Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom debuted on HBO last night. As a fan of Sorkin’s writing, I loved the first episode. It was full of the witty and snappy dialogue that he’s known for. The show also reminded me of several discussions we’ve had about the news — particularly broadcast news. Whether it was on here or on G4tv.com, I recall several instances of discussing with y’all what television news reporting was and what it has become.
For most of television history, the news was about reporting facts and putting them in context for the viewers. I suppose that’s still the case, but networks like Fox News and MSNBC have taken a more heavy-handed approach to contextualizing news, sometimes (often?) to the point where the facts are misrepresented. Back in the day, nightly news shows were a service and more often than not lost money for networks. These days, they’re profit-driven and agendas are often shaped by advertisers.
One of the themes in The Newsroom is taking the news back. The characters in the show want to make a modern news program with old-school sensibilities. The show’s protagonist laments that people choose the facts they want to hear these days, not just the opinions. Isn’t it funny that it takes a fictional news show to make things “right”? Has news reporting gotten so biased that the idea of a mainstream news program that’s balanced seem unbelievable? Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I think the days of broadcast news defined by people like Edward Murrow, Walter Kronkite, and Dan Rather are gone forever.
Anyway, I thought this would be a great time to discuss The Newsroom and broadcast news in general. More importantly, do you think The Newsroom will take a turn for the worse when Olivia Munn’s character debuts next week?
The French Open recently finished and Wimbledon kicks off today. In the span of a month, the two most prestigious tournaments in the sport take place. This is the best time of the year to be a tennis fan. Naturally, as a videogame nerd I’ve been thinking about my favorite tennis videogames. As a huge fan of the sport and…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Victor Ortiz being a quitter, dramatic encounters with an ex, or Thai Airways’ amazing service, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The French Open recently finished and Wimbledon kicks off today. In the span of a month, the two most prestigious tournaments in the sport take place. This is the best time of the year to be a tennis fan. Naturally, as a videogame nerd I’ve been thinking about my favorite tennis videogames. As a huge fan of the sport and someone that played the game fervently in high school, I pretty much love all tennis videogames.
That said, there are two that hold a special place in my heart. Virtua Tennis for Dreamcast was critically acclaimed and I loved it. It was especially fun since so many of my friends were into the game and wanted to play multiplayer. However, Mario Tennis 64 was the better — and surprisingly more accurate — game. As a videogame, it was just more fun. As a pseudo-simulation, it allowed you to do more things with the ball in terms of spin and angles. To this day, Mario Tennis 64 is my all-time favorite tennis videogame.
How about you? What are some of your favorite tennis videogames?
Salt Fresh Multi-Vitamin Colgate — this is what happens when you’re not paying attention to what you’re buying in a Thai Family Mart. I needed toothpaste. I know the Colgate brand. The box was shiny. Ergo, I made the purchase. Had I been paying closer attention, I would never have bought this vile (so-called) toothpaste. It was the strangest thing I put in my mouth since that time in Cabo when…uhm, never mind that. This toothpaste is gross! Salt?!? Really?!? I want to meet the genius that said, “Hey, know what we should do? Let’s make a toothpaste with a shockingly strong and salty flavor. The people will love it!”
Please let my experience be a warning for all of you. Never buy Salt Fresh Multi-Vitamin Colgate. This is probably the best advice I’ve given in years.
Howdy guys and dolls! Your friendly-neighborhood verbal-entertainer is back in America and it’s back to your irregularly scheduled programming. Thanks for posting comments while I was away. Special thanks to those of you that humored me in the RPad.TV Google Messenger group while I was in Asia Town(s). It was a pretty emotional trip and I’m probably going to be wonky for a few weeks. I know that one of you is on a “finding my smile” trip and I completely empathize; I could use one of those. Hopefully the rest of you are doing well. I’m happy to be back and looking forward to enjoying your company once again. Now let’s get to it!!!
So yeah, there I was at the Wedbush Securities E3 2012 party (aka Pachter-Palooza) when this guy introduces himself to me. At first, I was disarmed by his shockingly low and booming voice. Two seconds later, I noticed his name tag said “JetBlue”, so I asked, “So, JetBlue…. What brings you to a videogame party?”…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, seeing friends in Asia for (possibly) the last time, whether meeting your ex at a club you frequented together is a good idea, or the brilliance of Singaporean food stalls, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Please humor me as I share my favorite story from E3 2012. It’s not directly related to videogames, but it involves a prominent person in the business that many of you are familiar with. Now where’s that flashback transition??? (Imagine your own.)
So yeah, there I was at the Wedbush Securities E3 2012 party (aka Pachter-Palooza) when this guy introduces himself to me. At first, I was disarmed by his shockingly low and booming voice. Two seconds later, I noticed his name tag said “JetBlue”, so I asked, “So JetBlue…. What brings you to a videogame party?” To which he replied:
I’m a JetBlue flight attendant and I do the safety announcements on the flights. Michael Pachter was on one of my flights and he pulled me over and said, “You’re wasting your life on this airplane.” He invited me to this party and said he’d introduce me to some people to help me get into voice acting for games.
Now picture the above said by a god. I’m not talking about God god, but I’m not talking about crap gods either (Jeff god of biscuits, Simon god of hairdos, etc.). This man, Clint, spoke like a top-tier god. I’m talking Zeus, Odin, and cats like that. His voice was amazing.
What was more amazing (to me, anyway), was that Pachter took the time to chat with this fellow, invite him to a party attended by some gaming industry VIPs, and personally take him around to make connections (I saw him do this). Pachter is a pretty big deal in videogames and flight attendants…are not exactly adored. I thought it was cool, awesome, and touching that Pachter did so much for this random flight attendant.
In New York and (especially) Los Angeles, I’ve heard so many people say that they’re going to hook people up or help people out. Most of the time it’s just hot air. Seeing what Michael did for Clint was refreshing. It made me feel better about people. The big guy was actually helping out the little guy! And I believe the intentions were pure and simple too. The tale of Michael Pachter and the JetBlue guy is a beautiful story and my favorite from E3 2012.
I totally forgot to post this link before E3 2012. Oops. If you have time, please check out my Minecraft (XBLA) review for Machinima.com. The game can be a blast if you’re into Minecraft’s particular type of wash-rinse-repeat gameplay. It’s truly one of those “you get what you put into it” games. Now here’s the part where I quote myself (several years later, it’s still funny to me):
Although it lacks some of the features and complexity of the PC version, the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft stands up on its own. The addictive core gameplay of hunting, gathering, and building is intact, with streamlined crafting and multiplayer that make the console version unique. It’s definitely not a game for people with short attention spans or addictions to hyper-violence. If you have the patience and enjoying creating more than destroying then Minecraft is one of the most gratifying downloadable games you can buy for Xbox 360.
So yeah! Please check out the review and leave a comment if you have the time.
A few weeks ago on Google+ Messenger, I asked a few of you if you had any interest in building an RPad.TV Minecraft world. You still down?
Wargaming.net is blowing up thanks to the massive success of World of Tanks. RPad.TV’s Justin Leeper caught up with Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi to talk about the company’s phenomenal growth, learn about the next World of Tanks update, and get details on the upcoming World of Warplanes.
Now that we’ve all had some time to rest, recover, and reflect, let’s talk about what impressed you at E3 2012! I’m going to use today’s column to discuss a few of my favorite things from E3 2012, which makes this edition the nerd equivalent or raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Exploring the show alone is…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Tim Bradley getting a highly questionable decision over Manny Pacquiao, the dastardly Rafael Nadal winning his seventh French Open, or the dangers of your favorite ramen place opening a shop that’s close to you, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Now that we’ve all had some time to rest, recover, and reflect, let’s talk about what impressed you at E3 2012! I’m going to use today’s column to discuss a few of my favorite things from E3 2012, which makes this edition the nerd equivalent of raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Exploring the show alone is way different than doing it as part of a large editorial team, so there are a lot of things that I missed (and several that I ignored). There are also things that played better to you guys at home/work than it did to me at the show. I want to hear all about that stuff too. Please leave a comment below on what E3 2012 games and happenings impressed you. I’ll kick things off with….
1) The Unfinished Swan: I love this game so much. It’s clever and inventive. It’s difficult to explain, so please check out the video below and let me know if you have any questions about it. If I could make out with a game, I’d make out with The Unfinished Swan (I’m not really sure what the means). It was easily my favorite game of the show.
2) Dishonored: This game is getting a ton of buzz and all of it is deserved. The dev team is being headed up by the excellent Harvey Smith, so it’s no surprise that it looks and feels like a steampunk Deus Ex. With its cerebral stealth-action and RPG elements, I expect this game to be critically acclaimed. Check out the video interview here.
3) Beyond: Two Souls: Most of you know that I’m a big fan of Quantic Dream. I loved Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain. I’m totally sold on Beyond. If Quantic Dream makes it, I’ll buy it.
4) Razer BlackShark: When I first saw this headset’s press shots, I was totally into it. When I saw it in person and tried it on at the show, I knew I must have it. It just looks cool. When the PR rep mentioned that the mic was detachable, I said, “Screw that! I’m going to leave it on all the time.” I’m going to wear it in public and sing “Space Oddity” dozens of times. It will be amusing (t0 me) for at least the first 100. “This is ground control to Major Tom.” Check out the Razer BlackShark in the video below.
5) The Last of Us: I was surprised by how much this game grabbed me. I think Uncharted is a great series; I know why it’s good and I know why millions of gamers love it. That said, it didn’t resonate with me. The Last of Us has several Uncharted elements, but I’m more intrigued by the former’s character dynamics and story. Naughty Dog is a fantastic developer and I expect another top-notch game, only this time I think I’ll dig it on a personal level.
6) Prom Week: One of my friends from Sony told me to check out this game at the IndieCade booth. I’m so happy I did. It looks like a cute and simple Facebook game, but there’s a lot going on under the hood. It’s fun to play the game’s different scenarios, but I could spend hours making the high-school kids in Prom Week interact in my fishbowl of behavioral psychology. Check it out here when you have a moment.
7) AIAS Music Performances: One of my favorite things to do between E3 appointments is pester my friend Debby from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. That’s usually more than enough to enjoyably kill a few minutes between meetings, but the AIAS had fine musicians in the house! Taylor Davis, Kyle Landry, and Lara Dewit played some excellent videogame music with keyboards and violins. The Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda selections were my favorites. Naturally, everyone loved the Super Mario Bros. selections. Check out the clip below.
8) Pachter-Palooza: Of course there were plenty of great parties at E3 2012. My favorite was the Wedbush Securities bash, which I refer to as Pachter-Palooza. It’s just a fun event with some really important people and a handful of idiots (like me). My favorite story of the show had to do with someone I met at this party. It was just a cool and touching thing…that I’ll tell you all about in the next Coffee Talk.
9) Square Enix: Let’s get the bad part out of the way — my Square Enix appointment was a total bomb that resulted in zero video interviews. That was annoying as hell. That said, I was really impressed with the company’s lineup and surprised that it didn’t get more attention. Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Quantum Conundrum, Final Fantasy Dimensions (job system!!!), and Hitman were just some of the sweet games on display. Out of all the third-party publishers, Ubi Soft was getting the most attention (a lot of it deserved and some of it not). Square Enix should have gotten more love from the press.
10) The Peeps: The best part of E3 2012 — and really any E3 — is seeing old colleagues, strengthening bonds, and meeting new people. It was fun working on E3 videos with my excellent friend Justin. I super-enjoyed spending time with my pal Emily. I see Paul all the time, but it was cool to experience E3 with him. Perrin is still my Turkish princess. It was cool meeting Kevin after exchanging dozens of emails with him. I miss living with Ted in San Francisco. My friend Brad flies in from Japan for several videogame events and it’s always awesome to see him. I dressed as my friend Nathan for the Sony press conference (he has a uniform of sorts). Also, Tina-nana!!! I could go on for a few thousand words, but I’ll stop there.
Now it’s your turn! What were your favorite E3 2012 games and happenings?
One of my E3 2012 surprises was NBA Baller Beats. This unique music-rhythm game for Xbox 360 Kinect is controlled with a basketball. Some of my colleagues thought it was a clever title, while others thought it was a bit silly. Personally, I love the idea of a DDR-type game controlled with a basketball. Check out the video below to get more info on NBA Baller Beats and see actual people playing it. When you’re done seeing the game in action, please let me know if this is something you’d be interested in playing.
The chilling frights and visceral action of Doom III are being taken to a new level in Doom III BFG Edition. This bundle packs the first three Doom games, 3D content, new levels, and more. RPad.TV’s Justin Leeper gets the scoop from Bethesda’s David Clayman in this video interview. Find out what’s new, what’s improved, and what’s included in Doom III BFG Edition.
