Wrestlevania

Consolevania am returned!

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They've just started season 3, which I intend to begin following from the start.

Need to also watch the first two seasons but details, details...

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Yes, I watched the first episode! Hooray! CV's back!

Initially it was a bit weird, because at first they're really takinga very scripted, geeky approach with the Consolevania Towers thing, the talking computer, greenscreened elevators and stuff. But the good stuff comes shortly after. Emilio Zerg is fantastic, and the reviews are nice as always.

I do hope we'll see a bit of John Gacy as well during a cameo. John Gacy is great :tup:

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I finally got round to watching it last week - I'm 6 episodes in to the first season.

The only two video game shows I've ever seen are Gamesmaster and Movies, Games & Videos (remember that?), so it's refreshing just to have something. I definitely prefer this over the glimpses of slickly produced American shows I've seen.

What's the deal with the Nintendo hate? They have such a diverse and open-minded appreciation of games - I mean, how many "gamers" like wrestling games? - but there hasn't been any rational explanation for ignoring the Gamecube as much as possible.

John Gacy is awesome.

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I don't think there's specific Nintendo-hate. I think it's partly economics (they never had all the consoles, low budget) and partly because... well, I don't know. Maybe they're not THAT interested. It is a shame though. Come to think of it, I never saw a Nintendo console game reviewed. Never noticed that before! VideoGaiden did have a Gamecube retrospective, I believe.

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There's a huge review of RE4 in season 2and a very nice eulogy of the GC in VideoGaiden.

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I don't think there's specific Nintendo-hate. I think it's partly economics (they never had all the consoles, low budget) and partly because... well, I don't know. Maybe they're not THAT interested. It is a shame though. Come to think of it, I never saw a Nintendo console game reviewed. Never noticed that before! VideoGaiden did have a Gamecube retrospective, I believe.

In the episodes I've seen they have had lists of the best SNES (I think) and N64 games, but the first GC review doesn't come until S1E5, where Ryan reviews Tales of Symphonia, saying, "It's the first Gamecube game review - unsurprisingly, Robert wouldn't touch it with a bargepole."

There were some other anti-Nintendo sentiments, but nothing I can specifically remember now.

Other than that, it's nice just to listen to people talking passionately and (usually) eloquently about video games - the same reason why I've been known to read well-written reviews/previews of games I have little intention of playing.

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Yikes... this is the first episode of Consolevania I've ever seen... Freaky, is the word I'd use. I felt there were quite a few references I didn't get (who's the "dog" character? who was the "not evil" guy supposed to be? was the guy in the anorak a reference to anyone in particular?). The reviews themselves were good, as it's nice to hear someone talk somewhat in detail about games, and feel like you're on the same wavelength. Some of the comments that were made were really interesting, too. It's a helluva lot better than Gamesmaster and that other one with Violet Berlin... but of course, they were shite.

Not quite sure where these guy's boundaries are the moment though, I kind of get the feeling that they could come out with some really ignorant borderline rascist/homophobic/sexist stuff for no reason... but that's the "thrill" of homemade internet videos, I guess. Will I end up liking them, or is part of the comedy laughing at them for their "outrageous"/unpredictable comments? Hmmm.

"Gears of War isn't really that good" - Whaaa? I respectfully think he's talking out of his arse on this one. For me it was the first 360 game that made think "phew, there ARE decent games for this machine". Still, we can't all agree on everything. I might check out Overlord based on his review, though.

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They walk a fine line between trying to shock and being critical gamers/journalists. You'll probably end up liking them, if you give them a chance. You'll find most of what they say is heavily satirical; Nazi comments included. There's certainly no laughing AT them usually -they're pretty funny.

The dog guy was Ken Kutaragi, ruining a poor peasant with unsound financial advice. The Not Evil guy is someone called Ziggy Springfield, a new character in the CV universe. He's likely here for the rest of the season, don't know if he'll be good yet. He'll have to be if he wants to succeed John Gacy though.

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Yikes... this is the first episode of Consolevania I've ever seen...

Likewise and I was almost crying at points. Absolutely brilliant stuff, especially the quips like, "And where's the best place to combine magical items? Why, in a frog's mooth of course!" I'm paraphrasing horribly, but you'll know where I mean if you've watched it. (And 'mooth' isn't a typo either.)

It's a helluva lot better than Gamesmaster and that other one with Violet Berlin...

You mean "Bad Influenth!" and it's ridiculous credit roll "data blatht". Yes, that was complete shite. Except maybe for Nam Rood, who lived in the shed dishing out tips and cheats: "Hello, furtlers!"

"Gears of War isn't really that good" - Whaaa? I respectfully think he's talking out of his arse on this one.

Watershed moment for me; guarantees I'm hooked on this show, as I couldn't agree more (massively-over-hyped Space Invaders reskin that it is).

The Not Evil guy is someone called Ziggy Springfield, a new character in the CV universe. He's likely here for the rest of the season, don't know if he'll be good yet. He'll have to be if he wants to succeed John Gacy though.

Just remember: he's "not evil!"

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Thanks for your comments, Rodi! I'll keep watching the series.

Watershed moment for me; guarantees I'm hooked on this show, as I couldn't agree more (massively-over-hyped Space Invaders reskin that it is).

Well, he didn't say it was a bad game, so you might disagree there. I just found it a pleasure to play, though, re-skin/hyped or not.

Just remember: he's "not evil!"

Now! I DO seem to remember something about Consolevania being made into a TV show? Is that right? Is all this (Consolvania Towers/The Sponsors) a reference to the failure of that? Or am I completely wrong?

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I've heard quite a few PC gamers say that Gears of War is totally over-hyped, and is little more than clichéd stuff we've seen on the PC a million times in FPS form but with prettier graphics and of course a different view.

I've no idea if there's any weight to this, but it's worth bearing in mind Consolevania play the whole spectrum of machines including the PC. If you've not kept on top of PC games then the chances are they have a better of what they're talking about.

Of course, any gamer who hasn't really kept on top of PC games is going to get a very skewed perspective of games as the majority of things that are big hits on consoles were played around with on the PC first. Xbox Live in its entirety is a very obvious example, here.

It'll be interesting to see how Gears of War does fare with the PC crowd as a whole when the extended edition is released for it later on this year, who 'culturally' have very different tastes. :tup:

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GoW is okay. Calling it just space invaders is a little unfair, but yeah, it's pretty much about using timing and cover against waves of enemies.

Nothing amazing and takes Epic's steroid induced protagonists to new heights of absurd masculinity. The environments are quite pretty at points.

Simon Byron called it a "homoerotic classic" recently, which amused me.

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It's absolutely hilarious to me that the american macho dream has recently - and inevitably - morphed into a wave of homoerotica. Gears of War, 300, large portions of the Hip Hop scene... it's all about appreciation of the male figure by other males. And everyone is pretty much Ok with it. This makes me happy, optimistic and also prone to fits of laughter.

But yeah GoW is overhyped, just as Halo was and is. Since consoles are inherently badly designed for FPS, any FPS whose mechanics are better tuned to the platform will always attract mass glee (mostly from teens who never played, for instance, Quake).

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I have to break a lance (Dutch expression) for Gears of War here: I thought it was rocking good and I'm a PC gamer historically. To me, what made it great was the little touches, not the big innovations (which were none, except maybe the over-shoulder camera which was brilliantly implemented). The really splendid amount of polish that ensured that (multiplayer) gaming was tremendously fun, visceral (the chainsaw!) and 'distinct' enough from other games.

To each his own of course!

I also can't imagine what it must be like to watch CV for the first time beginning with season 3. Though it's obviously a bit of a new start, there's still massive amounts of in-jokes, and their style has evolved as well. It's a bit like Family Guy: if you've followed it from the beginning you know what to 'do' with, for instance, a 3-minute interlude where it's just Stewie dancing with a live-action, Dick van Dyke-esque sailor. Such things must be unfathomable if you see it for the first time without the gradual development.

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The american dream has always been homoerotic, look at Top Gun, sports and rock and roll.

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It'll be interesting to see how Gears of War does fare with the PC crowd as a whole when the extended edition is released for it later on this year, who 'culturally' have very different tastes. :tup:

I expect it'll do about as well as Halo PC did. (Which is to say, not very.)

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Halo PC was quite possibly the worst port ever. Especially for a game that started out development on PC.

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I have to break a lance (Dutch expression) for Gears of War here: I thought it was rocking good and I'm a PC gamer historically.

Same here. Plus, there's nothing really like it on the PC, it certainly doesn't borrow as much people are saying. The duck and cover gameplay was inspired, if you ask me. It's a straight forward shooter, with not much else, but it's also highly addictive, extremely playable, polished and most of all, fun, game. The storyline sucked, as did the characters, but it was inventive enough to the adrenaline pumping. I doubt it will find an audience on the PC, though, it's too straight-forward (ie. consoley) for the PC market, I think.

If you want to talk about sub-PC, uninteresting FPSs, then surely we should start with things like Prey?

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Since when have the majority of PC FPSses been anything else than linear, straightforward, shallow shoot-em-ups? (Half-life and other exceptions notwithstanding)

I think Gears of War will feel right at home with the Unreal crowd. The reason Halo bombed (apparently?) was because

a.) It really wasn't that good to begin with in comparison to what the PC had to offer. It only seemed awesome for the console crowd because they finally, for the first time, had an FPS that actually worked on a console. But the plastic atmosphere and lack of character of the game really couldn't interest me.

b.) It was severely outdated when it was released for the PC, some two years or more after its arrival on the Xbox. Technically it looked horrendous. I remember the TV commercials where in the last two seconds they zoom into one of the alien bad guys and it's supposed to be scary, but it looks like an ill-designed enemy of the N64 era judging by its low polygone count and dull textures.

Both do not apply to GoW.

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Now! I DO seem to remember something about Consolevania being made into a TV show? Is that right? Is all this (Consolvania Towers/The Sponsors) a reference to the failure of that? Or am I completely wrong?

The Consolevania guys have already made two seasons of a series called videoGaiden, with a third season confirmed. I'm not saying the character ISN'T a reference to their dealings with the Beeb, though.

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Yeah, Consolevania: TV became a superb reality. On the BBC, no less! Well, BBC Scotland.

I don't think I heard about the confirmed third season, though. Most excellent news! :tup: :tup:

VideoGaiden is basically the same thing, except a bit better produced and with less extreme humour (which you may prefer). The goodness is still there in every other way. You can probably find downloads of the episode knocking around somewhere; there was certainly a thread full o' links here at some point.

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Cool..... It certainly sounds like the stuff regarding the Consolevania towers is a reference to the promise of "better things" (ie. it's exactly the same, only now they've got some guy who knows nothing about computer games to answer to).

It makes you wonder why they've gone back to their old show... I can only imagine it's because they enjoyed making it so much?

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I think they do enjoy it. Also Videogaiden has much shorter episodes over a shorter period of time. Consolevania can be produced at their own pace and they obviously have more freedom with what they can do.

And yeah, the "sponsors" stuff looks like a reference to the beeb to me :)

Also, when he tuned round to find Watson behind him, I lolled.

And finally - good eulogy to the Overblood jokes too :)

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Ah yes, that was excellent. Kenny. 'Burn it'. Scary how he actually look like Christian Bale there.

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