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Jake

Idle Thumbs 101: Introduction to Video Games

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Idle Thumbs 101:

 

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Introduction to Video Games

There's an old saying in video games that when one door opens, there's probably another door inside of that one that looks sort of the same, and you have to open it, too. We complete BioShock Infinite, Nick and Chris take their first delicious bite of StarCraft 2 in a long while, and Jake's intro stock plummets.

 

Games Discussed: BioShock Infinite, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Super Crate Box, Ridiculous Fishing, Injustice: Gods Among Us

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Ridiculous Fishing might lose its charm soon by the time I complete my train ride home, but I've had a fun two weeks with it.  There isn't a lot of fun variation with the fish types, though.  I would prefer a slower line drop and more varied fish behavior.

 

Though I wasn't actually listening to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony when my character tweeted: "Listenin to bonethugs," so perhaps I'm missing out on the full experience.

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There's something different about this episode that I can't quite place my finger on. This may seem a little strange but it sounds like there's less facial hair!?

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Ridiculous Fishing might lose its charm soon by the time I complete my train ride home, but I've had a fun two weeks with it.  There isn't a lot of fun variation with the fish types, though.  I would prefer a slower line drop and more varied fish behavior.

 

Though I wasn't actually listening to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony when my character tweeted: "Listenin to bonethugs," so perhaps I'm missing out on the full experience.

Yeah it's fun but also dumb. It's a game I feel guilty for playing, which is a sign that I won't play it for long. There's just not quite enough there for me to justify continuous play to myself. I agree about the line drop and fish behavior, though!

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I've done a lot of analysis/complaining about Bioshock: Infinite in the B:I thread elsewhere, but it wasn't until I heard the thumbs' saying some of these things out loud that I had the following stupid revelation.

 

Booker and Comstock-nee-Booker cover both the past and the future in this game.

Booker bookends Bioshock.

 

God, I hope that wasn't their reason for naming him that.

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The discussion on video games criticism was so great. Maybe it's because I'm more used to book reviews -- where it's pretty obvious that the majority of reviewers haven't actually finished the book their reviewing -- but I have never assumed that video game reviewers actually finished the game. Or if they have, it was on a super fast playthrough where they probably missed a lot of content. I guess that's because I don't really believe that you need to get to the ending of a game to know if it's good or not; usually that's something you can tell in the first few hours of game play. Expecting someone to have finished the game just puts way too much of an emphasis on the ending, which I often find to be the weakest part of most games.

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The discussion on video games criticism was so great. Maybe it's because I'm more used to book reviews -- where it's pretty obvious that the majority of reviewers haven't actually finished the book their reviewing -- but I have never assumed that video game reviewers actually finished the game. Or if they have, it was on a super fast playthrough where they probably missed a lot of content. I guess that's because I don't really believe that you need to get to the ending of a game to know if it's good or not; usually that's something you can tell in the first few hours of game play. Expecting someone to have finished the game just puts way too much of an emphasis on the ending, which I often find to be the weakest part of most games.

 

Yeah, this was one of those conversations where, as it was happening, I was just stoked to be part of the podcast. With Chris and Nick having legit careers as journalists, and having thought about these questions a lot, I found myself just surprised and interested as to their answers. 

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I think it's funny that Bioshock Infinite's strange nihilism is the reason I liked and seems to be why everyone else hates it.

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I think it's funny that Bioshock Infinite's strange nihilism is the reason I liked and seems to be why everyone else hates it.

It just doesn't act like it's about nihilism at all, but then is. I can't tell if it's made by a nihilistic person who doesn't see themselves that way or what. I don't know what the game is trying to say, but it seems like it must be saying SOMETHING because it's screaming so loudly.

I am an asshole and therefore often find myself in the position of explaining something, increasingly emphatically, to another person who is just not getting it. The louder I am, the more simply I try to break my idea down, the more glazed over their eyes get. Playing BioShock Infinite, for me, has been a simulator of being that other person. The more the game went on, the more I felt like I was dumb for not keeping up, despite my best efforts to pay attention, so as it got louder and louder I didn't understand more, I just more and more asked myself if I was really as dense as playing the game was making me feel, or of the game was actually not telling me anything and was just being loud and emphatic.

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I was kind of wondering if that game hunter guy will end up being a bioshock dlc thing. His only presence in the game is like one or two audio logs and several enviromental clues. But seems like a sort of existing character you could inhabit that isn't a total asshole. In the current game it seems like there's a small importance placed on him for no reason. Or he's just something left over from a scrapped game section. Just struck me as weird.

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Yes, yes it does. 

 

Also, disagree on quality of sentence; passive voice (who exactly is doing the investigating?). 

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I guess this is the end for super-nerdy episode number jokes. :(

 

Maybe a Lotus 123 joke can fit in there in half a year.

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I guess this is the end for super-nerdy episode number jokes. :(

Maybe a Lotus 123 joke can fit in there in half a year.

Excited for Idle Thumbs 2000.

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Excited for Idle Thumbs 2000.

 

Which, of course, will be recorded at the offices of Computer 5000 in San Francisco.

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I was kind of wondering if that game hunter guy will end up being a bioshock dlc thing. His only presence in the game is like one or two audio logs and several enviromental clues. But seems like a sort of existing character you could inhabit that isn't a total asshole. In the current game it seems like there's a small importance placed on him for no reason. Or he's just something left over from a scrapped game section. Just struck me as weird.

 

I love Preston's (the hunter guy) logs.

 

It's easy to miss some of his story too, like these parts:

 

 

 

 

Great environmental stuff in the rooms you find them too.

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I've said a decent amount regarding Bioshock Infinite in other threads and I by and large agree with your assessment. You managed to make your points more cogent then I likely could have. I agree though I wish you all would have expanded a bit when (I'm not sure who said this now) but pointed out the race and segregation issues were largely toothless. They were made rather toothless by the narrative shifting but it was something I wish you all explored a bit more. 

 

As disappointed as I was with the ending I am oddly enough still glad I bought the season pass. I am really excited still as you guys seem to be about the DLC opportunities. 

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Huh, was Bioshock 2 mentioned? I must've blacked out during.

 

This was a most excellent podblast. Very educational!

 

Most of the hype around Ridiculous Fishing on its release was possibly much to do with the news of it back when someone cloned their Flash prototype of it and released it on iOS before they could. Ninja Fishing I think it was called. That, coupled with a weird and hilarious stealth ad campaign just before release built around this fictional, upcoming social platform whose CEO accidentally sent several private e-mails to every subscriber. This turned out to be Byrdr, the in-game social network.

 

I burned out quickly on the game, but I've heard there's an actual ending to it which sort of compels me to try and finish it at some point. I had assumed it was just this never-ending arcade thing. So it's nice to hear there's an endgame.

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The great thing about Ridiculous Fishing is that there isn't any in game sales or anything. It's just a game. You pay and you get to play it. 

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Yes! It's a bloody relief nowadays to just play a game that doesn't constantly ask you to pay money to "GET ENERGYEZ! or GOULD!"

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There is an ending to Ridiculous Fishing, triggered after you get to the bottom of Arctic Floes.  It's surprisingly poignant (though still ridiculous).

You were the fish the whole time so you kill yourself.

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Sean "I just wanted to give you a potato" story
 
Something kinda similar happened to me during the walking dead,

i pressed the wrong button during ep1 and said "throw duck outside on the street", i thought i'd just role with it, that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. How wrong was i! Even though i had Kenny's back on ever decision for the rest of the game he brought it up all the fucking time! Ending with me asking him to help me save Clementine and him saying "You didn't want to save my Kid" really frustrating. Although i did then get to say "FUCK YOU KENNY" which relieved all of the frustration and let me forgive the game :)

 

One button to fire a gun or loot a purse and one button to decide the fate of someone's life, you're kinda treading similar ground there bub

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