On this episode, only three people could make it, but that's okay: they ramble a lot!
The ever topical Anand ponders about the possibilities that Project Café could bring to the table if the rumored specs are true, especially the touch screen integrated in the controller. Does he have a better answer than just checkers and solitaire? You will have to listen to the end to find out!
Guillaume, ever repentant, tries to be positive for once in his life and asks about the positive things gaming has brought YOU, the listener. He is immediately accused of being stealthily negative.
Finally kriswright, ever the newb, decides to simply talk about what he loves the most in the whole world: pinball. He does not, however, deign answer why he simply doesn't marry it. Kris also tackles the big question of the death of arcades and whether they could be brought back.
As usual, the music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero.
As usual, comment on the topics, the podcast, the guests, the host, etc. on Negative World! Or, be a weirdo and post them on Facebook or Twitter instead.
I was just listening to the part where you guys are talking about games hitting at certain points in your life where they helped. And because I always do this thing when I'm listening to podcasts where I start talking in my mind like I'm a part of it I could think of a few examples...
Metroid Prime- This hit at a very weird part in my life. I'm not going to go into details but I was in the tail end of a pretty dark part of my life and man, this game hit the spot. I got lost in it, and it helped me a lot. Unfortunately, because it was so awesome, I burned through it in a few weeks and then I was back to having nothing to play for awhile.
Super Mario Galaxy 2- I was kind of freaking out about a lot of things last year, the main one being my student teaching placement (I ended up pushing that back to um... this fall, so now I'm freaking out again, ha ha.) Anyway, it hit at a time when I needed something to get lost in, and man did I get lost in it.
Sin & Punishment 2- Had just moved in at my aunt's, wasn't used to all the quiet. And my laptop had broken so I had... gasp... no Internet access. This honestly could have gotten pretty bad, because I don't deal with empty time well, but I got lost in S&P 2. Mostly hard mode (which I still haven't finished... at the end boss!)
999- Not a dark spot, but my first solo train ride, which made me a bit nervous. Basically I took the train to Toronto with my girlfriend to visit her friends and family and she stayed longer than me and I was a bit nervous on the way back but I opened this game up, started it up, and got lost in it. Also it was night and the train was dark and empty so the mood was just right for a creepy game, ha ha. Played it like 5 hours straight and finished up the first path in that one sitting (well, was like 99% done in that sitting, polished it off once I got home.)
Heh, just got around to listening to this episode - my comment in the forums got mentioned! Nice.
And yeah, I went to art school, but I didn't get into an art career afterwards. (*sad) I'm just a business man now. Which isn't quite as exciting or unique as being an artist/cartoonist/whatever, but... I have bills to pay. I still draw from time to time, but now it's more of a hobby than a pursuit of some sort of lucrative career.
Also, yes. The picture of me and my wife with George "Dubbya" Bush is real. Got to meet him when he was in Michigan during a Republican National Party support... uh, meeting. Thing. It was just prior to the '08 election, and the former president was doing some campaigning for McCain. (didn't end well)
Haha, for a while after we recorded the podcast, I kind of felt bad about assuming that you met Dubya due to being a high-powered businessman... perhaps you were really living your life as an artist, and your wife was the high-powered businesswoman important enough to meet the president! Damn me jumping to conclusions and assuming things based on gender!
Yeah, I want to clarify my story: My wife's picture is with Governor George W. Bush back in 1998. She was a finalist in a state-wide high school art contest and one of her paintings hung in Bush's office for a while. So, yeah, she's got a photo of George, Laura and her with the painting. About as apolitical as you can get, thank God.
EDIT: Great. Now my story looks made up following Guillaume's. Wonderful.
Heh, just got around to listening to this episode - my comment in the forums got mentioned! Nice.
And yeah, I went to art school, but I didn't get into an art career afterwards. (*sad) I'm just a business man now. Which isn't quite as exciting or unique as being an artist/cartoonist/whatever, but... I have bills to pay. I still draw from time to time, but now it's more of a hobby than a pursuit of some sort of lucrative career.
Also, yes. The picture of me and my wife with George "Dubbya" Bush is real. Got to meet him when he was in Michigan during a Republican National Party support... uh, meeting. Thing. It was just prior to the '08 election, and the former president was doing some campaigning for McCain. (didn't end well)
kris, was it My Word Coach you were thinking of? Where you could had to download something to the DS (took 1-2min), and then you could use the DS as a writing pad. But I read, once that game was over, you had to redownload it to the DS again when you started the next game! *face_palm* I wish Wii wasn't region-locked, so that I could've connected Band Bros DX to the Wii to stream audio through real speakers. :(
I suppose I do use alot of parentheses, too much to say, and only one line to say it in.
That might be it. I thought there was a game I played where the DS could be used as a writing pad in conjunction with the Wii. I don't have My Word Coach, but I do have My Spanish Coach. Is that functionality on there, too? It's a mystery because my wife remembers this, as well. So... I dunno what we're both remembering. Maybe there's something in the water that causes us to imagine Wii games that don't exist. (I mean you guys have all played Clu Clu Land: Fall of Man, right?) I could have sworn it was Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, but I looked that up and I can't find any reference to DS connectivity (and I trust everybody here when they say I'm wrong about that.) Maybe we're both confusing the Big Brain Academy DS game with the Wii game. We certainly played them both around the same time. It could be as simple as that.
What complicates things is that Steph managed a Blockbuster around launch time, so we got to play a whole ton of Wii and DS titles for free back in those days. So it really could be just about anything from the first couple of years.
Wouldn't it be hilarious to find out that, you know, Chicken Shoot or something has this cool Wii/DS connectivity feature that nobody knows ab... sorry, I couldn't even finish the sentence. I'm going to bed.
Yeah, My Word Coach did the DS-Wii connectivity thing. I never played it, but I knew about it.
Also, on that topic, did anyone play Band Hero, Guitar Hero 5 or Warriors of Rock? There's a really cool mode called "Roadie Battle" that uses the connectivity of the handheld and console. Basically, there are two teams of two people that face-off head-to-head (to head to head) in an old-school guitar battle. Two people play Guitar Hero on Wii like normal. Then two other players use their DS (as "roadies") to cause chaos "backstage" to make the other team mess up. They can blow out their speakers (so the audio is cut out), set the stage on fire, and do other things to obscure the other player's view of the note highway. Both roadies can cause "damage" to the other team's note highway, but their other responsibility is to fix the damage the other roadie causes. So there's this "push-pull" mechanic of causing destruction to the other team and then fixing/healing your own team.
It can get pretty wild, and it's really fun. There's also another cool feature that uses the DS: on-the-fly setlist creation. Basically, while people are playing Guitar/Band Hero with the instruments, someone else can link up the DS and choose what songs the band will play next. They can do it at any time. It's cool because it saves time between songs, since it doesn't force the players to go back to the main menu and select the next song or set.
It's a real shame it's really the only game(s) that really took advantage of the DS/Wii connectivity.
Just looked at an old video on GameTrailers of My Word Coach. We have a WINNA! That's the game I remember.
We must have checked this game out from the Blockbuster specifically to try out the Wii to DS functionality. Thanks, everyone, for helping out an old couple with Old Couple Alzheimers.
On the topic of the benefits of video games, just thought I'd share this tidbit from a recent Men's Health article.
Men's Health said:
Does your surgeon play video games? A recent study of surgical residents at Banner concluded that the Nintendo Wii system—and the game Marble Mania in particular—is "an effective laparoscopic simulation device" because it hones many of the same motor skills used in scope procedures. Research at other facilities has demonstrated that surgeons who grew up playing video games at least 3 hours a week—and those who currently play—perform better and make fewer errors. While it's not a deal-breaker, having a doctor who can wield a Wii remote can't hurt.
This was a great podcast. I immediately knew who "Girl" was haha! She bought me Kirby's Adventure on the VC for winning a contest at the lobby. Heart o' gold in that one.
I really enjoyed the pinball topic. I'll say this, Kris. Don't give up hope! Trendy things like that oftenly come back if the timing is right. Just look at the resurgence of vinyl albums!
I think that as for the topic of gaming, you guys missed that games can possibly influence and motivate people like any artistic medium can. And concerning the cafe, I would have liked to hear some ideas about how the screen could act as a new way to interact with traditional console games. Like as simple examples: a review mirror in a racing game or as like a smartphone like in Silent Hill Shattered Memories.
@Nikola_Tesla Yeah, the resurgence of vinyl was actually going to be one of my talking points, but Anand and Guillaume were like the Negative Nancy Twins about pinball, so I didn't even bother to bring it up. Pindoomed!
