Podcast 9-7: Do a Tootle-Roll

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJanuary 16, 2012
96 2,220 1 minute read

Although 2012 hasn’t produced many new retail titles, that deficiency won’t stop the Tech-Gaming crew from offering impressions on the slew of digital distributed titles vying for your attention. From Zen Pinball 3D, Choplifter HD, and Back to the Future’s episodic content, we cover diversions which originate from the cloud, in addition to some of the games such as WWE ’12 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, which we overlooked during the busy holiday season. Beyond our customary quantity of gaming trivia and responses to reader mail, we also welcome John Lee, Vice of Marketing for Raptr, whose on hand to discussion the rivalry between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 as well as the viability of season passes for games.

Don’t forget to send your questions for our next mailbag, and subscribe to the Tech-Gaming Podcast on iTunes. Leaving a review would be an awesome thing to do and keep us from begging for feedback every show.

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Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJanuary 16, 2012
96 2,220 1 minute read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

96 Comments

  2. I’m going to guess its another name for a ‘poopsock’. Or everything gets spun around and Sean like Disgaea and Des starts playing Monster Hunter Tri-G.

    1. HAHA, this sounds hysterical. Lemme guess, Blue. You go balls out and talk for Wrestling for 20 minute?!?

      1. More like 22 minutes and change, according to Sean. Not sure if that includes our discussion on owning property on the Moon or not.

        1. tablet talk and now twenty minute WWE ’12 and buying property on the moon discussions? You guys are rapidly winning me over with your geekery.

      1. Tablet Talk was when I went on a 40 minute ramblefest on the first tablet I got, Techno Kitten Adventure for Android, and Minecraft: Pocket Edition for Android. Think NPR levels of boring.

        1. Wait, what’s wrong with NPR? They do some really interesting shows and offer intelligent insights in culture. Kind of what I thought you guys were shooting for.

          1. NPR and Gaming should not combine. They are like Gremlins and water.

            Case in point: The Joystiq podcast was a pretty show that I never missed. Chris Grant turned in into NPR, changed the way he spoke, and the audience revolted. Of course, a move like that can get you a job with Vox, though.

          2. Don’t mind me, I’m still bitter over an NPR affiliate getting rid of a Jazz podcast, yet keeping the Classical podcast.

  6. Wow, stereo recording. Sage, Desert and Blue is on my right. SNOLA on my left. Is that there political leanings.

      1. Sounds backwards to me. Sage seems leftie.Despite Deagle’s gun fetish seems lefty, Blue seems middle.

        Sean champions Orange County right? He’s in the right.

      2. that would be awesome. You can tell that Giant Bomb and Weekend Confirmed are recording in the same room. There’s a bit less lag, interruptions, and they feed off each other a bit more.

  7. So far I’m enjoying the new mixing too much. It lets you know who is talking but everyone has a different voice, so it’s not necessary.

    1. Jeez, I’m not *THAT* dumb. I’m well-aware of what a penny guide is. I just haven’t seen them in-person since the N64/PS1 days when I got third-party guides for Crash Bandicoot 2 and WWF Attitude.

  10. Sean, please explain your “Saint’s Row 3 – Asura’s Wrath” comparison. Did you even play the demo?

    1. I did play the demo – both at home and at e3 (although I think I played after we recorded the show – we recorded the day after it came out). My comparison was with their post-modern approach to theme and narrative. Neither game has aspirations of being a film or melodrama, but unabashedly focus on the more nonsensical aspects of games that we’ve come to accept, but haven’t really been the focus for a long time. They’re the “duck buildings” of video games.

      1. Realized after I hit “add comment” that no one that will get the duck building reference unless they went to architecture school, so I should probably explain:

        Robert Venturi used “duck” to describe buildings that used an aggressively literal form to convey their function. It was based on
        this building
        . In this sense, I’m referring to the fact that neither Saints Row nor Asura’s Wrath seem compelled to hide behind auspices of other media (although AW does have a TV-style episodic structure, so it isn’t a perfect comparison)

        1. You’re right SR3, AW and Duck building are all similar. They are all style over substance.

      2. If we’re talking about the experience of a game (in the generic sense) progression through rising difficulty, new levels, new places, etc. Then Asura’s Wrath is a game.

        But I have a hard time comparing it to Saint’s Row: The Third. SR is an open world game where you decide what you want to do- follow the story, play side missions. AW is linear. Fighting until you build a meter than release fury. It’s more about the experience that’s already created for you, and so it’s like movies, anime, or a book that game.

  11. I’ll be honest here. Not a good show so far.

    1) Sound quality is bad. Putting the hosts on different sides of the mix isn’t that interesting.

    2) Energy level is way down. I can’t decide if its everyone or Sean’s hosting, but compared to last week, this one is weak.

    3) I’m disagreeing with a lot of what you said. Asura’s Wrath a straight-up game? No it’s a weak fighting game with button mashing bits that will not get a review score. Plus the engine looks low-res, ugly and unfinished.

    1. Yeah, one vote for Deagle hosting permanently. I mean he does all the interviews and almost all the trivia anyway, so why not?

  14. So far not as good as last week’s show, but still worth a listen. Do I need to resend my question? You guys haven’t answered it.

  16. Downloading now. Man, the fans are angry this week. Can I suggest everyone do a Barrel Roll?

  17. Question for the next show:

    Whats the craziest thing you ever done for a game or system? Waited in really long lines, drive far, etc.

  18. How about a discussion of games and law from Sage next week? Maybe if it’s ok to make backups of games you own? Emulation, that kind of stuff.

  21. SeanNOLA, “Des, Imma gonna let you finish right now, but first I just wanna say Asura’s Wrath is you know a game, like Saint’s Row The Third, not some art project. Ok, go ahead. Do ya thing.”

    Deagle, “Well, A Sewer’s Wrath actually more of a visual novel”

    1. Well, that Deagle’s fault if he let’s Seah interrupt him. Grow a set and tell him to STFU since he didn’t even play the demo.

  24. Man, you guys are way too harsh on this week’s show. I think it was pretty good. Keep it up, TG!

  26. Going in, I though I’d like BF3 more than MW3. Dice’s previous games have all been great. But I like MW3 more. Maybe it’s because of the Spec Ops stuff or the way better SP game.

  30. Sean, what kind of dog do you have? That howl isn’t like anything I’ve heard before.

    Does the rest of the crew have animals, or just you?

    1. This is Otter. He is a Maltese/Yorkie mutt (or “Morkie” as they are apparently called). He doesn’t bark much, but he howls when he gets excited. He is far superior to other animals in every way.

        1. Although they have never been in the same place at the same time, I believe Otter is bigger than Belle. Otter is a cool 16lbs, and I think Belle is in the single digits.

          Also, I love the hard left turn we took from “Sean is doing a lousy job producing the podcast” to “dogs are adorable, let have more pictures.”

      2. Poodle with a bit of Yorkie. These days, she is looking way more poodle.

        Here, she is rocking her rain/hot weather boots.

        1. You should create a mech suit for here. For some reason those boots like they could be a good start. Plus they have some insignia on them.

      1. It is indeed a tiny bowler. And yes, that’s true about Sherlock. I DO want to get a malamute someday and name it Bowser, and a river otter and name it Mario, and have them fight. The turtles can watch 🙂

  36. I’m Commander Shepard, and was named after my owners favorite game. I was 22 lbs now and like long walks around the lake.

  37. Meet Angel and Max. Here’s that rare moment where they are acknowledging each other cordially.

      1. TRON 2.0, probably my favorite FPS of ever! Thanks, she’s a cutie. We think she’s got a bit of Abyssinian (ears) mixed in with that Torby package.

        I like her little pink & dark pads in this photo. It’s actually on a glass table and she’s looking down at the camera.

        1. HA! I thought this looked artistic. Always heard good things about Tron need to play it sometime.

  39. The cuteness being posted here is off the charts! :D:D:D

    Here’s my big dog, Max. He’s a 10 year old Rottweiler/White German Shepherd mix.

    1. And here’s my little dog, Scruffy. He’s a toy poodle that’s a stray we took in about two years ago. Not sure how old he is, but I’d guess 12+. He is completely blind in his right eye, but that doesn’t stop him from staring laser beams through me while I’m eating.

        1. Thankfully, they get along well. I do think that Max sees him as a Chicken McNugget with legs. XD

  40. BTW: Question for the show: what types of things do you avoid doing when you write? Anything you watch out for?

    1. He looks like a dog I had as a kid named Mr. Mojo. Man, I miss that little guy. Friends come and go. But for years, Mojo was there. All happy to see my when I’d come home from school.

      Now, I come home. Grunt at the GF, she nags back, and I think about Mr. Mojo.

      R.I.P. buddy. I hope god is throwing that tennis ball with you everyday.

  46. You guys listen to the 8-4 podcast talk about Asuras Wrath? They said what Deagle did, but in more depth.

    The called it a non-game game BTW.

  47. Love the animal pics.

    Question for next show: when you play a RPG how far into the “role-playing” do you actually get? Do you try to act like the character would or do you act like yourself and make decisions based on your own personal guidelines?

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