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Giant Bomb |OT31| I Think it Might Be for Show

wbarreda

Member
Honestly if it wasn't for GB East I would cancel my premium subscription and possibly stop visiting GB altogether, that's how bad I find GB West content at the moment. A few years ago I would never have even entertained that idea.
This is how I feel. Ben was not a good hire personality wise for the west crew. I am not saying that Ben is bad, he is just a good fit for the west office.
 

Zaph

Member
Finished Hellblade. Damn, what a bummer. I really like Ninja Theory's games, but this did not click with me at all. Maybe it just went over my head, but it felt like 6 hours of "It's not your fault! You can do it!" padded with a bunch of Norse mythology you've probably heard a dozen times.

I'm being reductive, but I just wasn't able to care at all about Senua's journey and the entire game hinges on that.
 
This is how I feel. Ben was not a good hire personality wise for the west crew. I am not saying that Ben is bad, he is just a good fit for the west office.

Ben is a legacy hire. Doubt he would've made the cut if not for the internship. But they knew they liked him and desperately needed new blood. I continue to be bummed out about the state of West. I keep hoping I'll like their output but every time I just come away more disappointed. The only thing they've done recently that I really enjoyed was the PUBG TNT.

I know the point of Kingdom Heartache is triggering and it still triggers me somehow.

It's so lame. That kind of faux-edgy, cynical approach is really not something I expect from Giant Bomb. Even if you're gonna play a bad game, play the game. Don't do this half-hearted ironic shit. I hate it.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Is it just me or does the Hey Pikmin framerate not look all that hot?

There are times where the framerate look right so I'm guessing that it just has bad framerate in action heavy areas.

Which is why the 3DS should die a quick death and all the game dev efforts moved to the switch.
 

drabnon

Member
Have to agree with the general sentiments on GBW. Dan leaving for the east coast and Drew leaving the site were huge blows. I like Ben well enough but it's a tough thing to have to fill those shoes. Hopefully the guys on the west coast figure something out because UPF used to be an unmissable show for me and Metal Gear Scanlon was an incredible run.
 
I don’t have a problem with any of the banter or attitude of Kingdom Heartache. It’s their prerogative to play it however they want. If they’re not enthusiastic about it they shouldn’t pretend they are. If you’re looking for an “earnest” playthrough of those games, I’m sure there are plenty of YouTube LPs you can watch.

However, I don’t know if the fictional conceit of Ben “tricking” staff members into watching him play really works for me. I just don’t think bits like that are really GB’s strong suit. The only time it’s been good is Loser Leaves Town.
 

Ladekabel

Member
I think GBW needs to hire another one or two additional members. Brings more fresh blood to the crew than Ben alone and I always feel bad for Jason that he has to manage everything himself since Drew left. Are they still searching?

It's so lame. That kind of faux-edgy, cynical approach is really not something I expect from Giant Bomb. Even if you're gonna play a bad game, play the game. Don't do this half-hearted ironic shit. I hate it.

Did you call Kingdom Hearts bad? If yes, I'll fight you.
 
I think GBW needs to hire another one or two additional members. Brings more fresh blood to the crew than Ben alone and I always feel bad for Jason that he has to manage everything himself since Drew left. Are they still searching?

They should still be unless CBSI made their list and are going through.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
I like GBW but I'm not gonna pretend that I'm kinda disappointed with their output at times (haven't watched KH yet). They really need an idea man like Dan again. It's weird to me cause I remember a couple of years ago somebody asked Jeff on tumblr why they don't have a firmer schedule and his response basically was that he wants to keep things fresh and unexpected, yet GBW is, at this point, pretty predictable.

Not gonna go into the dumb "East is better" discussion, but there is no doubt that they do a whole bunch of different stuff. It's only a lot of features, but different approaches like the betting idea in SMS etc.
 
Holy shit this Kingdom Hearts video is giving me flashbacks of doing the same thing as a kid. Running around that first area not being able to meet Donald and Goofy and trying to interact with stuff in that room with the birds and cogs.
 
You can tell someones age by their reverence for the Kingdom Hearts series. Seems like a lot of younger people who started gaming around the PS2 era tend to like that series more.
 
You can tell someones age by their reverence for the Kingdom Hearts series. Seems like a lot of younger people who started gaming around the PS2 era tend to like that series more.

Not exactly but those could be treated as outliers, maybe


I need a whole podcast just based on this.

Indeed.

Also with all those mentions of people thinking they are the developers of a product thats having an issue and can help is pretty crazy

SEO is a hell of a thing.
 
I'm fine with GBW's output, I just don't understand the point of Kingdom Heartache. Like, I've seen two eps and it's this post-ironic look at Kingdom Hearts, basically an endurance run without any consistency (in terms of schedule or the crew), which leads to a huuuuugggeee amount of downtime in each ep as Ben relearns the controls and objective. It's a bad Endurance Run, with the talk and not the game as the focus.

I understand GB's desire to avoid being the "Endurance Run" people, but Kingdom Heartache would be better without the (frankly bizarre) gimmick. For any in-depth game it would be the better choice. (e.g. if one person was playing XCOM, it'd be preferable as a daily feature. Exquisite Corps turns things on its head and makes the irregularity a core part of it.)
 
I'm fine with GBW's output, I just don't understand the point of Kingdom Heartache. Like, I've seen two eps and it's this post-ironic look at Kingdom Hearts, basically an endurance run without any consistency (in terms of schedule or the crew), which leads to a huuuuugggeee amount of downtime in each ep as Ben relearns the controls and objective. It's a bad Endurance Run, with the talk and not the game as the focus.

I understand GB's desire to avoid being the "Endurance Run" people, but Kingdom Heartache would be better without the (frankly bizarre) gimmick. For any in-depth game it would be the better choice. (e.g. if one person was playing XCOM, it'd be preferable as a daily feature. Exquisite Corps turns things on its head and makes the irregularity a core part of it.)


It isn't much different from Blue bombin format though (save for the rotating peanut gallery).
 
You can tell someones age by their reverence for the Kingdom Hearts series. Seems like a lot of younger people who started gaming around the PS2 era tend to like that series more.

Nah. I started gaming way back but I love Kingdom Hearts, I have a reverence for Disney because that's what I grew up watching. Their what is now known as "renaissance era films". So, that's what I'm there for when it comes to Kingdom Hearts. I don't care about Sora or anyone frankly and I know fuck all about the story. Also, the soundtrack is crazy good(objectively best thing about the series). Never forget, this series gave us pissed off creepy Mickey Mouse.

doortodarkness.jpg

PSN chat support just got me into my account within like 3 minutes, so, uh, good on Sony I guess.

That's great to know!
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
WHich is pretty much my point. Kingdom heartache doesn't need to be about kingdom hearts much like how blue bombin' doesn't need to be about megaman.
 

BTA

Member
PSN chat support just got me into my account within like 3 minutes, so, uh, good on Sony I guess.

You can tell someones age by their reverence for the Kingdom Hearts series. Seems like a lot of younger people who started gaming around the PS2 era tend to like that series more.

I'm only 22, but my siblings and I actually went through the process of playing SNES/Genesis -> N64 -> GCN/PS2/XBox pretty fast, since my parents already had the SNES and Genesis and my aunt gave us her 64. So I wouldn't necessarily say I started gaming then, because we probably started playing games at... 3 or 4? I know I got a GBC for my 5th birthday, at least.

...but this is still partially true, because Kingdom Hearts was the reason I wanted a PS2, and you know? I loved it.
 
I'm fine with GBW's output, I just don't understand the point of Kingdom Heartache. Like, I've seen two eps and it's this post-ironic look at Kingdom Hearts, basically an endurance run without any consistency (in terms of schedule or the crew), which leads to a huuuuugggeee amount of downtime in each ep as Ben relearns the controls and objective. It's a bad Endurance Run, with the talk and not the game as the focus.

I understand GB's desire to avoid being the "Endurance Run" people, but Kingdom Heartache would be better without the (frankly bizarre) gimmick. For any in-depth game it would be the better choice. (e.g. if one person was playing XCOM, it'd be preferable as a daily feature. Exquisite Corps turns things on its head and makes the irregularity a core part of it.)

My reductive take - KH as a series is extremely dull to me right now, due to a mix of them not really seeming to give a shit and them doing the stupid "soundchecks" the entire time. I watched the first two episodes and don't foresee myself going forward on it just because it seems more like a pre-stream warmup when they do the episodes versus an actual 'show'.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
My reductive take - KH as a series is extremely dull to me right now, due to a mix of them not really seeming to give a shit and them doing the stupid "soundchecks" the entire time. I watched the first two episodes and don't foresee myself going forward on it just because it seems more like a pre-stream warmup when they do the episodes versus an actual 'show'.

The soundcheck thing was only in the 2nd episode and it wasn't great. The dailogue in between ben and jeff was pretty good though.

3rd episode was more like a podcast between been and rorie?
 
It any isn't much different from Blue bombin though (save for the rotating peanut gallery).

Blue Bombin's like 3 eps max, and the core mechanics of each game are roughly identical. Alex also looks stuff up beforehand to save time. Very different from diving, blind, into a months-long journey alongside a rotating chair who has no idea what's happening.

Like, the "difficult game" playthroughs (Megaman, Castlevania, the Souls streams, and Breaking Brad, etc.) have a different feel that I wouldn't classify as Endurance Runs.


To define an Endurance Run, I'd say part of it is the runtime of the feature/game, part of it is the prominence of the story vs. the player's personal journey, and the final part is frequency of play sessions. (Things get muddy with adventure games, I'll admit.)
The soundcheck thing was only in the 2nd episode and it wasn't great. The dailogue in between ben and jeff was pretty good though.

3rd episode was more like a podcast between been and rorie?

Kingdom Heartache is more confusing than Steal my Sunshine's rules.

Whoda thunk.
 
There are times where the framerate look right so I'm guessing that it just has bad framerate in action heavy areas.

Which is why the 3DS should die a quick death and all the game dev efforts moved to the switch.

I think the capture 3DS is an old 3DS, so that might have some effect on framerate.
 

BTA

Member
I bet 1 shine they don't make it to episode 10 of Kingdom Heartache ⭐️🌟⭐️

Nah, I bet they finish it.

The only thing I'm worried about is Ben going to KH2 without playing CoM and/or ignoring the other games after. I'm sure he's gotten an incredibly annoying amount of fan input on that already though.
 

TraBuch

Banned
I don’t have a problem with any of the banter or attitude of Kingdom Heartache. It’s their prerogative to play it however they want. If they’re not enthusiastic about it they shouldn’t pretend they are. If you’re looking for an “earnest” playthrough of those games, I’m sure there are plenty of YouTube LPs you can watch.

However, I don’t know if the fictional conceit of Ben “tricking” staff members into watching him play really works for me. I just don’t think bits like that are really GB’s strong suit. The only time it’s been good is Loser Leaves Town.
https://youtu.be/moIYPvSXsO8
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
I gotta say, trails of cold steel is way less persona-y than I expected and more TitS-y really.

Which is fine I guess. The starting seem way less slow than TitS
 

Hasney

Member
Look I bought the New 3DS at launch. Having already had a working 3DS.

And I still say the new 3DS was a goddamn scam. :p

Using a boost mode and better emulatords in homebrew made it eventually worth it.

Some of these newer 3DS games have such issues on the old one they should have made them New only I guess.
 
Nah, I bet they finish it.

The only thing I'm worried about is Ben going to KH2 without playing CoM and/or ignoring the other games after. I'm sure he's gotten an incredibly annoying amount of fan input on that already though.

What was the roadmap that Ben had? KH1, KH2, Birth by Sleep and then the 2.8 and 0.2 stuff before 3's out?

Chain of Memories is kinda important for the gap between 1 and 2 (because they made it that way. It wasn't like Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes/Phantom Pain filling in a gap between MGS3 and MSX MG1 after the fact), and mercifully 358/2 Days and Recoded are cutscene digests now. How important is Dream Drop Distance, about the same as Chain of Memories?
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Using a boost mode and better emulatords in homebrew made it eventually worth it.

Some of these newer 3DS games have such issues on the old one they should have made them New only I guess.

Eh I don't care about homebrewing on 3DS. I don't really care about spending the effort to pirate games nor do I care about playing old games that much.

I feel like there aren't enough games that I've played that are super unplayable on the old one than the new one, though I think it's fair to say that it's more that my interest in 3DS games fell away just after I bought the N3DS. The hardware is just so fucking old now.

Makes me curious about how nintendo will handle iterations of the switch though. Will there be a mid console bump thing? Will there even be a switch 2 or will nintendo find a new gimmick to hang their hat on?
 

Zaph

Member
Having two videos per day is pretty neat I must say.

Yup, the content output has been great lately, so its gotten a lot easier to ignore the stuff that ain't great.

I was wondering today, where does East find the time? Was surprised to see them in the Giant ROM video - they've got multiple podcasts, live streams, regular features, and Films & 40's is back. Do they live in the studio now?
 

BTA

Member
What was the roadmap that Ben had? KH1, KH2, Birth by Sleep and then the 2.8 and 0.2 stuff before 3's out?

Chain of Memories is kinda important for the gap between 1 and 2 (because they made it that way. It wasn't like Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes/Phantom Pain filling in a gap between MGS3 and MSX MG1 after the fact), and mercifully 358/2 Days and Recoded are cutscene digests now. How important is Dream Drop Distance, about the same as Chain of Memories?

I haven't played Dream Drop Distance still, actually - had it on 3DS but only ever played an hour before stopping for whatever reason, and haven't picked up 2.8 yet. I'm happy he's planning on playing BBS at least, and I hope they at least watch Days. But they really should play CoM
though I've never actually finished either version myself for some reason
.

I've heard it's pretty important though; even the few spoilers clips I've seen by chance on Twitter seem major.
 
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