Episode 363: Mammoths With Hats

The publication of this episode is a little late thanks to uncontrollable circumstances, but while Paul discusses the ending of Slicing Fractions, this week’s episode includes both a Gaming Flashback, Scramble, and a Gaming History which focuses on the Zelda series.

This week’s news includes:

  • Apple fans report iPhone 6 bending in pockets
  • Titan cancellation may have cost Blizzard more than $50 million
  • Wasteland 2 earns $1.5 million revenue in four days
  • Microsoft mistakenly affirms that Windows 9 will be revealed next week (from Ars Technica)

This week’s Gaming History discusses rumors that raged about Zelda games – Paul is not amused.

0 thoughts on “Episode 363: Mammoths With Hats”

  1. @Iphone: I’m with Paul, I got and have had a Iphone 4 for about 2 years now, I don’t like the idea of rushing to get things when they are first released, I take a while getting new consoles and phones.

    @Wasteland 2: I am surprised Jonah didn’t mention more of the Kickstarter games that have been successfully released when Paul said he knew of only one (Wasteland 2). There is also FTL, Broken Age, Shadowgate, & Shadowrun Returns. Pillar’s of Eternity is coming out and I’m sure can be added to this list soon as well. If you only focus on the ones that fail you’re going to miss the ones that are succeeding.

    Wasteland 2 has been fun so far, I like being able to create a party unlike in Fallout where it’s just you and some NPC’s. I also suggest trying to use energy weapons, they seem to be very powerful to me.

    @Zelda rumors: I don’t recall or remember any of these but I do agree with Paul on the whole feeling something is there if you could just jump one more block or open a locked door. You want to know what’s there, humans love mysteries.
    I do remember the stories about trying to find the lost level of Super Mario, which was actually true.

    There are a slew of crazy Harry Potter theories and I do remember the “Weasley is our King”

    @QotW: As for falling for any game Rumors I don’t think I really did, most of the time I had sources to validate if it was true or not. If I couldn’t do it or seemed astronomicaly impossible I figured it was fake. However the closest would be when Areis died in FF7 (I’d say spoiler warning but if you haven’t played it yet your’re probably never going to). I wanted there to be a way to save her since you could actually save Gremio in Suikoden, you can’t fault the logic of a angsty teenager.

    The more I thought about it though the more I realized she had to die for the story, it was her death that brings about the Holy spell to save the world from Sephiroths Meteo. So yes listen to Paul if it doesn’t make sense in the story narrative, it probably isn’t true and if it is the game isn’t worth your time.

  2. @iPhone yoga

    It seems that someone did not pay attention during their physics lessons on the property of metals. I am sticking to my iPhone 4S. Last thing I need is my phone going all Beyoncé on me. But I am sure Apple will fix it. When they had problems with cracking screens, someone released a screen protector which was used for attack helicopter wind shields. You know, just in case you want to check your Facebook in a middle of a war zone.

    @Windows NEIN!

    Oh Lord, another Windows edition. When will Microsoft understand that the best way to fix a mistake is to never make it in the first place. I just hope that they were reading their feedback and will make a definitive windows experience. Considering that there is no alternative on the market, a good new windows is a necessity.

    @QOTW

    I don’t browse the net that much, so I avoid most of the rumours. If I do hear something, I triple check it for confirmation. I think my favourite rumour was the Halo 2 Scarab Gun. It was a plasma rifle that shot massive blasts of energy akin to the gigantic Scarab walking tank. It sounded like a hoax, until people proved that it actually exists. This set of a chain of rumours of other hidden weapons all across the game. Countless hours were spent in chasing ghosts in that game. A good marketing ploy if I ever saw one. My second favourite Bungie rumour is that Destiny has a storyline. Apparently it’s hidden somewhere deep deep within the game’s code and only the most dedicated players can find it.

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Distributed Game Development Using ContractorsDistributed Game Development Using Contractors

Gamers around the world have noticed a large trend in the video game industry in the last 15 years, massive growth with massive projects and unbelievable costs, goals and sales. We’ve seen the impossible become achievable in epic projects like World of Warcraft and huge sales figures from Halo 3 but we’ve also seen game titles fall down in a burning wreck.

Each studio tries to beat the next studio with crisp realistic graphics, real time physics engines, life-like explosions all with huge costs. Does it all sound familiar? If you’re a movie buff you’ve probably seen movie studios cranking out the same style of movie, high computer graphic effects with talented high priced actors making longer and longer films.

The only big difference? A game studio hires most of their talent for full time positions and then has to figure out what to do with them when the project ends. Perhaps this explains Microsoft’s effort to remove game studios like Ensemble, Bungie and FASA, it’s all too much to handle when a high budget project ships and time frees up in the studio.

(more…)

Episode 433: Kickstarter FailEpisode 433: Kickstarter Fail

The episode is posted a little late due to unforeseen circumstances, and focuses on Kickstarter videogames, both failures and successes. The podcast also asks Pokémon Go fans if they really needed those tracking software for the game.

This week’s news includes:

  • “Other surprises” in store for NX, says Ubisoft
  • Fixes promised for botched Marvel Ultimate Alliance ports
  • Pokémon Go fans rage as tracking site shuts down
  • PlayStation VR requires about 60-square feet of space to use

Let us know what you think.