Pikes to the front line and stop their charge; its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! This week, we examine the day one discounts offered on Just Cause 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction, check out the delightful and disturbing Naughty Bear, ponder the fate of Mafia II, and eat cake with Fat Princess on the PSP.
First up on the main course, with the announcement of the 3DS and the PSP turning five years old, we take a look at the state of the handheld market and banter on how Nintendo and Sony are shaping up. Next up, in light of DK’s comments in last week’s skirmish, we thought we’d take a closer look at the issue of women in gaming and how gender differences impact what we play.
The Battle Cry of the Week goes to the DSi XL, DK’s recent interview with Michio Kaku, The Witcher 2, and Gears of War for kicking ass when it counted most.
If you’ve got a comment on the show, sound of below. If you’ve got a Battle Cry to share with us, click here and let you voice be heard! Stay sharp.
-iPod compatible mp4 download-
FIRST!!! FUCK YEAH
Sorry for the delay all. A small tribe of gremlins ambushed our production pipeline. Speaking of which, who’s up for gremlin-head dodgeball?
WA-WHAT?
Sure, but I don’t think thats a good idea outside.
It’s raining!!!
what ever you do.. don’t make it wet.. and don’t feed it past midnight!!
Great episode as always guys! I would love to leave a longer comment but it’s 1:15 AM here in Vancouver, BC!
Cheers axe heads!!
My Battle Cry is about y’alls discussion of women in gaming.
The argument that some of the characters portrayed are “unrealistic” seems kinda bogus imo. While a girl with abs and a dude with iron arms is definitely not the norm, you can’t say it’s not realistic, it’s just hard. There are plenty of real-life guys that are WAY bigger than Kratos, and girls with bigger boobs than Lara Croft.
I get tired of gaming sites and the like looking down on muscled-men, attractive ladies, etc., saying that we’re not “real gamers” or that that instantly makes us d-bags. This is coming from a guy who works out 5 days a week and runs 2 miles a day, and while I’m not yet to Krato status, when I am I don’t want people looking down on me for it. =(
With regards to your discussion about women in video games there’s a quick little exercise called the Bechdel-Wallace Test. Basically it’s a litmus test for female presence in movies and TV (but it could also be applied to video games). In order to pass, the film or show must meet the following criteria:
(1) it includes at least two women,
(2) who have at least one conversation with each other
(3) about something other than a man or men.
The few works that pass are said to have interesting and complex female characters which rather than being being hyped and celebrated like a rare phenomenon, are not treated as the least bit unusual.
Great episode. I think your debate about women in gaming was spot on…there is actually more objectification of Men than Women in gaming, most of the male characters are seriously pumped!
More bald fatties needed (on both sides).
I’m sad. I don’t have Facebook and Twitter.
Great episode guys. I like the part about PSP being more ‘hardcore’ than DS – that’s 100% right, and that’s why we (PSP owners) getting so little great non-casual games like Chains of Olympus. I mean, even upcoming new MGS on PSP seems casual… Meh.
congratulations guys on this monumental occasion of hitting the number every pubescent boy has after their gamer tags.
*Puts Grammar Nazi hat on*
“A dolphin refusing to ‘breath’”?
Wait do those heads still live? Cause i dont wanna get bitten be one of those things or have the evil versions rolling all over the place.
About the females in movies.
you guys need to check out Monsters VS Aliens, before the Alien first lands, that is a very funny part twisting the male female idea
There are a handful of female Final Fantasy characters who are far more popular than the poll-options supplied.
Good video though, as usual.
I don’t know those girls :S but I did enjoy Nariko and how miserable was her life.
Interesting question DK, What the hell is wrong with me… apart from being a totaly weird person, I don’t really like facebook, so haven’t called myself a fan of anything there.
Last time it was the girls, now it’s the non-facebookers… what’s next on your list? I have a few suggestions you might want to add to that
Good rollin’ anyway, another not-a-total-waste-of-time received, you guys are doing great! Keep it up.
To add up a little thing to my recent comment on the UbiDRM-issue… I started to kinda feel bad to the guys involved developing the PC version of the games hurt by the DRM, the ones who did not have a say in that matter.
It must feel ‘not good’ that a product you worked on for a while (or a longer while) gets hate from people who bought the game (or didn’t buy it because of the DRM)
Sometimes, we, the gamers, tend to forget that although some of the suits may seem inhuman, a lot of the people involved in delivering a game are just as much in love with games as we are.
Poor guys.
God of War is “only” a 3 game series so far. After 4-5 games it will start getting old too.
Thanks EBA! I love the show and have been watching for the last 6 mo. The content (usually lol) cuts through the fat, the humor is great, and you guys genuinely sound like you have a good time. Even DK’s awful puns are funny (sometimes) LOL Thanks
I’ve got a Battle Cry for ya: Why are there so many games out there that claim to be mature but only are considered for mature audiences b/c of violence and sex? I think games are heading in the right direction companies like Bioware, 2K, Rockstar,Bethesda and Quantic Dream all geniunely pushing our old boundries. But in this generation games have the potential to be just as mature, in narritve and content, as any movie. Its obvious that most “core” gamers are adults so why only cater to my inner 13 yr old. Dont get me wrong I like some gory action and sexy chicks just as much as any dude ,but why cant it actually cater to my intelligence the same way? Themes like the ones people drew from Bioshock are a great start.. but whats going to really break the mold and show us that games are mature enough to handle a plot that is more complex than your average blockbuster? What do you guys think?
4 games, your forgetting the psp game which was surprisingly good
I think the Sony’s problem is, as oppose to the DS offering a unique experience, the psp is just offering something that could ultimately be better on a console. If anything, it hurts the ps3 by dividing franchises like GOW, MGS or even Valkyria chronicles between consoles.
Hey, EpicBattleCry! I’ve been following your podcasts and I just want to say that you three are perhaps the only voices next to Screwattack that, when pissed off, say you are and don’t sugar coat the issue with a bunch of bullshit.
Anyway, my Battle Cry is this, just towards the question on our favorite encounters with women in video-gaming. It’s an oldie, but the one that has consistently stood out for me has been Samus Aran of the Metroid Series.
Now I’ve re-written this paragraph about fifteen fucking times now, but what I want to say is this. She is placed alone into a hostile environment, and must rely upon her own skills while exploring and gathering resources to survive and accomplish her mission. She has to face down monsters and stresses that would ordinarily crack all but the most hardy commandos.
She impressed me with the fact that, not only does she possess immense strength and armament, but also incredible willpower, fearlessness, and determination. She’s part warrior, part pioneer and explorer. The bottom line for her is not about escaping to the beach in a bikini and then going home to get laid. It’s about duty and integrity through finishing her objectives.
Yeah, sure, sue me, you can argue that she’s just a fanciful caricature in a video-game and we know next to little about her personally, but come on, no one really wants to talk after facing down a mechanized bio-mechanical Mother Brain and then escaping from a doomed planet.
Except Brent, I’m very sure he would drink the blood of Metroid’s slain at his hands.
Hey Guys,
Just finished watching this videocast on GT.com, after which I found this on gamesindustry.biz about a possible reason of Nintendo’s surprise announcement on the 3DS.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/surprise-3ds-reveal-due-to-japanese-press-leaks
Just thought it might be interesting to share with the EBA community.
So DK almost jizzed his pants when Brent put him in his Battle Cry, LOL
Good job on that podcast! Dk, I must say (even if we fight a lot in the comments) that I love the way you do your job. You could have totally ignored my comment which was kind of harsh but you didn’t and went to the guys to make it a debate in the podcast. It really was a great debate and you really went over the major problems of women in gaming. Keep it up!
BTW, yes the conflict in society goes deeper than video games. All medias represent an stereotypical image of society. I just wish maybe video games (that a lot of time are faster to change conventions than other medias) are more intelligent as a media…
‘Sup, my fellow Axeheads!? My BattleCry this week goes out to a certain woman in gaming. That woman is Naomi Hunter from the MGS series. She is obviously attractive among many other things. She may have taken a bit of a backseat in MGS1 (ya know, except for the whole “FOX-”… “DIE!”) but in MGS4 she really shined. She has a very complex past (like every other damn person in MGS) from being the (figurative) little sister of the Gray Fox, to basically creating the monster known as Vamp. Now, I’ve played through MGS4 numerous times now and (SPOILERS!!!!!!) I still don’t exactly get why she sexed up Otacon only to go back to Liquid and give him a crapload of info. But she created an extremely emotional moment for me (it’s hard to believe, I know) when she finally put Vamp to rest after Raidan beat the living shit outta him, and then shortly thereafter retracted her own nanomachines to finally succumb to her cancer and in the process make Otacon cry like a little, annoying baby (like in MGS1 with Sniper Wolf and MGS2 with Emma). But simehow amidst all of that, she in essence, saved the entire world. WTF!?
Brilliant as usual guys. Keep’em coming!
Hmmm so “sweet ass gog action” is here to stay DK? Well sir you stick to your guns. I can respect that.
As for chicks in games (kidding) i have to go with Alyx from Half Life 2. She’s as competent as she is sexy and makes for a really great partner throughout the story. She has no problem kicking ass when need be and can carry on a conversation with someone who’s really not very good at them. And she survived getting skewered by a hunter. Thats badass. It’s hard to find a character with as much personality as she had. And a big ass robot dog. I’m looking forward to how she pays back the Combine for what they did to her dad.
If Valve ever gets around to releasing Episode 3.
My battlecry goes out to the girl in the Shadow Of The Colossus series
I don’t know her name
I don’t know where shes from
But damn, I’m always compelled to help her
Her character is very mysterious, but she also plays a key role in the entire story and gameplay.
Without her, you wouldn’t be there, and you sure as hell wouldn’t be climbing up hairy colossi to save her.
She doesn’t say or do anything, I just keep finding myself trekking on to save her. I always feel bad every time for killing the colossi, they mean no harm, yet I think about the girl and my moral/ethical code (about doing harm to innocents for no reason) is re-written.
It also ties in with the story and gameplay in perfect harmony
And I think DK$Shizz should mention the viking in his next battle cry
The only really memorable female character from any game I’ve played is Kerrigan from StarCraft. She starts off as a strong woman who call one of the main protagonists a pig, gets left out in the field before turning evil and later on a double-crossing main villain. She’s very fleshed out, to say the least.
It’s a bit of a shame that she had to be in a game where the emphasis always has been on the multiplayer, so she doesn’t get the attention she deserves.
Kerrigan is the only female character I can think of (games, movies, TV series, whatever) who is genuinely bad ass. She preys on her enemies, kills old friends in cold blood and humiliates weak foes by simply letting them go. I can’t wait to see what she gets up to in StarCraft 2.
Alyx Vance is the best video game female ever. She is one of the few that are just really normal on the way she looks and acts. Elena Fisher is a VERY close second. Weird choices seeing how I’m a huge (may be my favorite game series of all time) fan of Mass Effect.
Also… great show as always guys.
About women in gaming, I think I’m with the minority here who thinks the issue is far too over analyzed. Sure sexism is prevalent in our world, but does everyone really think equal sex roles are bad to portray?
Also, I think it’s ludicrous to make it sound like we all don’t enjoy looking at attractive people- men or women. It’s physiologically verifiable that there definitely is something to looking at someone we perceive to be attractive. And what is self improvement if not the drive to be something better? Nobody (real or fake) should be looked down upon for their success.
Having said that, unrealistic beauty (i.e. DOA or photoshoped models) is a dangerous precipice our society finds itself peering over. I for one find fitness, knowledge, and one’s self-defined ethics the most attractive qualities. Makeup, surgery, and money are not sexy, though media shoves it down our throats with every flash of advertisement.
I think Uncharted 2 had some of the most accurate and beautiful people in a video game. Cloe is slender and sexy, with agility and a dark tan. To me, Cloe represents allure; she’s everything that’s physically attractive as well as the cliche of a seductive woman. Elana, on the other hand, is also quite attractive and can hold her own, though perhaps couldn’t get through an obstacle course as fast, at least not yet. Elana, however, has something as a character that Cloe does not; her ethics and is also very kind and loyal. Because of this, Elana is a much more attractive character.
Are these characters unrealistic? Absolutely not. If we have to give an award to the most unrealistic character in the game, it’d have to go to Nathan Drake. I think his character is the most cliched of them all. Physically unrealistic? Absolutely not. Have any of you been to a college campus lately? I’m bombarded with extraordinarily beautiful and physically fit men and women on a daily basis. These people should not be looked down upon for their beauty, nor should we be for admiring them. Admiration in others is nothing if not wishful thinking in self improvement.
Yay! Naughty Bear has a release date. I’ve had this in my radar for quite some time since the teaser in January. Anyone interested can find some more info here http://www.naughtybearthegame.com/ (although it’s not updated regulary)
WARNING: The following Battle Cry contains plot spoilers from the game StarCraft. If you haven’t played this game yet, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
My Battle Cry for women in gaming goes out to Sarah Kerrigan, from Blizzard’s StarCraft and StarCraft Brood War. She’s one of the most cunning and fierce antagonists in video games, and by the end of the StarCraft expansion, Brood War, she has ascended to a position of controlling an entire freaking alien race telepathically.
Seriously, you don’t mess with Kerrigan.
I like your opinions about girls in games but i have to ask… despite what your actual opinion is do you still find your self playing and/or buying a game only because on the cover there is a picture of a hot girl???
i am guilty of this… i feel terrible about it and sometimes i wish i could quit… but i do it anyway because im human.
Hmm, interesting Gears of War battle cry. I’ve been around the Gears 2 community and there’s a pretty big crowd of people who are very disappointed with Gears 2. And they are all pretty avid Gears fans. To each their own I guess.
My battle cry goes out to the topic of women and gaming. I believe that you can not talk about one of the most substantial female characters in video games without referring to Aerith Gainsborough from FFVII. When you think about some of the most memorable moments in video game history that involved female characters it is the most prominent. In general her death (spoiler…but who hell hasn’t played FFVII or doesn’t know what happens?)scene is of the most emotionally engaging sequences of all time. I personally preferred FFVIII and FFIX over FFVII but still respect what her character did for that game, and the industry at whole. Cloud Strife and Sephiroth, two of the most popular figures in gaming todays were essentially built around her character and death. Six iterations later of one of the longest running franchises in gaming, there has yet to be a sequence in that series to even come close to matching it.
I don’t understand why all these games sites keep referencing Naughty Bear, but never say anything about Conker’s Bad Fur Day. It’s obviously a huge knock-off on Conker, and the developers of Naughty Bear should not be seen as innovative or original. It should be make known that this type of game has been done before.
one of the best episodes, pun-wise. Seriously, despite the physical distance due to PAX East you did not disappoint.
Great Show, as usual.
I just wanted to point out something. Tony was talking about the unusual timing of the 3DS announcement and how they should’ve just waited for E3, which I completely agree with, when I came across an article on Kotaku explaining the decision.
Apparently the 3DS was revealed this early because it had gotten leaked out to the press, and Nintendo just wanted to beat the journalists to the punch and announce it themselves before it was leaked to the public.
Just thought I’d mention that, cause when I read that, I went from “Nintendo, are you fucking serious?” to “Well…. I guess that makes a little more sense”.
Brutal show brethren!!
My Battle Cry goes out to the most unique and intreguing female character that I’ve encounter in a game recently, to whom I am speaking of is “Jack” from Mass Effect 2.
It was nice to see a REAL bad ass female character that didn’t detract from her attitude by sexy looks and skimpy outfits. She was practical and warhardened, but at the same time if you chose to get to know her through out the game, it became more evident that she had a real child like innoscense.
I raise my axe to thee, Bioware!
Hello children
My BATTLE CRY goes out to Jade of the good old Beyond Good and Evil game. (which is also on GOG)It goes to show that even back in 2003 there are women in gaming who are taking a dominating role. I think that politicians are using Lara Croft as a crutch to support their arguments and are taking the rest of games out of consideration.
For those who don’t know about her, she portrays a strong, yet realistic woman who is looked up to by her peers. Kinda like the mother figure. During the entire game not once was I thinking “damn she’s different”, instead it was more like “hmm, I like her.” Yes she’s fit, but she’s in no way objectified, in her actions or in her clothing. It was because of her and her character development that I replayed the game.
About your comments about narration vs game play in video games. I agree that it goes with personal preference. But I think that some of you can agree that games are played just for the game play itself. Look at puzzle games for example. But yes, some gamers also want some content to drive them forward in the story. ie Kingdom hearts in my ‘opinion’ nailed the interaction vs immersion elements with the technology available.
(with an inaudible creepy mutter) stroking your hair
[...] late, but hopefully you find this week’s column not to be a dollar short. As I listened to this week’s episode of EpicBattleCry I thought that the subject of my column would be a no-brainer. I always look for subjects about [...]
Love the Show! The Cries keep getting louder and louder.
My Battle Cry goes out to the bullshit that is Video Games and Obesity. The ‘WHO’ (World Health Organization) have stated that nearly a third of children are over weight because of Video Games, TV and online chats.
I think it’s the responsibility of the parents to get their kids exercising. It’s the same thing as buying an MA 15+ for a 10 year old.
And don’t get me wrong i’m not overweight, I am in fact bodybuilding and consider myself an avid gamer. There are many differnt types of people that play games, not all are your typical 30 year old slob in their parents basements.
They were only refering to kids and the truth of it is, that my generation (19yrs) of people is that people are just getting lazy. And in alot of cases it’s a social thing to chill at your mates place and play some HALO.
Shit, parents are the ones to lazy to do anything about it.
Bad parents, Bad kids.
Love to hear your opinion guys.
CRY HAVOC!!
My battle cry goes out to RockStar and there awesome videos for their game (Red Dead Redemption). I am glad that they are doing justice to the western genre in gaming because before this the best western game i had played was Gun from Neversoft and before that was Gunsmoke on NES. The videos that they have been putting out for (Red Dead Redemption)have completely sold me on this game. I like how it’s not just a bunch of flashy trailers for the game but a look at all the new gameplay elements they are bringing to the table with this this title.It’s a very solid looking game and the only thing it is missing is a Ennio Morricone score.
“WHAT IS UP?!, MY FELLOW AXEHEADS!” My battle-cry this week goes out to a game which looks to be extremely promising. Of course I’m talking about Red Dead Redemption. This game looks f***ing amazing so far, and I can’t wait to see more game play from. The fact that developers are expanding their horizons and starting to make shooters that don’t revolve around the typical present day/WWII period is a very thrilling prospect. I feel as if the western game genre is a very untapped resource, we’ve seen a few western games before, but nothing with the spectacular production values of Red Dead Redemption. They even motion captured a horse! The level of customization, action, and real-world physics has never been seen in this sort of genre before. I really do think that this game has a chance of being game of the year. (Even though Mass Effect 2 was amazing)
Refuse to breath or did you mean breathe?
EDIT: That guy did not make that GIF! He’s tacking credit for other people’s work.
where’s skirmish #70???
Finally got to listen to this a week+ later. Good episode as always. Have to agree with Tony that Nintendo announcing a new DS just as the already new DS is about to be released is a monumentally stupid move. But I’m also surprised Tony is running out to buy the DS XL considering all the smack he and the rest of the gang talked about it when it was announced!
Good discussion on women in games as well. Very intelligent points all around. I pretty much agree with the consensus. Female characters still have a long way to come in games, but then again, so do most of the male characters. Realistic character portrayal in general has been absent from most video games throughout history, with the majority of characters being comic book/action movie style archetypes.
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