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Post by Huw on Oct 10, 2014 18:18:43 GMT -5
TALKING GAMES EPISODE #29: WHEN A WELSHMAN COMES A CALLING
Oh my, there’s a knock at the door. Whoever could it be? Oh snap! It’s Huw Parry, ladies and gentlemen! That’s right. Huw is here to throw down with Steve, Rob, Justin, and Jacqui as they travel down memory lane once more to recall some of their favorite gaming moments of all time! In addition to that, the crew also serves up a mean omelette in Cooking Mama, goes raiding in Destiny, and kicks the ball around in FIFA. It’s more of less a pre-NYCC bash where all manner of shenanigans are bound to happen!
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cmesq
Fearless Defender
Posts: 9
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Post by cmesq on Oct 10, 2014 21:18:19 GMT -5
Wound up going on a bit of a bender based on the two questions explored in this show, so here we go.
Firstly, favorite gaming memories. As to old-school gaming, my earliest favorite gaming memory -- besides getting an NES (the family's first gaming console) for Hankuuah and playing Mario/Duck Hunt with my brothers all night -- is, ironically, for Nintendo's main competition of the time, Sega. I have a LOT of great Genesis memories -- my older brother putting in the Blood Code in Mortal Kombat for the first time, and me being shocked by the results, comes to mind right away -- but my absolute favorite gaming moment from those early days comes from an NBA Jam game I played with said older brother: I distinctly remember that we were the Alonzo-LJ Charlotte Hornets, from the first edition Jam (I was Zo, the defensive stopper), and through some unspoken agreement between the two of us, we just wound up in perfect sync. I got myself on fire quickly (which, through a kinda-sorta glitch, meant that you would rarely, if ever, get goaltending called on you), and then basically let my brother play 1v2, while I defended everything. That strategy, combined with some INCREDIBLY lucky breaks (the computer somehow missed two highlight, "Is it the shoes"-level dunks) allowed us to actually record a shut-out in NBA Jam, which ... simply does not happen. We ourselves probably didn't break 40 points, but it was 30-something to ZERO. And I am still incredibly proud of this.
I also wound up splitting the cost of Madden 94 with my brother (I was probably 8 at the time, since sports games are released the year earlier, so Madden 94 must have come out in 1993), which was not only the first game I bought, but may have been the first time I spent my own money on ANYTHING, as opposed to my parents buying things for me, so I recall this fondly as well. (And the game still works!)
To bridge the gap between "old-school" and "new-school" memories, I remember setting up the old Genesis in college, years later, with Sonic 3, with a bunch of friends watching, and ... at least on that night, I still had it. I raced through the game, not doing every secret -- didn't get all the Chaos Emeralds, go Super Sonic, etc, because I was never THAT good -- but wound up at the final boss with about 40 lives and tons of confidence ... and wound up dying about 30 times in a row, before handing the controller off out of frustration, only to watch a friend who had never played Sonic before beat the boss on his second try. INFINITELY frustrating, but still a potent (and, ultimately, positive -- college was good times) memory.
As far as definitively "new-school" gaming goes, I could wax poetically about how buying Okami on a whim, and winding up falling in love with the game's story, characters, and art style, and needing to stop playing the game THREE SEPARATE TIMES because I thought the battle I was going into was the Final Battle, and I didn't want to beat the game, and thusly leave the world of Nippon, and becoming emotional when I realized that this game had, in fact, supplanted Super Mario 3 as my All-Time Favorite Game -- but honestly, that's more of an experience than a distinct memory. (And, frankly, all of that was a thinly-veiled attempt to sell someone in these forums on giving Okami a shot -- you won't regret it!) I DO, however, have a fantastic recent memory playing a game of Dominion, on League of Legends.
[I'm not going to explain LoL, or MOBAs as a whole, in detail, but generally, for those who don't know: the Dominion game mode has five nodes on a circular map, two nodes near each team's base, and one node equidistant from each team, at the top of the map. Controlling more nodes than the other team causes the losing team to lose points equal to this differential, from a starting point of 500. Usually, the score is 3-2, for obvious reasons, in which case the losing team loses one point per second, but sometimes 2-1, or 4-1, or whatever. Once one team reaches zero, they lose. The basic strategy is to control the node near you, with one or two people going "bottom" to protect them, while everyone else goes "top" to contest the equidistant "shared" node. My favorite character (Heimerdinger, for those who actually play) is particularly good at defending, but isn't great at actually storming a point, making me ideal to defend bottom while everyone else goes top.]
I was playing on a team with three other friends, and one stranger [teams on Dominion are 5 per side], and we were losing. Badly. We were being dominated, and got to a point where we literally down to ONE POINT left, before stemming the tide for a moment; the other team had about 150 points left. So basically, if the other team got a lead for literally ONE SECOND, we would lose.
But somehow, we won anyway. Everything the rest of the way broke our way, we won every team fight, were able to capture a point from them right before they could sneak and capture a point from us -- again, if they were sneaky and captured a point for even a second, we would have lost -- and wound up holding on, with that single point, and won. And the fact that I did it with my friends made it all the more satisfying.
And after all of THAT, the crew brought up a second question: games that would be worth revisiting. Steve brought up one on my list as well, in Beyond Good And Evil -- which was FANTASTIC -- and I would say Eternal Darkness as well. (I am fairly aware of the attempts to make a "spiritual successor" to the game, and how they failed, but that doesn't mean I don't still want it to happen.) Also, I would say it's well past time for the Mutant League sports franchise to make a return.
... and now, my fingers hurt, and I'll shut up.
-CM
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Post by goodeeveening on Oct 11, 2014 1:12:00 GMT -5
My favourite part of this episode was hearing Steve be so proud of his girlfriend for finishing a console game. I don't really consider myself much of a gamer because I wasn't allowed a console growing up and am unable to have one now so the only times I can play is if a friend lets me steal their Xbox for a couple of hours. Due to lack of practice I have abysmal combat and fps skills and because I can only play every now and then I have never been able to finish a game. Despite all of this, my boyfriend who is an avid player encouraged me to play his favourite game, Mass Effect. Although my progress is slow, he is very patient and I love that he wanted to share the world of Mass Effect with me. Whilst not a 'gamer' I would consider myself a 'game fan' because I love video games as a story-telling and artistic medium.
I do have a favourite gaming moment from my childhood though. When I was 6 I had an hour long Tekken match with a boy from school and won almost every single round, despite having never played before. Sure, at that age it was just a matter of button-mashing but I was the best button-masher there and felt pretty invincible.
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Post by drocat on Oct 11, 2014 17:59:50 GMT -5
Good episode guys, as always.
Have you ever been on a podcast before, Huw?
My favorite childhood gaming memory is kind of a blanket memory: almost all of Halo 2 was the beginning of my serious gaming addiction. In particular though, the one game I played where my entire team left in a capture the flag game and I cam back from a 3 point loss and still won. I will never forget that game.
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Post by Huw on Oct 11, 2014 19:34:38 GMT -5
Good episode guys, as always. Have you ever been on a podcast before, Huw? My favorite childhood gaming memory is kind of a blanket memory: almost all of Halo 2 was the beginning of my serious gaming addiction. In particular though, the one game I played where my entire team left in a capture the flag game and I cam back from a 3 point loss and still won. I will never forget that game. Hey dude! Before the shows this week, I've never been on a podcast. These have been a first and I loved every second!
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Post by IncredibleD on Oct 12, 2014 10:52:21 GMT -5
My favourite gaming memories are mostly about me playing games with other people. Playing the Megaman games with my sister, playing Mario Kart with my friends, and playing Duck Hunt with my dad(THAT DAMN DOG!)
As for game series that should return, i would also want a new Suikoden game...on my PS3 or PS4...RIGHT NOW!
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Post by hermanthegerman on Oct 13, 2014 12:23:20 GMT -5
Hey guys, I just wanted to say a 'thank you' for this awesome podcast. It's really good and I enjoy every time I listen to it! Keep up the good work! The negativ side is, I have to buy all those awesome games Greetings from Germany!
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Post by joroak on Oct 13, 2014 18:36:39 GMT -5
Hey guys, I just wanted to say a 'thank you' for this awesome podcast. It's really good and I enjoy every time I listen to it! Keep up the good work! The negativ side is, I have to buy all those awesome games Greetings from Germany! Thanks for Listening and welcome!
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Post by tobychimp on Oct 14, 2014 5:44:08 GMT -5
Great episode again good job! My favourite gaming memories all stem from PS1 nostalgia. It really was great since it was the first gaming console that I remember all of my family played together. My parents, my older brother and I would spend some evenings just playing Tekken 2 (and later 3), winner stays on. I still remember that we all had our favourite characters, Yoshimitsu for me, King for my dad, Eddy for my brother and Jun for my mum (they liked to choose the cheap, annoying characters). Another game that I remember us all playing, even if it was single player, was Resident Evil. Maybe my brother and (even more so) I shouldn't have been playing that game at a young age but we were mature enough to know that it was just a game and we loved sitting down together, working our way through, figuring out puzzles and shooting zombies. Good stuff. That was until we found out my dad had played some of it, on his own, and he wasted all the rocket launcher ammo...thanks dad. Lastly, Metal Gear Solid. I'll always remember when my brother bought this game and we sat down to play it. Truly incredible and unlike any game we had ever seen. I didn't tend to play the game myself, but I just enjoyed sitting and watching, helping with strategy and direction. But my crowning moment was the button mashing in the torture chamber scene! We played through the game a few times, and when it got to that part - the controller was in my hands! Overall, that game was just so cinematic and epic, and I'll never forget the first time we completed it. For a game series that I want to see return? I agree with the TimeSplitters suggestion, such a great game series and I'm looking forward to the fan made Rewind game. I'd also like to add Crash Bandicoot...I want to see another good Crash game. Just give it back to Naughty Dog for one more game!
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Post by lissapunch on Oct 14, 2014 13:20:05 GMT -5
Ooh, ooh, can I play?? There are two major gaming memories that stand out for me. One was playing Contra 3: Alien Wars with my dad, on Super NES. I didn't do much with my dad other than watch horror films and play video games and this one we played together, over and over again. It was a cheesy but fun game and I can't even tell you how many times we beat the game together. The second would be playing Tekken tournaments at my home in Florida. I was in my early 20's, living with a boyfriend who wasn't particularly interesting to me. I talked him in to buying Tekken Tag for PS2. Rather than hiding in my room playing The Sims while he watched football, I convinced his buddies to play Tekken tournaments and for awhile, we were all addicted. I remember playing so much that my arms and hands ached. Great show as usual!
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zakunick
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Posts: 61
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Post by zakunick on Oct 15, 2014 21:45:45 GMT -5
Great episode...podisode?
Makes me want to do another Con. Only been to Baltimore Comic Con a couple years back. That's my only experience.
As far as memories go, I remember being really pumped when I finally beat Mario World on SNES. Someone mentioned Metal Gear Solid. My buddy was mad at me since I saved Meryl and he got stuck with Otacon. Remembering that makes me smile since he usually does better than me at games.
I'd also like to see some more Ogre Battle. Ogre Battle 64 is one of my all time favorites.
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cmesq
Fearless Defender
Posts: 9
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Post by cmesq on Oct 16, 2014 9:32:18 GMT -5
Just listened to a two-part episode done by Extra Credits and Idea Channel (part one on EC, part 2 on IC). EC discussed how, at least a significant portion of the time, gamers do not seem to remember the moment-to-moment actions that they take, as compared with other media such as television or movies, and instead remember much of the game in vague terms, but then their memory spikes with significant recall of an important event, such as a boss battle or team fight. IC, building off of this, pursued the thesis that a significant part of the gaming experience is, in fact, the "mechanics" -- learning how to play the game, xp grinding, etc -- and how this could hinder storytelling to some degree (and, thus, could detract from our ability to recall moment-to-moment actions).
[Both programs go into more detail on their respective topics, but this is a decent summation.]
I bring this up because I was reading through people's respective entries here, and by and large -- my own included -- they are discussions of gameplay, of things we did in a game, or more generally of playing with people, as opposed to a more overarching idea of how the game's story was affecting in some way (though, for my own part, I DID talk about Okami, and COULD have talked about Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy X, except I didn't want to end up more wordy than I already was). Just got me to thinking that maybe the videos above were right, and we are remembering our "favorite moments" as gameplay-oriented, as opposed to story-oriented, and that this is inherently different from any other type of medium. Just some food for thought.
*** Also, drocat, if your "gaming addiction" comment is serious, Extra Credits actually has a really good series of episodes on that topic as well, which might be worth watching.
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