Idle Thumbs 126: Old Growth Artisinal Dot

[Jake]

Idle Thumbs 126:

Old Growth Artisinal Dot

We visit an alien planet filled with warring robots, and get our butt kicked. Fortunately, it is a super majestic butt-kicking since it's happening in space. Also discussed: The state of early access alphas, and Super Mario.

Games Discussed: Planetary Annihilation, Spelunky, Super Mario 3D World

• Listen on the Episode Page
• Listen in iTunes
• Subscribe to the RSS Feed

[mikemariano]

I'm upset that Sean's hypothetical child is already better at Minecraft than I am.

 

I am also waiting for Sean to master the Steam controller, then lay waste to all Xbox-controlling Dota 2 players in every match.  Except for one player—whose Twitch stream camera will pull from just a shot of his hands out to his whole body, revealing President Obama.

[Dualhammers]

Chris's observations about the role of dedicated community members in the ongoing development of a game kicked off a number of questions in my mind. The biggest is whether or not the kind of dedication to a game, whereby one person creates code for mechanics that are not even in the game yet, constitutes a new type of craft that is distinct from game development itself. Can a truly invested fan achieve a type of mastery in the mechanisms of player involvement that makes them as valuable as a developer? 

[melmer]

i don't understand and therefore don't like the Luigi clones :-/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iywt4cNb650

[hexgrid]

One of the reasons Nintendo doesn't use capacitive touchscreens is that the lag on them is terrible.  Apple folks were crowing recently that Apple's got the iphone 5S screen's input lag down to an average of 55ms(!), which is over 3 frames of lag at 60fps.  It's an outlier; the 4S is more like 5 frames of lag, and android tablets are anywhere up to double that.

[clyde]

Chris's observations about the role of dedicated community members in the ongoing development of a game kicked off a number of questions in my mind. The biggest is whether or not the kind of dedication to a game, whereby one person creates code for mechanics that are not even in the game yet, constitutes a new type of craft that is distinct from game development itself. Can a truly invested fan achieve a type of mastery in the mechanisms of player involvement that makes them as valuable as a developer?

I think this is already occuring with mods such as DayZ and DOTA.

[Jake]

One of the reasons Nintendo doesn't use capacitive touchscreens is that the lag on them is terrible. Apple folks were crowing recently that Apple's got the iphone 5S screen's input lag down to an average of 55ms(!), which is over 3 frames of lag at 60fps. It's an outlier; the 4S is more like 5 frames of lag, and android tablets are anywhere up to double that.

Whoa interesting! Pressure-based ones always SEEM way laggier to me but it's probably because, Nintendo-hardware aside, they're used in situations where they're being driven by abysmal CPUs (like credit card signature terminals).

[tegan]

The craziest thing to me is that this isn't just the first time Peach has been able to use the fire flower and such, it's that it's the first time she's been playable in a Mario platformer at all in 25 years.

 

I'm really glad Jake's been excited about Nintendo stuff lately because it makes me feel like less of a butt for talking about Nintendo all the time. Now get a Wii U and Pikmin 3.

[elmuerte]

Not counting Mario Allstars?

 

 

Why was there no reader mail in the episode? Didn't anybody mail to questions at idlethumbs dot com slash wizard?

[mikemariano]

I'm really glad Jake's been excited about Nintendo stuff lately because it makes me feel like less of a butt for talking about Nintendo all the time.

 

I don't want Jake to become an obsessive Pokéfan unless we can all see the look of disgust on Sean's face at all times as Jake describes upgrading his Shirtly or Saberwoof or whatever.

 

Luckily Pokémon still has such an abusive interface that Jake will never put up with it.

[Twig]

One of the reasons Nintendo doesn't use capacitive touchscreens is that the lag on them is terrible.  Apple folks were crowing recently that Apple's got the iphone 5S screen's input lag down to an average of 55ms(!), which is over 3 frames of lag at 60fps.  It's an outlier; the 4S is more like 5 frames of lag, and android tablets are anywhere up to double that.

HUH. SOMETHING LEARNED TODAY!

 

Thank you for that, I've always wondered, and no one's ever given a legitimate answer. Now I know.

[BigJKO]

Yeah, wow.. Didn't know iPhone input lag was so huge!

[tegan]

I don't want Jake to become an obsessive Pokéfan unless we can all see the look of disgust on Sean's face at all times as Jake describes upgrading his Shirtly or Saberwoof or whatever.

 

Luckily Pokémon still has such an abusive interface that Jake will never put up with it.

 

 

 

...I didn't want to bring it up, but Pokémon is a really good match for the stuff they brought up about Spelunky and Minecraft being the kind of game that a kid could grow up with but also stay rich and interesting to adults. ...Outside of the part about being new and fresh, of course.

[Johnny Driggs]

The craziest thing to me is that this isn't just the first time Peach has been able to use the fire flower and such, it's that it's the first time she's been playable in a Mario platformer at all in 25 years.

 

Peach was playable in Super Paper Mario, but that game gets lumped into the RPG sub-series though it's a platformer/adventureish game.

 

Also Jake needs to not be self-conscious about these Nintendo segments. I'm right with you buddy!

[Badfinger]

Whoa.  WHOA!

 

Ratchet & Clank are NOT kid's games. Especially since half or more of their titles are double entendres. They were also pretty awesome.

 

I do understand what was trying to be described but I think the mark was missed.

[elmuerte]

Indeed... even the name of the characters is adult themed. "Ratchet & Clank"... what else could that be but a reference to granny porn

[RubixsQube]

So, the Hot Pocket website uses that trendy parallaxing BS, and while normally it's harmless, as you scroll to look at their meat selection this incredibly disgusting meat skewer just shoves up at you. At least the little pepperoni falls down into a Hot Pocket, which is kind of fun.

 

Oh, and their favicon is a little Hot Pocket in sunglasses, because, you know, it's a cool brand and they have to let you know. Instagram their twitter, guys. 

[Badfinger]

Indeed... even the name of the characters is adult themed. "Ratchet & Clank"... what else could that be but a reference to granny porn

Well now I'm barfing forever thanks.

[Patrick R]

This was a great episode.

[Twig]

I didn't hear you mention it, so in case you didn't, it's worth noting that Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ is now http://store.steampowered.com/app/236450/?snr=1_7_15__13'>on Steam!

[clyde]

This was a great episode.

 

I agree, they had me laughing and thinking for the entirety of it. It was fun to listen to.

[CaptainFish]

Peach was playable in Super Paper Mario, but that game gets lumped into the RPG sub-series though it's a platformer/adventureish game.

 

Also Jake needs to not be self-conscious about these Nintendo segments. I'm right with you buddy!

I find it weird that both her and Bowser are playable in SMRPG which, as an RPG, is about story and managed to pull it off, but in these platformers where story isn't the draw they haven't just written it off and let you play as her since 2. Or at least put Daisy in there instead of a second toad.

Not a fan of Blue Toad at all. :|

[pabosher]

I know this is dumb, but I'm really glad somebody adjusted the title to include "Idle Thumbs 126:".

[sclpls]

I already play games like CK2 or Civ 5 from my couch using a wireless mouse. Because there's no real time pressure these games work just fine that way, I just play them at a slightly slower pace than I would if I had hotkeys (the only downside is that text is not optimized for a TV screen obviously, which is not that big a deal for Civ 5 where there isn't much text I really need to look at, but is slightly more problematic for CK2). The strategy games that will really benefit from this will be RTS's and other games where being able to use hot keys is critical to your ability to play the game well. Playing something like DOTA 2 or Company of Heroes from the couch definitely sounds like fun.

 

I also suspect the Steam controller will probably work better for FPS games than current controller setups allow.

[SecretAsianMan]

I sent them candy, someone else can send them Hot Pockets.

 

I know what Chris means about finally playing a game in short bursts.  I normally play a game from start to finish (or not at all) in large, hours long sessions.  But lately I haven't had that kind of time and the only thing I've been regularly playing is Animal Crossing for the 3DS.  Granted Animal Crossing isn't something that can be "finished" in one long sitting, but spending a few minutes everyday interacting with my town is kind of nice compared to a game that demands a more significant time investement.

 

 

I know this is dumb, but I'm really glad somebody adjusted the title to include "Idle Thumbs 126:".

Me too.