BladedEdge

Yah, after that first round I've got to give this game a complete pass. it looks like it would be plenty of fun to play, but as a vehicle for watching the GB cast play together? Long periods of silence, and gameplay which is exceedingly dull to watch is kinda..whatever.

Like, to me there are already multiple games of this type out there with a lot more interesting mechanics and better 'viewer experience'. Heck, even just watching the group play a digital or tabletop simulator version of mafia/werewolf would be loads of fun. This? Hard pass for me. Which is a shame cause replace the game with almost anything else and this is spot on -exactly- the kinda content I want to see more of!

Maybe next time it'll appeal to my personal tastes. Hopefully those who enjoyed this got plenty more out of it then I have.

Always a big fan of seeing most of the games Rorie enjoys playing, thanks for putting this up on the site!

I have no nostalgia for this stuff, but man I must say this podcast has done wonders for making me feel good about keeping my premium running. That can be hard sometimes when some of the stuff I really like (UPF, quooky features Dan would often bring up, Austin's taste in games that he would bring up, or play) has been lacking/absent/isn't what is gonna be on the site anymore, these podcasts have gone a long way to filling that void.

While I sometimes wish i was more into current line-up of games the staff is Let's Playing or getting together to goof around/shoot the breeze with, the podcasts really help fill that void. Its the cross-coast content I always did want more of pre-virus, every week!

So, no nostalgia for this particular episodes guests, but enjoyed it all the same! Cheers!

The hairstyle in that header image is just...not working for me. Though I suppose if I hadn't been going bald since I was 16 (and very noticeable before I graduated high school) I might have more respect for being able to pull such a look off? Maybe its something only people who've had hair that -could- look like that for more then 40% of their life-span? I'd buy "Gotta have hair to understand hair" argument.

On the topic of Nolan movies, to me its the same issue I have with the Synder DC movie style. Its a style that absolutely works at the right place/time. The Dark Knight series was great (or at least good to amazing). But man, that style just doesn't work for me in the modern day, especially in 2020 where "Grim dark" and "the world is shit and all the people in it are monsters who but try, and fail to be human, as they are destine to do over and over."

Like, I know the Marvel formula is played out, and you can absolutely do super-heros or whatever in a different style and make it good. Hell, you can do grim-dark and a lot of people will like it. (Granted the "We make -real- movies" elitism/gatekeeping from the people involved in the Joker movie can go suck an egg). But man, Superman isn't superman if he's not an icon of 'what we wish we all could be'. He's relatable not because you make him flawed and human and vulnerable and helpless, He's relatable because while he might be any of those things for a time, he overcomes them and triumphs. Some chararacters are stories are meant to present not "A part of the real world we might otherwise choose to ignore or dislike" but instead "The kind of world and people within it we all wish we could be, could see become real."

I got off track here in terms of "Man I don't know why people are so excited for the Synder Cut. Like, hooray grim-dark "Superman is gonna cut himself, watch himself bleed and explain why its the only way he can feel anything anymore." That, to me, is the same reason Nolan movies feel one-note sometimes. Because his style fits certain themes, narratives and characters..but not all of them. And sometimes, certain narratives, styles and characters fit the present moment..and sometimes they don't.

@rorie: Honestly Rorie, your biggest fear seems to have always been that chat is bored, that people are gonna snap at you for not being entertaining. You give off this general sense that you absolutely must be perfect or else your actively harming your audience/the GB community by putting out content, being yourself and so on.

My best advice is like, relax and chill, we love your stuff! Or, at the very least, a whole lot of us who just don't take time to say "Oh cool Rorie is a part of this that'll make things even better!" I absolutely get that putting yourself out on the internet in the public eye is gonna get you sent hate and threats and all kinds of vile shit. I just also think its sad to see you so often seem to indicate you feel inferior, or not good enough or so on.

Just from one fan to the guy he's a fan of, thanks for putting in the work and putting out content! We might not say it all the time, but a lot of us love your content, opinion, personality and so on. Not like, creepy fan-stalking shit just also not like hyper critical "Please us or else be damned!" critics ready to jump on every last mistake you make or think your making.

Blah blah tl;dr You seem like your own worse critic when it comes to thinking the stuff you contribute is not up to snuff. Chill, lots of us enjoy your work!

I should like to take a moment to address the stuff that was said at the start of the news segment of the podcast. Alex touched, in part, on the tl;dr of this which is "Don't despair, that you care just proves your human." but put more wordy..

Remember that moment in the first Lord of the Rings movie where Frodo tells Gandalf he wishes the ring hadn't come to him, that the burden had not fallen on his shoulders? Remember what Gandalf said?

For those who don't know, remember or care to see me use an old movie quote let me offer a counter instead to the idea that by playing games, by seeking escapism, your whats wrong with the world, your making it worse. You are not.

Only by taking care of yourself, can you continue to take care of others. One of the greatest tragedies in society is that not enough information about how to be a healthy caretaker of others is taught and embraced. As someone who has been, and has been around many who fulfilled the role though let me say this, Your own mental health is just as important as other peoples. Even if you are lucky/unlucky enough to have the power to help a great number of people, your own happiness and well being is not somehow suddenly less important, less deserving of being protected, healed and given what it needs.

Vinny really hit the issue on the head in a way when he gave a clear indication of feeling overwhelmed and utterly unprepared/not suited for the role he finds himself in, A major voice of reason and one a lot of people look too for guidance and answers. A vacation maybe will do him some good if he feels that way for sure. I will say though, I think every good leader and good person who has ever walked this earth felt that way about the role and leadership they found themselves in.

Who makes the better leader? The person who thinks they know best, is gonna be damned if they look to outside help and expects to be praised for their greatness? Or the person who knows they are flawed, is going to do their damnest to give people the most expert help and information they can, and if anything feels praise is undeserved and shameful (Don't praise me I don't deserve it at all!).

Unless the first kind of person happens to be the one in a million genius, such arrogance and self assurance is always terrible. Its why leadership in so many places is so warped and wrong, why the joke about middle management is an issue, why we need so much more training and weeding out of bad seeds in figures of authority (i.e. cops, etc). Who is more often drawn to power? A bully and a thug? or someone who speak in the way Alex, Vinny and Jeff did on the podcast today? Who would you rather be in charge if given the choice between the two groups?

My point here is thus. Take all the time you need to heel Vinny, don't over-work yourself. But don't despair either. The sheer fact that you know your own limitations and don't pretend they don't exist, in fact openly admit they do and try to give people who need advice and expertise you lack a way of finding it? That is good leadership. That is why your voice is respected. Don't despair because your only human. The despair at being stuck being a leader in this case is in many ways one of the most humble and human responses one can make. Its also the sign of many great leaders from history. The quiet ones who made the world a better place because they wanted too try and do their best, not because they thought they had the right.

Also to Alex, your feelings towards escapism is real and I won't deny a lot of people will use it as such when they need to turn their attention to whats happening. I will just say, a lot of us who -do- turn our attention to whats happening have to deal with the trauma that comes from the problem being beyond any of us to solve. Its working together collectively that things get done. That means your not responsible for everything, and have many many willing friends to help back you up and give you aid in what you think needs to be done. It also means you can take time protect and heal yourself. If playing video games and escaping for awhile is what you need to heal? Go for it. Your gonna be way more effective once your healed then if you go into battle walking-wounded.

I like some of these songs, but then I like almost every song that is even remotely "sing along able too". So, depending on where you place some of these songs on that list, gets you an idea of just how broad my personal tastes are.

@drachmalius: P4G is one of my favorite games of all time. Its dungeons have faded in quality compared to P5s custom made ones, but, the changes they made to P4G in terms of the way you gain cards and personas in 4 made that endlessly addictive to me.

There was just something insanely satisfying and fun about the very very simple puzzle elements of chaining together combos of getting all the cards that came up, figuring out the exact order to flip them over/activate them (I forget the exact mechanics obviously) to lead into getting a higher and high combo going. I honestly had more fun in that mini-game then any of the combat of P4G, and its the only reason I ever grinded/went back to previous dungeons for the extra loot at the end.

here's hoping not only is the rumor true but they keep that system, since I was very sad to see it replaced with negotiations in P5/P5R

Are you me? That is the -exact- same scenario that I used for the PS4 (and would have for the PS3 except I did original have one of those "plays PS1 2 and 3 games!" models until it burned itself out) and will likely be using with this one.

There just is no reason my current base (not even Pro) PS4 isn't gonna be doing just fine for me for years to come. Especially given I'm a JRPG/Western RPG guy first and foremost and those categories of games always end up either A-on PC and better usually due to mod support or B-the last genre's to fully switch to just being the new console only.

Like, I am gonna buy a PS5, but only when Persona 6 is a PS5 exclusive or FF7 "Part2 the Reawakening!" or whatever is an exclusive or..etc. Like, I've got a set budget to update my very old PC. If Sony were gonna sell me a All in one PS5, I might just use it to buy that instead. As it is? New computer first, PS5 can wait until this model is sub 400$ bundled with stuff I want to play.

And, honestly, I'm not even sure then. I am only saying I am sure I'll buy a ps5 because A-right now my finances allow me to assume I can afford to spend that kinda cash and B-I assume, eventually, they will have exclusives I want. If we find out tomorrow the rumors about Persona 4 Golden being on PC are true, and that leads too the only hold-out I can think of off the top of my head from porting stuff to the switch/PC? Sans any exclusives I care about, I'm not even sure what would make me buy a PS5.

The only thing I still want, but am pretty sure we are not getting is for them to tell me the PS5 with the disk tray is gonna be "Put any game from any generation of the playstation in and play it!" I think they could charge upwards of 1k for that and I'd pay for it.

As it is, the only way to get a great deal of backwards comparability with is to have multiple systems plugged in at once, Have a specific model of the specifically launch PS3 + a PS4 (and/or PS5 going forward) or emulate everything.

That last one being the easiest, by far, I've got to think its just an absolute lack of understanding, or care/concern for what certain consumers might be interested in features wise. Microsoft seems to be doing the "As much Backwards compatibility as we can give you!" perfectly fine. Sony on the other hand has seemed utterly blind and deaf to the demand for it. Either stupidly or on purpose, either-or.

For a company with the/one of the single greatest selling console of all time in the PS2, it shocks me how little they realize that thousands of people have back catalogs of those games. Talk about adding potential value too a console and forget the "Mini old system that you can stick roms onto!" A First party supported platform that you can just insert old disks into (or mod and play roms whatever) seems like a no-brainer cash cow.

Especially given the easy nature of it. The PS3s unique (i.e. stupidly choosen) architecture aside, (though I'd bet we are well past the era where that can't just be brute-forced by better hardware), You had the damn Vita emulating PS2 software just fine for the most part, and that's an old ass now out of date system.

I know, I know, I can just get a mister or whatever mini-computer, put PS1, 2 and etc emulators on it and play all the games I own on disk that way via their various roms (hell maybe there is a 3rd party disk-reading solution). But as someone who views consoles as a secondary device (I am mainly a PC gamer) but whom appreciates them for the simple "put in a disk and play/download a set file and play") a closed system like a console can bring, that Sony is making it damn hard to enjoy my back collection of games easily sucks.

To me, it feels like money left on the table. Violating the old idea/proved concept of "If you just make paying for something easy enough, people will do so over stealing/pirating it.". Granted, emulation of hardware and software I own is either a legal grey area of "perfectly legal" IANAL, but either-or, its a bad look for the company when something I wish they would make and let me pay for is only best found instead via such means.