The Moeversity Episode

[fishbang]

You can apply for enrollment at Moeversity here (http://ingamechat.net/audio/IGC20090714.mp3).

We’d like to start off this week by recognizing a tragic gap in our schedule. Show content that should have been provided at the usual place and time more than a week ago simply wasn’t, and for once it wasn’t due to a real-world conflict or a disagreement with our server hosts. As a matter of fact, we’re not entirely sure what happened, but we can divulge that somewhere between the recording of the episode and its transmission onto the internet, the contents were completely erased.

Scott and Jeremy made valiant efforts at forensic reconstruction, but in the end nothing could be done, and we opted to simply mourn the loss while waiting for the next recording session to come around. For what it’s worth - and this is for the small contingent who seem to appreciate the show titles - it would have been The Underpillaged Episode, and I can assure you the content was above-average.

As for this week, in lieu of having Jeremy in his normal place due to work or family or something, we’ve decided to present you with our very favorite Moe of all time - he of walks in the park and Beef Wellington fame - long known and oft-referenced by the show hosts. We’d also like to note that this is Matt’s last episode for a long minute as he has now flown out to the sand to make bombs on which CoGers may display greetings and words of wisdom for our nation’s enemies.

[kyrieee]

Trine has different publishers on different platforms which is the reason behind the price difference.
Also, bad NVGs 80$:
http://www.amazon.com/EyeClops-Vision-Infrared-Stealth-Goggles/dp/B00153F5QA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1247778543&sr=8-1

Good NVGs 10,495$:
http://www.atncorp.com/units/nightvision/nightvisiongogglesandbinoculars/atnps15_4

[Zecon]

I just listened to half of the show (will finish it later) but I see that someone(sorry bad with matching names to voices ><) is having the same problem with battlefield 1943 that I am. I have spent a good 10 hours or so playing and have yet to win a single match. No one ever want to capture points, and when they do, no one is there for backup. I've been trying like hell to get my bro to get this, so I can at least have 1 person to back me up.
My favorite moment so far was when an enemy hopped out of his tank and jumped into our plane while I was just down the runway a little bit. His wheels just left the ground when he flew by me and I smacked him down with a rocket, it was great.

[graboids]

Thanks, for the comments on my drawings this week, and thanks for the show in general. Kind of surreal to have my art mentioned on one of the podcasts I listen to while I am doing the art.... for those looking here is my blog, where I post all my new pieces: bryaneward.blogspot.com (http://bryaneward.blogspot.com).

As for the rest of the show, I agree with James comments on 1943, seems like a lot of people dont get how to play BF, and sometimes it seems like me and my friends in my squad are taking all the flags ourselves while the other 8 players on the team are playing team death match. But once in a while you get someone randomly who actually knows what they are doing, and shockingly will even wait for you to get in a boat before they drive off... my biggest complaint about the game to this point is the fact that it seems to love taking one guy every other round from my squad and XBL party and drop him on the other team, even though we are in a private squad and have played the previous round together, which results in that guy having to suicide to join our team again, basically costing him 10 points because the game screwed up. Other than that its a great replacement for BFBC which was getting a little old.
________
Amateur british (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/47/british/videos/1)

[lucklesswonder]

A couple things. [Mass Effect 2 SPOILER] I saw an E3 video from BioWare, and I remember them saying that the destruction of the Normandy was only a possible ending, not a definite one. For which I am glad. That is a badass ship.

I'm upgrading my PC, and I plan on getting ME2 for that platform. My question, is the first Mass Effect worth playing on the PC? I've gone through two playthroughs on the 360, but I wouldn't be opposed to another go. I've heard the DRM really sucks.

[Suave Peanut]

My favorite part was the Alabama/Auburn discussion. I think one has to be from this state to get it, but it cannot be overstated what a big deal college football is here. (Meanwhile, I am apathetic, which people really do have difficulty understanding.)

For example: all of the local GameStops, when they take preorders for the annual NCAA titles, ask the preference "Alabama or Auburn?" and keep a tally of Alabama preorders vs. Auburn preorders that they post in the store.

[Suave Peanut]

Also, re: the listener who mentioned the live broadcasts, the InGameChat.net site does still have a "Listen Live!" link in the banner.

[Straximus]

Also, re: the listener who mentioned the live broadcasts, the InGameChat.net site does still have a "Listen Live!" link in the banner.

Yeah... I'd love to get rid of that. I don't have the source image, just the JPEG. Maybe Scott can get up with artist for us.

[Psykoboy2]

Yeah, we'll get that changed. Probably replace it with a twitter link.

[Ravenlock]

Just finished listening. Don't know if you've played it yet, Scott, but allow me to rephrase my position on Indiana Jones & The Staff of Kings (and maybe Indy in general):

This is not a good game.

It's really just not. The level design is bland at best and offensive at worst, the combat is clunky, the incessant waggling is really annoying, and aside from a couple of mildly clever puzzles the whole thing just feels tedious.

BUT: it could have made a great movie. Really, with a tweaked script, it could have been up there with the first three films. I'll spoiler the next paragraph in case somebody doesn't want to read it (but honestly, you should just Youtube the cutscenes and skip playing the game anyhow):

In the course of the plot, Indy runs around a giant Mayan soccer field dodging out of the way of boulders in what feels like an ancient temple-themed game of Rollerball, rides down a waterfall on top of a giant stone replica of Moses' basket of reeds, and then chases the Staff of Kings-wielding Nazi bad guy down the riverbed of a parted river on a motorcycle, as the waters crash back together behind them.

Tell me that shit couldn't have been fantastic on screen.

And playing this game, watching the not-very-Harrison Ford-looking player model with the only-kind-of-Harrison Ford-sounding voice actor, made me realize - there's no reason for these films to be tied to Harrison Ford. Yes, he absolutely made the character, but no moreso than Sean Connery made James Bond, and obviously other actors have worked in that role. I think Crystal Skull made it very clear that 60-year old Indy isn't the Indy anybody wants to see. And I certainly don't want to watch Shia LaBeouf in the Adventures of Mutt Jones. Let's get another actor in there (or maybe start making animated films?) and get some more serial adventure, Indy vs. Nazis stories everyone can love again. The guys who made Staff of Kings knew how to tell an Indy story, even if they didn't know how to make a game.

My initial suggestion? Hugh Jackman. Take his character from Australia, throw a leather jacket on him and remove the accent (which we know he can do, he's Wolverine) and you're practically done. I'm open to other ideas, though.

[lucklesswonder]

If they took the character away from Ford, I'm not sure if I could watch it. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. I can't separate the two in my mind. Besides, a sixty-year-old Indy who still looks somewhat sturdy is better than the decrepit, one-eyed, eighty-year-old Indy who was left to reminisce in line at the doctor's office to some stranger with a fear of needles.

I know I've mentioned it before, but I really hate the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

[Ravenlock]

Well, like I said, the other option would be to make some animated adventures. There's plenty of solid voice actors who can sound like Ford.

I just feel like there's probably a whole lot of people out there with good Indiana Jones story ideas - I've seen at least two of them now in videogames with Fate of Atlantis and Staff of Kings (and was Emperor's Tomb any good? never played through that one...) - and the character shouldn't die with Ford's inability to portray him on screen anymore.

And I'd be fine with letting those stories be told by videogames, if they want to make non-shitty videogames. But they don't seem to be into that right now. ;)

[lucklesswonder]

Emperor's Tomb wasn't bad. The whole Action/Adventure/Platformer/Brawler thing. Reminded me a little of Tomb Raider, just didn't feel nearly as clunky. Plus, there was the whip.

I could get behind some animated adventures. Also, I just read through Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Gods. Neat, four-issue comic series from Dark Horse. Sort of Indy meets Call of Cthulu (an idea I crave more of). I recommend it.

Interesting aside. Max McCoy's Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx (one of the worse Indy prequels) has Indy going after the Staff of Aaron. I just think it's funny that Staff of Kings is about him finding the Staff of Moses, Aaron's brother.

[Psykoboy2]

I wish I could find it, but I remember reading a one strip story that started with Han and Chewie crashing on a jungle planet. Then it fast forwarded showing Indy finding this large...well, some type of spaceship covered in jungle vines and trees. It played out a hell of a lot better than I can tell it, but it was awesome.

[Psykoboy2]

And here's exactly what I am talking about (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Into_the_Great_Unknown).

[lucklesswonder]

In Star Wars Tales, Vol. 5. Looks like I'm taking another trip to the comic shop.

[Psykoboy2]

Or pick it up from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Tales-Vol-5/dp/1593072864) and support CoG.

[Doogie2K]

You guys were talking about the Player Lock feature (I think it's called), and it sounds exactly like the Be A Pro mode in NHL 09, and if that's the case, then I think it'll catch on just fine. If people can live with being a hockey player who typically gets 15 minutes on the ice a night, and even has to watch from the penalty box when they get whistled, then they should be okay with being a college football player who gets closer to 30 minutes on the field. All the CoG hockey fans with the game love the mode, from what I can tell.

[Iron Past]

Hearing de Blob mentioned I have to post. I just picked it up on sale, and it is certainly a charming, cute and fun platformer, but is also firmly in the category of "Wish it was on another platform." Not having a second analogue stick hurts it at times, but not nearly as much as the asinine decision to put jump on the shake command. It makes it very unresponsive and inexact, and makes the otherwise fun gameplay very frustrating (occasionally). I'll hold out small hope that it might appear on PSN/XBLA, where I'd definitely buy it again.

[Ravenlock]

Hearing de Blob mentioned I have to post. I just picked it up on sale, and it is certainly a charming, cute and fun platformer, but is also firmly in the category of "Wish it was on another platform." Not having a second analogue stick hurts it at times, but not nearly as much as the asinine decision to put jump on the shake command. It makes it very unresponsive and inexact, and makes the otherwise fun gameplay very frustrating (occasionally). I'll hold out small hope that it might appear on PSN/XBLA, where I'd definitely buy it again.

As the guy who recommended it... I agree. Sigh.

There's absolutely no reason for motion control to be in de Blob, at all. And mapping jump, of all things, to shaking the Wiimote was a horrible choice.

I didn't feel that it ruined the game, and still had a great time with it on the whole; it's a whimsical and really very creative platformer with tons of neat touches. It feels like it belongs on a Nintendo platform, and I think everyone with a Wii should play it. I stand by my recommendation. But yes, the use of motion control hurts it rather than helps it, and it's a shame.

[Psykoboy2]

Indy talk

You think I would enjoy it any better playing the PS2 version?

[Ravenlock]

You think I would enjoy it any better playing the PS2 version?

Well, they can't have improved the level design much, but obviously the waggle will be gone and that might be a benefit. Though I'll be honest and confess that whipping with the Wiimote, at least, does feel good. Snagging a guy by the neck and dragging him into your fists is probably not as satisfying with a button press.

Several of the "mini-game" sections were essentially light-gun shooting galleries that seemed specifically designed for the Wii's IR pointer, so I don't know whether those are even in the PS2 version, and if they are I can't imagine they work very well there. But then, there was a biplane-flying minigame with the Wiimote as a flight stick that was AWFUL (though blessedly short) and that's probably much better with analog control.

So I guess my answer is a solid "maybe". The most frustrating elements of the game to me really didn't have to do with waggle most of the time, and since the worst of the waggling was quick-time event stuff (wave the Wiimote fast to dodge this boulder!), it probably would have bothered me just as much with button mashing. That said, if you want to try the PS2 version I'll be interested to hear how it's different.

[Ravenlock]

Ooo, unrelated, happy Wii note - Klonoa is here from Gamefly! :D

[Rock Bandit]

James wasn't technically wrong about REmake coming out for Wii but the Resident Evil Wii game Matt was asking about is Darkside Chronicles, another rail gun shooter like it's predecessor Umbrella Chronicles, that takes place during the events of RE:2 and RE:CV.

[Dave]

I haven't even finished listening to the episode, as it's like four days long; but I turned this episode on today at the gym and cracked up when I started hearing everyone interact with Moe. You guys have to have him back when Jeremy's there. Ha ha ha!! I'm even laughing about it, as I think about it in retrospect, while I'm writing this. Funny shit guys.

Hopefully I'll get to see you all in a few weeks!