DT043: The Drive Time Dinner

Kinda cut short, Idk if they did it on purpose, but it seemed like he was about to say something before it ended.
but still great.

I liked it.

Great, great show.

Early on, Brad asks if people would download a two-and-a-half hour show of you guys just yammering on your way back from Houston; Aside from the part where the regular show is already that long a lot of the time (so people do download shows that long), I personally love the longer shows. I like to listen to podcasts when I just fuck around in games, especially with Just Cause 2. Just thought I'd throw that in.

On the topic of why America doesn't have the sort of beauty David was talking about (massive, beautiful bridges and such) as Japan and other countries have, as Brad points out, the Americas weren't discovered until relatively recently, and the cultures that were already here were very isolated. But, on top of that, the architectural beauty isn't as prevalent, I think, because of how the U.S. is more about function than form; where in the middle ages, kings and noblemen in Europe would have large castles and beautiful houses built to show off, by the time the Americas came about, I think it became more about having everything serve a purpose, and making everything easier or better, rather than just doing it to show that you could.

There's also a discussion on whether or not America has the same natural beauty as Japan or other countries; I can only say that there are places, like national parks or the Great Lakes, that are every bit as stunning and wonderful as the sakura blossoms of Japan, or the English countryside for that matter. I think that, on some level, it comes to personal preference; do you prefer the pink leaves, or the great expanse of rolling hills, or a stunning mountain range?

As for ideas for games and things you could be inspired to make given something like the Grand Canyon; the thing about inspiration is that, sitting in a car asking someone "Take the grand canyon. How do you make a game out of that?" is far and away from going to the grand canyon, and having ideas strike you. In much the same way, I'm sure if you asked me, prior to the release of Shadow of the Colosus, "how do we make a game out of this huge, epic bridge?" I would never have come up with, "A dude, riding around on a horse, on a quest to kill gigantic, monstrous creatures to save a woman he loves." That's just something that strikes someone.

For instance, I could, if asked to, think of a game involving an eagle, soaring over mountain tops, searching for food or something, simply to show off the mountains; that's not going to be an interesting game, unless for the sake of showing how well we can render mountains. Instead, we could traverse the mountains, and while doing so, take down whatever ideas might strike us.

It's not like Miyamoto simply thought about a forest, and came up with The Legend of Zelda. He's told the story of how, as a kid, he would roam around the forests making stories up. That's how inspiration works, and it seems like David was trying to go about it wrong (despite that I hate using that phrase in terms of in

So I wrote this before I read the comments and Darknezz pretty much says what I says but here it is anyway. (PS: This isn't really a PS cause that is post script isn't it? Well, I am tired and that is what I wanted to say with this PS so I guess I did that. Just a warning before you read on in case this is as incoherent as this non-PS PS)

I don't know that Kamiya or Ueda looked at a cherry blossom or a bridge and thought "I want to make a game out of that." I think living with those things, that kind of iconography, might subtly steer them to including those things. Maybe not in the case of Okami cause that is so obviously based in Japanese history. But I don't believe that kind of inspiration is a conscious thing.

I mean, look at Western designed RPGs. Do you think they looked at America and thought, "Hey, we have a lot of freedoms in this country, lets give that to our players in our games." Inspiration really does come from everywhere and anywhere no matter if you really feel it or not. Sometimes you will see something, naturally occurring or some man-made work of art and think, "Wow, I feel something from this. I want to create/be involved with something that has to do with this feeling I am feeling right now." But I think so much of what a person is inspired by is something most don't actually think would be inspiring and don't realize it until it is analyzed or something.

This very thing happened to me in the Spirit Tracks post David made. Where his friend said, "Maybe people just like trains." And I thought to myself well, maybe I do just like trains. I grew up watching Thomas the Tank Engine; I lived near a rail road track; hell, thinking about it now, I even had a Lego train set. Hey, maybe I enjoy this train in this game because it is like a childhood experience that I had forgotten about but now it comes back to me.

Maybe I am just tired and finding meaning where there is none. Sometimes inspiration just bites us right in the buttocks and sometimes it makes us reference Forrest Gump. Why? I have no idea. But I know it is there somehow.

About using the classic controller and then the Wii-mote it is possible. Sakura Wars does it. I was playing with the classic controller and early on there came a point in one of the girls asked me what part I liked about her the most. I tried using the analog stick on the classic controller but it wouldn't work so I picked up the Wii-mote and pointed it at the screen and was able to point at the part of her body I wanted.

Sure it's not that in depth like you guys are talking about but it can be done.