The Tech-Gaming Podcast, World 2-1

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenFebruary 17, 2010
69 3,818 Less than a minute

Like the illustrious phoenix, Adam makes his way back to the show to share his gaming and dating impressions. While SeanNOLA finds a unexpected outlet for his White Knight Chronicle woes, DesertEagle tries to figure where the hell Shiren the Wander is, and offers another tantalizing selection of gaming trivia. Don’t forget to send your questions for our next mailbag, and subscribe to the Tech-Gaming Podcast on iTunes.

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenFebruary 17, 2010
69 3,818 Less than a minute
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.

69 Comments

  14. When I mention Monster Hunter or BattleToads, take a drink. When TideGear mentions Knights in the Nightmare, take a drink. When DEagle makes a pun, take a drink.

  19. I never played but what the hell is up with all these servers being shut down these days?

    How much would it cost to get a bit of bandwidth going?

  25. NOLA, your grandfather served this country bravely, and you compare WW2 to “Wolfenstein”. Sorry, but you sound like a spoiled brat, there.

    Desert, you should have known Wings of War!

  27. I’m sure SeanNOLA meant no disrespect; he loves his country and those who have served on it’s behalf.

    He’s probably not as blissfully captivated by stories of valor and unity as fools like me are 😉 I’ve always been the unswerving jingoist of the bunch.

  47. If we want to get into a Veteran-love pissing contest, I have a lot more family than just my Grandfather that engaged in combat for our country. I have had close family in every major war, scuttle & police action since the Civil War & I am thankful for every one of them. My brother and I both answered the call, but due to medical issues and an economically-fueled Army rush, neither one of us was enlisted, but make no mistake: the Army has been our entire life.

    My “Wolfenstien” comment is a call back to complaints I’ve had in the past of the post-Saving-Private-Ryan exploitation of the veterans for entertainment purposes, and how popular media has made caricatures of real people. I don’t think that every squad consisted of a nerdy cry-baby, a school teacher and a Brooklyn tough-guy, and yes, I do liken the emergence of exhausted WWII movie tropes to the ridiculousness of Nazi-zombies and lightening guns. I don’t think my grandfather, a man who watched Patton & kept a scare card for “the swears,” would be offended that I compared a period miniseries without glowing skeletons to a game that does. Both were made to entertain. Both are fairly exaggerated, just in different aspects. But then again, my grandfather was a career army guy, so I guess he would be playing the part of the hard-ass-turned-softy, and I don’t think he’d really appreciate that; I’d ask him, but he died while I was apparently being too big a “spoiled brat” to care.
    I’m sorry if you were offended, but I stand by my statement: World War II has been over-mined for inspiration. By my count, there have been almost 100 World War II movies & over 120 games released in the past decade. As much as we like to fool ourselves into thinking it’s out of respect for vets, it’s really just exploitation to get into the pockets of people who loved Saving Private Ryan. Play Brothers in Arms and ask yourself “are they trying to tell a story of brave veterans who gave everything to defend their country from a threat overseas, or are they trying to cash in on a trend of gritty under-saturated war movies with a lot of crying and blood?”

    If there’s one thing you should never question when visiting our site, it’s my devotion to our Armed Forces. I respect veterans and realize what has been given up in service to their country, and I appreciate that, but I come from the other side of the coin. I owe every last thing I have had since birth to the Army – the homes I grew up in, the schools I attended, the experiences I had. For every story of a soldier coming of age on a battlefield, there are dozens more left untold of committed fathers and mothers who enter a life of social hardship to do what’s right for their country and their family. I spent every day growing up with a soldier or waiting for him to come home from the field. I go to sleep every night thankful that I can call Jarhead a shitty movie or liken it to Super Battletank, because my father risked his life to give me that right.

  51. Do I really need to?

    Clearly, games haven’t reached the same level of narrative finesse as films. Many state that even movies pale in comparison to the emotional depths explored in books.

    Knowing this, it’s hard for me to call a game like Brothers in Arms exploitative without knowing the motivations of the creative talents behind it. Should I knock the title for reveling in ghoulish slow-motion headshots, or give it a free pass as that represents the current maturity of the market.

    While I see where Sean is coming from, I do think there have been a number of films that have showed new facets of WWII. I’d HIGHLY encourage everyone to watch the Ken Burns documentary “The War” While it’s length may be intimidating (15 hours) it avoid some of the pratfalls that present themselves when trying to make a two hour movie about a six year war. Seeing how- for a brief moment, Americas put aside their differences to work together is about as inspiring as film can get.

    Although Swofford gets a lot of flack, I am surprised that SeanNOLA didn’t like Jarhead. It’s the war film that tries to break the typical war movie ‘cliches’.

  52. “I don’t think that every squad consisted of a nerdy cry-baby, a school teacher and a Brooklyn tough-guy”

    This was to show how soldier were everyday people, not GI Joe types. What other movies used these?

  53. Jarhead sucked. Not because it was all down on the Corp, but because it didn’t say or do anything. It was a waste of two hours.

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