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Jake

Idle Thumbs 107: GIANTBOMB.COM

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My favorite thing about the Metro: Last Light watch is that when you're not on the surface and using it to time your gas mask filters, it shows your system time. And, to hopefully blow Jake's mind, there are things that you can use your lighter on this time.

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About the vaguely retro stylings of the Xbox One, i saw this fan mock-up earlier today.
moOnPmO.jpg

I find myself believing completely that there should be a variant with wood paneling.

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That would look so unbelievably cool.

 

It's too bad that every angle of the XBone seems to be corporate-friendly rather than consumer-friendly. You can't even use headsets you currently own with it - they're all incompatible.

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When playing a 360 game online without a headset the voices of other players come out of your TV speakers. Surely "Xbox off" will be the most hilarious thing to shout.

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When playing a 360 game online without a headset the voices of other players come out of your TV speakers. Surely "Xbox off" will be the most hilarious thing to shout.

 

From the Penny-Arcade Report Liveblog of the reveal

 

  • 01:16:02 PM
  • Ben Kuchera

Tempted to scream "Xbox, Turn Off!" or "Xbox, Bing Porn!"

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When playing a 360 game online without a headset the voices of other players come out of your TV speakers. Surely "Xbox off" will be the most hilarious thing to shout.

 

Its like on the last day of school when you were allowed to bring in toys and one kid would bring in a gameboy and as i was a spiteful jealous little prick i would walk over to them and flick the off switch

 

we've all done it

 

ya'll aware this happened right?

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4353010/kinect-trouble-xbox-one-reveal

 

post-27841-0-06223100-1369311388_thumb.jpg

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Yeah it was discussed in this podcast episode. Still hilarious, I will never get enough of that.

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The Last Light discussion makes me really want to play the game, if just to see the concentration camp part that Jake is referring to. It's kind of incredible to think that a Russian game might handle the subject of Nazism and race with defter hands than an American game dealing with a similar subject, but maybe I shouldn't be that surprised. Russians are certainly in a unique place for knowing how to portray labor/prison camps in truly understated but brutal way.

 

I'd also like to add my voice to the 'play this game in Russian' crowd, because that's how I played Metro 2033 and it really heightened my enjoyment of that game. I had the Russian VO with the English subtitles, and I really enjoyed seeing what the difference in translation was or just seeing which words they chose to not translate from Russian into English. Given that so many games in this genre are made with a specifically American or generically international audience in mind, it's fun that there's a game that is not afraid to stay so culturally focused in one specific region, even if the majority of the players might not recognize or understand any of those cultural touchstones.

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I like all the discussions about the XBone going on lately, but I have to be totally honest... as a relatively poor man, I will be waiting at least a year after release and basing my decision on price almost as much as customer satisfaction.

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The Last Light discussion makes me really want to play the game, if just to see the concentration camp part that Jake is referring to. It's kind of incredible to think that a Russian game might handle the subject of Nazism and race with defter hands than an American game dealing with a similar subject, but maybe I shouldn't be that surprised. Russians are certainly in a unique place for knowing how to portray labor/prison camps in truly understated but brutal way.

I wouldn't get your hopes up on it being objectively better, it's just very different in a way that was striking. Re the "concentration camp" portion: The characters call it a concentration camp (and for all I know there is one) but all we got to actually see of it was a traditional prison. It was, I think, most surprising to see Nazi characters in a game have actual race-motivated hate as part of their goal, and not just be "ultimate evil bad guys, just because." It felt relieving, and goes very much hand in hand with the rest of the game's comfort in just saying with a shrug, "well, that's the way it is" about just about everything narrative, theme, and mechanic related.

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How do I change the language in Metro? I'm a dummy.

 

I find the de rigeur extreme cynicism around console launches sort of disheartening. Granted, I'm not looking for all this transmedia business, nor do i want stuff popping up over the stuff I'm watching, but a hardware upgrade is always useful. Also, $500 is basically what I spend on video cards every 2/3 years, so even if both consoles are just "pcs" they're pretty great value PCs! I guess I'm unclear what it is people want them to do.

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I'm quite enjoying playing Last Light in Russian. I do get that the low quality english voices add a certain manic campyness to the game, but walking around only understanding half of what I hear (only important dialogue is subbed) lends the game a strong sense of place. This is exists with english VO as well, but as has been mentioned in previous casts, games so rarely feel culturally influenced that it's nice having the option to approach a game where it doesn't feel like the devs bent over backwards to make the experience bland and palatable to my american tastebuds. That and the poor quality of the english VO is super distracting after listening to the Russian (foreign languages are also more forgivable for mediocre VO since I don't have a frame of reference for proper delivery)

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Haha, I jokingly made that reference thinking it was way too obscure, and I'm so glad that's what it turned out to be. That one's sort of about the commonality of higher-classes, though.

(Also I am weird and find the Giant Bomb comedy style to be jarring and not enjoyable like y'all's vibe. Sorry Ryan.)

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I wouldn't get your hopes up on it being objectively better, it's just very different in a way that was striking. Re the "concentration camp" portion: The characters call it a concentration camp (and for all I know there is one) but all we got to actually see of it was a traditional prison. It was, I think, most surprising to see Nazi characters in a game have actual race-motivated hate as part of their goal, and not just be "ultimate evil bad guys, just because." It felt relieving, and goes very much hand in hand with the rest of the game's comfort in just saying with a shrug, "well, that's the way it is" about just about everything narrative, theme, and mechanic related.

 

Hmm, fair enough. I'll be interested to see what my thoughts are when (if?) I eventually play this game. I would assume that the Nazis are elevated beyond their traditional role of "super evil dudes" in large part because the present day politics that Russia is dealing with. Neo-Nazism represents a strong political force in the country and Putin himself has been associated with groups that have ties to Russian supremacy movements, so it doesn't surprise me that this game would in some way reference these present day Russian issues. (I guess what I'm saying here is, more games that allow me to make use of my college degree, please.)

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The Nazi faction is interesting because their traditional obsession with racial purity is adapted in the world of Metro toward any human who has been mutated from the radiation caused by nuclear fallout. There are even nods to Roadside Picnic as a Nazi soldier plans to escape with his mutated, hair-covered progeny. There isn't, to my knowledge, any mention of other (non-mutation related) underclasses. So in some ways they side-step racism as broadly as Bio:Infinite does, by couching it in science fiction. Though I still think it's a clever extrapolation of how Nazi's of today would react to imagined events of the future.

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(Also I am weird and find the Giant Bomb comedy style to be jarring and not enjoyable like y'all's vibe. Sorry Ryan.)

 

I feel the same way but I have to say there was some chemistry on this episode. I think everyone played well off each other and Ryan brought some good shit to the table.

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i individually love each of the giantbomb guys but don't really care for their group dynamic somehow, which is why I don't listen to their show. I watched and adored their Persona Let's Play though.

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I like both Idle Thumbs and Giantbomb, but I prefer them as separate entities.  The occasional guest spot is ok with me though.

 

Also, I thought this warranted reposting here from the Nextbox 1080 thread.  Insert Jake explosion sound effects.

I made a gif of Ryan Davis' highly appropriate reaction to J Allard (Note the accidental smooth loop).

IMVPGjC.gif

 

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I like both Idle Thumbs and Giantbomb, but I prefer them as separate entities.  The occasional guest spot is ok with me though.

 

Also, I thought this warranted reposting here from the Nextbox 1080 thread.  Insert Jake explosion sound effects.

 

Its worth going to 19:50 in the giantbomb xbox stream to hear everyones reaction to J Allard (CEO)

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The Nazi faction is interesting because their traditional obsession with racial purity is adapted in the world of Metro toward any human who has been mutated from the radiation caused by nuclear fallout. There are even nods to Roadside Picnic as a Nazi soldier plans to escape with his mutated, hair-covered progeny. There isn't, to my knowledge, any mention of other (non-mutation related) underclasses. So in some ways they side-step racism as broadly as Bio:Infinite does, by couching it in science fiction. Though I still think it's a clever extrapolation of how Nazi's of today would react to imagined events of the future.

That's true, and I completely glossed over it. Maybe I'm dumb.

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My favorite line of this entire podcast that perfectly sums up how I feel about Xdog:

 

"You're doing a bunch of crazy stuff that I do think is probably the pinnacle of home entertainment technology... Fuck off." -Jake

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Ryan brought a wonderful energy to this episode.  

 

So excited for all the horror games that abuse Kinect in the future!

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