Idle Thumbs 232: Happy #DishonoredHalloween

[Fernus]

Ever wish you could go back in time?

 

I heard that game Braid could do that.

[Caspar Neickel]

In the brief discussion of Jordan's letter about TF2 and Steam's various economic cultures related to buying and selling cosmetic dlc/microtransactions, Chris said "it is so strange and so specific to video games," which struck me as being (very unusually for professor Remo!) completely inaccurate. The Steam economic subculture of hat barons is very similar to the way that banks and investment firms have at various points in the history of global capitalism created "innovative tools" to manipulate the market and profit from rising and falling interest in financial products that have no real value or function (kind of like TF2 keys and buds)! See the plentiful journalism and scholarship on the role of derivative securities, credit default swaps, and other nonsense.

[Bjorn]

In the brief discussion of Jordan's letter about TF2 and Steam's various economic cultures related to buying and selling cosmetic dlc/microtransactions, Chris said "it is so strange and so specific to video games," which struck me as being (very unusually for professor Remo!) completely inaccurate. The Steam economic subculture of hat barons is very similar to the way that banks and investment firms have at various points in the history of global capitalism created "innovative tools" to manipulate the market and profit from rising and falling interest in financial products that have no real value or function (kind of like TF2 keys and buds)! See the plentiful journalism and scholarship on the role of derivative securities, credit default swaps, and other nonsense.

 

Jesus, I had never thought of hats as the credit default swaps of game economies. 

[feelthedarkness]

mortgages are out, immunosuppressant pills are in.

[rincewitch]

Anyway I've been slowly working my way through the full Idle Thumbs archives, and Episode 80 came up right in the order right after I finished listening to this one.

[Salacious Snake]

Chris, if you're really itching for a more authored experience after playing Sub Level Zero, the old Descent games are worth revisiting. I played them again about a year or so ago and they held up really well.

 

There are a couple of source ports (DXX-Rebirth and D2X-XL) that will make it easier to get a good resolution and stuff, and they're easily configurable with whatever kind of controller(s) you want to use. 

 

They're just insanely well-designed games. The way the level design and enemy behavior and weapon systems all come together is just awesome, and it's still super fun. 

 

Also, it doesn't get much more 90s than the Descent II CD soundtrack.

 

[Chris]

In the brief discussion of Jordan's letter about TF2 and Steam's various economic cultures related to buying and selling cosmetic dlc/microtransactions, Chris said "it is so strange and so specific to video games," which struck me as being (very unusually for professor Remo!) completely inaccurate. The Steam economic subculture of hat barons is very similar to the way that banks and investment firms have at various points in the history of global capitalism created "innovative tools" to manipulate the market and profit from rising and falling interest in financial products that have no real value or function (kind of like TF2 keys and buds)! See the plentiful journalism and scholarship on the role of derivative securities, credit default swaps, and other nonsense.

Sorry, what I meant by this is that this level of sophistication and complexity mirroring real-world economic behavior and manipulation is (at least to my knowledge) unique to video games among fictional or hobby pursuits, not that it has no real-world analogue. The thing that's mind-blowing about it is that it DOES mirror real-world behavior, not that it doesn't.

[Pearlmania]

How have I not played Super Metroid!? I'm a child of the 80's and I had a snes for way too long. Wait I still have my snes. Anyways. After last weeks episode Super Metroid is the next game on my to do list.

[Jake]

Also, it doesn't get much more 90s than the Descent II CD soundtrack.

 

OH MAN that album cover and that fucking music track. 90s PC Gaming Is Here.

[Claire Hosking]

I came to this thread for Daddy Long-legs photos and was not disappointed.

 

80 Days could really use a Daddy Long-legs train section.

 

This reminds me a lot of Agra, actually, if you visit there!

[SuperBiasedMan]

This reminds me a lot of Agra, actually, if you visit there!

 

And the north pole

[Valorian Endymion]

I tried to play Descend a long time ago, but could not make it very far or enjoying it because the game speed and movement kind making me feel a bit of motion sickness, however, this was the only game, aside from a obcure Russian (Not sure on this) mmo, called Sphere, which also once in a while did give me a bit of motion sickness due the high speed which the character move and the repeated textures.

[sclpls]

Any good links to Patrick Klepek playing these nightmare Mario levels, or at the very least the gif Sean was referring to?

[Patrick R]

https://www.youtube.com/user/patrickklepek

Mario Maker Mornings Part 18 and 19 for the Dan Ryckert special.

[sclpls]

Thanks!

[Hermie]

@Fobwashed on Twitter makes great gifs of Giant Bomb-and-related content. Here is the Patrick Klepek impromptu wrestling promo: https://twitter.com/Fobwashed/status/652506070254944256

 

 

It's worth noting that since then, Griffin McElroy (Polygon, MBMBaM) has made a level (the HYPERCUBE) that finally broke him.