CAGcast #259: Buddhists Do It Cheaper

CheapyD

CheapyD

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[preview][IMG-L=5838]15060[/IMG-L]Shipwreck steals Skylanders from Wombat, Cheapy explains why his son is a Buddhist, and Wombat puts an embargo on embargoes.

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Well as you can probably guess from my avatar I am a Buddhist. Unfortunately Buddhism is classified as a religion even though there is no deity to worship. "Buddha" is actually a title given to a person who attains enlightenment/reaches Nirvana. More of a philosophy than anything.

Anyway.............glad to see Ship likes Skylanders. My kids are bananas for it. 12 days later and they are still hooked on it like plastic crack. Like you said Cheapy, it's brilliant. 13 skylanders and counting...
 
Long time lurker/listener first time poster.

Just wanted to point out that the bf3 server problems are vastly overstated. The servers were down for an hour launch day, but, other than that I have not had any problems. A couple of times i had to click on multiplayer twice, but that is the extent of the issues i have had. Have not had any noticable lag either.

Also, cheapy, i felt pretty lukewarm on the demo, too, but I like the full game much more. The combat has been rebalanced to make the damage enemies take greater (around bc2 levels). Also, the map on the beta is, I think, by far the weakest one in the game.

As for the single player, i am sure I would like it even less than Shipwreck. Fortunately, I fall into the camp that could not care less about it.
 
First major iteration that seems to bring little new to the table is what I thought about BF3.

That and like all BF games it will take time to squash the bugs and refine the balance. No hurry anymore to purchase it.

Was looking forward to this game the most too.

But I will buy it eventually.
 
Last week, my 15 month old had a fever of 105 brought on by an urinary tract infection. She was so sick that she couldn't eat or drink. Whatever she injested, she threw up, so I had to give her a tylenol suppository. It's not fun, but you do what you have to to make your child feel a little bit better.
 
House of Dead sucks. Long boring camera sweeps. Stale gameplay. Mediocre boss fights. Too much time was spent on cursing as many times as possible. Uninteresting.
 
NERD FACT!!!!!!!!!!! theres no mre vibranium in wakanda tchalla destroyed it to keep doom from taking over so the only stuff left is savage land vibranium. btw black panther is one of the top 10 smartest people in the marvel universe and hes now doing the hero thing in hells kitchen.

and for shipwreck theres also a white panther , just found out about him recently, who was adopted into the family and as luck should have it hes white.

arkham city is awesome kind lame ending but the fun was in the journey not to mention being able to do a replay in the batman beyond costume.

NEW NERD FACT!!!!!!! ow that i think about it technically hes not the black panther anymore his sister suri took over the mantle and the mystical panther powers and i believe shes running the kingdom and thcalla is more like bruce wayne now since hes now only using his physical skils and tech knowledge. and i think wakanda is struggling now that they no longer have vibranium so use for money. theyre not poor but they are hurting.
 
75% of the Nintendo loss was due to currency conversion. And it was an unrealized loss. They had to write down the value of their foreign currency holdings due to the strong Yen. That doesn't mean they actually converted that currency to Yen.

Nintendo holds $14 billion in cash and short term investments and has no debt in case you wanted to know.

Reception of the new systems all depend on the games as always. If the 3ds doesn't get a good shot in the arm during the next 5 months after a bunch of high profile 3ds games come out then it is plan B for Nintendo's handheld strategy.
 
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The Spyro thing is marketing genius. Wal-Mart bought a lot of the game bundles to, we had a PDQ (usually 40+ copies) for every store, so between the game and figures they are raking in some nice money.

BTW Shipwreck had me on the floor laughing with his comments about the whole situation.
 
What is going on with Itunes? I see it on the list but this episode won't download

I see the issue. The date listed in 12/31/00. If you have multiple CAGcasts downloaded it's way in the back
 
Your discussion on Buddhism infuriated me to the point I actually had to switch the show of. I've been studying eastern religion and practising Zen Buddhism for about ten years and not only has it changed my life, it's transformed me into a better person. It gave me a better perception on life and the people around me. After my two year retreat in Sōtō I returned to the UK a new person. If you're going to ridicule something, do it with reason not just because it's different and foreign to you.
 
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I saw those spyro toys/game at Best Buy and they looked kind of cool and was wondering how fast they would be on clearance. Seems like they are going to be hot sellers from the sounds of things, but I'll still keep an eye on them.

As for embargos at events, without them it is possible that a developer will let a larger company announce something, let's say at E3, and state this feature will be included with the game disc. You and everyone else at the event tweet it to their fanbase, and then later when it is not on the disc, the developer says you get the DLC a week early instead of the included feature we said would be there those months ago, isn't that a great deal!
 
A big thank you goes out to Shipwreck for making this an extra special edition podcast as I search for his audible sighs at Wombats bad jokes. First one at minute 46 (or just a few seconds before).

Cheapy: “Sounds like it’s made for small children”
Ship: “Uh, Possibly. I’m playing it”
Wombat: “youd, da..da’re you go. You… proved your.. ahhh.. your point”

Then… jackpot
 
[quote name='Dr Killotron']A big thank you goes out to Shipwreck for making this an extra special edition podcast as I search for his audible sighs at Wombats bad jokes. First one at minute 46 (or just a few seconds before).

Cheapy: “Sounds like it’s made for small children”
Ship: “Uh, Possibly. I’m playing it”
Wombat: “youd, da..da’re you go. You… proved your.. ahhh.. your point”

Then… jackpot[/QUOTE]

That wasn't a sigh and I didn't make a joke. I think the only thing you proved is that you need to find a new podcast to listen to.
 
Wombat, thank you for letting me know about the free Pinball FX2 table. Queued!

And OMG, Shipwreck is the latest victim of Skylanders fever! Cheapy's reaction to the deviousness of Skylanders was great, lol.
 
[quote name='Mayday']Your discussion on Buddhism infuriated me to the point I actually had to switch the show of. I've been studying eastern religion and practising Zen Buddhism for about ten years and not only has it changed my life, it's transformed me into a better person. It gave me a better perception on life and the people around me. After my two year retreat in Sōtō I returned to the UK a new person. If you're going to ridicule something, do it with reason not just because it's different and foreign to you.[/QUOTE]

For a buddhist, you don't seem very zen. They didn't really ridicule it, and they've made similar comments about other religions (including Judaism) in the past.
 
I am so glad to hear Shipwreck talk about Skylanders. I am 35 and I got Skylanders for my birthday on the 20th. I have been stoked for this game. My kids love it, I love it and I am 6 years old again. My wife will not let me buy any more figures so she can get me some for Christmas, lol.

Anyway, the reason I play games is to have a good time. Skylanders is a great time (and an easy money sink)
 
[quote name='Curufinwe']For a buddhist, you don't seem very zen. They didn't really ridicule it, and they've made similar comments about other religions (including Judaism) in the past.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking the same thing. The guy needs to practice being zen a little more.

I also don't think they ridiculed it. Cheapy asked the question to Wombat what his mother would think if one of his kids went to a Buddist preschool.
 
[quote name='hoofrog']I am so glad to hear Shipwreck talk about Skylanders. I am 35 and I got Skylanders for my birthday on the 20th. I have been stoked for this game. My kids love it, I love it and I am 6 years old again. My wife will not let me buy any more figures so she can get me some for Christmas, lol.

Anyway, the reason I play games is to have a good time. Skylanders is a great time (and an easy money sink)[/QUOTE]

Well, I'm 38 in 8 days and I bought Skylanders for myself!! :)

Hearing Jeff Gertsmann talk about it on Giant Bomb got me interested. I bought the game, 2 adventure packs and 3 individual characters.
 
[quote name='Curufinwe']For a buddhist, you don't seem very zen. They didn't really ridicule it, and they've made similar comments about other religions (including Judaism) in the past.[/QUOTE]
::golf clap::
 
So now that we know embargoes are useless, how do we get rid of them? Should the game publishers just give up the entire idea?
 
I thought embargoes let the enthusiast press enjoy the wining and dining knowing they have a few days to get sober before they have to describe how the game could be good.
 
Cheapy, as far as the iPhone 4s battery issue, I've read that it stems from restoring from a backup and that starting over fresh solves the problem. Of course you might want to do some more intense research on your own before wiping your phone.
 
 
[quote name='trip1eX']I thought embargoes let the enthusiast press enjoy the wining and dining knowing they have a few days to get sober before they have to describe how the game could be good.[/QUOTE]

This is what I've always heard too. It gives the press a chance to sit down and write a well thought out article. Not everyone at the event rushes to a computer and quickly gets up a crap story just so they can be first with a story online.
 
Ship made a good case for review embargos but not for news embargos- which I think is the problem. I am not sure why game "journalists" cannot operate under deadlines or time pressures that every other journalist does.

BTW- it's not just Jewish Mothers. My mother (Lutheran) wasn't exactly pleased when my daughter started Jewish preschool but then she told me she was glad my girl was at least getting some religion.
 
I was bored, so I stole zekeike's idea from last week's blog.


2008591-bullshitquarterly.jpg
 
[quote name='usickenme']Ship made a good case for review embargos but not for news embargos- which I think is the problem. I am not sure why game "journalists" cannot operate under deadlines or time pressures that every other journalist does.[/QUOTE]

I thought news embargoes were for the benefit of the publisher, as in they can control how the information trickles out to properly build hype according to how the marketing and management of the publisher sees fit. But hey, feel free to bash the profession of game journalist. Not enough out there fighting the good fight against enthusiast press.
 
[quote name='chrisswiss83']I thought news embargoes were for the benefit of the publisher, as in they can control how the information trickles out to properly build hype according to how the marketing and management of the publisher sees fit. But hey, feel free to bash the profession of game journalist. Not enough out there fighting the good fight against enthusiast press.[/QUOTE]

hold on there sparky. I was responding to this idea..


[quote name='Hoffer']This is what I've always heard too. It [embargo] gives the press a chance to sit down and write a well thought out article. Not everyone at the event rushes to a computer and quickly gets up a crap story just so they can be first with a story online.[/QUOTE]

If they are a real "journalists", they should be used to working on a deadline or writing a story under time pressure. I happen to think there are some out there.

I think review embargo's help both and news embargo only help the publisher.
 
Any comics readers out there I have a question. Wakanda is near or bordering Ethiopa and Somalia, but was one of the richest nations in the world when it had all of its vibranium. So doesn't that make T'Challa a huge dick when considering the nature of just those two countries?
 
Picked up Skylanders today at K-mart after listening to the CAGcast. It's a Christmas gift for the kiddos so I don't get to try it out anytime soon though.
 
I had to skip over the second half of that " embargo" talk. How many times have they had this discussion but with slightly different ideas? We get it guys, embargo's are good for them, and shitty for us. Done. No more talking about that. Otherwise, good show as always.
 
Entertaining show guys!

I fully agree with Wombat’s stance that “it’s the journey not the destination” when it comes to game endings. The first game that came to mind was Oblivion, I have no memory of the ending but what I do remember is all the awesome side stuff that gave the game character. I also agree with Shipwreck that embargoes do have a place in game journalism, especially when it comes to reviews. However I did have a good “Oh shit” moment when Wombat made the conclusion that the only reason embargoes exist is to draw attention to games through leaks, the crazy part was I wasn’t even high!

I also think that Shipwreck and Jeff Gerstmann should make their own Skylanders Anonymous group, if you heard the last bombcast you will know what I am talking about. Before attending the meeting please, leave your Drobot at home.
 
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Ah, ok. I guess I was mostly thrown off by your use of quotations around the J-word.

I appreciate a save-it-for-the=next-day news embargo. Having a night to finely tweak a story instead of vomiting Tweets about a press show just seems a bit more civilized. People got some real good journalism done back in the days before the 24-hour news cycle. These days, I'd personally rather read an article about Ezio that comes along with some in game footage or screenshots than see a few sentences about how Ezio is in the game and seeing someone's blurry camera-phone shot.

During that part of the show, I think Wombat and Ship almost touched on whether or not the leaks could be manufactured. It's an interesting idea, but it seemed to backfire because it feels like no one is talking about Soul Calibur V. Oops!
 
Wombat, you have way too much confidence in the "educated gamer" and their ability to discern between a good and bad game review. A large number of perhaps even your favorite game-related sites want your clicks, not your opinion. You know as well as anyone that if you saw a link circulating for the very first "Batman Arkham World" review, you would click it. Giving them your click-worth of money, even if the resulting landing page was 1 sentence saying "Looks like an expansion to Arkham City, like, without a big wall around it."

While the embargo system sucks, it's a necessary evil for this field of journalism. It drives quality and equal competition. Some reviewers are still terrible regardless of the length of time they've had a game.

(This is the part where you say how bad just about everything Kotaku does is, and go off on that tangent for 10 mins)
 
After listening to this week's Bombcast and then today's CAG Cast I just had to make this. Anyone who listened to both podcasts should get it.

skylanderanonymous.jpg
 
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