Half-Glass Gaming [Episode 14] : Dudes in Ties
Buckle up, because this is one of our most factoid-heavy episodes (and also the Reverend’s drunkest episode) yet. We’re bringing the goods on sound design. How did Super Mario Bros. 3 get that neat steel drum sound in it’s game over music? What does “portal occlusion” mean? What is the origin of the Wilhelm Scream? Why does great sound design go unrecognized so often?
Also, Mandi gets a PlayStation Vita, Julian doesn’t meet Neil Gaiman (but mispronounces his name), and Josh eavesdrops on some dudes in ties. Oh, and the Reverend is really, really drunk.
This is one for the record books, folks!
If your curiosity was piqued by the disaster of a game called Color a Dinosaur, here’s an article with much more information.
Here’s a complete list of games we mention in this episode:
- Mother 3
- Shovel Knight
- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
- Persona 4 Golden
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Gwent
- The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
- Super Mario 3D World
- Final Fantasy X
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Super Mario Bros.
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- No Man’s Sky
- The Last of Us
- Doom
- Ridge Racer V
- Resident Evil
- Super Mario 64
- Call of Duty (series)
- Payday: The Heist
- Submerged
- Color a Dinosaur
- Cool Spot
- Mario Paint
- Sonic the Hedgehog (series)
- Metal Gear Solid (series)
- Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
- Road Rash
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- Journey
- Grand Theft Auto (series)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Limbo
- Dead Space
- Sweet Home (NES)
- Yakuza (series)
- Super Mario Galaxy (series)
- Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
- Bastion
- Transistor
- Fallout 3
- Final Fantasy VI
- Final Fantasy (series)
Retrovolve Staff
At Retrovolve, we love discussing, studying, and playing retro games, though not necessarily in that order.
Never played Journey, its really worth it? The stuff with the sand sounds is cool but it doesn’t really look like a game.
I loved Journey. It’s a beautiful game that did some really interesting things.
It’s less goal-oriented than your average video game, and it’s more about “See that mountain? Walk toward it.” However, it does include some collectibles, puzzles, and enemies (though I don’t believe there are any failstates like death or anything). It’s maybe 2 hours long, but it’s pretty incredible the whole way through. Most people I know who have played it have done so multiple times in 1 sitting. It just kind of stays with you.
Sound design isn’t something I give much thought to, but you all made interesting observations. The bit about the bicycles makes me curious about Grand Theft Auto but it’s a bit much for an old codger like me. Great episode, this continues to be my favourite podcast.
I’ll add that Mandi probably makes a lot of men nervous when she walks into game shops. It’s rare to meet a beautiful, smart woman who loves video games. Josh is a very lucky man.
Yes. I definitely feel like sound is something that people don’t talk about because it’s more conceptual than concrete. It’s much easier to explain something you see than something you hear. It’s also difficult to explain sound without going into the nitty gritty about how it all works, and that’s just too technical for most people.
I hope we’ve sparked some interest with our discussion, though, and I hope we encourage people to listen a little more closely to the things they’re probably missing!
I maintain that I was not *that* drunk. It was mostly a matter of being unmedicated.
The worst sound design is the Zelda fairy HEYHELLOLISTEN shit.
What do you mean when you talk about uptown or downtown?
Traditionally, “Uptown” is the fancier part of a city. In Minneapolis, it’s where a lot of the trendy bars and breweries are. And, of course, most of the big clubs are downtown. I live in a neighborhood that people refer to as “Eat Street,” which is maybe 6 blocks from the edge of downtown, and maybe 6 blocks from the edge of uptown. It’s an awesome location. I can walk 10 minutes in any direction and pretty much eat any kind of food I can imagine.
The sound is Dead Space 2 is sick! The sound in BF3 and BF:BC2 is awesome too. I want more games with realistic gun sounds.
Good episode, but I wish you’d said more about voice acting. Having voices is the standard now and it doesn’t always make games better.
We’re planning on doing a full episode on voice acting in the future, though we don’t currently have a scheduled date for it. But we’ve got some really fun stuff planned for the next few weeks!
Okay, thanks. I was interested in hearing more about it and when there wasn’t anymore I was disappointed. I’ll keep listening and wait for the episode.