Topic: Nintendo Free Radio: Forum Cast (RFN Doppelganger Podcast)

[Caliban]

Oh, wow. This is 3 hours long. That's just a little bit too much for me hahaha.

For what it's worth, the podcast is split nicely into several chapters by what game they're discussing, so if they talk about a game you're uninterested in, you could skip that chapter.

Fine. *downloads aac version instead*

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Considering this is the first podcast you've all done together, this is pretty good. It might need a bit of the judicious Leahy-style editing to hack away a few pieces of the overly long New Business, but kudos to you four for putting this together in a week (from a joke comment, no less.)

Good luck with any future episodes. And if you're looking for a British voice, I'm free to spout nonsense help out.

[broodwars]

kudos to you four for putting this together in a week (from a joke comment, no less.)

Wow, I just realized how prophetic my original quote on the idea of doing this podcast was...

Be careful what you wish for.  We'd probably just troll you by doing a 3 hour podcast about things we like about Nintendo.  :

*looks at 3 hour, 3 minute podcast that resulted*

Well...yeah.   : :

Thanks for the feedback and support, Killer_Man_Jaro.  Yeah, we have some adjustments to make if we do another episode, trimming down at least the number of games in New Business being at the top of the list.

[ShyGuy]

Man this is a lot like RFN.

[lolmonade]

Man this is a lot like RFN.

[Ceric]

Man this is a lot like RFN.

Thank You.

[Jonnyboy117]

This is a really good show -- hard to believe it's your first time doing it. I'm trying to get a slightly revamped version of the files from Ryan. For what purpose...?

[Kytim89]

If I had access to a USB headset and a SKYPE account I might request to appear on this show as a guest so that the forums can hear my voice and can debate some issues with some of the people I interact with the forum.

[Ceric]

This is a really good show -- hard to believe it's your first time doing it. I'm trying to get a slightly revamped version of the files from Ryan. For what purpose...?

You know what I had a big long thing but I'm just going to say thank you.

[Shaymin]

Thank you for the inspiration Jonny.

And for those who noticed the audio channel issues, we've got them fixed now:
Download mp3
Download AAC

[Jonnyboy117]

It's too late tonight, but I have something in mind.

[oohhboy]

It was an interesting listen. I hope you will cycle in other regular forum goers when possible. I might not bring a British accent, how about a Kiwi one?

Also great work on properly chaptering the Podcast something even RFN doesn't quite do properly especially connectivity where chaptering is an after thought. The audio channel issue was pretty serious, good on you for getting the fix out.

It's a bit unfortunate with the nature of Podcasts that it's really hard to come back to it and discuss because your not actually part of the conversation, which means it's much harder to outright remember what was discussed. I also skipped chunks in the middle for spoiler reasons.

[TJ Spyke]

Also great work on properly chaptering the Podcast something even RFN doesn't quite do properly especially connectivity where chaptering is an after thought.

What are you talking about? RFN does a great job at it, and Connectivity especially does (each segment has its own chapter). The only issue is that chapters don't have their own names, but that is Apple's fault since a iOS update earlier this year screwed that up for podcasts and they still havent fixed it.

[oohhboy]

The shadowcast is better compartmentalised and have more aggressive chaptering. RFN chaptering bleed into each other a lot. The connectively news bites are tend to be completely unchaptered while the connectivity itself is very loosely chaptered.

I also wasn't talking about the names of the chapters, I use an iPod classic for this so I see the chapters and I wasn't aware there even was an issue with the chapter names on iOS.

[Jonnyboy117]

There, that should help people find it. I updated the OP links, too.

[Do_What]

This was good listening. I don't mind the three hour length at all. I liked how long some of the discussions went.


I love that games are getting, in general, less complex. I don't mind a game being hard as long as it's never cheap. I don't like being shot from off screen, I don't like when my AI partners stand in acid or do other things to kill themselves, I don't like hidden death traps. None of that stuff is fun. I like when games take a lot of skill and you can get better at them. I also don't mind when games offer optional cheats for you (like 3D land's super gold leaf). If someone wants to beat a game and can't, there's no reason to not help them out.

[oohhboy]

None of the examples you have mentioned have anything to do with complexity and more to do with fake difficulty. They are example of general poor game design and incompetence.

I don't mind streamlining a game, for example RE4 Wii Edition has a auto tracking quick knife to quickly breakup boxes and whaling on downed Grandos that the original didn't have. A bad reduction in complexity can be found in Resident Evil Revelation where they reduced and simplified the damage response from the Zoidbergs which meant they were reduced to being bullet sponges.

Arbitrary reduction in complexity is not the answer to increasing accessibility. Increasing accessibility is the answer to increasing accessibility. Layer the gameplay elements better so that a novice player can can understand the full set once it's available instead of info dumping and relying on prior knowledge. Less "Arty", more functional HUDs.

[Do_What]

I should have mentioned stuff like going to the briefcase to throw a grenade in RE4, the QB vision cone in madden, 80% of the car tuning stuff in the simmy Need For Speed games. Most of the complex stuff is bad just a matter of bad UI, other stuff (like RPGs giving you stat points in a bunch of categories) are just hold overs from pen and paper stuff, and some things are feature creep.
Mass Effect 2 over corrected from the first game in terms of item management, but it did make the game a lot easier to get into. There was never a moment where I had to sit around converting things to omni gel for ten minutes. Mass Effect 1 was busted. It had just a little too much going on.

[Ceric]

...
Mass Effect 2 over corrected from the first game in terms of item management, but it did make the game a lot easier to get into. There was never a moment where I had to sit around converting things to omni gel for ten minutes. Mass Effect 1 was busted. It had just a little too much going on.

Agree.  ME2 really over corrected.  That's one of the big reasons I think taking the 3 Enhancements and redoing the other 2 weapon wise would be a good fit.  I take that hacking from from 2 if I had to choice one style.  If not I bring in all three types in and spread that throughout the game.  I would allow Modification of weapons on the fly as well.  Heavy weapons be cool to have again but, wouldn't really work in this scenario.  I would like the ME1 enemy philosophy back though.  I am not overly fond of constantly fighting waves and waves of enemy that just appear.

[lolmonade]

What I found funny listening was that I heard Demons Souls being an example of a difficult game when the accessibility topic was being discussed.  I sincerely think that game for the most part is very fair in regards to the difficulty.  You cannot go bursting through the level like Kratos or Cole McGrath thinking you can steamroll everything.  You have to strategically plan each encounter with even the most basic mobs, because you'll have your **** wrecked if you don't time your attacks/blocks or try to take on too many enemies at once.

When I think of unfair gameplay, I think of something like the original Ghost n Goblins, or so many of the NES games that were ports of arcade games, meant to be artificially and unfairly difficult for the sake of wringing kids out of their quarters. 
 
I definitely think right now is a fantastic time to be a gamer.  There's such a wide variety of game types in terms of genres, difficulty, and length when you consider the range of AAA titles all the way down to the smallest of indie games.  Any person who is curious enough to look for it can find their niche.

[Pandareus]

Ooh, editor replacements in training!

I can't wait to listen to this! I'm having a pretty hectic vacation that's keeping me away from listening/recording podcasts, but this sounds promising.

[Ceric]

Ooh, editor replacements in training!

I can't wait to listen to this! I'm having a pretty hectic vacation that's keeping me away from listening/recording podcasts, but this sounds promising.

It doesn't just Promise.  It delivers.

Hope the vacation gets settled.

[Razorkid]

It's funny, I've always wanted to be a part of a podcast done by community members and when I saw this one pop up on my RFN iTunes sub, I almost fell over! You guys did a great job, especially for your first time, and the editing was decent for a first go around. 


I, too, hope you guys cycle in other community members as you go along as much as you can (of course I am itching to join you if ever the chance was offered!).  You don't know how often I wanted to jump in to make a comment or add to the discussion while I listened.  Great stuff

[broodwars]

Man, the more I look towards the upcoming release of Persona 4 Arena, the more I have to kick myself for forgetting to bring up how inaccessible fighting games still are in modern gaming (with the lone exception of the Smash Bros. series. 

[Sarail]

Ooh, editor replacements in training!

Oh, don't even think about it. : I have mad respect for you and Mr. Leahy for editing RFN continuously like you do. There's no way in the world I can do that, as I have way too many things going on all at once outside of the forums - friend get-togethers, bball on Sunday nights, closing shift at work two nights a week...and working every other weekend, and finding time to play games (the most important aspect), etc etc..! It takes mad skills and time management to do it all as well as you two guys have done it. Much appreciation, Gui. Seriously.

But I do hope you enjoy the episode! We had fun making it (even though editing was painstakingly tiring!), and I hope everyone else enjoys our views/thoughts on the games discussed in this episode.