Idle Thumbs 118: A Simple Litter

[Vorlonesque]

  On 8/14/2013 at 1:44 AM, thestalkinghead said:

the most important thing a review has to tell me is how likely it is that the game will be the citizen kane of games and whether it will blow me away, also an objective numbered score from 5-10 (because 1-4 is just silly) is what will really tell me if i should buy it

 

I rate Kane & Lynch 3 out of 5 Citizen Kane's, and Kane for the Commodore 64 gets 12 Kane's...Kano from Mortal Kombat gets 2 out of 1.5 Candy Canes and I give Giants: Citizen Kabuto 7 Casablanca's and a Maltese Falcon 4.0...Oh and The Walking Dead is the It Happened One Night of gaming...I can only imagine and hope that Going Home will be the Some Like It Hot of gaming.  I've heard that The Last of Us is the Duck Soup of gaming, but I've yet to play it.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Canizen Lynch: Dead Man's Chest 2 and Dead Samuel Jackson's Arm 2 for Ouya.

[Berzee]

  On 8/13/2013 at 11:54 PM, sclpls said:

Interestingly, if you ever happen to go into an Office Max or some store like that, chances are Paradox's catalog will be well represented among the PC game titles there, along with a bunch of Bejeweled clones. Kinda weird to think how that is part of their market.

 

I have noticed that, at least locally, Office Max in particular (moreso than Staples, Office Depot, et al.) has a suspiciously well-curated selection of older games (once you shove all the "150,000 Arcade Hidden Hoyle Object Casino GAMES" compilations over to one side). Office Max is a cool guy.

[clyde]

  On 8/14/2013 at 2:29 PM, Berzee said:

I have noticed that, at least locally, Office Max in particular (moreso than Staples, Office Depot, et al.) has a suspiciously well-curated selection of older games (once you shove all the "150,000 Arcade Hidden Hoyle Object Casino GAMES" compilations over to one side). Office Max is a cool guy.

So what you are saying is that Office Max is where hipsters like myself should go for a nice pen, moleskin, and maybe a game.

[gregbrown]

  On 8/13/2013 at 7:19 PM, Patrick R said:

Citizen Kane gets an 11, and therefore so does Killzone 2.

That's actually how the review scoring system works: they gradually spell out CITIZEN KANE as you get more points.

For example, rymdkapsel gets a mere C I T I Z E, whereas Crusader Kings II is all the way to C I T I Z E N K A N already.

[Badfinger]

The discussion about the Thumbs taking more suggestions about games to play was a bit weird, because that seems to be a lot of how they are encouraged to play things anyway. For example, the Kerbal Space Program discussion was prefaced with laments that people were trying to get them to play it for an entire year and they should have listened sooner. CKII was something similar as well. A lot of the indies they talk about are that way, too. So the thought that what's needed is MORE input on games they should check out is kind of strange.

[thestalkinghead]

  On 8/14/2013 at 8:21 PM, Badfinger said:

The discussion about the Thumbs taking more suggestions about games to play was a bit weird, because that seems to be a lot of how they are encouraged to play things anyway. For example, the Kerbal Space Program discussion was prefaced with laments that people were trying to get them to play it for an entire year and they should have listened sooner. CKII was something similar as well. A lot of the indies they talk about are that way, too. So the thought that what's needed is MORE input on games they should check out is kind of strange.

 

i guess it's the difference between an organic word of mouth recommendation thing and a formal "reader recommendation of the week" section, that would be sort of an obligation rather than just playing games for fun

[singlespace]

  On 8/14/2013 at 8:21 PM, Badfinger said:

The discussion about the Thumbs taking more suggestions about games to play was a bit weird, because that seems to be a lot of how they are encouraged to play things anyway. For example, the Kerbal Space Program discussion was prefaced with laments that people were trying to get them to play it for an entire year and they should have listened sooner. CKII was something similar as well. A lot of the indies they talk about are that way, too. So the thought that what's needed is MORE input on games they should check out is kind of strange.

 

Yeah, it got pretty weird fast. I feel bad about it because I made a post stating it would nice if someone like Danielle became a regular because I felt that cast was getting a bit insular, which spawned a lot of negative discussion. The intent wasn't to suggest that the Thumbs change, or that they need to take more suggestions for games to play, but rather that it was nice having new perspectives on the cast and it would be great if it happened more often.

[thestalkinghead]

it is very hard to convey the tone of what you are saying on the internet, but very easy to misinterpret the tone, it's like everybody reads everything on the internet in an angry snide voice, no matter how thoughtful and calm it was supposed to be

[clyde]

Don't feel bad. Feel good.

Expressing your opinion and having some people agree and some people disagree is what forums are for right? We get frustrated sometimes and try to calm it down if we are awesome, but we are likely here together because we share passion; so it makes sense that we sometimes get passionate. Bonus points if you don't make personal attacks.

It can be hard for me to listen to opinions that are exclusive of my own, but re-reading posts is a good way for me to find out that people are different than me. Love it. I haven't seen a post on this forum by a person I wouldn't buy a coffee or beer for, we have so much to talk about!

[axemtitanium]

I look away for a day and this thread goes bonkers. ilu guys.

[Zeusthecat]

Whole lotta love going around here all of a sudden. This last podcast spawned some complicated emotions.

 

It is quite amazing that this kind of community exists on the internet, especially considering it is a video game related community. I second what clyde said and I honestly feel like everyone here is always coming from a good place even when there are disagreements.

[thestalkinghead]

yeah, simply put, "i like video games and if you do too, we have something in common so i like you" 

 

differences of opinions usually just make me want to work out why the opinion is different (even if sometimes it takes a while for that curiosity to kick in)

[A Zen Master]

Did I miss the pikmin 2 series link in this thread?

[TychoCelchuuu]

Twice, assuming you're talking about the series of articles. Here it is a third time:

http://critical-gaming.com/blog/2009/5/18/critical-gaming-pikmin-course-week-1.html

[tegan]

So I've been playing Saints Row 4 pretty obsessively lately, and now I really want to hear the Thumbsketeers' impressions of it. Specifically, all the little moments, like one of the radio stations occasionally playing excerpts from Pride and Prejudice read by the alien overlord villain, or the references to old Lucasarts adventure games.

 

[Chris]

Nick and I tried to play it for a few hours and we both bounced off of it pretty hard.

[tegan]

Rats. That's a shame. Oh well, at least now I know that there wouldn't have been much to talk about. Thanks for the effort anyway.

[Codicier]

Tegan did you play SR3 before 4? As much as people play up the "zanny hi-jinks superpowers" stuff what i actually enjoyed most about SR4 was the NPC's interaction with each other and the Boss, so I wonder if you need to have knowledge of the earlier game to enjoy (for instance) driving around having a sing-along with Pierce (and the interruption).

[tegan]

I 100%ed SR3 and moved on to SR4 pretty quickly afterward.

 

Incidentally, singing along to "What I Got" with Pierce in SR3 and the subsequent callback in SR4 are possibly my favourite little character moments in a video game. A lot of the publicity for those games was focused on stuff like the dildo bat and the dubstep gun, but the fantastic writing and chemisty between the characters is their strongest selling point for me.

[Twig]

  On 5/11/2014 at 6:58 PM, tegan said:

A lot of the publicity for those games was focused on stuff like the dildo bat and the dubstep gun, but the fantastic writing and chemisty between the characters is their strongest selling point for me.

Yeah I've had a really hard time (read: impossible) convincing certain friends of mine that describing Saints Row 3 as "a game about dildos" is a gross misrepresentation of what makes it great. I hate marketing.

[Gormongous]

  On 5/11/2014 at 9:03 PM, Twig said:

Yeah I've had a really hard time (read: impossible) convincing certain friends of mine that describing Saints Row 3 as "a game about dildos" is a gross misrepresentation of what makes it great. I hate marketing.

 

The funny thing is, I know no one in real life or online who was sold on Saints Row 3 as "a game about dildos" but I do know plenty who were turned off by it. It makes me feel as though THQ's marketing department made the game stick in the public consciousness in exchange for losing a huge chunk of potential customers more or less permanently.

[Badfinger]

I got to the part in SR3 that Giant Bomb went apeshit over, where you para drop onto the top of a high rise to "Power", and it was pretty neat for 45 seconds. Then the rest of the mission was a really goddamn mediocre 3rd person shooting sequence. The gameplay didn't hold up for me over the first few hours to want to keep going, and it wasn't ~crazy hilarious~ enough for me to sustain that.

[tegan]

The one instance where the marketing for Saints Row turned out to be kind of brilliant is how they hyped up the romance system without ever explaining how it works, which is literally just pressing X once to make your character say "Hey Kinzie, wanna' fuck?"

[Codicier]

  On 5/11/2014 at 6:58 PM, tegan said:

I 100%ed SR3 and moved on to SR4 pretty quickly afterward.

 

Incidentally, singing along to "What I Got" with Pierce in SR3 and the subsequent callback in SR4 are possibly my favourite little character moments in a video game. A lot of the publicity for those games was focused on stuff like the dildo bat and the dubstep gun, but the fantastic writing and chemisty between the characters is their strongest selling point for me.

 

Pierce really has developed a lot over the series. one of my favourite lines in SR4 is his response to the romance option (which I experience with a male boss).

I was expecting something a little crude or something that took the micky out of him, but honestly it felt a witty, genuine, and affectionate moment, for which a lot of credit should go to he voice actor for great delivery.