Giant Bomb Presents: Introducing Heather Alexandra

Fucking Skies of Arcadiaaaaaaa!!

How do the podcast and the article relate to each other? Should I read the article first?

@hassun: The order shouldn't matter!

@hassun: I talk a bit about the article in the piece. Mostly alluding to points. I say you can do either in any order! :D

im in the middle of soa right now

Very nice. Liked the article, and this is a nice intro to a voice I didn't know about.

Also, can't get enough of that dope intro music.

that beat doe

This is a really great idea, interesting discussion, thanks Heather and Austin, and the rest of GB for making it happen!

Not sure yet, check back in 20 minutes. My guess is "minimal". Metal Gear Solid is the only game in the tags mentioned in the article, and it's an early spoiler.

Dope beats.

This is some Grade A content. Loved both the article and this interview.

The truth about best and favorite and their difference is that it does not exist.

Man. I'm playing Tomb Raider right now (on PC) and I feel like I just have to burn through it and get to the Witness because it's laced throughout every single GiantBomb video and discussion. It's giving me anxiety.

Really good idea to have these kind of podcasts.

@d_w: *Highfives* Love you and everyone here! Keep being great, Giant Bomb community!

Man... Skies of Arcadia... Man. Mmm. Anyway. Yay more guest content upcoming. Really enjoyed the first piece and this one sounds great! :D

Love this. Keep it up, their is nailing it.

Whenever I see a Skies of Arcadia image anywhere, my brain shut downs and assumes it's an HD remake using the Valkyria Chronicles CANVAS engine as is my one true fantasy, but this is fine too.

Great! I've been looking forward these guest writers since the announcement.

@cogentmachinist: Tales of Symphonia got a release (but it's a mess) and Grandia II is on Steam. I really doubt we'll ever get more than the token nods ala Vyse in Sega All Stars Racing but if there's one thing a Blue Rogue doesn't do, it's give up hope!

If anyone want more details on how profoundly disappointing the Tales of Symphonia PC port is: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1178556

I paused this three minutes in and went for a walk and honestly asked myself what I thought the best game was, story-wise, and concluded it was probably Planescape: Torment. Unpausing to discover this was also Heather's answer was really cool.

The best vs. favourite discussion leads to the thought that lots of game criticism is missing is the approach to the games themselves. Take for example The Witness, or Braid. You go into those primed to thinkabout them, because you know going in that they're 'thoughtful'. What goes missing is that plenty of mainstream or 'not deep' games contain discussion of very similar ideas, but because players aren't given the same idea to approach them that way, these ideas go missing.

I think Hatred is a pretty bad game with uninteresting ideas behind it, but: What if Jonathan Blow had made it? People would suddenly approach it differently enough that it might yield alternative readings than the ones we got. That isn't to say that Hatred has been done a disservice or that Jonathan's work has an over-Blow-n critical response (i swear that pun came up naturally), but it's worth considering when we're developing a reading of a game and when we're developing a reading based on how the context expects us to approach it.

That's because Planescape is objectively the best. We did all the tests in a very high tech laboratory. Yes, yes. Mmmhmmm. Quite.

@halexandra64 said:

I can't believe how many lies are in Planescape. It's a palace of lies. It might be the only game to be about How To Discern The Truth. Except maybe Her Story, which I haven't played.

Was the twitter handle "trancegamerthink" or "transgamerthink"?

@austin_walker : Is it possible in future episodes of these to get their handles written out in the description or the deck? I know it's a minor thing, and easily searchable, but seems like a nice ease of use thing that could drive more traffic to their sites and places and such.

@matoyak said:

https://twitter.com/transgamerthink

Great discussion on top of a great podcast idea, Austin. The discussion y'all had at the end reminds me of reading through Pierro Scaruffi's critique on the Beatles' career and how he just basically rips them a new one. While I disagree here and there with how I feel about their actual music compared to him, I felt like I learned more about the band's qualities in that particular perspective than I did over the typical "well it's great because it's the Beatles" reaction. If it's explained with enough skill, a differing opinion can really be a valuable thing to take in.

Serious question, is that intro song a full song somewhere? It reminds me a lot of Nujabes' work.

Good to see there are still people doing real science out there. I was afraid all the video game science money had gone to fund Jeff and Jason's rating of fighters.

Also, I really hope Numenera turns out good.

Really enjoyed the talk of criticism and hints of The Witness discussions to come. In the past I really haven't had any idea what criticism could be or it's value. I'm sure listening to podcasts for almost a decade now, I've benefited from various people's raw feelings about things. Yet I hadn't really looked in to reading more refined thoughts about games. I will be paying more attention moving forward. Seems especially important as I try to get into the design side of the industry.

Edit: I think I need proper glasses, probably subconsciously shifted habits to adjust. I really don't spend much time reading.

Thanks, I have been forgetting to listen to Nujabes lately. Hell yea

@austin_walker Great idea having a short podcast to coincide with the guests' written articles!

Fuck yeah, Skies of Arcadia!

Hell yeah Skies of Arcadia!!

"I was neutral during the console wars... I abstained"

Made me laugh really hard, thanks for that

Heather, what a delight. To you it may have felt offhand but I appreciated your plea for writers to just keep writing. Teared up a little, so . . . thanks for that. Glad to have another new perspective on board.

Austin, you are a treasure for encouraging treasures like her to be read/heard. Keep pushing!

Rad!

One day. I mean, it has to happen, right? Skies of Arcadia (especially the Legend port where they got the random battles under control and offered control for the player) is just too good and beloved to never get a remake. At some point a Sony or MS or Ninty down on their luck will try and court the 30-40 year old gamers (and bring in a new generation who maybe missed this as a classic due to the visuals being a bit below where "cool" retro is as an aesthetic) by throwing money at a remake.

Great podcast! Thanks!

God I need to play Planescape so much but also I feel like it'd be a disservice to myself if I didn't play the Baldurs Gates and Icewind Dales before I got to Planescape.

I don't know that there's a distinction between best and favorite. I feel like trying to search for a "best game" is ill-conceived in a lot of ways. I think Greatest may be more apt than Best?

@idiotfromindiana: Do what you love and never give up! If you do that, you're on your way to a well lived life!

@austin_walker: @halexandra64: Thanks!

Is that a Skies of Arcadia screenshot? Skies of Arcadia sequel please!

You had me hooked at that sick intro beat.

I definitely hope you can do more of these with the guest writers - this article and talk were super cool.

Thanks @austin_walker, @halexandra64

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are both fantastic games, but they're very different games from Planescape: Torment, and I don't see why anyone would enjoy Torment less having not played those games first.

Dat Nujabes intro though. Hype already.

Can someone link to that article that Austin mentions once, saying it's one of the best things he's read. Don't want to go listen through the podcast again to find it!

I saw Skies of Arcadia on the thumbnail and i IMMEDIATELY like you.

Intro is Get Connected by Jason Pedder

If anyone's looking for more music like this check out DJ Okawari, Haruka Nakamura, Kenichiro Nishihara, or this entire youtube channel dedicated to folks inspired by Nujabes.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbCoUV9aGY1AyyOegcuTOKw