RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media this seems like as good a place for this topic as any...

newest episode. this one was the debate on women in nerd culture, so it's about half an hour longer than the other ones. yes, I added more music back in this time, but the dude is just getting his feet under him and was so excited when I asked to use his track that I just couldn't not use it or use less of it than I ended up going with.

for the episode following our next upload we'll be looking at examples of either characters or performances that helped bring about a paradigm shift in a genre or even in an entire medium. one fairly obvious example was when the zuckers cast leslie nielsen - a notoriously serious actor from a long list of notoriously serious movies - in airplane, which was all about skewering those over-the-top disaster flicks. comedy was never the same. similarly, die hard was supposed to have been a commando sequel, but arnold wasn't available so they ended up casting bruce willis as the protagonist and introduced a whole new type of 'everyman' action hero. any other good examples?

Does music count? What about Link Wray? Blues guitarists were already experimenting with distorted sounds and power chords before him but he was the one that people more closely associate with the sound, especially since he tied it to the whole rebellious gimmick (the pencil + amplifier = distortion thing.)

...and he once recorded the Batman theme

IN THE ASS.

Before Snarf can exit the ring, 'Kashmir' hits over the speakers and the crowd goes wild as Captain Sammitch makes his way to the ring, accompanied by Chewy Walrus, Killconey, Meeko, and Sweet Marlene. The two women are wearing black minidresses with white trim, and the three men are wearing blue jeans and black baseball jerseys with the letters O F C in white on the front...

Monroe: And he's back! Making his first public appearance since being unmasked before the wrestling world at Halloween Handjobs, it's Captain Sammitch!

Marcum: I thought he was the Jade Dragon!

Monroe: The question is, which will King Snarf have to face tonight for the RDCW Heavyweight Championship?

Joined by his companions in the ring, Captain Sammitch accepts a microphone and turns to address King Snarf...

Captain Sammitch: I’d like to start out by...

Sammitch looks over at Snarf and can’t suppress a snicker...

CS: I’d like to... pffffffffft...

Sammitch holds up a hand...

CS: Just a second, just a second...

King Snarf:

CS: Snarf, buddy, could you do me a really big favor and not be within my field of view? I need to be able to keep a straight face here.

KS:

CS: Sammitch can’t hold in a snort...

KS:

CS:

KS:

Snarf sheepishly walks to a far corner of the ring and stands there dejectedly...

CS: Much better. I’d like to start out by welcoming everyone to New Year’s Evil. You can expect a couple solid matches tonight, and I’m sure you’re all looking forward to...

KS: A-hem... I believe I have some documents here that require your attention...

CS: We’ll get to you in a moment. Before I forget, I would like to congratulate the new Women’s champion, Sweet Marlene, and the new tag champions, Chewy Walrus and Killconey!

Sammitch waits for the applause to subside...

CS: That’s right, give ‘em a hand. They’ve earned it. Now I’m sure you’re all wondering...

KS: Excuuuse me...

CS: You’re really irritating sometimes, you know. Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I left, where I’ve been, all that stuff. Not that big a deal. I didn’t come out here to talk about myself. I’m sure you’ll get it all in an interview before too long here. I came out here to discuss the title match you’ll be watching later on this evening, and...

KS: And my request of the RDCW legal team!

Snarf angrily waves the release papers at Sammitch...

KS: I expect these waivers signed immediately, releasing me from any injuries I may inflict upon you over the course of tonight’s match!

CS:

KS:

CS:

KS:

CS: All right, Snarf, let’s see these...

An exasperated King Snarf hands Captain Sammitch the waivers...

CS: Hmmmm... you know, good buddy, these waivers also release me from any legal accountability for any injuries you might sustain in tonight’s match. Are you sure you’re okay with that?

Snarf nods, grinning...

CS: Since your ominous threats were immediately followed by a statement that you would, essentially, punk out of the match like a little bitch if you didn’t get your way, I think it’s safe to assume that these have less to do with the ‘INSANE amounts of violence’ you plan to ‘bring’ than with some half-assed scheme of yours. Possibly one even scarier than that match you did with the Hawaiian shirts.

Laughs from the crowd...

CS: See, while I most definitely welcome your ‘INSANE amounts of violence’, I’m rather disappointed that you felt the need to burden the legal team with this. To help us all along in this process, I’ve taken the liberty of bringing my own legal consultant to the ring... Meeko.

Marcum: What???

Monroe:

Meeko examines the documents and shakes her head...

KS: What? What is it?

Meeko: These statements of indemnity are very loosely constructed. I’m afraid we simply can’t offer any endorsement of a waiver with so many potential loopholes.

KS: That’s it! I don’t have to take this!

Marcum: Yeah! He’s the greatest champion in the history of the RDCW!

Monroe: Spare me...

CS: Y’know, Snarf, my wonderful legal counsel also informed me that the contract for tonight’s title match in no way prohibits me from inflicting ‘INSANE amounts of violence’ on you right now.

KS: You wouldn’t!

Chewy and Killconey snicker...

CS: The kinder, gentler Captain Sammitch hasn’t been seen since Scammiversary. If you’d like to speak with him, I’ll shoot him a memo if he ever comes back.

King Snarf backs up against the far ropes, looking nervously around the ring...

CS: But you know, I’d hate for you to be less than one hundred percent for the match. You’re gonna need every percentage point you’ve got to spare.

Snarf relaxes visibly...

CS: It really hurts me to see this, Snarf. Supposedly the greatest champion to ever wear an RDCW Heavyweight title belt, and you won’t face someone who’s still looking for his first one without some piece of paper giving you carte blanche to... to do what, exactly? I mean, if you don’t think you can win without doing something you’re not sure you can get away with in a no disqualification match, what were you thinking taking the management up on their invitation? To be honest, Snarf, as easy as it may be for me to laugh at you, I’m pretty disappointed with all the shit you’ve done to try and ‘make the RDCW lame’. Last time I fought you, you tried to leave the arena in a cab, and it took some excellent work on the part of our new tag team champions to forcibly return you to the ring. Sometimes I just don’t get you, Snarf.

Sammitch looks back at Meeko and hands Snarf back the papers...

CS: So here’s what you’re going to do. I’ll sign your waivers... just as soon as you rephrase them to specify that neither combatant slated to compete in the title match will be held responsible for any injuries directly incurred one upon the other, through any form of contact deemed by RDCW officials to be incidental to the conduct of a wrestling match, disqualifications or no.

KS: What?

Meeko: It means that you are legally responsible for anything that happens outside the constraints of the match itself. Anything before the match starts. Anything after the match ends. And, since Falls Count Anywhere was not named as a stipulation for tonight’s match, anything outside the ring.

Sweet Marlene: We know how much you love ‘making the RDCW lame’, Snarf. If you think you can dance around having to fight an actual wrestling match by looking for a loophole, you’re wasting your time. And if that’s not the case, if you were seriously hoping to intimidate us by threatening...

Chewy Walrus does an impeccable impression of Snarf’s tone...

Chewy Walrus: ‘INSANE levels of violence!’

The crowd laughs again...

SM: You’re still wasting your time.

CS: Thanks, guys. Now, Snarf, I know you’re probably thinking I’m out to ruin your fun, but honestly, all I want is a real live wrestling match. No Hawaiian shirts, no slumber parties, no ‘manly’ hugging. Just two guys in the ring kickin’ each other’s asses. I’ll sign your papers, and I’m sure the legal team will as well... just as soon as you make the requested alterations. I’m well aware this is strictly legal protection, and has no bearing on actions taken to influence the outcome of the match. And I’m not naïve enough to think you won’t still try and get away with something, but that’s okay. Just remember – there’s one of you and five of us. You’re not dealing with the Sudden Death Connection. And you’re not dealing with the babyface, law-abiding, crowd-pleasing Captain Sammitch. Not anymore.

Pops from the crowd...

CS: I believe we’ve wasted enough time talking. There’s my reply, take it or leave it. You can forfeit the match if you want, make it as lame as you want, but one way or the other, for the title or not, in the ring or not, you and I are gonna fight tonight. Don’t you still want it to count for something? It’s your choice...

short notice but because of schedule changes at work we're recording another short conversation tomorrow night. similar idea to the last one - paradigm shifts - this one specifically looks at individual video games that revolutionized their genre or the medium as a whole. I called dibs on the easiest example, Goldeneye for N64. any other examples?

Way too many examples coming to mind. Just going by favorites:

Batman: Arkham Asylum - isn't exactly the first third person beat em up, but the combat's auto counter was revolutionary and influenced many games that came after it (Sleeping Dogs and Deadpool, for instance)

Quake 3 Arena (the PC version) - I don't think it's the first arena type shooter, but it's the one that became a staple and was used more in e-sports. Also, it became the de facto benchmark for hardware. It was the Crysis of its time but unlike Crysis, Q3 actually had a fun game underneath instead of just a $60 measuring tool for e-peen.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter (Arcade, sega saturn, PS1) - X-Men: Children of the Atom was the first game that had the double jumps and screen filling supers that defined the VS. series, but XMvsSF was the first that pitted two licenses from different companies. Now we have Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Street Fighter vs. Tekken, SNK vs. Capcom, Battle Stadium DON, etc.

Resident Evil 4 (Ps2, Wii, Gamecube, PC) - was the first in the series to improve the tank controls, made the survival horror genre accessible to a wider aucience.

Mario Party on the N64 - when it came out, rival companies started coming out with their own first party boardgame/minigame titles (Sonic Shuffle, that weird thing with Crash Bandicoot)

Devil May Cry (PS2) - is probably the precursor to the hundreds of god of war-type games. Puzzles, platforming, combo-reliant combat. An annoying "super cool" main character, and QTEs. The first one is the best example because you can still see that it was originally meant to be a Resident Evil game.

Pong.
Pac-man.

If you're going FPS, Wolfenstein and Doom have to be mentioned. There were a few FPS's here and there, but these two made people crave them. Even Lucasarts made a Star Wars FPS after these two. Super Mario Brothers saved the home console and made Nintendo a monster of a gaming company. Grand Theft Auto 3 drove the sandbox craze. Street Fighter 2 revolutionized fighting games and probably helped keep many an arcade alive during the decline years of the late 80's/early 90's.

Half-Life, now showing its age more than others, still comes to mind when talking about narrative/storytelling getting in the way of gameplay. The creators managed to tell a story with a silent protagonist and no text walls/cutscenes and did a phenomenal job of it.

Thief: The Dark Project and Metal Gear Solid (released mere months apart, so I kind of lump them in together) were both hugely influential in the stealth/action genre, and a huge amount of that influence is still readily apparent; Dishonored, Splinter Cell, etc. all automatically feel familiar after getting hooked on Thief and MGS as a kid.

System Shock/SS2 (admittedly 2 was a more relevant example) grandfathered in the action-RPG-shooter games that have seen a fair deal of success. System Shock laid the foundation that has given way to games like Bioshock (obviously), Deus Ex, and even Borderlands.


But who said revolutions had to be good?

Aliens: Colonial Marines, Duke Forever and Daikatana will remain constant reminders of the shitshow audiences are sometimes treated to after remaining hopeful of the end product after years in development hell.

The most specific game that comes to mind is "Spore," showcasing how far publishers (EA) are willing to go in terms of DRM, even if it does mean totally screwing over consumers.

thank you everyone. if you're a frequent listener I'd appreciate if you'd help recommend us to your friends. our current advertising contracts are about to either expire or renew based on whether we deliver on referrals, and I'd be thrilled if you guys were able to help me bring in some business or even land new contracts with new advertisers!

uploaded the first 'paradigm shifts' discussion at http://is.gd/he1Ekg if anyone's interested.

sunday we'll be talking about reboots, retcons, and crisiseses... I'm pretty sure I know what I'll say regarding reboots in the film industry, and I've got one of my freelance inker friends talking about the various DC crises. however I'm not sure what angle to take when addressing retcons - given I'll have to define the concept for some of my listeners first, I'm blanking on good obvious examples of retcons that aren't complete reboots.

I'm going to address reboots in the film industry (and indirectly comics since they started getting taken over by film-industry execs) by using real-estate as a metaphor. the way I see it, to the current decision-makers under the business model they're running with, individual films are of a dramatically lower priority than the property itself. if you rent out a brownstone downtown and you get an occasional shitty tenant, it won't faze you all that much - in order for them to be there in the first place some amount of money's been coming your way. they were there, they trashed the place, now they're gone - you can afford to fix the apartment up before the next tenant shows up because you still have a fucking brownstone and you can still charge whatever you want even if some of your tenants are slovenly fucks. if you stop renting the place out just because it's getting trashed, eventually you won't be able to afford to hang onto it. you're getting some money either way, and at the very least you're almost always breaking even.

same thing in film - especially superhero films - these days. only it's worse because properties eventually revert if you don't use them. one of the guys who owns the smoke shop my sister works at bounces between cleveland and NYC, and he's buddies with brian vaughan. one of vaughan's sources of income right now is that he's leasing the film rights to y: the last man out to (I think) the third or fourth different production company. as it was explained to me, the film rights are bought out for six-month intervals, and if actual production hasn't begun by the end of that, the property reverts and brian still keeps his money (which I'm sure is still chump change to big-name studios). he's been pulling in about three hundred grand a year for something like five years now just off of these leasing agreements, and no one has yet started seriously working on a y adaptation. this is part of the business model - use it or lose it. even if the film is shit, you'll retain the rights because hey, sequels! if you lose too much goodwill, reboot and move over to the next craps table. at this point (and I think this was explained in one of mxy's articles as well) sony has to keep crapping out spodermens and fox has to keep crapping out x-men because if they hesitate, those properties slide over to marvel/disney, who at that point will essentially be printing their own money.

but anyway, any feedback on any of those topics is always welcome.

This is called an option. Smaller production companies who can't afford to buy a book's film rights in total instead option it with the upfront money usually being considered the down payment on the full, already agreed upon final price for the rights. They have a certain amount of time to find a larger production company or a studio to agree to a film and shell out the money needed for pre-production as well as the rest of the price for the rights. If they can't get the rest of the cash, the rights go back to the original owner unless an extension is agreed upon. Any work on scripts, designs, etc. that the option owner pays for is theirs and remains in their control even when the right revert back to the source's creator.

This is also done with spec scripts.

thanks for everyone's help with the last episode; it may not show up until after halloween because of the special minisodes we're front-loading on our schedule but I'm looking forward to sharing your input with the internets. for our next two minisodes we'll address the 'gamergate' incident which has its own fun and exciting thread over in the vidya forum, but then we'll be running down the history of monsters in pop culture - what they represent, who tells monster stories well, stuff like that. any input on either is welcome.