Do you still watch Extra Credits?

[Semudara]

Yup, I watch it occasionally. In fact, it's gotten me to check the Penny Arcade website on a semi-regular basis, which has in turn introduced me to a few other entertaining series.

It usually at least makes for a pretty fun watch, and sometimes I even learn some useful stuff. Not a bad series, though I do wish it had a little more... I dunno... impact.

Captcha: Uncharted Island. I like these new 'interesting' captchas we're getting.

 

[Mikodite]

I still find it interesting, so I keep watching.

No, I remember watching their programming episode after it was linked on a game development forum and just finding it awful and poorly researched.

Poorly researched? Just curious, since I have very little education on a lot of their topics - what have they been wrong about?

From what I remember of the episode they recommended using Flash to get started, which is a dying technology. It's a long time ago that I saw it, but from what I remember I got annoyed as it was a very content-free episode with information anyone could find from google, and they clearly skirted round the actual issue of how a game works internally. I suppose as none of them are actually developers that's ok, but I expected a bit better.

Also, the intro song really annoys me now, along with the voice.

You can tell that to sites like Kongregate and Newgrounds... which are still up last I checked. The appeal of using Flash is simply how easy it is to use, and it is a proven technology for these things. The only major pratfall is that it is propitiatory though. It is worth pointing out that they dealt with Stack Exchange when doing the episode, so if the experts they spoke to didn't know what they were talking about, not being experts themselves there isn't anything they can do.

Course, a programmer could make a game in any technology they want. I'm currently making a game with nothing but DHTML. You don't need a special toolkit for that, and the user doesn't need to download a plugin: they just need an up to date web browser. Learning HTML, CSS, PHP and javascript isn't that hard either (well, compared to like C++). Course, the only problem is in controlling redraw and in playing sound (I think the sound tag is disabled in Firefox).

Now were off topic.

To return to topic... why is everyone comparing Extra Creditz to The Jimquisition? That's like comparing apples to oranges. They speak on different topics from different vantage points on different sides of the industry. The Jimquisition was never meant to replace Extra Creditz, and I even remember an Extra Consideration article with both Jim Sterling and James Portnow, back when we were all innocent and never had to watch the money-grab fest from both parties involved.

Ok, so you prefer an apple to an orange or vice versa. Wee! Not an interesting discussion. Can we compare Granny Smiths to Macintoshes?

I watch both by the way. I think Jim is the one that thinks we are stupid though ("Diablo III DRM is bullshit!" Oh no really?). I never really felt like the EC crew talked down to me, and they do admit a lot of what they speak of we have no control over unless we are devs or pubs ourselves, and seeing as I want to be a dev (ahem, DHTML game) I find the information useful. I think both have their value though. Afterall, I like to eat apples and oranges!

 

[ResonanceSD]

Yup, they're still awesome.

A different approach to Jim Sterling but covering the same issues? Win!

We've had this thread a fair number of times now.

So?

 

[Lalo Lomeli]

Thanks for this thread I'm catching up to the lost episodes.

I love seeing things in other perspective, and to take videogames like something serious with real implications, even when there's things that I disagree it helps to have a bigger picture of gaming as a whole.

 

[SanguineSymphony]

I don't really find the time to watch any game related net videos any more... When I work out I usually just have netflix instant going. When I am at home not working out I am usually gaming, sleeping, or watching something with the missus.

 

[Guffe]

Sadly no.
I liked 'em but I don't roam much on the internet other than my favorite sites and they don't happen to be in any of them.
Sad but true.

 

[Sylocat]

Yes, yes I do. It helps that I already read Penny Arcade, I guess, but yeah, I've been following EC since even before Daniel met James.

From what I remember of the episode they recommended using Flash to get started, which is a dying technology.

Flash is dying AGAIN? How many lives does that thing have? It must have used the Konami Code or something.

And I hate when people call them pretentious. Just because a group explores something in a serious tone without irony people tear it apart. Why is taking something serious considered pretentious? I get tired of people writing articles or talking about things and constantly undermining themselves with lame attempts at humour in order to avoid being called stuck-up.

This. It's like content authors are afraid of getting called "pretentious" if they even remotely look like they're taking anything seriously, and so they shamelessly pander to the most base and anti-intellectual part of the crowd.

Gotta love the people who toss around labels like "hipster" too.

But yeah I'd much rather watch The Jimquisition. You get the same analysis of the industry without the pretentiousness and some actual humour.

Ironically, Jim Sterling himself has gone on record saying he's fond of Extra Credits.

 

[Yopaz]

Nah, I only really watched them here to pass the time, no point going out of my way to watch it

Yeah, I have to agree with this guy. While the series is a good way to kill time and there's nothing wrong with it in any way (though I agree it's a little pretentious) it's not something I need in my life. There's also the fact that they seem concerned with taking games as a serious art form. I tend to be annoyed at anyone who talks about that.

 

[Evil Smurf]

never did

 

[Clearing the Eye]

I think a lot of people don't actually know what pretension means or how to use it correctly.

 

[Darks63]

Watched only 5 eps when they were on the escapist and found the show to be boring and preachy so i stopped watching

 

[Amaror]

I still watch it. I think it's more interresting than the jimquisition. The jimquisition is mostly just a rant for whatever opinion jim has at the moment and is not as thought out as extra credits.
I watch both, though.
And i have to say that i like jim for that he at least tried to understand why everybody was pissed off about mass effect 3 and not just called them all a bunch of crybabies (I am looking at you, bob!)

 

[Amaror]

Hey I know I'm slow on the uptake, but what exactly was this 'fiasco' that everyone keeps alluding to? I went on vacation and came back and couldn't find EC on the Escapist anymore; it confused me. Someone explain, I thought everyone seemed to like the show while it was on :/

OP: I sometimes watch them still on their own site. I usually really appreciate the stuff they have to say. I was kind of uncomfortable with James's game addiction monologue though, strange way to put a point across I guess.

hmm .. i tell you how i got it so far:
They wanted to get some money via rockethub for the surgery of the artist. They made a lot more money than needed with that and the escapist wanted them to give the rest of the money back to the people, which is essentially impossible via rockethub and stuff like that (I also heard that the escapist wanted to take the money for the escapist themself, but i don't know how true that is), so they had to leave the escapist.

What they now do with the money (50 000) is that they look for a promising game that gets developed and publish it, but without owning the ip and splitting the money the game makes 50 50. Everything they make will be used to fund another game and so on.

 

[Eddie the head]

Form time to time when I am reminded they exist. I never much cared for the show that guy has an annoying voice and sometimes they can be a little too happy? Optimistic? Not quite the right words but it's like when I watch Starship trooper or Battlestar Galactica and there is an undertone to it that I don't like at all.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Didn't even know it was still going, let alone where to find it. I know stuff happened, falling out, parting ways etc, but not seen or heard a word about it or them since. Along with those Top 5 videos with that cute girl that were fun and also just disappeared. The only web video series' that are really brilliant are Yahtzee and RvB

 

[ClanCrusher]

Never did, never want to.

Pretentious arseholes.

Wait...you never watched them, never wanted to, yet you're convinced that they're pretentious arseholes? How does that make any sense?

*Checks his Forum Health Meter*

Oh, that explains it.

 

[lumenadducere]

And I hate when people call them pretentious. Just because a group explores something in a serious tone without irony people tear it apart. Why is taking something serious considered pretentious? I get tired of people writing articles or talking about things and constantly undermining themselves with lame attempts at humour in order to avoid being called stuck-up.

Goodness, thank you. I've never understood why people call them pretentious or think they "talk down to" their audience. They try to present things in a way so that a completely fresh person with no prior knowledge can quickly grasp what they're talking about and follow them as they talk. For a lot of people in the gaming community it's covering old ground that they know so they feel like they're being talked down to, but that's not the case at all. They're just making it as accessible as they can for viewers who don't know as much.

And as for pretentious, they really aren't. They've gone out of their way to say multiple times that they want all sorts of things within the industry, from the carefree entertainment to the artsy stuff. They just tend to talk about the artsy stuff because that gets far less coverage and discussion than the pure entertainment does.

It really seems like people automatically assume that anything serious about games being more meaningful is automatically pretentious, and they have such a knee-jerk reaction I have to wonder if they've bothered to think through what they're saying at all. To me making an off-the-cuff comment about someone like that being pretentious is just as bad as someone actually being pretentious, so it's all really a case of the pot calling the kettle black.