The Giant Beastcast: Episode 114

Bring it!

hello, insomnia!

First?

I really wish they'd bring back quests.

Yo that Splatoon 2 is really really good. Alex convinced me to buy it, and damn have I fallen into a deep deep ink-filled hole.

..that sounded wayyy less dirty in my head

I think me and Dan want the complete opposite in games. All I want is story, lore and world building. If your game doesn't have that, it doesn't matter how well it plays, I'm just not going to play it.

I'm so deep in the Splatoon hole and I already feel like I've justified the sizeable cost of a Switch & Pro Controller after a week of having it.

I'm definitely on the reverse end. If a game has a really strong story or world it can be enough to pull me through, even when the gameplay isn't much to write home about. But I will always be there for compelling systems and mechanics. If a game is fun to play, I'm totally fine with a lacking story (hence why I felt better about the likes of Dark Souls III or MGS V than a lot of people. I would prefer games get the story and worldbuilding right, but it's not a deal-breaker if the gameplay is strong enough.

I'm definitely not all the way down the Dan path, though. I still love a good game story, and I'm super(giant) excited to get my hands on Pyre after what I've heard about it. Also I loved Transistor (though in that case its mechanics were still the biggest draw).

As much as it pains me to say it. I'm With Dan on Pyre.

A good story can be a a plus.... but honestly I want "games". To many game makers I swear think they are movie makers these days or something.

A game can be pretty, can have a good story, but if the game isn't actually compelling to play then dude just make an animated movie or something cause what is the point half the time. I think some of these critically acclaimed games [just talking in general here] are almost "slightly interactive movie experiences" over games.

It's really interesting to hear opinions about Supergiant's games. Everyone seems to be having a different favourite. Myself I tried Bastion a couple of times, but never liked it. I absolutely LOVED Transistor and I like Pyre as well from what I've played so far.

Burn all the dice on a pyre I say!

"Is it dubbed?"

Dan...

Anybody have a link to jb's mouse?

Aw yiss

Listen, shopping at Wal-Mart, for the most part, is fine. I won't speak to their corporate policies because working in retail is terrible in ALL forms -- Wal-Mart, specifically, is egregiously bad from everything I read and hear.

If there's a Target and a Wal-Mart near each other, it's 50/50 in terms of which one I'll go to depending on what I need and how much money I'm willing to spend. The Target stores I've been to in my area are certainly cleaner but seemingly only ever have two registers open at any time during the day. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, has about 6-8 registers open most of the time. I can get in and out of there quicker than Target which is usually my main goal when shopping -- get in, get what I need, and get out as quickly as I can. Plus, I always end up spending around $40-$50 for the things I get at Target whereas I can spend about half of that on the same things at Wal-Mart.

I mainly shop at Publix for my groceries because I live in the part of the United States where those exist. Wal-Mart and Target are my secondary shops for miscellaneous things I can't get there.

this is a website about video games and I'm arguing about shopping at walmart what am I doing

Dan's revelation about how woodworking works... dear god!

I really like Dan, but when he starts talking about games I miss the Austin walker era. That dude knew how to talk about games in a way that was really engaging. All Dan does is describe the games mechanics and than say they suck or they are good.

Yeah Wal Mart is terrible--

A store that allows poor and working families to afford the food and goods they need..... and possibly have a few bucks left.

Until you cant afford to buy your kid school clothes and groceries one month, judging a store like Wal Mart that makes that possible for some....well.....its a little cruel.

I dont get it.

I don't... I don't understand how Dan's brain works.

The word fire can be pronounced with one syllable or two.

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/qa/fire-one-syllable-or-two

Let us never speak of this again.

@fetterdave: New Dan is dead

B R A N D S

@ajroo: the argument is that they make it impossible to compete with them for local stores, thus putting them out of business and that they exploit their employees.

@andyc80 said:

I think it's this?

https://www.swiftpoint.com/product/swiftpoint-z-mouse/

@officer_falcon: that was my guess too but I didn't see a display

that picture - is that....my dice

Sick burn on Newcastle there Alex.

Boy, Dan is bad on this episode. I thought Old Dan was gone.

I agree with you 90% of the time. A game has to be really incredible in some other aspect (gameplay loop, art style, trying something really unique, etc.) for me to enjoy it if it doesn't have story and world building.

@danryckert - if you're interested in learning SOMETHING about the wal-mart situation,this (albeit produced in 2005) documentary is pretty great. it's not your typical tinfoil hat stuff...it just delves into their business practices.

i get that some people need wal-mart; no judgement there. but i also believe people should know what they're getting themselves into.

they provide a lot of essentials for cheap that is appealing to the poor, but as a major employer in the USA they also seem content to provide the lowest-quality jobs for the thousands they employ. they're not alone in that- but their stature in the bedrock of USA retail means their policies have significant influence.

My first comment or interaction on the site. I'm love the podcast and would love to see a video series of Dan in a shop using a plane or router. Let's make that happen.

I love Wal-Mart as well. I'm not even close to being poor and love it. They are great. People watching, buying things and the over-all experience.

I'm with Vinny, I hate this conversation (when @danryckert is taking about how he "plays games to play games").

Like he said and Alex said, it's a totally valid way to feel, but it makes me feel like shit, because I'm over here on the opposite end of the spectrum where I don't like shooters and mostly play story focused games. So what does that make me? A person that plays games just for stories? Like I said, I get where Dan is coming from, I just wish he wouldn't shit on what other people like so much when he's expressing his opinions.

@genericbrotagonist: Kind of sums up Dan in a nutshell.

Mispronouncing a word doesn't reduce it's syllables.

In summary, Dan Ryckert on his own video game tastes:

"I'm boring as fuck."

@thecoffeyhaus: I found Dan's argument kind of strange, about how he "plays games to play games" because he has loved games like What Remains of Edith Finch and Firewatch in the past. I'm surprised nobody mentioned that.

I'm constantly up and down on Dan. I think he has absolutely made Giantbomb a better site and I think he can be great. It's just that every time he endears himself to me, he then goes on and says some reallly dumb stuff that makes me think twice about him.

I'm not talking about his opinions on games here either.

I'm not trying to shit talk Dan. Like I said, I think he can be great I just wish he would think more before speaking.

Well said! I am primarily in Dan's camp (in that I am mainly looking for deep gameplay mechanics over narrative when I play games), but there are plenty of ways to express that without making it seem like the only correct way to enjoy games.

@cooltube96: Sounds like Austin Walker, or any critic.

@danryckert

"I play games to play games"

"I enjoy Wallmart"

For the record, Wallmart is great if you feel down on yourself, take a look around and instantly feel like a supermodel.

Why should it make you feel like shit if I'm not into a game? I said several times that it seems like people are into Pyre and the story stuff and that's cool. It's just not for me. Enjoy games however you want to enjoy games!

Jesus Christ Dan.....

New Dan is a myth.

Super excited to hear Dan be aggressively shallow about Pyre for the rest of the year.

@danryckert: I ain't the guy you're replying to, but just my two cents: in the podcast itself you do clarify that this is how you feel and you want people to play whatever games that they want, but while you say that you understand that it's "just not for me" you kinda get really aggressive in trashing stuff you don't like sometimes and it comes across less as a civil discussion about differences in taste and more like you were actually really shitting on games like Pyre ( at least it's a game expressed cinematically instead of just a fucking cartoon, that kinda thing ). I get that's not how you meant to come across, but in this case it really sounded less like joking trash talk between friends and more actively aggressive, and I was a little put off by that too, not to mention the whole "play games to play games" thing comes across as really dismissive to everyone with different tastes, as if we aren't playing games somehow.

FTR I completely failed to click with Bastion but I fell in love with Transistor and Pyre basically immediately. Different strokes and all that. But how about Barkley Shut up and Jam: Gaiden! Fucking ART I tell you.

Dan sounds like he's in rare form on this podcast. I can't wait to listen and be upset. Its gonna be great.

Dan's passionate defense of Walmart might be the most upsetting thing I've seen or heard on Giant Bomb.

@danryckert: It's not really about the baseline fact that you believe people should like whatever they like. It's that you spend a lot of time being very dismissive before that, both in your words and your tone. If that's how you want to express yourself, that's up to you - but if someone feels strongly about a game, and hears you jeer at it, they may feel personally attacked. That's just kinda how most people work, whether it makes sense or not.