Jackalope38 Blog

Digi Bros. Intermission: Apocalypse Starring Bruce Willis

Jack Gardner — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:16:00 GMT

Hey Digi Fans it is time to take a break from the thrilling adventures of everyone's favorite Pyromancer with another awesome intermission! This time we dig up a forgotten PS1 shooter starring Bruce Willis as Bruce Will- erm Trey Kincaid. Surprisingly we have a lot of fun and have made plans to finish our playthrough.

As we learned after recording this video, Apocalypse is responsible for creating the engine on which both the 2000 Spider-Man game as well as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater run.

Due to a slip up during editing, There is a rather crude word not bleeped out around the 30 minute mark, so THIS VIDEO IS OFFICIALLY NSFW. If that doesn't bother you or you'd like to watch the video anyway and skip the offensive word, just click the video below!

As always, subscribe, like, comment, and share it and we will love you forever.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Digi Brothers has a Facebook page! You can go there to interact with other people who enjoy Digi Bros., get info on the latest episodes, and have more say in what you want to see from Digi Bros. in the future. You could also have earlier access to future episodes.

Does anyone remember this game?

Digi Bros. Now Playing: Dark Souls Episode 13

Jack Gardner — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:25:00 GMT

Hello and welcome, Digi Brothers and Sisters, to the continuing saga of the lonely pyromancer named Catbuttz! This week on Digi Bros., Cory and Jack try to reach the bottom of Blighttown, make an unexpected change in plans, and experience the unbridled drama of the Cory household during garbage day!

In this particular episode I talk a bit about working with Extra Life. If you're curious to see what I do, head over to their website and check it out!

We have a new logo designed by a friend of the show and a channel trailer! Let us know what you think of them.

As always, subscribe, like, comment, and share it and we will love you forever.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Also, advice is always helpful, but bear in mind that we are currently quite a few episodes ahead of what is currently uploaded to YouTube. What that means is that we may have already learned what you want to tell us in the school of hard knocks.

*Update* Digi Brothers now has a Facebook page! You can go there to interact with other people who enjoy Digi Bros., get info on the latest episodes, and have more say in what you want to see from Digi Bros. in the future. You could also have earlier access to future episodes.

For previous episodes of Digi Bros. Dark Souls, use the links below or start the full playlist:

We hope you enjoy the show!

Digi Bros. is posted every Monday.

The JACKED UP Indie and Mojo Show Episode 58

Jack Gardner — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:40:00 GMT

Hello, listeners, Weeeeeee’re baaaaaaaaack! After over a month on hiatus, we’ve returned with a… let’s just call it a “retro” episode of the JIM Show. In this episode we discuss the Super Bowl, Dark Souls, DmC, Ni no Kuni, some Kickstarter projects, and have a lengthy discussion of the (at the time) unannounced next-gen consoles.

We also discuss The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and how to make games more mature instead of immaturely mature. Jeremy goes on a tirade about how Telltale Games. We praise GIO user Enigma for his insightful movie reviews. We also chat about the possibility of a Valve/JJ Abrams team up and how Abrams might not be the right choice to adapt those properties to the big screen.

We’d also like to take the opportunity to apologize for disappearing. Our previous hosting site suddenly started uploading only a portion of our episodes, cutting out anywhere between 15-30 minutes of dialogue. Knowing this was unacceptable, we started looking for a new place to host our podcast and we eventually found Libsyn.com. It isn’t the prettiest website around, but it works, and that is what counts. In the coming weeks we’ll be playing some catch up with older episode that we have been recording since we started looking for a new hosting site.

You can listen to our podcast below or download it through Libsyn. Note: If you want to listen to our show sooner rather than later, be sure to subscribe our Libsyn rss feed, as our shows go up there first before making it to the blogging section of Game Informer.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Time for the Indie and Mojo Show… Shout outs shout outs shout outs

The Story of Griffball – Cameron Koch

SNES Timeline – Part 8: A Couple Monster Hunters You May Have Heard of – Kinsey

Why You Should Always Read Multiple Reviews – Ashaman3000

Custom Painted SNES Part 1: The Idea - born4this & Warbuff

The music this week is brought to you by Dr. Manhattan, who remixed the song Mr. Pink Poncho’s Western Rock Band from various themes in the game Sunset Riders. You can listen to it and download it for free over on OCRemix.org.

You stay classy Game Informer.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love… being back with you guys.

The JACKED UP Indie & Mojo Show should be back on track to being posted (almost) every Tuesday.

Digi Bros. Intermission: OverBlood

Jack Gardner — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:15:00 GMT

Hey there Digi Fans! This week we decided to do something a little bit different (and that is in no way related to misplacing a sound file for the next Dark Souls episode). We venture into the heart of video game darkness with the infamous PS1 survival horror game OverBlood. Over the course of the episode, you can hear us coming to terms with the fact that this it it. This is the game.

OverBlood might be something we return to in the future, but next week we return to Catbuttz and Dark Souls.

As always, subscribe, like, comment, and share it and we will love you forever (and might even put up some secret projects we’ve been working on alongside our Dark Souls playthrough as a reward for doing so).

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Be A Gaming Samaritan

Jack Gardner — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:01:00 GMT

Every so often, I have the urge to write about things that really make me upset in the video game industry. This week, I want to talk about the way that so many people insist on bringing other people down in online multiplayer games. In every online multiplayer community, there are codes of conduct that attempt to weed out negative behavior, but often times these rules aren't 100% effective.

I understand that, by their very nature, multiplayer games are competitive. Players are either competing against each other of versus the game itself. Competition, as numerous game studies have pointed out, can lead to aggressive feelings, which is perfectly normal. It’s when that aggression turns into verbal abuse toward other human beings that being aggressive turns into something ugly.

Imagine for a second that a heated online multiplayer match is just a bunch of people walking down the street. None of the people on the street know each other, or have even seen one another before. All of a sudden, one person accidentally bumps into someone else. The person bumped immediately cries: “You ****ing **** **** **********. You aren’t smart enough to find your own toilet to **** ***** ******! Now eat a ***** and go ****** to your ******* lover.” The two people then continue on their way. The aggressor feels better at the expense of the bumper, who feels a sense of worthlessness that he/she tries to hide for the rest of the day.

What so many people fail to understand is that words are powerful. Sure, words might never throw a punch or break a bone, but words can do more than that; words can plant ideas and beliefs. A single sentence can change a life forever, for better or worse. I can tell you from personal experience that being bullied and harassed throughout much of my early childhood gave me a very warped perception of myself that will never fully go away. Getting death threats from other kids and being relatively friendless until my mid-late teens, I know what being on the receiving end of worded alienation feels like. When we say things to other people in online games telling them that they are fat, ugly, friendless, worthless, terrible, hateful, or unlovable, we are sending a message. Most of the time, I am sure we don’t mean it; if we met the person we were disrespecting online in real life, they would be relatively normal people with hopes, fears, loves, and insecurities just like anybody else. But even if we don’t mean it, we are still saying it. People on the receiving end of our words can be hurt. It has been said that if you hear something enough, then you start to believe it. All too often, what I hear when I play online games are slurs, accusations, racism, sexism, bigotry, elitism, etc. that all basically boils down to: “You are worthless, I am better than you.” And we hear this underlying statement repeated all of the time.

I can hear people now, saying something along the lines of, “Stop taking things said over the internet so seriously,” or, “Grow some thicker skin.” I’m just going to say this once: Tearing someone else down so that you feel better about yourself is wrong. Hurting someone just for the “lolz” isn’t right. And if someone is intentionally trying to make people feel bad, that is something deplorable and incredibly sad. It isn’t that I am offended, I am incensed that something so rotten is deemed standard practice.

When did this kind of behavior become acceptable? You wouldn’t say things like that to strangers on the street, or even to someone after an intense game of football, soccer, or baseball. If we wouldn’t say it to people in real-world, why do we say such terrible things when we play video games? I think it is because in-game, we don’t view people as people. We view them as part of the game, they aren’t real. There aren’t even repercussions for being a tool online. No one can physically threaten via the web, while anonymity and the tacit compliance with this sort of behavior in the community means there is little to no social stigma for an abuser to be worried about.

Like I said earlier, words have power. Real damage can be done with words, pain given that doesn’t go away. However, words also offer a means of building people up. Something as simple as telling someone that they did a good job can improve someone’s day immensely.

Imagine again that an online multiplayer match is a street full of strangers. Everyone is going about their business and suddenly a young woman stops a young man simply to tell him: “Sir, you look handsome today.” Then the two people continue on their way, the young man having a much better day than he was expecting and feeling better about himself at the cost of about two seconds of the young woman’s time and effort.

Instead of replying with angry vitriol to someone who spews out hate online, respond with kindness. You don’t know that person, you don’t know why they are acting the way they are, but chances are that telling them to go screw themselves isn’t going to help them or you. If you see someone struggling or playing poorly, don’t mock them or get frustrated. Take a break and try to help or ask them what’s up. Next time you are about to mouth off to someone online, take a moment to remember that there are actual human beings behind avatars. There is probably a reason they are being a jerk or not performing well. Maybe they had a recent death in the family, a messy break-up, or maybe they just had a really terrible day. Call them out on their behavior by using kindness and compassion. In a community overrun by negativity and cynicism, be a good Samaritan by being nice and caring about someone online enough to treat them like a person.

Try being a gaming Samaritan and treat others how you would want to be treated because, frankly, we need more people like that at work in our gaming communities and culture.

The Mario Franchise Timeline (According to Jack)

Jack Gardner — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 01:35:00 GMT

Thanks to a conversation my friend Yami (@idsanty on Twitter) and I were having the other day about how silly it would be if the Mario universe had a timeline, I lost my mind today and decided to try and link the most of the core games together in a semi-logical chronological order and fill in some gaps. This is what I came up with.

There are only 7 or 8 other humans in the Mario universe. Either this means that humans are facing extinction or humans are from somewhere other than Mushroom Kingdom. If humans are from elsewhere, this would be explained by the Super Mario Bros. movie which featured a dimensional rift created by a meteor impact that separated Bowser's world (the world in which Mushroom Kingdom is a place, not a crack dream) and the world as we know it. If we are going with this theory, then Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's Story are all tales young Mario created to explain childbirth to his younger brother Luigi since they were orphans and didn't have anyone to tell them differently. That is why the games look as if they are from a storybook (in the case of Yoshi's Story, it IS a storybook) and have storks delivering babies. So with this in mind, after the events of the movie, Mario and Luigi follow Daisy into the alternate dimension (it could be assumed that the kingdom ruled by Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. movie is Daisy's kingdom of Sarasaland since she is its ruler). The trouble alluded to in the conclusion of the film is probably Bowser's initial kidnapping of Princess Peach, which he did to effectively take over Mushroom Kingdom in the events of Super Mario Bros. on the NES. Of course, this means that Mario left Paulina, who Mario saved in the real world from a burly construction worker symbolized by Donkey Kong in the original Donkey Kong, behind in the real world. Managing to save Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi decide to live in Mushroom Kingdom permanently.

What happened after that?

After that, I'm assuming things settled down for a while. Mario Party-ing ensued, along with golfing, karting, etc. However, even though Bowser participated, he harbored a grudge for being ousted out of Sarasaland and that his attempt to kidnap Peach was thwarted, denying him dominion over the neighboring Mushroom Kingdom. When Sarasaland came under attack by the alien creature Tatanga in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy, Bowser made his move. In the events of Super Mario Galaxy, A fleet of airships attacked Princess Peach's Castle during the centennial Star Festival. The entire castle was shot up into space by a flying saucer, probably built from the wreckage of Tatanga's spacecraft. Mario, who was delayed in returning to Mushroom Kingdom by the intervention of Wario in Super Mario Land 2, arrived just in time to try and stop these events, failed, and then followed Bowser into space. While Mario chased Bowser, he collected 120 Power Stars that helped him rescue the Princess once more. Not to be deterred by failure, Bowser makes a very similar attempt to kidnap the Princess in the events of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and is once again foiled. More time passed, more parties, more karting, some painting, etc. and finally, the Mario Brothers with Peach decided to take a vacation. This decision brought them to Dinosaur Island, part of which is Yoshi's Island - eerily similar to the island Mario made up as a child - However, the gang chose to rest for a time on the beach. While everyone was napping, Luigi dreamed up a world called Subcon that needed to be saved from the evil Wart - the events of Super Mario Bros. 2. Luigi's dream episode also set up the upcoming Mario and Luigi: Dream Team for 3DS. When the nap wrapped up, it turned out that Bowser had designs on Dinosaur Island and they just so happened to coincide with the gang's vacation. Soooo, he decided to make up for lost time and kidnap Princess Peach again while everyone was asleep. Over the course of Super Mario World, the two plumbers saved the day again, this time aided by the fearless and remarkable Yoshis of Dinosaur Island. The dynamic duo kicked Bowser's scaly behind off of the island and returned Peach safely home.

More time passed during which Mario took up tennis, street fighting, and earned a PhD in medicine. Luigi won a mansion in a contest he never entered and Mario gets abducted by ghosts, leaving Luigi to face his fears and save his older brother. Luigi successfully accomplished that task and finally began having an ounce of self-respect, but Mario emerged from the experience at Luigi's Mansion traumatized. Peach, in an effort to heal her now-boyfriend's fractured psyche, took him on another vacation, this time to Delfino Island, precipitating the events of Super Mario Sunshine. While there, Mario mental state appeared to heal, although what affect Baby Bowser calling his girlfriend "mom" had on his mind is hard to say. Regardless, Mario came out of the experience stronger than ever.

BUT...

While Mario had been out gallivanting around getting kidnapped and vacationing, Bowser had not been idle. He spurred Koopa Land into an industrial revolution, focusing on the mass production of tanks, cannons and Bullet-Bill ammunition, airships, and troop recruitment. With all of his stockpiled resources, he launched an all-out war against the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom and succeeded in capturing most of it, transforming the kings, who function as governors for the various regions of the Mushroom Kingdom, into animals. While Mario attempted to save the first king, Princess Peach was kidnapped (surprise). Mario fought his way through all the different kingdoms, single-handedly beating back Bowser's army and finally dethroning Bowser.

OR...

Mario and company decide to put on a huge theatrical production that vilifies Bowser.

Either way, the events of Super Mario Bros. 3 infuriated Bowser and he planned one last ditch attempt to destroy his most hated rival and finally kidnap Peach for good - a goal that has now become more about the principle rather than practicality. Relying on magic instead of brute force, he imprisoned the denizens of Peach's Castle and Peach herself by using the 120 Power Stars found in Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 and baited Mario into coming to the castle using a forged letter from the Princess. Realizing his danger, Mario avoided all the traps and pitfalls planned for him and beat the tar out of Bowser with his bare hands. Mario tried to end things once and for all by throwing the Koopa King into magical lava, but sadly only the enchantment on the castle broke. This released everyone affected by the spell on the castle including Bowser, who escapes, and concluded the events of Super Mario 64.

Most of the Mario games I didn't mention by name could happen at anytime between Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64, or by saying they happened in another dimension which is heavily implied by Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Feel free to tell me how stupid this is, how I got the chronology wrong, or how it would make more sense if __________, because I'm genuinely curious as to your reactions.

Intro pic credit goes to Spartan650

Writing About Writing About Video Games

Jack Gardner — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:30:00 GMT

I have been sitting on this topic for a while, turning it over in my mind trying to get a grasp on it enough to talk about it. Now is probably as close as I can get to talking about what has been weighing on me. In the wake of a string of horrible tragedies, I just couldn’t bring myself to write about video games. It wasn’t that there was a lack of things to talk about, the video game industry is a constantly evolving, fast-paced world, but in my heart video games seemed so… trivial. I asked myself: What does it matter if we have higher pixel counts or a new console on the horizon when compared to weighty events in the real world? In trying to be as honest with myself as possible, I had to admit that video game journalism seems weak and insubstantial when compared to the harshness of reality. Writing about games doesn’t initiate political change or provide essential necessities. So why does writing about video games matter?

When people think about video game journalism they think about reviews and news. On the surface, reviewing games and providing information about upcoming releases is what video game journalism is all about. These two aspects work together to provide consumers with a barometer for which games deserve their hard-earned cash. This is a valuable financial service, especially in an industry where the base price for products is $50-$60. Without digging a bit deeper, this is the sole purpose of video game journalism; to give consumers shopping guidelines and pre-release information so consumers can plan future purposes. However, I refuse to accept that writing about video games is only about money.

Writing about video games fosters a community of gamers. The evidence of this is pretty clearly seen in active video game websites and gigantic conventions held around the world dedicated to the enjoyment of video games. Many people who either identify themselves as a gamer or have the label thrust upon rely on this community to participate in a collective gaming identity. Video game websites, like Game Informer, give people a place to come and be themselves. While these digital havens provide safe spaces to discuss video games, they also act as a way of solidifying the culture of gaming.

Underneath it all, I think one of the things that make video games really and truly important is that they are deeply personal artistic stories. Think back to when you were last playing a game and conquered a boss or solved a puzzle. Did you think to yourself that it was really cool that *insert character name here* was able to do that? Or did you congratulate yourself? Because in each video game you play you are the active agent, the center on which all outcomes hinge. If you fail, the failure is yours. If you succeed, that success is a point of pride. We all interact with games a little differently and interpret situations in diverse ways. Video games are the stories we tell to ourselves. These stories are why I think video game journalism matters. It might not be the stories in the games, but the story that emerges when people begin interacting with a game. In this way, video game journalism becomes a profession of storytellers and interpretation.

For some reason this topic is very difficult for me to write about, despite having thought about it for several weeks. I hope that you all at least understood my point: Writing about video games can have a point beyond review scores and breakdowns. The written words on these web pages bring people together and initiate discussions and friendships all centered on fun and stories. And, to my mind, there is something sacred about fun and a good story.

What Next Generation Consoles Won’t Have

Jack Gardner — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:00:00 GMT

Note: The following is entirely speculation and educated guesses.

There have been a lot of rumors and information leaks about the next generation of consoles on the horizon in lieu of official announcements. Without Microsoft or Sony to confirm or deny any info that appears in these uncertain times, anticipation is growing and the stories coming out are getting wilder and wilder. I don’t generally make predictions on upcoming console features, but I am willing to try to debunk some of the more outrageous rumors that have been tossed out.

I think that, especially in Sony’s case, people have come to expect that new consoles mean new, higher resolution forms of media playback. The PlayStation popularized CD based games, the PS2 did the same for DVD, and the PS3 won the format war for Blu-ray. 4K is the newest thing on the block and is supposed to run at four times the current resolution. The next PlayStation and Xbox aren’t going to feature 4K. Why not? Well, for starters, Sony is gearing up to release a 4K player. Guess how much it costs. Guess. It is going to cost around $25,000. I fully expect that next-gen consoles are going to be expensive, but I think $25,000 is a bit too steep a price point for them to sell very well or to expect that console manufacturers will absorb the financial losses of selling below that price. It is much more reasonable to assume that next-gen consoles will be running on Blu-ray. They’ll still play fantastic looking games; they just won’t cost you your kidney.

Shoddy Backwards Compatibility

One of the major missteps following the launch of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was the half-hearted attempts to implement backwards compatibility. The 360 received some updates that made some original Xbox games playable, but those updates soon stopped. The PS3 launched with backwards compatibility for PS1 and PS2 games, but later models of the PS3 lacked compatibility with the PS2’s library. While many games from previous generations have seen remakes or HD collection releases, I don’t think that we will see faulty backwards compatibility at next-gen launch. The next batch of consoles will either be completely backwards compatible with this generation’s library of games, which will cost more for Sony and Microsoft to implement, but will ease the transition into the next gen, or eschew that functionality altogether to reduce the cost of developing a new console.

An Always Online Requirement

It feels like people have been discussing an always online console since before the current generation of consoles was announced. Unsurprisingly, the reason this will not happen remains as true now as it did at the beginning of this generation: Not everyone has access to online services all the time. That fact alone means that Sony and Microsoft won’t implement an always online console. It would limit their market reach and send consumers into the arms of their competitors. Instead, what we can probably expect is to see a heavier emphasis on downloadable titles and online services on consoles. Perhaps in the next-gen we will see more attention given to downloadable release dates and indie game development.

Used Game Restrictions

While it is true that patents have been filed on technology that would restrict used game sales, remember that a patent does not equal a physical reality. It is also true that publishers lose money on used game sales, but numerous methods have been implemented to increase revenue in the form of downloadable content, microtransactions, etc. Microsoft and Sony are the ones controlling whether or not used game restrictions are put in place on their new consoles and, in my opinion, they have too much to lose by trying to eliminate used game sales. They need to maintain good relationships with retailers like GameStop, that profit from used game sales, in order to move their consoles and they don’t want to risk alienating a wide swath of their consumer base by outlawing cheap alternatives to expensive, full-price games.

Here is hoping that we get some more information about what is coming in the future during the Sony event on February 20!

What new technology or services do you think the new consoles will feature?

The JACKED UP Indie and Mojo Show Episode 57

Jack Gardner — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:40:00 GMT

Hello nation, society, people of Game Informer Online! This week Jeremy returns to cast pod with us and we talk weird concert experiences, Dragon’s Dogma, and how The Hobbit could have been improved (or if it really needed improvement).

Assassin’s Creed III is brought up in the podcast again and Daniel describes his feelings for the game. Temple Run 2 and microtransactions are also a focal point for our discussion. Daniel and I catch Jeremy up on our YouTube projects Digi Bros. and Cody’s Take. Of course, we could never go for an episode without talking about Journey. On a more serious note (we have serious notes?) the three of us talk about how gamers and games are perceived in the media and culture. Also, Daniel and Jeremy tell me I need to hang outside of bars near closing time to find a lady friend (I’m not doing that).

As always, you can listen to our podcast below or download it through iTunes or PodOmatic. Note: If you want to listen to our show sooner rather than later, be sure to subscribe to iTunes or PodOmatic, as our shows go up those places first before making it to the blogging section of Game Informer.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Time for the Indie and Mojo Show… Shout outs shout outs shout outs

Catching Up With Cosplay Icon & Gamer Girl extraordinaire Raychul Moore - John Jones

What’s In A Picture? A Man. – LetMeGetToACheckpoint

Confessions of a Softcore Gamer – Quasiconundrum

This week’s musical tones are brought to you by The White Stripes with their song Let's Build A Home. If ya dig it, why don't you buy it?

You stay classy Game Informer.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love... not Noobz

The JACKED UP Indie & Mojo Show blog is posted (almost) every Tuesday.

The Problem Of Explaining Video Games

Jack Gardner — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:30:00 GMT

It has been a rough few weeks for people that make video games and the people who enjoy playing those games. Video game developers have been called “electronic child molesters” while people who take pleasure in their creations have been described as not having any authority to discuss said enjoyment of games. The saddest part is that these examples are just the tip of the iceberg in how those in positions of power have reacted toward video games in the wake of a string of national tragedies. However, I am not here to talk about those heartbreaking events or how people have erroneously targeted video games as the culprit behind them. Instead, I want to talk about an issue brought up by witnessing dialogues between those who play games and those who do not: how difficult it is to communicate value and enjoyment of video games to people who have little to no experience with them.

One of the troubles comes when trying to explain video games as art. There is little doubt in my mind that video games are art. As someone who has devoted a large portion of my life to the study of literature (yes that is an art form) and the playing of video games, I tend to think that there are things inherently valuable to artistic expression. While I think that art is valuable, I would be hard pressed in this article to fully elaborate on that topic. To quote Stephen Guest from an article that I just googled and read from the University College London, “while technology can feed, shelter, clothe, and heal us, art can do none of these things,” and yet it still has value (although I might take issue with video games being unable to heal). Many people have written about what makes art valuable and worthwhile and if I were to do so here and now I could neither do the topic justice nor add much that is terribly new. However, if games are an art form, an idea which the Smithsonian supports, then parallels can be drawn to other more widely accepted art forms like film, literature, photography, etc. that are incorporated into video games. The reason that these parallels are important to the question of why video games are difficult to talk about is that it provides a link to well-known examples with which people who don’t enjoy gaming have had interactions. It provides a link. Someone who might frown at the violence in Medal of Honor or Call of Duty just might be able to see a connection between that and Saving Private Ryan. Both pieces of media deal with war and death, but from different perspectives.

Using games as art as a means of explaining video games to non-players, though it has advantages, has one major defect. The biggest hurdle in such a discussion is that while one side holds the opinion that games are art and have intrinsic value, the other side might not share that same opinion. People that don’t play games do not need to think that games have value in order for productive discourse to begin, but they do need to have the open minds to believe that video games COULD have value. Ideally, such people would understand that since video games are already valued by so many people in such a passionate manner, that there could be some worth to games. Instead, politicians in places of power choose to vilify games as some strange “other” and use them as a scapegoat by claiming that, not only are they meritless, but that they are actively harming our society. I am willing to guess that either these people have never played a game or are simply using video games as an easy way out of tricky situations for their own ends. In either case, meaningful discussion cannot be held between the two parties because neither party agrees that video games are as valuable as other forms of art. Again, I believe this issue stems from the inexperience/uneducated (regarding video games, no disrespect intended) nature of the old guard of non-player politicians and organization leaders who never picked up a controller and who still view gaming as an idle pastime for children.

Are we coming to the end yet?

Another problem arises from the inability to articulate why video games are fun. This issue is not limited to video games either; any activity that is enjoyed has a similar difficulty. I had a comparable quandary when I wrote a feature a while back about the appeal of eSports and tried to explain why they are fun to watch as a spectator. In that article, I began by comparing eSports to more widely appreciated things like football and basketball and then tried to convey the effort competitors must put in to become master-level eSports players. To follow this up, I threw out a few statistics about how many people watch MLG’s eSports content and tried to explain the important parts of eSports coverage. However, at the end of the piece I realized that words were insufficient and people wouldn’t really grasp why I thought paying attention to eSports was worthwhile. So, I included embedded videos of a variety of eSports matches to embody what I had been talking about up until that point. Due to that piece, some people were turned on to eSports, while others found it interesting, though still not appealing. I believe that without those examples at the end of the feature for people to watch and decide for themselves whether they enjoyed eSports or not, my words in the rest of the feature would have been largely ineffective. To bring this around full circle, video games can be explained in minute detail (which can be helpful in game reviews or commentary), but explanation is not enough to convey why something is fun. Fun is subjective and is always a case of “show, not tell.”

A different issue is that, beyond simply describing the mechanics of the game and maybe giving a synopsis of the plot, words don’t successfully convey enough of what it is like to play a video game to a person who has never played a video game. Even games in different genres can be vastly different and unintelligible to veteran video gamers unless they’ve had a roughly analogous occasion with which to compare the experience. Without that basic familiarity with gaming, untried and untested people are left with unrefined impressions of what gaming is like. Our politicians with no gaming experience see a montage of violent video clips taken from games with names like Splatterhouse, Grand Theft Auto, and Gears of War that depict players shooting people, sawing them in half with geysers of blood shooting everywhere, etc. On top of that, they know that video games have the foreign element of interactivity. With focused, carefully selected video clips and without any context or, heaven forbid, actually playing the games, is it any wonder some politicians think that video games are an evil blight when organizations with ulterior motives come knocking saying they have proof that video games lead to violence?

Given the tricky situation in which people who enjoy video games now find themselves, how would someone go about trying to initiate change? One option that has been brought up many times before is to simply wait. Eventually, people who have grown up with gaming as a hobby will inherit the offices of power and influence. Another course of action is to rage, post angry comments on news stories or forum threads. Or, rather than standby and do nothing or be impotently mean, we can try and effect a smaller, more immediate change. Since explanation of enjoyment is insufficient to convey enjoyment, since the value of art is intrinsic and yet indeterminate, and that written versions of game mechanics are inadequate for expressing fun, then we must resort to action. If we find out that a friend, co-worker, or family member who has never gamed or has a poor understanding of what it is like to play a video game let us offer them the chance to play. By doing this, we can change gaming from being some strange unknown, to an accepted part of our culture as much as movies or television or books. Over time, the old-guard that neither cares for nor understands video games will be replaced by a younger generation. When that happens, the more people that support gaming, the more elected officials that will support gaming.

Besides, what is so terrible about sharing something you love with someone else?

The JACKED UP Indie & Mojo Show Episode 56

Jack Gardner — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:50:00 GMT

Hello listeners, hearers, and... ear-ers? This week, Daniel and I helm the show sans Jeremy. We talk about our new YouTube projects, gaming news past and present, and the Dead Space 3 demo.

I explain Digi Bros. and how my co-host Cory and I stink at Dark Souls, while Daniel bemoans looking crazy with a puppet in Cody's Take. We also discuss crazy and not-so-crazy reactions to video game news ranging from microtransactions to white house petitions. Given that our previous episode (the real episode 56) was lost to the ether due to technical difficulties, we also tackle some older news. Then, we reach our Dead Space 3 discussion. I try to articulate my point, but couldn’t think of a great example until after the fact, which I will explain... now:

I see Dead Space 3 falling victim to what I’ll call The Die Hard Effect. The first Die Hard was so great because John McClane was just a normal guy, an everyman hero. As the series progressed, he lost the quality that made him such an everyman, eventually turning into a super heroic demi-god in Live Free Die Hard, WHERE HE FIGHTS A FIGHTER JET. I see Dead Space’s Isaac Clarke is going down a similar path. Or maybe I am just full of crap and Dead Space 3 will still be a horror game and not an action game starring a gun-shooting superhero. I hope that makes more sense than what I sputtered about trying to say in the podcast.

We also talk about Temple Run 2, gaming with special lady friends, and Epic Mickey 2’s extremely lackluster sales (which probably heavily influenced Junction Point Studios shutdown).

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Time for the Indie and Mojo Show... Shout outs shout outs shout outs

I'm Not One Of Your Statistics - Saint

A Blog About Sports Games - Jolt the Cynic

This week’s music is brought to your earholes by Jonathan Coulton! You should head over to his website and buy his song Baby Got Back (In The Style of Glee). All proceeds go to charity (Suck it, Glee)! Seriously, though, he is super cool, so check out hiss geeky rock music!

You stay classy Game Informer.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love... Baby Got Back.

The JACKED UP Indie & Mojo Show blog is posted (almost) every Tuesday.

Digi Bros. Now Playing: Dark Souls Episode 2

Jack Gardner — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:15:00 GMT

Another week, another Digi Bros.! Cory and I continue discovering new things about Namco-Bandai’s dark title (see what I did there?). This week on Digi Brothers, we fight skeletons followed by bigger skeletons, puzzle over menu screens, and do battle with the camera controls.

Will we stand victorious at the end of Digi Bros. episode beta? Or will we be defeated by the dastardly cunning of Dark Souls? Watch below to find out! Share it with your close acquaintances, stray animals, random passersby, anyone you want (we don’t have standards)!

(Please visit the site to view this media)

We are putting a lot of effort into Digi Bros. and we would like to hear from you! Are the episodes too long? Are we not funny enough? Do we need a catch phrase? Do you think we suck? Let us know! We really appreciate feedback, comments, subscribers, suggestions, likes, etc.

As a side note, we are beginning to think that our OverBlood episodes are cursed. To date, we have lost footage or sound for about three episodes so far. What does that mean for you? Nothing, because we haven’t posted them yet. What does that mean for us? It means we have to play through the game again to get to the points where we no longer have footage and play through them again. AGAIN.

If you missed Episode 1, here is a link.

Digi Bros. is posted every week on Monday.

Announcing Digi Bros. Now Playing: Dark Souls

Jack Gardner — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:10:00 GMT

It is with great pleasure that I officially announce the project that I have been working on over the last couple months with my friend and co-host Cory: Digi Brothers.

Digi Bros. is dedicated to providing fun gameplay and commentary for viewers. The first game we tackle together is none other than Dark Souls, one of the most perplexing and difficult games in recent memory. Join us and our hero Catbuttz as we ask important questions about life and undead life, what humanity means, and how to deal with arrow snipers. I hope that, if you enjoy Game Informer’s own Replay and Super Replay that you might get a kick out of a similar show. Below you will find Episode 1 of Dark Souls. If you feel inclined to leave feedback, like it, subscribe, or share it with your friends, family, pets, etc. by all means, do so.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

As we start up consistently adding new episodes to the channel, we will release one episode per week on Mondays. If that goes well, we may even bump up output to two episodes per week. If we do go up to two episodes, each episode will be from different games and the second weekly episode will be released on Fridays. Dark Souls is the first game we are tackling, the second will be the old GI favorite, OverBlood. After that, we have a few precious gems that will be revealed in due time, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to shout them out! Now this has been unveiled and worked on quite a bit, I hope that you’ll see my name in the blogging session a bit more often.

We hope you enjoy the video!

Building The Perfect Pirate Game

Jack Gardner — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:35:00 GMT

Sea dogs, rogue mariners, chasers of the wind, whatever you call them, pirates have never seen much love from video games and especially not lately. Sure, they have been used in some titles recently (and I use “recently” very loosely), Risen 2 and Sid Meier’s Pirates! come to mind (and Far Cry 3, but those modern pirates don’t really count in my book. Give us 1800s, wooden sailing vessel pirates!). Outside of those few titles and classics like The Secret of Monkey Island and Skies of Arcadia, you’d be hard pressed to name any games recent or past that focus on pirates. Well, video game industry, I’m going to do you a favor and describe some elements that I would want in a pirate video game.

World

One of the core elements of any pirate themed fiction, video game or otherwise, is freedom. The game should reflect that idea by providing players with a large open-world to be all pirate-like. I’d love to see a pirate game with an open-world the size of Skyrim and the freedom to take advantage of it. While this could lead to having long sections of time spent sailing, I feel like if it was handled appropriately this could be one of the highlights of the game. One way to make sailing more interesting for players would be to add an element of exploration. Sure, you’d have a world map, but that doesn’t mean that everything is charted on it. While sailing, you could run aground on an uncharted island or meet with a spectral ship shrouded in fog or do battle with some unimaginable monster of the deep. Events like these would serve to break up the monotony of a voyage to a new port or hideaway. It would also be important to give each section of the sea its own feel. Maybe one area is perpetually in hurricane-like conditions, while another is an area of doldrums, etc. Islands or ports should also have their own style. Perhaps in a pirate town it is perfectly acceptable to shoot a man in the middle of the street, while such an action in a more orderly port would have the authorities after you and your ship. These ports and islands should be large enough so that you can spend a fair amount of time on them before sailing off into the sunset. Also, you should be able to steal pretty much everything (you are a pirate after all). Most importantly, the world should give players the freedom to go anywhere and do pirate-y things.

As far as magic goes, a pirate game should include a small element of the supernatural, just don’t over-do it. The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie is my rule of thumb. While it did include ghost/zombie/cursed pirates, it was mostly about the pirates and it wasn’t dumb with them unlike the second and third films (never saw the fourth one). The main focus of this game should be the pirates; the elements of supernatural powers and monsters should be secondary.

Character Creation

When you begin a pirate game, especially the kind of pirate game which I would love to play, creating your main character should be very important. What always stood out to me about pirates in other forms of media is their strong personalities and I think that should stand out in a video game as well. Players could begin by choosing from a variety of personalities like “the dramatic pirate” or “the stoic pirate” or “the cunning pirate” etc. These would determine how the protagonist reacts to certain events. Does the pirate laugh in the face of danger? Or is the pirate just focused on getting the job done? Players wouldn’t have to be locked down to their initial choice; they could be allowed to spend points to make out-of-character decisions. For example, if your pirate is a hot-head and would usually throw himself/herself at his/her most hated enemy, maybe you have an opportunity to spend personality points to have him/her to show uncharacteristic restraint. This would be really interesting to me because it would be a way for a character to have an almost entirely player-driven story arc. Perhaps the player’s pirate begins as a reserved, responsible pirate captain and becomes a loud, murderous pirate terror or vice-versa. The important thing is that it would be linked to how each individual player wanted to approach their game and I think that would be neat.

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Engaging in a fight as a pirate, either on land or the open seas, should feel smooth and satisfying. Ideally, this is probably easiest to accomplish from a third-person perspective. Combat could work differently depending on what weapons with which you choose to be proficient. Maybe you want to use dual hand axes. This allows you to also chop the ropes enemies use to try and board you ship or cut through a rope bridge with a single swing as well as dealing huge amounts of damage to single targets. Or perhaps you want to be a master fencer to fight several opponents at once with swift and deadly attacks and be extremely skilled in dueling. Alternatively, you don’t want to use weapons at all and run into combat with only your fists and insane laughter. Or maybe you want to rely on traps and trickery to avoid combat altogether. All of these should be valid options for tackling opponents. Each proficiency could have different levels, with each level unlocking more and more powerful maneuvers utilizing that particular weapon. From the start, almost every weapon should be usable so that players can experiment with what they find fun. This might be a bit nitpicky, but there should be a practical limit to how many weapons you can have at a time, perhaps two or three, and they should be visible on the character.

The action should meld with exploration and environment interaction. Players should be able to draw out your weapon, anytime, anywhere, and be able to use it to some effect. I’ll give an example scenario:

You are walking down a crowded street. Suddenly, a wandering constable recognizes you and, this being a law-abiding part of the seas where you have no influence (yet), he raises an alarm. You break into a run, pushing through the crowd. Breaking into a bit of an open area, you climb on top of a nearby stall and clamber onto the rooftops. By then, several guards are in pursuit and one is climbing up after you. You draw a cutlass and stick it through the poor man’s ribs. You continue running, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The staccato of rifle fills the air behind you; some bullets crack a chimney slightly to your right. Ahead you can see the bay, your ship is anchored far out on the water. A crane used for heavy-lifting is conveniently in front of the final rooftop. You jump to the rope dangling from it and swing from it, landing in the water near a small row boat. Pulling yourself up onto the dock, you turn to see the owner of said boat standing there looking confused. You grab him close and raise the sword to his neck and inch him onto the row boat and sit behind him, sword still pressed against his wind pipe. You clear the docks just as the soldiers arrive. The cover of your hostage makes them unwilling to shoot after you. No doubt you will not be welcome back in this port anytime soon. Now, what to do with your hostage…

This. Let players do this in a game and I’m fairly sure people will literally throw money at you.

Naval Combat

Ship-to-ship combat should be an entirely different beast from the rest of the fighting. Really the only video game I have ever seen make this interesting and addictive was Skies of Arcadia. In Skies, you could outfit your ship with a variety of guns that each had different abilities like torpedoes, cannons, mini-guns, and one super weapon. You could also upgrade your ship to have better armor and more rooms. Investing time and money into your ship was rewarding. The actual combat system involved figuring out when to fire which weapons for maximum effect. It wasn’t exactly turn-based; it was based more on the speed of your ship and battles played out in an irregular, yet tactical, fashion. Any pirate game with a similar system, or that just plain ripped-off Skies’ system, would have my money.

The Crew

Another important element to any pirate game is the crew. They should play an important role in nearly all the aspects of the game from sailing the seas to fighting enemy ships or in enemy ports. They could help in combat either by participating directly or by giving passive bonuses or skills. Recruiting them should be one of the big hooks of the game along with upgrading your ship to accommodate them all. Each crew member should be unique with a personality and a motivation for turning to piracy. Interacting with them on your ship should yield additional side-quests and interesting scenarios of them interacting with each other. They could help in certain set-piece moments that some players might find themselves in. For example, if an absurd scheme like a jail-break from an island fortress goes terribly awry or your ship gets hit with a powerful enemy weapon that could have been avoided, perhaps some members of the crew tragically perish. It should be possible to get through the game with all hands accounted for, but it should also be difficult to do so. Suikoden and Skies of Arcadia are great examples of how to implement this approach to taking on a pirate crew.

Story

The story shouldn’t revolve around something supernatural or something stupid like a gathering of all the pirate captains in the world (barf). Instead, it should be simple: The game starts out with you for one reason or another ticking off a few of the more powerful rival pirates and being hunted across the seas. Eventually, they catch you and set you adrift in the middle of nowhere. You manage to survive, and land in a small port unknown to you. There, you regain your strength and decide how to proceed. Do you want to take the small port for everything it is worth and set out to kill the pirates who tried to kill you? Or do you barter passage on a ship to find associates in another harbor who might set you up with another ship, all while working to avoid the rival pirates, leaving the people who helped you alone? Or maybe instead of killing your rivals you want to steal everything they’ve accumulated or frame them for murdering a governor? Or maybe something in-between? After the initial beginning, how you proceed should be up to you, but you should be able to tackle the scenarios in which you find yourself in whatever manner you choose. This is probably easier said than done, but the final product would be worth it.

And there you have it! Someone make this game so I can play as the pirate I have always wanted to be.

A Long Delayed Jacked Up Indie and Mojo Show Double Feature

Jack Gardner — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:00:00 GMT

Hello lords and ladies of Game Informer Online! Making a glorious re-return is your favorite (okay, maybe fifth or sixth favorite) neighborhood podcast in not one, but two episodes! Join us as we badger special community guests Cru Hunter and Zachary Pligge about their lives, gaming or otherwise.

Episode 53 with Special Guest Cru Hunter

First, it is our pleasure to grace your ears with the melodious tones of the long over-due episode 53 with community member Cru Hunter! We talk all things Thanksgiving, Black Friday, zombie games, Ico, mispronunciation of gaming icon names, Assassin’s Creed III, Amnesia Fortnight, and Wii U. You also get to hear an incredibly awkward introduction by yours truly and some of the most awkward phrasing that has ever come out of my mouth!

As always, you can listen to our podcast below or download it through iTunes or PodOmatic.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Time for the Indie and Mojo Show... Shout outs shout outs shout outs

Why Glitches Are Great by Cameron Koch

Modern Dating by Hist

The Most Insane Characters in Gaming by x19

Erica’s Monument-al Adventure Day 1, Day 2, Day 3-6 by Zachary Pligge

The Smiths perform "Big Mouth Strikes Again" at the end of episode 53. Be sure to head over to iTunes or your preferred music retailer and purchase some of their great music.

Episode 55 Game of the Year Throw-Down with Special Guest Zachary Pligge

For the second half of our double feature, our 2012 wrap-up episode will blow you away with the drama, tears, and blood of the debate over which game deserves the Game of the Year Golden Biscuit Award. We were also graced with the presence of Zachary Pligge for this episode and he joined in the debate and gave us the story behind his blog series Erica’s Monument-al Adventure. SPOILERS ABOUND IN THIS EPISODE. You have been warned.

Can you guess which game buttered our biscuits the most?

You can join Zachary in his Minecraft monument building mission for Erica on Xbox Live through his gamer tag: Pliggethefallen

Again, you can simply listen below or download through iTunes or PodOmatic. Nothing has changed since a couple paragraphs ago.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

The music at the end of Episode 55 is brought to you by the soundtrack of The Hobbit (one of my favorite parts from the film, actually). Check it out on iTunes or your preferred purveyor of fine musics and throw your money at it.

You stay classy, Game Informer.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love... 2013?