Ask Your Podcast Questions!

3 Part question: Giving up on bad games. :( If you start playing a game and are not enjoying it, about how long do you stick with it before putting it down and moving on to something else? Last week I was playing through a poor sequel to a formerly good franchise. Since I’ve finished the 4 previous games in the series I kind of felt an obligation to keep playing just to say that I have finished each game in the franchise. But after finishing it, I now regret not putting it down at the 12 hour mark or so (it was about 25 hours long). Q1: What is your "benefit of the doubt" or "it might get good later" period for a game? How long until you drop a game completely for being unenjoyable or boring? Q2: Do you stick with a game longer if it is part of a famous franchise or a sequel to a title you really enjoyed? Q3: For a game that you have dropped in the past, have you ever come back to it and enjoyed it more on the second try? And did that experience change how long you give a bad game to “get good” in the future?

In the early days of JRPGs, there was a perception among Japanese developers that Western gamers couldn't handle difficult JRPGs, resulting in many early JRPGs never being officially translated and others being made easier for the Western audience. Where do you think this perception about Western gamers came from, and was there any basis in truth to it?

Bryan Gillis

Should Japanese gaming studios (which only make games for Japan) have program where fans can submit English subtitles? They could receive points toward a new game or a small amount of cash. Once the game has been fully subtitled, they could release it digitally, which will help inhibit piracy of their games and have the games reach a larger audience.

Apologies in advance if you've talked about it before but, I know you had a guest talking about the future of narrative in video games, and I think this falls in that area. I just watched my fiance do a playthrough of Detroit for PS4, and even though it's got that uberpolished semi-modern look typical of quantum or naughty dog stuff, and the gameplay isn't much more than button queues. I was crazy impressed with what they're doing there for splitting up the narrative, have you dived into this game on the podcasts? basically a triple A tell-tale game.

Paul Metcalf

In response to the video you made yesterday Mike, first off, it was amazing. I know you put a lot of time into it, especially over the weekend, and I think it paid off. I completely agree with you, music is such an important part of my life, being the thing I do the second or third most behind work and school. Performing and listening are incredibly important and impactful to me. Its one of the many reasons falcom's games, specifically ys and trails, are so fantastic, the music is unmatched. So finally, my question. Which medium do you think makes use of music the best, video games, movies, tv, etc.? Or maybe its books are you put your own music on or its just in your head? Thoughts?

Is there any specific historical era, locale, or mythology which you haven't seen used as the inspiration for many games, but wish someone would finally take advantage of? Like for example, Genghis Khan's conquest hasn't been used as a setting in many games, but I would love to see a strategy game, or a tactical RPG set during the rise of the Mongolian empire.