Joystiq Podcast 049 - Ruined edition

by Justin McElroy { May 9th 2008 at 2:00PM }

Ludwig returns from his self-imposed exile this week and decides to take the intro for his very own as a "welcome back" gift to himself. Then Chris ruins the show twice in like the first fifteen minutes, breaking his own personal record.

We've also got game news discussion, your emails and some of the first entries from the "Now You're A Songwriter" contest. Oh, and big ups to Wesley Johnson of the JPAG for the Photoshoppage.

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Hosts: Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann and Justin McElroy

Music: "Get Ready for Love" by Nick Cave and a surprise.

For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group

For the "Now You're a Songwriter" Contest: The instrumental version of "Now You're a Hero."

See all of this week's links after the jump.

NEWZ:
EA announces Fight Night Round 4 (with Mike Tyson!)
LittleBigPlanet slated for October (Also no beta)
Killzone 2 dated February 2009
GTA IV snatches $500 million in first week
Rock Band Track Pack Vol. 1 coming to PS2, Wii this July

BIG THREE:
3. A guided tour of the Nintendo Channel
2. Colbert none too pleased about loss to Miyamoto
1. Doom 4 announced, id Software hiring

The "Now You're A Songwriter" Contest: 1. Download the instrumental. 2. Rewrite the song with your own lyrics over it about your favorite video game moment. 3 Submit your official entry here. Get the official rules here.

Tags: joystiqpodcast

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

James Lockwood @ May 9th 2008 1:20PM

I say this every time, but some of you STILL aren't listening to me! JPAG: Joystiq.com Podcast Appreciation Group.

The podcast is made available to Facebook group users TWO HOURS earlier than to you rif-raf. TWO HOURS - that's such a considerable margin, I used the Caps key when writing it!

Come on, guys. I know you like to cruise 'round your hood with this blaring out of yo' speakers, so imagine being the first homieboy on your street to play this ish out loud. You'd get mad-looks. Hella-cool...

Ok, I'm not convincing you, so how about begging? We need to beat the Buzz Out Loud Facebook group BEFORE Joystiq's 50th show. We only need another 30 members - if you've got Facebook, sign up now. Yeah, I know - gurls might see it on your profile. But come on, Joystiq - it sounds French. So you can tell them you speak French. French is the language of love.

The Joystiq Facebook group WILL GET YOU LAID.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 9th 2008 2:12PM

Interesting proposal but I submit to you the following...

-I work Monday-Friday. Facebook is blocked, Joystiq is not. And since I listen to podcasts at work, obtaining the ability to listen to this podcast a full two hours before it goes live on the site is hardly incentive enough. Especially considering I wouldn't have access anyway until the afternoon defeating previous point.

-Get us laid, huh? Fat chicks who are into elves and shit? I wouldn't fuck them with the torch of Gondor.

-Dude, I get enough odd locks as I'm cranking anything from M-Flo to Basement Jaxx. Car time is not talk time.

Donald @ May 9th 2008 2:30PM

Here's my proposal: A Care Bear Stare.

Zertoss @ May 9th 2008 3:31PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZzP_69ZTFk

Eleniel @ May 9th 2008 11:38PM

"Get us laid, huh? Fat chicks who are into elves and shit? I wouldn't fuck them with the torch of Gondor."

This is why many women don't read Joystiq. Misogynist assholes with outdated stereotypes.

Fortunately the JPAG is 100% asshole-free.

aggrazel @ May 9th 2008 2:24PM

Can I have your watch when you are dead?

Mike @ May 9th 2008 2:46PM

oh snap - I was just talking about hoagies on the atari post earlier today!

Oh well, I'm gonna go have a glass of wudder.

Brucie B @ May 9th 2008 3:12PM

Nice Picture of the 'Dork Squad'

Vegnagun bwf @ May 9th 2008 4:39PM

Comedy Central Presents...

D_Average @ May 9th 2008 3:26PM

Nice intro!!!!

Jonathan Ziebell @ May 9th 2008 3:28PM

Whats the big deal about the 50th episode? Its just an arbitrary number. I would think Episode 52 would be a bigger deal, since (assuming you havent skipped any weeks) that would mean you have been doing Podcasts for one entire trip around the sun!

Ok, I guess that is still pretty arbitrary.

Donald @ May 9th 2008 3:36PM

It's because round numbers rule.

born2kill @ May 9th 2008 3:34PM

To Chris: Stand your ground man. Youre right that GTA is wwaaaaaay overrated. Its just GTA 3 with alot more polish and nothing more. 8.7-9.0?? yea probably...perfect 10.0?? hells no.

To Justin: The narrative is nothing special at all. 90% is "i got a problem, go solve it"..and the rest is paper thin relationships w/ characters who are pretty meh... If you want a great narrative, look at Silent Hill 2 or Dreamfall/Longest Journey.

And the city is nice for what it is, but its not anywhere near as exciting as its been made out to be. Character models constantly repeat, those funny moments that people were talking about (like running from the rain) are scarce and only funny the first time you see them, the .1% of the buildings you can actually enter have nothing interesting to offer (kat williams sucks, the mini games are awful), and just in general it does absolutely no justice to new york city at all. They picked maybe a dozen landmarks and a dozen specific ethnic neighboorhoods to put in the right place and the other 90% of the city is absolutely wrong and filled in randomly it seems.

ChooChooCharlie (MK 0430-8740-2222) @ May 9th 2008 6:55PM

Why must you poop on my party?

- I'll give you the fact that it's not a perfect 10, but it is a lot of fun and certainly not a disappointment to many of the people who bought it. I think it's one of first extremely high rated games (9-10) in a while that hasn't disappointed me on some level (I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed and Twilight Princess).

- As far as the narrative, it's not so much the missions it's conveyed in (and you're right, they are very repetitive), but the spoken dialogue between characters. A lot of the voice acting is very good and many of the characters have some pretty funny one-liners. Sure, the story isn't the apex of modern literature, but, for a videogame, it's pretty damn good and contains a few good twists here and there.

- The funny moments you mentioned are a lot more prevalent than you're saying though. The physics engine alone accounts for half of them. The majority of the others are a little more subtle (radio station banter, strangers' cell phone conversations, etc.)

- As far as the resemblance to actual New York, though, to an outsider, I'd say they are pretty damn close. I've only been to New York once and my memory isn't great, but from what I do remember - they have captured it perfectly. I kind of wish I did live there so that I could see my city in the game - even if there are some flaws. Hearing you say that it isn't that accurate though is actually kind of surprising - I thought I read somewhere that they actually went around taking pictures to recreate the majority of the city in the game. Oh well, probably would have been too much work.

born2kill @ May 9th 2008 9:19PM

I'm not pooping on your party if you think its a great game, because it definitely is. I just strongly disagree, like Chris, that theres anything revolutionary or groundbreaking about it. The missions are pretty much the same as they've been for all the games. The dialogue is alright. Some parts its great, thought short (like vlad and brucie are cool) but other parts its annoying (the jamaicans and all the irish guys) and uninspired (all the italian sopranos wannabees). I found myself not wanting to help most of these guys w/ their problems, cause they are not likeable at all.

The physics engine I think is also very overstated. Its still basically rag doll physics w/ just a couple of new behaviors mixed in. Its good enough for the game, but its nothing special; much less "mindblowing" as its been called. Saints Row had just as good a physics engine and I didnt hear reviewers kissing ass like they are w/ the Euphoria people.

I live in NYC and have been wanting a next gen simulation of it, so I was extremely dissapointed by how shallow this rendition was (especially considering that Rockstars corp. offices are here in NYC). From the reviews, I wouldve thought there would be tons of recognizable places besides the major landmarks, but unfortunatly there are very very few, and some noticeable places are missing/or presented very incorrectly. Most of all, so much is extremely under represented in the game. For example, Central Park is about fifty blocks; its has like 8 lakes, a zoo, 2 skating rinks, theaters, playgrounds, massive trees, historical statues left and right, etc...... Middle Park is 6-7 blocks and has crap in it. I have a crappy little third rate park by my house thats bigger and has more going on than Middle park. And again, Liberty City is very good for what it is and I praise Rockstar for the great job theyve done, but any comparisons to the real New York are beyond ridiculous. It captures some superficial aspects, but it comes nowhere near a realistic depiction at all. Driver: Parallel lines, I think did much better job capturing NYC but that too left so much to be desired.

Ronshatmycarl @ May 11th 2008 2:56PM

Yeah Chris maybe after you have an astounding TWO HOURS of play time you still be able to say that it is overrated.

With Luddy's amazing intro it's official-FIRE JUSTIN MACELROY. Just kidding J-mac

Marek Hryc @ May 9th 2008 4:12PM

Nice Pootie Tang reference Justin.
Scary thing... I just started playing Solitaire again like last week. That song freaked me out.

superbagman @ May 9th 2008 4:15PM

Chris, thanks for actually pronouncing my last name correctly in the brush with fame. You would not believe how often it gets mangled.

Plus, after having my copy of GTA4 stolen out of my mail, it was super awesome to win another copy. Trust me, the irony of having Grand Theft Auto STOLEN is not lost on me...

butaneko @ May 9th 2008 4:26PM

Chris,

Where are you from in North Jersey? Those Philly accents saying 'back home' killed me when I went to school in New Brunswick.

Christopher Grant @ May 9th 2008 6:31PM

You went to school in New Brunswick too? WEE-E-IRD. It's like looking in a mirror.

I grew up in a small burg called Long Valley, in Morris County. Heard of it?

Eleniel @ May 9th 2008 11:39PM

Rutgers?

butaneko @ May 10th 2008 2:03AM

Of course not, that's the boonies. I'm from Bergen County, near Paramus.

Yep Rutgers for me.

Wesley Johnson @ May 9th 2008 6:31PM

woo! my picture was used. i shall download and promptly listen to this jam.

livefromphiladelphia @ May 9th 2008 7:08PM

http://www.brighams.com/ice_cream/facts.asp

I've always called them jimmies and didn't know they were referred to as anything else until I went to college.

Nesta @ May 10th 2008 7:04AM

I can't believe no one has commented on the ending song. That was fantastic! Winner of the contest right there.

wesley johnson @ May 10th 2008 12:49PM

curious ... do you all have to get permission for the music you use since you only play a few seconds of it? i ask as i'm going to eventually launch a podcast and am under the impression you can legally play a few seconds of a song without getting permission.

J.Goodwin @ May 10th 2008 5:40PM

Ludwig intro: Fully loaded with awesome.

sg @ May 13th 2008 5:03AM

Been listening to the last few podcasts. Just a suggestion, when you guys are clearing your throat, snorting up snot, or making any other miscellaneous mouth noises, can you guys make an effort to mute your mics? I'm listening with headphones, so it's like someone is snorting/coughing right into my ears. Thanks.