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Negative World Podcast 008 - Bear with us
Podcast presented by 
(Editor)
May 01, 2011, 05:51
 


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On this chapter of the Negative World Podcast, listen to four Nintendo nerds discuss video games, for a change!

Guillaume wonders what happened to role-playing games, and role-playing gamers. Hear him admit to the world that he may have judged Final Fantasy VII unfairly (but its clones still suck)

Chrisbg99, inspired by Negative World's Adventure Island review, asks about difficulty in games: most of us can agree that gamers have it too easy these days, but do we really want to go back to the days of hair-pulling difficulty?

Octorockin, ever curious to learn more about the gaming industry, asks why more games don't include special features: commentary tracks, documentaries, and other bits of info about the process of making the game we're playing.

Finally, Marsh shares his conclusions as to why he is not more interested in the 3DS than he is and asks why we play video games. Everyone seems to agree that playing games is simply rad, save for one. Can you guess who it is?

As usual, the music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero. (The lyrics are gone this time).

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.

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05/01/11, 05:51   Edited:  12/05/11, 06:31
 
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Holy shit Chris nice mic.

Posted by 
 on: 05/01/11, 06:18
Downloaded. Will start listening at the gym today.

Posted by 
 on: 05/01/11, 20:15
-Hm. Is Monster Hunter considered an RPG?

-I guess when it comes to difficulty, I've gotta mention Manic Miner. It's only memorization and timing. The game isn't even about reflexes- you just need to know exactly when and where to jump.

-Portal 2's commentary is alright. Gave me more of an excuse to play through the game. Commentary in, say, Mario Galaxy, would be awesome. There's no dialogue or anything so you lose nothing. Hearing what went through the designers' heads for every single level... OOOOOH.

-Video games are neat.

And now the title makes sense. Props for keeping the podcast volume high. I hate when a podcast is really quiet and I have to crank up my volume.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 01:17
@Secret_Tunnel

Ah, yeah, the volume. I had trouble with it myself since I started listening to it at the gym. Then I found a helpful option in the recording software to amplify the voices. It's much better now.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 01:32
Another enjoyable episode.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 04:04
Really interesting topics

1st one:

I can't really say much on this one, since I haven't played that many RPGs, but I will say that I do enjoy the japaense mannerisms sometimes, just because... *shrug* I dunno, just because :P

2nd one:

Games have definitely become easier, and the challenge feels more acceptable, but more so in a... design point of view, like you guys were mentioning with Super Meat Boy and Bit.Trip Runner.

3rd one:

I never really liked the idea of a 'special edition' game either. I'm okay with compilations, but seriously, make them worthwhile, the 25th anniversary repackage of all-stars just felt... lazy... and I didn't want to buy it. Like you guys said, the franchise deserves more respect and a better treatment.

4th one:

You guys actually delved into a second topic I kinda want to bring up in a future podcast, 'why is gaming so niche, when other mediums aren't?'


Anyways, overall, great podcast! Only 2 more to record and we'll have TEN! I can't believe it. :0

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 04:41
@Paleo_Orca

I'm still at 1st part (RPGs) but as far as why is gaming so niche... other mediums have a distinct subculture surrounding it.
-Everyone watches movies but only a niche group of people are up on the next Werner Herzog documentary.
-Many pop artists are autotuned or boy-band branded to a mass market but true music lovers look for new and great music from other outlets.
-Comics you have your Marvel/DC super heroes culture, your Crumb and alt comics culture and your manga/import culture.
-Some books like Ender's Game, Lord of the Rings, Fountainhead, 1984 and Stephen King has cult following while others just chose to read newspapers or tabloids.

Gaming has its Wii Sports, FarmVille and Angry Birds general appeal but also has its subcultures of online fps gamers, WoW community, Nintendo fans, gamers games (Shadow of the Colossus, Portal, Flower), jrpg fans, etc.

basically if it exists chances are it has a fan club

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 05:29
It's weird, I'm a subscriber but it hasn't popped up in iTunes yet... ah well I'll figure it out.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 08:12
@deathly_hallows

Might depends on your settings. If it's set to check for new podcasts once a week, then maybe it will pop up automatically in a few days or something. Or of course you can select the Podcast directory in iTunes and there should be an "update" button in the bottom right corner. Clicking that checks for new podcasts automatically.

OR you have the same problem I do and some podcasts just refuse to update all of a sudden. It's really annoying. I have to unsubscribe, then re-subscribe. Super annoying.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 08:19
Which Bear is with you?

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 09:24
@Guillaume
Yeah had to resubscribe now it's downloading, annoying itunes.

Posted by 
 on: 05/02/11, 10:20
So weird to hear myself speak. I'm not very eloquent I'm afraid, haha. It was a great experience though, despite how tired I was from working 9.5 hours that day. Great editing as always Guillaume, I liked the transitional musicks.

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 02:10
btw I was only joking about my mic comment, it was meant in a funny way, of course. Now that I re-read my post it didn't necessarily come off that way.

I am sorry.

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 03:41
(EDIT: After posting this, I saw how wordy my reply is. Hope you make sense out of this.)

@Marsh I think you did a great job. Actually, everyone did, from my point of view!

-I do prefer no lyrics for the intro theme.

-I really enjoyed the flow of this episode quite well. I also like the game music transition, though I'm not sure why all the songs were from Chrono Trigger.

Topic 1: Guillaume: Awesome how RPGs helped you master the English language. My cousins in Mexico had the same experience with a lot of Nintendo games as they were growing up. Just goes to show one positive effect of playing games that is touched on in the 4th topic.

Man, I haven't been keeping up with RPG's for years. Mostly because of the time investment as you guys mentioned.

And... did someone say Pokeymans? I might have mis-heard.

I hadn't noticed before, but it's too bad about the timing of RPG releases coming late into a system's life due to long development times, giving players little time to really dig into the quality titles.

Topic 2: Chrisbg99:

For modern challenging games, DKCR is definitely a great choice.

I like what Guillaume said: Good challenge is where player is mad at himself, not at the game, thus making you want to play more after failing. Sounds like a Miyamoto quote maybe.

I have found many of the modern games I have played to be pretty well balanced in terms of difficulty. I grew up in the NES era, and I don't miss some of the frustrations associated with AVGN-type games.

Topic 3: Octorockin:

Bonus game content is definitely missing from Nintendo games, especially when you guys started giving good examples of what Sony does.

Topic 4: Marsh:

I like games because I like (a) the challenge, (b) the immersion with the game worlds through interaction, which is really what separates games from other popular media, and (c) the mix of different forms of art (visuals, sound, music, style) to create something new and exciting.

It's hard to talk about games like movies because it's about the experience of playing it, which is more difficult to explain maybe?

Video games are definitely my preference because I’m using my logical part of the brain! Brain training, sort of.

-Awww, Guillaume is complimented for his podcast editing. Well deserved.

-So I missed the meaning of the bear title. Something at the end referenced this, about Teddy?

@vids you have a very good point, it's actually true when I think about it. Just about everybody I know plays games in some form or fashion, but the ones I don't consider gamers are into COD, Angry Birds, etc. ie whatever is popular with the masses.

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 03:42   Edited:  05/03/11, 03:44
@Marsh

Ah, finally, we get to the inevitable discussion about our voices!

You have a very soothing voice, Marsh. You do! And am I the only one who is surprise by just how manly Octorockin sounds? He's just a kid! chrisbg99, however, sounds the manliest of us all... And my own voice, as usual, is just short of being aptly described as "goofy and cartoony". IMO.

@roykoopa64

I chose Chrono Trigger simply because the first transition ended with us saying how RPGs have the best music. Plus I had held up CT as the best game the genre has to offer. In retrospect, I'm not sure CT's music lends itself too well to transitions in a podcast, but it was still a nostalgic trip to listen to tracks and select them.

The quote is probably from Miyamoto for all I know! Or perhaps someone like the Super Meat Boy guy.

And yeah, the episode's title is a reference to the Persona 4 talk and the character Teddy. Guess you need to have played it to get it, though.


Good points as usual, roykoopa. When will you treat us to your presence on the podcast?

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 06:18
@Guillaume

On the podcast, you do sound somewhat like a muppet. But not when I can see your face!

And feel free to fire back, I've always hated my voice and think it has held me back in many ways.

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 06:24
@Jargon



Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 06:36
I pretty much learned English from comic books. English and religion. English and religion and LIFE.

Nintendo is pretty stingy about 'bonus' content, but then they just give away the Iwata Asks stuff, which is incredible. Such a great, insightful resource. I'm so happy that series exists.

I definitely don't think games are less 'noble' than TV and movies. Even books, although they have more credibility. It's all entertainment to while away your time on this earth. And TV and movies are especially passive. It kind of feels like I'm turning my brain off when I watch that stuff. Not games. Games require participation and a bit of concentration. In fact, I'll often choose not to play because it seems like too much effort. That's what happens when you get old!!

But the whole 'waste of time' thing is an interesting topic to me, because it's so subjective. It really depends on your priorities and the value system you subscribe to. For most people, 'productive' = taking actions which could result in making more money, because that's the explicit goal that they have, the implicit one being to be more happy (by making more money, since you can buy happiness).

@Jargon
Everyone hates their voice.

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 16:00   Edited:  05/03/11, 16:03
@Guillaume
Don't forget your "Bear with us"


Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 17:01
@Guillaume Yeah, not sure why I haven't volunteered yet. Can't really think of an interesting topic I would feel knowledgeable enough about to discuss in detail.

How's the tinychat going, has it helped in getting more familiar with members' voices to make the transition to podcast smoother? Have you turned it into a regular weekly event?

Posted by 
 on: 05/03/11, 18:46
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