The HotSpot - Saints Row, Need for Speed - 11/23/11

@TomM_GScom Thanks! Hooray! :)

Motor CIty Online. I loved that game!

Im blind arggh!!!

Starwars from what I've seen is the only MMO that seems like it has everything I need to enjoy it. Played WoW for years and have never seen a game with the same fluidity and I'm excited.

@JackZor23 The Professional Adult will be in living color on this week's show.

Thomas Magrino, where is the Professional Adult?

@TomM_GScom - In that sense I agree. Ultimately I think it's going to vary game to game what mechanic is right. I suppose that means it's up to developers to do a better job of figuring out what's right for their game instead of just basically tacking on what's been done before.

@endorbr I think the argument there was that games like Vanquish and Prince of Persia have showed us that it doesn't have to be completely game over when you die. It's not about consequences or punishment or true-to-life; if anything, it's the exact opposite. It's about devising a better failure mechanic.

Games are supposed to ultimately be fun. I don't understand this obsessive idea about getting rid of extra lives or making the idea of life have importance in a game. I'm pretty sure that people understand real life has consequences (whether they choose to acknowledge them or not). We play games to distract or escape from real life. So if you didn't have all those extra lives you'd last all of about 3 minutes in a game like Super Mario Bros. The first time you screwed up and fell down a hole or bumped into a goomba you'd be GAME OVER. What would be fun about that? It is supposed to encourage you to become more skilled. If you run out of lives (basically chances) you have to start completely over.

tom arguement about star wars being free to play is nonsense. The reason why lord of the rings,champions, star trek, and all those other games went free to play is cause they were losing players to Better games like wow. Star wars has alot of hype and expectations behind it, most people are assuming its gonna be great and to them that's worth the subscription fee. if wow was as bad as those other games, there would no way people would be willing to pay for it, but because wow has alot of content, and BETTER content, that is why they can be a subscription based game. Star wars is aiming to be as good as wow, therefore I think it will not go free to play for some time.

I am very excited about the new guild wars. It looks soooo gooooooooood.

I like how kevin says "it's a quick time event, what potential is there" when one of the biggest best selling games on the play station is mostly made up of Quick-time events :P ....god of war..... :)

@rjfern7 Wow, that might have been the dumbest statement I have heard all year. She is a trans gender. People have the right to be who they are. It's nice to see a company like gamespot to employ people with alternative lifestyle's.

Excellent show, keep up the good work!

Hi there i love listening to the HotSpot greets from holland Ron Outt!!!!!

saints row ROCKS!!!.... if you played GTA you sure as hell gonna love this game....

got Saint's Row, mpretty fun actually... might get NfS...

EA spent 100 million dollars on SW:OR? What the hell did they spend it on? Looks like a WOW clone with dialog choices. No thanx.

Wheelbarrow driver Go.

@BenderUnit22 Thanks!

I guess I really need to get Saints Row, after Jeff and Ryan and now the entire HotSpot are raving about it. Nice Beatles shirt too.

To be fair they haven't tested random energy drinks on the bombcast in a looooong time. And Ryan polished of the Saints Flow long before they got into the podcast room lol.

Did Tom just compare Codemasters to Turn10. Saying Codemaster is a better developer. Who is this guy? Does he not play racing games at all. How can you make that comparisons? First, off the Dirt series is completely different from the Forza series. Man this guy just says anything to get a rise out of me. First the Zelda review and now slamming Turn10. What's next Tom?

Excellent show guys. Nice job and happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Christmas decorations at CBS sure came up early. :P

About Swtor : i have heard the budget was more than 100M ! Do you realize the scope of the game ? This game is not meant to be a free to play low quality mmo. Like every industry the video game industry don't reinvent the wheel each time it has to build a car, now there are breakthrough sometimes but overall it is just refinement after refinement, so don't be bored of the amelioration of the video games !

great show guys.. wish it could be longer since i don't download the video, i listen when i'm at work.... on a side note, my dad doesn't think to highly of games (still thinks they are mindless pass time for kids), but when he saw me solve a challenging puzzle in portal 2, he was impressed and has since then viewed games a bit differently..... now i don't think it would be a good idea for him to catch me playing saints row, cause i don't think he would be too impressed with that...

About wow : no this not the first time it is down in term of population, it is before each new expansion. They change mechanics relatively deeply, add a new setting, a new race, a new class, an it is on for quite a year. There will be no wow killer until a new MMO really change the way playing MMO and add a real plus value. Because wow has almost every feature in a static MMO. The future may be dynamic MMO, games where you can build the world and make it your own.

damn the video stuffed up half way through :(

THUMBS UP @ carolynmichelle.....and dont forget the chinese triad member that sells drugs

@thedarklinglord From my perspective, when Rockstar makes a game about a complex Jewish biker or a Dominican-American who works for a gay club owner and who has a mom who's in debt to a loan shark, they're challenging and broadening our notions of who and what games can and should tell stories about, whereas Saints Row's use of human trafficking, by treating the subject matter so flippantly, only says "lol prostitutes lol, they are deserving of ridicule no matter their circumstances." But you may well be right in that such things will encourage developers to put more serious, challenging and thought-provoking subject matter into their games. I hope you are.

I'm kinda glad Volition included the human trafficking bit in Saints Row. Not as an endorsement of human trafficking, but as an attempt to push the envelope of what can be put into games, similar to Rockstar having an openly gay character. While the sheer craziness and absurdity of Saints Row doesn't help address the seriousness of the issue, the fact that its inclusion hasn't resulted in a major backlash (so far) might serve to embolden other developers to be more daring with their content and, perhaps, address serious issues in a serious manner. (You could build an entire game around a horrifying, gut-wrenching story about human trafficking.) Anything that may help advance the industry, intentionally or accidentally, is good in my book. So, this year, I'm thankful for games with d*ldo bats. Also, pumpkin pie with French vanilla ice cream.

@johny300 Thank you very much! :)

@johny300: I could always ask for tom in a bikini. But it will never happend, but I would like the podcast to be longer but because of editing it will never happend.

@TomM_GScom I hope your not joking about banning @rjfern7 if you are its cruel to one of the best reviewers, carolyn petit, tom mcsea and kevin van ord are the best reviewers, they realy strive to give a true opinion of the game they have reviewed, and it is always written well. not saying your not all good, but for me those 3 stand out. also i may not agree with everything they say, or every score they give, but all the reasons why its that score make sence (relating to infamous 2, i thought it was an 8, but alas it did have issues and they were well justified by tom). anyways back to my point other tom, BANNN HIM FOR REAL, again, and again, cause they deserves it. but to good news great show D: (ps sorry it doesnt (proably) make sence and for the appalling spelling and grammar)

BTW carolyn great reviewes for SR3 and NFS. :)

An hour of gamespot's discussing video games what can you ask for ? great show guys.

@TomM: You are a good host. But I kinda like the old podcast more because I'm painting and listening to the podcast makes the time fly away, but now when it is shorter it makes for a better podcast but it feels too short. @Kevin-V: you are my hero, sir.

Oh and the kingdom hearts series is EPIC!

You know what raceing game trys something new Nitronic Rush its new, its good, its free, and its better then most raceing games.

@carolynmichelle Yeah I get your point too and it was certainly better to only have to do one of the activities for each type than several levels of it! For the proper missions I actually loved the game and aside from the glitches it was a great step forward in the series!! I was just disappointed at how short the main story was and felt it could have been longer and more interesting at parts like how you take down the leader of the morning star!!

I nominate carolyne BOSS of gamespot ** Love carolyne!!!

@rjfern7 Also, you're banned! Hooray!

@rjfern7 -0- Yes. All of CBS Interactive makes it hiring decisions not based on qualifications, but based on the homosexual agenda, because as you know, that's what garners traffic. :/ Really? This is a thing you actually thought?

I finshed the run

Hey most of the video went black. Here's a tip play your games on the weekend since no one works on the weekend. Plan to have an hour or two each day to play a game which would be good. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

@rjfern7 Carolyn Petit is transgender. Congratulations, you're a jerk.

@rjfern7 I don't understand. You asked the question "Is gamespot blah blah?" But then you said "is so OBVIOUSLY blah blah". If it is so obvious why did you ask the question in the first place?

I think your discussion revolving around the "PC game needed to elevate the PC to a console level" topic kind of missed the mark. Being an avid PC gamer since Original EQ and counterstrike days, graphics and flashy motion blur has never been what fueled PC games and gamers at the core. When you look at the broad spectrum, the community is what sets PC gaming apart from the consoles. Xboxlive chat and psn chat is not on the same level as Ventrilo of Xfire and games like Starcraft, Diablo, Maplestory, Portal 2, and League of Legends encourage group play and skill. Actions per seconds and macros set players apart in the way they play and truely set good players apart from the rest. Im not saying consoles cant capture these aspect of PC gaming but until now they have not.