GWJ Conference Call Episode 89
Metal Gear Solid 4, Video Game Buy In, An Interview With John Carmack, A Missive From The District 97, Your Emails and more!

(A Sneaky 54.8megs, 1:59:45)
We're very pleased this week to have an interview with John Carmack! Sadly, he doesn't give us much on Rage, but saves the real rage for patent trolls and the influx of lawyers into the videogame business. The rest of the time we talk about Metal Gear Solid 4, buying into games and your sweet, tender emails.
To contact us, email ! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.
Links
Metal Gear Solid 4
Age of Conan
id Software
Fireball Island
Steam Community
Music Credits:
Intro/Outro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks
"Carving Away Stone" Ian Dorsch - 0:41:54
"Washaway" Ian Dorsch - 1:06:26
"Los Pistoleros" Ian Dorsch - 1:38:17



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Interview with JC...
...wow!
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
This appeared in the games section of the forums for me.
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
Yup. I see it too! Ninja fix!
XBL / Art / Blog (09/20) / Buy! (10/07)
You always make the emails sound more erotic than they are.
http://twitter.com/Primosis
Same!
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
John Carmack? Really?
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
In for John Carmack : O
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Certis beat me to it. - Elysium
Daaaaaaaaaamn. Talking to John Carmack? Way pimpin, Mr. Murdoch.
I was pretty surprised to learn that Carmack agreed to an interview. I've always seen him as very shy and the kind to move away from a public role. He's adorably geeky.
"Nazis? More like Not-zis!"
"Ninjas? More like Non-jas!"
"Personally I'm looking forward to buying a PC with a 128 core processor integrated with 32tb of memory in about 10 years time. Shortly there after Will Wright's Spore 3 will become self aware and annihilate humanity in a nuclear holocaust."
Always a pleasure listening to Carmack. I have huge respect for him and his views on these matters closely reflect my own. And Rabbit, sneaking in a Doom 3 is dark bit, ballsy!
Computers don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose. By now your name and particulars have been fed into every laptop, desktop, mainframe and supermarket scanner that collectively make up the global information conspiracy.
-- Dale Gribble
Interesting points on the game buy-in thing. I think whoever it was that said it's a gut feeling is right: a lot of what passes for discussion about games is really just retroactive justification of how we feel about a game, IMHO. We decide up front whether we like a game, then view the rest of the game through that filter.
*Watches the site's traffic increase several fold*
I liked the segment were Rob dragged you all over to the dark side... Rob leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering...
I never really enjoy a game based on one mechanic. It gets old too fast for me. Games that i enjoy tend to have an overall goodness. Which means i often enjoy average games where the gameplay is okay, the story is okay and the graphics are okay. If just one aspect is good i still won't enjoy it. Speaking of Dark Messiah, i liked that game - the combat system was (and still is) pretty evolutionary for FPS games and i'd love for the next elder scrolls to integrate that mechanic with a more full magic-focused system as seen in Morrowind.
A blog: by me!
EGGmen - A European gaming blog *Now with added podcast!*
I was surprised he took the interview too. I think the PR person from iD was as well. I think I hit his hot-button issue. He was indeed a lot of fun to chat with.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
Dibs on the sixth seat at GenCon. Called it.
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
All I know is casting in Morrowind sucked balls. They improved big time in Oblivion and I think its only up from there.
*Legion* wrote:
PSN: BoogleGWJ
I knew it. Rob holds the path to the dark side.
Great job landing Carmack, Rabbit! You guys never fail to impress.
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago
F*cking awesome, you guys.
Xbox Live: CrankyBaby
baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.
The talk of MGS 4 being frustrating doesn't give me hope that I'll enjoy it as much as I did the last three.
Yet even then we ran like the wind,
whilst our laughter echoed under cerulean skies...
Was that a Flight Simulator mention I heard?
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
BEST. INTERVIEW. EVER.
I've already pulled the Wife Card and nabbed that seat.
My ongoing D&D campaign, Gaald, Certis and Trachalio playing
Carmack rules. Way to go rabbit! Great interview!
Bear wrote:
Xbox Live: TheWalt2
OK, so that's some pretty extensive paraphrase action. But seriously, check out MGS4. If you liked the other three, you'll like this one, too.
Broadcast Gamer -- Yet Another Weekly Gaming Podcast
I'm only halfway through the podcast, and I've heard Rabbit mention FS like three or four times.
At least I think it was three or four. Between FS, Bioshock and Rob Rage, things began to look all... bendy.
L337 is not a word. BA7F is a word.
PSN name: DoubtingTom396 Frie-hend meeeee uuuuup!
D'oh! Fine then. I call dibs on party bard. I'll stay on the sidelines with my fellow minstrels and sing tales of your feats.
Bravely brave Sir Robin ...
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
Dammit, "caliphate" was my drinking word today.
Edit: And I played Fireball Island and I enjoyed it every time. Mind you, I was six when it came out.
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
Regarding the load times in MGS4: Was anyone else actually annoyed by this? Load times between areas are about six to seven seconds each, and it usually takes me about ten minutes to get through an area without being seen. The hard drive installation complaint is more credible, but I've had to accept this as par for the course with PS3 games, since the read speed on the Blu-ray drive is so slow. Fortunately, the install isn't as lengthy as with some other PS3 games, most notably DMC4; and I'm not sure we currently have the technology to allow for real-time streaming of textures and character models that are this detailed and this high-res.
Come to think of it, it's a shame you guys never got around to discussing the graphical detail on display here. On my Bravia, this is easily the best-looking game I've ever seen. Some of the cutscenes in particular have had me wondering why Konami's bothering with a live-action MGS movie when this looks just as good.
Broadcast Gamer -- Yet Another Weekly Gaming Podcast
Incidentally, "Ohhhhh, those were the best spikes" is now my favorite quote from this podcast.
Broadcast Gamer -- Yet Another Weekly Gaming Podcast
It's been pretty well covered in the threads devoted to the game, but Rob couldn't be more wrong about MGS4.
XBL/PSN: zeroKFE | BHA: zeroKFE
Loading between areas does not bother me much because I tend to take my time, however, it does become annoying during the vehicle sequences. Since they tend to go through the areas pretty quick and it fair to say that the game ramps up the action, seeing a loading screen every other min really kind of ruins the moment. It's like watching an action movie and hitting pause every min for 10 sec... sure, stuff still blowing up but some how it losses it's impact.
Yep, agree!
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ