Bombin' the A.M. With Scoops and the Wolf: 10/21/2013

The talk went well. Very well prepared.

Good job on the TedX talk Patrick ! I would shit my pants.

Patrick's Tedx talk was very good and well presented. I have to disagree with two things he said though. I believe in his talk he claimed "over 50% of today's gamers are women". This is bullshit. Even if one takes into account Microsoft's numbers of LIVE, there's no telling how they got them (be it moms' names on credit cards, whether they're counting Netflix users, etc). Half of all the people that are going to buy a game like GTA, even if the portrayal of women is strong, are not female.

Another thing he said was Carolyn's being transgendered had nothing to do with her rating GTAV lower than 10, and that it also had nothing to do with her finding issues of how women are portrayed in the game. This is bullshit. You're talking about a person unhappy with being born male. So fixated on being all things female that they surgically alter themselves. Patrick, that's everything. I'm not here to say that it's right or wrong, and I'm certainly not advocating the vitriol she received for expressing her opinion, but to say it has nothing to do with the review she came up with is being a little intellectually dishonest.

Everything else he said during the conference was right on, and I also hope the internet isn't abandoned to trolls having their way as well.

I can't believe i missed this i was awake to hear it live..

I really enjoyed your TedX talk, Patrick. It was well done and said.

What is a ted talk and why is such a big deal being made out of it?

@icantbestopped: I guess it depends on your definition of "gamers" (a very subjective term), but the studies I've seen put women at or near 50 % of today's gamers:

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games as an example, under the "Female Gamers as a Demographic" section.

edit: Forgot to say that I too enjoyed the TedX talk, Patrick. But you need to learn how to tie a tie ;)

How do Americans have medieval armour? Do they just buy/borrow it from European museums?

I do lecture filming for a University, and your talk (both in content and performance) was absolutely top notch. Awesome work.

Patrick's talk was well presented and spoken, but it had very little substance. The message "ignore trolls and bullies, but don't ignore feedback, be it good or bad" could be presented with a lot less filler.

I was hoping he would talk more about gaming and how it relates to the "casual", non-gaming crowd and how each perceive one another.

I share similar opinions to the author of that review. They have nothing to do with the fact that I'm male, but that GTA (and Rockstar in general) almost always has shitty or simply no interesting female roles. It's a legitimate criticism held by many people that has nothing to do with the specific author's gender or sexual identity that Patrick uses as an example in his talk.

Oh! I'm glad to find out it's you who gets to decide who is and isn't a gamer. Also, I'm impressed with your deep and thorough knowledge of Carolyn's inner feelings. Hopefully you'll lend your omniscient insight to future conversations!

Regarding Alex's Trip to Salem:
The other day, our local witches/wicca coven was having an impromptu just mommy paydate/coffee date while I was sitting outside sipping my coffee. After having their coffee they were trying to set a date for the coven to do whatever 'spiritual thing-ma-bob' they do in a circle. Just straight up normal discussion like "I can make this date", "I'm not coming because of this", and "Can we do it at this later time so my kids can do swimming and clarinet practice"

Witches are pretty normal where I live, is what I'm saying. They are alsomore interesting, more healthily engaged with their children, and more health conscious than other people on the island. They are like Anti-Martha Stewarts, in that they are super-crafty, creative people; but do that cool-stuff hands on stuff by being good moms and engaged human beings.

Watch the tedx talk here

watch it here

Excellent Ted talk Patrick. It was absolutely worth my time (as is every 'bombin the am'). You guys are a value add to the Bomb.

No seriously, what is a ted talk and why is such a big deal being made out of it?

Oh god 989 sports! Never forget!

@christilton said:

Thank you, I had penned up a longer response that began to veer off, and you presented it in a short and sweet manner that hit the point perfectly.

Another thing that I would like to point out is that there is a difference between a person's gender identity and sexuality. Where gender is how a person views themselves internally, whether that be the same as their biological or assigned sex or different form their biological or assigned (it is very much a spectrum though and not specifically two distinct categories), sexuality is being romantically or physically attracted to a person of a specific gender (which is also a spectrum). The two are very much separate from each other and are distinct parts of our identity.

Then how would you explain Chris Plante having the same amount of criticism about that exact same subject on his review? If Carol's opinion, as you said, really came from a place of unhappiness with being born male, heterosexual cisgender people wouldn't agree with her, right?

@flstyle: its a sharing of any idea, via speeches given from a person to an audience. TED proper is high profile and speakers include preeminent authorities on the subjects they are speaking about, as well as well known figures/celebrities such as JJ Abrams.

Patrick did a TedX talk, which is the same style and format but lower profile, in a smaller venue.

the straight man is classic comedy trope

patricks,brads - dick smothers,bud abbott

to

vinny's,jeffs - tommy smothers ,lou costello

@brendan: Thanking you.

The TEDx talk was pretty darn good, Patrick. I would have loved to hear more about the psychological / sociological aspect with more studies of online behavior, but that's just because I find it really interesting, not because the speech was lacking.

On the opposite note, that NYT article was some hack bullshit. A straight up Hollywood stereotype "self-centered journalist" piece, with the author coming to a subject not looking to find a story, but with a story and viewpoint already clearly in mind. One which they only look for evidence to reinforce, as flimsily as they need to.

Fear mongering and doomsaying about tablets, Medal of Honor(???), and misinterpreted console sales numbers included.

But the thing that's truly bothersome about it, is that his article might be the only thing about video games many people read all year.

Now, they have this nonsense idea of "hardcore gamers" as this sad, alienated group of throwbacks about to be swept into the dustbin of history-- at a time when those people are actually more excited than they have been in years; both about the big-money world of new console launches, and about the weird-ass, exploding world of independent development. A world which the author of that garbage almost certainly doesn't know exists beyond Candy Crush and Fruit Ninja on his iPad.

Fuck that guy.

Patrick, I caught your TEDx presentation this morning. Excellent job sir.

I should know by now, but every time I hear the intro music, I think my headphones have broken.

Alex owes us an 'AWOO!'.

I just wanted to say how well i think Patrick did at his TEDx talk. It was excellently given and as someone who fears public speaking, i appreciate the comfort level he was able to project.

Without getting into all the arguments about his topic, i will say this, it will always come down to two options. Free speech, and all the great and terrible things that go with it, or censorship, and a subjective attempt at suppressing unwanted speech.

You can encourage people to think before they speak, as Patrick did.....which is very important, because emotional reactions dont always represent our true feelings, but you will never....ever....ever, stop that small minority of bullies, loud mouths, and purposely ignorant and evil people who enjoy hurting others.

Its the price of liberty.

PS I havent expected anything good to come out of the NY Times in a long time. Many of their stories, these days, seem to be poorly researched and written to justify their presupposed point of view, no matter how ill informed. Thats why their readership has dropped to all time lows, i guess.

Great job with the talk mistah Klepek!

Aw man the new Need For Speed is running at 30fps on PS4 really bums me out :(

That's what I was planning to buy it on as my gaming laptop is 2 years old at this point and i wasn't sure i was going to get it to go at 60fps consistently (which i was able to do with Most Wanted). Racing is the one type of game where the frame rate is a significant selling factor for me personally.

This feature is really the surprise hit of 2013. I absolutely love it. It has helped really make Alex "feel" like a part of the site again, and strangely we're getting even more Patrick than we did while he was in San Fran. Keep it up guys, it's fantastic and really has it's own feel within the overall site.

Patrick Klepek: INTERNET SCIENTIST!

Hella uncomfortable shades of transphobia in this thread already. Fuck me.

ALEX: "...you had that presentational style down, man [...] that doesn't sound like you're being condescending to the audience [...] you must have watched a lot of TED talks.

Pretty sure that means Patrick didn't watch any at all! TED and their talks are essentially the pinnacle of condescending elitism.

I'm just going to say that Patrick should go back to Splinter Cell Blacklist. It's great!

@tennmuerti: I'd bet that has more to do with making the game look more impressive thus justifying the purchase. Most people can't even tell the difference or straight up don't care and would rather the prettier graphics than a full 60fps.

@brnk said:

I'm not a fan of the guy's mildly transphobic rhetoric later on in his post, but it is true that the "50% of all gamers are female!" stat is stupefyingly reductive. It implies that women comprise of half of the traditional video game console market, which is simply false. When you start looking into the subcategories of that stat, shit starts skewing really hard. This isn't some sort of "real gamer" contest, it's just true; a strong majority of people who are going to go out and play big console games, or buy console games most often, are not women.

It's not to say that the stat is meaningless or can't be used in any kind of conversation ever, but it can be, and often is, used disingenuously. In terms of the "triple A" home console market, video games are targeted more at men for a very clear and obvious business reason. Not saying it's right, cause it often ain't, and not saying I like it, because the aggressive straight-maleness of it all doesn't really do it for me, but it's the cold truth.

Did Chris Plant's review come before or after? In any case, if you want to think the game is misogynistic, fine. I wasn't saying one way or another, I was saying it wasn't unreasonable to connect the dots and think a guy who made himself a woman would skew mad female.

"It went episodic because the kickstarter wasn't fulfilled".

Next gen PR bullshit.

Very much enjoyed the Ted talk, Patrick. It is a rough topic for sure; I'm not sure what you do about the masses that need the internet as an outlet for their anger. This recent trend of trying to push it into something more constructive is good to see though.

Also, every time I feel sad about the internet, I remind myself that leet speak used to be a thing.

For sure. It was easy to forget that Alex was still a contributor to the site before this podcast stuff, and I very much enjoy having a mini-podcast on the side to fill in the gaps.

I disagree that it lacked substance. I felt it was rather substantive actually- especially the more personal aspects of him dealing with the death of his father. I'm not sure what you saw as filler in there? Maybe the statistics? I thought he did a great job overall. Sounds like you wanted it to be something completely different though. I'm sure he would have done well with that subject also- but it wouldn't have been as personal, and to me at least- wouldn't have been as interesting.

I agree completely duder. It's a super refreshing addition to the site.

@icantbestopped: Explain to me why, even if that was true, it is ok to make fun of someone for being transgendered? You have no idea what her mentality is about social issues just because she decided to change her sex. That's something completely made up in your mind and a justification to dismiss any thing she has to say about the topic. Carolyn is allowed to feel that something is misogynistic or wrong. I disagree with her and others about the misogyny in GTA V, but I'm not gonna assume she "skews mad female" and attack her for her opinion.

And, really, asking if Chris Plante's review came out before or after as if he was just following Carolyn's lead on the misogyny angle? Almost all reviews of GTA V came out around the same time on the same day. Stop trying to look for some made up loophole to get around other people's arguments against what you originally had to say. Many, many people felt the same way Carolyn did; both male and female. . Don't attack someones personal life or actively sling vitriol and hate against that person because they said something you didn't like. It's nonsense and there's no justification for it.

I agree. For awhile there he was writing fantastic weekly articles(obligatory: BRING BACK YOUR WEEKLY COLUMN, ALEX!!), but for the most part he was relatively quiet. Reminded me of the days when that duder Brad Nicholson and someone else was writing stuff for the site, but you really had no connection to that person. It's good to see Alex in the fold and apart of the site in a more open way.

Cool tedx talk, second only to Sam Hyde's 2070 Paradigm Shift.

@NYTimes article: So...every mainstream journalism piece in existance? :P

It's always a dogfight between extremists looking for a battle, not a victory. Just turn way.

Extreme haunted houses sound pretty fucking intense.

Who said it was okay to make fun of them? Like I said to begin with, I agree with everything Patrick said but those two things I first stated.