The Player 1 Podcast Topic

It took until after the first dungeon for most of the motions to start to feel natural for me in Zelda.

The lack of camera control is a bit of a bummer. Especially considering that exploration is quite a sizeable aspect of the game.

I don't know how you could have problems with the flying, though.

Edit: 'Meowpatine' is amazing.
 
If Phil's baby comes out around the same time as Xenoblade can you name the wee nipper 'Xenobald Theoblade'?
 
Oxx said:
If Phil's baby comes out around the same time as Xenoblade can you name the wee nipper 'Xenobald Theoblade'?
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If my baby arrives around the same time as Xenoblade, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

But we'll consider the name change, yes.
 
frequency said:
I find myself enjoying this podcast more every week. I think this has become my favourite podcast behind WAHP (which doesn't have a consistent release schedule). This is one of the few podcasts where I love all the hosts.

One small thing I really enjoy is just the timing of game discussions. Batman last week and Uncharted and Skyward Sword this week. It's really nice to have a podcast play games at the pace I do. All the big podcasts are games media people who finish them before they're released so they talk about stuff before any normal person has gotten to them. Or they have to hold back so much and be so vague to avoid spoilers that the discussion is useless.

On another note, what was the song played during the break? I've heard it before, but it's been years. It's bothering me because I can't remember where I heard it.
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I was also wondering what the source was of that song... Podcast has been great you guys. Thanks for the years of entertainment =)
 
frequency said:
On another note, what was the song played during the break? I've heard it before, but it's been years. It's bothering me because I can't remember where I heard it.
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Ultima_5 said:
I was also wondering what the source was of that song... Podcast has been great you guys. Thanks for the years of entertainment =)
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CJ answers this question on the next episode, but here's a spoiler.

It's "Linda Linda" by The Blue Hearts. It was in the first Ouendan game.
 
Whimsical Phil said:
CJ answers this question on the next episode, but here's a spoiler.

It's "Linda Linda" by The Blue Hearts. It was in the first Ouendan game.
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Wonderful! Thanks!

That makes sense. I loved Ouendan. It was the first of many DS games I imported.

I can't wait for the new episode!
 
Wario64 said:
New ep is up
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You're too quick!

http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2011/12/04/episode-267-120511-blue-shells-and-skyward-swords

Episode 267 (12/05/11) – Blue Shells and Skyward Swords

This week! We talk about the following game tapes: Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Infinity Blade 2, Voltron: Defender of the Universe and House of the Dead Overkill Extended Cut. Plus! GamePro closing down, Vita PSN accounts and memory pricing, and Xenoblade Chronicles being released in North America.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/playerone/12_05_11-Episode267.mp3
 
I'm listening to the episode at work right now.
I've only gotten to the break. I know the break song this week!

I have to say <3 for using Sambomaster. One of my favourite bands.

In case anyone was interested, it's &#19990;&#30028;&#12399;&#12381;&#12428;&#12434;&#24859;&#12392;&#21628;&#12406;&#12435;&#12384;&#12380; (the world calls that love? I suck at translating). It was used in &#38651;&#36554;&#30007; (train man), which is like, one of the best TV series ever. That's what turned me onto the band all those years ago.

I think it was in Ouendan as well (might be the 2nd game). I'll need to check when I get home.

I enjoyed the Zelda talk this week. I'm going at the same pace as you guys. I'm in the 2nd area, but haven't made it to the dungeon yet. I'm also a bit wary about fetch quests before every dungeon. Looking forward to hearing more as you guys gets further. Also I have to say that first boss is totally creepy and I don't think it has anything to do with appealing to the female players. Or I'm weird. I don't know.

EDIT: Listening to the Xenoblade discussion now. I'm also in Canada so I really hope I can get a copy too. EBGames/GameStop Canada and the US seem like two completely separate companies most of the time to me. So I have no faith in Canada getting it. I hope I can order through the Nintendo website when pre-orders open. I really don't want to end up paying some jerk 2x the price to get it on some auction site because GameStop/Nintendo screws Canada :(
 
Indeed it is Sambomaster - I thoroughly enjoyed the Densha Otoko TV series and that track + ELO's "Twilight" got stuck in my head for quite awhile there. :)

And for the Zelda fetch-quest stuff - I find that in the pace I'm playing I really don't mind that stuff much. If I was playing it hardcore straight through I might but if I think or those pre-dungeon areas as mini-dungeons themselves (and they're sorta set up that way anyway) they become a lot more tolerable. And without them the game might feel a little empty; it gives some personality to the ground-world.
 
Phil is never going to finish Skyward Sword. When even CJ is streaking ahead of you, something's not right.
 
I got stuck in that same S7 level Greg got stuck on in SMB3D. In a few of the later special world levels, getting the 3 coins is hard as Hell.
 
As for the steward zelda getting it on joke... i can see where he's coming from...

I started playing the game yesterday... so far i made it to the first area...

Is it just me or is Zelda very flirty with link at the tutorial part of the game? Not that there's something wrong with it, but it caught me by surprise.

Being a child of the 80s I'm accustomed to link doing the flirting and zelda the rejections.
 
LiK said:
any spoilers for Skyward Sword? i'll prolly just skip it anyway, haven't opened it yet.
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They talk about some of the things in the first area and a bit about the first boss. They also talk a bit about what's going on with Zelda and why Link is doing what he's doing. Nothing in depth.
 
The dowse-tacular fetch quest prelude to the second dungeon was a lot more enjoyable than the first.
 
Lord-Audie said:
Being a child of the 80s I'm accustomed to link doing the flirting and zelda the rejections.
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The times, they have changed.

Also, yeah, I was a little surprised that I was farther along in Zelda than anyone else. But I've been playing it in the evening while watching the baby and giving my wife a couple hours of sleep.
 
Voltron would have been better if it was a cookie cutter twin stick shooter. I don't think it even managed that, the controls didn't feel good at all. Glad to see I'm not the only one who couldn't see the guys on the ground. I was wondering last night while playing the demo if it was my TV or something

But man when that voice over started... As I kid I rented the same movie from the video store everytime, the Voltron movie.
 
I think there's no way to win with making an award show for video games.

If you go the VGA route, then is too childish.

Now if you got a serious route, this is going by speculation, then you would be too much far uptight. This is speaking for a televised show. The awards given at DICE are not shown on TV.

Could you imagine... People showing up in suits for a formal show?

I'm not saying that it wouldn't be valid, but I don't know if someone can sell something like that for even cable TV. If it is done independently, who's going to sponsor it? The game studios? If they do, you have to put up with ads.

Who's going to judge the awards? The enthusiasm media? No offense, but there is no precedent for any of those in the EM to rate games "seriously". I use seriously with quotations because you know... if you take it too seriously, you have a stick up your ass, if you don't then you're just trolling.... there's no winning on this.

I think that if someone wants to pursue doing closely resembling an award show. Something like the academy has to be created or the SAG. Where every member pays a fee to sponsor something like that. That way the ad content could be put in check and the show could be created for the people that matter.
 
Totally agree, Lord-Audie.

My issue with the yearly reaction to the VGAs has always been that half the advice given in the name of "fixing" the broadcast is given with absolutely no thought as to the nature of television broadcasting.

First of all, this is a show on Spike. Spike. The network that was built around stupid guy stuff and objectifying women. The network where they have a show about crazy ways to die, or stuff like MANswers, or reality shows based on the UFC. Why in the world are we always up in arms over the fact that their yearly video games award show caters to the audience they've created? It's not like they've ever hidden what their network is about or who it's meant to appeal to.

Second: they have to do something entertaining in order to attract a mass market audience, and thus advertising. All of this pining for gaming industry people hosting and more gaming industry people making loads of acceptance speeches for games over half of your viewership has never even heard of would just be bad television. Not because gaming industry people aren't interesting or entertaining, but the subject matter has incredibly limited appeal. The Oscars are mind-numbingly boring, but they get away with their show (complete with bad comedy bits) every year because everyone watches movies, and celebrity culture is huge. Video games don't have the sort of mass market appeal that would draw an audience to a much more serious, two-hour video game award show.

Could that show exist? I personally don't believe so. But if it could, it certainly wouldn't be on Spike.

I do have problems with the VGAs, but mostly in that it's an "awards" show that really almost never hands out any awards over the space of 120 minutes. That and the comedy is bad. Not that I'm insulted by it or anything - it's just usually not funny.

Otherwise, I watch to see the world premieres. I think the show really delivers on that front, and that's obviously what the producers are going for.

Personally I find the yearly rants and chin-stroking by the enthusiast media over what's wrong with the show even more tiresome than the event itself.
 
stewy said:
Totally agree, Lord-Audie.

My issue with the yearly reaction to the VGAs has always been that half the advice given in the name of "fixing" the broadcast is given with absolutely no thought as to the nature of television broadcasting.

First of all, this is a show on Spike. Spike. The network that was built around stupid guy stuff and objectifying women. The network where they have a show about crazy ways to die, or stuff like MANswers, or reality shows based on the UFC. Why in the world are we always up in arms over the fact that their yearly video games award show caters to the audience they've created? It's not like they've ever hidden what their network is about or who it's meant to appeal to.

Second: they have to do something entertaining in order to attract a mass market audience, and thus advertising. All of this pining for gaming industry people hosting and more gaming industry people making loads of acceptance speeches for games over half of your viewership has never even heard of would just be bad television. Not because gaming industry people aren't interesting or entertaining, but the subject matter has incredibly limited appeal. The Oscars are mind-numbingly boring, but they get away with their show (complete with bad comedy bits) every year because everyone watches movies, and celebrity culture is huge. Video games don't have the sort of mass market appeal that would draw an audience to a much more serious, two-hour video game award show.

Could that show exist? I personally don't believe so. But if it could, it certainly wouldn't be on Spike.

I do have problems with the VGAs, but mostly in that it's an "awards" show that really almost never hands out any awards over the space of 120 minutes. That and the comedy is bad. Not that I'm insulted by it or anything - it's just usually not funny.

Otherwise, I watch to see the world premieres. I think the show really delivers on that front, and that's obviously what the producers are going for.

Personally I find the yearly rants and chin-stroking by the enthusiast media over what's wrong with the show even more tiresome than the event itself.
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The problem that I have with the VGA critics is that I don't really know what do they expect.

Like you said, this is a show that is on SPIKE, sponsored by whoever is willing to pay for the ad space and has the goal to approach as many viewers as possible.

I for one has made peace with what the show is. Basically the MTV movie awards for games with less awards showed on screen. Like you said there's no star power on the industry to drive viewers to the screen. That's why they have to rely on charlie sheen and the sort to actually get people to watch. I cannot blame them. Watched the trailers and moved on.

There are so many factors that make an award show for video games more difficult than any other media.

As you said also, the academy awards can get away with many things because watching movies has become ubiquitous to the point that there's a high chance that people may have watched at least half of the movies nominated. Right now I believe that's not the case for video games. I for one are able to spend plenty of time on my hobby, but i have to acknowledge that i'm not the rule.

My main issue is that, if games get their own proper award show, is who's going to be judging?

Game developers? They have to play Skyward sword, skyrim, Saints row, Arkham City and properly judge them? With what time? At who's expense?
 
I'm surprised anyone thinks the VGAs should be anything more than what it is — a spectacle and marketing/advertising opportunity for Spike and game publishers. It's about ratings and ad dollars. If you have a serious awards show without spectacle and marketing then no one watches and no TV network airs it. And having been to at least one of those before (AIAS awards) I can say that those are also boring. I went to one hosted by Kids in the Hall's/NewsRadio's Dave Foley. ... awful.
 
SuperPac said:
I'm surprised anyone thinks the VGAs should be anything more than what it is — a spectacle and marketing/advertising opportunity for Spike and game publishers. It's about ratings and ad dollars. If you have a serious awards show without spectacle and marketing then no one watches and no TV network airs it. And having been to at least one of those before (AIAS awards) I can say that those are also boring. I went to one hosted by Kids in the Hall's/NewsRadio's Dave Foley. ... awful.
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I agree with this. There are serious-minded video game awards like AIAS. If you want to put one of them on TV at prime time, you have to pander to whatever demographic the advertisers think will *actually* turn on their TVs and watch that kind of show. I doubt that more than a handful of people would actually sit there and watch a boring video game awards show with devs giving rambling, long speeches.

To me the VGA outrage on GAF and other places is similar to the outrage at crappy sites like IGN. It's not like there isn't at least smart games writing available, but the reality is that it's too boring for most people to actually read. So instead everyone actually reads the top 10 lists, then bitches about why there are so many top 10 lists, etc...
 
I agree with what all of you are saying, right up until the point where they teabag a developer on stage.
 
mik said:
I agree with what all of you are saying, right up until the point where they teabag a developer on stage.
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But.... but... but... is on SPIKE. I'm surprised they didn't do it to Miyamoto.

Watching the VGAs and expecting class is like going to McDonalds and expecting high cuisine.

"Where's the Creme Fraiche with my Fries?"

I would imagine if someone is going to take this task seriously, the categories would have to be change to focus into the making of games in combination to their reception.

In other words, say good bye to "best 360 game" award, and say welcome to "Best achievement for interactive media in third person".
 
We just need to turn game developers into stars. Reality TV stars.

Molyneux and Miyamoto in Big Brother.
 
Sewart's right about the first boss in Zelda. It only took me two attempts to get through it, but as an opening encounter it was strangely tricky.
 
Great episode! Thanks team!

Mario Kart squadron play sounds really fun. I wish there were more team options in MK7.

Really enjoyed it, except for the times when Greg kept on eating, and talking with his mouth full. Pretty gross!
 
mik said:
I agree with what all of you are saying, right up until the point where they teabag a developer on stage.
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That's the depressing part, how we have arrived at a point where all marketing geared towards 15-30 year old males has to be so dumbfuck stupid, so completely devoid of any humor or wit whatsoever. So, you end up with Felicia Day eating cupcakes and dudes teabagging developers for no reason.

While I don't fault them for trying to be realistic about what it takes to actually get an audience to tune in and watch a video game awards show, it's depressing that it has to be so goddam tacky.
 
Just finished this week episode.

The first boss in Skyward Sword did seem out of place.
The ones that I've fought (so far) after it seemed significantly easier. They were certainly way less frustrating. It's not that the first boss was particularly hard, I think it just wants you to do stuff that you're totally not used to doing yet. I can see it being a major block to a lot of gamers outside of people like us who post on video game forums.

Also, yay, the pillows this week! It's nice to recognize things!...
All these nostalgic songs make me feel old.
 
I really like the first boss in Zelda. The game gradually teaches you to use the sword over the course of a few hours by slowly amping up the enemy encounters: first you fights bats, which you can just hit any-which way, then you fight blobs which must be slashed a specific way but you can kind of fudge it a little, then plants that must be slashed the correct way or they don't take damage, then the red guys who defend more quickly, then the skeleton who necessitates diagonal strikes because he can block with two swords, and finally the boss as a test of your sword knowledge. There isn't even the threat of death if you mess up during the first phase of the boss; you simply have to try again until you can get past his defenses. If you somehow mess up, there are a ton of pots around the room and the game gives you two bottles filled with potions before you even enter the first dungeon. I think that trial by fire is a fairly good way of making sure the player has a firm grasp on the core mechanic of the game, and I greatly prefer it to the robot ghost telling me how to do everything.
 
nckillthegrimace said:
I really like the first boss in Zelda. The game gradually teaches you to use the sword over the course of a few hours by slowly amping up the enemy encounters: first you fights bats, which you can just hit any-which way, then you fight blobs which must be slashed a specific way but you can kind of fudge it a little, then plants that must be slashed the correct way or they don't take damage, then the red guys who defend more quickly, then the skeleton who necessitates diagonal strikes because he can block with two swords, and finally the boss as a test of your sword knowledge. There isn't even the threat of death if you mess up during the first phase of the boss; you simply have to try again until you can get past his defenses. If you somehow mess up, there are a ton of pots around the room and the game gives you two bottles filled with potions before you even enter the first dungeon. I think that trial by fire is a fairly good way of making sure the player has a firm grasp on the core mechanic of the game, and I greatly prefer it to the robot ghost telling me how to do everything.
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I must just be super slow at learning because even after that boss fight, I didn't feel like I learned how to sword fight properly. It wasn't until I fought the guys with the lightning swords that I really felt that I had a firm grasp on it.

I don't feel there was enough leading up to the first boss to make me get used to the fighting. And when I was on the boss, I felt a lot of frustration with things like how fast I can move without it registering as a swing and how much I actually have to make a swing motion. It made me feel that the Wii Motion Plus was very imprecise. I know that the error in that fight was me now, but at the time it felt to me like I was doing everything right but the game just wasn't reading it correctly.

But I fully accept that I just suck at video games. I just have to wonder if other more casual players would encounter the issues I did. If I didn't love Zelda as a series, I may have quit the game right there.

I love the game despite that fight though.

EDIT: Also, I'm not saying I want the sword spirit thingy to tell me everything. I just think I should have been given more time to become accustomed to the fighting mechanic before being thrown into a fight like that.
 
So Tomb Raider Underworld is not good, huh? Disappointing, I was look forward to playing it. That Lara Croft downloadable game was one of my favorite games last year.
 
Massa said:
So Tomb Raider Underworld is not good, huh? Disappointing, I was look forward to playing it. That Lara Croft downloadable game was one of my favorite games last year.
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No, it's actually pretty good.
It's just a bit more janky than Legend and Anniversary.

And he compared it to Uncharted as well. Ugh.
Tomb Raider has 90% puzzles/platforming and 10% shooting, Uncharted is the opposite.
 
Massa said:
So Tomb Raider Underworld is not good, huh? Disappointing, I was look forward to playing it. That Lara Croft downloadable game was one of my favorite games last year.
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Was really surprised to hear him say that, I've been in agreement with many of his comments on the podcast, but he is -way- off on Underworld. Quite enjoyed that game, not as good as Anniversary, but definitely an improvement over Legend.

I can understand not enjoying the Tomb Raider brand of 'puzzle platforming over action' but to call it downright shit? Wut?
 
It just feels really archaic in design now--and I loved the series forever. Lining up jumps and ponderously and laboriously clambering around the environment doesn't really appeal anymore, having played a game where all of that is so much more streamlined (though I'm sure you could also say "dumbed down").

I know the comparison between the two series is pretty superficial, and it isn't outright shit. I was definitely being somewhat hyperbolic for effect. But I really can't go back to playing that now.
 
mik said:
It just feels really archaic in design now--and I loved the series forever. Lining up jumps and ponderously and laboriously clambering around the environment doesn't really appeal anymore, having played a game where all of that is so much more streamlined (though I'm sure you could also say "dumbed down").

I know the comparison between the two series is pretty superficial, and it isn't outright shit. I was definitely being somewhat hyperbolic for effect. But I really can't go back to playing that now.
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IMO there's nothing archaic about it. It's just two completely different things. Like, say, the difference between playing Street Fighter IV or a QTE of two people fighting in Heavy Rain. Visually it might look like the same thing, but it really isn't.

It's fine if you don't like that type of gameplay, but there's nothing inherently worse about it than Uncharted's platforming. The platforming doesn't serve the same role in the two games.
 
Aww, I was sort of hoping for a bit more Skyward Sword talk this week. I was enjoying hearing about things as I got to them, but now I'm past you jerks.
I don't really think you're jerks!

Dragonball theme this week for the break was another hit of nostalgia.

Also, I don't know why but I couldn't stop laughing at "Nobunga". I didn't know how to explain it to my coworkers so I just put my head down and tried to ignore the looks.

Another great episode of greatness. I got more laughs out of this episode than some of the comedy podcasts I listen to.
 
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