By John Walker on October 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm.
Yes indeed, a second RPS podcast! They said it couldn’t be done. They look like fools now. This time Kieron and John found themselves at the PC Gamer Showdown, huddled into a hotel room, sat on the novelty-sized hotel room beds, full of hangover and cold respectively. We discuss the Showdown, the games we’ve been playing, and who Kieron was once insultingly compared to.
But what you care about most is the sound quality! It’s… slightly better, but still an impromptu recording on an mp3 player, not helped by Kieron boiling the world’s loudest kettle in the background. See below for the running order.
Running Order
0.01 – Kieron explains the dangers of alcohol
0.23 – Where we are – at the PC Gamer Showdown
0.57 – The mysterious bosom game
2.20 – Introversion’s impressive after-sales support
3.02 – Forgetting the names of our readers
3.51 – Kieron has a problem
4.35 – Why Left 4 Dead is awesome
10.08 – Who should you vote for at the Games Media Awards?
11.38 – Chet Faliszek is not a short, bald man
12.02 – Kieron Gillen’s Saved By The Bell Story
14.10 – John Walker is a moron, who calls Warhammer “Warcraft”. He apologises in hindsight.
14.15 – Paul Barnett IS a genius
15.50 – Kieron says a VERY BAD THING
16.40 – John shouts FAR too loud
17.00 – Far Cry 2
18.10 – Kieron auditions for Butlins
19.20 – Fear in games
22.00 – Games that get ignored
23.15 – Singles 2, Kieron’s favourite game
25.46 – CLINT HOCKING!
27.44 – Libel corner
28.24 – Where are Jim and Alec?
30.16 – Tales of youth work
31.43 – Back to World Of Goo
34.23 – Kieron… or JC Denton?!
35.30 – The Strong Bad episodes
37.50 – Trying to remember Deathspank
40.44 – Running out of things to say
42.11 – The End
It’s on iTunes, or can be directly downloaded from here. Let us know what thoughts it causes in your head below.
03/10/2008 at 17:03 Ian says:
I dunno if it’ll be the same when we can’t all chip in and unnecessarily bitch at each other after you’ve stated an opinion but I’m willing to give it a go.
03/10/2008 at 17:07 subedii says:
Who?
03/10/2008 at 17:09 The Apologist says:
If it makes things easier, I’m willing to pretend that I said it couldn’t be done, even though I didn’t.
03/10/2008 at 17:12 terry says:
Kettle chat!
03/10/2008 at 17:16 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
Where are Jim and Alec?
03/10/2008 at 17:18 Chris R says:
In the kettle raising a ruckus.
03/10/2008 at 17:19 Alec Meer says:
We’re not in the club. Which is a shame, as I could have said a lot about Saved By The Bell.
03/10/2008 at 17:25 KingMob says:
Guys, there’s a new feature called “Noise Reduction,” available for many commercial sound development products, and you can use it to reduce background noise to nothing.
Check it out – it works wonders!
… please?
03/10/2008 at 17:28 Theoban says:
Well if no-one’s going to say it…I really liked the first one so thanks for doing another. It shall keep me sane on my way to work on Monday.
03/10/2008 at 17:29 Matt says:
improvement over the first, I’m loving the witty banter (and the slightly improved sound quality)
03/10/2008 at 17:33 Dray says:
Hurrah and stuff!
Certainly sounds like a good end to a sodding long week at work. Glad you guys ignored all the sound quality jibes and did another. ;)
Although of course it means you can’t use the ‘your mum is bad quality’ retorts.
Shame really…
03/10/2008 at 17:46 terry says:
Awesome really did come out (on the ST and Amiga by Psygnosis) – I remember copying the disk :O
edit: for backup purposes
03/10/2008 at 17:50 A-Scale says:
Jesus Bloody Christ. You have shite mics, we know that.
But the least you can do is not SCREAM during the podcast. I just lost a bit of hearing I will never get back.
03/10/2008 at 17:53 Feet says:
I jumped so much my headphones fell off my head. Thanks John.
03/10/2008 at 17:55 SteveTheBlack says:
Yay, namecheck! Its awesomeness is slightly reduced from Mr Gillen getting it wrong, although it is immediately returned to awesome thanks to Mr Walker!
Glee!
03/10/2008 at 17:58 Lu-Tze says:
16.40 – John shouts FAR too loud
This is an understatement. I almost died.
03/10/2008 at 18:00 Seniath says:
*twitches* Sen-aye-ath or Suh-naye-ath. Never Sen-ee-ath. Back when I played WoW (wait, I’m playing again now aren’t I, er..) there was this guy. He was really annoying. And he called me Sen-ee, in a really patronising manner. This has only managed to sully that pronunciation of my name. Unfortunate, then, that my character in EVE is called Seni’ath, which is nicely shortened to Seni *sighs*.
Of course, the moment anyone learns of the above anecdote, they either a) think I’m being a picky bugger, b) proceed to call me Sen-ee relentlessly or c) both. So perhaps writing it here was a bad idea…
Regardless, was a pleasure to meet you and my fellow RPSites, and once again thank you for the paracetamol John. Don’t think I could’ve managed the drive home without.
03/10/2008 at 18:06 SteveTheBlack says:
Sen-ee Sen-ee Sen-ee Sen-ee, you picky little lad.
03/10/2008 at 18:09 Dante says:
I think it’s me John was watching play Far Cry.
I only wanted to go to the post office :(
03/10/2008 at 18:10 Nitre says:
Hurray for more podcast!
03/10/2008 at 18:24 neoanderthal says:
fuck.yes!
I can’t wait to get home to listen to this.
03/10/2008 at 18:28 Monkfish says:
16:40 nearly made me jump out of my skin, too.
03/10/2008 at 18:33 Fazer says:
Wow. I just realised you guys speak with a British accent XD I never thought about it while reading your articles ;-)
03/10/2008 at 18:36 nabeel says:
Nice ep, decently lengthed. Insert comment about sound quality here. Will you be writing reviews of Far Cry 2 and World of Goo, Kieron, and if so, for whom?
nabeel
03/10/2008 at 18:40 cyrenic says:
Well I’m now convinced enough that I’m going to pre-order world of goo. I was thinking about waiting till the release but I better pre-order and get it ASAP that way.
Podcast was as enjoyable as the first, just keep trying to find better sound recording equipment and keep the screaming to a minimum :D.
03/10/2008 at 18:54 Muzman says:
If the audio quality is a serious problem for people and there’s going to be a lot more of this sort of thing, maybe what’s needed is a whip-’round, Dan’s Data style, so the lads will get something along the lines of these things.
03/10/2008 at 19:34 AndrewC says:
I played this in Audiosurf and it was rubbish. could you do the next one beside some roadworks? kthx.
03/10/2008 at 20:14 Pod says:
I do love the homebrew nature of these podcasts. So spontanious and punk .
03/10/2008 at 20:27 Andrew says:
That was very good. I love the ad-hoc nature of these things, and couldn’t give a tinker’s damn about the sound quality.
03/10/2008 at 20:29 Dolphan says:
I remember the whole half-life to allied assault/AvP 2 gap. That makes me feel old.
03/10/2008 at 20:30 Sam says:
It’s clearly just me who thinks that the Gooballs in the “preview” of World of Goo say “um-jackle!” and not “UNATCO”.
Possibly I haven’t played Deus Ex enough, though.
03/10/2008 at 20:37 EyeMessiah says:
The sound quality is terrible.
John, you have the voice of a good person.
03/10/2008 at 20:39 Monkfish says:
Perversely, I preferred the sound quality of the first podcast as it allowed me to fantasise that I’d dialled some kind of RPS Chatline.
03/10/2008 at 20:41 Fire_Storm says:
Good podcast. More of them should feature impromptu beverage-making mid show.
I also came over to say hi (and build a colossal Darwinian Army) but I never gave out my RPS name so would not have expected you to mention me… I did expect my Darwinian ranks to feature though.
KG was more friendly that I imagined he would be (for some reason) JW… erm, less so. :(
03/10/2008 at 20:45 Tom says:
Good, amusing stuff.
Keep it coming.
All ramblings welcome.
03/10/2008 at 20:57 EyeMessiah says:
OMG can you really say CUNT??
03/10/2008 at 21:13 John Walker says:
I wasn’t friendly? I do apologise. If it helps, I was feeling hideous with a cold, and soon after that table gathering I snuck off to my hotel room to whimper for a couple of hours. I’m ordinarily lovely.
03/10/2008 at 21:15 DragonSix says:
Audio quality am cry :[
03/10/2008 at 21:42 hexapodium says:
Audio quality is fixed here- thanks again John.
03/10/2008 at 21:51 Fire_Storm says:
John: It does help :) I got the feeling that you just wanted to be under a blanket somewhere, with some Lemsip perhaps. More ‘reserved’ than ‘not friendly’.
I look forward to meeting ordinarily lovely John Walker in future.
03/10/2008 at 21:57 christopher hyde says:
yeehah. these are great, hope you keep ‘em coming. Thanks!
03/10/2008 at 22:05 essell says:
16:40 just killed me. I’m dead now.
03/10/2008 at 22:19 John Walker says:
I’m going to swap it with hex’s normalised version when I figure out how. But the 16.40 is even worse there. I might try and fix it a bit so it’s not quite so terrifying.
If it helps, I jumped at it too – a rare thing, being scared by yourself.
03/10/2008 at 22:21 MasterBoo says:
Off-topic. Kieron, which one of these you wrote? The descriptions for the stories in the next volume of Frontlines was out yesterday.
The brutal… The menacing… The twisted… Confront the vast, renowned world of StarCraft inside this collection of mind-blowing adventures.
Heavy Armor – Part 2 The adrenaline-pumping firefight between mentor and protégé escalates to a fierce climax. Will the young Viking pilot outwit the man who taught him everything? Or will the teacher remain the undisputed master of heavy armor–and doom a colony?
A Ghost Story Sterilized by war, a rocky planet’s bounty and dark terrors have remained safely hidden–until a Kel Morian Combine crew catches wind of it hoping to strike big. There’s just one problem: The planet seems to be haunted by a “ghost.” Newsworthy
A pro-Dominion reporter lands the scoop of lifetime: an exclusive sit-down with Emperor Arcturus Mengsk following an embedded mission with terran marines. Every good reporter tells both sides of the story, but when she comes face-to-face with atrocity, can she handle the brutal truth, much less report it?
Creep Feared by all and understood by none, zerg creep finally comes under the knife in the laboratory of protoss scientists. But instead of shedding light on the bizarre bio-matter, the scientists spiral into a psychologically disturbing and nightmarish struggle against a completely unknown foe.
03/10/2008 at 23:00 terry says:
Re: the now infamous 16:40 overture – if only the staring eyes of Ken Levine could be rendered in audible form!
03/10/2008 at 23:52 Patrick says:
Am I the only one who is bemoaning the lack of planned SDK for Far Cry 2?
The map editor is all well and good, but missing out on the ability to mod one of the best engines and most interesting games of the year.
04/10/2008 at 01:49 Ging says:
“His name is Booth”, that’d be Mike Booth, (ex-)CEO of Turtle Rock then? (He also did the bots for CSS) – Nice guy, good beard…
I’m waiting in fear for the 16:40 shout, especially now that I’m listening on the revised version where it’s even worse! (ok, that wasn’t so bad)
04/10/2008 at 05:09 futage says:
That were grand.
04/10/2008 at 08:03 MountMyBlade says:
Guys. Not sure where to post this but I have written some quality hard core RPS fanfic. 18+. Anyone interested in exploring this?
04/10/2008 at 08:45 McCool says:
Gillen was asked the question “Does it sound like UNATCO?” and failed to reply with “No, Savage.” I am sorely disapointed.
04/10/2008 at 11:29 Kieron Gillen says:
MasterBoo: The Ghost Story is mine.
KG
04/10/2008 at 15:25 Rob says:
Good show, keep them coming if possible. Nice to hear you meandering about the gaming landscape, albeit without one half of your intrepid quartet.
04/10/2008 at 16:09 mashakos says:
the last episode was great. Would have liked to say the same about this one, but I couldn’t hear jack!
Could you guys amplify the volume a bit for us travelling listeners?
04/10/2008 at 19:09 Master Builder says:
Mr Walker said: “If it helps, I jumped at it too – a rare thing, being scared by yourself.”
Had to put this on full vol to hear, then that “ARGGH” moment!
You’re getting my underwear bill buddy!
04/10/2008 at 19:36 nakke says:
Guys.. stop eating for a few days or something and buy a few USB microphones, please! For the greater good!
04/10/2008 at 19:52 Kadayi says:
Good stuff. I quite like the bedroom nature of these affairs. I must admit Far Cry 2 wasn’t remotely on my purchasing radar at all, but with all the recent talk of it by yourselves and the PCG dudes I’ve started to warm to it.
04/10/2008 at 20:58 teo says:
Crytek sold the rights to Far Cry, they didn’t really ‘give them up’. Just so you know
Also, there was two banner ads here that were blinking really fast. Epilepsy style
Uncool
05/10/2008 at 05:09 Mono says:
Thanks to the repeated recommendations on the podcast, I pre-ordered, played the preview build, and now love World of Goo. At the risk of being too saccharine for the Internet, my 2.5 year old son loves to sit in my lap while I play and laugh and scream “UNATCO!” along with the Goo. Great fun for the both of us.
05/10/2008 at 08:21 x25killa says:
It was an awesome event, I even managed to sit next to Gilleon.
06/10/2008 at 08:08 Aron Durkin says:
I used to work for Charles Cecil, I’m gonna email him right now to call him old uncle Charles, its too classic!
06/10/2008 at 15:43 Bursar says:
Did John describe Paul Barnett as “Mr Warcraft”?
Oh deary me…
07/10/2008 at 11:25 Bobsy says:
Listen Kieron and John. Pedantry alert!
Slander becomes libel when it’s published, not when it’s written down. Publishing incorporates broadcast media, including the internet and radio and podcasting. Slander has very narrow uses, and usually is applied to public speaking.
Is there any point to this? Well, I’m a great big pedant and I’d just hate for you to be surprised by being sued for libel when you expected it to be for slander. That’d be just awful.