Episode 231: Plus One Paul

Paul has some angry comments, Jonah has some angry comments, while Jordan just chuckles and makes a Freudian mistake. In between complaints, the Gaming Flashback looks at the Amiga classic Syndicate, and the following news items:

  • The Lund Report: August 2011 NPD
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 PC controversy rages
  • THQ: Next-gen consoles will be discless
  • Quantic Dreams claims they lost 10M euro on used games
  • 3DS sales jump 260% following price drop
  • Syndicate reboot finally confirmed and unveiled by EA

Finally, the Question of the Week: What was the most disappointing remake or reboot of a game you’ve played? All that and Reader Feedback, too.

0 thoughts on “Episode 231: Plus One Paul”

  1. @Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 PC controversy rages
    Having an MMO as the multiplayer component of a game is actually a good idea. The problem is the ‘only 3 months free’. I mean in such cases you’d better add a free-mium MMO.

    @THQ: Next-gen consoles will be discless:
    That will make it easier to distribute games, in areas with good bandwidth.
    Question is: if the costs of the physical medium is removed, why won’t the price of the games go down?
    As for Steam, do you know that you can back up your games on a separate storage media?

    @Quantic Dreams claims they lost 10M euro on used games
    Gah! You can’t lose something you never had.
    Make the product more attractive new. Dunno, add multi-player validated by the CD key.

    @3DS sales jump 260% following price drop
    The big question is, does this cover the costs? Otherwise, 260% or not, they’re still at loss.

    @Syndicate reboot finally confirmed and unveiled by EA
    So, this will become something like DeusEx mixed up with E.Y.E. . Quite original 😛
    I guess that if it is well polished, it might become a multi player hit.

    As for hate mail Paul, make sure you’re on the show.
    “I hope you die”? Really? Here’s a news flash: everybody dies.

    @QOTW: I can’t really remember any remakes; on the other hand I became a PC gamer in 2001, so that’s one possible explanation.
    And while Doom 3 can be considered a remake of the first Doom, I didn’t play the first one so I can’t compare the two.

  2. @QOTW: but! If UT 2003 can be considered a reboot of the UT franchise, then yes, UT2003 was a bitter disappointment: the flak cannon – turned a bit lame. No sniper rifle. No assault game mode.

  3. Tiger Woods PGA PC – I honestly can’t believe that people play golf games in general, let alone the PC. I can’t see how swinging a mouse forward and back could be interesting to anyone. EA is probably thinking that if you’re dumb enough to buy this shit, you don’t deserve a full game.

    Next Gen Discless – Nope. In no way would I see that working out. Like Jordan said, look what happened to Patapon 2. Or just look at the PSP Go, that didn’t work out nearly as well as they thought.

    Losing Money on Used Games – I’m sure that they did loose a lot of money on used games, but nowhere near the amount that they claimed. There are various other reasons why there are more people playing than copies sold.

    3DS Sales Jump – That doesn’t mean much at this point. Like Herr Alien said, they are still in the negative, as they were when they first launched it at the price of $250. They could mark them down to a dollar and I’m sure the sales would jump enormously, but it wouldn’t be covering the money that they had to spend to get the product to the consumer.

    QOTW – Bionic Commando was pretty bad, but that is the only one that I can think of. Wasn’t ever a big fan of Duke Nukem, so that doesn’t apply to me, but I’m sure it does to millions of others.

    Now, the hate mail. Paul, possibly being my favorite on the show, is going to be hard to hurt in fear of him calling me a “Loser.” The mere fact that you are asking for hate mail signifies that your bloated ego needs something to take it down a peg, only so that it may rise and be a more cocky, douchey version of the one left behind. No one leaves you hate mail because you are simply undeserving. I care more about the gum cemented into the sidewalk than I do the hopefully fictitious character known as “Paul”. You are the cancer of the earth and may God have mercy on your soul.

    Alright. Is that good for Paul. It is out of love that I do this, not hate. Hope to hear back on the next show. 😀

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Gaming Podcast 127: I Like The Open Hand ActionGaming Podcast 127: I Like The Open Hand Action

This weeks gaming podcast includes a lot of fun, we’re a bit silly and having a good time. We flash back to Maniac Mansion and cover some history on LucasFilm Games also known as LucusArts. We’re diving head-long into some great community submissions for the best and worst controllers of all time. This weeks news includes:

This week Don has doubled up, first we’ve got a poll for you to answer! What’s do you prefer: Star Wars Games or Final Fantasy Games? Question of the Week: What is the best game you have ever played and, if you want to answer the next part you can also let us know why you believe it’s changed your life!

Our New Casual Games StoreOur New Casual Games Store

Every now and again we mention casual games on our Gaming Podcast and we’ve taken the opportunity to open a little store to sell some casual game titles. Our store is located at BuyCasualGames.com and carries titles publishes and distributed by Big Fish Games.

Lot’s of folks have found the games Big Fish publishers are great quality titles for a low cost (as casual games should be). We’ve been working with Big Fish Games for a few years on CasualGamerChick so we’re extending that to its own little website. If you’re looking to pickup a few casual games, this is a great way to get familiar with some titles.

A new game arrives each day and we have free downloadable trials that gamers can test drive before they commit on a purchase. If you’re into the casual gaming scene and want to help support us, use buycasualgames.com for all your casual gaming needs!

Ensemble Studios Had A MissionEnsemble Studios Had A Mission

In 1995 Ensemble Studios formed as an independent studio and kicked out a little game franchise known as Age of Empires. The title has received many accolades from the first in the franchise extended out to all the Age of Empires releases and spin-offs, all-in-all selling millions of copies.

Ensemble Studios had a mission “to create great games and a great place to work,” says Bruce Shelley from Ensemble Studios. Bruce Shelley also helped design Sid Meier’s Civilization and Railroad Tycoon with MicroProse prior to his work at Ensemble Studios. Now, however, he’s a bit upset at the closing of Ensemble Studios because they were profitable, created top-quality titles and had a great working environment.

Ensemble Studios, from his perspective at least, was a place you’d go to work and be happy with what you’re doing. When you’re working along nicely and become blind-sided by the news, it’s not surprising he didn’t take it lightly.

“Everyone at our studio was shocked, and I think remains very disappointed that this is going to happen. I believe we thought we were immune to shut-down talk because our published games have done so well and have been so profitable. Plus we felt we had built a really stable (low-turnover), talented, hard-working, and creative team, which is not easy to do. We thought we were among the best studios in the world, and that may be true, but we don’t fit in the future plans of MGS as an internal studio so we’re out.” (ensemblestudios.com)

What’s the future plans for Ensemble Studios? As we’ve stated before, they plan to live on in spirit, within the bounds of a new name and a new game plan. “I believe the spirit and mission of ES will be carried forward in this new company if enough of the key leaders agree to take part, which I expect to happen. There has been no announcement about what the new studio will be working on when it gets going,” says Shelley.

This is a horrible way to have to launch a hot new intellectual property. Usually creating a new title with a building fanbase would lead to excitement, parties and high hopes for the future of the franchise. Instead, people will be dusting off their resume in hopes to continue a life of game development.

Hopefully the leaders will indeed form a brand new company and build brand new hot products with their entire staff intact. Then, take their titles to a different publisher (besides Microsoft) and make some money and fans.