Qt3 Games Podcast: Strangeloved

Posted by on March 29, 2012 in Game Podcasts

On this week’s podcast, we take film restoration technician Seth Berkowitz to task for defacing Dr. Strangelove. Then we derail into some movie talk that ranges from Citizen Kane to Chelan Simmons. In case you’re not familiar, Citizen Kane is an old timey movie by Orville Welles and Chelan Simmons is one of the stars of Chupacabra Terror. And since we finally have an assembly of three people who’ve finished Mass Effect 3, we variously offer our two cents on the ending (but only after a spoiler warning that will tell you exactly how far to fast-forward to avoid spoilers).

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  • Slumberland

    I started getting very nervous when discussing the end of Mass Effect 3, but the point I was trying to make by saying that “sometimes the best thing you can get is what you didn’t know you wanted” is that the groundswell of complaint is due to certain odd and inexplicable elements of the ending as it stands. Had it been a downer and yet awesome, I think you’d see a very different reaction. Lots of gaming press (like the recent round table that included Sessler over at Vox) seems fixated on people’s desire for something happier, but I think that’s just a fallback position.

    Ask me what I ‘wanted’ from the end of Red Dead Redemption before I got there, I’d probably have said to triumph over my enemies and earn John a happy life. What transpired was a million times better, so what I wanted becomes moot.

  • RedHerb

    Great movie podcast!

    Loved the discussion on the problems you guys face with film restoration. When you brought up the possibility of removing the wires from the plane shots, my first thought, was “Well of course you would remove them! Who wants to see a bunch of silly belief-suspending wires!” I was glad to hear you guys talk otherwise because it was a really interesting discussion.

    I almost liked Friends with kids, I started off liking it but i think was let down by promising cast . Whatever accent Chris Dowd was trying to do, ye gods it was awful :)

  • Alex Mayo

    Yikes – for a second there I thought McMaster was alluding to this John Ringo: 

    http://www.baen.com/chapters/W200510/1416509054.htm …phew…

  • roberdjp

    No mention of Dangerous Toys in the famous name discussion, Jason?  STICK TO YOUR STORY

  • Nathan5

    What’s an Elcor? $10, same as in town.

    Also, Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin sing in Paint Your Wagon, which I haven’t seen in a long time but I remember kind of liking.

  • tomchick

    Yeah, I totally got what you were saying, Seth.  And I do think it’s missing the point by assuming the ending being a downer is the source of the fan frustration.  I get the sense a lot of fans just wanted more closure and resolution to specific story arcs.  A sort of recap with a series of definitive “where are they now” conclusions.

    Which I what the game offered as a whole, even if the finale didn’t.

  • tomchick

    Ah, yes, that’s the movie I was thinking of!  Thanks Nathan.  And I’m totally going to steal that Elcor line some day.

  • luke

    Tom, you mentioned that you were turned on to Waking Mars by the Lucasarts fellow from GDC. Do you know if or when an official write-up of your GDC panel will be posted by Gamasutra or one of its peers? I feel like I missed a lot of details when you did your podcast summary. At least you reported that great line about how game developers should be giving players what they need, and not always what they want.

    I won’t let myself get excited for the Jetpack Joyride content update next week until I find out that the new, gameplay-affecting gadgets won’t be hidden behind a wall of grinding or paying for currency. The grind killed the base game for me.

  • tomchick

    Unfortunately, I don’t think the recordings of the GDC panels are made available to anyone who wasn’t a speaker at GDC. :( And I share your reservations about the Jetpack Joyride content. Those guys are too smart not to try to monetize their new gadgets. :)

  • http://twitter.com/sevendemonbag Greg Ambrose

    It’s good that you have a sense of humor about the name Seth, because if I had been on the podcast I probably wouldn’t have been able to resist asking you if a dog told you what your game of the week pick was.

    Speaking of name humor (because who can get enough of that), when I did the podcast I had intended to ask Jason if he ever wished he had a butler, so that he would call Jason “Master McMaster.” OK, maybe it’s just as well I forgot to ask that.

    - Pogue

  • George_Moyer

    Great show! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts.
    Just posting to ask for a link to Seth’s music.

  • tomchick

    Very cool of you to say that, George! Thanks!

    You can find Seth’s music on the website for his band, Lucky Ghost. The url is luckyghost.com and his albums are all 100% free.

  • http://burningends.blogspot.com/ Bernard Dy

    You guys are doing a great job, I too really enjoy the podcasts. Seems like after each one I end up with a big list of recommendations of games, movies, and music to go look up. And thanks for the links to Lucky Ghost’s music, I really liked some of those songs. What a talented guy Seth is!