Tag Archives: uncharted

E3 2014 & The State of Video Games

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Tony Gao returns for another round of E3 discussion! We discuss our issues with the bombastic conferences, the latest game reveals, Nintendo turning the tide again, and the deluge of sequels and remakes being announced. We also get into Uncharted, getting a WiiU or a 3DS, no women allowed in AC: Unity, and Kojima’s self-indulgence. And somehow, Earl manages to turn The Last Guardian’s death into a fitting symbol for the lack of innovation in the industry.

Guests:
Tony Gao – “Electronic Excrement Expo”

Audio notes: (1hr. 1min. runtime)
01:10 – The conferences, Sunset Overdrive, Aisha Tyler, and The Division
09:05 – Assassins Creed, Unity & no women characters, Watch Dogs, Mass Effect, LittleBigPlanet 3, and Metal Gear Solid
21:40 – Nintendo, “the plague of Call of Duty”, Splatoon, getting a WiiU or 3DS, Xenoblade, and The Last Guardian
34:00 – Bloodborne, Grim Fandango & remakes, Uncharted 4, and No Man’s Sky
48:35 – Sequels, indie ideas in AAA games, what Last Guardian means for the industry, and Nintendo’s creative niche

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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The Last of Us

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This episode of All Kinds of Philler is all about The Last of Us: a tense, bloody, emotional, and morally complex video game. In other words, it’s the feel-good hit of the summer! Earl bands together with Brent and newcomer Stephen to discuss the critically-acclaimed survival horror game, the theme of partnerships, violence, enemy AI, and executing post-apocalyptic tropes. They also end up talking about Tomb Raider, and why Ellie looks a lot like Ellen Page. (Spoilers on the entire game.)

Guests:
Brent Peckham
Stephen

Supplementary Notes:
Story Trailer

Audio notes: (1hr. 8min. runtime)
00:30 – Intro to The Last of Us
01:40 – The prologue, Sarah, Joel’s morality, and evoking post-apocalyptic fiction
07:45 – Partnerships, Ishmael, Bill, Tess, Sam & Henry, and Joel & Ellie
17:25 – Realism, AI and level design, Uncharted, and game mechanics
29:20 – Emotional weight to each kill, Joel’s brutality, and the killcams
34:06 – The four seasons as chapters, and the Utah scene
38:10 – “It’s not a fun game!”, emotional drain, The Walking Dead, and cannibalism
42:55 – Threat of sexual violence, lack of female enemies or child clickers, and David
48:35 – The Firefly battle, dissonance between player & Joel, and the final scene
58:35 – Graphics, glitches, voice acting, and Ellen Page
61:20 – Comparisons to Tomb Raider
66:00 – Stephen and Brent’s playlists

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