Episode 345: Old in the Valley

This week’s Jonah discusses an article about ageism in Silicon Valley, while Paul complains about an achievement ruining a casual game he’d spent $200 on. This week’s Gaming Flashback is Dance Dance Revolution.

The news includes:

  • Facebook acquiring Oculus for $2 billion
  • Valve’s Portal coming as Tegra 4 Android App to Nvidia Shield
  • Xbox One may allow loaning of digital games
  • Nintendo, Sony won’t attend PAX East

All this and a little Listener Feedback, with the Question of the Week being “Do you subscribe to videogame magazines now?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 345: Old in the Valley”

  1. Hi guys great episode!

    I found Infamous to be a pretty easy game, if they make the third even more so just seems sad. Not a lot of games seem to be as difficult as the old 8-bit games. I do like the paper trail feature Jordan talked about and I know Rockstar has a similar thing though not quite as cool as unlocking more missions through using the website, you can still track your progress of various games on the site.
    Hearing Paul spending 200 on in game purchases on a FB game just makes me sad. I know it’s his choice on how to spend his money but a lot of FB games really seem to encourage you to spend real money to get fake in game money just to speed things up and make the game enjoyable. The Foxtrot comic Jonah brought up is a good example of why I don’t like those games. I feel like it’s lazy game making and undeserving of my money. I know they got to make money to pay their bills but I don’t like what they are selling. I guess though if there is a demand for these type of games who am I to judge? I’ll stop beating the dead horse now.
    @Occulus bought by FB: When I first heard the news I was like “Why?” I wasn’t the only one scratching my head at this. I really didn’t want to think of Virtual Farmville. I do like the idea though of remote classroom, though I know we already have video chat for that sort of thing. Is anyone going to really want to wear this thing on their head? It’s like a fancier virtual boy.

    QOTW: I subscribe to Gameinformer, which can be read online now. It does seem like it’s less and less necessary now though given how easy it is to hear about gaming news.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Gaming Podcast Week OffGaming Podcast Week Off

We had to take a week off due to a death in the family. My grandmother passed away from Alzheimer late last week and we had to spend the beginning of the week with the family and the events that come with the passing.

We’ll be back next week in full force. So, here is a 39 second podcast explaining it, hosted by Liam our son.

Microsoft To Indulge on Hype at E3 2009Microsoft To Indulge on Hype at E3 2009

This year’s E3 should be interesting as we head back to the no holds barred approach to gaming conferences. While E3 tried to go all PG for the last few years, it’s time to get back to the serious business of hype-o-rama. Microsoft’s on board with it and plans to “break the bank” in terms of hypesville.

Microsoft Game Studio’s producer Phil Spencer said:

“[It’s] very exciting, because there’s a lot of stuff on the docket and maybe we’ll break the bank a little bit and talk about things that are further out, which will hopefully get the community excited.”

Microsoft continues to hammer home big announcements at the E3 events even while in the ho-hum lull of the past few E3 events. Last year they nailed Sony with the Final Fantasy XIII announcement and hyped up the New Xbox Experience. What are they going to pull out this year now that we’ve seen Gears of War 2 and have a pulse on some of their Halo ideas?

They’re talking about hyping games further down the pipeline, perhaps to keep people jazzed about what the future holds even in these economic down times. It’s important to keep gamers focused on what is to arrive on the 360 so they don’t sway towards the opposing consoles in moments of doubt.

Of course, this begs the question, will Sony pull out even more hype? Will Nintendo continue to give mediocre showings with “I told you so” sprinkled in their message? Only time will tell.

(Thanks, Eurogamer)

TD Gaming Podcast 93: The M.I.T GangTD Gaming Podcast 93: The M.I.T Gang

This weeks Gaming Podcast comes out a bit early due to some travel plans and an upcoming trip to Popcap’s Bejeweled Twist launch party. This week in the news we took a look at:

We also take a look back at Pitfall! and cover yet another DRM issue on our soapbox, asking the question, is online gaming the DRM of the future? Our history segment does a bit of history on Popcap games.

Our NFS: Carbon and Saints Row contest has ended, the gang names are in, and we’re giving away the games to the winner. Next, we’re going to give away Project Gotham Racing 4.