NEWER POSTS

Merch Madness

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Mar 3, 2020

Filed under: Notices 83 comments
Eh! Steve! Podcast: ControlPrevious Post
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As I’ve said before, I’m always very shy about making changes around here. I don’t want to be seen as the kind of jerk creator that’s always doing promotions and partnerships. I don’t want ads crowding out my content. I don’t want to be hawking products in exchange for money. Some people have been supporting me for years, and I don’t want them to ever feel like I’m ungrateful or like I’m ditching them because someone waved some money at me. Basically, I just want to make cool content and eat.

I’ve been doing that, more or less, for the last few years. Which means I’m really reluctant to rock the boat.

A long time agoMonths? Years? I have no concept of time. Patreon began offering merchandise. At the time I ignored it because it was USA-only, but now they ship worldwide so I thought it was worth considering.

It’s actually a pretty neat idea. Lots of people want mugs, t-shirts, posters, etc from their favorite creators. On the other hand, merch is a pain in the ass on a small scale.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Merch Madness”

 

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Eh! Steve! Podcast: ControlPrevious Post
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83 comments

 

Diecast #291: Satisfactory, Teardown, New World

By Shamus Posted Monday Mar 2, 2020

Filed under: Diecast 76 comments
Diecast #290: Mega MailbagPrevious Post
Next PostDiecast #292: Geforce NOW, Wolfenstein Revisited, Mailbag

Wow. Diecast number 291. This brings us very close to 300, which is a number of no special significance whatsoever. Still, we’ve made a lot of these dang things, haven’t we?



Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Diecast291


Link (YouTube)

Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #291: Satisfactory, Teardown, New World”

 

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Diecast #290: Mega MailbagPrevious Post
Next PostDiecast #292: Geforce NOW, Wolfenstein Revisited, Mailbag

76 comments

 

Achilles and the Grognard: Special Unexpected BG3 Preview Edition

By Bob Case Posted Saturday Feb 29, 2020

Filed under: Video Games 45 comments
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The Grognard: Hello everyone, and welcome to our special Baldur’s Gate III preview edition!

Achilles: Who are you talking to?

The Grognard: I sometimes talk to an imaginary talk show audience. It helps with my anxiety over all my various witty remarks going underappreciated.

Achilles: Good idea. I do the same thing with podcasts.


Link (YouTube)

The Grognard: Just to catch our studio audience up, over the last several days a bunch of new information has come out about Baldur’s Gate III: a gameplay demo, the opening cinematic, and the basic premise of the story. The video above is from Fextralife’s channel, which is a good place to go for just-the-facts-ma’am information about RPGs.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Achilles and the Grognard: Special Unexpected BG3 Preview Edition”

 

Bob Case MrBtongue is the Pele of complaining about videogames and will soon be the Garrincha of complaining about TV shows. You can find his Youtube channel at youtube.com/user/MrBtongue.

Video Game Chart Party 3: ShowdownPrevious Post
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45 comments

 

Rage 2 Part 6: Win Some, Loosum

By Shamus Posted Thursday Feb 27, 2020

Filed under: Retrospectives 55 comments
Rage 2 Part 5: Theme ParkPrevious Post
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The next person we meet on our Wasteland tour is one Loosum Hagar, Mayor of Wellspring. She’s one of the few returning characters from the original Rage in 2011. You might know her as the teenager with the wingsticks from the original:

Here's Loosum from the first game. Fun fact: Back in 2010, I never realized she was an important-ish character. I wasn't interested in the wingsticks weapons and I never attempted to talk to her. I assumed she was another no-dialog background NPC.
Here's Loosum from the first game. Fun fact: Back in 2010, I never realized she was an important-ish character. I wasn't interested in the wingsticks weapons and I never attempted to talk to her. I assumed she was another no-dialog background NPC.

It’s been 30 years, and she’s now mayor of the town her father founded. She’s added a bit of gunslinging to her arsenal and the wasteland has made her cynical and hard-edged. She wants to help us with Project Dagger, but this is a video game so of course there’s a catch.

Klegg Clayton is some sort of wasteland douche lord. He’s rich, creepy, self-aggrandizing, vain, insecure, and ambitious. He’s trying to oust Loosum so he can run the city himself. Also, he’s somehow managed to get his hands on the super-secret Authority super-tank required for Project Dagger. So you need to deal with him.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Rage 2 Part 6: Win Some, Loosum”

 

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Rage 2 Part 5: Theme ParkPrevious Post
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55 comments

 

Gaming Footage

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Feb 26, 2020

Filed under: Random 111 comments
Entitled to an ExplanationPrevious Post
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Now that I’m producing video content, I’m thinking a lot about video game footage. Previously, I just smacked the screenshot key when I wanted to save a still image for the blog. Once in a while I’d save some important cutscenes. These days I need much better video coverage of the games I… uh… cover.

I also find I need footage of games I haven’t played in a few years. What happens if I’m writing a script and I suddenly realize I need footage from a cutscene near the end of Last of Us? I’d have to play through most of the game to get that. Or what if I need some footage of Fem Shepard with Ashley Williams during the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2, and all of my footage is of Male Shepard? I’d actually have to play all the way through BOTH of the first two games to get that footageThe default femshep gets Kaiden in ME2, which means you’d need to import a ME1 save.. What if I want to make a video on branching endings and I want to compare all the different endings of Dishonored 2? I’m pretty sure you’d need more than three trips through the game for that!

This can kill an essay. I don’t have time in my schedule to play 60 hours of a video game just to grab 2 minutes of relevant footage.

Maybe your first suggestion is to just quietly go over to YouTube, find a raw no-commentary LP, and download that. Well… Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Gaming Footage”

 

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Entitled to an ExplanationPrevious Post
Next PostWhat Will Normal Look Like?

111 comments

 

This Week I Played… (February 2020)

By Shamus Posted Monday Feb 24, 2020

Filed under: TWIP 304 comments
This Week I Played... (October 2019)Previous Post
Next PostThis Week I Played... (March 2020)

I’m not going to complain about my health problems, because that sort of thing is so hopelessly tedious. I’ll just note that the eye thing popped up again and put me out of commission for a few days.

So I thought it would be a good time for another post asking everyone what they’ve been playing lately.

Aside from making for good conversation, these posts are good for keeping a healthy perspective on the industry as a whole. If you only follow the industry through marketing and major gaming sites, then it will probably feel like the industry is… Continue reading ⟩⟩ “This Week I Played… (February 2020)”

 

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

This Week I Played... (October 2019)Previous Post
Next PostThis Week I Played... (March 2020)

304 comments

 

Mass Effect is Dead, Long Live Mass Effect

By Bob Case Posted Saturday Feb 22, 2020

Filed under: Mass Effect 149 comments
Andromeda Part 25: BioWare is DeadPrevious Post
Next PostHypothetical ME4: What Not to Do

Mass Effect, as we all know, is dead. It was a great while it lasted – a bona-fide full-3D, character-focused, worldbuilding-rich, fully voice-acted, and well-polished 3D AAA RPG. But then the third game had a silly ending, and then the whole “Andromeda” spinoff flopped out of the gate, and now it’s dead.

Or is it? This is a major IP. It was once a cash cow. Companies like EA aren’t in the habit of letting potential revenue just float off into the ether. More likely, the plan is to let the franchise lie fallow for a few years – let the audience’s goodwill replenish a bit, and then come back for another go. This plan might already be in motion for all we know. I figure that if they don’t put Mass Effect 4 into some kind of preproduction at some point, they’re leaving money on the table.

ME1's visuals have aged well if you ask me. Take away the film grain effect and change the UI, and this could pass for either of the later entries in the series. Not bad for a 2007 vintage.
ME1's visuals have aged well if you ask me. Take away the film grain effect and change the UI, and this could pass for either of the later entries in the series. Not bad for a 2007 vintage.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mass Effect is Dead, Long Live Mass Effect”

 

Bob Case MrBtongue is the Pele of complaining about videogames and will soon be the Garrincha of complaining about TV shows. You can find his Youtube channel at youtube.com/user/MrBtongue.

Andromeda Part 25: BioWare is DeadPrevious Post
Next PostHypothetical ME4: What Not to Do

149 comments

 
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