a lot of diehard fans will hate this game out of the gate, just based on principle.
But they'll be missing out.
I don't really consider DA2 as the direct successor to DA, so much so as another experience to be had in this wonderful universe.
I never get rid of games, but even if I were the type of person to sell a game when the sequel came out, I would still keep DA around after playing DA2. Not because it's necessarily BETTER, but just because the two are so different.
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Rose-colored nostalgia-goggles off, I would take Twilight Princess over any of the Zelda games that came before or after it. No it wasn't particularly innovative, it didn't have a fancy art style, and it was incredibly formulaic.
BUT! It also had easily the best dungeon design, the most satisfying environmental puzzles, the best combat (which has never been great in Zelda), great boss battles, and absolutely amazing pacing. The game keeps introducing new elements and wrinkles, right as you're getting used to the last thing that was introduced.
So I'll take it over the more innovative OOT and the better looking Wind Waker any day. :)
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In the video, the notion is put forth that because game development is becoming more accessible, that there is an ever-growing pool of developers making all kinds of games. However, the discussion on the podcast advanced the opinion that we may see a stagnation of game development because social/mobile gaming is 'cannibalizing' core game development.
I'm curious what everyone here thinks. Are we poised on the brink of a massive influx of innovation and creativity in gaming? Or are we going to descend ever lower into the creatively bankrupt situation that many think we're already in?
Just a word on Dead Space 2 and the death penalty...
The fear in this game is no longer about the scripted events or the blood splattered walls and horrific imagery (ok that factors into it to set up the over all atmosphere) because its all been seen and done before by this point. Want to feel scared when playing this game? (which if you are playing this then you probably should, as its a survival horror game) then the only way to play it is on hardcore + mode. This is where the true scares come from, only being able to save a limited amount of times and being able to die at the slightest touch from a necromorph really makes you scared of what is around the corner, every noise makes you jolt because the penalty of dying will send you so far back. Regular checkpoints in games are just as bad as handholding all the way through, they completely water down the experience, as dying in the game starts to mean very little and you actually aren't penalised at all for your mistakes as it picks straight up again about thirty seconds before you die.
I suppose this goes into the whole debate of making computer games entertaining and not a chore to play... but some of us out there still actually WANT a challenge.
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Sites like Toucharcade, Pocketgamer and Touchgen have covered some great looking upcoming games, like:
Bumpy Road
Storm In A Teacup
Snowboard Hero
Mini Moto Racing
Death Rally
Agent Squeek
Zenonia 3
Out of this World
Machinegun Jetpack
Sword & Sworcery EP
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Rainbow Six (Gameloft)
And more! There's even trailers on youtube. Bumpy Road looks like something that would be on the Nintendo DS.
Why does Socom have to cater beyond its base? If they want to make the game a hardcore, you MUST LEARN how to play type of experience, then let them execute that. They don't need to make a Call of Duty mass appeal shooter, aren't we tired of those already?
Also....I don't if it just feels this way but there are a LOT of first person shooters coming out in a short amount of time. With Killzone 3, Bulletstorm, F3AR, Brink, Crysis 2, Homefront then Resistance, Rage, XCOM, another Call of Duty etc....its like....if your a person who loves FPS games...you have a lot of options but you also have to make some hard choices....I know there are always a lot of shooters but its not like the years before where it is either Halo or Call of Duty as the major shooter releases sprinkled with some new IP. It just feels like an onslaught of high budget and AAA FPS titles....
Anyway, another great show and hopefully I get to see Jeff and Garnett next week!
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A good non-traditional baseball game that came out recently was MLB Power Pros for Wii - you basically have one player (ala Road to the Show), but you handle their social lives and practice and such. Very Japanese, in that respect.
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