GeekNights 080610 - Super Dodgeball

Apreche

Tonight on GeekNights we reminisce about Super Dodgeball, old and new. In the news, the new iPhone has games, Soul Calibur is dead, and WoW might be adding achievements.

Scott's Thing - Come Out & Play
Rym's Thing - Dino Run

Calcaneus

How is having the Star Wars characters killing Soul Calibur? Yeah, its pretty goofy, but goofy is another word for Soul Calibur. And the US covers look pretty much like the SC2 covers, with the guest character sharing space with two regular characters.

Sail

For me, it's because Star Wars doesn't fit into the world or aesthetic at all. While Link was a perfect match, Darth and Yoda just don't look the part. And I don't know what Soul Caliber you were playing, but it never struck me as goofy at all.

Erwin

I only care about the gameplay. I mean, SC for the Gamecube had Link. How is that different from Darth Vader or Yoda? By the way, the Daver vs Mitsurugi cover is pretty awesome.

Calcaneus

For me, it's because Star Wars doesn't fit into the world or aesthetic at all. While Link was a perfect match, Darth and Yoda just don't look the part. And I don't know what Soul Caliber you were playing, but it never struck me as goofy at all.

I don't know, while I love the game, but I always found the non-human characters to be a bit ugly. In the more recent games, the female characters are going deeper DOA mode with the T&A; and that's not helping matters.

Viga

I have to admit. I don't like the Star Wars with the SC. It doesn't fit for me. I haven't played it yet so that's my only opinion so far.

Andrew

Li_Akahi

This is really old news.

Viga

I'm trying to hook my NES to play Super Dodgeball because this episode was a catalyst for me wanting to play it. Unfortunately it's dead. Wah!

MitchyD

Is Dodgeball online? If so, we need designated Dodgeballing days.

Li_Akahi

Man, I want that new Super Dodgeball.

Eryn

Is it possible to add an option to the poll that says: "No: I'm not interested in WoW regardless of levels."?

Kate Monster

I cannot vote in this pole as there is no option that suits. "No, I do not play WoW and no such change would make the game any more or less enticing to me."

Apreche

Ugh... This polling thing sucks. Apparently adding a question to the poll resets all the voting results. Teh suck.

Li_Akahi

Can you reset the poll?

Apreche

Can you reset the poll?

Why would I want to reset it again? I just reset it by accident!

lackofcheese

Nono, you reset it but new votes aren't being accepted, at least from me.

Li_Akahi

Nono, you reset it but new votes aren't being accepted, at least from me.

Same.

Apreche

Try now.

Li_Akahi

I'm having issues downloading this episode from iTunes (error message -39, if that helps at all).

Apreche

I'm having issues downloading this episode from iTunes (error message -39, if that helps at all).

Everything is working. The problem is all yours.

jcc

Rym: "I'll tell you a little bit about IBM's corporate culture..."

Did you sing the song?

Railith

The problem with automatically setting a level and equipment in WoW is you bypass the adventuring part of the game. Now if you started at level one and had to complete five quest to go to the next dungeon then it would be interesting. The quest would not be the "kill 20 boars kind" but the "you and several npcs storm an outpost and take it over" kind. The gear you would get from quest would be purely cosmetic so it doesn't matter what you have. Grinding and time sinks are terrible, but the rest of the game is awesome.

Rym

Did you singthe song?

Heh... I was at a level above having to deal with any "teambuilding" or anything like that. We were a specialist team, which was exempt from everything lame.

Andrew

Heh... I was at a level above having to deal with any "teambuilding" or anything like that. We were a specialist team, which was exempt from everything lame.

Do they still have a coat and tie dress code?

Koholint

It sounds like Rym would enjoy playing on a private WoW server. There are many that let you change your level and stats and such.

Coldguy

I had agility ball in middle school. It is my school "twist" on it was:

2 teams of 10 people or more
1 basketball court
Balls in middle to start, no one can cross the center court line
3 yellow jerseys can go across the center line, but not the opposing foul line
1 red jersey can make the "shot of destiny" where they have to make a shot on the side baskets, if it goes in team is saved and everyone comes back, if it misses then opposing team is saved and everyone comes back
if you can make the basket on the other end of the court, your team is saved and everyone is back in
Red jersey is 3 points
Yellow jersey is 5 points
team with lowest point (the least amount of people eliminated) wins the game
5 games per round
3 rounds per event
2/3 rounds get you the winner

Who wants to play?

Mankoon

Soul Caliber is now poop. It was never in my radar until SC2 but I always considered it a masher. I never really had to think in battle to beat someone in that game unless were really really good. Now it seems even the developers have no hope for it as they need to add more T&A( like D.O.A), destructible clothing ( like battle raper) and Star Wars characters. Then they put those Star Wars characters on the front of the Box like if they are selling kid's cereal, not their respectable IP. I was always a Tekken fan but i feel bad for the fans of Soul Caliber.

Apreche

always considered it a masher

Soul Calibur is not a masher, but I can see why you think it would be. The magic of Soul Calibur, and what makes SC2 the best 3d fighting game ever, is that the controls are intuitive. In a game like Tekken or Street Fighter you have to learn and memorize moves. The hadoken might be second nature to us, but it is by no means something that someone with no fighting game experience will intuitively pick up. The mechanics of horizontal, vertical, block, and kick make controls intuitive. In one sense you are mashing because you don't need to think a great deal about the controls themselves, but in another sense you are not mashing because you do have to think about the flow of the fight on screen. The moves your character perform actually make sense in the context of what buttons you are pressing. I really haven't encountered any other fighting game that can say that.

Mankoon

The moves your character perform actually make sense in the context of what buttons you are pressing. I really haven't encountered any other fighting game that can say that.

I haven't played Soul Caliber in a while but this is true in Tekken. In Tekken the buttons directly correspond to your left and right hand and foot. Square and Triangle are both punches. Square is your left hand, Triangle is your right hand. X and O are both your kicks. X is your left foot and O is your right foot. So these moves do make sense in the context of the buttons being pressed.
I'd also like to say that although I've always looked down at SC because I considered it a masher, that doesn't make it bad. I shouldn't look down on a game because it's an easy gateway fighter. It's a lower tier fighter and I think this is the reason for all these strange new directions for it. They are trying to tell a wider market to play the game. They want the Star Wars fan's attention and they want all the Booby fan's attention. It won't be hard for these crowds to pick up this type of game but essentially they are still destroying their IP and scorning their current fan base. It's almost like a suicide move since I think neither the Star wars fans nor the Booby people are going to grow their interest's further into Soul Caliber. I guess they could, but you can always get boobs and Star Wars stuff somewhere else.

Apreche

Square is your left hand, Triangle is your right hand. X and O are both your kicks. X is your left foot and O is your right foot. So these moves do make sense in the context of the buttons being pressed.

While that makes sense, I think it says a lot about Tekken that despite playing the game numerous times, I never realized that.