TSM Episode 288: DepressionCast

Frankly, I think I do not receive one tenth of the respect I deserve, and it seems hardly worth persevering so that the carping of LITTLE PEOPLE may be allowed to continue, without cessation, until I am simply ground into a DUST. I want to have a nap. I am going to lie down now.

Woe.

The Starlight Megaphone
Download: Produced 2014.09.07

Still bringing straight facts to gamers, the site’s journalistic integrity remains rightly unquestioned. The panel unites to discuss the week’s news and–really, is anyone even reading this? It all seems such a waste. I do not even know why I bother.

* * * * * * *

Reading Raffle
1. During the reading raffle, make a donation to Lusipurr.com in the amount of $5 US or a multiple thereof, noting ‘RAFFLE’ in the donation.
2. For every $5 so donated in a single donation, donators will receive one entry into the raffle.
3. Multiple entries and donations are permitted.
4. The reading raffle is open to everyone aged 18 and up, staff members inclusive.
5. The reading raffle closes at midnight, US Eastern Time, on the Monday prior to the final reading.
6. After the final reading, Lusipurr will draw at random a winner from all of the raffle entries.
7. Winners will be contacted by e-mail.
8. A valid mailing address is required from the winner. If the winner does not respond within thirty days, another drawing will take place to select a new winner (and so on).
9. Entrants who donate more than $5 will ALSO be entered into the drawing at year’s-end for a free, new game on Amazon or Steam valued at up to $60 US.
10. Non-staff raffle entrants who do not win any other 2014 raffles or drawings will be entered into two runner-up drawings for Lusipurr’s copies of A Confederacy of Dunces and Candide.

Good luck!

11 Comments

  1. Lusipurr
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 01:50 | Permalink

    I am very depressed. The state of the industry has made me so. And I have run out of cocaine. It is intolerable.

  2. Nate 'Bup' Liles
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 14:03 | Permalink

    RIP Lusipurr

  3. DiceAdmiral
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 15:37 | Permalink

    Info Blast Goes Kayaking

    This week’s panel
    Depressed, So Triggered, Adores Region Locked Systems Silicon Noob
    Shout Shout, Let it all out Iliya
    Late to the Show Mel
    Heap of Garbage, Lost in Menus, Paid on a Wednesday, Allergic to Lithium, Holes Held Together With Dirt, Dragging Down the Average Male Lifespan, Iatrophobe, Laughs Like a Drain Lusipurr
    Also featuring:
    Nondescript Bup
    Not featuring:
    Can’t Read Sabin

    Donators
    Cumulative total record holder: Imitanis
    Single Donation record holder: Imitanis

    Donators eligible for drawing:
    Greg H.
    John V.
    Matthew D.
    John M.
    Brett W.
    Aram Z.
    Peter V.
    Billy B.
    Les E.
    Martin B.
    Jeremy V.
    Simon H.

    Reading Raffle:
    Give five bucks, might win a book, a Reading Raffle.
    See Rules in Podcast post at top.

    Fall Playthrough
    Vagrant Story
    Begins in October

    Hiring Drive
    This still needs to be a feature.

    Hype and Go Seek
    “Relive an adventurous tale rich with agents, espionage, and conspiracies. Challenge deadly villains and monsters with your steel and magic. Clear your name by uncovering a sinister plot or perish in the attempt. A dark cinematic adventure set in a richly detailed 3D world.”
    Answer SN was right. Very easy. You also didn’t provide the answer in the podcast, so I’ve got your back.

    Musical Interlude
    3rd Movement of The Seasons by Vivaldi
    Since you only played about 2 seconds, I listened to the whole thing. It’s not my cup of classical tea, but it’s not bad or annoying.

    Cricket
    England wins an ODI, something, something, Joe Root

    XBone Launches in Japan, no one cares
    “Lots of nuns” -Lusipurr describing the crowds out for the XBone launch in Japan.

    Rise of Mana
    I think the only one of these games that I’ve played was Sword of Mana, and that game was pretty mediocre IIRC. Does this one fare better?

    “Sometimes being a jerk is it’s own reward” – Silicon Noob
    Enterprise A is pretty, but I like E the best. It just looks sleek and awesome. A is great in a classic Sci-Fi kind of way.

    Lusi: “This is the DepressionCast”
    Mel: “It sounds very Loki”

    Lusi V. Bup
    Remakes
    I think Bup has the timeline for this a bit off. Remaking something one generation old is a bit too soon. Give it two I think.

    Freemium
    I think that games are increasingly going in this direction and we need to have discussions about how to do it well and without being a slimeball rather than trying to shunt it out of the industry entirely.

    OCRemix
    Finally a debate with some actual back and forth arguments! About time!
    I never imagined that I’d say this, but I agree with Bup. Remixes can be great ways to hear neat interpretations of your favorite video game songs.
    End Lusi V. Bup

    Google IAP
    I’m not against IAP as a whole, but this whole debacle highlights exactly the problems with the current implementation that developers, Google and Apple are using to squeeze dollars from gamers.

    Destiny Fragrance Europe
    I think the reason that Bungie has done this is that they want to have control over how their game is depicted in ads. They may not want their ads to continue to perpetuate the idea that they’re tied solely to Microsoft.

    ESPN Esports
    This is like Ebert trying to exclude games as art, it’s just not going to work.

    Imitanis Literature Corner
    The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
    I really enjoyed the word foods. That was great. “Synonym Buns” LOL.

    Imitanis Gaming Moment
    Had a busy week. No gaming this week, sorry. I did play air hockey, go kayaking and go to the theatre to see a musical though, so I wasn’t just slacking off. Also read a few chapters of Making Money by Terry Pratchett, which is great like most of the Discworld series. It’s a similar style of humor to Douglas Adams in a nonsensical fantasy setting. Many of these would be great podcast reading as well, though probably longer than your target length.
    There should be more D&D this weekend but I’m not certain yet.

    Twitch

    Event Calendar

  4. DiceAdmiral
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 15:52 | Permalink

    Whoops, forgot to link a pic for Mel.
    This is the one I would have used: http://i.imgur.com/PHBG65w.png

    [I am in the giving mood. FIXED. -Lusi]

  5. Lusipurr
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 16:13 | Permalink

    @DiceCaptain:

    “Hiring Drive / This still needs to be a feature.”
    I know! I know!

    “You also didn’t provide the answer in the podcast, so I’ve got your back.”
    I KNOW I KNOW!

    “Since you only played about 2 seconds”
    That particular recording is phenomenal. I wanted to put the whole thing in, but I thought it would be funnier if I did this instead.

    “Lots of nuns”
    SOMETHING like that!

    “I think the only one of these games that I’ve played was Sword of Mana, and that game was pretty mediocre IIRC. Does this one fare better?”
    No. Much worse. Much, much worse. Sword of Mana is just a mediocre remake of a the very good Seiken Densetsu (aka Final Fantasy Adventure). That’s the best game in the series (sorry, Secret of Mana fans).

    “It sounds very Loki”
    SOMETHING like that!

    “I think the reason that Bungie has done this is that they want to have control over how their game is depicted in ads.”
    Correct. I thought I said this, but maybe I got distracted. Bungie want to have control of the marketing of their properties. Who would want to give that control away?

    “This is like Ebert trying to exclude games as art, it’s just not going to work.”
    Funny you should mention that . . .

    “Synonym Buns”
    One of my favourite sections as well. We laughed about this after the podcast, ourselves. Rigamaroles and ragamuffins!

    Also read a few chapters of Making Money by Terry Pratchett
    Terry Pratchett is great fun. I very much enjoy the Discworld series, and the television adaptations have been pretty good on the whole, with the exception of Going Postal, which is not good–it’s excellent.

  6. DiceAdmiral
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 17:27 | Permalink

    @Lusi: I noticed that you left your picture alone this week. You must actually look at them if you’re making choices between replacing with cats or not on a case by case basis.

    “Funny you should mention that . . .”
    Did you guys make that comparison in the podcast? Sometimes I have to write the Info Blast while getting some other task done, so I may have missed that particular comment.

  7. Lusipurr
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 17:46 | Permalink

    “You must actually look at them if you’re making choices between replacing with cats or not on a case by case basis.”
    I looked this week, on the hunch that it would be a picture of a cat. I was right!

    Did you guys make that comparison in the podcast?
    No, but afterwards we had a discussion. I have been revising my aesthetic system and am now firmly of the belief that video games are not, and cannot be, art, as I view them (even in their single-player incarnations, and even when those are heavily narrativised) to be more like sports. This is because the participatory mechanism is what allows for the reification of meaning availability. (It doesn’t mean that games are ‘not as good a thing’ as things that are art; for me, they are just different categories of thing.)

    It’s a complex matter but probably not a useful discussion for us to have, as it’s only useful if you share my aesthetic theory. Plenty of thinkers do, but most people prefer to use art/beauty/sublime in much less formalised ways. As a philosopher (and a Kantian aesthetic, no less), I mean something very specific by the use of those terms. It will likely devolve into someone getting butthurt because they think (like Ebert thought, in fact) that ‘art’ is some kind of sticker that you slap on a thing to show your approbation of its beauty. This is why Ebert thought games couldn’t be art: he was convinced that all games were Pac-Man and that Pac-Man was the summation of the form. Willfully obtuse and bad reasoning.

    I also add that this doesn’t mean that a game can’t contain artful things: the music or the soundtrack or the writing may all be art, but the whole thing, as a game to be played, cannot be art, systemically.

    As this doesn’t affect what one does with games, only how one categorises them for academic purposes, it’s not really a productive discussion for the site, in any case. Far more important is that you did not tell us what musical you saw, as if you thought we didn’t care!

  8. Ethan 'Ethos' Pipher
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 18:16 | Permalink

    I enjoy thinking about things for the sake of thinking and I have been revisiting games as art for my own thinking purposes and find your thoughts very interesting. They seem to overlap with some places I’ve gone. I find it a great philosophical pot to stir. As I continue to design games, it is not a topic on which I have a rested position, nor do I expect to for some time. So I’m glad you elaborated!

  9. Andrew 'Mel' Melcon
    Posted 2014.09.08 at 18:38 | Permalink

    I don’t know what I stumbled into when I was added to the call, and after listening I still don’t quite know.

    And I’m the best animal pic this week, AGAIN. Woo~

  10. Lusipurr
    Posted 2014.09.09 at 12:36 | Permalink

    No, I am.

  11. DiceAdmiral
    Posted 2014.09.10 at 13:12 | Permalink

    I’m partial to the baby pygmy hippo picture myself.