Joystiq Podcast 075 - Slack Friday edition

by Justin McElroy { Nov 28th 2008 at 3:45PM }

It's Black Friday, and we're celebrating by not trying any harder than normal, hence the title. We still manage to do a long one though, with discussion of why we're not sorry for our Wii complaints, Mirror's Edge, Left 4 Dead and an interview with some of the crew from LoadingReadyRun's "Desert Bus For Hope."

Justin would also like to congratulate himself for conning his sister-in-law Teylor Smirl into creating this week's artwork.

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Hosts: Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann and Justin McElroy

Music: "Get Ready for Love" by Nick Cave, "Red Eye" by Ben Kweller

For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group

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

NEWS:

Ubisoft: 'working hard' on Assassin's Creed 2, no release date
Sony: LittleBigPlanet could have been #1 at a different point in the year
Analysts predict holiday sales stinkers
Three content packs coming to Fallout 3 beginning in January
Desert Bus For Hope

...Yes, alright, fine. Here's the link to Justin's old site.

Tags: joystiq-podcast, joystiqpodcast, podcasts

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

rTwelve xbl:Chilblane @ Nov 28th 2008 3:20PM

I saw that when Justin posted it on Twitter, and now I wonder what Pikachu tastes like.

fffunfarm06 @ Nov 28th 2008 3:30PM

thanks for the early link justin.

deaftly @ Nov 28th 2008 3:52PM

Hmm, Master Chief seems to be wearing a bra. I knew it all along!

Marek Hryc @ Nov 28th 2008 4:14PM

It's a BRO.

The Dark Wayne @ Nov 28th 2008 4:24PM

i think you mean a manssiere

Markez @ Nov 28th 2008 6:21PM

Why can't Master Chief be more like Lloyd Braun?!

Marek Hryc @ Nov 28th 2008 6:46PM

Because he drives Jon Voight's Chrysler.

FrankDrebin @ Nov 29th 2008 11:31AM

better then a maroon golf.

Dr. @ Nov 28th 2008 4:16PM

That picture is incredible.

j.howlett @ Nov 28th 2008 4:24PM

poor kazooie.

ogvor @ Nov 28th 2008 4:35PM

What are Gary Busey, John Belushi, and David Wain doing having Thanksgiv... oh wait.

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Nov 29th 2008 8:20PM

That would be an awesome Thanksgiving.

Mike @ Nov 28th 2008 4:37PM

Time to retire the [digg] link, Digg's podcast section is closed.
Good riddance! Who needs them?

Blah @ Nov 28th 2008 4:44PM

awesome pic

you guys should hire a artist like that, since your format is half picture and half article, having someone that could make awesome cartoons would be a sound investment :O

Justin McElroy @ Nov 28th 2008 5:02PM

Cleaned up a bunch of comments. Try to stay on topic, guys and gals.

The Dark Wayne @ Nov 28th 2008 5:05PM

awww gee

Strategy_Panda (the artist formally known as Titanium_Orchid) @ Nov 28th 2008 5:18PM

>:p

j.howlett @ Nov 28th 2008 9:50PM

what i miss? thats what i get for spending time with family, the movie was okay though.

Richard Mitchell @ Nov 28th 2008 5:53PM

What you can't tell by looking at the picture is that Ludwig is sitting on three phone books.

Pedobear @ Nov 28th 2008 6:30PM

Feels like its been a while since a real podcast with everyone.

Mike @ Nov 28th 2008 6:34PM

God the intro voice recording is so shitty. It sounds like it was recorded through a cell phone on the interstate with all the windows down. You can hardly understand half of the things he says. Yeesh.

n0brein @ Nov 28th 2008 7:10PM

I have to disagree with you guys about the story in Mirrors Edge. Don't get me wrong the game is quite good, it's the first game with first person platforming done right but the story is a big pile of shit and since portal no videogame has a excuse to have a good mechanic but a shitty story.
I really like to compare Mirrors Edge to Portal, both are rather short games with a refreshing and new mechanic introduced in the game. But Portal has the really funny and clever story and that's why Mirrors Edge isn't a A+ game.
If it had as iconic, almost cult like elements like the companion cube, GLaDOS or the credits song in Portal it would be a awesome game.
Right now it's nothing more than a pretty tech demo with nice jumping

Justin McElroy @ Nov 28th 2008 7:18PM

Portal didn't have a clever and funny story. Portal had clever jokes, jokes that served as a motivation to keep you playing.

The three things you listed? None of them were story. All were motivation. Mirror's Edge motivates you a different way, but it doesn't mean one has a better "story" than the other.

Dr. @ Nov 28th 2008 7:18PM

No. Please no. Not every game needs to be meme inducing.

n0brein @ Nov 28th 2008 7:35PM

@justin
To me these jokes, the hints to the outside world in the earlier levels and the ending form a story, I'm interested in a second Portal game just to know more about Aperture Science Labs. Portal Still Alive on XBLA doesn't interest me at all because it doesn't add anything to the "story" I had in Portal, it's just some more levels. Mirrors Edge feels a bit like Still Alive, good levels without a power that drives me to finish the game

@Dr.
Not every game has to build up a giant cult but it can have memorable elements, just like Super Mario Bros. had the all the great characters everyone is wearing on their shirts now or the epic worlds in shadow of the colossus. These games will stay in my mind for ever because they had something exceptional.
Mirrors Edge has the jumping stuff, but that's it. The thing we saw in the very first trailer of the game is what we have now, nothing more. I expected more, but maybe I was to hyped up for the game...

fffunfarm06 @ Nov 28th 2008 10:29PM

nobrian

your in idiot. mcelroy knows what he's talking about. ive been playing fallout 3 all day and its catch to keep me vating off these fools is to find my dad. thats all i need to experience the amazing gameplay the game has.
neways.. whatever.. great podcast gentleman. you really pulled it off this time. :^)

Nesta @ Nov 28th 2008 11:13PM

"your in idiot" Really? Really? Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? Please, don't embarrass yourself like that.

Anyway, I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but I have a feeling I'm probably going to disagree with anything related to story in video games. Seeing as how in last week's episode (I think) someone wrote off the chance of having a good story in games. At least I think that was the case, maybe I should listen to that podcast again.

All that aside, Great picture though!

n0brein @ Nov 28th 2008 11:35PM

How can u say that there can't be a story in videogames? Have you never played the Metal Gear series? I know the games are pretty weird but it's a thrilling, cinematic story.
Or all the rpg's. Do you honestly think that the Final Fantasy games have no story in them? Yes it's always the same plot but it is a story! I haven't listened to the last weeks podcast but don't you think games can be story telling mediums? Don't you think games can be art just like movies or books? How about Braid?
No really, I don't get your point...

Mischa @ Nov 29th 2008 1:25AM

I haven't listened to the podcast yet (tonight!), so I don't know what Justin said about Mirror's Edge, but I do have my own opinion of course.

I can understand why people don't like the story of the game, and if you took the story to the game and made it into a movie, it would be lame as hell. But for me, there was just something about the mechanics of the game, something almost intangible, where even the end scene to me, (not spoiling anything here) which was corny as hell, made me literally yell "YEAH MOTHERFUCKER!!!" after doing whatever it is that you do at the very end of the game. If that happened in the movie, I'd have had a seizure from my eyes rolling so far back into my head.

The story to me fit well into the context of the game, which is why I enjoyed it. And for some almost inexplicable reason, I felt an attachment to Faith's sister in the game. First person hugging? I have no idea.

Mischa @ Nov 29th 2008 1:27AM

Err that is "if that happened in A movie", not THE movie. Please God don't let there be a Mirror's Edge movie...

Dr. @ Nov 29th 2008 11:36AM

I second that. Interacting with Faith's sister in first person was incredibly compelling.

Mischa @ Nov 29th 2008 1:25AM

I like how Justin looks like he is literally about to stand up on the table and dive into the turkey.

I also like Chris's "God you guys always forget that I'm a vegetarian..." look of displeasure on his face.

I also also like Ludwig's "what the hell is a turkey??" look. (insert quip about there not being turkeys in South Africa)

Jim @ Nov 29th 2008 2:03PM

Hey thanks for answering my question on the Podcast.

I guess in hind sight using the auto industry was a poor comparison. But I will argue that Justin's analogy of filming a movie inside the theater is probably not the best. You can not film it inside the theater even if you promise that you will never show it to anyone else. Buying a ticket to a movie or in other words purchasing the right to view the movie does not get you a free DVD of the movie so that you can view it again later on, or even a reduced price on the DVD to view the movie.

Justin's idea of downloading games is OK, but I guess before I would jump on board I would like some assurance that I will be able to take this game with me to the next console or even the next generation of the console. Similar to how Apple let lets you deactivate one device to allow a new device.

El Verde @ Nov 30th 2008 1:24PM

A DVD is a good parallel. When you buy a DVD you buy the content on the disc. Fair use says you can back up that content and convert it to whatever format you need (say, VHS) to be able to view it. This holds as long as you don't take and pass out copies to all your friends - or worse, sell them (the copies, not your friends).

The publishers would like you to believe that you are just buying a license to play a game as long as they let you, but as I understand it that goes dead against fair use. And since there is no meaningful way to negotiate the terms of the contract you enter, it really shouldn't hold up.

If you buy a game, you should be allowed to back it up and to use whatever methods are available to you to play the game after your disc gets scratched or your console breaks.

IANAL.

Jarret @ Nov 30th 2008 9:17PM

I think the site-hosted mp3 is too short. The iTunes one is 40 minutes longer.

steveysnipe @ Nov 30th 2008 10:16AM

For the inevitable christmas episode is there any way you guys could get an interview with smokesmadblunts? Count it as a christmas present to your most loyal of listeners.

Please.

The Dark Wayne @ Nov 30th 2008 9:21PM

okay, despite my protests last week, I will agree with you now on the "story/motivation" topic Mr. Mcelroy. It makes sense that games should be judged as games by their motivation, but maybe if they're judged alongside books and film it could be for their stories

nuero @ Dec 1st 2008 1:21AM

The idea of pushing a release past the holiday season is a smart one, and one we saw come to fruition this very year. Grand Theft Auto IV wasn't going to have any trouble with sales at any point in the year, but being released in April, it was left with virtually no competition. Eight months later, it will probably see an additional holiday sales boost, so it wasn't too bad of an idea for them.

tmmoore_nc @ Dec 1st 2008 5:34AM

I want to defend the Wii here if I may, and it covers something brought up in Podcast #74.

A - You do not need the Wii Speak Channel to use Wii Speak as mentioned in Episode 74. If you knew that 2 Wii Channels cannot work at the same time, you'd realize needing the Wii Speak Channel to talk in a game is impossible because of the way it's setup.
B - Skipping out on a system for a year and not missing a thing? What about MadWorld? Or The Conduit (maybe)? And what about your Virtual Console/Wii Ware downloads? Those don't transfer to a new Wii. So even though you're getting full value back, if you want those downloads, you're going to have to pay for them all over again, and some game saves, like Brawl and Mario Kart which don't transfer to SD cards for some odd reason as well.
C - Using Metacritic. Seriously? Seriously? Come on. Raving Rabbids 1 was fun. Wario Ware was fun. De Blob is awesome, and Wario Land is pretty good. Reviews aren't the holy grail you make them out to be.