Episode 254: Mass Effect Trio

This week, the full man crew is back, and incredibly deep-voiced as they proclaim themselves the Protectors of Humanity™, as Mass Effect 3 launches today. The Gaming Flashback is a Gaming Preview of Assassin’s Creed 3.

This week’s news includes:

  • Microsoft: Xbox Live Arcade will be phased out eventually
  • Leaked images “nothing to do with” Doom 4, fans will “see awesome”
  • SimCity 5 coming in 2013
  • GAME drops 5% in shares after Mass Effect 3 no-show
  • Rumor: PlayStation 4 ditches Cell processor tech

This, and the most contentious Reader Feedback ever.

0 thoughts on “Episode 254: Mass Effect Trio”

  1. Erm, it’s a … different … intro 🙂
    I guess this is due to Mass Effect?

    In the hospital?! Diabetes?! Man … Jonah, I think you’re now avoiding the doctor just so that you don’t get diagnosed with God knows what.

    @Microsoft: Xbox Live Arcade will be phased out eventually
    Erm, dunno. I don’t think that an established digital distribution channel will be removed on a whim. You don’t back out from a market unless it generates losses, and I doubt this is the case for XBLA.
    Ok, change the name, don’t care. But I think Microsoft will keep providing the service.

    @Leaked images “nothing to do with” Doom 4
    Doom 2 was set on Earth however. Dunno. From my point of view, anything goes.
    The engine is idTech 5, that powered the Rage game.

    @SimCity 5 coming in 2013:
    never played, never cared.

    @GAME drops 5% in shares after Mass Effect 3 no-show
    Tough times for retailers. A lot of publishers either use Steam, or have developed their own digital distribution channels. So now they can afford to place heavier conditions to the retailers.
    Now if you also add bad management in the mix, well, that’s a recipe for bankruptcy.

    @Rumor: PlayStation 4 ditches Cell processor tech
    To be honest, as long as you manage to create a nice API for the game developer, it doesn’t really matter if it’s a cell processor or 2-4 80×86 compatible cores.
    I still can’t forget what they said at one point, that the cell processor was intentionally made hard to work with, so that the PS3 has a longer life.
    Who thinks like that?!

  2. Thanks Paul for sending my PD, my lil 5 yo bro will love this game (i’m 21 btw)
    jordan, watch out for that C6H12O6!!! they are evil! deliciously evil!
    paul, bronkitis sucks, i have it too.
    jonah, go get a check up ASAP!
    i hope you know that i am very glad all 3 of you are fine =]

    @xbla no more eventually
    it is a money maker, they will not give that away, its a name change for sure.

    @sim city 5 comming 2013
    meh… never liked the sims series very much (all sims, not only THE sims). i like destruction games more.

    @ps4 changes processor
    as long as it works with quality, I mean, as long as sony doesn’t screw up more stuff ¬¬

    get well guys (be careful jonah, u might be next)
    mwa hahahahaha (evil laugh if u dont get it)

    take care

  3. Can you guys make it a bit shorter? Some guys like me don’t have internet at home so we download it thru a phone. I can’t download it when its over 50M. I hope you take it to your attention, Cheers!

  4. My god, that was the best intro ever! I’m pretty busy right now with my pre-GCSE exams, so don’t expect any long comments for now. You should be honored that you’re one of the things I will still be doing between studying.

  5. Oh and Paul, I never got to hear your thoughts on Skyward Sword. Have you finished it, and if so, what did you think?

  6. Hey guys, first time listener. I enjoyed the show, but I cringed at the narration of the news headlines. I’m by no means a good public reader, so I know how hard it is to vocally string together a poorly written sentence. Slow it down a little and you should be just fine.
    Keep up the good work, and thanks for the listen!

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle MayhemGuitar Hero World Tour Bundle Mayhem

You’re looking to pickup a copy of Guitar Hero World Tour, but you’re currently unsure which bundle does what and how much each will cost. That has now been made clear and gamers can go about their holiday shopping business later this month (Oct. 26th) to pickup the bundle of their choosing.

  • USD $190 for the full band kit on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
  • USD $180 for the full band kit on PS2.
  • USD $100 for the guitar/game bundle on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.
  • USD $90 for the guitar/game bundle on PS2.

“And, if $190 just isn’t enough money to spend for you, Red Octane is also offering a special $240 deluxe full band kit bundle that also comes with an XL t-shirt, battery charger, key chain, and guitar case. This deluxe kit is available for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, with a $220 deluxe kit offered for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.” (1up)

One other thing that 1up observed in this pricing structure: Guitar Hero with guitar controller was $70, Guitar Hero II with controller was $80, Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360 with controller was $90 and, of course, Guitar Hero III with controller was $100. Are we slowly being brought to the price point that these publishers want to reach? It seems they’re drawing us slowly to higher values as we continue to purchase into their schemes.

Granted, their schemes are fun as all heck so we’re willing to pay to play, but where will it end? Fairly soon we’ll be paying more money for our controller and rock genre style game than the console hardware with extended warranties.

Robbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple VictorsRobbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple Victors

It’s amazing to think we’re in our third year of “next generation” console bliss. Three years have passed since the first Xbox 360 shipped, for good or bad, and it’s time to start thinking about the future.

Or is it?

Bobbie Bach, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices president, seems to believe this generation of consoles will expand out further than the typical four-year release cycle. Perhaps because the console developers have invested so much money in defeating each other in the market and making their console “number one” in the eyes of their investors.

Bach does not believe we’re cresting on the current generation, that is for certain, and we’ve yet to hear any hype over a new next-generation console from Microsoft. They were the first to market so, theoretically, they should be the first in the next-generation as well, right?

Their move to be number one was really a strategic attack which has paid out well, leading them above the past domination of Sony and Nintendo before it. However, they are holding strong with the Xbox 360 and there might be cause to sit tight and let this generation playout before bringing in another piece of hardware.

Bach stated that he believes consoles today are competing at different levels than ten years ago. There isn’t one clear winner, there isn’t one dominating console. There will be victors in different areas of the industry; casual consoles, top game sellers, best graphics and others. It’s not about sheer “units sold” it’s more about being profitable and building a community around your hardware, see Xbox Live as a great example.

Next generation will be full of fantastic new features, ways to connect and crazy hardware specifications, no doubt, but… for many of us, it will take years before we forget the pain and suffering we paid shipping our dead Xbox 360’s back to Microsoft for repairs. Would you be willing to buy into their next generation as their first customer?

(Thanks, 1up)

TD Gaming Podcast 76: GamingPodcast.netTD Gaming Podcast 76: GamingPodcast.net

Welcome to the TD Gaming Podcast! This week we discussed:

  • Microsoft releases Xbox 360 before everyone else, will they do it again? (1up)
  • Ubisoft’s Play Zone label/division for Wii mini-games (next-gen)
  • Guitar Hero World Tour Rumors (gamespot)
  • Atari’s Hunts Negative Alone in the Dark Reviews (shacknews)

We take a walk down memory lane with Baldur’s Gate as this weeks Gaming Flashback, take a deeper look into RPG’s and “Devil Worshiping” and we’ll also read a great listener comment regarding video game mascots, what mascots did you enjoy?