Things That Really !&$%2 You Off

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

Definitely not fair to discount the 2D Zeldas.  I do kind of know where you're coming from, there's an extra level of 'special' to the 3D ones that the 2D ones can't match, but the most recent new 2D ones have still been some of the finest games ever.  Any list that excludes Minish Cap is a bad list.

This is why they weren't crossed out, they just weren't in bold. They're real games, but not "the next" Zelda game, y'know?

Think said above I saw as handheld and console Zelda's but no reason after BotW2 that team goes let's make a quality 2D next.

I've said it before, but I'd love a new 2D Zelda or remakes of the Oracle games done in the art style of Link's Awakening.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I know I’ve asked this before, but can anyone recommend me any episodes of the Back Page podcast that are about NGamer Magazine? Also, preferably, can anyone roughly guide me to what bits are worth listening to? I’m not prepared to sit through a three hour (!!!) podcast just for twenty minutes of chat I’m interested in.

There’s something that really !&$%2 me off: three hour podcasts. No. Get over yourselves.

I don't mind a three-hour podcast so long as I'm being entertained the entire time. This is especially true because that sort of podcast often doesn't start off meaning to be three hours, but if the chemistry between the hosts is good it can spiral out of control in a good way.

As for specific episodes of TBP that are about NGamer, that's tough. Matthew sprinkles his experiences of the mag through the show rather than saving them up. There are episode cover ones, but even then they alternate between Matthew (NGamer and also Official XBox Magazine) and Sam (who cares). They do a bit about where they were in the world of gaming at the start of the 'Best Games of 20XX' episodes as well, which for Matthew is NGamer in these early years.

Hmm. I’ll never plonk myself down to listen and pay attention to a weekly three-hour podcast, but I’ll try it this way: is there a specific Back Page podcast that folk recommend I listen to? I’d maybe listen to it in half-hour bits over a couple of weeks.

I remember UNISON saying that the average length of a pre-COVID commute to work was just under an hour both ways – I’ve always felt that this is the sort of length that weekly podcasts should run for. I can’t imagine listening to a podcast at any other time to be honest.

I listen to podcasts while I'm cooking and cleaning, while I'm going to and from work and the gym, while I'm shopping, while I'm hiking, sometimes even during a couple of games of something like Splatoon, so I get through plenty of pods in a week. Obviously I don't want them all to be three hours long, but one or two in my playlist doesn't hurt me.

Yep, same. I would never listen to a three-hour, two-hour, or even one-hour podcast in one shot; but I listen to podcasts when I'm doing almost anything that isn't actually fun and doesn't require concentration. I get through a fair amount.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Hmm. I’ll never plonk myself down to listen and pay attention to a weekly three-hour podcast, but I’ll try it this way: is there a specific Back Page podcast that folk recommend I listen to? I’d maybe listen to it in half-hour bits over a couple of weeks.

Episode 27 (We Can Each Buy 6 Game Devs - Who Wins?) is the most memed. Episodes Games 8 and 2 (Magazine Covers From Hell and Games Magazine Scores We Got Wrong) are good lookbacks at magazine days that have a decent amount of NGamer content from Castle. Finally, Episode 15 (Bad eBay Games Court) is arguably the silliest. 2 is the shortest out of that lot, clocking in at under an hour thirty. They're all under two hours. I guess those are my recommendations.

It was interesting to hear Castle acknowledge the anti-Sonic sentiment prevalent in NGamer (and previously NGC) as a lingering byproduct of the console wars. That always felt a bit childish, but then I guess it was nothing compared to what NOM was doing at the time.

To be fair, though, Sonic games are and always have been shite.

There’s no need for the GNamer Forum’s frequent outbursts and insidious bias against the excellent Sonic The Hedgehog series.

Bias? Or facts?

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

There’s no need for the GNamer Forum’s frequent outbursts and insidious bias against the excellent Sonic The Hedgehog series.

Buska's frequent outbursts and insidious bias, be fair. I haven't played enough Sonic games to make frequent outbursts or be insidiously biased, in that I've played none of them.

It was quite funny listening to the fellow they'd actually got on the pod to support Sonic acknowledging that you had to lower your standards to enjoy the games though. Hardly the ringingest of endorsements.

Depends on the Sonic games, like the Mega Drive ones are bangers which I think is shown with Mania still reviewing well in this day in age, the 3D ones etc are the mixed bag.

The first levels of the Mega Drive ones are bangers.

Sonic Rush was really good.

Umm . . . the 3D ones have moments. Colours and Generations edge into acceptable territory.

Ultimately though, Sonic has never been in any game better than average. As for comic books, that's a different story.

The only good Sonic games are Adventure 1 & 2, Heroes and Secret Rings.

Sonic series as whole I would agree is average, not all the games and some are fantastic.

I love Sonic Heroes.

Crumpy Andy wrote:

The only good Sonic games are Adventure 1 & 2, Heroes and Secret Rings.

I actually really liked Secret Rings. Doesn't that one get a lot of shit these days?

masofdas wrote:

I love Sonic Heroes.

I like the song.

Secret Rings does get a bashing, but yeah it was a genuinely fun on rails platformer. I think it's far more fun than the more recent Sonic runs in 3d and you have no control stuff.

We're into the 990s, so it's thread-splitting time. See you all in the next one for a fresh round of hate!