Last week we spoke to Michael “Hingers” Hing, the latest host on Good Game. He and the Good Game team are kicking off Good Game Pocket, a brand new show for YouTube and ABC iView. The first episode just went live yesterday and you can watch it here.
These episodes are dropping daily, Monday to Friday, meaning there will be around 200 episodes a year. The first is around four minutes long, hence the ‘pocket’. It’s intended to be a shorter, YouTube friendly experience.
I enjoyed the first episode which felt — obviously — a bit like an introduction to both the host and the new format. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what kind of content they cover.
Also worth noting: the main show kicks off a new season tonight with an hour long episode at 8.30pm on ABC2.
Comments
12 responses to “You Can Now Watch The First Episode Of Good Game Pocket”
They couldn’t resist putting Bajo and Hex in it. If it had just Goose, things would be different, but onto the “don’t watch” pile it goes.
Also Mark, please stop posting stuff about Good Game. I appreciate most of the articles you post, but the Good Game ones are infuriating, because I always have to go in and put the fanboys in their place. Speaking of which, come at me fanboys, “I ain’t afraid of no downvote”.
Wait … Good Game has fanboys/bois?
I don’t have any real strong feelings about GG but I watch it because it’s a half hour of gaming footage I can enjoy on the train. In practice, it falls in with my general podcast cycle including Beyond (*sob*), Major Nelson, the IGN Pubcast, Fourth Player, Idle Thumbs, etc.
I’m gathering your issue is more with the hosts though, and I can respect that. Human personality isn’t supposed to be compatible, that’s why I can hold my head high when I talk about people like Tony Abbott with the same level of disdain. No down vote from me. 🙂
I really enjoy the original episodes of Good Game from 2006 – 09, due to their goofiness and actual funny jokes. I used to watch the Bajo and Hex episodes just for the gameplay footage too, until about 2012, when they started getting really unfunny. There were some good jokes in 2010 and 11, not as good as the older ones, but nowadays, all humor in Good Game has died.
I like the banter between Hex and Bajo. Got good on air chemistry.
From what I hear it used to be a bit stilted in the earlier eps, but they nail it week-to-week now.
Mostly I just like the ‘fun’ tone of Good Game. I rarely agree with their opinions, but find it entertaining all the same.
I think his main beef is reviews like below which are typical and make the format redundant, whether it has anything to do with this Kotaku article is debatable, but you could pretty much pick any review and get the below result:
HEX
Ok, well, let’s get stuck into it Bajo! It’s time now to head back to the Borderlands. But this time with less shootin’ and lootin’, and more walkin’ and talkin’, with the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands.
BAJO
This is the latest episodic adventure from the masters of storytelling at Telltale Games, makers of The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. When I first heard about this Hex, it was a bit of a surprise, because when I think of Borderlands, I think of those gameplay mechanics, not really it’s story or characters. It’s just an odd pairing.
HEX
Yeah, even so the Borderlands universe is a great setting for this kind of game. It’s a world where giant corporations mingle with completely crazy psychopaths and deadly beasts. While mysterious Alien Vaults full of riches are just begging to be discovered. It’s Sci-Fi Mad Max meets Indiana Jones, coated with a healthy dose of humour.
BAJO
True, and the Borderlands series has never really been bogged down in lore. So you can jump right into this without feeling like you’re missing anything. Also, the cell shaded graphics of Borderlands are a perfect match with the look of Telltales’ other games.
HEX
Definitely. Now we won’t say too much about the plot because the episodes are only about two hours long, so if we spend too much time on it, we’ll just spoil everything. But the story is framed with our hero Rhys, immediately finding himself in a rather sticky situation, forced into telling us how he got there in flashback form. Rhys was a Hyperion company man, but after getting shafted from that promotion he was gunning for, he devises a plan to do some shafting of his own.
BAJO
But plans have a habit of getting out of hand on Pandora and we soon meet our other hero, Fiona, who has found herself caught up in Rhys’s shemozzle. But really, she only has herself to blame for that.
HEX
We’ll leave the plot there but just simply say the story is great. For a first episode it does everything it needs to, there’s heists gone awry, lovable new and returning characters, lots of laughs, a few exciting set pieces, some tough decisions, and of course a great cliffhanger to go out on.
BAJO
Yeah, and I love how faithful this game feels to the series, from little things like how the UI and loot looks – to just how much action there is. And they don’t waste any time do they?
HEX
No, they’ve pretty much given up completely on the idea of this being a point and click style game. Admittedly, they’ve been going that way for a while in their other games but this time they’ve almost entirely removed the puzzles and areas to explore. It’s all about making your dialogue decisions and surviving the various quick time events.
BAJO
I really liked that, this is an interactive story that just rockets along, there’s no half-baked puzzles, you’re not wandering around aimlessly, picking up stuff thinking, “I don’t think I need this…”. It’s laser focused story telling and it lets you direct it.
HEX
And I think it’s some of their strongest work in that regard. You can really play these characters how you want. Sure, the major plot points are largely pre-determined, but how you get there and what kind of person you want these characters to be in the process is in your hands.
BAJO
I would like to see more of that freedom in some of those action sequences though. They’re mostly just long series of pass/fail quick times and it’d be nice to see them evolve a bit more naturally if you mess up or give you more options to do things differently.
HEX
Yeah, some more flexibility there would’ve been nice but they’re still exciting moments. All up I really loved this episode, so I’m giving it 9.
BAJO
Yeah, it’s a fantastic start, I’m giving it 9 out of 10 as well.
HEX
It’ll be interesting to see what Telltale’s Game of Thrones game is like. We’ll have to get stuck into that over the break Bajo!
BAJO
Indeed! But now it’s time to start the Good Game Awards!
EDIT: For bold and underlined emphasis.
I’d say the reason you get that is because it is most likely written mostly by one person and then just agreed to by the other so you are probably only really hearing one person’s take on it.
From my experience producing a radio show the time crunch is insane and I can’t see how they would both have the chance to completely play, collaborate on every review and then shoot multiple reviews each week.
I like the show and it’s cool we have a gaming show in Australia but I understand the realities of media production.
I agree but they should then have one do a review, the other review another game. Occasionally review together but to be in agreement almost 100% of the time is insanely rare.
They don’t agree *100%* of the time, and on occassion you getonly one of them reviewing a certain game. Or they get Goose to do it by himself.
Check any review agreement, yeah, me too, every statement almost…. When only one of them reviews due to not liking a genre its exactly the time when 2 people SHOULD review
Here’s the thing though…
Are you *really* after in depth reviews when you watch Good Game these days? I watch it for entertainment value and I find the more casual to lulzy shenanigans approach amusing. And a casual score/grade on a game
Granted that’s not *everyone’s* cup of tea. And definitely not quite the same as the old “jung & bajo” days. And I can appreciate that’s probably where some of the animosity comes from.
But at the end of the day I find the show entertaining and hence I watch it =P
See, I feel the complete opposite. I feel Bajo and Hex have too much chemistry, with most of the jokes made to amuse each other rather than the audience. This is juxtaposed with the older episodes with Bajo and Junglist, where their jokes where made solely for the audience, and they were goofy and hilarious.
During your non-sensical rambling you did not explain one reason why you were infuriated. Elucidation is key when it comes to making a persuasive argument.
@georgestmichael: #1 internet hardo
Not a “hardo”, just full of hate.
Damn. Hex. That smile.
Thats all.