Games Industry Podcast - Episode 14

[Ashlann]

In this episode: The Big Graphics Debate, Ashlann on MMO, Stefaan on the Wii, More on CoD:MW

[Ashlann]

Recorded: Thursday, December 2nd 2009

Episode 14: Get it on iTunes now!

In This Episode:

• Recent Game Play and demos
• More on CoD:MW2
• The Graphics debate: How important is your GPU? What effect are consoles having on the graphics evolution?
• Two dirty secrets from Ashlann and Father -- what are we hiding?

Direct Link:
Download here (37M mp3 - Right Click, Save As - PC)

Credits:

Music in first break written/recorded by Fox. (Thank you!)

Guitar in second break "Sliding Mojo" written and performed by Ashlann.

Notes from Father and Ashlann

We'd like to again encourage all our listeners to send in their feedback to us on our email address:



Feel free to send in audio questions for us to play on future casts as well

Regards,

Ashlann & Father

[Atrayo]

Hello Ashlann & Father,

I enjoyed the music contributed by Fox in the first break segment.

As to that Attorney General Atkinson in Australia. He's going to keep pushing those buttons against the games industry in Oz. Since now he has gotten a better foothold in banning that other game title. (Left4dead 2) So he's going to milk this cow for what its worth as a wedge issue.

(By a wedge issue I mean: flag burning, gay marriage, abortion, Intelligent Design taught in public schools. Some of these points are more centric to the US however.)

Politicians would rather push a wedge issue than focus on the core bread and butter issues facing their citizens. It's busy work and its easy for them to score popularity points during an election campaign season. They may care very little about the fuss that is caused regarding the wedge issue. As long as they're ahead in the polls or what not. Yes, i may sound like a pessimist however it is a tactic i've seen used time and again by government officials on a National stage.

Moving further along when Ashlann mentioned he started as a MMO Virgin with "Guild Wars". From a cost perspective without having to pay a subscription fee this may be a good introduction to a Fantasy Mmorpg. But yet again their are many more F2P MMO's out there for MMOG virgins.

I at one point played "Guild Wars". Where I found the graphics mediocre and the game heavily instanced for my personal tastes. I lasted less than a month within it and only purchased one part of the trilogy.

Glad to hear that next weeks topic will be F2P MMO's with Ariya. She's also in Belgium where Father's brother "Feesless" is also located. (Yes, i know Father is an ex-pat Belgium in Oz)

[Ashlann]

Thanks as always, Atrayo!

Yes, episode 15 with Ariya is very nearly completed and will be available for download later today Keep your eyes open!

[Ariya]

MMO virgin ... don't believe him. Ash is a pro healer !

Thanks for the great times we had so far on Guild Wars, for being my personal reminder if I forget to talk to the npc when we enter an instance, and for seeing the humour in it when I get lost on a map once more. Haha, makes you wonder who is the mmo virgin here.

[Nimbus2k]

Hi Ashlan and Father

Hope you and other TOG members had a safe Christmas break. Have just finished lisitening to No 14 podcast. High-fives to you both for the improvements in each podcast.

Comments on your discussion of R18+ rating proposal. I fully support the introduction a new R18+ classification but Atkinson's comments do have some merit and really apply to younger players and not seasoned gamers such as yourself. You're right to say game scenes like the terrorist shooting in COD:MW2 do not effect you but 9-15yos (for example) do not yet have the moral development to see such scenes as you see them. This, in part is how censors view content. My concerns are that Atkinson is leaving the Industry without a R18+ option rather than the content of his comments.

Great to see you've purchased a Wii and says a lot for your view of where you want the podcasts to stand. I think you both may have missed the mark about who this console is targetted for. You both admit you are graphics hogs (or was that whores) and so are bias at the get-go. With that criteria you can only be but disappointed in the Wii. Games like Mario Galaxy and Zelda are family orientated and receive great reviews as well. Those reviews are based on broader criteria than just graphics which I feel your initial intro to the Wii missed totally. I have had so much fun with my kids over the years with similar games. What about gameplay, enjoyment, socialability etc as well. I encourage you to think more broadly when reveiwing. Afterall, the title of the podcast is 'Games Industry' and not '2 blokes into games with cutting edge graphics'. As an older gamer the shear fun of RE4 can not be denied but can never stack up against the graphics of any PS3/Xbox 360 game.

The whole graphics debate is a toughy. Is a game you may loved and rated as 9/10 two years ago no longer worthy of that rating now? If you say no then does that deny the enjoyability you had back then or perhaps you were just plain wrong two years again??

Off to listen to eps 15


Regards

Nimbus2k
Mike

[Ashlann]

Thanks for your comments, Nimbus2k!

Originally Posted by Nimbus2k

Great to see you've purchased a Wii and says a lot for your view of where you want the podcasts to stand. I think you both may have missed the mark about who this console is targetted for. You both admit you are graphics hogs (or was that whores) and so are bias at the get-go. With that criteria you can only be but disappointed in the Wii. Games like Mario Galaxy and Zelda are family orientated and receive great reviews as well. Those reviews are based on broader criteria than just graphics which I feel your initial intro to the Wii missed totally.

I certainly agree that the Wii is not marketed to people who crave high-end graphics, and I refer to comments I made in an earlier cast where I clearly recognised the market audience of the Wii. It is a great console for its target audience, and I have even had a good play on some of the 'crowd pleasers' - It's not something I got a lot out of, but certainly appreciate/understand its place in the 'entertainment' hardware market!

Originally Posted by Nimbus2k

Is a game you may loved and rated as 9/10 two years ago no longer worthy of that rating now? If you say no then does that deny the enjoyability you had back then or perhaps you were just plain wrong two years again??

Certainly a game rated highly still retains its rating. ie: For me, Far Cry is still one of the best games I've ever played, as are the earlier Half Life series. Console: Abe's Exxodus & Oddsee are still superb entertainers, but definitely suffered the port to PC when I purchased them through Steam recently.

But it's an interesting thread of thought - how much of game enjoyment is gleaned from the graphical immersion, and how much from the story/game-play et al? I might try to find a way to take a look at this topic next season!

Cheers,
Ashlann

[Jakob_Pavlov]

Another good one guys.

Obviously (see epidsode 12!) I haven't played MW2, but I was interested to hear Fathers comments on the storyline. Certainly tied in with the description I heard on another podcast ("Gamers with Jobs" - excellent by the way) of the storyline in MW2 being along the lines of "a 13 year old with attention deficit disorder describing a Tom Clancy novel"

I think it's a sign of a good 'cast that at numerous points I felt a strong urge to join in the conversation.
Keep up the good work,
Jakob

[Ashlann]

As always - thank Jakob=)

[Father]

So Jakob did u cave in and got MW2 since?