Roderick
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Everything posted by Roderick
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And then consider that I was already disappointed in the Galaxy map because it wasn't nearly as cool, secretive and involved as the best hub of all time: Sunshine's Delfino Plaza!
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Idle Explorers (Spelunky, um, thumbs)
Roderick replied to Irishjohn's topic in Multiplayer Networking
Watching one of the videos here, I discovered I could walk past the spikes. A life of not being able to touch anything pointy in platformers programmed me to assume otherwise, so I never tried. -
At this point it's safe to say Idle Thumbs and Giant Bomb and their respective communities are parallel universe versions of each other that exist in the same timeline by fluke.
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I had not idea Nuts and Bolts was so highly lauded! This is genuinely the first time I hear such praise for it, so vocally. Damn.
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Which elbow/knee would you give up, given the choice?
Roderick replied to Berzee's topic in Idle Banter
Evil genie? I know exactly what to do. -
The Lost Odyssey soundtrack is BEYOND EXCELLENT. I regularly listen to it and have it in my car. I never made it past disc 2 either, it was so incredibly long. But I am committed to finishing it at some point! It's a superb game with all the little stories in it, with a dream-like atmosphere.
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I'll buy it for a high price!
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That seems like a safe guess.
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In a few years, there's bound to be weekly Thumbs GTA5 evenings, so it'll pay off.to own it. Unless it doesn't happen on the PS4 but on any of the other five systems >_>
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Wey, nice! But already going to De Nieuwe Wildernis in cinemas with friends in Utrecht that day. I promise you that at one point in time, I WILL be a guest to your boardgames day
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It IS stop-motion! That makes it even better. I love reading how much effort and thought went into the design. Even though I still haven't a clue what this game will be, but part of me doesn't even want to know, so it'll always be this mysterious thing.
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I have no idea what this is, but it's entrancing and beautiful. It looks like stop-motion with cardboard cutouts, which is a well done effect.
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Tone Control Ep 3: Craig Hubbard of NOLF & FEAR
Roderick replied to Steve's topic in Tone Control Episodes
Oh, and it was a good point Craig raised about the difference between first and third person. It's incredibly alien to me that a person would return a game because they didn't feel like roleplaying as a female. The thought didn't even cross my mind when I played it. All I thought was: «this is so cool, this is so funny!» I loved the inventive spy weapons dressed up as lipstick and handbags. -
ODST is most notable for the amazing Thumbs podcast it inspired, with Chris' noir jazz interludes.
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Tone Control Ep 3: Craig Hubbard of NOLF & FEAR
Roderick replied to Steve's topic in Tone Control Episodes
I gotta say that FEAR never really did it for me. After the awesome comedic trappings of NOLF, it was a shame they abandoned that for a more, (as I felt it!), cookie-cutter world. NOLF3, is that even a remote possibility at this point? -
Yeah, Pokémon cards are the worst when they're CGI monsters.
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Idle Explorers (Spelunky, um, thumbs)
Roderick replied to Irishjohn's topic in Multiplayer Networking
I bit the bullet and did my first thing in Spelunky today. I came fresh out of Hotline Miami (which was awesome), so it was kind of jarring. It didn't immediately click for me, but I'll doodle along until I get someplace and maybe it'll start to live in my mind. I already dislike the music. It's not at all the mood fitting for underground adventures, and it grates very quickly. -
Tone Control Ep 3: Craig Hubbard of NOLF & FEAR
Roderick replied to Steve's topic in Tone Control Episodes
Wait a minute, sclpls, are you saying that Tone Control is... the «The Third Man» of video gaming podcasts?! -
Tone Control Ep 3: Craig Hubbard of NOLF & FEAR
Roderick replied to Steve's topic in Tone Control Episodes
Fun interview, Steve. I loved hearing about the little details on NOLF2, I had so much fun with that game when it came out. Should replay it sometime soon, I have it lying around. So many great moments: the house that you mentioned, the trailer park, but I most of all remember Ice Station Evil, which was extremely frightening and atmospheric. Again, with nary any AI around. -
Hmm, come to think of it, it doesn't explain Grim Fandango or any of the Lucasarts branch of games. I think then what I'm getting at is that there seem to be a lot more titles that allow themselves to explore small but interesting ideas than before. And I would argue that in terms of storytelling there are more 'daring' ideas being done now than then. I've had more feels in the last few years of gaming than ever. But, yes, highly subjective.
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When I wrote that rant yesterday it was late and I was a little more abrasive than usual. Apologies if it didn't fall well. I do stand by my opinion that there has been a lot of innovation in the last few years, and earlier pointed out that crowd dynamics are a huge part of our games nowadays and totally new. Another big new thing: sophisticated, mature storytelling. Remember the «mature» games in the 90s and early 00s? They look like childish screaming at this point, compared to the subtle machinations of Braid, Thomas Was Alone, Dear Esther, Journey, Gone Home, Thirty Flights of Loving, etc, etc. Playing through I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream this month taught me that, by Odin, things were mostly infantile back then. Sno; your comment on AC's stealth mechanics made me realize how I loved that you could blend into the crowd, but never quite knew if you were safe or not. Later sequels totally gamified that with small groups that would turn monochrome as you entered them. I'd make a strong case for having some unknowable aspect in this, a mystery. It makes it so much more exciting - though possibly also frustrating if the game demands perfection. I'd make that trade-off though.
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Without reading the review, let me preemptively hazard that the reason for the better score is that they have less sucky launch games. [uPDATE] This review exposes what bores me so tremendously about these new boxes. It's all technical gushing, but what am I actually going to do with it? Play games, surely. No good games = a worthless thing, no matter how many carefully chosen decimal points Polygon chooses to express its value with.
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Episode 239: A Blizzard of Enthusiasm
Roderick replied to Rob Zacny's topic in Three Moves Ahead Episodes
If a person held a gun to my head, I would give them any opinion they wanted about Blizzard and their corporate strategy. It is no chip off my block. -
DO NOT get me started on the wonderyear that was 1998. Also, it's plain wrong that there is now less creativity and innovation in video games than whatever earlier year you fancy taking as the magical bar. You need only look into the indie scene to see a staggering volume of games that explode into every weird facet imaginable. Even triple-A titles, though generally less interesting to me personally than before, have their merit. Everything that falls in between is getting better and better too, dipping into all sorts of new styles and genres that came into play only this generation. It's a load of nostalgic crock to lament that creativity has vanished in the industry.
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Allow me to puncture that theory about Nintendo, Lobotomy, because it doesn't explain why they were able to create something like Mario Galaxy during the Wii years and two fantastic, original Zelda games on the DS - which was crazy popular. Dartmonkey; 2007, and 2008, were amazing gaming years. That was the high tide of Bioshocks, Assassin's Creeds, Mass Effects, I believe also Mirror's Edge? Truly the year of the passionate triple-A's... followed by a deluge of yearly sequels.