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Negative World Podcast 013 - Crumbling under its own weight
Podcast presented by 
(Editor)
July 19, 2011, 11:55
 


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For the first (and last) time, five NWers appear on the podcast! Listen to Hendrik (Jargon), Andrew (Zero), Santi (GelatinousEncore), Anand and Guillaume talk over each other as they attempt to discuss Metroid Prime, ignored gems on the Wii, the future of 2D games, and the evil of downloadable titles!

As usual, the theme music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero. The rest of the soundtrack is taken from Metroid Prime.

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.


Edit:

I present to you: Episode 013 Uncensored. (Right-click and save)



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07/19/11, 11:55   Edited:  12/05/11, 06:25
 
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@Anand The answer... hmm. I like scanning. Probably not as much as I act like I do when I TYPE IN ALL CAPS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HATE SCANNING GETTING BANNED, but I think it definitely adds something. Guillaume is right in that 95% of scans are optional, and they are color coded in the first Prime (it's just like... orange for optional, dark orange for required, Prime 2 is where they made it more obvious.)

I'd agree that it shouldn't just be walk into a room, scan everything, progress. They kind of fight against this at times, like the example I brought up on the podcast (I think it was early in Prime 2?) where you had to find a small hole and roll into it before even seeing the thing that you were supposed to scan. Often scanning just points you to the start of a puzzle, and many of the puzzles require figuring various things out on your own before finding what you need to scan as well. As I said, I never finished the games 100%, and I scanned in pretty much every room I went into, so they still managed to have plenty of stuff that wasn't right out in the open. Some of that might have been just not having the right ability yet and not traveling back that way once I did have it, but not all. In Prime 3 when you get to the room that puts the little secret dots on your map, I was surprised at some of the rooms that contained secrets I had not found yet, since I had run through them (and scanned them) many times before.

I wouldn't argue with a bit less scanning and a bit more using the environment to figure stuff out though.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 20:52
I hated scanning at first and then, with time, I grew to sort of like it. It's not a great game mechanic, but it is a great role-playing one.

And since every time I play a Metroid game I dress up in my homemade Zero Suit and blonde wig, having a great role-playing mechanic in the game is just what I require.

Anand's idea to have the scans voice acted is pretty good. I'm sure it wasn't Retro putting the breaks on that idea. Though I wonder what we'd be saying if the Suit had a stupid voice. Like, you know, instead of a sexy woman's voice, like every sci-fi computer ever, there's a sexy man's voice instead. And, you know, it sounds like he's in love with Samus or something. (Maybe I've spent too long working on those fake ads...)

Anyway, I don't think the strength of the Prime series is how well it brings the Super Metroid experience to 3D. From a gameplay standpoint, they're pretty different. What I think it gets right, though, is tone. The games just feel like authentic Metroid to me. There's the whole "Loneliness of the Long Distance Bounty Hunter" thing in all those games.

Also: The Wii versions have some of the best control mechanics on the system. If you haven't played them yet, Anand, they're definitely worth it. Corruption is Steampunk? I definitely didn't feel that way when I was playing. Maybe there's that one area. Mostly, though, I thought the environments were pretty alien.

Still listening to the uncensored version while I work. More thoughts later.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:02
I still don't like the idea of more voice acting in a Metroid game. I dunno. On occasion there is "good" voice acting, but even when there is good voice acting it almost never matches the glorious (if vague) conception I have of these people in my mind.

After Other M Samus herself should probably never, ever speak again.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:09
I absolutely agree that Samus should never speak. I'm a big fan of the Nintendo mute. But I don't care if other characters talk to Samus, including the suit.

You know who else shouldn't talk? This guy:



Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:17
kriswright said:

Anand's idea to have the scans voice acted is pretty good. I'm sure it wasn't Retro putting the breaks on that idea.

But...but...

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:18   Edited:  07/20/11, 22:19
Did I blow it? Sorry, man. Let me get it right:

Zero's idea to have the scans voice acted is pretty good.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:20
I'm listening now. The Metroid topic has been interesting so far.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:22
Why I oughta...

But I guess it's really Looking Glass's idea. In System Shock you don't scan though, you pick up disks which have the logs and emails saved on them.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:23
Hey! I bought Klonoa!

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:49
To be fair, I never played System Shock, and I had the same idea about 2 minutes into Metroid Prime.

They should remake 2001 with a female HAL. 2001: Girls' side.

@kriswright
The first two games definitely nail the loneliness thing. (I do have to try the third (and finish Echoes)...) Although we kind of ended up doing a semi-retrospective of the Metroid series, we didn't hit on the worst ones: Hunters and Metroid II.

In conclusion, bark like a dog.

@Zero
Making it more obvious was nice, but making the environment into a distorted rainbow playground started a trend which has, unfortunately, continued to this day. Detective Mode/Eagle Vision/etc.

Anyway, I don't think Samus should speak, but a cold, robotic suit computer voice wouldn't hurt. They can use the voice actress from Other M!

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 22:50
Next handheld Zelda? Wind Waker 3DS.

Posted by 
 on: 07/20/11, 23:38
Just finished listening now.

This has probably been the episode where I have laughed the most. (I think.) Great job, everyone. I did a retweet of the podcast on my twitter, so hopefully some others will listen.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 00:24
Paleo_Orca said:
Just finished listening now.

This has probably been the episode where I have laughed the most. (I think.) Great job, everyone. I did a retweet of the podcast on my twitter, so hopefully some others will listen.
Sweet! The unedited version is better.

I just finished listening to the edited version - gotta admit, in my personal opinion you edited out a bit too much at certain parts. Maybe it's because I did listen (and was part of) the unedited version this time, because I didn't feel this way with previous podcasts, but still.

For example, when I compare de Blob 2 to Pikmin 2, I said that because I think de Blob 2 is pretty similar to de Blob 1 but also everything is improved, just like Pikmin 2 compared to Pikmin 1. And after editing it cuts off right after me saying "It reminds me of Pikmin 2" and it doesn't make as much sense. I understand why you did it; we went on to talk about Pikmin for a bit, but I dunno. I didn't think it was that long of a derail honestly.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 00:25   Edited:  07/21/11, 00:42
Dude, we have Milka down here. Good stuff.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:19
@GelatinousEncore

I definitely edited way more than any other episode, but there was just more to edit. That's partly why I made the unedited version available at all. I knew folks would want to hear it, and also I don't think the stuff I cut out was worthless. It just didn't fit.

Many of the derails felt pretty long to me. When we're not talking about the topic for 2-3 minutes at a time, to me it feels like we're going all over the place, unfocused.

GelatinousEncore said:
Sweet! The unedited version is better.
As I said, I won't hold it against anyone if they prefer the unedited version.

Incidentally, GE, you are no longer welcome on the podcast.



Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:30
@kriswright Yeah it's better than Cadbury IMO. Can't beat Toblerone, though.

@Guillaume :(

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:31
Well... that was really damn long.

The unedited version was entertaining, for sure, but mostly because I know you guys and just like the opportunity to actually hear you talk about stuff. But I think this one makes a pretty strong case that editing the podcasts down is worth Guillaume's time. This was like watching The Green Mile, or something. You could cut half an hour out, easily. Probably more. Especially if the intended audience is partly aimed at people who don't come to Negative World.

Might be a given, but 5 contributors strikes me as too many. (And Anand should count as 3 contributors all by himself.) Everyone on this podcast had interesting things to say, but it was hard to nail down the personality of any particular contributor because there was just too much going on. I definitely prefer smaller casts on these things. IGN used to do it just fine with 2 or 3. To me, that's more ideal, unless the podcasts were more rigidly structured some way. Which I don't think would be a better direction, to be honest.

Complaints about format aside, the conversation was actually really good. There were a number of times where someone would make a point and I would think of a counterpoint, only to have one of the other contributors pipe up and say the same thing I was thinking. Considering I judge everything by how much it affirms that I'm right all the time, I appreciated that.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:50   Edited:  07/21/11, 16:07
No, of course the Podcasts should be edited. That wasn't my point. I just felt it was a bit too... not organic, so to speak, at some points.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:51
Don't get me wrong - those were just my thoughts in general. They weren't a reaction to what you said upthread, GE.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:53
Yeah, I figured as much, but I also noticed my original criticism was open to confusion so I wanted to clarify.

Posted by 
 on: 07/21/11, 01:54
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