Jules and J-Bone team up under one roof, under one podcast? The Hellblock Heroes and the Triforce worlds collide? Mr. 117 approves. I just started listening, I'll come up with a real comment eventually.
Growing up I missed out on many physical gaming magazines. I had a subscription to Nintendo Power and I still remember the Gamecube launch, and I remember reading about Luigi's Mansion and everything. I missed out on everything else though, so I never got the chance to read a bunch of publications while I was on the toilet. My toilet time has never been as eventful as that. I would just drop the hammer of dawn and bug out.
I was ranting a bit about E3 to Mike in his video series and I asked him, "What is E3 even for anymore? Is it for us?" I didn't feel like this expo was really for me, it was more for investors, people who majored in business, and PR. The Nintendo conference ended so flaccid and was so pathetic with that lame-ass Nintendoland fireworks display. After the fact, Reggie had the nerve to go talk to the Spike guys and say, "I think we did amazing, people are super excited!"
I like Reggie, but this Expo is just full of business talk and fluff. When I watch people do interviews and see reps showing off a game it's as if they are all being watched over by some malevolent monster that's going to suck them into the abyss if they say one thing out of turn, show any human behavior, or free will. Everybody is required to save face, talk their product up, promise you the moon, and say whatever it takes to satisfy shareholders or executives. Can you even act like a gamer, or a skeptic at E3 anymore? Can you be treated like an intelligent consumer? From what I see you have to just keep your mouth shut unless the words coming out of your mouth are, "We're all super excited! This game looks like it'll revolutionize gaming and entertainment, it's the biggest gameworld ever, you've never seen a shooter like this before, there's unlimited possibilities in this game, it'll harken the rapture and take all of you into nirvana where you can watch unicorns poop popsicles."
I love Crysis 3 and I'm going to buy it the day it comes out, but one of their guys was giving an interview on G4 and he was asked an honest question by Morgan Webb. She said, "So when you come into this encounter, what options will players have regarding ways to engage it?" So the fucking guy says, "Well theoretically there's unlimited possibilities." I'm not a fucking idiot buddy, and we're not talking game theory.
Crysis 2 is one of my favorite games and I spend more than enough time studying how Crytek designs levels and does what they do. There will be 2 general options, stealth combat or action combat. The point is to kill, you will eventually kill something, and you will kill the enemies in two general ways, either being noticed or not. You have a silent bow, a knife for executions, two guns, a heavy weapon, possibly some explosive accessories, and there should be some environmental explosives clustered near enemy spawn zones or hubs. The AI will be programmed to run tasks and patrols while you have time to watch from afar and figure out if you want to sneak into a certain area or if you want to start shooting.
When people ask honest questions you shouldn't insult their intelligence or try and take them for a ride. Just answer the question. This is why I like GDC better, people seem more honest and laid back there. I don't want you to sell me Willy Wonka's fucking golden ticket. I want honest insight, technical information, and reflection on how the game is coming along, and what you're striving for.
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