• Miserable Podcast of Secrets 8



        "There's No Reason To Do That"

        Part two of our discussion on bad UI in games, with a lot of touch screen talk thrown in. Mzo is the best and worst thing about this week's show. Bad/good job!
        • The maddening life bars in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
        • The litmus test of a good user interface
        • Does Skyrim have a terrible UI? Not as bad as Mass Effect's!
        • How damage should be represented in games
        • MMO snobbery rears its head
        • Mzo cheats on Monster Hunter with Tidy Plates (listen longer for his "O" sounds)
        • How will touch screens affect console gaming?
        • Is Bastion longer than one of our podcasts?
        • The downside of Portal 2
        • The prescience of Wario Ware
        • Pix'n Love Rush is an iOS game worth playing
        • Committing to choices in Dark Souls
        • To the Moon, a fantastic "visual novel" with some faults
        • Why Dragon Nest is not your standard free-to-play MMO
        • The best way to solo a multiplayer game
        • Monster Hunter as mental illness
        • In-game icon epiphanies, African-American icon epiphanies
        • Tiny Tower will betray you
        • Trine 2 will delight you
        • Antisocial hijinks in Saints Row: The Third
        • Sonic CD running on Retro Engine

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        Comments 37 Comments
        1. Bacon McShig's Avatar
          Bacon McShig -
          Eschewing life bars for health regen and smearing strawberry jam on the player's screens has been absolutely done to death this gen, it's more the rule than the exception. What's up with Nick talking about it like it's some fresh, new approach? I do agree I'd like to see more enemies reflect BATTLE DAMAGE ACTION rather than just absorbing millions of hits without breaking a stride then exploding into gibs when their life bar arbitrarily bottoms out.
        1. Some Stupid Japanese Name's Avatar
          Some Stupid Japanese Name -
          Don't you listen? Nick is still playing Sega CD games. To him, this shit is fresh.
        1. Nick's Avatar
          Nick -
          As I recall, we were talking about life bars, which have been around since God knows when, so the Gears approach is new by comparison. I hated it at first, but I admit that it's a perfect evolution when you have a high percentage of players that hate dying and repeating a level more than a couple of times. Just make sure there's a higher difficulty to play, too.
        1. Pineapple's Avatar
          Pineapple -
          Listened to the first 45 minutes last night, I really enjoy these and you guys do a great job! Hopefully finishing it up tonight.
        1. Rated E's Avatar
          Rated E -
          Miyamoto is so cute with that candy. I might make that my profile picture.
        1. Darmonde's Avatar
          Darmonde -
          I'd rather the audio not be split between left and right channels. Maybe if done a little bit it would work, but I listen to these at work and usually only use one side of the headphones.
        1. Nick's Avatar
          Nick -
          Thank you for listening and commenting. This episode was the only one, I think, where it ended up with that terrible mix. What I try to do is use both channels, making some participants more prominent in one than the other, but this time I had to use the group file, which was mixed like that, and I neglected to make the proper adjustment.

          I'll put up a remastered version at some point, but listen to podcast 9, which is going up tomorrow night, and tell me what you think about that approach. It'll be more like previous episodes, but a little differently mixed. (Plus, I think it's an even more entertaining show this week.)
        1. Chux's Avatar
          Chux -
          Nick, no need to be so pleasant to Darmonde, it's just Mzo's monster hunter buddy. HI JOHN!
        1. Darmonde's Avatar
          Darmonde -
          HI CHUX

          There was 1 other episode that had the split audio also, 2 or 3 back, good to know it won't be like that in the future. I play more than just monster hunter! I did listen to all these and have lively debates with Mzo about them. Generally me complaining a lot and him ignoring me.
        1. Nick's Avatar
          Nick -
          The next episode will be published on Wednesday, and will, I hope, concurrently be available on iTunes.
        1. Korian's Avatar
          Korian -
          Too many too fast. Also focusing on member's traits are inside jokes that don't expand your target audience if you really want that? It is very clickish and doesn't mean shit to new members. Set a goal and Mariccio can cheat on Monster Hunter all he wants. The podcasts are good but I don't care to hear circle jerks.
        1. Nick's Avatar
          Nick -
          We're going to keep stressing community in future podcasts. Our community is our strength. On another note, we're on the first page of Google results for "video game podcast," ahead of even iTunes.
        1. Korian's Avatar
          Korian -
          Good lookin Nick. I thought you wanted to branch out into multimedia that draws in a new audience but keep the old one?
        1. FirstBlood's Avatar
          FirstBlood -
          Quote Originally Posted by Nick View Post
          On another note, we're on the first page of Google results for "video game podcast," ahead of even iTunes.
          Not sure if serious...
        1. Chux's Avatar
          Chux -
          It was the very bottom on the first page for me.
        1. FirstBlood's Avatar
          FirstBlood -
          Open up IE (or a browser you don't use and aren't logged into google with) and let me know where it comes up. (it doesn't)
        1. Chux's Avatar
          Chux -
          hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
        1. dave is ok's Avatar
          dave is ok -
          You can hire me as an SEO consultant. I will promise you page 50 by the end of the year.
        1. Rated E's Avatar
          Rated E -
          You have to summon it with your love for TNL, the greater your love, the higher it appears on your Google search results.
        1. Darmonde's Avatar
          Darmonde -
          Disclaimer: I've never played Mass Effect, and I have a vested interest in the topic.
          I'm interested in the difference between Mass Effect on 360 and PC. When Mass Effect came up I thought it was going to be in a good way, but Chris you said that both versions were terrible for inv. I guess the conversation had moved past the 'port' part of the conversation by then?
          I've heard/read that the PC port was very well done, basically what you would want from a redone console->PC port. I know Mzo just played it on 360, maybe I'll make him try the PC one and see what he thinks.
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