The Besties - The Besties go to PAX East 2012: A Video Spectacular

Episode Date: April 11, 2012

Typically, your friends The Besties are hunched like so many scurvy-ridden sailors over their laptops as they pit the week's best games against each other in a fight to the death. But since they were all in one zip code for a change at PAX East, they figured, "Hey, let's take this fight to the streets."So join Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy and Russ Frushtick as they scream, run, cajole and Johann Sebastian Joust their way to a new champion. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Hey, it's your old buddy Justin McElroy, the best bestie, as I'm sure you've come to think of me. What you're about to hear is the audio version of a little video special we shot during PAX East. It may not make complete sense without the associated imagery, but we did not want you to feel left out. You are beloved audio subscribers. If you'd like to see the associated imagery, you can go to youtube.com forward slash polygon. That is our website for videos.

So, go watch it there or listen to it here, if you like. If that's your thing. Enjoy. Hi everybody, my name is Justin McElroy and I know the best game live from the floor of PAX East. Hey, my name is Griffin McElroy, I'm at PAX East too and my game is pretty good also. Hey, my name is Chris Plant and my game is like 3 minutes in heaven. Are you at PAX? Yeah! Hey I'm Russ Frustic and Pax Ease is happening and the games are

happening here! That's what he looks like when he talks constantly. The pits! Here on the Best Ease we each pick the best games of the week. They fight each other in Mortal Kombat. Or Pokemon. Or Pokemon however you want to describe it. And then their best game goes up against our current reigning champion, which is still Journey. Chris Plant, give me 10 seconds on why Journey is the best game of the year. Journey is a game that you play and you can't talk to each other online, and it's going to solve Middle East. All right, and we'll bring about peace.

Peace in the Middle East. Griffin, how are we going to decide who pitches first this week? I've been brainstorming this one for a while, and I think it would behoove us to joust! Wow, blind! He did it blind! I don't like these parts. It's just bad. I'm Russ Frustik from the Besties, and Mark of the Ninja is the best game of PAX East.

We are here with Jamie. Thank you. I didn't congratulate you, but that's fine. Jamie, you've made a game that is like an ode to stealth gamers. Like, stealth gamers have always wanted this, like, hardcore, like, get seen and you're in deep trouble kind of ninja game. And I think a lot of people haven't been making that game lately. Yep. Looks like you made it.

Thank you. Ninja is a game where I actually wanted to feel like you were actually a ninja. And so most ninja games that we played, you know, besides Tenchu, which was, what, 12 years ago or something like that, you're going around and stabbing everybody. Now, we already made a stabbing game. Right. So we're done with that. Right. This is not Shank.

This is not Shank. This one, you're seen, you're dead. Right. Right. So for us, we want to make a game where you're actually a ninja. If you're the best ninja in the world, they didn't even know you were there. Right. And that's the game this is.

Okay. So you can, like, stealth kill guys, you can latch on walls, grappling hooks. Yep. Everything about a ninja you can expect. You can dangle people on the chain. If people see the guy dangle on the chain, they get terrified. You can lay traps, you can distract them. Fusing cones.

Yeah, absolutely. Alertness indicators. Ninjas. Like, really, who could vote against ninjas is what I'm asking. It's more like, who doesn't like ninjas? Who doesn't like ninjas? Exactly. People who hate freedom also hate ninjas.

And ice cream. I think, very clearly, everyone loves ninjas. Thank you very much. And everyone loves Mark of the Ninja. The very best game of PAX East. Rust Frustic approved. Cheers. It's just tough sometimes. Hey guys.

Hey. How's it going? How about that game? Why didn't we just edit it? Why did you have to run them away? Because it's authentic. Your game sounds interesting. Doesn't it sound cool?

I've liked the rest of their work. I'm a fan of the studio. But here's the thing. People who didn't- Are ninjas. No, no, no. I'm talking about people who played Shank and were like, eh, kind of eh about Shank.

This is nothing like Shank. Completely different side-scrolling stealth game. It feels like Metal Gear Solid, but 2D side-scrolling. And everything you'd expect from a stealth game from like shadows and lighting and everything you'd expect is in there. They jammed all that stuff into a 2D side-scrolling game. What's wrong with this? It sounds like a cartoon game for kids, but it's too violent and if my kids played it... No, but...

It sounds way too violent for me. You shouldn't let your kids play it. That's not responsible. Guys, do you remember when Metal Gear became a 3D game and then we had three dimensions? It's too violent, and if my kids played it... No, but... It sounds way too violent for me. You shouldn't let your kids play it. That's not responsible. Guys, do you remember when Metal Gear became a 3D game, and then we had three dimensions? Yeah, because everyone loves the latest Metal Gear game. Let me see if the game is Magnum Opus.

Who's next? Hey, guys, it's Chris Plant, your favorite bestie, and I have your favorite game from PAX East. It's called Super Time Force, and it is f***ing incredible. Like, think Contra, but any time you die, you just keep going. It rewinds a little,

and the person you just played as becomes like this kind of ghost run, like in a racing game, and you just keep shooting stuff. So say you die five times, you have five versions of you just covering the entire screen in bullet hell, and it is incredible. You die, and you die, and you die, and then you just keep f***ing killing things. And

it's heaven. Okay guys, I'm here with Nathan, the co-founder of Capybara Games, and he's gonna tell you why Super Time Force is so much better than all of your sh**ty games. First of all, it's got the craziest pixel art of all time, maybe? It's got cat petting, it's got guys from the 80s, it's got jokes, and most importantly, it has a really awesome rewind time and play essentially co-op with yourself functionality. How many people can you get on screen? The most we've done is 500 copies of yourself playing. 500!

On one screen! So, that was fun. We're just here because of the power of cutting. Uh, so I did Super Time Force, and it was my game of the week. Uh, it's great, right? To me, it looks a little hectic for my taste, for my gaming. I like slow-paced one character that I can follow and really connect with. Dullard.

You're Dullard? Sorry? You're slow, and you can't play in fun games. Can I have the respect microphone? Can I hold the respect microphone? We're so close. I just wanted to say that Albert Einstein said that if time travel was real, we'd all know about it,

because time travels would come from the future to tell us about it Did he say it just like that was that a recording quote he said in quote time travels Can I not be in the middle of this wrestling match before I'm saying your game is false It's patently untrue. It's against the Bible and it's against Einstein two out of ten What about you I'm a little worried. No, I like what they're doing, but I gotta say, I don't know, whatever Griffin said, I agree.

Hi, I'm Justin McElroy, and Guacamelee! is the best game at PAX East. I'm here with Chris McQuinn, who's the designer on the game. Chris, do you agree with me that this is the best game here? Yes, without a doubt. Best game here. There was hesitation, Chris, that's not making my case. Well, here's the thing, you gotta be really careful when you're saying that. Chris, do you agree with me that this is the best game here? Yes, without a doubt. Best game here.

There was hesitation, Chris. That's not making my case. Well, here's the thing. You've got to be really careful when you're saying the best game. Own it! But this game is the best game here at PAX for sure. This is the secret. You've got to visualize what you want, and then you've got to take it. Okay, give me a second. I'm going to visualize. Yeah, okay, we got this. This is definitely it. Can you give me the real brief overview of Guacamelee?

Sure. So, Guacamelee is set in this Mexican folklore culture, and essentially you're the hero who's a luchador, and it's brawler primary, and it's a metroidvania world. So as the game progresses, you're going to gain new moves, you'll access new areas, and you also have another really interesting aspect, such as dimension switching between the dead world and the living world. There's a ton of stuff we're gonna do.

Two genres. That's right, two genres. How many genres do your games have, nerds? Just one? Eh, too bad. Uh, so Guacamelee. It looks really, I was a big fan of Mutant Blobs Attack. I remembered it on the first try, which is pretty shocking.

I love you guys. Your game naming is not... Bias journalism. Okay. It looks really promising. What did you guys think from the video that you watched of me doing it? I really like their games. I don't want to be mean to them. I like their games too. This is a problem. You don't have to be mean to them, I like their games too.

This is a problem. You don't have to be mean to them. You think they're too nice, that's the problem, we can't spit fire. Yeah, they're horrible, they bring out the hate of my body and they turn it into flowers and rose petals and unicorn kisses. Griffin, are you willing to- I thought it looked like too much of a knockoff of Hum Assassin. It's another kind of chip dip. Griffin is headed down the escalator of shame.

Leave him left. How about you, Russ? Bye, Griffin. I want to make sure you don't miss Griffin. Bye. Uh, I thought the game looked okay. I liked the fact that you can transform into a chicken, which you didn't mention. Right.

Did you see that part? Yeah, you can transform. It's sort of like the Morph Ball. It's like the Morph Ball in Metroid, but you can become a chicken. Yeah. I'm pointing this mic at you. I don't need to. Yeah, I've got a mic.

But I liked it. You know what's weird? I like my game better, though. You know what's weird? I've watched a lot of videos on the internet and stuff. I don't see people talking about mics nearly as much. It makes me think maybe people aren't aware enough. Why don't you see more people talking about mics? That's a good question. You know? I think we're missing something. Maybe if there had been more mic discussion,

I would have been better prepared. Hey, Griffin. Can we talk about my game? Hey, everybody. I'm Griffin McElroy for the Besties. This is a minor. We're here to talk about the best game that's at PAX East. It's called Retrograde. It's a game about a mischievous spaceship that eats bullets to get strong. It's so cool you play it with a guitar. That's not quite what it's about. Actually, time's flowing backwards and you're undoing your shots.

You're actually unfiring them and the spaceship isn't eating them as much as unfiring. So, like, time is going backwards. Don't you dare embarrass me like that again in front of the camera crew. Don't do it again. I'm the f***ing besties kingmaker. I can destroy your game.

Don't you ever. Not... Never. I'm sorry, OK. So apparently in Retrograde, you're actually, time is going backwards. And instead of firing bullets out, you have to catch them. Just do it.

Just tell us. So Retrograde is the world's first game played where time is going in reverse. So the idea is, you're a spaceship pilot. You just fought an epic space battle, destroyed the final boss, the credits roll, but unfortunately all the explosions cause massive damage to the space-time continuum, and now time itself is flowing in reverse. So during the game, the idea is, you have to undo the space battle as it was done to

protect the space-time continuum. So what that entails is your shots have energy signatures returning to your ship. So those go from right to left. You have to get your ship in the correct position and unfire them when they hit your ship. And all of that is timed to the beat of the original tunes we have for the game. So it looks like a spaceship shooter, but it's actually a rhythm game. So it's a game all about changing the ending to the game. So it looks like a spaceship shooter, but it's actually a rhythm game. So it's a game all about changing the ending to the game. Yes, well...

Why didn't you call it Working at BioWare? No, no lamps. So that was my game as Retrograde. It looks pretty fun, right? I'm happy to be able to dust off the, uh, since my friends at Harmonix aren't gonna let me dust off my plastic instruments. Thanks for nothing, Harmonix. Thanks for nothing!

Hey, uh, do you remember that quote from Einstein about time travel? This is what I'm saying. How many games about time travel do we need that cancel each other out? You guys are both disqualified. What? Mine is in a space tech future. So, mine is too! It takes place in space! out. You guys are both disqualified. What? Mine is in a space tech future. Mine is too. It takes place in space. There's a gravitational distortion. Fieldy explains it. Were you not watching

the video? What were you doing when you weren't watching the video? I wasn't watching the video. Guys, I'm an empath and being in the middle of these hostility waves is really crashing me out right now. I'm really starting to have a little mini panty. Retrograde is the best game of the week, hands down. Does anybody have any arguments against that?

It doesn't sound like anybody has any arguments. I do have an argument, but I was being very solemn about it. Russ is the only one who can stand up for his game. I feel like this game has gotten attention over the nine years that it's been in development. I think we've got to share the love a little bit. Mega Burn on Retrograde.

Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys. But it's been in development for a while. Am I wrong? Sorry, one guy. You know what else was in development

for nine years? Titanic. And they're releasing that again twice. Mark quality, stamp of quality. Retrograde 3D confirmed 2016.

I'll wait for Retrograde 3D and then that can be my best game of 2016. You're king of the burns! That's like Titanic. It's been an honor to burn with you, gentlemen. Let's all stand here and burn together. No, hey, I like Guacamelee! a lot better.

It looks really cool, it has graphics, and there's co-op moves, and you can play with a friend, which is really great. What are you doing now? You can't bring back your game. Maybe you haven't been on this goddamn show before. Real quick, have you listened to Besties? Just check it out.

Is it on iTunes? You can search on iTunes. Did we not secure Besties.com? I'm sorry, it's unfortunate. Please don't register Besties.com. Yeah, we didn't. We did not get besties.com. We didn't. I'm sorry. It's unfortunate. Please don't register besties.com. We'll get it tomorrow. Please don't. Do we have at besties?

We don't have anything. We didn't brand at all. You'll find us. We do have at polygon, though. It's a good website. Listen, guys, I think we're running out of time. I don't want to stand here. This mic's super heavy.

I think there's one way we're going to figure this out. And that's a joust! Guys, get out of here. Russ, your game wins with the ninjas. It's not as good as Journey. And everyone get out. It's the middle of the night. BESTIE!