Comments on: The RPS Electronic Wireless Show Episode 5

By: Dorian Cornelius Jasper

Dorian Cornelius Jasper — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:41:43 +0000

All four RPSers! It’s the history in a making.

By: Muzman

Muzman — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:19:49 +0000

Listening to this it actually dawned on me that this is the perfect format for discussion of old games along side new ones. As much as I like to see a bit of history around web sites, those long and even well written reminiscences of some game on some blog couldn’t make me click elsewhere faster if they tried, most of the time.
Reviewers try to avoid longitudinal comparisons for fear of alienating the readers (I guess) and a desire to judge a game on it’s own merits.
But the ‘gotta be current’ aspect of media and culture in general is poisonous like some collective suicidal amphetamine binge. And, for all the investment of time and experience games journos have across gaming that would (ideally) inform their writing, they rarely impart this in any direct way to the public.
A pub chat sort of atmosphere is the perfect place for random little anecdotes and connections like that.
(probably a little ‘well duh’, but oh well. Such are my revelations usually. These things do have a kinda liberating feel to them and I think I generally get a lot more out of them, both about the games in question and the people playing them, than any given review or slab of of op-ed blogging. Not that it ought to replace the latter things, btw)

By: AndrewC

AndrewC — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:25:56 +0000

I like a lot that you’re mixing up the formulas of these things, alternating relatively sober games analysis and stupid shit.

I do think discussing these games in any depth would probably benefit from the added deliberation that writing it down would allow, but hey, a podcast that takes a lot less time is a fine compromise.

So more of this, try and have themed ones (like, have one about one specific topic), and try and get that Spalsh Damage dude from the Thinkosium as a guest as he had a lot of interesting things to say about where pc gaming is going that would benefit from more time and a lack of drunken hecklers. I mean, apart from Kieron oh lol.

By: Y3k-Bug

Y3k-Bug — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:53:41 +0000

I’m in the same boat as others in regards to Farcry 2; I simply don’t care enough to bother finishing it. So many aspects of it are just annoying and poorly done compared to the parts done well.

At the other end of the scale, Fallout 3 is absolutely amazing. This coming from someone who has never enjoyed an RPG before.

By: Kadayi

Kadayi — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:48:56 +0000

@teo

Try using stealth to get around the map. There’s plenty to find if you avoid using the roads and jeeps as your main means of conveyance. You’re a hostile in a war zone, make like one moving through enemy territory.

By: Arathain

Arathain — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:46:46 +0000

Hah, jetlag. You guys went the easy way round. Wait until you go back again, and you shall know jetlag.

By: plague

plague — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:22:07 +0000

I just beat FC2 and the credits show that the game was assembled by a large number of seperate teams, which makes sense of the wildly varying levels of effort put into different aspects – e.g. the arms dealer side missions always have you blowing up the same convoy going in circles, yet they went to the trouble of writing and recording loads of different “go kill a convoy” speeches. Lots of building geometry is repeated but the amount of effort put into unique doodads to decorate each building differently could have produced another hundred buildings.
Anyway, it’s a brilliant game, and almost all the criticisms I had evaporated for me when I remembered that a game is what it is. Something I really liked that hasn’t been mentioned much is the writing: it’s not literary or anything but it evokes a sense of place very well, there’s tons of it, and the constant confusion and backstabbing of the plot which could be a negative seems authentic to a disintegrating country.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:54:58 +0000

Half way through, another good show so far; loved the Soldner story

By: terry

terry — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:10:29 +0000

Sorry for the doublepost and belated reaction but this was the best podcast yet for me, particularly as Stirling Albion was mentioned :(

By: terry

terry — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:45:26 +0000

I particularly enjoy the way the train rattles prompt a frantic pace.

Electronic Wireless Crystal Sets… on Rails. Practically an important new Valusoft franchise?

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:41:57 +0000

I think you should add a touch of flange.

Dirty audio puns ahoy!

By: Dreamhacker

Dreamhacker — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:41:16 +0000

“Electronic Wireless Show” is a decent name for the show, but I would love to hear the Rock Paper Shotgun “Radio Podcast Show” :)