This week’s podcast is fairly heavy on the Xbox One news, but at least it makes for a themed podcast. Jordan expresses his fears at controllers that look at you, while QWOP and Surgeon Simulator 2013 are discussed.
This week’s news includes:
- PS4 did have always on DRM, camera, but Sony changed it at E3
- Report: Xbox One’s capabilities better than Microsoft expected
- Report: Xbox One will be able to run Windows 8 apps
- Xbox One getting Unity support to aid indie developers
- Half-Life 3 rumors squashed by Surgeon Simulator 2013 dev
- Star Citizen asset cost for ships “anywhere from $35,000 to $150,000”
The “Win a Titanfall T-shirt” contest continues. Merely answer, “What game at E3 impressed you the most?” to enter to win a large size tee.
This November console gamers will be able to purchase a new Track Pack for Rock Band and Rock Band 2. While Activision’s Guitar Hero: Aerosmith sells over 1-million copies, MTV and Harmonix look to prove they too can push big numbers on exclusive artist packs.
Compatibility. This is all we’re really asking for when it comes to rhythm gaming on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. So far it seems Microsoft isn’t just on board, but enforcing compatibility between instruments from Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Konami’s Rock Revolution. Sony has also confirmed this behavior on their 
Sony’s been putting a lot of effort (read: money) into the PlayStation 3 product line with very little impact in the market. They’ve got this “10 year plan” but haven’t really executed a strong plan for their first two years of said plan. Sony’s plan seems to be “outlive the competition’s technology” while all of its competition stomps on their sales and market share with older and a bit “outdated” products.
@PS4 did have always on DRM, camera, but Sony changed it at E3
😀 If this is true, then damn it, the customer still has some power. I guess not being the first to present the product is not entirely bad.
@ Xbox One’s capabilities
It’s easy to mess up specs. I mean the sales guy don’t know tech mumbo jumbo. So yeah …
Now, I’d go and say that even at the initial estimated bandwidth the difference should not be that big.
Read – write simultaneously? That’s a pretty good thing. In theory that can double the effectiveness of the hardware (at least in some instances), as opposed when having to do them sequentially.
Still … PS4 looks a bit more attractive. Dunno why, maybe because of the initial fiasco of the XBox one.
Now, on compatibility: wasn’t supposed Win 8 to play also XBox 360 games? Does this mean that XBOne will play 360 games?
@Xbox One getting Unity support to aid indie developers
Hmm … interesting. Still, XBLA was not all sunshine and rainbows:
http://www.xblafans.com/jon-blow-and-team-meat-done-with-xbox-64672.html
So what gives? Ok, the link above is from March, but still. If this isn’t confusing, I don’t know what is. Team Meat? Your reply on this recent development?
@Star Citizen asset cost for ships “anywhere from $35,000 to $150,000”
Holly f*ckin’ shit! No, just … no. Jonah has a very good point, it could be that those polygons won’t be visible at lower settings.
Further more, I think that in the heat of the action, you probably won’t notice the extra details anyway.
Hey! I missed last week’s episode so let’s get going now!
First of all, Insomniac did not develop Infamous. It was Sucker Punch and they’re also doing Infamous: Second Son now. They’re still with Sony.
@PS4 DRM – This is highly doubtful to me. Am I supposed to believe that a multi-billion dollar company changes their policy and the entire E3 presentation within a couple of hours because of what the competitor did? No way. Jack Tretton of Sony was a guest on Up At Noon on IGN this week and that’s basically what he said. That the presentation we saw at E3 was what it was always supposed to be. There were no changes made after Microsoft’s conference. The game sharing Youtube video, that’s a different story 😉
@XBone capabilities – that’s a funny mistake to made but still might have happened. I don’t think all the technical stuff really matters to an ordinary customer. I still believe that the price and the unfavorable media coverage that Microsoft got after E3 will be the deciding factor. Those people who show more interest, like you and me, already decided which console they will go with. I’m not starting my Xbox adventure with this one.
@XBone running Win8 apps – I wonder how long this will hold up. I can see people developing apps that somehow hack the console the way people accessed the OS on PS3 in the early days. The more closed the system is, the safer it is. That’s why I’m not a huge fan of all the social interaction that the new generation brings. We’ll see how this develops.
@QWOP – Jonah! Play QWOP now! This game is what hell is all about. This could be an instrument of torture – “if you don’t run at least 10 meters you’re not getting your food!”. Parenting tip #436
@E3 impressions – I’ve been going through the list of games and it’s really hard to choose. I’m going to focus on Sony games, since that’s the console I’m going for. Can I still say The Last of Us? 🙂 Technically, it was release AFTER E3 so it should count. I love this game and I’m afraid to read Jordan’s review… You OBVIOUSLY don’t get it 😛
If I have to choose something in the future, I’m still very intrigued by Beyond: Two Souls. They showed some new stuff about this game and now I have no idea how it will pan out. I’m a little worried that Mr. Cage & co. want to do too much with this title. I loved Heavy Rain and I want to go back to this game some day and if the storytelling is as good in Beyond, it will be amazing.
Most intriguing next-gen game? I think I’ll go for Infamous: Second Son. I really enjoyed the first two games, I platinumed both of them and it’s going to be interesting do see what they do with the franchise post-Cole.
And also, in case you missed it, Jordan especially, since he has a Vita, Dead Nation is coming to the handheld! The game was an amazing PSN title. Sure, it’s another zombie apocalypse game, but it was so much fun. It had a co-op mode and you could go through the whole game in 2-3 hours if you made a speed run. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Now I’m wondering whether I should cash in my Bioshock Infinite contest victory to get a T-shirt or should I wait for some next-gen games since they will be region-free… 😉