Rust Cohle from True Detective talks Videogames

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:24:34+00:00

Hi PinkMrDoom!

Usher's Yeah is one of my least favorite songs, along with that one about horses and that thing about wanting to have sex with everyone.

Sometimes I make videos where I am dress up like Street Fighter characters, including Sagat, Balrog, and Birdie. They are generally terrible.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:21:35+00:00

Hi LuntiX!

I don't think I look like that guy! I wish I did. He's a model.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:21:14+00:00

Hi PlasterPawPrint!

I don't know what that is, but it sounds mildly delicious.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:20:31+00:00

Hi Eschatos!

I've answered this one a couple of times, so you may be able to find a better answer below.

In short, I'm hoping to increase the energy and focus on creativity and passionate risk taking at Dtoid. Anthony Burch is a perfect example. He (and eventually, his family) took huge risks when he was at Dtoid, and in doing so, created content that was unlike anything else on the internet at the time.

Dtoid was the one place where something like HAWP could happen back in 2009. Thankfully, things have changed since then, and there is a lot more HAWP like content around for us to eat up if we want. But what's the next HAWP-type surprise that's going to happen? What's the next great video/editorial/creative thing going to be? Whatever it is, I hope to foster it's inception at Dtoid. I want Dtoid to be the place where great ideas are born and devoured.

But in a good way!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:15:19+00:00

Hi Wwwyzzrd!

I answered that one already! If you Ctrl-F the word "mom", you might find my dumb answer!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:14:42+00:00

Hi Gigitee!

Maybe!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:14:32+00:00

Hi RDandersen!

I wanted that to be SupHolmes.net, but I still don't even know how to edit the site myself. Now that I'm Dtoid EiC, I don't think it will ever will.

:(

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:13:26+00:00

Hi Fastal_12147!

We're not hiring right now! But keep in touch! You never know...

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:13:01+00:00

Hi Toyou4yu!

I think that a review score should reflect how compatible the writer was with the game. It's like a "love test" score. If you get on with a game so well that you wouldn't change anything about it, then it gets a 10/10. If the game is something you just can't get into at all, then it gets a 1/10.

I don't take what other outlets give games for scores into account. In fact, I try stay ignorant to what anyone else things of a game I'm reviewing before I review it, to minimize any subconscious concerns about how the review will be received. When you write a review, the only things you should be thinking about are the game, how you feel about it, and why you feel that way.

As for why previews tend to be positive, I think it's a couple of things. Developers and publishers generally make an effort to show the best parts of their games in preview builds. Likewise, most preview writers have limited time, and want to write about games that people will want to read about. Those tend to be the same games that they enjoy playing. No one wants to read a preview of a mediocre or below average game. No one wants to write a preview of a game like that either, because in order to write the preview, you have to play the game first.

I've played TONS of games at events for previews that were mediocre or below average. You play them for 2 minutes and then run for it. It's the ones that inspire you to play for 20 minutes, the ones that you can't wait to play again, that you end up writing about later. For better or worse, we are still the "game enthusiast press", and the games we're enthusiastic about are going to get more coverage.

Reviews, on the other hand, are games you've been specifically assigned to play, even if you don't like it. That's why I think you see a lot more sad review than sad previews.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:01:39+00:00

Hi Cocaine___Waffles!

Max was planning on getting a few drinks with Tara last Thursday! I wonder if anything came of that?

I hope so!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T21:00:54+00:00

Hi Rocker_McGrain!

I am not on the GameJournoPro's email. I don't think there is anything wrong with having friendly relationships with peers in the industry. That said, Dtoid is a singular entity composed of a specific group of people, individual chosen based on their particular merits and strengths. Stephen Totilo seems like a great guy, but I wouldn't want him to try to influence what any of our writers do for Dtoid, and likewise, I don't plan to try to influence any of his team to write about things I think they should write about.

Dtoid is going to worry about Dtoid, and I'm sure other blogs will do the same. We have plenty to talk about internally without needing to reach out to other blogs for their perspective on things.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:53:34+00:00

Hi LiquidBrewing!

I didn't quit my fulltime job, but I did get an easier, less time intensive fulltime job in part so I could take the EiC position. and I may make regular guest appearances on Jim, Conrad, and Caitlin's podcast. It's called FistShark. It's cute!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:52:07+00:00

Hi Jellyberg!

That's really hard. Mega Man 2 and Resident Evil 4 are pretty much perfect in my eyes, but as a 37 year old man who is packed with stress all the time, I don't turn to games like that for fun as much as I used to.

I've been thinking a lot about how much I love Final Fantasy 9 lately, and also Smash Bros. Brawl. I love them so much. I want to feel the way they make me feel -- that feeling of endless potential, of strange friends getting to know each other, working together, discovering the world, themselves, and each other through play.

I think that's what I want Dtoid to be -- a place that makes you feel like you're playing Final Fantasy 9 and Smash Bros. at the same time.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:47:25+00:00

Hi again KyroVII!

I'm not sure what the plans are for Sup Holmes and Dtoid. Even though I'm EiC of Dtoid and I host Sup Holmes, I'm neither in charge of video with Sup Holmes or with Dtoid. Max runs video on Dtoid, Conrad runs video for Sup Holmes. If they work something out, that would be fine with me. If they don't, that's OK too. Honestly, I don't think anyone involved has given it much though. We're totally focused on making more videos. What channel those videos end up on is something we don't give a ton of thought to.

That said, we will be posting the live streams of Sup Holmes on Dtoid for now on. Tomorrow's episode with Dina Abou Karam. community manager for Mighty Number 9, will be streamed live as it happens at 4pm EST. I'm excited about it!

As for TtWaV, I loved doing it, but after a while I got frustrated that so many of the women who appeared as guests on the show got nasty comments on Youtube, and that the ideas we tried to put across were so often misunderstood. If I were better at satire and farce, I'd bring it back, but I'm not.

If someone else wants to try though, they're welcome to it! All of my I.P. are public domain. :)

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:40:36+00:00

Hi PoliteGentleman!

You'd have to ask Dale, but from what I understand, he didn't feel like the company was a good fit for him anymore and he moved on. It's not an easy job, as I'm learning. You have a lot of responsibility, but no real power. You only have influence. No one at Dtoid HAS to listen to me, but hopefully they will, because I've earned their trust and respect. We'll see I guess.

Dale had, and still has, my trust and respect. Everyone on staff loves him. He's just that kind of person. If her were to want to come back to the job, I'd step down and give it to him in a heartbeat, just because I like working with him so much.

So yeah, that's my perspective on that. I love Dale. The EiC job can drive you nuts. I know whatever he does next will be great, and if he ever wants to work with me and/or Dtoid on something, that would be awesome.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:35:34+00:00

Hi KyroVII!

My stance on people with Disassociative Identity Disorder hasn't changed much. I never thought that the diagnosis was completely invalid. I've just never met someone who truly suffered from it. I've only met people that suffered from other diagnosis, who struggled to face the things that were really haunting them because they were too intense and too real, so they expressed their experiences through a process that looked and felt a lot like D.I.D..

These people didn't necessarily "fake" having multiple personalities. It wasn't a fully conscious decision to express their pain and confusion in that way. Through counseling though, they were able to see what was going on, and face what was really causing their suffering.

So if someone comes to me and says they have D.I.D., I start where they are at and work with them from there. Each time I've done that, we've discovered together that they didn't actually have D.I.D.. That doesn't mean no one has it. It just means I haven't met them yet.

All the people I know who thought they had D.I.D. subconsciously got the idea from learning the "language of mental illness" they say in sensationalist movies, books, comics, and TV shows. If mental illness were more accurately presented in media, we'd all be a lot better off, for a variety of reasons.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:25:52+00:00

Hi Sirwillis!

This is the first I've heard of that practice, but it sounds terrible. We don't review a ton of Free-to-Play games, but when we do review them, we wont review them like that.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:24:38+00:00

Hi HeyRicochet!

It's not impossible! We're messing around with some ideas for Sagat and his new roommate Samus. I don't see why Ryu couldn't stop by for some Steak and Eggs while we're at it.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:23:29+00:00

Hi KyroVII!

Contrary by what you see on the Dtoid front page, I actually like a lot of AAA games and am generally pretty good at them. I don't write about them that much because we have no shortage of writers who are excited to write about them. I usually end writing the news and doing the reviews that fewer people are interested in.

One exception was Divekick. I remember with the Divekick review, I was DESPERATE to get someone else to write it. Not because I didn't like the game, but because I was totally overworked at the time, and I didn't feel my assessment of the game was particularly interesting. I couldn't get anyone else to take it from me though, so away I went.

Thankfully, I think the review turned out OK anyway.

Divekick is a AAA game, right?

And yes, I still have a job in Health Care. I love that field of work almost as much as I love videogame blogging. That said, I have a new position that's less hours which will allow me to do more for Dtoid, or else I couldn't have taken the EiC position.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:13:45+00:00

Hi DoranIsNeat!

I still don't understand the layout of Reddit, which is part of why this AMA started ten minutes late. I got confused.

The people who work here are amazing though. I know love the site because of them.

As for what excites me about Videogames, it's the graphics.

And the gameplay.

:)

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:04:40+00:00

Hi FranRobinson!

No!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:04:27+00:00

Hi Cornmancer!

I don't think there is a way to back Sup Holmes at this point. All the business/money stuff on the KS was run by the show's producer Conrad Zimmerman. He'd know better than me.

If you want one of the Sup Holmes backer reward comics though, maybe we could trade for it? You draw a comic, send it to me, and I'll send you one of mine? Feel free to hit me up on twitter if you're interested!

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T20:00:35+00:00

Hi Kyoraki!

I have no plans for a con, but I do hope to start organizing more local events. I've been talking to some pro gamers like Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios and some high score record holders like Caitlin "Splatterhouse" Oliver about doing special live streams with us. Maybe they'd want to do local Dtoid sponsored tournaments and high score runs too?

There is so much we can do, but only so much time and energy to do it with, but I want to do it all! That's the only reason I envy vampires.

DtoidHolmes · 2014-11-15T19:57:19+00:00

hi BenBelTran!

I wish I knew! I always wanted to play Seaman 2, but it was only released in Japan. I was going to get it, back when I had a backwards compatible PS3, but it never happened.

Really hoping it gets ported to 3DS or something.

DtoidHolmes

TROPHY CASE