Weekend Confirmed 90 - Miyamoto, Live update, Rayman Origins

On the subject of future game consoles becoming portals for app stores, I think this is exactly what needs to happen. Microsoft needs to get the Windows app store onto Xbox (this one or the next one), and Sony would do wise to open their API up a lot more too. This is what they need to do to fend off Apple whenever they decide to make an Apple TV with the app store on it. When that happens, shit will change.

Right now people are saying dedicated gaming machines are in danger because people can now play good enough games on the devices they already carry with them that do everything else. Right now I think that only really applies to dedicated handhelds, but what's gonna happen when the Apple TV becomes that "do everything" device in people's living rooms? That includes playing games.

That's actually a whole interesting avenue in itself. When (if) iOS hits the living room, what kinds of games would be made for it? The same things people are playing on their iPads now but at higher resolution? Or more unique family-oriented games that might encroach on console territory?

We're already seeing the tip of the iceburg with apps on consoles but I think it's kinda dumb that Microsoft and Sony took so long to allow YouTube and Netflix and ESPN to make apps for their machine. Business and development-wise I imagine it's not that much different than any game developer releasing a game on PSN or XBLA, the only real difference is that what they're releasing isn't a game but a tool. In that case, just open the consoles up to any developer who wants to make a useful app.

I'm not saying open it up at the same level as Apple - having a bajillion apps mostly made up of shovelware. The console manufacturers would most likely put prospective apps under the same licensing process under which they already put games.

Ever since the PS2 came out 10 years ago console manufacturers have been trying to get closer and closer to creating an all-in-one media living room device. I think that goal is now within our grasp.

Well, short of Star Wars: TOR, most of the major releases have come out this year. So I'm wondering what the shackers' top ten games of the year are. I'll start with mine, feel free to jump on and discuss or argue. :)

1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
2. Bastion
3. Gears of War 3
4. Portal 2
5. Bulletstorm
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Batman: Arkham City
8. Rayman Origins
9. Crysis 2
10. Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I don't expect AC: Revelations to be on many lists, but as a huge fan of the series, but I still powered through it in like two sittings. Props to the joy of the core gameplay mechanics and the appeal of the setting, characters and universe, I guess.

Honorable mentions:

Dead Space 2
Child of Eden
From Dust
Battlefield 3
Trenched
RAGE
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine

Holiday Stories sharing thread

As part of our upcoming holiday shows we'll be sharing your stories about gaming and the holidays. This is the place to share them. There's no set criteria about what they need to be, other than that they relate the two. Shopping, memorable new releases, playing with family, presents, Christmas Day stories, whatever they may be, if you're willing to share, we'd love to add them to our holiday program.

Please do be sure you're comfortable having the story posted here and potentially read on the show.

Thought I would start a thread for reactions to the VGA Awards. Feel free to jump in with thoughts on the quality of the show, award winners, reveals, etc.

My reactions to the reveals:

Overall reaction is that I am THRILLED that this generation is extending as long as it does, and I hope we don't see a new console til 2014. We're seeing new, interesting IP from industry leaders that are comfortable with the tech and have enough of a userbase to start experimenting with new ideas.

Specific reactions:

Mass Effect is apparently no longer an RPG.

Naughty Dog are gods of atmosphere, character emotion, and scripted action. The Last of Us looks like a survival horror game that could hit the same emotional 'pairing' notes that Team Ico strives for.

Revengence? Really? Could somebody get the people in Japan a fucking dictionary. Game looks interesting, but at this point what aside from Kojima's batshit crazy universe separates it from Ninja Gaiden or DmC?

The concept trailer for Rainbow Six Patriots was INFINITELY more exciting than the rather lame CG trailer.

Activision really needs to give the Spider-Man license to somebody that understands the appeal of the character, so they can pull off what Rocksteady did for Batman. And trying to crank something out EVERY GODDAMN YEAR isn't helping the worth of the IP.

Fortnite looks like an interesting departure for Epic, outside the comfort-zone of the grim and gritty stuff they've been doing this generation. I'll be keeping my eyes on it.

More Alan Wake. Yes please.

Re: Reading the Wiki

I am very against the idea of using a Wiki to learn what I might be missing in a game. My best example of this is my first love, Megaman Legends.

In Megaman Legends you go around digging in ruins to find different parts, then you bring those parts back to Roll who sees if she can make anything out of the combination of parts you brought her.

Now I have played this game beginning to end at least 10x. And each and every time I play it, there is an excitement that in the back of my head, that I might discover a different weapon that I have been missing all these years. If I had ever used a Wiki, I would of never had that feeling because I would know exactly how many weapons there are and if I found them all.

This applies to new games as well, like Skyrim. If I look up a Wiki, I ruin the excitement of stumbling across something new or the feeling that I did it myself.

Throwing some spam into the thread... I'll throw it in again tomorrow after the new podcast goes up.

Hardcore Gaming 101 is going to be doing a 12 hour gaming marathon to raise money for Child's Play this Saturday. We wish we could have announced this a lot sooner, but this is something of a first time for everyone involved, and we had to learn a lot in a pretty short span of time, and by "we" I mean "mostly CJ," who grabbed the ball and ran with it.

Expect to see in action, the kinds of games you might read about on the site. CJ is even open to requests.

There's gonna be a lot of CPlay events this weekend, and if you've committed your walled to one of the others, that's cool, it all goes to the same good cause, but do drop by and check out the stream if you have the chance, and if you have a twitch account, joint the chat and cheer CJ on, maybe show your appreciation for all the great contend that HG101 provides.

http://childsplaycharity.org/events/post/hardcore-gaming-101-marathon

Am I the only person who signs out, or stays invisible while they're playing games. If I'm playing something like Skyrim I don't want people bothering me with dumb requests to play a multiplayer game I clearly don't want to play.

@Garnett Where did you go to get your new computer? It was said but I didn't quite catch it. I'm in the market for a new computer since my old one died so any advice for a new computer is helpful.

I wish the "why" of min/maxing topic had been delved into a little bit more, but as it was a tangent from the interesting discussion of FAQing all is forgiven. I wanted to add a perspective about why people min/max that I doubt any of the members of the podcast will share.

For me, min/maxing was born out of a personal need to gain confidence and be genuinely good at something. As the stereotypical awkward kid it seemed like I lost the ovarian lottery growing up. Tall, skinny, bad skin since puberty, bad at sports, and a dad the military burned out. Until games, I had no one to teach me about self-confidence or even anything to be confident about.

Games gave me something that I was good at.

I could save the universe from the Kilrathi while topping the Concordia's ace leader board. Luke didn't destroy the Death Star, I did. I always wanted to be as powerful as possible in games and that pursuit led very naturally into min/maxing. This didn't mean reading guides like some (couldn't afford those), but instead pouring over game manuals until I had their contents nearly memorized. No trip to the bathroom was made without a manual in tow.

Multi-player games only further enforced the min/max habit as I worked to be the best on the server. It became part of my edge. Analyzing the systems the designers put in place at least had a positive placebo effect on my confidence even if it did not make me a better player.

Jane McGonigal asserts that player empowerment in games translates to confidence in real life. For me through middle/high school (and even college), min/maxing was part of that empowerment. Now it is a habit I will likely continue for the rest of my gaming life.

I'm curious to hear other people's why and why not's of the min/max.

It's disturbing to hear Jeff Cannata sell his soul like that on the podcast of the website that originated from Quakeholio. An "open platform" is not a platform where the platform holder holds restriction on what code gets executed. The XBox 360 is not an open platform, nor will its successor be. Same goes for Windows Phone 7.

Additionally, Windows 8 has me paranoid about the ability to play past and future games that aren't tied into XBox Live, because rumor has it, Microsoft is going to force XBox Live onto Windows 8. What is their stance on third-party game distribution services such as Steam or Direct2Drive? What is their stance on no-DRM indie games, or legacy games with no online authentication service? Stop kissing Microsoft's feet, and start asking the hard questions. Start doing your job as a games journalist.

Jeff, I'm calling you out.


I couldn't agree with you more about wikis. I stay away from them in an effort to preserve the thrill of discovery and accomplishment.

But I couldn't help remember an episode a few weeks back in which you said you use the save function in RPGs to go back and forth to influence outcomes in the game.

I urge you to stop selling yourself short. When you play a game about choice and decisions and consequences, nothing runs more contrary to these concepts than the ability to use God-like powers to see all ends. Next time you play an RPG try and do it 'pure' and I promise you the experience will be enriched.

I promise you when you're at a pivotal conversation moment in an RPG, when you hold someone's life or death in your hands and there's no wiki, no save you can reload, you'll truly set down your controller and agonize over the decision. You'll spend the rest of the game wondering if you did the right thing. Who knows, your character may even experience regret.

Trust me, I can tell you're a gamer with similar values to myself and I know you'll enjoy it.

I hope Spicer didn't pull a hammy stretching to make that comedy analogy

Re: Reading the Wiki

In games like Skyrim or Halo, I try to avoid the wiki because what you're "supposed" to be doing is given to you. Even in Skyrim, if you walk around and talk to people, you will be assigned a quest that has an objective and some guidance to point you in the right direction.

In a game like Minecraft, there isn't any guidance beyond a certain point. When you create a new world , you build a hut and improve it over a few days. Then you might try to find a reliable source of food and get some better armor. At some point, you run out of projects.

The wiki serves to give me ideas for new projects. I would never have guessed that you can use redstone and pistons to make an automated wheat farm. But that's another project to work on, and it keeps things interesting. Working on new projects and figuring out how to make them work the way I want them to is what I love about Minecraft.

In a game like Skyrim, The joy is in figuring out the puzzles set before me, and in that case, reading the wiki just gives me an answer, it doesn't give me an idea.

On the subject of miyamoto. It might not be a popular thought, but I've felt he's been holding certain series back. Keeping them stuck in a stale mate because of old ideas. Mainly Zelda and the lack of voice acting that absolutely slows the pace of the game, and the awful openings to the last 3 zeldas. Can a opening to a game be more boring!!

There was a discussion regarding game recaps.

I thought Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 dealt with this in a great way. When you have loaded your game, there would a short text passage reminding you of where you are up in the story and what you had to do next. Metal Gear Solid 4 also does very similar, when you come to load your game, there is a line of text telling you where you are up to.


Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

So before you guys dish on your game of the year type decisions, I'd love to hear some discussion on what, it any, knocks Skyrim takes for essentially being broken on the PS3, and that at the time of your deliberations the worst of the issues is still not resolved and the latest attempt to fix the issue, caused more issues. Do you even consider something that has a broken version out there for game of the year? Or does the game get a pass on the issue since the XBox and PC versions have fewer game breaking issues and at least workarounds.

I just wanted to say that regardless of the boss battles issue, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is my personal game of the year.

Not only did I love the free-form gameplay and beautiful art direction, the game has themes and messages that are interesting and culturally relevant.

Playing through it again for a second time recently, I couldn't help but realize how the riots in the streets of Detroit by those against human augmentation reminded me of the violence that erupted in some of the Occupy Wallstreet rallies, particularly in California and Europe.

In both cases, the issue was the widening gap between haves and have nots.

I can't play games in a vaccum, so while some may argue taking a game's cultural resonance into account is unwarranted, it still had a dramatic effect on the emotional impact and lasting impression the game left.

Yeesh, what a weird day in Chicago sports.

First the Bears get Tebowed, then the Blackhawks pull a Tebow in the last 5 minutes of their game with San Jose to pull out a win.

I think it's important to question how much of a hands on role Miyamoto has in the games he's been overseeing over the past 12 years. According to his credits he hasn't worked on a game as director since Ocarina of time in 1998. He has designed the initial concept and ideas for Pikmin, Wii Music, Wii Fit, Nintendogs etc. but I don't blame him if he wants to get his hands dirty on a single project day to day again.

PS: Wasn't the timeline of this story

1. Wired releases interview saying "Miyamoto retiring from current position which includes quite an in depth discussion of this which seems very hard to mess up the translation.

2. Other outlets report this (and cite the Wired article) however some publications leave off the "current position" part in the headlines to no doubt get hits.

3. Nintendo stock drops.

4. Nintendo says NONE of it is true and the Wired interview was mistranslated.

Sounds like bullshit on Nintendo's part or the worst translator in history.

I really hate when a publisher holds a title hostage like ubisoft. If you don't buy this game that's a platformer we won't release this other game that's a adventure title. The two have nothing in common outside of the lead creator.

Oh and any Tom, dick or Harry could have told you Rayman has no business in that release window. Just what til february or march... Even January would have been better.

Quick thought often games are compared to movies, but wouldnt a better comparison be television series. Much like a series games are long and not consumable in one sitting. Also much like a series games can be disconjointed you could enjoy much of a game and then be forced to do something unenjoyable for hours. Very much like a entire season can contain a different style of humor one you may not like as much.... Just a thought.

Previously on...

I remember the more recent Pokémon games having a feature where it would show you the last 5 things you did in game (major battles you've done, new towns you've entered, even what items you've bought) in kind of a flashback mode every time you loaded your save. I found that pretty useful in jogging my memory as to where I was at and what I was doing.

Loved Jeff re: min-maxing.

Lately I've felt like I'm moving against this really annoying tide any time I play a game with a 'build' (MMOs, Starcraft, LoL). Everyone wants to tell you 'what's best', which effectively ruins the game for me. It's a thing I've learned to essentially tune out. Those people usually have a very flawed idea of balance anyway.

Favorite part of the podcast this week: Garnett singing the Brave Sir Robin song!!! loved it, made me go back and watch my holy grail movie, that should be on blu-ray...

Do we really want Miyamoto set loose to do whatever the hell he wants? What was his last passion project? I don't think it was Skyward Sword..... it was Wii Music.

My Xbox has been disconnected from the net so I could play Skyrim without accidentally downloading the patch that borks the game, so I actually don't have the new dashboard yet.

Is is really that bad? I'm hearing aside from the organization, the ads are super intrusive and annoying. There's a thread on GAF on how to route your internet through a connection that will block the ads.

I've got to hear from Andrea and Cannata's Patsy Cline karaoke story before the year is out guys.