CAGcast #38: The "No" Heard 'round the World

[CheapyD]

This week: Wombat's Quest for Free Games, Racism in Games, the latest gaming and shopping news, your questions from the CAGbag (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71382) and more!

Download (http://cheapassgamer.com/podcast/cagcast38.mp3) - 60 minutes, 27MB
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Past CAGcasts (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/../archives/cat_cagcast.php)

http://cheapassgamer.com/podcast/cagcast38.mp3


Linkage:
Coming soon...

[Kendal]

Nice CAGcast, almost done. You guys should try to take back porch monkey.

[Richlough]

Sweet , I can't wait to listen to it .

[DarinIsAwesome]

People of hispanic origin actually have been in a few RPGs.

Anybody remember Rico from Xenogears?
http://guardian.leamonde.net/chars/pics/rico.jpg

See? The only Latin dudes in fantasy worlds are wrestlers. Also, green. See why we play RPGs?!

[Jewelz23]

awesome, nice intro to the cagcast.

[gunm]

"what the hell, wombat just pissed on my shoes"... what was that about?

Also, if it's Mary-oh and not Mah-rhee-oh, then shouldn't it be Wham-bat, not Whom-bat?

[TimPV3]

My first thought upon hearing of the balloon passing Cheapy's window was Spiderman 2. Ugh.

[radjago]

Hello! Spoilers!

[Darkside Hazuki]

validate |ˈvaləˌdāt| verb [ trans. ] check or prove the validity or accuracy of (something) : these estimates have been validated by periodic surveys.
• demonstrate or support the truth or value of : in a healthy family a child's feelings are validated.
• make or declare legally valid.

DERIVATIVES validation |ˌvaləˈdā sh ən| noun

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.(in the sense [make legally valid] ): from medieval Latin validat- ‘made legally valid,’ from the verb validare, from Latin validus (see valid ).

[Jaster]

Wombat, did you have to send in your Hard Drive with the 360, or were you allowed to keep it?

[Wombat]

Wombat, did you have to send in your Hard Drive with the 360, or were you allowed to keep it?

I kept it and kept my face plate too

[CheapyD]

Check this out:

We are "featured" in the new Games & Hobbies Category, but our ranking is pretty low: 67/100.
Ya 'all make sure you subscribe to that shit, I think the rankings are based on new subscriptions.

It's your fault that we aren't rich yet and Wombat can't afford a PS3.

[shipwreck]

This episode seemed more like "real" journalism. Not sure if that is good or bad. Definitely a different feel to it though.

Edit: Wombat has informed me that I am wrong regardless of what my opinion is.

[flowery]

What the fuck was that at the end?

Also Wombat or anyone else if you ever get any free shit and don't want it just look my way. Another note I reviewed you guys on iTunes back in the early days of this thing (I have listened to all of them). If I could do mulitple reviews I would.

[trip1eX]

I'm afraid that free games will eventually ruin you guys.

[Wombat]

I'm afraid that free games will eventually ruin you guys.


well, I don't have any yet, so there is still hope

[GF_Eric]

I have been a PR Rep/News Editor for a couple of websites over the last 4 years so I'll share some of what I know about getting games to review.

CAG gets enough hits that I'm sure pubilshers would love to send you stuff, but you probably need to do more in depth coverage. Just mentioning it on the CAGcast isn't really enough. If you wrote a decent review to go along with the coverage in the CAGcast, I think you would have better luck.

I also think that part of the problem stems from the fact that, as was mentioned this week, Wombat is seen as a second-rate Robin to go along with Cheapy's first-rate Batman. Why should a company send something to the sidekick instead of the big boss monkey man? If Cheapy put in requests on Wombat's behalf, I guarantee you would get a lot more positive response. It would probably help if Wombat had a title of some sort when he sends requests - Reviews Editor or something like that - so he'll be taken more seriously.

Another issue is that you probably aren't going to get multiple copies of the games. You'll have to decide whether it is more important that Cheapy or Wombat gets the free stuff and then pursue getting one copy rather than trying to schmooze your way into one for each of you.

[zewone]

I reviewed you guys right now. Hope you're almost to 100.

[Apossum]

haven't had time to listen to the CAG cast in months...but the title of this one is intriguing.

reviewed ya guys a while ago...my conscience is clear about your lack of riches or a naked supermodel entourage ;)

[daphatty]

What the hell was that at the end? Wombat pissing on shoes and baby CheapyD?!?!

Oh, and Wombat's rampant new york'n narrowmindedness made me want to kill someone. I know you were being a smart ass but damn. Those NY Italians did one hell of a mind fuck job on those of you who pronounce Mah ree oh incorrectly. :)

[PawnTakesKing]

A near perfect CAGcast. Loved the editorializing, and Wombat was the funniest he's ever been. Awesome job you guys.

And hey, you're over 100 reviews now! Congrats!

[SilverPaw750]

Listening to it right now - Nice job Wombat on getting recognized as legit media :lol:

[FriskyTanuki]

Could this be our Wombat or some imposter Wombat? I don't remember hearing about Wombat being a James Bond fan, just Cheapy. Interesting if true.

Today I was talking with Wombat, a new-media developer, and Petticoat, our intern, when the subject of the new James Bond movie came up. We all agreed that the new Bond looked pretty kick-ass, but then Wombat floored us with the assertion that "James Bond, 007" is a title that is passed on from agent to agent, not the name of a singular character played by different actors.

What followed was a dazzling display of nerdery that enveloped half the office and anyone unlucky enough to blunder through. The majority opinion was that James Bond is the same guy throughout every single movie, just played by different actors, but Wombat refused to concede, even though point after point was brought to light from dozens of Bond movies. Even now, people are still debating it. For my money, though, no way was Bond just a title.

It was a fine example of what a middling trivia question will do to a gaggle of nerds on a warm Friday afternoon.

http://fc.adultswim.com/Community/EmployeeBlog?userId=&year=2006&month=6&day=16
-------------------------------------

I'll listen to the CAGcast later when I'm done with my work and errands for today.

[Wombat]

Could this be our Wombat or some imposter Wombat? I don't remember hearing about Wombat being a James Bond fan, just Cheapy. Interesting if true.



http://fc.adultswim.com/Community/EmployeeBlog?userId=&year=2006&month=6&day=16
-------------------------------------

I'll listen to the CAGcast later when I'm done with my work and errands for today.

thats not me but I do agree with that Wombat about the Bond thing, it comes up in "In her Majesty's Secret Service" as well as the first Casino Royale

[panasonic]

More fun than Chapel or South Park indeed. Its a you mario. lol

[levi333]

As a Korean male i find that comment.... HILARIOUS!!! I laughed my ass off when i heard you say that Cheapy!

[GrimNecroWizard]

I don't have an Ipod and just downloaded Itunes and tried to create an account and it's a bitch to sign up for all this, although I really want to review the CAGcast, I think I'll have to pass on all that signing up until I finally get an Ipod.

[thorbahn3]

I had two problems with this Cagcast. First you guys seemed to talk forever about certain subjects (had to skip past the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray part). Second is Wombat seemed really angry. I mean damn, if Microsoft keeps him away from his 360 playing for another week he'll go crazy like the dude in The Shining.

[Shion]

1942 has been updated Wombat.

It is called 1945 Strikers.
I think they even made a sequel to that called 1945 Strikers Plus.

I enjoyed it thoroughly at the arcade, and know that it was released for the PS2, but I didn't play that version.

Great cast, I found the point where Wombat suggested "the 360 recall" and Cheapy's immediate rebuttal to be quite the highlight. It's really very funny to hear you guys disagree.

[Wombat]

1942 has been updated Wombat.

It is called 1945 Strikers.
I think they even made a sequel to that called 1945 Strikers Plus.

I enjoyed it thoroughly at the arcade, and know that it was released for the PS2, but I didn't play that version.

Great cast, I found the point where Wombat suggested "the 360 recall" and Cheapy's immediate rebuttal to be quite the highlight. It's really very funny to hear you guys disagree.

yeah but that was Japan only, so it doesnt count

[flowery]

That reminds me Wombat that is a great idea for an arcade game or next-gen game (if it is done right). There isn't even an arcade in my college town...how lame is that.

[Jazar]

At the expense of comming off like a blu-ray fanboi I just wanted to note that the BR format is 100% capable of handling all of the same codecs that HD-DVD supports. Sony has stated that *their* movies will be encoded in the older MPEG2 compression algorithm but other studios aren't tied to any compression. CheapyD is right in that this will be a very interesting battle since it's another clash of the titans with MS and Sony battling against each other in another arena. Wombat is also right however in the opinion that most people could give a rats ass (at least in the immediate future).

edit: I also wanted to point out that there *IS* a Blu-Ray player out now on the market. The Samsung BD-P1000 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F99FDE/sr=8-1/qid=1154027605/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0064912-1959865?ie=UTF8) coming in at $999 (and 99 cents).

[Tybee]

Good podcast, guys.

I liked hearing your thoughts on HD-DVD and BlueRay. I listen to another podcast by the HT Guys (kind of the official podcast of the AVS forums), and while I like it a lot, neither of them have a clue about video games and they seem to think the PS3 is going to be a huge hit "because surely everyone will see the value in a $600 Blue Ray player."

My feeling is this: The general public could care less at this point and are not going to invest in HD-DVD, Blue Ray or anything else until it is well established. Everyone talks about Beta vs. VHS, but don't forget that we had a format war this generation as well: DVD vs. DivX. No one's rushing in to buy what might end up being the potential loser, especially when the benefits are not as immediately evident as they were in the move from VHS to DVD.

Home theater buffs are mildly interested in the PS3 because (by Sony's design) when it comes out, it will be the cheapest BlueRay player on the market. But when you account for the fact that there are virtually no BlueRay movie titles right now and the fact that it is by and large an unproven technology, $600+ is a lot to sink, especially if you have no interest in the gaming capabilities of the platform (which neither of the HT Guys do).

CAGs, of course, are aware of the gamer POV. $600 is a helluva lot for a game console, any way you cut it. After the first wave of Sony fanboys pick theirs up, I am not at all convinced that Sony will be able to sell anyone else, regardless of the market share the PS2 enjoys. As Cheapy and Wombat pointed out in past podcasts, the SNES held similar dominance over the home console market and Nintendo managed to piss that away through a few bad decisions. I believe pimping the UMD and MemoryStick has hamstringed the PSP, just as I believe BlueRay will hang like an albatross around the neck of the PS3.

We shall see.

[DeathDealer]

excellent cagcast, although i think they are all great. i just wish they were longer and more frequent. i work 6 days a week so if you could fill that time with cagcasts i would really appreciate it.
about the game racism. thats just the way it is. most black people i know would rather be a gangster thug type rather than a black zelda or something. they try so hard to be a badass in real life, the game lets them live out what they wish they were.
sorry if that offended anyone, its not meant to be a racist comment.

[KaneRobot]

Blu-Ray is kind of painted into a corner until they improve their picture quality and get more titles out. The only people that would buy it are the hardcores because it's so expensive, and a lot of those same hardcores are the people that know it might be foolish to buy it right away because the format is off to a shaky start.

Can't in good conscience give this show a overwhelmingly positive review, as this (http://whereispadme.ytmnsfw.com) audio should have been used at the beginning.

Still, interesting show that felt noticeably different than previous episodes. If I was signed up for Itunes I'd give you a nice review....since I'm not...uh, I dunno. I'll give you a dollar.

[Tybee]

excellent cagcast, although i think they are all great. i just wish they were longer and more frequent. i work 6 days a week so if you could fill that time with cagcasts i would really appreciate it.
about the game racism. thats just the way it is. most black people i know would rather be a gangster thug type rather than a black zelda or something. they try so hard to be a badass in real life, the game lets them live out what they wish they were.
sorry if that offended anyone, its not meant to be a racist comment.

You're looking at the issue in a very myopic way. Just because slaves couldn't read and write didn't mean they didn't want to. The culture of slavery made it virtually impossible. If someone is raised amongst media that celebrates that thug image, of course that's what they're going to adopt as an idealized life. That's why you've got as many white suburban boys pretending to be gangstas as anyone else. It's what's dictated by the culture.

I'm not so foolish as to think that a "black zelda" is going to change things, but I also know that the lack of options presented to minorities in video games (You can be an athlete or a gangsta. Take your pick.) mirrors the same limited options presented by mainstream music, movies, and television. And it helps reinforce all the negative stereotypes that we all recognize but do not bother to dispute.

[daphatty]

You're looking at the issue in a very myopic way. Just because slaves couldn't read and write didn't mean they didn't want to. The culture of slavery made it virtually impossible. If someone is raised amongst media that celebrates that thug image, of course that's what they're going to adopt as an idealized life. That's why you've got as many white suburban boys pretending to be gangstas as anyone else. It's what's dictated by the culture.

I'm not so foolish as to think that a "black zelda" is going to change things, but I also know that the lack of options presented to minorities in video games (You can be an athlete or a gangsta. Take your pick.) mirrors the same limited options presented by mainstream music, movies, and television. And it helps reinforce all the negative stereotypes that we all recognize but do not bother to dispute.

I honestly think this is a no-win situation. Portraying minorities as "thugs" or "athletes" will be just as "offensive" to some people as would protraying minorites as "Uncle Toms" to others. It's completely a matter of opinion. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Tybee]

I honestly think this is a no-win situation. Portraying minorities as "thugs" or "athletes" will be just as "offensive" to some people as would protraying minorites as "Uncle Toms" to others. It's completely a matter of opinion. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Are you suggesting that there's no middle ground between absolute stereotype and the videogame equivalent of "passing?" Because the idea of a black, hispanic, or asian protagonist in a game where she doesn't have a gun in her hand sounds awfully refreshing to me.

I miss the pre-PlayStation days when the worst stereotypes we had to worry about were of the Italian-American variety and you couldn't see the color of your player's skin in sports games. And no one ever complained about stereotypes in PC adventure games. *sigh*

[DeathDealer]

what does it have to do with slaves reading and writing? why even bring slavery into this? another thing, i put "the black people i know" as you qouted me. and for the record thats like 5 people. I in no way said all, or anything thing else to give the idea that i was saying all black people.
"If someone is raised amongst media that celebrates that thug image, of course that's what they're going to adopt as an idealized life. That's why you've got as many white suburban boys pretending to be gangstas as anyone else. It's what's dictated by the culture."
are you trying to say that if someone listens to hip hop they must imitate 50 cent and be the thug type? thats retarded. maybe you are going off the typical victim of your environment statement.
either way, i dont give a shit, the people that complain about racism in games will probably be the people who complain about violence and dont even play video games. i only posted to give props on the cagcast and a small thought. ill tell you what, just ignore me next time. come on man. relax.
but for cheapyd and wombat, good job, cant wait for the next one.

[Rei no Otaku]

As a native Italian speaker I can tell you that you're wrong. It is indeed Mah-ree-oh. What you say would be Merio.

[Tybee]

what does it have to do with slaves reading and writing? why even bring slavery into this? another thing, i put "the black people i know" as you qouted me. and for the record thats like 5 people. I in no way said all, or anything thing else to give the idea that i was saying all black people.
"If someone is raised amongst media that celebrates that thug image, of course that's what they're going to adopt as an idealized life. That's why you've got as many white suburban boys pretending to be gangstas as anyone else. It's what's dictated by the culture."
are you trying to say that if someone listens to hip hop they must imitate 50 cent and be the thug type? thats retarded. maybe you are going off the typical victim of your environment statement.
either way, i dont give a shit, the people that complain about racism in games will probably be the people who complain about violence and dont even play video games. i only posted to give props on the cagcast and a small thought. ill tell you what, just ignore me next time. come on man. relax.
but for cheapyd and wombat, good job, cant wait for the next one.

Sorry if I sounded harsh. I was just trying to broaden the discussion...maybe too much. Didn't mean to offend.

I will say one thing: The videogames used as a sample by the researcher in the mentioned study seem cherry-picked to prove his point. I mean, I understand GTA, as that is one of the most well-known and best selling games of this generation. But "Kung Fu?" Come on. That game was barely on the radar, even when it was one of only like 5 or 6 games available for the NES. It is not at all representative of 99% of the games that appeared in that generation.

[Wombat]

As a native Italian speaker I can tell you that you're wrong. It is indeed Mah-ree-oh. What you say would be Merio.


what I say is Marry-oh not Maar -eo, and never merio.

[Rei no Otaku]

And it's still wrong. The Italian "A" sound is "ah." You say Mario with a NY/NE accent, which I also have when I speak English.

[Cao Cao]

Sorry if I sounded harsh. I was just trying to broaden the discussion...maybe too much. Didn't mean to offend.

I will say one thing: The videogames used as a sample by the researcher in the mentioned study seem cherry-picked to prove his point. I mean, I understand GTA, as that is one of the most well-known and best selling games of this generation. But "Kung Fu?" Come on. That game was barely on the radar, even when it was one of only like 5 or 6 games available for the NES. It is not at all representative of 99% of the games that appeared in that generation.
Wasn't "Kung-Fu" originally a Jackie Chan game in Japan, or at least based on one of his older movies? I could've sworn that I heard that somewhere...

[Tybee]

Wasn't "Kung-Fu" originally a Jackie Chan game in Japan, or at least based on one of his older movies? I could've sworn that I heard that somewhere...

LOL...Hadn't heard that, but anything's possible. The only thing I remember about that game was the lazy enemies who would simply form a humping train on you if you failed to dispatch them.

[ivanctorres]

Wombat..I also have had the unfortunate experience of having a 360 fail on me so I sympathize with your frustrations.
MY 360 finally met its end on Sunday and I called MS on SUNDay. THey said I would get a box in 3-4 days. I get home Thursday and find no box. What a suprise! I called an bitched and all they did was give me a tracking number.
When I got home from work today my box had finally arrived a full two days after they promised.
To make matters worse, MS doesn't pay for the PICK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UPS says its an extra $12.00 despite the fact that customer service told me all shipping charges would be paid by MS.
So I called customer support again and I complained about the additional expense coupled with the cheap shipping and the extra two days w/o a 360.
So I took a page out of Wombat's book and I asked for something for my trouble. After about 15 minutes of being on hold they said I could have Kameo, PDZ or PGR3. I have both PDZ and Kameo so I picked up Kameo.
All thanks to the podcast.
keep up the good work guys. OUt of all the gaming podcasts I enjoy your podcast the most. I look forward to every tuesday to download the podcast.
Great job....how bout some moonshine....still cracks me up.

[praystation]

one of the best cagcasts ever.

[panasonic]

Wombat got his 360 back

[PawnTakesKing]

Wombat got his 360 back

Guess there's no show this week then. :D

[CheapyD]

Next CAGcast will be a late this week, so look for it on Friday...or don't.

[TC]

Next CAGcast will be a late this week, so look for it on Friday...or don't.

Well if thats the case I expect a full review of Street Fighter because I know your ass will be playing it. :D

[bardiya27]

Hmmm, here's a clear-up on the differences between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD's picture qualitysince it seems like CheapyD and Wombat weren't to clear on the subject.

First things first.

Standard television if your TV can support it is shown in 480p. The P stands for progressive.

That means your TV is composed of 480 horizontal lines going down progressively (kind of like a waterfall)

480i is on older TV Sets, I stands for Interlaced. It is still 480 horizontal lines but the fact that it's interlaced means that each line comes and dissappear being replaced by another line, Interlaced's picture is more poor than Progressive, on both the transition on the lines is happening so quickly that you don't notice the lines going down, or the lines being replaced. But comparing a progressive picture to an interlaced side by side, you will notice a difference.

NOW!

All the high definition you see right now, is projected in 720p or 1080i, that's either 720 horizontal lines going down progressively, or 1080 horizontal lines composing the picture being replaced one by one.

All the HD-DVD movies on the market right now are all 720p/1080i, the player itself though can put out 1080p (the highest definition possible as of now) but the discs are too small, companies cannot yet fit a 1080p movie on a HD-DVD disc.

The main advantage of Blu-Ray is that it gives you a 1080p picture.

Now remember, even in 2 years when all channels are gonna be digital, even then just a few are gonna be 1080p.

And also in either case you are always gonna need 3 things.

For example if you want to watch a movie in 1080p, you are gonna need a TV that can put out a 1080p resolution (a few on the market right now), a 1080p source (a Blu-Ray player) and a 1080p HDMI cable.


So three things: TV, cable, and source, all need to match each other to put out the desired resolution.

Blu-Ray players have been out since late June, Best Buy carries them (I work there), right now there is only Samsung's model. And if you want to check out a 1080p picture, head over to your Best Buy and at one of the endcaps there should be a 40 inch 1080p Samsung LCD TV, hooked up to the Samsung Blu-Ray thru Monster HDMI cables and that is gonna be your 1080p resolution, and I personally do notice a difference.

Blu-Ray also gives you a better sound when hooked up thru HDMI.

I personally don't care for either and am sticking to DVD's.

An upconvert DVD player for a 100 dollar, and the best HDMI cable for a 150 dollar, will give you a near HD quality picture. And that's enough for me.

Ask if you have anymore questions.

[HumanSnatcher]

No offense man, but this is common knowledge to (pretty much) everyone on here.

[gunm]

uh yeah. thanks for the answer to a question no one asked.

[mannam23]

It's pretty retarded to spend $150 on an hdmi cable when you can get one for under $50.

[Z-Saber]

It's pretty retarded to spend $150 on an hdmi cable when you can get one for under $50.I got two for around $25 shipped.

[daphatty]

Next CAGcast will be a late this week, so look for it on Friday...or don't.

BOOO! HISSS!

I need my fix maing!

[TimPV3]

Thanks for the info, I wasn't really clear on the difference between i and p. Nice to know Blu-Ray has better sound, atleast that's something it's got going for it.

[CheapyD]

This dude wrote some stuff about video game racism and mentioned this CAGcast episode and this thread:

https://tokenminorities.wordpress.com/2006/07/28/are-video-games-racist/

EDIT: The author also wrote an article for the latest Escapist Magazine (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/) called ‘You Got Your Race In My Videogame’ (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/56/3)
EDIT2: Oh, it's Pat Miller, the person who interviewed me for the Escapist article on CAG!

[shipwreck]

This dude wrote some stuff about video game racism and mentioned this CAGcast episode and this thread:

https://tokenminorities.wordpress.com/2006/07/28/are-video-games-racist/

You'll always be remembered as the guy who said Master Chief was two Koreans standing on each others shoulders. :lol:

I've never seen so many big words one after another. This guy must visit the versus forum. :)

[bardiya27]

yes you can get a cheap HDMI cable for 50 dollars, and even cheaper online.

People have been debating wheter there is a difference because their arguement is that a cable is just a cable.

The main difference between the cheapest cable and the most expensive cable is usually the shielding inside the cable, for example a $150 Monster Ultra 1000 Cable has all the strand conductors inside the cable silver plated which gives each strand more pressure. The added pressure on every single strand makes sure you don't lose any kind of picture quality when going from the source to your TV.

The biggest difference between a cheap cable and an expensive cable is the price, you'll notice just a slight difference in picture and sound quality.

[ivanctorres]

NOOOO!!! Need Cagcast

[patthegreat]

hey cheapy! looking forward to the next CAGCast =)

-pat m.

[CYRiX]

Here's a MS Points converter for you CheapyD!

http://www.mspconverter.com/

[DeathDealer]

woot, im the man. the next internet star.
now qoute that on your damn site.

[Tybee]

woot, im the man. the next internet star.
now qoute that on your damn site.

Apparently we're the Ebert & Roeper of video game racism discourse. ;)

[DeathDealer]

maybe we should do a podcast...?

[PawnTakesKing]

New show tonight, guys?

[Temporaryscars]

Whoops. Wrong spot.

[Ikohn4ever]

I need my CAGcast #39 And Doing Fine

[ZeroSupporT]

On iTunes its only showing it as 28 mins for some reason, I need my CAGCAST!