Thursday, May 24, 2012

Relay to Relay Radio: Wave 7

In this week's episode, we discuss the failure of Operation Silencer (only Nate participated) and the new Rebellion Pack that we will all be downloading on May 29. We also change things up a little in Theory O'Clock by talking about the potential Mass Effect movie - the screenplay, the actors, the director, producer and composer we'd like to see handling the film.

Thanks to all the listeners who patiently waited for this wave! We appreciate all of your iTunes comments, blog comments, tweets and emails. We have a special shoutout to John Sylvester, who marathoned all 6 waves recently. THANK YOU!

Galactic Action News 6 is on hiatus this week but we have a very special guest on our new segment, "Javik's Storytime Pod". Team Banana Punch also asks the last living Prothean some serious questions that need to be answered.

WARNING: Lots of laughs in Javik's Storytime Pod.

And also, Angelo got married and there were Mass Effect guns at his wedding. See below.

Relay to Relay Radio: Wave 7

10 comments:

  1. I'm Commander Shepard and Javik's Storytime Pod is now my favorite segment of all time.

    And now my initialism: ROFLMFAO

    Question for Javik: Are you serious about your plans after the final mission?

    Javik Fun:
    http://goo.gl/TWycA

    Mass Effect Prequel Movie Idea:
    http://goo.gl/n5uJN

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    1. And why not have Keith David for Anderson and Lance Henrickson as Hackett in a live action movie? They are ACTUAL actors. :)

      And Javik Storytime Book: "Go The F To Sleep" http://goo.gl/keZKy

      And I should really wait until I hear the whole podcast before I start commenting.

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    2. Keith David and Lance Henrickson are awesome, but in a prequel scenario it might be hard to disguise their age as younger. I suppose that applies to Liam Neeson as well though.

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    3. True, but that didn't stop Marvel Studios from CG-ifying younger versions of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan.

      Wait... that was a little creepy in an uncanny valley way.

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  2. And I hear you on the Star Trek TNG episode, Angelo. :)

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  3. Idea for a movie plot. In the first mass effect book it starts out with Anderson as an n7 recruit, and the first stages of the first contact war starting. You could totally base a movie out of Anderson, that keeps continuity and lore fine, he's a great character. And you could, dare I say? Ashely's grandpa as a supporting character. Then also there is John Grissom who was the first man through the relay, so there could be flashbacks to that throug the movie. Thoughts?

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  4. Yes! R2R Radio is back and I finally was able to listen to this wave and as always here are my thoughts

    My favorite line is Thane's:
    "Shep: Where will you be?
    Thane: The darkest corner with the best view"

    followed by also Thane's:
    "Amonkira. Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness". And then he goes ninja and dissapears from view in 1 second

    Oh! and Legion's:

    "Human hardware does not support this method. Your analog aural communication is inefficient"

    Even if it's not a Skyrim podcast I agree with the horse combat comment. I mean, I never used a horse because you could not fight with it AND I was faster running on foot, since I could refill my stamina with the healing spell basically making me able to run forever.

    When I wear my N7 Hoodie no one knows what's it about, so I guess it doesn't happen in Barcelona, either. The wedding pictures are awesome btw, congrats Angelo! :D

    Who doesn't love asari? :P

    [Movie Talk]:
    Joss Whedon. For sure. Please. And if you want a female protagonist he's the way to go.

    Avatar - Pocahontas :D

    Appleseed is AWESOME. Everything about Appleseed.

    Clint Mansell for music.
    [/Movie Talk]

    In my opinion in ME2 you are not working for Cerberus, you use Cerberus resources to fight the Collectors

    Javik should really read this book All my friends are dead :D

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  5. I spent all weekend thinking of what to say and I still forgot to come up with a favorite quote. Maybe I’ll get back to that? I still need to put up a review for you guys on itunes, too. I’m failing all over the place here.

    So how was the weekend challenge? I was busy all weekend so I couldn’t join in. Pity, I was actually looking forward to fighting lots of banshees, they make the game exciting! Actually, I really like a game punishing me for failing to meet an objective! Gives it a better sense of involvement! I totally thought failing Operation Silencer was just going to mean we don’t get anything (I killed more than my share of banshees anyway) but this outcome is soooooo much better. Still, I can hardly blame you guys for missing out that weekend, I’ve heard a rumor that weddings are important social events. Congrats Angelo! And Mrs. Angelo!

    Story-time with Javik was certainly a surprise! Perhaps next wave should feature a story from Javik’s childhood. Hint: it will feature less green eggs and ham and more death. Also, kudos to Angelo for having the balls to not veto the Questions-for-Javik section, despite it being sprung upon you spur-of-the-moment. Not gonna lie, there was a certain amount of, shall we say, perceived trepidation when that decision was made. Great adlibbing, looking forward to what you come up with when you’ve got time to prepare! I suggest that the entire interview should be done by our Diabba Awers. Just to make things fair.

    Mass Effect movie? The night before this wave was posted, I went and saw the “Dawn of the Seeker” movie. The best part about it was the leaving part. Well, not strictly true, the best part was watching it with a bunch of people who were cackling at every bit of bad writing and every contrived plot device. However, I walked away from the experience knowing that the only Mass Effect movie that could possibly work would have to be based on the main story. Any sort of prequel or side story would be made exclusively for the fans (the subset of people who like the game enough to see a prequel) and would lack the funding needed for a true quality production. I was expecting skimping on visuals and acting in “Dawn of the Seeker” but the writing also suffered. No, the only way to make this venture at all successful is to make it as approachable as possible. Therefore, any Mass Effect production must be approached outside of fan appreciation. Take the new Star Trek movie: I had never seen a Star Trek movie before that one but I still loved it. Why? Because I didn’t necessarily have to know anything about Star Trek or the characters involved to appreciate it properly. The Mass Effect movie must do the same: have a compelling story, introduce all characters as though we just met them, and not pander to the fans through references and the like. Even then, it’d be extremely difficult to fit all of ME1 alone into a movie. A miniseries might work but, honestly, video game is really the only medium for this series.

    Continued...

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    1. Music is something I’ve wanted to discuss for a while. I’m a complete sucker for video game soundtracks and, cards on the table, I’ve always felt that the soundtrack was the weakest part of the entire series. There are good themes (main theme, Vigil, …ones I’ve probably forgotten) but, for the most part, I felt the music of the series was far too ambient. The music tends to be static and unconnected; an expression of mood with no discernible melody. There are very few melodies associated with places or characters and they are almost never modified for other situations. While I wouldn’t argue that Halo is a better game series than Mass Effect, they handled their music much better. There, a variety of themes created in the first game are expanded upon, enhanced, and even alluded to in each and every game. I remember being completely blown away when, in Halo 3, they heralded the creation of the new ring with the classic Halo choral theme IN A MAJOR KEY (that gives it a very final Amen feel). That being said, ME3 is the first game in the series where they really pushed themselves musically (Clint Mansell’s influence I imagine). In ME3, we have proper use of old themes and the introduction and use of themes for other things: the krogan theme (given a female element), the sad-reapers-are-killing-things, etc. The best piece in the entire game is right at the end, “An End Once and For All”, a piece and peacefully blends the sad-reaper-piano theme with the main theme to give it a very very final feel. For the most part, though, there weren’t many themes to play with by then and they did what they could with what they had.

      Summation? To make a proper ME soundtrack, the only obvious choice is “Malukah”.

      PS: Reading over this now makes me feel like I'm being a bit too rambly and negative. I promise to behave myself next time!

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  6. Glad Relay to Relay is back!

    My favorite quote is from the final goodbyes in London: "There's no Shepard without Vakarian." It's not funny, but in 5 words, that's the *whole* series. </goosebumps>

    I have much ambivalence about a Mass Effect movie - ME is my favorite science fiction 'franchise' as it is, and while I'd certainly love to see a good ME movie, I'd hate to see it get screwed up - and really, it has nowhere to go but down. Even with the kind of all-star team you were suggesting, success is far from certain.

    Has TBP's favorite multi player classes/kits evolved at all since you first shared them (lo these many waves ago)? Any love for the new species from the Rebellion pack? I have a hard time making the vorcha = allies equation stick, so I invariably end up pumping a few rounds into my squadmates involuntarily.

    Keep up the good work! Let's not make it another month, though, shall we?

    I should go : - )

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