[Rydog]

This week's podcast is up -- you can get it right here. Please Digg, review, and discuss!

[LiQuid]

Always the minute I get done with work. I hate you Ryan Scott!

[MCruz]

Thanks for having us on again, Rydog. That Scrabble discussion actually continued the next day on at1UP. I can't believe I'm trying to bait listeners with SCRABBLE.

[barrbarr]

Great, been waiting for this for ages

[Rydog]

Thanks for having us on again, Rydog. That Scrabble discussion actually continued the next day on at1UP. I can't believe I'm trying to bait listeners with SCRABBLE.

Scrabble is serious business!

[Valke]

The LARP documentary is called "Darkon" and I suddenly share Jade's enthusiasm for needing to see this, partially because I years ago had worked with several people who did a lot of LARPing.

[GiantAsianMan]

I'm going to work "reimpaler" into a conversation this weekend.

[Ender]

For all of you guys who have listened to the podcast already, could you post times of the Lost spoilers? I would GREATLY appreciate this, as I don't want to miss out on the conversation after the spoilers are over.

Thanks in advance.

[geronimo]

You can't "reimpale" anything. I will impale a fool if they do this in Scrabble.

[Sokkratez]

So they botched The Black Freighter. I guess I'll never watch Watchmen, then.

BTW, have any of you read Watchmensch? A parody book that came out a couple of weeks ago. Funny, and very interesting.

[Karen]

You can't "reimpale" anything. I will impale a fool if they do this in Scrabble.

I KNOW, RIGHT? NOW YOU UNDERSTAND MY WRATH.

[MCruz]

You can't "reimpale" anything. I will impale a fool if they do this in Scrabble.

I KNOW, RIGHT? NOW YOU UNDERSTAND MY WRATH.

I've made it a personal challenge to use the word "reimpaler" every day.

[Nizzleworth]

White women only.

[xQx]

I was glad to hear the conversation about 'games need to grow up' was mostly unanimous in the thought that the industry is fine the way it is. I'm not sure how much of the GDC rant actually had to do with Feminist propaganda but perhaps Karen and Jade are better judges of that. It was nice to know people who cover the games industry don't think it has growing up to do and doesn't have to appeal to the mainstream to exist.

[Sokkratez]

Pigeon feeding mini game?

[Dr Mrs The Monarch]

Hey guys, loved the podcast this week, I just want to comment on the whole chicks in video game thing. I make and play games and I'm a chick, and I agree with what Karen was saying about 'the female perspective' and about women feeling the need to make gender based observations in the game industry. Women are at a point now where shouting feminist propaganda is doing more harm then good. Of course there is still sexism in the world, but I don't think we will ever live in a world where people don't judge you on your sex or race or any of that at first glance, it's human nature to categorize and label people. So instead of complaining about how hard it is to work in a male dominated field or how unfair it is that women are portrayed a certain way in the media, we need to just get in there and work really hard to change that point of view by actually living it. It's not fair that sometimes women have to work harder to break into certain industries, but that is something we just have to overcome until things start to organically change.
As for sex in video games, well, that is an American issue, like Master Higgins was saying, but I think in a different way. Americans are pro violence and anti sex in the media. Canada and Europe are very much the opposite. They are not afraid of sex, they have nudity in there advertisements, sex is just a normal part of life. Violence however is not normal and that is why it's more shunned in those parts of the world. We are different that way, it's fine to blow guys heads off in video games or show horrible images on the 6 o'clock news, but dear god if a boob shows up on the screen you're in a world of hurt. Is that the right frame of mind, no, but it's very American.
Dear god this post is getting to long so i'll end it here. I'm by no means a writer, so sorry for my bad grammar. I just think we girls who are involved with games, weather that is playing or making them need to stop defining ourselves by our sex and our difficulties and instead by our work.

the end

[geronimo]

You can't "reimpale" anything. I will impale a fool if they do this in Scrabble.

I KNOW, RIGHT? NOW YOU UNDERSTAND MY WRATH.

Nah, reactually, I reunderstand your rewrath.

[Harry MacKenzie]

I'm falling on the side of no such thing as a "reimpaler". If you impale something twice you're still an impaler. If you're a construction worker and you build a building, tear it down and build it again you're still a construction worker and not a "reconstruction" worker.

[Ender]

If you're a construction worker and you build a building, tear it down and build it again you're still a construction worker and not a "reconstruction" worker.

Unless you were working under the policies undertaken by the U.S. government between 1863 and 1877.

I just think we girls who are involved with games, weather that is playing or making them need to stop defining ourselves by our sex and our difficulties and instead by our work.

the end

I agree with this. Not to ignore the rest of your post, but I didn't want to quote the whole thing. Speaking of issues of race and gender, how about the Nature programs that show nude African women with no qualms about exposed breasts? If any American woman were shown topless, the breasts would be censored.

The only difference I can see is that in American (and generally modern/western) culture, breasts are viewed as being highly sexually functional, rather than for the purpose of feeding a newborn child. In "third world" countries, as far as I know, this is not the majority view. This suggests that the reason for censorship rests on the purpose and ideology of the individuals in their culture. Should not, then, nudists be allowed to be viewed in all their naked glory? Not that I'm complaining about not being able to see some seventy year old man, but the point remains.

And ya, I think the idea of violence being more acceptable than sex is ridiculous.

[Dr Mrs The Monarch]

i remember reading this study that some parents against video games group did, and it showed that parents or more against a scene in a game where two characters are having sex then a graphic scene of a person being beheaded in a game. of course, the thing the parents where most upset with was the idea of of having a main character in a game be gay.

god i can't wait till our generation is running the show. hopefully we wont have so many small minded insane parents out there getting all pissed of that a game, rated M mind you, has some adult themes with it.

[MCruz]

I'm falling on the side of no such thing as a "reimpaler". If you impale something twice you're still an impaler. If you're a construction worker and you build a building, tear it down and build it again you're still a construction worker and not a "reconstruction" worker.

...BUT you are a rebuilder. I kid. The official Scrabble dictionary would not allow it. Even though the prefix "re-" can be used with many verbs; the combination of "re-" and a verb does not mean the word can be used in Scrabble play.

I guess the issue is of prefixes and suffixes -- "impaler" is allowed, but the word is no longer a verb. It's a noun. If Patrick had added the "re" to "impale" first, he would have been in the right; and then Karen would not have been able to add "-er".

SCRABBLE!!!!!!!!

[Lombaszko]

[darkinfero]

A lot of men always have that one wish to at least date a specific female of a different ethnic background. Throughout my whole life, I grew up in the urban parts of NYC. Harlem, South Bronx, Brooklyn, etc. Through my late High School & early College days, I dated many different African American & Latino girls. All of them were great & only a select few would end up being relationship material but in the end, it would fall apart for one reason or another.

I don't really know what it is about Asian women but all I know is that ever since I was 16, I wanted to date one BADLY. I took a shot at quite a few & got shot down every time or simply was not interested in them anymore. The NY ones are really high maintenance that it made it impossible for me to keep up with there " standards " & expectations of a man. I am not a bad looking guy at all even if I am a geek. I don't have the stereotyped appearance of one anyways. I did grow up in the Ghetto so that urban dress style has stood with me to this day.





As I mentioned, every Asian girl that I approached & dated never worked out in the end. In 2001 though, I met another Asian girl named Sarah. She was no one of importance for awhile though. I never really knew her outside of playing games online with. In early 2004 though, all that would change. She started to hit on me which surprised me a great deal. She pretty much knew everything about me. From failed relationships to my bad boy ways. Still she saw something in me. We dated for a bit & we got together in July of 04.

To shorten it all up, we've been together for almost 5 years now & we are engaged. July 9th will be five years officially. In the beginning of it all, I thought she just wanted to be with me as a pity relationship. Since I had an uber failure rate with Asian women prior to her. She has greatly proven my initial thoughts wrong. Which makes me happy. She turned my life around a great deal. Making me into a much better person all around. She took the bad boy out of me but leaving the bad boy look intact. She likes that look =P. Some Pics!!







I still don't know what it is about Asian girls. They have something about them that just drive some men wild. I know it does for me but now that I have one that I love more than anything in the world, I am living my dream =).

-LatinLegacy

I know what you mean man I'm a Latino also. I have the same problem with asian girls
Good luck with everything and the 5 years

[Master Higgins]

GETITAWAYGETITAWAYGETITAWAY!!!!!

[deadairis]

All right, let's be clear:
I also advocate reimpalers, the obvious end point of reimpaling anything.
Just to restate that.
Except of course according to Scrabble, I can't restate anything, only state it. Or can I restate things in Scrabble? Even if I just mean English Scrabble? There is no way to know without checking a Scrabble dictionary.

Madness! Remadnessers!

[Karen]

All right, let's be clear:
I also advocate reimpalers, the obvious end point of reimpaling anything.
Just to restate that.
Except of course according to Scrabble, I can't restate anything, only state it. Or can I restate things in Scrabble? Even if I just mean English Scrabble? There is no way to know without checking a Scrabble dictionary.

Madness! Remadnessers!

You have bad Scrabbiquette.
We don't want no stinky Reimpalers here! Shoo!

[LarryC]

I'd like to also comment a bit on the topic of maturity in video games and comics and the state of the videogame and comic industry.

To start, I'm going to rub all the bruised egos of gamers and developers out there - the comment is obviously hopelessly general. Comics like Calvin and Hobbes are in no way immature, and in many ways can only be understood and appreciated by a well-educated adult. The very title itself sets the tone (for those who don't know, both Calvin and Hobbes are the names of important philosophers).

Having soothed collective gamer egos, allow me to present my full opinion. The woman has a point.

Not all American comics are meant for children. See Calvin and Hobbes and Peanut (and similar comics) for demonstration of that. However, when most laymen think of the phrase "comic books" as a consumer product, they think of superhero comic books, and sad to say, that particular genre of comics has yet to break free from what Chaplin terms "male power fantasies."

Karen Chu talks about how comics in France, Italy, and most notably Japan have always been mainstream. This is probably because the most influential mangaka in the early days of manga is Ozamu Tezuka, and among other things, his landmark works include Treasure Island, Astro Boy, and Buddha, none of which are really aimed at the below-13 demographic.

In its early days, manga rapidly took grew and following Tezuka, mangaka in his wake expanded the genre of shonen manga - the kind usually IS aimed at young and adolescent boys, and the style of these manga were very cinematic and dynamic - a property for which the style is known the world over. While these lent themselves excellently to the usual superhero male power fantasy, in due course, women also grew to want such fiction and the shojo manga was born, sometimes borrowing heavily from stylistic elements founded in shonen manga, but sometimes also veering heavily towards fashion-mag oriented styles (which I positively abhor).

The thing to note here is that, as Karen observes, the originator of the manga body did not limit his scope to any one demographic, but tackled works that superceded such classification. Aside from opening the work body to all manner of content, it also ensured that even in-genre, most Japanese manga have a variety of styles, themes, and content. Hikaru-no-Go is shonen manga, but it has no violence to speak of, no nudity, no mecha, no guns, nothing that's usually expected of superhero comics meant for boys in the US.

For those not in the know, "Hikaru-no-Go" is translated as "Hikaru's Go" where Hikaru is the name of the protagonist and Go is well, Go - "Chinese Chess," as it's dubbed. You would think that a comic about chess would be hopelessly mindnumbing, but it's intense, exciting, and has singlehandedly reinvigorated interest in the ancient game throughout the East Asian hemisphere.

I'm thinking, why is it that American comic books (meant for boys) do not have this range of topic and this maturity in frame syntax and content? The most seminal work (supposedly), "The Watchmen," in this genre does not truly reinvent and recreate the genre, but simply is a commentary on the industry - mere satire at best. Sure, it inspired a bunch of copycats copying all the wrong things, but that could be seen as much as positive as it is a negative. In terms of the purpose of its satire - it failed.

This is not to say that American comics and videogames as a whole are hopelessly juvenile. (Covering my ass here) In fact, I'm thrilled at the absolute flood of top-notch content that's being made by American authors, most of which are more worthy of publication that the Nth iteration of Batman. I'm talking here about comics like Order of the Stick, Penny Arcade, and other such web-based authorships. The humor is sophisticated but accessible, and the styles of the best authors are riveting with stamps of individuality.

Venturing into videogames, I don't think one can charge the Mario franchise of being unfair to women, or juvenile. In fact, when Mario gets called upon to rescue Princess Peach, it's kind of assumed that the Koopa forces and the Mushroom Kingdom were already at war - so Bowser's real archenemy isn't Mario - it's Peach! Peach was waging incessant war on his forces and was apparently so good at it that she needed to be eliminated.

Certainly, she proves her mettle in Mario Bros. 2 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Games like Gradius, Twinbee and Mappy are notably gender-neutral, and the protagonist of one of the most beloved franchises of all time - Samus - is a gun-toting girl gendarme.

I believe the woman gets her impressions from the over-hyped content of shooter and brawler games that have recently been coming out on the HD consoles. I don't believe she can fault Wii Fit (the top selling game last year?) for being immature or a male power fantasy. For that matter, I find it hard to fault MarioKart Wii or Wii Play or Wii Sports Resort along the same lines.

When she says that rant, she's talking about a very specific portion of the industry - games like Gears of War and Halo. While we're not really entirely sure Master Chief really is a guy, she does have a point. At some point in Gears of War, the sickening amount of pointless machismo just gets to you, and you just want to tune out all the unskippable cut scenes featuring steroid-chugging men. The travesty of Bomberman Zero just drives home the point that all this hyper-marketed steroid-inspired modification, even of specific genres, is hurting the industry.

Comparatively, the DS has a very balanced library of games (I don't think Chaplin owns one) that appeal to a broad range of gamers. One can only hope that the Wii is headed the same way.

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