Constellation, Episode 22 | Why We Play Video Games, Pop Culture Ignorance, TV Habits, Grocery Bills

Dagan, the thing about Sword Art Online fame is less about the show and more its influence on the industry. The good first 12/13 episodes kicked off the current isekai trend by being thee anime of the season. However, the series infamously sh%t the bed after that and has become a joke amongst anime fans.

NinjaDC

Colin, I think that of you play Diablo 4 you might like it

Edwin Garcia

I would love for Colin and Dagans dad to come on a episode. Give some push back on those boys.

Trapgunner

Yeah I completely agree. And the fact interactivity can hoodwink you to linking an average storymore than it maybe deserves is why I think the potential of video games is so high. There’s something (I don’t know what) that is there to be tapped into to really raise the bar of the medium

Cai

I always thought Sam from IGN was bang on with his persistent comments. Yes, you’ll get rare games like the Last of Us, but gaming just doesn’t offer good stories in general. It could more regularly, it just requires the focus and dedication (and money). I stopped playing games for seven years because of it, but it was a bit more complicated than that. I still listened to Colin’s podcasts each week for years between 2016 and this year (the years I didn’t play games, but it wasn’t the first break). I think it’s much easier for a game with an average story to hoodwink you into thinking it’s “good” or not bad because you are in it.

It's probably been asked before but have the Constellation crew considered putting timestamps in the description for the topics? 🤔

joefray_

In my mind I join in with the Constellation topics as I listen, fun topics this week to add my own thoughts too.

Jason Hjartarson

Fun episode overall as usual. Though the comment about my comment a few eps back about JRPGs was pretty disingenuous. Colin, I never mentioned Neptunia and for a good reason. Half the games I mentioned, you like games in the series and talk about how they are great series. It also goes against your recent talk on the forspoken podcast about games in the middle. A lot of the games I mentioned are great games, some of them are ok to good. Either you didn’t read the post or are commenting on games you haven’t played and calling them bad.

PairOfShuse

Colin, you gotta check out Documentary Now like Chris suggested. It’s basically parodies of famous Docs. You’ve mentioned Grey Gardens a few times; well they have a parody called Sandy Passage and you’d love it. The first couple of seasons are just pure gold from Bill Hader and Fred Armisen.

Cody Raburn

Dagan’s reaction to Colin doing the FF2 plat in 15 hours and Chris laughing at Furby. Good shit. 😄

NeO JD

Yeah I definitely don’t think it’s there yet. I think interactivity is the key, it’s just not been truly realised yet. And maybe that’s finding a way to have an experience that isn’t puzzle or enemy based. What that is I don’t know. I will disagree that games can’t explore every theme in life, even with them being based in puzzles. What do you mean by that?

Cai

I love Chris so much. His response to Dagan’s story in the beginning is my response to many of his stories.

Dakota Brown

This is crazy: Just on a whim two nights ago I started the handmaids tale... and I binged the first season in two nights. It's so good I literally already started reading the book too. By chance, today Colin recommends it. No show has grabbed my attention like Handmaids Tale has in years.

Jason

I think there are some other artistic media that ask a lot of the audience, to the point that it can be too challenging for some people to get through. Books like Absalom, Absalom come to mind, or the third season of Twin Peaks (which I called it quits on, not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but because I wasn’t in a place where I could devote enough mental energy to trying to understand what in god’s name was happening). That said, I think the obstacles games present are more viscerally challenging—they test your more subcortical functions (reflex, ability to balance different challenges at once, spatial awareness, etc), whereas challenging books/movies/shows are more about your ability to think in abstractions. They’re both challenging, but in different ways—it’s interesting to think about for sure.

Superhero Jagganath

PSA: Independent of the memes, my girlfriend started earnestly watching The Good Doctor. It is NOT so bad it is good, it is really dull.

Noah Friscopp

Really like this conversation on gaming. I think you’re right, Colin, in your assessment of gaming as a medium. It’s the only medium, maybe other than books, that requires your presence to unfold. Even then, as you say, you might not have what it takes to beat it. Every controller input is like a more complicated turning of a page that pushes you through a series of visual, written, and audio experiences. However, I would say gaming hasn’t yet reached the heights of ANY of the other mediums. But the way it melds those other mediums together into one interactive format gives it the potential to be greater at some point. The future of games is good!

Cai

Love everything LSM puts out but I have started looking forward to Constellation the most each week!

Tim J Weckwerth