Idle Thumbs 151: A Fascinating Experience

[Sean]

Idle Thumbs 151:

 

 

A Fascinating Experience

Perched upon a slender neck of expertly machined titanium, our new telepresence robot peers into the studio. Chris compulsively manipulates an ever-evolving Doge. Jake obsesses over a perfectly orchestrated techno-heist. Sean daydreams of a professional gaming life forever out of reach. Three hosts, blind to the broadcast of their lives into the socially-connected Oculus Rifts of our shared future, lost, forever, to video games. (Photo credit: Norman Chan)

 

Things Discussed: Major Bueno, Free To Play, Luftrausers, Quad Cow, Betrayer, Oculus Rift, Google Glass, Double Robotics Remote Telepresence, Doge 2048

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[Gormongous]

Hah! I was wondering how long you guys would stick to your "rational" episode numbering scheme. Looking forward next week to episode -21.3!

...And now I hear the grief and mourning. I feel bad, number the episodes however it makes you feel better.

[Bjorn]

Idle Thumbs 151 makes me think of Bacardi 151.  Oh college years.

 

Edited to add: I had not started listening yet, and did not know there was almost immediately a Bacardi 151 joke.

[SecretAsianMan]

Hah! I was wondering how long you guys would stick to your "rational" episode numbering scheme. Looking forward next week to episode -21.3!

 

The next one should be episode π, then episode e, then φ, then √2... (you see, because they're irrational numbers.  Math jokes!)

[TychoCelchuuu]

I see "Betrayal" is on the list of games discussed - is that a malapropism for "Betrayer" or is it about an entirely different game?

[mikemariano]

I see "Betrayal" is on the list of games discussed - is that a malapropism for "Betrayer" or is it about an entirely different game?

 

[Jake]

I see "Betrayal" is on the list of games discussed - is that a malapropism for "Betrayer" or is it about an entirely different game?

Thanks, fixed!

[Gormongous]

Having actually listened to the episode now, I enjoyed the discussion of Free to Play as a historical document, but I think it's missing a distinction between accuracy and authenticity. A perfectly accurate movie about Dota 2 is just an hour or two of gameplay footage with no interviews or commentary, just like a perfectly accurate history book is a series of contemporary documents with no editing or argument. Most documentaries try to be as accurate as possible through straight narrative and light commentary, with maybe some brief and blurry reenactments thrown if the subject is not particularly well-documented, but I can easily imagine a documentary that privileges the authenticity of watching Dota 2 with full knowledge of the game, rather than the literal events of a given match, which are archived and discussed elsewhere anyway. In my opinion, authenticity of feeling and context is a goal not striven for enough in "serious" documentary works, to the point that I'm reminded of "objective" game reviews just a little. I feel like In the Name of the Rose and Marketa Lazarová are two of the most authentically medieval movies I've ever seen, and they're both entirely fictitious, to the extreme.

 

Anyway, I have not seen the movie, but it sounds like it errs more towards authenticity, maybe moreso than Chris and Jake are comfortable with. That's okay, but I don't think it makes it a commercial or propaganda if it tries to capture more about The International than just the bare facts.

[Roderick]

Chris has officially won the intro song contest. All of them.

[Flynn]

Interesting to contrast Free to Play with The Smash Brothers here.  The Smash Brothers didn't have good footage of the original events and so relied mostly on interviews, and luckily there were some people who were could communicate the feels of those events amazingly (like Wife).

 

For anyone who somehow missed it, I think it captures a gaming subculture even better than Free to Play:

 

[dium]

I would totally listen to a podcast where you guys just talk about about slightly-older-than-current imported television period drama.

 

...really, I just like it when you talk about anything that isn't video games. 

[Gormongous]

I would totally listen to a podcast where you guys just talk about about slightly-older-than-current imported television period drama.

 

...really, I just like it when you talk about anything that isn't video games. 

 

I'm hoping, when the BBC Wolf Hall adaptation makes it to screen, we'll see Chris do the sort of deep dive that bleeds over into the podcast. It'll be the Wolf Hall book podcast we never had!

[sclpls]

They are playing the entirety of that Smash Bros documentary at the Roxie in San Francisco in like two weeks. I'm debating whether or not to make a day of it.

[elmuerte]

The new song is awesome.

[Bjorn]

The new song is awesome.

 

I just started listening, and the new song put the biggest smile on my face.  Well done Mr. Remo.

[CaptainFish]

Yeah the song is great! Love that brass!

 

I play a lot of Dota 2 and I liked the SFM stuff they added. It kinda felt like how Meet The Scout feels like playing that class, riding that edge of high danger but also high capability where his arrogance/confidence made sense. At one point they cut from Nightstalker chasing Pugna, this big hulking bat person and a short magical skeleton, and it cuts to him grabbing him and physically spiking him into the ground, in place of his regular swiping attack. It's beyond what is actually shown in game, but it didn't pull me out of it that much. The play Sean mentioned from later in the game was stylized as well but not even to that extent, if I remember correctly.

[mikemariano]

I walked out of my office building while starting to listen and stepped into the dying sunlight and cold New York air.  I put on my sunglasses, and the theme kicked in.

 

Glorious work, Mr. Remo.

[Stuart]

That was a fucking epic intro song. THOSE TRUMPETS, SO GOOOOOD. Good job Chris, and everyone who lent their voice!

[Threndsa]

New opening is great. Good job! Free to play seems interesting. I guess ill have to watch it even though i don't play DoTA2

[tberton]

I think it's funny that Sean chides Chris about Doge 2048, but seems to have forgotten that he once talked about Snoopy's Flying Ace for like 20 minutes. Idle Thumbs has always talked about weird games.

[mayooms]

Mayumi the Double Robotics girl here!

 

I loved Free to Play! I just wished they showed more of The International 2 and 3. But it was a very nicely done documentary. Dendi is my favorite now

 

Remo, awesome job on the new song! Love it!

[neonrev]

How did I ever dream I would be disappointed int the new theme? How could I ever think Chris could fail me? Fantastic intro man, although dangerously catchy for a podcast intro. Any chance of a instrumental version being available? I have a busywork playlist that that would fit into perfectly.

Man, I was having a bad day, and that song picked it right back up. 

[CEJ]

I'm kinda intrigued about the comments Sean made about Betrayer, because I've really liked it so far. I got it during early access when Craig Hubbard was interviewed on Tone Control. I played the first couple of hours during early access, once by myself and once with a buddy. I didn't know how far into development it was at the time so the rough edges didn't bother me. I decided to wait for the release build. Since release I've only played the first 1.5 hours or so. The experience of playing it is largely the same since the build I played in November ( some stuff did change, new clues were added, new characters. They seemed to have shuffled around or replaced one of the early enemy AIs).

 

To me it doesn't feel unfinished. It feels weird, unapologetic, kinda like Far Cry 2. What I like about it is the complete lack of instructions. Exploration & Discovery is key to understand the game-rules, and to progress the narrative. There are some gameplay mechanics that I don't even know why they exist or what they are for. But that's whats so thrilling. It reminds me of playing Trespasser (best game of all time) with my brother when I was like 8 years old(maybe?). It was rough and there were no instructions, it felt less deliberate and all the more boundless and exciting for it.

 

I'll have to play more to confirm my own thoughts though. The release was very unannounced, or at least very unnoticed, as Sean said. No build up at all.

[tegan]

I'm a little miffed that you apologized for getting Mayumi's gender wrong but never said anything about getting mine wrong when I wrote in.

 

Also, "doge" is supposed to be pronounced "doggie," but I've always said it as "dohje" because it's inherently funnier.

 

Also also, you have convinced me to watch a movie about Dota.

 

Also also also, I think Google Glass is cool. 

[CaptainFish]

I still think it's "

." It was my initial read, and it's funnier.