CAGcast #201: In Dreams, Furniture, but not in the Tuchas

CheapyD

CheapyD

Head Cheap Ass
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[preview][IMG-L=5838]15060[/IMG-L]This week's show features Alpha Protocol, Red Dead Redemption, and a post-show spoilerific Alan Wake discussion. We've also got the latest gaming and shopping news, your CAGbag and Twitter questions and much more!

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Show Linkage/Notes (click the button below to expand):
Intro: Children of the Elder God - Old Gods of Asgard

 The Video Game Release List of 5/30 - 6/5

DC Universe Online enters this universe in November
Sony Gets Aggressive With PSP Game Pricing, Free PSPgo Games
Sony bundles PS3 with HDMI cable and Little Big Planet GOTY
Japan Gets 3D PS3 Games on June 10
Kevin Butler, VP of Endangering Agent's PS3 Exclusivity
John Daly's ProStroke Golf gets Move support

Brunswick Pro Bowling to feature Natal support
Hulu Coming To Xbox 360? [Rumor]
Mass Effect Devs Looking For A Multiplayer Programmer
What about us? Japan gets a DS/DSi price drop

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Outro: In Dreams - Roy Orbitson

 
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Looks like I'll be forced to finish Alan Wake before I listen to the whole thing... that's some damn good motivation there.
 
Its very clear where the spoiler discussion starts...at the very end of the show.
You don't have to worry about any accidents.

[quote name='SmackMyPanda']Nice! Explicit tag. About 100 episodes late. Thanks for the episode.[/QUOTE]
Heh...I decided to just do a Find & Replace in the RSS feed. Now people can't say that they weren't properly warned!
 
[quote name='CheapyD']Its very clear where the spoiler discussion starts...at the very end of the show.
You don't have to worry about any accidents.


Heh...I decided to just do a Find & Replace in the RSS feed. Now people can't say that they weren't properly warned![/QUOTE]

I figured as much basing it on the Metro 2033 one, and the other game you guys did too which I forget... Mass Effect 2? I don't think I listened to that part because I still haven't beaten that one either.

Definitely appreciate the whole separation from the regular episode, makes it a lot easier than to guess where the discussion ended.
 
Why is it that Wombat is the only one that gets to talk about his boring personal drama?
Wombat to Cheapy "Nobody cares, lets move on."

Edit: also Cheapy, I don't think there is anything that Nintendo can do to please you and make you plug in your Wii.
 
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:32-:33 minutes into the show boatcrash and cheapy start talking at the same time. Audio editing problem, or rude podcasters?
 
[quote name='Nebenator']:32-:33 minutes into the show boatcrash and cheapy start talking at the same time. Audio editing problem, or rude podcasters?[/QUOTE]

Haha, yeah Boatcrash was kinda talking first but I guess Cheapy being " Head Cheap Ass " he has the right to start talkin whenever he wants haha:lol::lol:
 
Skype problem...fixing that now. I'll have a new version uploaded shortly.
Edit: Fixed.
 
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I'd download it but I do not know what my two year old did with my touch, she stashed it somewhere and only brings it to me when it needs to be charged.....
 
The point of dropping the price of the DS (at least in my humble opinion) is two fold: One, clear out the remaining stock of the DS lite and two, lowering the price of the DSi/XL helps separate the pricing structure between them and the 3DS. If you have $150/$170 for DSi/XL and $200 for 3DS, it's easier to make a distinction for the consumer to say they're different products then having them bunched up at $170/$190/$200. Expect this announcement to happen at E3, the DS lite will be at $99 I'm guessing.
 
Great show guys.

Really liked the Alan Wake spoiler discussion at the end. It did seem like there was some confusion near the end though; when Cheapy brought up the live action webisodes. I think Wombat and Ship thought he was talking about the in-game TV show 'Night Springs'? I hope Ship and Wombat check those live action webisodes out some time because they're pretty cool, and add a bit to the story.

Hope ya guys do more of these in-depth spoiler discussions.
 
Just finished listening to your spoiler filled Alan Wake convo, and I have to agree with you guys... Definitely one of my games of the year.

And just like Cheapy, the moment the first episode ended, I was grinning from ear to ear. They really did a good job presenting the whole thing.
 
Great podcast as usual! I'm holding off on listening to the Wake ending, as I have 1 episode to go.

My comments so far:

Rock Star CAN make good characters... my favorite is still CJ from GTA San Andreas.

Cheapy brought up the excellent Austrailian western "The Proposition". Which is directed by John Hillcoat, who also directed the "Red Dead Redemption" short film, and "The Road".
"The Proposition" was written by (and has a cameo by) Nick Cave, whose song "Up Jumped the Devil" was the highlight of the "Alan Wake" soundtrack. Everything is connected...
 
Skip the clip show. Those are super boring. We've already heard the past 200. We don't need to hear them again.
 
Cheapy please don't mention Australia & or New Zealand as weird. Other then that i enjoy your podcast, hope you make another 200 episodes.
 
[quote name='III MUZZA III']Cheapy please don't mention Australia & or New Zealand as weird. Other then that i enjoy your podcast, hope you make another 200 episodes.[/QUOTE]Heh...I hope to make it to Australia soon for a vacation. The time difference is only an hour (I think).
 
Think positive Wombat. Maybe the Mass Effect mulitplayer will be that awesome orgy/gang rape simulator that Fox news was trying to warn us about. Maybe Cooper Lawrence was psychic.

And instead of calling it the Sony Bowel Movement, I think it should be called the Sony fuck Stick with sub-controller.
 
Alan West? Wake up Cheapy, wake up!

Btw Cheapy, Stern loves Sex & the City, you should know something about it. lulz :)
 
Ship.. Alpha Protocol.. really!? You rip a AAA title and gush over a turd. Your review credibility just crashed. RDR is no ME2 but it still is a great game. Did you like GUN when it first came out? I was disappointed. Red Dead isn't perfect but it sets the bar for western games.
 
Great CagCast this week. One suggestion for iPhone game is a website I go to everyday since I got my iPhone last summer, http://toucharcade.com. Their forum is full of helpful members that review all the new iPhone release games that is often much more helpful than their official reviews. They also let you know of good sales on games so you can get your cheap on =)
 
Another good show guys. I think the question this week from the listener regarding whether you play games in front of your kids actually goes well with the discussion of the ongoing popularity of Mario platformers. I'm a dad in my mid-30s with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. I play MOST of my games after the kids go to bed for the evening.

However, the Mario games are some of the few that I feel I can not only play in front of them, but with them. My 5 year old was 2 when the original Mario Galaxy came out. If you didn't already know, in Galaxy 1 a second player could control a pointer on screen to grab the little crystals for you, and she loved it. Flash forward to now and she is 5. Galaxy 2 retains the limited 2nd player role but with the added abilities to "hold" enemies in place, to "grab" and hold coins, 1ups, and red power-up mushrooms for me until I need them, and the returning ability to grab crystals. These abilities are perfect for her and we have a great time playing together. If I want to play with my two year old son he can still play Mario Galaxy 1 style by waving the remote around to grab crystals.

Similarly, last year's New Super Mario Bros. Wii also works well with the 5 year old. She can play through the boards with me and simply choose to push A to enter the floating safety bubble and float along behind me in the difficult sections.

Regarding Shipwreck's "too much pointless Talky-Talk" complaint in the Galaxy games, I agree completely. At least in Galaxy 2 they streamlined the level select back to more of the old linear "world map type' instead of the annoying hub you had to run all over in Galaxy 1 to enter the levels. As far as level design and variety, I'm 45 stars in and so far I'm thinking that Galaxy 2's levels have been a step above Galaxy 1.

PS- I agree with the guy above that felt that clip shows were not really worth the time and effort they take to create.
 
Either you guys were talking all over each other or the audio wasn't synced right in places (around 32 minutes).

I liked the iCarly reference...It a funny show. How close is Gibby to a young Wombat.
 
Mid-way through the spoiler part of the Alan Wake discussion. Gotta say I definitely agree with Wombat more than Cheapy or Ship at this point. I agreed with Wombat that Wake is definitely better than Resi 5, but definitely not better than 4. Also agreed that the forest setting did start to get a bit tiresome close to the end. Ship is right that the locations are inherently somewhat limited, but I still felt like they could have mixed it up somewhat (fighting in shallow streams, more fighting in non-factory structures, etc). I loved Alan Wake - the gameplay was fun, the atmosphere was great, the literary in-jokes, TV episodes and radio clips were well done - but while the storytelling was done very well, I still don't think the story itself was as great as Cheapy and Ship think it is.

I was actually surprised to hear Cheapy (I think) say earlier that Red Dead Redemption's story felt too game-y one moment, and then praise Alan Wake's a second later. I think both games had great storytelling, but between the two felt Wake's was definitely more game-y in theme and plot progression. I know a lot of it is obfuscated at this point in order to add on to it with future DLC episodes, but certain mechanics and motivations behind some of the forces in the game just constantly reminded me that I was playing a game. I definitely don't consider it any more or less mature in story than RDR.

It's just kind of interesting that I feel like I loved both RDR and Wake as much as Cheapy, but for completely different reasons I guess.

Great show as always. I look forward to hearing the subsequent shows after E3 especially.
 
Another excellent show guys! On the topic of Hulu coming to Xbox 360/Live rumour, if it is true, I will personally be frustrated. As I live in the UK, we don't get Hulu or Netflix for that matter. In fact, Hulu was going to be launched in the UK and Ireland last September but it never actually has arrived. I'm extremely disappointed, there's not much good video on demand services over here since our Broadband is terrible and what the minimum speed for the UK is under constant discussion with the government (They just recently backed an agreement to get everyone in the UK on a 2 Mpbs connection by 2012). I can't watch my favourite shows because the speeds I get are so terrible.

I live in a new-ish city, on a 2 Mbps connection which is quite unreliable, and majority of the houses use aluminium wiring. This turned out to be a huge mistake as these houses are stuck with incredibly slow broadband speeds or nothing at all. BT (a very large Internet and phone line provider) wants to lay down fibre optics across where I live, which is great, but the trial won't happen until this summer OR late next year. Despite the fact a small fraction of people still don't have basic ADSL speeds of 1 mbps. But it's an even worse case in the country side, companies don't want to provide broadband or fibre optics to these small villages because they don't think it's a good financial investment. One village which I saw on the news installed Fibre optics themselves by setting up a mini phone exchange and now can get speeds of 40mpbs! (Unfortunately, the village had to raise £37,000 themselves just to buy the mini exchange!)

If the UK got Hulu or Netflix in the near future, I wouldn't use it. I'd be more likely buy the DVD/Blu Ray box set or just record it because I won't have to wait an hour for my internet to stream the show.
 
I'll be seriously irked if they charge for Hulu on 360. I used to watch Hulu on my PS3 all the time, for free, and it was awesome. Then they took it away. Why? To shop around and figure out how to get more money for it? Boo, Hulu. Very boo.
 
Good show, guys! I was really happy to hear the Alan Wake spoiler discussion and it has convinced me to pick up the game. It sounds really fun!

Also, I completely agree with Wombat about DCU Online. It shouldn't have a monthly subscription fee, I think it should instead opt to have a free online play like Guild Wars does. I think that if it did then a lot more players would probably feel inclined to get the game day one and purchase the inevitable expansion packs.
 
Finished the Alan Wake spoiler discussion...

Pretty good discussion. I liked some stuff you guys pointed out. Kinda surprised at how critical Wombat was with the game.

Oh yea, FACT: Wombat hates trees!
 
I just wanted to say that I have to agree with Cheapy when it comes to the Ratings for Red Dead Redemption. If that game wasn't made by Rockstar, It would've gotten a lower score. It's a good game, but it's not really anything special. It is pretty much a slower Grand Theft Auto like you guys were saying, but with Dead Eye and Horses. Not to mention I don't think the Multiplayer is all that great either. Free Roam is nice, but Matchmaking absolutely sucks.

Alan Wake on the other hand, I think is underrated and should be getting higher scores. I agree with what you guys had to say, that if that game came out a week or a month later and not on the same day as Red Dead, the rating for it would be higher. The story alone is great, and the atmosphere of the game as you play really gets you excited because you don't know what's going to happen next, and even at the end, you still wanted more.

This is something that I think a lot of games these days are lacking. The story could be good, but if it's something predictable, it lacks the user's excitement and the only reason they'll continue playing is just so they can finish the game to finish it, not because they want more.
 
[quote name='DCJ83']I just wanted to say that I have to agree with Cheapy when it comes to the Ratings for Red Dead Redemption. If that game wasn't made by Rockstar, It would've gotten a lower score. It's a good game, but it's not really anything special. It is pretty much a slower Grand Theft Auto like you guys were saying, but with Dead Eye and Horses. Not to mention I don't think the Multiplayer is all that great either. Free Roam is nice, but Matchmaking absolutely sucks.[/QUOTE]
Or, you know, maybe there are some people out there who feel it deserves its review scores. I'm a bit of a R* fanboy, but I have multiple friends who aren't that big on their games, and hated GTA IV, yet they're really into Red Dead.

Not saying you or Cheapy are wrong, but neither are the people praising the game, if that was their honest experience with it.
 
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[quote name='Fjordson']Or, you know, maybe there are some people out there who feel it deserves its review scores. I'm a bit of a R* fanboy, but I have multiple friends who aren't that big on their games, and hated GTA IV, yet they're really into Red Dead.

Not saying you or Cheapy are wrong, but neither are the people praising the game, if that was their honest experience with it.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I personally wouldn't rate RDR a 95/100 (probably more like an 87 or so), but I don't think the scores are just due to it being Rockstar. There are other publishers and developers out there who are just as respected - if not more so - that I don't see this argument being used towards. I think just as some people think people are rating Rockstar games higher just because they're Rockstar, I think there are people who may be predisposed to give Rockstar games lower scores simply because of the hype and advertising blitz. I remember it being especially cool to trash on GTA IV after it came out, after all. But had RDR come out as it currently is and gotten a 60 metacritic score I wouldn't just assume its because all the reviews had this pre-disposition.

There are a ton of games out there that get scores I don't agree with. I could come up with a bunch of theories about what that is, but I usually just chalk it up to "X person had a different reaction to it than I did" and nothing more. As someone who's not a part of the gaming journalism community maybe it's naive to have this view, but it's how I feel.
 
Awesome show guys as usual. I listen to your podcast while I run my iPhone repair business. Thanks to you guys, I have met a few cags who needed iPhone repairs. I usually sit down to 30 or so iPhones and iPods, turn you guys up and get work done. It seems to help for some reason, when listening to your show I get everything done with time to spare. Although when you make me laugh I tend to drop these tiny ass screws. I've had to buy 3 sets of replacement iPhone screws in the past month.

If you guys ever need repairs done for your iPhones, iPods or smart phones let me know. I will do it all at cost for you guys. And yes this is a legitimate business. (richsiphonerepair.com)
 
[quote name='rogueweapon']You rip a AAA title and gush over a turd. Your review credibility just crashed. [/QUOTE]

So everyone should just shower praise over a title if its a AAA title? Regardless of whether or not the person enjoyed it? Why do you even bother listening to someones review/comments on a title if you've pre-decided what they should say? If Ship/Cheapy/Wombat like or dislike a title, I want to hear it. I don't want them to just spew out what someone is 'supposed' to say about a AAA title.

And FWIW, I agree with most of the criticisms of RDR that were mentioned. I wish I had waited to hear Ship's comments, rather than trusting all of the reviews that seemingly gave scores because it was a 'big' title.
 
This show felt rushed to me. Like you guys were just making all topics as short as possible just so you could do the Alan Wake discussion at the end. Then again, there wasn't much news to discuss, so that could just be it. But it was still a great show.

And about the Should Mario Die topic, I don't think Mario should die until the games become something like the Guitar Hero games and four are coming out in a single year, and they all lack quality. It was almost 3 years in between the Super Mario Galaxies, and there's no lack of quality in either of them.
 
This was my favorite CAGCast since the permanent addition of Shipwreck. You seem to have found your chemistry. Nice job guys - very entertaining.

I'm starting Alan Wake tonight and can't wait to finish so I can listen to the discussion at the end of the episode.
 
Great show guys! I really think you are guys are hitting your stride. Your E3 coverage and trip should really bring you guys together even more.
 
@Cheapy
regarding the Red Dead Redemption ending

Go to the train station in the city with the government agents (AKA, the "modernized" place) and do the random encounter their. Thats where the real ending (The mission leading to the credits) begins.

When you guys beat the game, it would be awesome if you guys put aside 20-30 spoiler filled minutes of discussion of this in the next two weeks.


And also Cheapy:

Having rented and finishing Alan Wake, Im a little confused with all of the love going around for it. Although this was a pretty cool game, the Playstation has had much more cinematic, immersive, and epic experiences. Uncharted 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, and several other story driven games (In my opinion) easily top this. My problem isn't preference either. My problem is that you give so much time to games like Mass Effect 2 and Alan Wake and only talk about other console exclusives for 2-3 minute intervals (at best). I love the show, but this just bugs me a bit.
 
I was ready to hit delete 5 seconds in when I heard clip show. Wombat's voice saved the day.

P.S. I hate clip shows. :)
 
I found the RDR talk pretty disappointing. Cheapy can't seem to appreciate any story that isn't slowly and deliberately spoon-fed to him, and Shipwreck spends so much energy looking for the good parts of shitty games that actually good games seem to barely hold his interest, with a few exceptions for stuff like Mass Effect.

Seriously, Cheapy, you always go on about Japanese games like Metal Gear having stories that "nobody can possibly follow"...that's not really true, if you look at message boards, there are _thousands_ of people who can follow and discuss complicated storylines; the fact of the matter seems to be that you aren't very smart and any game that asks you to keep track of what's happening is lost on you. RDR is a similar situation-Marston's character is subtly developed over several hours of dialogue; for the ending to have the proper emotional impact you have to understand who he is, what doing everything he's done has meant to him, everything his son represents to him...overall, more thinking than you seem to prefer from your video games, which is fine, but try to realize that people don't just say it has mature storytelling just because there's swearing in it. And Alan Wake wasn't written by God Himself, the story there is quite good, but it isn't nearly as far ahead of other games as you seem to think. It's just told in a way that's easier to digest for someone like you.

Not trying to bash or anything, I'm a huge fan and have been for the past 110 or so shows, this is just something that bothers me whenever Cheapy starts talking about stories in games.
 
[quote name='flamecannon']I found the RDR talk pretty disappointing. Cheapy can't seem to appreciate any story that isn't slowly and deliberately spoon-fed to him,.[/QUOTE]

True but it goes beyond story... I think the Super Mario Galaxy 2 talk (last ep) made me realize that Cheapy is a " lazy" gamer. Any games that goes beyond point and shoot is seemingly no good. Which is fine but it does mean his credibility is nill with me.

We all have reviewers (or people who talk about games) that resonate more than others.
 
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Cheapyd, when you said you stop watching Weeds because the main character just got so stupid, i wanted to hug you. That's exactly why i stopped watching the show, i loved that show! and then it just got soooo stupid with the characters, ridiculous. haha. just was happy somebody else agreed on that. Most people keep watching it and justifying the characters, but yeah. just had to vent that...
 
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