The Trapped In Time Episode

[fishbang]

We’re all out of bubblegum at the following link (http://ingamechat.net/audio/IGC20090512.mp3).

The hosts, much like the subjects in any given Star Trek plot, often find themselves trapped deep in the past. For the trekkers there is often a desperate struggle to return themselves to their natural timeline and the space-time continuum to its natural shape. For us, however, the goal is more and more often to lament the past we’d like to live in. Or, more accurately, to paean for the future that damn well should have been. In both cases, at least, technology is entirely to blame.

Duke Nukem had long been a part of our past, and was forever going to be a part of our future, but the hope is almost certainly gone following the collapse of 3D Realms, and with it go the sad memes and tired punch-lines of a generation. If pending litigation happens to work in gamers’ favor, DN may well reappear in the future like a slain soap opera villain. In the mean time, we’ll exercise our ability to disagree on points regarding Duke which even the internet saw well enough to leave alone.

[Iron Past]

I just don't understand this obsessive need to make every single game co-op. Given, a war based FPS shouldn't be that hard to make it work, but if they want to make a single-player campaign then what's wrong with that? How have they slighted you? You can't possibly play every game that comes out anyway.

It seems like dev houses are finally starting to realize that they don't have to shoe-horn competitive multi-player into every release, but now I feel like I'm going to suffer through another few years of half-baked single-player campaigns because someone either doesn't have the resources or just doesn't want to retool and rebalance the entire campaign. I'm trademarking "Resident Evil 5 Syndrome" for future use related to these discussions.

[Straximus]

I'm pretty sure our discussion of co-op was focused on the Call of Duty series, and Modern Warfare 2 in particular. Because as we've discussed many times on the show in the past, there's plenty of games that simply should not be co-op.

[Count Elmdor]

To what Scott said about COD4 -- to me, the entire COD4 experience was the single player. Leading up to the game's release all the hype was about the trailer showing the ghillie suited guy and previewers talking about the opening sequence that has you in the POV of the unfortunate head of a state that is about to be beheaded. Later, as people played through the game, the talk was all about either the AC-130 "CNN footage" level or the nuke going off and your POV character's death. Don't forget the awesome All Ghillied Up or Mile High Club levels, either.

I played the game on a loan from a friend, and never even ventured into the multiplayer for fear that he'd never get the disc back, so that probably has something to do with it, too. Certainly the game's multiplayer has had a lot to do with its staying power in the popular gaming consciousness, but a large part of it's initial impact that was parlayed into that dedicated playerbase was due to the kickass campaign.

[Iron Past]

I'm pretty sure our discussion of co-op was focused on the Call of Duty series, and Modern Warfare 2 in particular. Because as we've discussed many times on the show in the past, there's plenty of games that simply should not be co-op.

Nah, I was really using your comments as a jumping off point. Plenty of other people want every-damn-thing to be co-op. Like I said, it probably wouldn't be that hard to do it with MW2, but I don't know since there were some pretty big single-player set-pieces in MW1 that I don't think would work with multi-player. If the narrative is structured around the single-player experience then that's where I want it to stay. The response from the dev was a cop out, though, I agree with that.

By the way, I saw on Twitter that you're having a boy, congrats! I know you have another kid, but was it a girl? I forget all those passing comments. Anyway, boys are fun, if a bit of a pain in the ass. Or maybe that's just mine. :p

[Vigil80]

The default abbreviationg for Modern Warfare is going to take some getting used to. Every time I see it, I read Mechwarrior. Undue excitement then ensues, with realization and disappointment hot on its heels.

CoD trades on short, intense experiences for their single player, but multiplayer is without a doubt what gives this series its legs and replayability. For every person I've seen mention that they didn't take the game online, I know someone else who never played through the campaign, and did the multi exclusively.

I think one reason so many folks clamor for coop is because it has yet to really be done right. There's been a lot of triple A competitive experiences, but to my knowledge there hasn't been a title people could point to and say, "give me coop like this." I had hoped Army of Two would bring us this experience, but it seemed to fall short of being a shining example.

[Ravenlock]

James is 100% right about Freedom Fighters being a great game.

It's on an honestly pretty short list of "games I finished without cheating or reading a FAQ and was glad I did."

[Straximus]

By the way, I saw on Twitter that you're having a boy, congrats! I know you have another kid, but was it a girl? I forget all those passing comments. Anyway, boys are fun, if a bit of a pain in the ass. Or maybe that's just mine. :p

Thanks! Yeah, I also have a 5 year old little girl, who I don't get to see nearly enough because she lives with her mom. Even so, I'm nervous about having a son, because I've got 5 skill points invested in raising a daughter, and now I have to open a new branch on my skill tree. I understand some of the learned abilities carry over from branch to branch, so we'll see how that goes.

[Iron Past]

Thanks! Yeah, I also have a 5 year old little girl, who I don't get to see nearly enough because she lives with her mom. Even so, I'm nervous about having a son, because I've got 5 skill points invested in raising a daughter, and now I have to open a new branch on my skill tree. I understand some of the learned abilities carry over from branch to branch, so we'll see how that goes.

Ha! As long as you remember that once the diaper is removed all bets are off (http://www.nextag.com/Baby--zzpee-pee+teepeez2700800zB6z5---html), you should be fine. Due to the nature of your post, I must also point to this, which you probably have seen before anyway:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2pqpetg.jpg (http://www.jinx.com/minigeeks/baby/video_games/level_1_human_creeper.html)

PS: That tent was a joke, not an endorsement. :)

[Rock Bandit]

So did anyone else get the secret message when they reversed the backwards talking? I swear it says "Jeremy is a dead man, miss him, miss him." I think we need to look further into that two show "absence".

[Doogie2K]

Quick question for those who have listened: are there any Star Trek spoilers? I was sick opening weekend and hate going to the theatre alone (it's so depressing), so I haven't gotten out to see it yet, and I need to know if I can listen to this or if I have to hold off until I see the movie.

Edit: By the way, my sisters have procreated far more than anyone else that I know, and while there are some...unique challenges to each class of humanchild, success with one generally means you're well-equipped to handle the other -- even more so if you're of the same class yourself. Congrats, Strax.

[Iron Past]

Spoilers?

No, the one time it almost ventured into spoiler territory they pulled some Jedi mind trick editing magic. You'll get more spoiled reading any review. It was... Matt? I just got to the point where I recognize James, Jeremy and Scott's voices, now I have to learn the others. Matt and... I'm drawing a blank, which is ironic since he by far has the most distinctive voice. He could do commercial voice-overs!

[Doogie2K]

No, the one time it almost ventured into spoiler territory they pulled some Jedi mind trick editing magic. You'll get more spoiled reading any review. It was... Matt? I just got to the point where I recognize James, Jeremy and Scott's voices, now I have to learn the others. Matt and... I'm drawing a blank, which is ironic since he by far has the most distinctive voice. He could do commercial voice-overs!

I think you're talking about R.J. He needs to speak more. ;)

Anyway, good to know. I saw one bit...

Time-travelling Romulans WTF

...in the opening paragraph of a newspaper review, then remembered that the newspaper guys were the same motherfuckers that told me Data was going to bite it in Nemesis, and hit back right away.

[lucklesswonder]

the newspaper guys were the same motherfuckers that told me Data was going to bite it in Nemesis

Aw, dammit! I never saw Nemesis.

[Antipode]

Aw, dammit! I never saw Nemesis. Good. Keep it that way. It's a movie version of the worst Star Trek fan fiction ever written.

[kyrieee]

There's a great mod for SWAT 4 called Sheriff's Special Forces (SSF) that you shouldn't play the game without. If you don't have the expansion you can only use versions up to 2.2. It runs separately from SWAT 4 so it doesn't mess with things, but don't forget to patch the game

[Doogie2K]

Aw, dammit! I never saw Nemesis.

Imagine Wrath of Khan, except with forced humour, ridiculous on-ship action sequences, no pathos, no sense of familiarity with (and consequently, no attachment to) the antagonist, no character development, and no dramatic tension. Oh, and replace slug-based mind control with straight up telepathic brain-rape.

[lucklesswonder]

Funny thing is, I actually started watching it. My dad and I are the sci-fi geeks of the family, and it was something we could do/watch together. I'd watched First contact with him, and then watched it a dozen times after that. When Nemesis came to DVD, he and I sat down to watch it, and the movie lost my interest quick.

[lucklesswonder]

James was right about the Clear Skies stuff, too.

"At least he'll help keep the top and bottom wingy bits on."

[Spigot]

I'm still about 30 minutes away from the end of this episode, but good stuff so far.

I'm not sure how much of Thief 3 you guys played, but a) you need to play it on the PC with the hi-res texture pack mod and b) you need to at least get to Shalebridge Cradle. Creepiest level EVER.

And I couldn't help but chuckle during the Infinite Undiscovery discussion. I wish I'd only paid $10 for my copy. I bought it back when it came out hoping it would be something snazzy and... well... it's not.

The game's biggest fault is much as you described. It is very much an everything and the kitchen sink approach to JRPG game design. I kind of liked that approach at first but by the time I gave up trying to wrestle the game, there were so many crazy elements that didn't quite mesh properly with any kind of overarching game design element that it was overwhelming. I would have liked to have seen where the crazy moon on a string plot was going, but it wasn't worth it when I have so many other, better JRPGs to work on.

Of the two experimental Square games released last year, The Last Remnant is a much better game, technical wonkiness aside. It really feels like you're playing a solo WoW raid a lot of the time, but in a good way!