E3 2012: AJ & Spoony Exclusive – XCOM 2012 Interview

Spoony | Jun 9 2012 | more | 
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Spoony & Angry Joe Interview XCOM: Enemy Unknown and talk with the Developers on how the game stay true to the original while offering something new for the next generation. Betrayal? Find Out!

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  • http://twitter.com/Okanehira Okanehira

    That XCOM interview was awesome – cannot wait – day one buy 100% whatever the most expensive edition is.
    Its funny even if you go to the Machinima XCOM video 1/2 of the comments are “LOYALTY!!!!”

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/BLVXCVZCUBCZIAWIC3K5UCOXRM Colonel

    Can someone explain to me why Spoony felt ashamed when he yelled “Betrayal”, and now sits in front of these guys?

    Wasnt his scream directed at the OTHER game, the ego-shooter one set in the 50ties? “XCOM”, while this is “XCOM – Enemy Unknown”?

    • tython

      This game was only made in response to the massive fan outcry due to the change from a strategy game into a generic FPS so yeah Spoony was very happy when this game was announced

      • http://www.facebook.com/niQboy Nico Havia

        ”
        This game was only made in response to the massive fan outcry due to the change from a strategy game into a generic FPS”

        No it wasn’t. XCOM: Enemy Unknown has been in development since 2008, which was 3 years before the FPS XCOM was even announced.

        • tython

          Ahh my mistake then, didn’t know when exactly this game was started since I only heard about after the out cry from the initial game

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/7EHKW6RSFZTEFKPX3I55AVXKJE Shiv

           When I first heard that XCOM announced, I wasn’t even aware WHAT “X-Com” was until Spoony did his E3 coverage of it last year, let alone essentially a reboot strategy game in the mix as well. Who’s to say that Spoony knew either?

    • http://twitter.com/DuneBlythe Dune Blythe

       Because he was being unprofessional.

      • http://www.facebook.com/DevilsNeverCry5 Travis Bauer

        he’s not a professional journalist, he’s a critic. there’s nothing unprofessional about feeling insulted by a game. granted, he did create a scene but he doesn’t have standards he’s held to.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

          I don’t think that E3 would invite someone to just be a critic. They probably expected him to behave like a professional journalist, and to act in a professional manner.

          • JenxRodwell

            Yeah, I dunno. I’ve seen “professional game journalists”, and I don’t see Spoony licking that much ass and sucking that much cock. Cos, let’s face it, pro game journalist means just repeating whatever the hell the PR department of the game developer hands you over.

            Is standing there yelling “BETREYAL!” a non-professional journalist action? I dunno. Is Hunter Thompson getting drunk and making shit up when covering a political debate non-professional?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

      Because it got LordKat in trouble when he tried to interview someone under the TGWTG name (I forget some of the details :P) and called Spoony a fucking monkey, killing their professional relationship.

      If I offended someone I considered a friend, or even just a coworker, I would probably regret doing so. He’s probably genuinely sorry for his actions.

      • MikeBester

        Seriously? Link please.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

          I remember him saying it in the Spoony Vs. the Internet videos, where he talks about why LordKat isn’t in the Pathfinder video’s anymore.

          I feel stupid for not remembering which one. If you find it, tell me where, because I swear he said that.

          • MikeBester

             Found it, and even wrote out the passages where he talks about it.

          • DGray5100

             I’m in the dark about all of this. Could you send me a link to the Spoony video that talks about the conflict with Lordkat?

          • http://twitter.com/AngryJoeShow Joe Vargas

            Wow Seriously Lordkat? Throwing stones from a glass house arent we, Waaaa I didnt get this or that and its all your fault spoony. Waaaa.We arent professionals and thats whats unique about us. If lordkat considers himself a professional im sure theres TONS of examples otherwise is his countless hours of streaming his personal life.If he honestly thinks a company would deny him access for someone who hes so loosely associated with he’s delusional. They didnt want to invite lordkat to whatever event he’s complaining about because they didnt know who he was or didnt consider him important enough, not because your friend yelled in a vlog video.Otherwise I wouldnt be invited to anything at all, yet I managed over 22 Video Interviews at E3 by myself, mostly on the devs and publishers who recognized me from my more harsh videos – devs actually do appreciate honesty (which you can see in the XCOM video – Spoony is well known around their office – one of the guys was even gushing about him – they tried to get in a “Betrayal Achievement” in the game. True Story.)
            Spoony was talking about this and was effected and ashamed because of it, Id be proud of it. I still am. IMO Lordkat is being a lil’ baby and slightly hypocritical.

          • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

            I find Lordkat saying that hilarious because the guy throws temper tantrums constantly, despises his fanbase and hates generally being discussed in any way that is not positive. He just insults people whenever they try to contact them no matter what. True spoonies had moments where he acted just as bad but I still consider Lordkat a much worse person for how he acts to his fans.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

            This isn’t limited to Spoony. Have you heard of the “Extra Credits” show?
            http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/show/extra-credits 

            Well, LordKat wrote a pretty nasty article about them. He spends the entire article splitting hairs without really making a point.
            http://www.lordkat.com/dear-extra-credits-shut.html

            I think LordKat is looking for internet fame by picking a fight with someone who is already famous. I still think Spoony’s outburst was unprofessional, but what LordKat does is actively destructive, way worse IMO.

          • GreenGear

            Bwoah shit. I didn’t expect a shutdown by Joe. Bahahaha.

  • draxo

    LOYALTY!!!

  • whiskytangofoxtrot

     Is that Optimus Prime narrating the trailer?

  • http://twitter.com/CaptAlbatross Reid

    Something I wish would have been asked is if this will be a game that somebody who has never played an XCOM game before will be able to pick up and understand what’s going on and be able to succeed in or if they’ll be screwed.

    • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

      They very briefly mention a very useful tutorial in the interview. generally firaxis is pretty good about making their strategy games accessible, from civ 3 onward the series were all pick up and play and fairly easy to understand the general idea. The combat mechanics of the first Xcom were actually rather simple as well, the major confusion comes in understanding that the aliens cheat rampantly.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Phillip-Jonathan-Brown/609074211 Phillip Jonathan Brown

    I’m glad Spoony seems REALLY happy with this Re-imagining. I myself have played X-Com and watched my older brother play it since I was like 7. I am HIGHLY anticipating this game, and seeing that all of the development team are X-Com fans lets me know that it and any potential sequels are in VERY good hands. And is it just me, or did we see Floaters for the first time? Flying Torsos!

  • Tim Kormos

    No betrayal?…Loyalty?
    Might have to actually buy this one, then.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Roman-Monaghan/100000507912679 Roman Monaghan

    I’m so glad they gave thought to the differences between the console and PC versions. So many strategy games on consoles nowadays are just shoddy poorly thought out port jobs, but here it seems like they really tweeked how the game works to make an equal experience for both choices. I may have to buy this game twice XD

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Griffin/100000925406994 Daniel Griffin

    They totally need to add “LOYALTY -Spoony” as a blurb on the box.

  • http://twitter.com/Jesseraygarza Jesse Garza

    Me: “Why does Spoony look so happy and high in this interview?”
    Tyler Durden from fightclub: “Because video games get you high!”

  • Rothide

    Now I fully expect a flame for this, but I do hope that they don’t cancel or change too much of the BETRAYAL XCOM shooter game. I for one found it an interesting idea, this isn’t the XCOM of the world, this was the XCOM that the United States started up in the 50′s dealing with their first contact with a strange alien race.

    And I know, I KNOW, why didn’t they talk about this in the first XCOM game. Well maybe this is what got the US to stop treating the XCOM initiative as backwater conspiracy theorists and actually try to start up a global defensive initiative with other countries.

    • sketchesofpayne

       The big question is: Why even call it XCOM?  If it has none of the details, trappings, or gameplay of the original why not just make it its own franchise?

    • Virtz

      Retconning lore just to go “my country, fuck yeah!” with all seriousness is awful writing. Making everything revolve around you or your place of origin just shows you have issues. Though maybe they did it just because 2K had some left-over assets from Bioshock. I don’t know which would be worse. So outside of being a boring looking cover shooter, you can also expect terrible writing right off the bat.

    • Virtz

      Lore-wise, the first effort of this sort was supposed to be the ’98 Japanese effort, which failed, and to quote the manual, “The lesson was clear: this was a
      worldwide problem which could not be dealt with by individual countries.”. But apparently you can slap that sentiment aside and just retcon stuff for the sake of going “my country, fuck yeah!”, even though it makes absolutely no sense at all for an alien invasion to have happened in the 50s since there’s no trace of those technologies by the 90s (you know, unlike in X-Com 3, which clearly shows heavy influences of X-Com 1 technologies and even some human-sectoid cross-breeds).

      Although I guess it’s supposed to be a reimagining or whatever? Even though then it makes no sense to use the name since absolutely nothing of the setting is preserved.

      So there you go, a boring looking cover shooter that has nothing to do with X-Com.

      • Rothide

        What if the technology could age out and die, maybe the fuel cells got used up long before we hit 2000, after we tromped them. And you cant say it has nothing, there is squad mechanics (though a first person version) and there is base building (again limited by 1950′s) and there are tech research using the technology.

        So what if 50 years go by and everything changes. It’s not like we still have radio dramas on constantly on the radio, nor do we have anything with vacuum tubes still unless you are a collector.

        To make my point a bit clearer, its like the alien gun in Fallout 3, it uses its own ammo, and when its gone, ITS GONE. For all we know (and maybe will never know thanks to all this “its not XCOM” crap) they could only use it fueled by whatever those things were.

        • Virtz

          Ok, slow down. We don’t use vaccum tubes because we have something better. And I hardly think 90s technology would somehow be superior to alien technology used in an extraterrestrial/crossdimensional invasion. Also, half the battle in X-Com is reverse engineering alien equipment, learning how it works and how to manufacture it. Even if we ran out of whatever it is that powers them (and it would be pretty ridiculous to have another ellerium-like element left unheard of in the original X-Com), we still wouldn’t end up in the 90s without any technological benefits.

          Also, since we’re supposed to beat them back, don’t you think that’d mean we’d have the means to travel to wherever they got their fuel from? Like in the original X-Com, you end up making a craft based on UFO designs that you use to travel to the alien base. Once the ellerium (the element most of the technology was based on) started running out, humanity clenched its collective butt cheeks and went looking for more using what they’ve gained in the war. I think they’d at least try the same here.

          And overall the game still has less to do with X-Com than the UFO: AfterX games did. Mechanics do not make an intellectual property. Other than using the name for the organization, it has nothing to do with the setting from any of the previous games.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    BETRAYAL!!!!!! oh look.. shiney

  • PeaTearGryfin

    As somebody who hasn’t played any of the original XCOM games, I am pumped for this game. This looks like this is a great way to introduce new players to the series. I just hope that they make the rest of the series for people like me who didn’t have a chance to enjoy them.

  • MikeBester

    Fucking hell, apparently Spoonys “Betrayal”-screaming did some serious damage to the professional reputation of some people he is associated with. Here LordKats comment on it:

    http://de.twitch.tv/lordkat/b/287575015
    “Spoony is at E3 again…Cant wait for him getting in front of XCOM again and
    start yelling, that would be fucking great for our reputation”

    “Because being invited as press and then yelling BETRAAYAAAL may not
    be the best thing for other people who you are associated with, who then
    get laughed at at other events”

    “Maybe drop the fucking character for 5min goddam and act like pro, instead of acting like a stupid fucking monkey out there”

    “Theres entertainment and theres professionalism, and at some point
    you have to drop the entertainment and be a pro. But I have yet to see
    that”

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/75DGV2BZGYFCZ2NLHMQYOFPDLU Michael

      If you’ve been paying attention to LordKaT, you’d know that he has no room to state this. Was spoony out of place with that? A little, but LordKat’s no more professional, probably even less so.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

        I know, did you see LordKat’s argument with the guys at Extra Credits? He had an article entitled “Dear Extra Credits, Shut Up”. This goes pretty deep, so it should give you something to do.

        This isn’t about LordKat so much as it is about Spoony going too far, at least for me. I only learned about it through the “Spoony vs. The Internet” videos on his twitch account.

        • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

          Oddly enough, I only knew about Lordkat from the Pumpkin head thing spoony did. Then I watched hours upon hours of LK’s stream, after a few weeks of this you very quickly realize Lordkats kind of a dickhead., unprofessional, and hates his fans.

      • Matthew Daye

         What’s funny is he seems to be trying to pull a spoony with this. Spoony has stated himself that he got big because he went after ff8, and it generated buzz. So, lordkat, who is probably one of the more forgotten members of this community honestly, despite the near constant streaming, it trying to go after one of the more prominent ones for the same reason.

    • http://www.facebook.com/arne.maes Arne Maes

      ” Weeeeeeh, you cost me some access once, weeeh”. That’s all I hear when watching those LK vlogs

    • sketchesofpayne

      There’s being professional, and then there’s being docile like so many journalists are.  They never challenge those they’re interviewing/discussing.

      There should be more reaction at these trade shows and less dull acceptance.

      • searanox

         I agree wholeheartedly.  Journalists are so afraid of offending anyone (perhaps rightly so) that they never ask hard questions or deal with the smaller details that fans actually care about, much less ask serious questions about the mechanics and systems of these games beyond a features list.  I don’t want to know “how polished the graphics are” or “on a scale of 1 to 10, how passionate is the team behind this game?” bullshit, I want to know “why did you remove an economy system and replace it with a fixed progression system?” or “action points make more sense for simulating time differences between actions, so why are they gone?” 

        Of course, most developers won’t/can’t/aren’t allowed to talk about this stuff because they are forbidden to by publishers, but that only further reinforces “games journalism” as a gigantic hype machine.  As an (amateur) game journalist I am certainly not going to avoid being critical and questioning about games – and that’s exactly the kind of attitude that ensures, at least in this industry, that I will never be able to “go pro” in the first place.

        • searanox

          Also, you guys with your LP and Internet video communities – you seriously need to stop getting caught up in these over-dramatic bitch-fests.  It makes you look like a bunch of egotistical, whiny children.  Way too many web “scenes” like that these days, it’s getting ridiculous.  Why doesn’t anyone just outright say “yes, you’ve got to kiss ass to get ahead”?  It’d be much more truthful and straightforward.

    • Joseph Catalano

      Meh. I’m not so sure.

      TGWTG, Blistered Thumbs, and the rest of this group only really have their fanbase because of their ‘characters’ and their emotion. You get the feeling that what they review they honestly care about, not just that it is a 9-5 job. 

      If they all just behaved as emotionless, generic suits and didn’t express their opinions or ask the questions you’d expect them to ask, I doubt most of us would care what they have to say, writing them off as another of the countless “gaming reporters” that flood the internet and magazine communities already as it is.

      Besides, it isn’t like TGWTG or Blistered Thumbs were getting respect before Spoony’s “betrayal” outburst. Best example: Geoff Keighley interview with AngryJoe back in 2010.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3Q5SLA52ZOWMQ6M5ODSGUPKSE Edward

        I disagree.  TGWTG and Blistered Thumbs are entertainers first and reviewers and journalist second.  And that’s the problem.  Spoony and many of his buds don’t know how to turn the entertainer in them off and that can be a problem.  It does make them look unprofessional.  It makes them look like a bunch of kids with no respect that don’t know what their talking about.
        Angry Joe got what he deserved in that interview.  He showed up with an attitude and hassled Geoff in the middle of show he’s trying to do and then he was completely unprepared for the interview itself and that’s why Geoff walked all over him.  And then he barked at Geoff and starts accusing him of not respecting gamers like he’s fucking Rush Limbaugh while this guy has a show to put on.  Why the hell should Geoff Keighley give him any respect whatsoever if he’s going to act like that?  He’s luck Geoff was nice enough to give him the 3 minutes that he got.  And by the way, watch that interview again.  Geoff Keighley was never rude to Joe.  He was perfectly professional and polite.  Joe was the one getting antagonistic and that’s why he was humiliated because Geoff very calmly and quietly shot everyone of his points down.

        And of course, Joe was butt hurt, so he turned to the Angry Joe Army and gave them his spin on what happened to make himself look like the wronged good guy in all this when at the end of the day he showed up like an unprepared asshole and he had to eat his words.

        If Joe is the face of Blistered Thumbs than it is no wonder that website is looked at as a joke by the entire video game industry.

        • http://twitter.com/AngryJoeShow Joe Vargas

          This
          is the biggest misconception about me and makes me cringe every time I see it.
          If you knew me and know my show and gave it a chance you would see im nothing
          like that. 

          Thats something
          that my haters have created and taken out of context when I said I was
          representing the gamers who submitted questions to me to have answered at the
          VGAs. I never claim to represent gamers in general other when when I actually
          represent some of my own viewer questions.

          To say that you
          represent all gamers is RIDICULOUS and OUTRAGEOUS. And thats exactly why people
          who hate on me try to fit me into that to discredit me.

          I was there, you werent, I know what Geoff said Before and After as well as my impressions of him as this was going on. If we were good friends and I called you ont he phone explaining what had just happened im sure you’d call me an egotistical asshole? I think not. Thats exactly what my post video was, explaining how I was treated and how I felt at the VGAs.
          Geoff and I have since talked about the situation.

          • Dragdar

            We’ll the biggest problem i have with the Joe character is the way he orders

            his “army” to stand down or to buy stuff, and the FLAMES, screamo-music with pointing a finger while doing a ‘cool’ face at the end is atrocious, it’s like angsty teenager slapped it on there to “look badass”, well it’s just stupid and tacky, lacking in style and consistency withe the video.

            The reviews themselves are very good, you get a good sense of whether a games is for your or not, without really spoiling the whole deal.

            BUT THE BAD GAME REVIEWS ARE THE BEST, i often rewatch them ;D

            the interviews have passion but also genuine honesty and curiosity, he doesn’t shy away from the real questions. You found a way to glue the whole thing together.

            Gameplay videos vary in quality greatly since it’s all improv.
            ____________________________
            Better not remember that incident.

            The whole situation was painful to watch, the environment was unsuited for an interview and the guy was obviously hostile from the beginning and you were just swept away without challenging his advances.

            To be honest if it were me, i’d be much free-er with confronting him about his lack of respect. that would have cause even more controversy.

            Besides, Geoff is a notorious corporate boot-licker. VGAs are the biggest dude-bro brainwashing shit-biscuit related to gaming.
            MTV-jews/spiketv go at it, and you can smell their stench kilometers away.

          • PeaTearGryfin

             Honestly, I don’t think too many people will look at Joe and think that he really wants to create an army. If there is anybody like that, they should back away from the Internet right now and save the internet the headache.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

            If Geoff had ONE POINT, it was that you were asking questions about publicly available information, like how games are chosen by a panel of 25 journalists.

            It still doesn’t excuse how he treated you, but this was pretty easy for me to find. Maybe you have had time to ask slightly redundant questions if you had THIRTY MINUTES LIKE GEOFF PROMISED, but I guess that just didn’t happen.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Edward-Graham-Peeler-Jr/1602215514 Edward Graham Peeler Jr.

            Joe

            You have my most sincere respect for coming out here and defending yourself personally. You could have just wrote me off as a troll but you came out here and defended your honor and I am impressed by that.

            I apologize if my criticism of you above has offended you personally or drudged up painfully memories. I have no desire to make you feel like less of a person or discourage you from doing what you do. I did say some mean things about you and Blistered Thumbs above and I apologize for that.

            However, I said them because I am meerly stating my perhaps uninformed, opinion on a situation on the internet. And it is my opinion that the interview in question is not your finest moment. You did seem unprepared, you had trouble thinking on your feet, and you came off as antagonistic to Geoff. It did not leave a good impression nor did the post video although I understand why you made that. Just keep in mind, when your in the public spot light, you have a billion people judging you and you have to be careful what you say and do. They can take it out of context. They can twist your words to use them against you. They can perceive you as unprofessional. Because, yeah, they don’t know you personally, but their perception of you will change based on what they see and hear. For them, that’s reality.

            All you can do is do your best and be careful what you put out there. You can say what every you want but don’t be surprised if people get on your case for it (as I find out everytime I open my mouth.) And there will always be people that will hate you no matter what you do. And no one’s a genius 90% of the time.

            And your right I was not there. I do not know what Geoff was saying to you behind the scenes or how big a dick he was acting. It could be that there were some problems on both sides and you have a right to defend your case. I am glad the two of you have put that behind you since then.

            And for the record, I may not know you personally, but I have seen your show. And I do not hate you. You strike me as a very nice person at heart. Your hard working, you’ve got great energy and enthusiasm, and you clearly love what your doing. Your show is good for what it is. It’s not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. But it is entertaining. I love your persona as the Angry Joe character. I love your crossovers with other TGWTG contributors. And you do a pretty decent job of reviewing and getting people hyped for new games that are coming out. That said I don’t always agree with your opinions on games, sometimes you don’t seem to get your facts on games straight, and your humor can be very forced at times.

            Also, your a giant ham, but I’m not going to hold that against you to much.

            Your videos have influenced my recent game purchases for better and for worse. And that’s part of the reason why I’m very critical of you. Your mission statement seems to be about saving gamers money and well, I followed your advice, and well, it cost me some money. And that’s why it may sound like I have an axe to grind and I come off as a jerk especially in the last paragraph. I really liked your coverage 2 E3′s ago of Star Wars: The Old Republic and, honestly, you sold me on it man. I was really excited about that game specifically because of you and Spoony. So I went out and bought it and I absolutely hated. It was honestly one of the worst gaming purchases of my entire life and a very negative experience to boot and mind you I’ve purchased Spawn The Eternal for the PS1 so that’s pretty bad.

            That said you also recommended Super Mario Bros. Crossover which I would have never know about if it was not for you and I absolutely love it and I’ve continued to visit Jay Pavilina’s website periodically to play the updated versions of it (by the way version 2.0 kicks ass!) I was on the fence about DC Universe online until you did a let’s play of it which prompted me to check it out and I love it. I really liked your and Spoony’s Star Trek Online review. I eventually played it myself and I really liked it which was in contrast to your and Spoony’s take however I started playing it more recently and many of my friend’s who played the beta said that they were not impressed with it at launch. Since then they have done many updates, and many of your and Spoony’s complaints have been intergrated into Star Trek Online’s current form and the game has been awesome since then. I think you and Spoony’s comments may have had a positive impact on Cryptic’s direction of the game.

            In conclusion, I do think you are talented and hard working. You deserve to be where you are at right now and you have done a decent job with Blistered Thumbs. Don’t ever let some opinionated asshole like me stop you from following your dreams and getting yourself out there. That said let me have my chance to gripe and speak mind if I feel the need to do it. Take it with a grain of salt and try not to take it too personally.

            And again, I’m sorry to drag up and old wound. But keep in mind your not the first nor will you be the last person to make an ass of yourself in a public forum. After all, I just did it to myself with my above comment to you.

            Take care of yourself Joe and keep producing.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Edward-Graham-Peeler-Jr/1602215514 Edward Graham Peeler Jr.

            Joe

            You have my most sincere respect for coming out here and defending yourself personally. You could have just wrote me off as a troll but you came out here and defended your honor and I am impressed by that.

            I apologize if my criticism of you above has offended you personally or drudged up painfully memories. I have no desire to make you feel like less of a person or discourage you from doing what you do. I did say some mean things about you and Blistered Thumbs above and I apologize for that.

            However, I said them because I am meerly stating my perhaps uninformed, opinion on a situation on the internet. And it is my opinion that the interview in question is not your finest moment. You did seem unprepared, you had trouble thinking on your feet, and you came off as antagonistic to Geoff. It did not leave a good impression nor did the post video although I understand why you made that. Just keep in mind, when your in the public spot light, you have a billion people judging you and you have to be careful what you say and do. They can take it out of context. They can twist your words to use them against you. They can perceive you as unprofessional. Because, yeah, they don’t know you personally, but their perception of you will change based on what they see and hear. For them, that’s reality.

            All you can do is do your best and be careful what you put out there. You can say what every you want but don’t be surprised if people get on your case for it (as I find out everytime I open my mouth.) And there will always be people that will hate you no matter what you do. And no one’s a genius 90% of the time.

            And your right I was not there. I do not know what Geoff was saying to you behind the scenes or how big a dick he was acting. It could be that there were some problems on both sides and you have a right to defend your case. I am glad the two of you have put that behind you since then.

            And for the record, I may not know you personally, but I have seen your show. And I do not hate you. You strike me as a very nice person at heart. Your hard working, you’ve got great energy and enthusiasm, and you clearly love what your doing. Your show is good for what it is. It’s not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. But it is entertaining. I love your persona as the Angry Joe character. I love your crossovers with other TGWTG contributors. And you do a pretty decent job of reviewing and getting people hyped for new games that are coming out. That said I don’t always agree with your opinions on games, sometimes you don’t seem to get your facts on games straight, and your humor can be very forced at times.

            Also, your a giant ham, but I’m not going to hold that against you to much.

            Your videos have influenced my recent game purchases for better and for worse. And that’s part of the reason why I’m very critical of you. Your mission statement seems to be about saving gamers money and well, I followed your advice, and well, it cost me some money. And that’s why it may sound like I have an axe to grind and I come off as a jerk especially in the last paragraph. I really liked your coverage 2 E3′s ago of Star Wars: The Old Republic and, honestly, you sold me on it man. I was really excited about that game specifically because of you and Spoony. So I went out and bought it and I absolutely hated. It was honestly one of the worst gaming purchases of my entire life and a very negative experience to boot and mind you I’ve purchased Spawn The Eternal for the PS1 so that’s pretty bad.

            That said you also recommended Super Mario Bros. Crossover which I would have never know about if it was not for you and I absolutely love it and I’ve continued to visit Jay Pavilina’s website periodically to play the updated versions of it (by the way version 2.0 kicks ass!) I was on the fence about DC Universe online until you did a let’s play of it which prompted me to check it out and I love it. I really liked your and Spoony’s Star Trek Online review. I eventually played it myself and I really liked it which was in contrast to your and Spoony’s take however I started playing it more recently and many of my friend’s who played the beta said that they were not impressed with it at launch. Since then they have done many updates, and many of your and Spoony’s complaints have been intergrated into Star Trek Online’s current form and the game has been awesome since then. I think you and Spoony’s comments may have had a positive impact on Cryptic’s direction of the game.

            In conclusion, I do think you are talented and hard working. You deserve to be where you are at right now and you have done a decent job with Blistered Thumbs. Don’t ever let some opinionated asshole like me stop you from following your dreams and getting yourself out there. That said let me have my chance to gripe and speak mind if I feel the need to do it. Take it with a grain of salt and try not to take it too personally.

            And again, I’m sorry to drag up and old wound. But keep in mind your not the first nor will you be the last person to make an ass of yourself in a public forum. After all, I just did it to myself with my above comment to you.

            Take care of yourself Joe and keep producing.

        • http://twitter.com/Jesseraygarza Jesse Garza

          What an asshole. Please leave. Everyone wants you to. :)

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

          No, I saw that interview. He scheduled an interview, Geoff wasn’t there, and was constantly brushing Joe off when he suddenly changed the time and circumstances of the review.

          Geoff was trying to put Joe on his back foot, looking away, ignoring him, and wasting Joe’s “two minutes” with pointless questions of his own. That’s not “quietly shooting down every one of his points”, that’s wasting the interviewees time.

          Geoff was the unprofessional one here, and it’s understandable why Joe would get antagonistic and butt hurt. I think your just looking for reasons to attack TGWTG at this point. Take a step back and give yourself some perspective.

          The interview in question:
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTNkoDzP1hI

    • Thomas Shuker

      You know, maybe the problem is that we have too many professionals out there.  People who sugar-coat everything negative behind a bunch of euphemisms and corporate boot-licking because they’re afraid to tell people and developers how they really feel about the game.  If Spoony was unprofessional and out of line with his outburst(which he admits he was), if just an honest response from a fan  of the series.  Just like John Stewart from The Daily Show,I would rather have Spoony be an honest entertainer than a professional reporter/interviewer any day of the week.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

      This is pretty shocking to see so many people defend something that SPOONY HIMSELF REGRETS DOING.

      Don’t get me wrong, I would be angry with anyone at TGWTG if they tried to sugarcoat their opinions. But you can be brutally honest without having to scream in public. This isn’t about fighting political correctness, this is about common sense and manners in a professional environment.

      • GreenGear

        Shit man, this is America. We should be able to shout whatever 3 syllable words in a convention center that we like, without fear of reprisals against out brothers.

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3Q5SLA52ZOWMQ6M5ODSGUPKSE Edward

          How about “FIRE!!!” and get about a hundred people killed by trampling?  Should we be allowed to do that at E3?

          • http://www.facebook.com/arne.maes Arne Maes

             3 syllables FI-YA-HA?

          • GreenGear

            1 or 2 people may get killed by trampling in such an event. A hundred? Prffffft. Also, yeah. Count the syllables.

            I’d be more patient with you, but I saw your other comments here.

    • http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/cornbredx/ CornBRED-X

      There was a time when passionate journalism got Nixon to admit he was wrong. Granted it wasn’t a journalist, it was a game show host, but it’s still historic.

      LK is more angry he can’t get any credibility (and what I mean by that is a bigger reputation). He’s been blaming others for this, and he’s had a problem with Spoony for awhile now. I really like LKs work but he’s not top tier and he doesn’t produce top tier entertainment (internet wise or otherwise). 

      Was it childish that Spoony yelled betrayal in the middle of E3? Yes. 

      It came from a place of honesty, though. It also made him look like a jack ass and hopefully now he’ll realize he doesn’t know everything that’s going on behind closed doors. But that’s why we watch his show, isn’t it? That’s how Spoony has always been.

      I don’t know. I really like Spoony’s work as well, and he’s on a higher level then LK when he puts out videos, but none of these guys are taken seriously by (for lack of a better word) “real” video game journalism websites. It’s why I consider these guys amateur game reviewers, and possibly always will. None of them do anything professionally (although I will admit Joe does try to- I cant speak for Blistered Thumbs, I really just don’t like that site).

      I feel like I’m coming off mean, here, and I really don’t mean to, but LK, Spoony, Angry Joe and all of TGWTG are still bottom tier reviewers. It doesn’t mean they’re bad- they just don’t do things at a professional level (although, again, I think Joe is the one if any of them to really stake a claim as far as professional games journalism). None of them are really taken very seriously, and it’s not because of the nonsense Spoony does.

      • http://twitter.com/Das_Bass Das_Bass

        I trust these guys over IGN or G4 any day of the week..just saying that since they are paid to give good reviews to games, case in point Kane and Lynch 1. How anyone can trust people that give one game a 6/10 for being the same as the first game then give a game a 9/10 for not changing anything ( both games having nothing wrong with how they’re played) is messed up. And how you can be a “professional” at reviewing a game is beyond me. and if they know you’re going to shit on their game they don’t give you a copy to review. That’s is also IGN will say this game is great, when it is only okay. Like how they all kissed FF13s ass and it was really only okay.

        • GreenGear

          I misread the start of your comment at first, and started getting pissed, thinking you were praising IGN and G4.

          Then I realized where I slipped up, and started loving you. 

          Phew.

          Yeah I’m fucking HORRIFIED at how FF13 got 40/40 by Famitsu (which is rare as all hell by the way; google it. it’s a short list) endured all that criticism across the board, and then when FF13-2 came out, BAM. Another 40/40. Holy shit man. Could they have made it any more obvious that was bribed?

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3Q5SLA52ZOWMQ6M5ODSGUPKSE Edward

          Dude, at this point, I seriously don’t trust Noah or Joe’s taste in games and I would tread with caution before purchasing anything they recommend.  Spoony complains about everything and makes mountains out of mole hills and Joe likes to over hype stuff and often times he comes across like a shill for the industry.  

          Now that’s not say they don’t like good stuff.  I really appreciate Spoony’s Ultima Retrospective because it inspired me to go back play the series which I missed my first time around and he’s damn right about that.  It’s an excellent series.

          But seriously be careful before you run out and buy something based of Frick and Frack here’s recommendation, especially at a convention like this where everyone and their mother is trying to promote their crap.  Last Christmas, I purchased Star Wars The Old Republic based on Spoony and Joe’s recommendation and it was seriously the worst gaming purchase I ever made in my life.  I hadn’t felt this upset about game since my parents got me Ghostbusters for the NES when I was a kid and it was so bad I started crying.  Not to mention, Joe was a total whore last year for Mortal Kombat which is the biggest piece of crap I have seen in a long time.  And Spoony didn’t like it but he had the gall to say “the story is excellent” which made me lose all respect for him.  That story was bullshit.  All Ed Boon’s stupid ass did was watch Star Trek 2009, copy the script, remove all intelligence from it, and added Freddy Krueger.  If that isn’t hack writing I don’t know what is.  And meanwhile Angry Joe condemned Marvel Versus Capcom 3 and gave it a 6/10 because “it didn’t have a story mode.”

          Ok 1)  Marvel vs. Capcom does not and has never needed a story mode.  The fun of the game is picking your favorite characters from either universe, teaming them up, and kicking the shit out all of other characters in a fast paced fantasy tag team adventure.  That is the appeal it doesn’t need a boring, poorly written story mode campaign.

          2)  It DOES have a story.  A very simply one that is detailed in the instruction booklet like these games used to do and in the 4 awesome trailer episodes.  Dr. Doom team up with Marvel and Capcoms villains. Villains merge 2 universes together.  Villains try to take over both.  Heroes fight them and kick ass.  Galactus smells 2 planets for the price of one and tries to eat them both.  Done.  There.  That’s the story.  That’s all you need.  Anything else is self indulgent.  And if you want more the entire game is voice acted and characters have special dialogue with each other.  And beyond that with a little imagination the players can come with their own stories while playing as to why certain characters are working together.  Kindof like how we used to with games.

          3)  Capcom is by no means perfect and they have had their share of mistakes.  But if one thing they did that was smart was not putting  an overly complicated narrative in their fighting games because they realized that if they did they would screw it up much like Mortal Kombat did with their over written deus ex machina embracing pile of bullshit, and I salute them for that.

          But your mileage may vary man.  I am well aware that my opinions on games is not universal.  Just a friendly warning from a guy who got burned last year, be real careful before you make a purchase based on what these jokers recommend.

          • Renaissance_nerd

             Spoony is an entertainer. He will be the first to admit most of what he does is shtick.

            his reviews are for entertainment. his trips to E3 are about the most serious you will see him get, the rest is for the yuks.

            as for SWTOR, you were not the only one that got duped, even Spoony and Joe canceled their accounts.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

            This is why I wait to buy games. Because even when the games are released, they aren’t necessarily FINISHED yet.

          • GreenGear

            Leave the world.

            And don’t come back.

    • GreenGear

      I really hate the vague goddamn usage of the word “pro.” Like it’s a word you can buy shares of, claim ownership and then declare arbitrary rules for. Spoony yelled at E3, so that’s not pro? It was loud, rude and spontaneous. But so what? 

      Here’s what I don’t understand: Why did that event get Lordkat singled out by other people for what Spoony did? What the hell? What kind of blame game were they playing over there? They think TGWTG is a hivemind or some shit? Hell, Lordkat should know a little better than to blame that bullshit on Spoony. It’s like… Fight for the principle, dude. 

      It’s like if I switched ran a red light at a deserted intersection at 3 AM, and by some weird, demonstrable chain of events, that caused someone to slip on a banana peel and break their arms and legs. Sure, I guess I was breaking the rule in the first place, but that guy slipping on the goddamn banana can NOT be blaming that on me. Save that sort of surreal, manufactured guilt for a bad sitcom, bro.

      • Dragdar

         lordkat is a greasy, childish slime-ball.

        • faeyr

          Does anyone give two squirts about what lordkat thinks? I don’t mean the dudes who habitually come here and piss on spoony, I mean the rest of the interwebs.

          • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1631667413 James Walker

             Well he constantly has about 100 people watching a blank screen and chatting, waiting for him to speak. And when he does do stuff he averages at about 300 people, maybe more if it’s a popular show.

            But yes LK is a bit of a douche. And he’s overambitious, over confident, and mildly narcissistic. But he is an intelligent man, and despite his grating personality he is a fun guy, and I do respect his opinion, if not his whiny temper.

    • evilguyinsuit

       I kinda get both sides, a bit… but maaan, LordKat comes off way worse to me. I mean, not as bad as the guys who laughed at him, don’t get me wrong, but still… LK blaming Spoony, calling him a monkey? Yeah, I get why, but…

      *sigh* ‘Pro’ journalism in America has never impressed me, because, as so many say, it seems to be simply smiling and asking as many friendly questions as possible. Someone needs to ask the awkward questions, someone needs to call people out. An industry where all the press is bought for, paid for and threatening, is an industry in trouble, because no one trusts their press.

      Yelling loudly what you think has problems too, but at least there’s an honesty to that.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Wells/13805208 Patrick Wells

         Lord Kat doesn’t know what journalism is. He is a hack. Journalism, true journalism, means speaking out when something is wrong and informing the public. It means asking tough questions.

        But so many “journalists” think it means asking softball questions, sucking up to those you interview, and getting hand outs and perks in return. That doesn’t make you professional. It makes you a whore.

    • http://www.facebook.com/InvisibleCrane Grant McLellan

      It surprises me to this day that Spoony never got kicked out for doing
      that, how can someone be so unprofessional just because he didn’t like a
      game. I understand it’s part of a series he liked but when you come off
      as less professional as Chris Bores then that’s saying a lot

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3Q5SLA52ZOWMQ6M5ODSGUPKSE Edward

        Cus Spoony’s a god damn idiot and has been for awhile now.

        I’m surprised he’s even there playing video game journalist again.  Especially since he and Joe are Mr. Anti-SOPA.  Guess what E3 supports.  SOPA!!!  And yet he’s there!  I look forward to another month of him not doing anything relevant but pretending to be a journalist with Joe and convincing me to waste another $70 on a game that is not worth its salt like he did with The Old Republic.  Thanks a lot Darth Joe, you hack!!  That game sucked!

        And since I can already feel the presence of PearTear and many others about to jump down my throat, I would just like to say that I really did enjoy part 1 of his Ultima 9 review.  However…

        Is it just me…or does that game look not that bad?  I mean after 2 years of over 10 videos of build up and bullshit I was expecting something way shittier than what he showed us.  Graphics look pretty good for the time, game play looks pretty good although he hasn’t covered magic yet, and in spite of Spoony’s anger it does look like some effort was used to transfer the entire Ultima universe into a new format.  

        The biggest problem with Ultima 9 that I can see so far is the continuity problems and the Avatar asking stupid questions.  I suppose I can see how that grinds Spoony’s gears but that doesn’t seem to different than what Raven Software did with the X-men Legends games and Marvel Ultimate Alliance with Magma and the over abundance of exposition.  Its seems like they dumbed the game down a little bit and gave the Avatar the ability to ask stupid questions to attract a wider audience who may not have played the other games the oldest of which at that time would have been about 20 years old and programmed in basic.  Its the kindof thing that I would have ignored while playing.  Also a lot of Spoony’s continuity gripes really boil down to nit picking.  Ok so the event doesn’t look EXACTLY the way it did in a previous game.  The point is its summarized or even interpreted a certain way just to tell the player the gist of what happened.  Is Spoony really going to complain about how a magic object from the previous games looks slightly different when previous it was programmed in basic and the size may have been exaggerated due to the programming limitations?  Why didn’t he complain about Exodus not looking like a computer console?  Was that not worth complaining about?  The stupidest thing he complained about to me was the moon gates.  Oh, yeah, Noah, God forbid a brand new game use a little bit of artistic license and have a sense of style when their making a new installment of a game.  Its a fucking portal to another dimension.  Who gives a shit if its a blue doorway or a sparkling purple Star Trek transporter? Does it really matter at the end of the day and is that really a deal breaker for you?  I pity the man who answers that question with a yes.

        • Dragdar

           agreed, the betrayal counter was over used and he was EVEN MORE nit-picky than usual.

          It just felt evil-spirited and too whiny, it’s not like the game didnt have enough shit to rip on, it just how you go about it.

        • Virtz

          Hey, Cullen, how about making your own judgement on a game? Why would you let anyone other than closest friends convince you to buy something? What is wrong with you?

          And you might wanna put your comments concerning the ultima video in like, I dunno, the ultima video post’s comments section? Instead you’re cluttering up this comment section with your whining. There’s already 2 other walls of whining in this section from you. I think that’s enough.

        • GreenGear

          You’re a raving jackass. Leave.

        • PeaTearGryfin

           Awww. I’m so honored that you still remember me. Did I really impact your life of bitching that much? Anyway you realize that THIS isn’t the Ultima IX page right? Believe me. That game may LOOK nice, but once you start playing it, you realize just how bad it really is. Imagine if I took something that completely made up your childhood and changed everything about it. Wouldn’t you feel a little bit pissed off?

          • evilguyinsuit

            *nods* If you’ll forgive me giving my 2p

            Believe it or not, Ultima 9 was my first Ultima game. I had no prior investment in the series, thought it played nice at this point… but things only get worse.

            In fact, I’m amazed at how little Spoony covered. We’re talking less time in game than the review itself took. ;) I couldn’t remember anything bad from that point, but that was mostly because I was a kid and kinda stupid (and knew nothing about the other games in the series)

            I don’t hate it, even now, but I’m… probably as close to a fan of it as you can get, and I’m really looking forward to part 2.

      • evilguyinsuit

         IIUC (which is an if) simple; he didn’t do it to their faces, but afterwards, in a public area. That’s where the video comes from, that famously shows him yelling it. I mean, E3′s pretty noisy, tonns of people… bit of a spectacle, but nothing offensive.

        Course, when you’re talking to devs who’ve been on that team afterwards, things get a little dicy. ;)

    • Renaissance_nerd

       something tells me that LordKat is the only one who gets laughed at. besides Spoony is not a part of Blistered thumbs, hes a part of TGWTG.

      the two factions are separate even if most of them are friends.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=655701905 Corey Schaff

       Apparently “Professionalism ” means “Gobbling even the dirtiest PR Cock” nowadays.

    • PeaTearGryfin

       Seriously? People are still on this. The BETRAYAL!!! thing was 2 years ago. Did it dawn on anybody that if E3 was that shocked at his behavior, they would have kept in out. Clearly this issue is all water under the bridge for most except people like LordKat, who might I remember has had his own share of fanboy moments as well.

  • sifer2

    Beeetraya!!!…..Oh this is nice. lol

    But seriously Spoony was justified back when he originally said it folks. That shooter looked like crap, and really was a betrayal of what the series stood for. He couldn’t really have known a real X-Com sequel was in the works. Glad at least the X-Com strategy devs understood an hold no hard feelings. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the shooter devs are a little mad but it’s their fault for straying so far away from the IP’s roots. It would be like making Halo 4 an RPG set in Medieval times. People would riot.

    Anyway i’m pretty excited for the new X-Com it looks like it should be good for the most part. Though you can tell its kind of streamlined for consoles, and modern audience with the tiny 6 man squad. Which is what I would have asked them about if I had interviewed. I really wasn’t expecting it to have multiplayer so its kind of funny you guys managed to sort of pry that out of them. I agree with Joe that all we need to seal the deal is for them to include that prototype that was a exact remake in the collectors edition. Then no one could resist a buy.

    • K B

       The prototype probably doesn’t have art assets. It’d be like a tech demo with stick figures.

      I thought the shooter looked average and some re-uses of IPs have been well received by gamers like WoW while others have sunk like the TORtanic.

  • http://twitter.com/VictuzPL Wiktor Jankowiak

    This is great and all. But I have to buy the game for one reason, the guy mentioned “Impossible difficulty is like Dwarf Fortress”. Instant love from me :D

  • K B

     You gotta keep in mind demos are more often mini-games than they are shareware style cuts from the actual game. The game isn’t done yet when you play the demon and the team’s spent months focusing on developing the demo. It’s not a format that lends itself to gameplay that takes a long time.

    Why doesn’t anyone look anyone else in the eyes?

    Overall this’s definitely the game fans were looking for: a modernized version of the original. Everything updated and some new mechanics too.

    Storywise, is this a remake of the original?

    • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

      The story of the original Enemy Unknown was not exactly too profound besides “Aliens bad”

  • sketchesofpayne

    Looks so awesome.

  • http://twitter.com/SidJnoo7 Jnoo7

    I wonder how much 2K sank into the XCOM shooter. I remember reading reports about 2K Marin resumes that date back to 2007 which when presumably that game entered pre-production in that year. It’s now scheduled for an early 2013 release which means it’s probably been in development for nearly 6-7 years. That game’s reception is going to be interesting to say the least.

  • Anyone00

    I’m hoping the UFO: Enemy Unknown box art alien shows up in the game.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ville-Gunnarsson/100000930270763 Ville Gunnarsson

    There’s still some elements to this game that are disappointing. If they really are all about customization as they say, they should have an option to turn on time units. I wonder how radar system will work when there is only one base? Maybe you can buy little radar stations around the world that do not serve any other function than spotting UFOs. I’d be completely fine with that. Or maybe there might even be correlation between XCOM’s diplomatic relationship with supporting nations and UFO detection – the better XCOM is serving a nation, the more info they provide to you.

    • evilguyinsuit

       *nods* They mention it in passing; but yeah. Radar is done through literal satellites this time. ;)

  • http://twitter.com/NeroAngelus Nero Angelus

    It’s nice to see you Happy Spoony.
    Don’t get me wrong I love watching you RAGE against garbage hell I am right there with you dude. But seeing you optimistic, it’s something man haha, glad ya got the ideal XCOM made for you.

  • Vismutti

    All I have to say is that without Spoony’s “BETRAYAL!” video, I wouldn’t know what the hell XCOM even is, nor would I care.

    • The_Hyphenator

      Pretty much. Growing up in a household without good PCs, I was exclusively a console gamer for a long time (and for the most part, still am) so I was completely unaware of XCOM.

      It’s an odd kind of free publicity, but hey, you take what you can get, right?

  • J.G. te Molder

    I’m so getting this when it comes out.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Ross/100000510615727 Paul Ross

    Holy crap I want this so bad but October is so far away I want it now, I really can not wait for this. Also shame on anyone for never playing the original, if you havn’t go play it now.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1673310152 Julian Andreassen

    I am definately going to buy this game, but it is a pitty that i never played the original games. 

    • Salen Stormwing

       That’s super easy to fix. Just hop on Steam and buy the original, or the whole collection. Or if you want to wait, catch it on sale during one of Steam’s big super holiday sales. I got all the original games for less than 4 bucks, a year or so ago.

      But yes, I can’t wait to buy this game either.

  • Michael Sporzynski

    The original UFO: Enemy Unknown is easily in my top five of best video games ever. I played it a *lot* for years and years since its release, coming back to it more often than any other game. I’m happy that the remake may well turn out to be a worthy continuation of the original.

    And to anyone who hasn’t played it – you can still do it while waiting for the remake, y’know. The game has
    aged remarkably well, including in the graphics department. I mean it. Unlike many old games that are awesome, but make me go “ooooookay, I’m
    not really feeling like playing it anymore”, UFO can be enjoyed as much as it could be when it was brand new (assuming you can get it to run on a modern machine, but DosBOX should solve that problem easily).

    EDIT: wait, it’s available on Steam as well. Now you don’t even have the “I don’t know what DosBOX is” excuse. Go, buy it, play it. It’s worth it.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    I can’t believe Spoony is getting so much flak for the betrayal thing. It was an honest gut reaction. Not to mention Spoony’s first time to the rodeo as the saying goes.

    come on tell me you would not do the same if COD or HALO were suddenly turned into a racing game? I still believe XCOM has no business even attempting to be a FPS.

    unprofessional? ehhhh maybe but Spoony is not a professional. He runs his own website and makes videos for entertainment, and E3′s “press” requirements are pretty much that.

    I could see if he worked for G4 or Gamespot or IGN, ok then hes a “professional” and on someones payroll.

    good gravy I’ll bet you reading this has done something more embarrassing/stupid in your life.

    and i don’t know what Lordkat’s problem is but he’s got a hardon for Spoony and wants to cause trouble.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

      You thought this was bad, go read LordKat’s article: “Dear Extra Credits, Shut Up”.

      And if you don’t know what Extra Credits is, go find it at Penny Arcade. They’re pretty awesome.

      • detis

        Ya know I read that article and I was a fan of his site for UWW. His other stuff is meh to me, interesting but eh oh well. I think he has a general negative and snobby disposition (even if he is correct in what he’s saying). As far as saying Spoon is messing it up for the rest of us? How? I haven’t seen LK at E3 and he pretty much departed from TGWTG. 

        So if he’s referring to journalism, no cause Spoony isn’t really all that much of a journalist and even then I don’t think he’d be big time, he’s solo and the only rep he has is himself and other amateurs. There’s always gonna be more amateurs. If he’s referring to being professional, well shit not like he’s much better as you have pointed out. It’s like a radio jockey bitching about an actor is messing it up for everybody in the horror industry including the radio guy himself. 

        If he’s talking about Blistered Thumbs, he’s not on there, nor is spoony except for cameos for E3 or the writers who are on BT and LK’s website. 

        TLDR: To me LK is bitchin just to bitch. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

       They turned Halo into a RTS once called Halo Wars. It was not very good at all, yet everybody was totally fine with it because the 12 years olds that all like Halo went “OMGHALOISAWESOME” and bought it instantly.

      • detis

        What’s funny is that HALO was originally designed to be an RTS. But then they were like ‘nah this unit looks too bad ass, let’s make a FPS with just him in the setting we made’ and then bam HALO was born. Good thing too cause if it was a RTS the franchise prolly would’ve went no where. 

        • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

           Its funny you say that Detis. The whole reason this whole FPS problem has even come up is because the North American videogame giants all maintain that people only care about Singleplayer RPG’s and Shooting games. They think that because a lot of third rate and not very well done RTS’s came out in the 80′s and 90′s with only a handful of them being worthy of a long term franchise. Brutal Legend lacked proper advertising for this reason, EA refused to let them market the game as a strategic game of any sort and for some reason everybody tried to play it like starcraft. You now know why most worthwhile strategic games are developed by smaller companies in europe.

      • Emperor_Z

        Imagine if Halo Wars were made INSTEAD of a main series Halo game though.

  • The_Hyphenator

    So I gotta be honest, my first reaction when seeing the gameplay trailer was “Why haven’t they announced a Wii U port? The gamepad looks PERFECT for this kind of game.”

    Anybody else have that thought?

  • Senna4ever

    You know, I wonder if Spoony’s “betrayal” rant actually got this game made?

    Seems strange to me that they were showing the FPS Xcom and no one liked it, so they showed it again in a later show and “adjusted” it, no one liked it.
    Yet this “proper” Xcom came from nowhere after Spoony yelled his head off.

    • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

       The two games were actually in production at the same time, and Spoonies yelling actually did help. Spoonies outroar and other pressures from real fans outright haled production of that terrible game. Then Firaxis decided to reveal what they were working on and got such a positive reception because it was actually a Xcom game.

      • GreenGear

        Wow, really? Is there a source on this?

        • detis

          When you watch the vid the designer said (When Spoon asks about his outcry and how it affected them) that internally, they were both being made and everyone in the companies knew there was gonna be a shooter and reimage of xcom, but for them they didn’t really realized from the outside that people didn’t get that. I call BS on how could you think you’re working on a project and not see there’s no released coverage on the game YOU’RE WORKING ON. :/ So I dunno but that’s what they said. 

          • http://www.facebook.com/Manofmanycoats Robert Cousineau

             I don’t get it either. If they just came out last year and tried to explain this to the public I think we would of all understood what they were going for. The main reason the companies pull this and we get pissed off is their 0 transparency policies.

  • http://twitter.com/CedarMusketeer Bryan Gardner

    Where can I download the “BETRAYAL!!!” song at the end of the video.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ESJKDKHPCKWKZ55MB6TTKKAO6I Motica

    When Spoony was yelling “betrayal”, he actually expressed my EXACT feelings when I saw the XCOM shooter. Every X-Com fan out there cringed in pain when they saw it and later was overrun with joy when they found out about the strategy version. The truth is NOBODY knew that it was coming out, if people want to point fingers, point them at whoever thought it was a good idea to first announce the SHOOTER version of one of the longest anticipated STRATEGY game remakes of all time.

    • Renaissance_nerd

       Exactly I would have done it the other way around, announced the strategy game first then followed it up with the FPS as a one two punch of XCOM.

      had they done that I think the backlash against the FPS version would have been much less.

      • misterT0AST

        Two very different studios made the FPS and the turn-based strategy.
        The fact is so many people complained when XCOM fps was announced, they realized how much people still love that franchise.
        So Paradox started working on a strategic sequel.
        In a sense, we should be thankful to the XCOM FPS (which by the way is having a load of trouble and it may never see the light of day):
        The wave of outrage it brought gave the impulse for the strategic sequel.

        • http://twitter.com/Blackbot91 Blackbot

           The clearly stated that the Strategy game already was in production (for 1 or 2 years, I think) when they announced the FPS.

  • Kassie Boyd

    I just noticed that Joe’s got a Teddie badge! :D

    It’s bear-y awesome!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Rosenbaum/100001387887487 George Rosenbaum

      I can forgive having to fight everyone else’s personas, because no one knew they would turn into super demons if you rejected them (in addition to being mind-screwed with their worst fears).

      But TEDDIE was there for every single persona battle, and even told us not to reject their personas or they will become dangerous. So the only reason we had to fight Teddie’s persona is…because Teddie is too stupid to follow his own advice, to the point that it puts the rest of the party in jeopardy.

      In short, fuck you Teddie, for almost killing me with your stupid ass.

  • Dragdar

    Spoony looks downright paralyzed in this one, come on, dont be afraid, if anything they
    should be thankful for the amount of buzz you created haha.

    but thats the way it is, sometimes you gotta face the music, what you say can come back, publishers wont like you if you’re likely to go all out sticks and stones on a game, especially before it’s even released.

    that’s why all the “pro” reviewer get regular reminders about who’s paying the ads on their sites and the scores stay nice and high.

    good thing Joe pulled through and his review scale is very real.

    • Renaissance_nerd

       Spoony is very shy in RL. im sure the fact he called the FPS XCOM garbage didn’t help his courage.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Lenne-Shuyin/100002432893015 Lenne Shuyin

        yes he is shy, if you notice the hair movements, thats the first sign, he is fidgetty, but we do love the man, Id take him as he is any day

  • sniktbub

    Why is it that Angry Joe looks well-groomed and professional, but Spoony looks like he just crawled out of his basement? Angry Joe was doing practically all of the interviewing while Spoony just sat there adjusting his hair. 

    • http://twitter.com/Volderghast Sebastian Fernandez

       Well, it was Joe’s interview, Spoony was more of a guest here.

  • Jared Fullyfisted

    I’ve been weirded out by this because I’m a PC guy growing up through the 90s and somehow missed XCOM entirely until seeing the ‘BETRAAAAYAL’ moment. Played all the Command and Conquers, Warcrafts and Starcrafts, Diablos, too many adventure games to count and just about everything Apogee released. But never heard of XCOM…

  • http://www.facebook.com/niQboy Nico Havia

    I was looking forward to this interview with great anticipation, because I’ve been very eager to hear Spoony’s thought’s on Enemy Unknown ever since it was announced, because he’s such a hardcore fan and was so, so upset with the FPS.

    I thought he’d be loaded with questions to ask the devs, but then he just sits there..

    • Renaissance_nerd

       it was really Joe’s interview, I think it was more of a Spoony cameo.

    • Patrick Coyle

      I’m pretty sure he’d be the first to admit that an entire interview with him and the developers would be doing the “we’re not worthy” bow and offering to wash their cars.  The man knows he’ll never be objective enough to do a real journalistic interview about something like this.

  • Patrick Coyle

    Between Guild Wars 2 and this, 2012 has been the most gleeful year for gaming I’ve experienced in a long, long time.

    Even if Enemy Unknown somehow manages to utterly blow, there’s one consolation: at least the people behind its development understand what made the original so great.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmy-TheFish/100000139595167 Jimmy TheFish

    “The ability to play the game we wanted to bring down a little bit, we wanted everyone to enjoy it”
    Seems to me like they wanted to dumb it down to make it a bigger hit to sell more units

    The same thing that happend with Resident Evil, now dead space

    • Dragdar

       dead space was dumbed down from the first one.

      since we’ve been gaming so long we dont even remember how taxing it is for a newcomer to figure out stuff. that’s what they’ll solve in the first hour.

      • Patrick Coyle

        Wanting to make it a bigger hit to sell more?  How dare they!

        Seriously though, there’s only a small minority of gamers that enjoy hours of studying their manuals and cross-referencing menus and screens like in the olden days, and we just have to accept that. Most would rather play the darned game and not feel like they have to prepare for a calculus exam first.

        There are still good budget titles that cater to micromanagers, but nobody’s going to sink the kind of money spent on this game on such a tiny niche.

  • OtterMatt

    Could that guy look any more like Adam Baldwin?  I like the idea of Jayne programming space marines.

  • Kendotuxedo

    Didn’t Spoony call “Betrayal” because they were turning XCOM into another first person shooter game?

    • http://www.facebook.com/emothunk Rose Jinkins

      Different XCOM. If you watched his previous E3 video he explained that.

      • Merost

         No you were right? Theres XCOM by Take2, and XCOM Enemy Unknown by Firaxis.

        XCOM is the Egoshooter in the 1950s, XCOM EU the Strategy game set in the future / present.

    • Renaissance_nerd

       yes, the original XCOM 2009 was a reboot turning the game into an FPS. Spoony and many XCOM fans felt this was a butchering of one of the greatest strategy games ever hence the betrayal.

  • memph

    I ROFLD at the end. Never heard that betrayal metal song before.
     

  • http://twitter.com/Yuoaman Nick Burns

    I’ve actually never played an X-COM game before, now Spoony and Joe have me wanting to play catch-up. There are too many classic games out there that I’ve missed, man.

  • Akasen

    I love the mention of Dwarf Fortress in the interview

  • http://twitter.com/nnecron Necro

    The guy on the right almost sound exactly like Spoony’s brother Mike.

  • http://www.facebook.com/MrBoffin Jared Michael Anjewierden

    I’m the same boat as Nick here – never had a chance to play the original and wasn’t that interested in the new ones. (Besides the entertainment value of “BETRAYAL”) But after this interview I think I will be buying it when it comes out.

  • IHeart28

    “LOYALTY!”– Spoony

    XD I absolutely enjoyed this interview! It was just so adorable and great to see spoony so happy, grantite him raging is just as fun but his happiness just(to me at least) puts a smile on my face. Angry joe was on fire with this too, it was great to see him ask so many questions.

    • Patrick Coyle

      That little baby-like coo of delight he gives after the gameplay clip at the beginning is simply precious.

      • IHeart28

        I know! Squee!…. God I’m such a fangirl

  • msrx79

    Never played X-com, you should do a review of the series.  To catch up the gamers that missed out.

  • http://www.facebook.com/HabukiArcanaKuragari Nick Warren

    Hmm…. Spoony, you’ve been opening up my friend’s eyes to PC gaming. He’s been with the console party and shunned PC gaming almost altogether. And for some reason you like a lot of what I liked when I was younger. Kudos to you… and please do try to do another playthrough of Deadly Premonition…. If you actually happen to read this, make mention of the fact that it’s playable on the PS3 as “Red Seeds Profile” only released in Korea with english voice acting. Yeah…. That means all the instructions and button prompts are in Korean. It’s a hell that I found quite amusing.

  • http://twitter.com/LikChan Lik Chan

    HAHA, love this. BETRAYAL!

    btw, LordKaT is so butthurt. GO JOE!

  • Lee Byrne

    Some people here are a little confused as to what good journalism is.Check out Jeremy Paxman interviewing political types.He is relentless in getting the answers the public want.Its very entertaining.

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