EPISODE 76: "Ask Ivan"

As a result of working out some bugs with the video, "Ask Ivan" is now live! Really, really proud of how this one came out (I think its the best mailbag to date, honestly) and I hope you'll check it out RIGHT HERE. (There's no embedding option for this blog just yet, working on that..)

And for those wondering, yes - that big action sequence at the end is the "nightmare" editing project that had been giving me so much trouble. So, just for my own edification... it'd be super-awesome if even people who don't "care" about the sketch-segments at least gave it a watch ;)

WATCH IT ON SCREWATTACK NOW!

EPISODE 76 ANNOUNCEMEN (UPDATE!)

UPDATE II: The issue with the earlier upload seems to have been resolved, and the episode is now viewable for ALL AUDIENCES at this new link: http://www.screwattack.com/shows/partners/game-overthinker/game-overthinker-episode-76-ask-ivan-0 (full embed post soon.) Apologies for the issues.

UPDATE: I am aware that there is some kind of issue with the video which is causing it to display as "locked" even for Advantage users. While I have no direct control over that myself, the people who do have been made aware of it and I am informed that it's being worked on.

ORIGINAL POST: "Game OverThinker - Episode 76: Ask Ivan" will debut for all audiences on Wednesday, October 17th at 11:00pm CST. As ever, ScrewAttack Advantage members can get an early look right here right now.

Coolest Thing of The Week

Courtesy the Ohio State University Marching Band, the coolest video-game related thing you will see this week (also, ridiculously impressive technical achievement even if you, like me, don't know shit about how a Marching Band works...)

"Retro City Rampage" Looks Pretty Sweet

I admit, upfront, that I am a "mark" for so-called "retro-style" games. Yes, it's comfort in the familiar - this is gaming as I knew it when I loved it best and so forth - but it's also just a stylistic thing: I'm a fan of "handicapped art - i.e. art made under some kind of imposed technical restrictions - and as such I'm fascinated to see the way talented digital artists use the restricted medium of pixels to create visuals or the limited sound-range of "chiptunes" to create musical compositions.

But I'm also willing to admit that the "retro" aesthetic has also become an easy way for lackluster games to pitch themselves as a quick nostalgia fix or, more commonly, a medium awash in overly reference-heavy games that "work" as nostalgia-fixes but don't hold up as games in their own right. "Retro City Rampage," on the other hand, looks to be doing the genre right - mixing up the usual set of go-to visual cues with a solid gameplay hook (pre-III "Grand Theft Auto" with a gonzo aesthetic and an NES gloss) that looks like a lot of real fun even for folks who don't immediately get a laugh out of a Bionic Commando gag:

And This Week's Overblown Gamer Freakout Will Be...

After recieving complaints from "Call of Duty" players of Islamic backgrounds that they were offended by a bit of background decoration in the "Favelas" multiplayer map in "Modern Warfare 2" (the offending detail: A piece of wall art including the word "Allah" was hung above a toilet stall;) Activision and Infinity Ward temporarily removed the map from availability last night (presumably the offending image will be patched out of existance.)

Hoo-boy.

After the jump, sarcasm:

There's a lot of interesting levels to be discussed here: Artistic boundaries, levels of offense, cultural sensitivities, freedom of expression, etc. And it'll be nice to HAVE those discussions - mature, dignified and reasonable versions of which I can assume will begin almost immediately! I mean, what else could happen, right?

Man, sure is a good thing this didn't happen with a game whose audience and "community" are already demonstrably predisposed to furious, paranoid hatred for minorities and/or other cultures... OR a game that doesn't already have a strong to the point of virulent strain of xenophobia in general and Islamophobia in particular running through it. I mean, can you IMAGINE what the reaction to THAT would look like?

Boy howdy, I sure am glad that this will all be self-contained in the restrained, thoughtful forum of ideas that is online gaming culture; and that I WON'T have to sit through days upon days of self-righteous twits raging through incomprehensible talking points about "P.C. FASCISM!!!," "REVERSE RACISM!!!," "FREE-SPEECH!!!," "CENSORSHIP!!!," "SHARIA LAW!!!," "DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!" or any other such nonsense.

...I mean, wouldn't that just be awful?

Mantic's Recent Kickstarter

A huge congratulations to Mantic and their recent success on Kickstarter! For those who don't know Mantic, they're basically a group who broke off from Games Workshop and started creating models that could sort of pass for 40k and WHFB models if you squinted really hard (go ahead, ask me about my opinion of painting their Orx).

But it looks like they've finally struck out and given themselves a separate identity. They recently ran a Kickstarter project to fund their new game DreadBall - The Futuristic Sports Game. So how well did they do? Check it out.


                                 
                                                                   -jaw drop-
For those who can't quickly do such simple math in their head, that's nearly 3645% of their original goal!

What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is the most popular "crowd-source" funding website around. Creative geniuses of all sorts submit projects every day in the hopes of people from around the world giving money to help them fund a certain project. The projects I always keep an eye on are gaming related (surprise!), but I've seen things from funding a film, art project, and even a little boy's origami business.

However, this is 2012. We don't just give out money to people with an empty wallet and a head full of ideas, right? Therein lies the genius of Kickstarter. Take a look at any Kickstarter page; on the right side, you'll see several donation levels that usually start in the $5-10 range. Based on how much you donate, the Kickstarter owner will give you various goods at the successful conclusion of the project.

With Dreadball, for example, donation levels ranged from a digital copy of the rules, to getting a full copy of the game, and ending with having yourself cast as a MVP model in a future release (along with a TON of other goodies) for $5,000.

Mantic's success is a success for all gamers
Don't get me wrong, a 3,600% funding isn't a testament to how generous gamers are. Alot of Kickstarter projects appeal to our greedy sides - we gets good stuff for our money, often at a discount off of the likely MSRP of the goods.

But as I sat there toward the end, refreshing the Kickstarter page every few hours, I couldn't help but feel a little exhilarated. Here's a company with a game they want to make, but limited means to do it. So they reach out to us, showing us their dream and asking us to believe in it with them. And all they wanted was enough money to release the core game!

But then these gamers along and say "Oh you want $20,000? Too bad, this game looks so amazing that we want more than just the core game!"

That's what I love about Kickstarter. How I'd love to be in the Mantic office as they watch their initial goal get blown away, and then see it end with a success that they never imagined! Kickstarter is such a great way to watch people's dreams come true. And if you're a part of it, you get to share in their success. It always makes me smile when I see someone get funding for something they'd otherwise have difficulty funding, and celebrating their backers by letting them share in the project they made a reality.

So hats off to Mantic for stepping out of GW's shadow and creating what looks to be an amazing game!

LAST CALL FOR "ASK IVAN!"

ANNOUNCEMENT! As of Midnight this Wednesday (October 3rd) I'll no longer be taking questions for next episode's big "Ask Ivan!" event. If you still haven't asked yours, ask it here or ask it on ScrewAttack. Remember to leave a name or a handle, no anonymous queries will be answered.

The actual airdate(s) of the episode itself will follow, stay tuned for further details.