That's right -- tonight, Dan Paladin (the lead artist of Castle Crashers, in case you didn't know) will be joining the Podtoid crew to discuss Castle Crashers and answer listener questions. Also, it's Tiff's last episode.
As was the case with Braidtoid, feel free to toss out any and all questions you might have for Dan, and we'll try to get to as many as we can. We're asking more listener questions than we would for a regular Podtoid episode, so your chances of winning some cool swag are much increased.
Also, this week's episode will see a farewell to the Podtoid sonnet. Fear not, though, as it's been replaced with something much simpler and potentially funnier: the Joel Siegel Title Pun. In each week's preshow post, I'll toss out a game title or general genre from which you can choose your own game.Your job, faithful listener, is to make a horrendously corny pun of the game's title. We'll read the best ones on the air. If you need some example Siegel Puns, just check out the alt text of the header pic.
This week's Joel Siegel Title Puns should be based around Castle Crashers, in honor of our special guest. It's a pretty challenging title to pun around with, but I believe in you guys.
Anyway, hit the jump, ask questions, and make puns.
Contest:
4:20 PM on 09.08.2008
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What are your favorite beat-em-up games?
...that's all.
You'd better batten down the hatches, because Castle Crashers breaks down all your expectations!
A question then for Mr. Paladin. Considering the choice of art style of Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers, how much were you considering appealing to gamers other than the 'typical' 360 owner (aka 18-30 male who loves his Gears and Halos.) I ask this because I played CC at a friend's house last night and my girlfriend fell in love with the art style, taking quite an interest in playing it.
Having no 360, but an intense desire to play this game, I am rather frustrated by my lack of classic beat 'em up action. I really loved Alien Hominid, and I am sure once I eventually get a chance to sit down and play Castle Crashers, I will love it as well. What does Dan Paladin intend to work on next?
As for a pun: "At every party, there is always the chance for some (Castle) Crashers."
Lame, I know. Its been a long day, dammit.
As for the questions:
Dan, you mentioned briefly at PAX that Castle Crashers had been inspired by your Newgrounds flash game, and a personal favorite, Dad 'n' Me. Does that mean we can expect your next title to be inspired by one of your other Newgrounds works, such as Chainsaw the Children or Supersoldier?
Secondly, The Behemoth's line-up so far consists of a side-scrolling beat 'em up and a side-scrolling arcade-style shooter. Do you plan to continue going back and reviving retro genres that have been mostly passed over, or can we expect something totally different from you in the next Behemoth title?
Also, Tiff, we will miss you a ton. Please stick around and keep posting as a community member! :D
Also, just wanted to say, I love your games!
My Pun.
"Castle Crashers": Better than "Crystal Castles": Worse than "Crystal Meth".
Can we vote Hookah off the island now?
yikes that is tough . . .
To Dan:
Where in the world did you get the idea for the look of the Trolls/FrigginBigTroll? F.B.T. really does seem like the scariest possible thing in the forest.
"You'll be green all night when your pal beats you to selecting the green knight!"
Question for Dan: We've had a 2D shooter, now a 2D beat 'em up from The Behemoth. What's next? Can we expect another revival of a retro genre, or will you be looking to do something more "modern"?
Dan: Any plans on releasing more figures of different characters?
Secondly, has anyone seen the YouTube series by WhistleBlowerZero who blasts Gamestop and it's practices in the same way that Yahtzee blasts shitty video games? If not, it's worth a watch.
Now, on to Dan: Who is your favorite, most influential artist? Do you think that Luc Bernard's art style was amazing, even if his game played worse than Superman 64? Do you wanna punch Hookah in the face like the rest of us?
It's tricky to understand the ending to Castle Crashers!
Dan: If Microsoft let AO games onto XBLA would Castle Crashers have the greatest ending ever or would some restraint be shown?
Jim, why did you completely hijack my question on Braidtoid and give me no credit? You know, the one about Tim's design? I know it was long time ago, and almost don't care anymore...almost....
My question for Dan question: What led to the use of the animals in CC? Their design and names are just awesome.
Mr. Paladin:
I noticed that with Castle Crashers, You draw quite a bit from your Newgrounds/flash game origins. I am a huge fan of this, but have you ever considered working on a project that severs these ties and does something completely different, both stylistically and gameplay-wise?
I just have to say that the diarrhea-propelled animals in the forest stage nearly made myself and my entire group of friend wet ourselves simultaneously. Thank you for that.
Also, what is your perfect Sunday?
This Behemoth of a game will Crash your expectations!
It sounds great in a Joel Seigel voice, I swear.
Castle Crashers reminds me a lot of River City Ransom. Did that game inspired you in any way?
What made you want to make the jump into video games rather than just sticking with the flash stuff?
Also how did you even get started with the flash stuff?
Statement for .tiff:
Don't go!
We love you
I would gladly fill it with quarters.
Mr. Dan- the music in the game is fantastic! I can't get enough of it, will you have a CD out for it? :D
I have loads of questions to ask, both Dan-related and... un-Dan-related:
1. What do you think is the gaming "climate" of XBLA, in other words, what type of games are most at home there?
2. Is Snailburt going to be a playable character in the next Smash Bros? If so, will he have customisable racing stripes and a flag that says "Go team"?
3. Can you release a nice sandbox mode for Castle Crashers, in which you can spawn any bad guys at any difficulty, spawn any weapon, item or... thingy, have an unlimited number of pets, and loads of other really radsome awesicles? (and also possibly a map maker? that would be swell)
4. Why did you make me play the Ice Arena a million billion times (actual figures, real talk)? I dread to think what that is going to be like on insane mode. Urgh.
5. If I make enough funnies, will you make me a playable character? I could put it on my resume.
6. If I make enough self references, will you buy me a pony?
Also, if games could come with tasty treats or little nibbles in a bag, what delicious munchies would complement each individual game? Show your working.
Footnote: I went into Castle Crashers with low expectations because I wasn't impressed by it, I wasn't worked up by the hype. I was very pleasantly surprised; It's been a massive amount of beaming fun. I still felt a little underwhelmed, but nowhere near as much as I was impressed.
I 2nd the Terminator 2 reference, and I as well would gladly fill a castle rashers arcade machine w/quarters.
Rook to Castle...Crashers and CHECKMATE!!!
Or, there's no such thing as drinking too much NewCastle...Crashers!!!!!
Damn, I forgot about that, what I meant was:
Dan, now that they are XBLA developers, would you ever given any thought into bring out a full blown $60 game on disc, you would need to hire a lot more developers of course, but would you like to do it?
Also I love you for making Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid, the latter is my favorite platformer of all time <33
As for a question for Dan, are the Behemoth thinking about their next game yet, or is everyone just trying to support Castle Crashers for the time being? Looking forward to playing as a Necromancer, I can't wait to dish out some hurt after he did so much to me.
If your weren't playing and making video games what would you be doing for a living and for a hobby?
Dan what kind of games did you play and enjoy as a kid and are there any games that inspired you to make Castle Crashers?
Now that Castle Crashers is out is there anything that wasn't in the game that you wish was?
And, I'll miss .tiff forever and evers!!! You better be doing something crazy awesome in lieu of Podtoid, yo.
One more pun: "Crash" your Knight to the White "Castle" and grab a sack...of fun!!!!
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jamespeter
<a href="http://www.legalx.net">california dui</a>
Personally, I'd like to read more art criticism. I read the Gameplay-Graphics-Sound-Story-Multi breakdown reviews like anyone else, but I enjoy it when a talented writer talks about the experience of playing the game in an analytical way. I'm probably not alone in this. But at this point, it seems like there are so many people writing about the need for artistic criticism of games that "nobody wants to read it" seems a weak explanation for why so little exists. What art criticism I do read, I tend to find on blogs written by industry veterans (not usually journalists) which are very rarely updated.
What's stopping this art criticism from happening? Is it just laziness? "Somebody should write a critical analysis of this game. Somebody ELSE." Or are the vocal people calling for criticism just a vocal minority, while the silent majority only wants to know if the graphics were a 9 or a 10?
(And yes, I do recognize the irony of wondering where all the game criticism is while not writing it myself.)
After playing Castle Crashers, I think we can all agree that you have a certain fondness for fecal matter. Do you see any of your future titles expanding on this theme or maybe even completely focusing on it?
also: will Tiff at least pop in as a "special guest" in the future ? or is she going to crawl into the Sarlacc and never return ?
Banninated.
Dan, thank you for Alien Hominid!!! Don't listen to Kotaku, that game was incredibly fun.
Yeah this is a tough one. How about 'Castle Crashers BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE'!