Podcast 13-1 Unreliable Narrators

Podcast 13-1 Unreliable Narrators - Suzumiya Haruhi

This week the crew offers impressions of The Evil Within, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Fieldrunners 2, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Rymdkapsel, Haunt the House: Terrortown, Yu-Nama: The Puzzle, Soul Sacrifice, Cognition: Episode Three- The Oracle, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and the PS Vita version of Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault.

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.

Show Notes (of fluctuating truthfulness)
00:01.00 “90 Second Analysis” derails, at least eight egos wounded
00:40.30 Impressions, survival horror and first-person shooting reborn
01:50.00 Indie Outlook, 8-Bit Night, Air Knight, Assault Android Cactus
02:04.00 Why you should be following D-Go aka @GunMetalJackal
Trivia was lost to the gaming gods; have mercy on our factoid-fancying hearts.

Download: 13-1 Unreliable Narrators
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About 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.

152 comments

  1. “Trivia was lost to the gaming gods; have mercy on our factoid-fancying hearts.” 🙁

    And the show is still 2 hours long? Someone control The Lawman.

  2. Cam I admit, that I check the site daily, not JUST for Robert’s reviews, but for the podcast?!?!

  3. Jeremy’s Japanese schoolgirl impression is a bit too good. If doesn’t indulge in a little cross-gender cosplay, I’m a monkey’s curly-tailed uncle.

  4. I’m in for Mark of the Ninja!

    I have to agree with Robert and Jeremy’s reaction to the Xbone. I have more of a wait and see approach. I think E3 will show the games, which will likely match the PS4’s quality. TV control will be a bonus.

    Now the big debate will be price. Pachter says $399 for the PS4, $349 for the Xbone. Do you guys agree?

    • No way. Personally, I’m mentally preparing for a $600 price tag for either console (cuz, you know, extras and games and stuff at launch), and I choose to be PLEASANTLY SURPRISED if it’s less.

      But, you know, finance through Best Buy or whatever. Stretch the payments out, it’s not as bad. Mostly. 🙁

      • at a 29% APR? No way…

        Real players stroll into Best Buy with a wad of cash. (as well as penny jars and dime and quarter rolls). hahahahaha

        • 6 months same as cash, usually.

          Penny jars are great for paying their extra “scratch & dent insurance” fees though.

    • I’m thinking $499 for both, given the internals.

  5. Wait, I see no wiener dog, only a heroic-looking icon. On that note, I should win, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

  6. Haha, nice Suzumiya Haruhi/unreliable narrator reference. Who is behind the gag?

    I expected, “What’s that’s not the way the show ends…we forgot to do trivia”

    • That’s gotta be Robert, who apparently shares my love of the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise. Kindred spirits, anyone?

      • Kyon is an unreliable narrator. It all makes sense now. Man, you have to THINK here. What’s up with that.

  7. It’s too bad about trivia too. I thought we did decently this round! :-\

    I mean, you know. I got every single one right AND schooled DEagle in many obscure facts about lesser-known Japanese releases, and which studios did or did not work on the texture maps for some moé dating sim.

    And now it’s gone, lost to the digital void. But I promise those things totally happened. For sure. Totally.

  8. Ok, now I get it, you’re talking about unreliable narrators and with the the show notes you become one. I feel like I’ve been incepted. I need to shower, but not before I ask for either Toy Soldiers or Deadlight.

  9. I was almost sure that we would get some GRID 2 impressions even if the game wasn’t listed. I guess the narrator was a bit too reliable.

    • I’m sorry, we didn’t receive the game and I haven’t had time to purchase it. Eventually, impressions will be offered.

  10. I have no interested in the Xbone. I’m a gamer. I don’t care about TV, A Halo series, or anything of the other stuff Microsoft showed. I just want the best gaming machine (to complement my PC) that money can buy.

    Like Jeremy said, the used game debate is a bit too heated. I’d rather pay $5 more, and get my games with scratches, dust, and fingerprints.

  11. No trivia or interview this week? Who decided this, Microsoft PR?

    • Ahaha! We are not ready to reveal the details of this decision. We have an announcement that there will be a reveal in the future that may provide clarity about future announcements.

      • OMG Jeremy! haha

        • It was my best Major Nelson impression.

          • …and it was spot on.

            Speaking on Major Nelson, I see Larry’s getting up their in age and now rocking at least a partial comb-over. How long do you think it will be before they retire Major? You can’t really appeal to the kids watching the Price is Right with a tweed coat anymore.

          • Kevin Butler died first, so I can’t get interested in that anymore. 🙁

  12. Robert was way too forgiving of the Xbone unveiling. What’s up with people I used to trust (also Chris Kohler and Ben Kuchera) defending that piece of shit?

  13. About the $60 price on all boxed games…this may change:

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=571613

    • This is why I find GAF amusing and irritating in equal measure.

      The OP states that a single PS3 title MSRP’ed at $40, while two other titles quickly dropped to that threshold after release. And then then the leap of logic happens….

      “I predict that Knack will be a $40 title in the launch window of the PS4. I feel this pricing strategy can work, and creates a space for more unique titles being developed with the potential of reaching more people.”

      Which sounds like nothing more than unchecked optimism based on a lack of empirical evidence to me. I don’t want to say it’s not enjoyable to dream and speculate, but too many threads are rooted in whimsy.

  14. My biggest gripe on XBone is that Microsoft is moving away from Gaming as the central pillar to their box. In a few years when(if) Sony has all the games everyone wants to play and MS is left in the dust there was plenty of forewarning.

    • I do think what someone said (Jeremy or Robert) seems reasonable. The Xbox will evolve into more of a mass-market device that happens to play games, sort of like a smart phone. It’s like a fork in the road, more than the end of the road for MS.

      • And I do agree that from a business perspective it makes sense, but from a gamers perspective it feels like a let down.

        • Yeah, I agree. I owned a Xbox (whatever they call the original Xbox now), Xbox 360, and I’m almost certain I’ll be skipping the Xbox One. It’s just not for me.

          I will be buying another 360 in case my existing one dies, because I don’t really want my digital games to be lost.

  15. Also, Mr. Deagle I understand if you stay up looking up at my Twitter Avatar, Its hard to resist xD

    • Haha. The guy clearly likes dogs. I bet he’ll be first in line for COD: Ghosts.

    • Haha, I was very surprised when it happened – WTF moments of Indie Outlook :p

      • Wait what happened? I listened to the whole show and don’t remember anything special during that part.

        • Is Robert declaring his manlove to RetroSouls and also to DGo’s dog something normal? I guess it was just new to me :p

          • Does the guy love dogs?

            And I mean his love for prinnies and delicate little JRPG girls in widely know. Perhaps someone can kickstart a lolis anonymous campaign for both him and Blue!

  16. Anyone think Robert was being extra hard on Cognition just to throw off the moneyhat conspirators?

    • Haha, listening to that part right now and I can actually say Robert was being nice, there is so much more he could have said. Also, what the hell @Blue and @Jeremy, you guys going like “SPOILERS” and both of you have refused to play Cognition, so what gives? Yeah, I’m calling you both out on it 😛

      • I’d be more than happy to play Cognition if it was on a platform that didn’t overheat whenever I tried to play anything. Vita port = Sold. Make it happen! You can do it! I believe in you!

      • It’s on my list!

  17. Can someone explain the show header to someone who doesn’t have time to watch anime?

    Otherwise good episode. Thinking about getting Gunslinger with my $5 for 1200 MS points shenanigans.

  18. I hate when people like Jeremy say “it’s only a $5 difference” when talking about used games.

    It’s a known fact that Gamestop and Best Buy run B2G1 free sales only on used games. There’s much more saving that just $5 off the top. Remember we’re all not as rich as you punks.

    • That’s fair. They have a lot more latitude for promotions when they pay some kid $15 for his $60 copy of Bioshock Infinite.

      Personally speaking, I’m extremely frugal out of necessity. Like most people. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve paid “full price” for a console game this entire generation. I definitely scour the bargain bins, and I’m often playing games months or years after they release and are old news. And that’s a decision I make when I determine my budget and gaming habits.

      But you know, that’s all anecdotal. I know people feel very strongly about how the used market affects and enables them to play games, and it’s definitely worth factoring that in to the conversation along with the interests of the content creators and platform holders.

      As I said in the show, I feel that a “viable ecosystem” in this sector is important for all of us.

      • I guess that begs the question- do you think Microsoft taking over the used market will lead to anything but the improvement of their bottom line?

        • Well, according to many reputable people it will not help their bottom line at all. I suppose that’s one possible outcome. I think it will continue the gradual cultural shift in how we consume and think about our content. Price-wise, who can say? I think as a platform holder, Valve makes a ton of money doing what they’re doing, sales and DRM and all. And you know, maybe this whole thing isn’t a reaction to GameStop and used sales, but a reaction to Valve/Steam that takes in a rumored ~$970M in revenues annually… Stuff like that doesn’t go unnoticed.

          They could also come up with a totally new and creative way to handle used games, and even allow people to “de-license” their own games after a certain period of time and allow them to be resold. Maybe not much changes at all, ultimately. We probably have the least insight, because we don’t know what they’re doing or what their rationale is.

  19. The tech-gaming podcast goes with anything. But you guys should try to get a nonskype cast going.

    • I’m curious: Do you mean you don’t like skype recordings? What would you propose?

      • Put ’em all in a a sound room., mic ’em up, and watch the fists fly.

        • Sage is a delicate flower that elegantly drops more F’s bombs than all co-hosts together, I absolutely love her – none of the guys would even dare to look at her funny. Except Jeremy, because well… he’s Jeremy.

  20. Good show, but I would have liked to hear about Fuse Grid and other games with a single word name.

  21. No interview or trivia this week? What gives.

  22. I liked IndieOutlook this week. AirKnight looks pretty cool.

    • Thank you elephante! Most of RetroSouls games are a lot of fun and AlterEgo is available for free on Desura so feel free to check it out while AirKnight is in progress 🙂

  23. I liked the movie talk. Too bad you guys didnt talk about the new Star Trek more. Maybe you can fit that into the show.

    Love that Sage is back with a vengeance.

  24. Damn, Sage is on fiyah! THIS IS BULLSHIT AND FUCK THIS AND FUCK THAT AND FUCK YOU! lol ♥

  25. Good show this week. Really liking Indie Outlook

    The one thing I would have liked to hear is Time/Eternity impressions, if you got it in.

    • Thank you, PrinnyDood. I’m sure Robert is happy now that Indie Outlook is now Prinny approved :p

  26. Since there was a significant lack of Sailor Moon references in this episode, I’ll make it up here. I preordered the Sailor Moon S.H. Figuarts figure. CANNOT. WAIT.

  27. Kinect 2 knowing your masterbation habits was the highlight of the show.

    Xbox finishing move.

  28. Also, I’m in for Iron Brigade if no one wants it.

  29. Yeah you guys should kickstart a better sounding podcast. Id give 5 bucks.

  30. Just finishing downloading. I’lll probably listen after I drop the kids off tomorrow. You aren’t exactly a family friendly bunch. 😉

  31. Just for you Deagle 😉 xD

  32. Jeremy was way too kind with FFA for Vita. Its a horrible wreck with a slideshow framerate and bugs all over. Maybe the least polished vita game I’ve played.

    • Well, like I said, I only give it a very qualified recommendation if you particularly like the console game, understand the rules, and want to be portable with it.

  33. I expected you to say “wait that’s not show the show ends” and then do trivia…..

  34. Deagle, I remember.

  35. Played it like crazy.

    • Like Jeremy I haven’t heard of this game. Is it worth checking out?

      • It’s one of of my favorite Genesis games, but if you see if you less than $10, it’s probably worth it just because it’s different from 99% of other games of the day.

  36. Damn, Robert in your eyes Soul Sacrifice can do no wrong, huh?

    • I’m enjoying Soul Sacrifice, really, but there are just a few “Japanese story elements” that, I dunno, translate a little weird, tonally. The way the game works really is pretty neat.

      • That’s seems pretty easy to overlook. I mean that’s never been a gamebreaker for Final Fantasy. 😉

  37. How the fuck do you guys have more comments that Weekend Confirmed? hahaha good job.

    • Probably because Weekend Confirmed is not, nor will ever be, as good as 1UP Yours…

      …Or it could be that we’re just that awesome. Yeah, let’s go with that one.

      • A bit of both.

        Still, I listen. WC is good about half the time. Best with Two Jeffs and I miss Brian.

  38. Its probably because you don’t have 30 people saying “God Andrea is so fucking annoying. Why the hell is she on, anyways?”

  39. There were some good arguments on both sides of the Xbox One debate here, and although overall I tend to come down more on Say’s side, there’s definitely food for thought in the counter-argument too.

    It’s easy, as consumers, to forget that Microsoft also has a responsibility to the expectations of investors, business partners and publishers. When we all scream about one of Microsoft’s decisions, that’s balanced against the noises the public never hear, from the other side of the business. It doesn’t make the questionable decisions more ‘ethical’ but it does sometimes make them more understandable.

    On a non-Xbox One front, it was nice to hear about the new Call of Juarez installment. The wild west setting was the best thing about the earlier games, so it’s good to see coming back.

    • Good points, Alan. But it does make me think about the link between investors and the public. If the general public is hesitant about a new product, investors have a right to be worried. I can help but think that MS shareholders are taking the negative publicity easily these days.

      • That’s true, and actually Sony’s share prices spiked during and immediately after the Xbox One reveal, which seems quite telling. They’ve levelled out again now, but evidently a number of the money people thought to themselves “no one’s going to buy this thing!”

    • That was Sage, I can’t take credit for the awesomeness that is Sage! I’m the noob at the end of the podcast – I’m only in Indie Outlook, Sage is the cool girl throughout the whole show :p

      • Ha! You have similar-sounding names and are both unimpressed with Xbox One :p

        I haven’t got to the end yet. Poor neglected Say!

        • I have got to admit that it was a tad frustrating to realize the new direction they want to take the console. I may try to understand they want to cover up the least % that could include more as a whole but they are neglecting to impress the largest crowd that was the one that built and supported the brand all along. E3 does bring a lot of expectations regarding how this console would remain relevant given the new shifts in the market. Also, you do remember my angry tweets so I’m sure you remember well how I feel :p

          • Goodguy George

            I think once Microsoft reveals their full lineup, they’ll change a lot of minds with the Xbox 1. They will be competitive, there’s no way they won’t take on anything that Sony shows.

          • I doubt with the amount of investment they’ve done regarding their TV pitch that they won’t be driven that way after E3, wouldn’t make much sense after so much has been pipelined that way. Also, completly unrelated to the titles they’d present – my comment is about their expectations of functionality of the console as a whole, it doesn’t focus entirely on improving the gaming experience for Xbox users but to widen their options of revenue from it.

          • Pale Ale Rider

            “Also, completly unrelated to the titles they’d present”

            Huh? I don’t understand you. Present in the future, past. What are you trying to say, Say?

          • I meant they’d as in ‘they would’ not ‘they had’ – it does not refer to past or past perfect in any way shape or form. Also, to ‘present’ as in to ‘show’ or ‘display’. Finally, ‘would’ provides uncertainty, a conditional unlike ‘will’ that provides future action. So, in an attempt to explain *that* specific quote – I don’t care what they show at E3, they already took a big new direction – Does that make sense now? I apologize for being confusing.

          • @Goodguy George: I have no doubt that there will be plenty of games. I’m not one of those who seem to believe that MS not mentioning games at the conference means there won’t be any. Of course there will. My concern is MS de-emphasising games in their overall plan. They might pull it off and shift a ton of units, but they’ll also alienate a lot of people, I think.

            Nintendo took a similar gamble with the Wii, ditching the traditional gaming crowd in favour of trying to sell the console to non-gamers. And it worked. Maybe that’s emboldened Microsoft (a friend of mine has argued so). But Nintendo and MS don’t have comparable positions.

            When they produced the Wii, Nintendo has suffered a series of underwhelming console releases, starting with the well respected but overshadowed N64, followed by the flop that was the Gamecube. Let’s just avoid the Virtual Boy entirely. So Nintendo had already lost most of their gaming audience, and they could afford to gamble on trying to grab a new audience instead. They had (relatively) little to lose.

            MS, on the other hand, are still at the peak of their potency and yet they’re taking a similar gamble. They risk alienating a much larger fan base with no guarantee that the universal household entertainment hub idea will take off with the non-gamers.

            It’s a monstrous gamble and I don’t know which way it will go. Having said that, I predicted the failure of the (first) Xbox, the Wii and the 3DS, so what do I know?

          • Yea, playing armchair analyst is tougher than it looks. We all give guys like Pachter a hard time AFTER the fact.

            Who expected the Wii to be a big dud, especially after the success of the first Wii. I think anything can happen with the Xbone, especially since MS has the money to market a crappy piece of hardware (the Kinect).

          • I agree with the Nintendo analogy to some extent. While the Wii was catering to a new audience- they still were pushing games. With the Xbox 1 I can’t help but feel the games are a smaller part of their plans.

  40. Goodguy George

    Just saying that as gamers we are evaluating the console without really having seen the games. Let’s talk AFTER e3, ok?

    • Agreed. It’s far too early to write off the whole console yet. The key thing for me, though, is that the reveal was MS’s big chance to make their first impression and define in everyone’s minds what the Xbox One will be. And I think they flubbed it a bit, frankly.

      • They did say multiple times before the unveiling that E3 was going to be about the games. Obviously, the hardware is close to finalized but software is still being worked on. So it makes sense to show that a month and a half later.

        • In response to this whole ongoing discussion, I have a few comments.
          First of all, I think it’s important to remember that, in comparison with Nintendo, there is a big difference in market. The Wii U makes A LOT of sense for families in Japan, where a family is more likely to only have 1 TV and more likely to want to utilize a gaming system for family fun, as opposed to individual play on a personal TV by one member of the family. So their market stays pretty successful in Japan, even if it doesn’t resonate as well with people here.
          Also, EDGE magazine put out a good review on the XBONE, pointing out that it is an “entertainment system” more than a gaming console. i think when looked at in that light, it helps frame part of why the XBone seems to be flubbing out so much as a gaming system.
          Thirdly, the sony and microsoft pressers having come and gone at this point, I think part of why gamers are so disenfranchised with…well, the xbox franchise, is because Microsoft is so disingenuous and arrogant about their stance. They refused to discuss any of the controversial issues at the press conference, made outlandish statements like “we’ve always been the biggest supporters of independent games” (blatantly untrue), and in the end they didn’t show that many new games.
          Microsoft obviously realizes that they can’t compete against Sony with what they announced, and I say obviously because now, just a week and a half later, they are already changing their position on some of the DRM and used game issues. Which was an obvious choice after the Sony conference destroyed them (mwahahaha). I still think that part of the problem is that Sony, when the PSN network got hacked, recovered some of their humility in regards to consumers/gamers and the market,whereas Microsoft still retains the same hubris and arrogance that they’ve continuously displayed over the years.
          Im not sure why, but the 360 became THE console for 13 year old tea-baggers and frat boy gramers, significantly moreso than the other consoles. It would seem that microsoft has not learned the lesson of a multifaceted consumer base, and has mistook its market for 1)those gamers, and 2) non-gaming investors. If they want to bow out of the gaming industry and become the “entertainment system” competitors of companies like Apple, then thats fine, but they will be leaving behind all gamers but the casual gaming and shallow-plot-FPS types. If they WANT that, power to them. If not, they better reassess their position, and from a Point of View of a deeper level of humility than just “investor money”.

          For the Record:
          1) the interesting view point of seeing the XBONE as a competitor to apple and other entertainment center systems and not to the gaming systems came from the article in EDGE magazine, not me
          2)I dont think all FPS’s are shallow, at all. Just the ones with a shallow plot.
          3) the word “gramer” came from the old screw attack hosted show called “game tags”
          (I like to give credit where it’s due)

      • Nice work on your site. I especially liked the picture captions.

  41. With Microsoft named in the PRISM disclosure, having an always on Kinect just got a hell of a lot creepier.

  42. The next podcast is gonna be a FUUUUN.

  43. The part where Robert says DRM is a conversation between business and consumers makes a lot of sence today.

  44. Question for new show sent.

  45. So what do you think about Microsoft’s U-turn? How much will it help in the long run?

    Also, why do you think companies have such a hard time getting a message out? Wii U struggled and now the Xbone just confused everyone.