Weekend Confirmed 132 - Torchlight 2, FIFA 13, Borderlands 2

Your conversation of "hand-holding" and understanding the mechanics of the game instantly made me think of Egoraptor's Sequelitis episode about Mega Man X (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM). He touches on almost every point you guys do.

I am actually pretty shocked (and pleasantly surprised) to see Resident Evil 6 getting the kind of scores it is, having played the game all weekend thanks to a broken street-date.

I figured the fact that is was arguably the biggest AAA Japanese release of the year would have led to some... leniency on the part of reviewers.

Maybe that call-out by the AC3 dude actually caused some people in the media to sit-up and take notice of their own internalized bias.

Whatever the case, I would recommend most gamers stay away from the game until a significant price drop. If you're looking for a survival horror game.... I don't know, what's a good survival horror game these days? If you're looking for a good third-person shooter (which is what the game seems to want to be despite it's outdated design) then just pick-up or replay Gears of War 3 or something.

Disappointing, all around.

So... There are Mechs in Halo 4.


... and they can T-Bag XD

http://halo.xbox.com/en-US/Universe/detail/halo-4-mantis-trailer/5c5bc6fb-7cb0-4552-be8e-d6f54ed5c417

I have a "Finishing Move"

It's the time for podcast awards you can only be nominated in one category, correct? So to keep the voting from being spread across the board, what category do you want to be nominated in? Keep your ducks in a row and good luck:)

Cliffy B is leaving Epic.

End of an era.

I know a lot of people didn't like his public persona, I didn't really mind it much. Plus every time I met the guy at game shows, he was incredibly grounded and articulate. Plus, since Unreal Tournament, he hasn't lead on a game that I didn't love obscenely... ok, maybe UT3.

Jeff Mattas is the reason why games are so damn hand holdy this gen.

but the worst part of the dilemma is that some journalists live in delusion in which they feel they are good at games so there is absolutely no way to satisfied said individuals.

So I want to comment on the co-op innovations Jeff was alluding to. From reviews, it sounds like on occasion the campaigns will cross over in real time, with online players from differing campaigns. And while I think this is a great core idea, I think the implementation sounds extremely flawed because A. You constantly have 2 player co-op forced on you, and B. with 3, 2 player co-op campaigns, there is no room left for NPC characters.

So for A. it means that for every campaign Capcom made they felt the need to create a completely disposable co-op character to go along with it. As a result of this chosen design path, RE6 is the biggest Resident Evil ever, but it lacks so many of the key players. Jill Valentine, Barry Birkin, Rebecca Chambers, Carlos Olivera have all been excluded from the plot.

It would have been a lot more effective if Capcom had created campaigns driven by 1 player, and actually designed gameplay systems around giving players the opportunity to cross over, work together, and interact at points.

Its a mistake to think that co-op in the conventional sense is at the core of RE's identity. It has always been about a real time simulated scenario, with multiple characters---almost like the video game version of 24.

In Resident Evil 1, there were multiple ways of getting the shotgun for instance. You could either get the broken shotgun, to prevent yourself from being crushed. Or if you did it at the right time Barry would save you. But furthermore, if you did it at the wrong time as Jill, Barry would not save you. Because in the logic of the game's timeline and scenario, he does not happen to be outside the door when the RE Mansion Human Panini Press is trying to make a Jill Sandwhich, and she is crying for help.

When you have a scenario that is so carefully crafted like that---it negates the notion that the story telling is bad because the voice acting is shoddy, or the dialogue wasn't translated well. The point is that the game is responding to the player's choices, and thus creating a more immersive experience.

So I think in this modern, online equipped context, perhaps you could let a player unlock a door to get to the person playing online as Jill, but unfortunately it will cost you a lock pick. And not only that, but Jill is at the other end of a hallway, she ran out of ammo herself and the hallway is full of zombies. But maybe she's been hoarding green herbs for the last hour of gameplay, so if you get to her, (on top of the story sequence) that is your reward. That is how to keep the integrity of the series, and make it modern----shooting mechanics be damned.

So the thing I wanted to say about point B. is that if you take a cast of 6 characters, living in constant pairings, there is no way to appreciate their mystery as individuals in the plot line. Part of what made Ada Wong such a memorable character in RE2, is that you did not know her true motives, because she was constantly sneaking away from Leon, and making up stories about her boyfriend.

So if you reduce her to a dead co-op cipher, she can't have any of those characteristics. She might as well be a rolling turret in a red dress. The tension in the stories of early Resident Evil games was from not knowing when you'll stumble upon another survivor, ally, or just a non-zombified person---be it snake bitten Joseph, who needs an antidote, little Sherry Birkin, or the deranged Police Chief Irons. Its a core tenant of zombie fiction in general to play on humanity's ability to cooperate.

I think this is also why modern Final Fantasy games seem so intelligent. In a JRPG you traditionally have a really large party. But along with that is supposed to come this really big, novelistic canvas to work with. You can take the time to visit a character's home town and explore their back story etc. When you funnel everything down a hall way, the environment can't sustain all the different personalities.

I have to say I think the Galaxy S commercials are hysterical. It's a reminds me of forum trolls and Nintendo. Yes they are completely right when does apple/Nintendo get the new tech, well maybe next year or maybe 2/4 years from now. But that doesn't change that's it still the best at being a cool toy for everyone. Apple and Nintendo are very much alike in that way. Neither is really that cutting edge in the power department, but both are sharp as a razor in creating a experience you can't get anywhere else.

Three things that came up from the Borderlands 2 stuff.

The game made it obvious to me early on that it was only saving world progress whenever you reached a new Zone, which does add that need to get to the next zone before quitting which I enjoy.

The ECHO stuff is the slick quest design that you guys are talking about, the text / speech automatically transfers from ECHO to person and back as you move away from them. Sure they have quest text but it is very superficial because they explain the major points to you during the quest & right as it begins, through voice.

Finally Cannata I have beef with you on your comment to Garnett working within the confines of the game rather than vice-versa. You talk about board games and card games and all kinds of games all the time. If you want to be playing a game you have to submit to the predefined structure of rules that the game imposes, if you don't like its specific formulation of those rules that is one thing, but demanding that it copy another form that may not even work is INSANE. Games need to have rules that the player must follow or else it will just be imagination and not a game. Also games have no business conforming to schedules of individual people.

Hey guys, I was listening to episode 132 and Garnett was furiously defending 12 Monkeys against Looper ("puts that movie to shame"), when I thought about an old topic you guys talked about a while back. Whether video games represent an art form. Well yeah, I think so. Here's my argument (borrowed from a very sophisticated non-philosopher Sir Ernst Gombrich and his major work, "Art and Illusion"):

Gombrich defended the general art form from titans such as Aristotle and Plato via historical perspective! Who the hell is Roger Ebert compared to them? Hell, he's not even an "ideal critic" according to David Hume's essay "Of the Standrad of Taste", violating at least 2 requirements. The main point of Gombrich's argument is that pictorial representation has a history, where art students get exposed to the history of art, and as a result improve on this history by creating superior art. Video Games, therefore, is a media that progressively develops very rapidly, as an art form. Remember the memories of your favorite old games? Try playing them now, they all look like crap, you can't even see anything behind those pixels! However, Gombrich argues art should NOT be judged by the conventions available now. In other words, I'm taking philosophy in college, but barely post here even though I've been listening since ep. 1. Thought I'd maybe bring an old conversation back. Keep up the good work, Cheers.

Okay, this is a very minor nitpick in the grand scheme, but it's starting to turn into a pet peeve of mine:

Can we please please please stop using "when is the last time you _______" as a measure of... well... anything at all? It's one of the most arbitrary distinctions you could come up with, and says next to nothing about the game or a person's a affection for it.

How recently someone played something falls into the same category as asking how many hours a person has played a game. Maybe there's a passing correlation between hours sank and a person's fandom or perception of quality, but it's still so subjective that you just can't use one to measure the other.

For instance, I'm planning on getting the new Monster Hunter for the 3DS when it comes stateside, but what if I don't log as many hours into it as I did with the Wii version. Is is a worse game? Do I love it less? Or let's take Portal 2, which I played over the course of a single day in 3 or 4 marathon sessions and haven't touched since. Does that say anything about me... or about Portal 2 for that matter?

And trust me, you're talking to a guy who loves knowing this kind of data. I love that my 3DS activity log gives me charts of play time, and ranks all my games by time played, times launched, and average session lengths, I look at those numbers all the time, perhaps unhealthily so. (Tetris Axis is number 1, if anyone was wondering), but at the same time, none of those numbers actually *mean* anything in and of themselves.

Aside from that very tiny complaint, this was a great episode.

Garnett I understand the desire for a easy button, maybe a slightly better tutorial. The problem is any tutorial or training mode can only transfer a hour or so of knowledge. With any sport there are so many little nuances that it would take a 100 hour tutorial.

Let's take madden the best tutorial for madden is actually Sunday mornings and jaws's breakdown. Explaining why your looking at the safeties and what 2 steps left rather than right means a good decesion. Players spend there whole life's learning the game and sometimes still can't grasp what they're looking at (Vick can't recognize defense pre snap well). Yet you expect a quick fix, the truth is there is no quick fix it's time and practice mode just like the real life game.

Also speaking of Borderlands and difficulty at level 45 and surprised at how much it ramps up and how much they are still tweaking the enemies on the second playthrough.

Should share this tip, don't do side quests with loot you want on Playthough 2, the game only allows you do Side quests twice for some reason(original and one more) and once you beat the game on true vault hunter as I understand it the enemies all scale up to 50 and then you can accept the quests and get the leveled 50 version of the gear.

Christian Spicer, I feel remarkably similar to your views on advertising. your dislikes are mine also. I can't stand actor 'testimonies' and mud slinging like Samsung did. Nice to know I'm not alone.

Loved how much time you spent on FIFA, most American podcasts never even mention it even though it's always one of the best-selling games across the globe and you guys do have a lot of listeners from around the world.

As to Cannata's question whether you notice the differences in a team's daily or weekly form, I can assure you that already last year when the "Live Season" was DLC it made such a big difference. For example I follow the German Bundesliga in most detail and I can actually bring a player from the bench who I know has scored several goals the last weeks and in most cases I end up scoring goals with that particular player online. And it adds up I guess, I think or know that he's in good shape so I try to pass the ball to him more often in front of goal and then, when shooting, his accuracy or power is better this week so the probability of the goalie saving it goes down.

Those are the best moments in Fifa, when you really feel like you used the right strategy to be successful! Especially when you play together with a friend on the couch and can more effectively work towards the particular advantage the team has each week. It makes the game as dynamic as the real leagues -- or at least gets a big step closer to it!

I love that Garnett went from one story where one guy says he only buys games when they hit $20 or waits for the game of the year the complains the "$110" price point commitment. Forza: Horizon will probably be $30 during the run up to Black Friday. That is not to mention the Season Pass itself will probably go on sale six months after release.

I've been listening for a while... and I'm guessing I've finally found where the "official show notes" are at. Yay for me! :-)

Now, if this isn't the official show notes area - then damn it, I give up.

And Jeff, Looper was very good. Loved it. :-)

Hey, I didn't mean to sound too preachy on the last one about waiting for games. I maybe should have mentioned that I have the same attitudes toward movies and consumer electronics. I'm just not a Day 1 zeitgeist sort of person. Obviously that doesn't apply to most people, and good for you if you like that stuff!

Maybe it sounded defensive, because something a lot of podcasts and gaming communities will do is to give a chuckle when the idea of spoilers comes up for games that are 3+ months old. "Haha, do you really need to give a spoiler warning for something like Batman Arkham City? r(Obviously)r everyone who ever wanted to play it every already has." I just wanted to give the other side of the coin. Sometimes that answer is no, people really are waiting to play it. I'm fine with quick "Skip ahead 2 minutes" spoiler warnings just curious at how there really seems to be a bubble in the gaming community assuming everyone is part of the zeitgeist.

One of my favorite communities is www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/
Check it out.

When it comes to saving your game, I just wish every game had a temporary save state system. Nintendo implemented this with all Virtual Console games on the Wii, and as a result you can still play all those games with their original difficulty intact, but you can also stop playing whenever you need to. I really hope the console manufacturers implement some kind of system-wide temporary save state feature next gen. I heard the Vita does something sort of similar but I don't own one.

Re: iPhone5

Tweet updates about the shipping status of your iPhone5 is one of the douchiest things you can ever do.

Garnett, I'm looking at you.

I posted the last time Garnett spoke about FIFA about who he supports. So it turns out it's Spurs, love to hear Tottenham fans the world over.

Speaking of Spurs, just broke a 23 year losing streak at Manchester United.

I love this game by the way, everything seems so much more imperfect, but in a good way.

All this Borderlands 2 talk is killing me. I have game sitting on my table, but I refuse to even dip my toe in until I complete Darksiders 2 on apocalyptic new game+ and land all the abyssal armor.

I know what will happen if I play with friends, even for a bit...