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Weekend Confirmed 96 - David Jaffe, Twisted Metal
by Garnett Lee, Jan 20, 2012 2:00pm PSTGame designer David Jaffe and Game Trailers managing editor Michael McWhertor join Xav and Garnett for this week's show. Along with getting into Twisted Metal and car combat games the crew tackles a wide range of topics including a look at Shacknews's Game of Year winners, the different ways gamers see the balance in games between narrative and mechanics, more hands-on experiences with the Vita, and more. Buckle up; it's one helluva ride to the Finishing Moves.
Weekend Confirmed Ep. 96: 01/20/2012
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If you're viewing this in the GameFly application, you can play Weekend Confirmed Episode 96 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:
Show Breakdown:
Round 1 00:00:00 to 00:28:16
Whatcha Been Playing Part 1 00:28:42 to 00:58:04
Whatcha Been Playing Part 2 00:59:05 to 01:27:51
Listener Feedback/Front Page News 01:29:29 to 02:01:28
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Thanks to our special guests, game designer David Jaffe (@davidscottjaffe) and Michael McWhertor (@mikemcwhertor).
For the latest on the game, watch the official Twisted Metal site.
Original music in the show by Del Rio. Get his latest Album, The Wait is Over on iTunes. Check out more, including the Super Mega Worm mix and other mash-ups on his ReverbNation page or Facebook page, and follow him on twitter delriomusic.
Jeff Cannata 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!
Follow the Weekend Confirmed hosts on Twitter, too! Garnett Lee @GarnettLee, Jeff Cannata @jeffcannata, and Xav de Matos @xav.
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
We've discussed this before (about a year ago) but I wanted to take a quick poll and ask
A) how many of you guys still read reviews?
and of those who do
b) how many of you factor the reviews into your purchasing decision?
Personally, I can't remember the last time I read a full game review. With so much access to massive amounts of preview coverage, podcasts, gameplay videos, and free demos, I find that I've usually made up my mind on a given game long before it is released.
Although I dislike the nature of using a numbered rating system for game reviews, I will sometimes take a quick peek at Meta Critic before purchasing a game just to see if there are any surprises (For example, if I see Halo 4 reviews coming out with a meta-average of 6.5/10, then I know I might want to stay away).
I think that the main problem I have with game reviews in general is that my gaming habits are too completely different from the person writing the review for me to relate to their opinions. The average reviewer will probably play through a single-player campaign once, on "Normal", and dabble in multiplayer for a few hours. There is simply no way that any reviewer will get a good enough feel in such a short amount of time to tell me if the game will still be enjoyable after 100 hours of play (which is what I put in to most games).
To be clear, I'm not criticizing game reviewers.... I'm just saying that the nature of their job requires them to play and review 20, 30, or 40 games in a year. Therefore, they can't spend enough time with any one game to answer the questions I want them to.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 21 replies.
* RAGE - Few if any of the major gaming sites made mention of the fact that Rage on the 360 does not use any kind of aim assist. This comes up on countless smaller gaming sites and fan blogs, and is instantly noticable. A detail like this can make a big difference to anyone wanting to put substantial time into a game, since it drastically effects the nature of combat.
* HALO ANNIVERSARY - I saw no mention from any reviewer about the noticable controller input lag that occurs when playing this game with the new Graphics Engine activated. It makes playing the campaign feel like you are suffering from moderate internet lag, even in single player. It's noticable enough that I would often switch the graphics back to "Classic" mode in some of the more difficult sections, because the sluggish response of the controls was effecting my ability to make it through on Legendary.
* UNCHARTED 3 - The control / targeting glitch that shipped with Uncharted 3 was, in my opinion, inexcusably bad. Some reviewers did mention the glitch, but only as a passing comment. However if you look through smaller sites or forums, the general opinion was that the game was virtually unplayable on higher difficulty levels until the glitch was patched.
For me, these are the kind of details that make a huge difference in my ability to enjoy a game or not. They are not "niche" issues.... they effect the entire game experience. They may not be major enough to bother some reviewers, but I think they are the kind of issues that deserve mentioning either way.
I think reviews that cover these sorts of details can be both entertaining to read AND usefull to the reader.
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