Wednesday
Feb202013
Critical-Casts Episode 3: Trigon B-Side
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 10:02AM 
Credits
Guests:
- Matt Fairchild, Alex Cho Snyder, Victor Hunter, Chris Simpson, Daniel Johnson, Travis Clark, Kai, Fernando, Marcus Terrell
Clips: There are many links here that were not discussed in the epsiode.
- Brandii Grace design secrets revealed: intro. 3-8minutes 9:30-11:30minutes
- NeoGaf Thead: The Definition of Last Gen.
- Wii U No Achievements
- Does The Walking Dead winning GotY at the VGAs meaning anything for the industry?
- IGN names Journey 2012 game of the year
- Bad story = bad game
- Miyamoto Needs to Take a back seat somewhere
- David Cage offers nine examples on how the industry can “grow up”
Undiscussed clips
- Why we need to kill gameplay to make better games.
- Lots of non-games winning GOTY
- Does The Walking Dead winning GotY at the VGAs meaning anything for the industry?
- We are explorers in search for mystery in video games
- Graphical advancements vs gameplay advancement
- Older gamers and the new generation
- Where’s my F2P game financed through advertising
- Games that the driving force is something other than gameplay
- F2P models that arne’t evil
- Dead Space 3 Micro transactions exploited already.
Music
Announcement
- I cannot keep working on the Critical-Casts podcast. It takes up too much time, and I have other gaming and non-gaming projects/responsibility to work on. I'm glad to have created the handful of episodes to put into my growing, diverse portfolio. I'm also appreciate the fans and followers of the show. The bottom line is, I need to find a way to make money doing what I do.
- I have one more full episode I'm working on. Episode 4: Smash Brothers. Then I have to put all my ideas on the back burner. Maybe I'll make a transition into doing videos.
Please leave me feedback so I can figure out what I need to improve on going forward.
Reader Comments (8)
Hey, glad to see you got this finished, thanks for including me! :) My first podcast appearance. It was definitely interesting to hear the contrast between Matt's comments and mine.
It's funny, Brandii Grace's description of what women tend to prefer in games actually matches my own preferences very closely! :p Unlike the stereotypical "Conqueror" player, I don't really get a bigger emotional payoff from accomplishing frustrating challenges than from easier challenges - I just feel like I wasted too much time and effort. And I'm all about doing things (challenging or not) to accomplish something else - for example, I don't like finding random junk in hidden object games, but I like looking for specific LEGO pieces that I need to build a castle! This tendency has only become amplified as I become more fluent in game design...
I also really like co-op gameplay - Dungeons of Fayte is one favorite - but I wouldn't equate these with glorified chat rooms. I mean, the gameplay itself can facilitate a particular social experience that may not include verbal communication at all, and that experience is really what I'm usually after.
Sorry to hear that you don't have time to continue this podcasts! I can really empathize - I am constantly in the same situation of having too many worthwhile projects and not enough time, especially when you have a full-time job eating up all your time. Good luck figuring out how to make money doing this stuff - I'm trying to figure that out myself too...
@axcho
Good comments.
As far as unpacking all the meanings and implications of Brandii Grace's message, that would take quite a lot of explanation just to frame the discussion. Even in your comment, you're right in what you're saying, but there's so much more to each comment and preference that you have, it's mind boggling to consider.
Of course many co-op games enhance the way players interact socially and within the gameplay. Some more so than others. And beside this possibility, I was wondering if some people simply put up with he game parts just to maintain the social aspects. I have some compelling evidence for this that I'll bring up in the next podcast.
Thanks for the luck. I'll think of something. I think I need to be funnier. People like funny. *sigh*
I finished listening to the whole podcast, so I posted a link to it on my blog. :)
If you still want to make podcasts but don't have much time, have you thought about taking a more informal, unedited approach? I'm thinking like Alec Holowka's Infinite Ammo podcasts (my favorite) where he just talks with other indie devs for two or three hours and then posts the full, unedited audio. I know that might not be your style, since you like carefully writing essays and editing things, but it might be worth considering. Infinite Ammo podcasts are very infrequent - I'd really enjoy a series of podcasts where I can hear talented indie developers talk in-depth about their design process and development process and how making games fits into their life. I bet with your very analytical understanding of game design you could drive a discussion toward more depth than a typical Infinite Ammo podcast does, and certainly more than typical gamer-focused podcasts that I have absolutely no interest in.
Don't try to be "funnier" if that's not your thing. Don't fall prey to abstract ideas about what "people like" - play to your strengths. I would really really enjoy a more in-depth analytical take on the Infinite Ammo approach. If you're comfortable with a spontaneous, rougher style, you wouldn't have to spend any time editing - just the hour or two to record it, and maybe a bit of prep time.
If you could pull that off, yours could become my favorite podcast. :) Think about it.
@axcho
Thanks. I'm really thinking about everything you mentioned. Hmmm.
I always had a feeling that the podcast would be just too much. I think Daniel was a really helpful contribution since he would keep the Trigon view in focus and mention how which idea would fit into which part of the Trigon like "game overs" with technology.
I agree with a transition to videos. Editing dozens of hours of talking can be more difficult than just making a 5 or even 20 minute video. If you want to know how to get a more fruitful reception, it's easy. Here's what you do:
Make a sequelitis-inspired video about the Mario games. Even call it sequelitis. You already have a rough script and images with your Measure of Mario articles. You don't have to be funny but maybe draw a few pictures of kirby as an avatar for your expressions like Ego does in his vids.
T'was a great podcast. I'd be up for participating in more of these discussions, even if they don't become podcasts. Videos seem like a lot more work, but as we've discussed before, I think there's a real "market" out their for games analysis videos. As you well know, Richard, text really gets in the way of us folk being able to reach a larger audience. The barrier to entry is much lower with video. This is why Extra Credits is so successful, even though some of their commentary is somewhat dubious. I'm sure whatever you do, it'll continue to be awesome.
Sorry to see the critical-casts go so early, but I understand about the lack of time. I do think starting a series of videos might be the next logical step. I would love to see short 5-10 minute videogame reviews or spotlights on other ideas you're thinking about. Show them how it's done Richard.
@ Daniel
Thanks. I'll see what I can do. I guess there's no point in stopping the podcast, but I know I can't work on them back to back or fast enough to put out one major episode per month. I guess every two months isn't bad. We'll see.
Just this weekend I I wrote 14k words for articles that I had ideas for backed up. And I'm backed up with game dev too. Maybe everything will come in cycles in the future.
@Chris Simpson
Indeed. I want to try my hand with video. We'll see what I can do.