Episode 375: And We’re Back

After a problematic week, Episode 375 is now up, with tons of news. So much that there’s no room for a Gaming Flashback or a Gaming History.

The news includes:

  • Joystiq no longer scoring” reviews
  • New Harmonix survey points to Rock Band 4
  • Hatred gets an AO rating in US
  • Disney, Activision both claim landslide victory in toys-to-life category
  • Microsoft maintaining $349 price point on Xbox Ones
  • Windows 10 includes in-home game streaming from Xbox One

This week’s Question of the Week: “What, if any, was your favorite part of Rock Band?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 375: And We’re Back”

  1. Great show guys, enjoyed the topics greatly.

    @Joystiq no longer scoring: I agree I never liked the scoring of any game it never told me what I really needed to know about the game. Saying 3/5 stars or 90% is like saying Banana or starfish! Completely arbitrary and meaningless, I need and want to know how the person felt about the game they played. Take Dragon Age Inquisition, I have heard many detailed reviews from people I know about the game what they liked and didn’t; and I value that over some random score some review site gives. As you guys pointed out someone who doesn’t like a genre of games may be biased against it and will hate it no matter what. I had argued with someone the other day who felt that since Dark Souls had no story it was a bad game, when they were clearly missing the point of that game all together. So I am glad they have decided to drop scoring a game and entice people to actually read the review.

    @Jonah joining NC: Speaking of reviewing Wow that is awesome, have you made videos for them already?

    @Hatred AO rating; My first impulse to hearing this was good, I don’t think little children should be playing this violent a game, and before Paul says it yes the parents should be paying attention to what their kids play. I guess I can’t deny they have the right to make whatever game they want and make it available but stores do have the right to refuse to sell something if they don’t want to sell it. I’m fine with the rating to make it clear just how violent it is, course there are plenty of violent games but do have much more context as to why the violence is happening. I remember being bothered when my daughter was playing Fable 2 and she wiped out the starting village, for some reason the game didn’t summon any guards for that action.

    There is a double standard with the violence being more acceptable for kids to witness. I’ve asked myself this, why is it ok to have a movie or game that kids kill people or see violent acts yet you get some nudity and then suddenly everyone losses their mind. I think at least for me it’s because violence is wrong and sex is not. It’s easy to say “well this is fantasy and we’re just having fun make believe” but sex there’s nothing wrong or bad about it, it’s a natural thing and can be difficult to discuss with someone who isn’t mature enough to handle it yet and I mean the real intimate details and not just “when two people love each other”. It is a difficult subject and it’s up to each parent to decide when to talk to their children about these things.

    @Pose able toys: I think this idea really Is brilliant to have movable figures that would respond or give signals to in game actions. That would greatly increase interactive ness. I am also tempted to get some amboii’s if for no other reason than to display them, this is a DLC I can get behind.

    A side note next time someone has a very noisy background that even the co-host can’t hear you maybe they should mute their mic or find a quieter place to record.

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Episode 340: Pennsylvania PolkaEpisode 340: Pennsylvania Polka

Paul is back for this episode, as this week actually has a Gaming Flashback and a Game History, the former being Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, and the latter being Black Isle Studios.

The news this week includes:

  • Followup: PS Vita Slim to launch in UK
  • Reports: Microsoft plans cheaper, disc-free, white Xbox Ones in 2014
  • Nintendo cuts overheard on executive salaries
  • Square Enix responds to Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III launch rumor
  • Razer to give Xbox One gamers more peripheral options

The Question of the Week, “What was the best game you played that you felt was unfinished?”

Starcraft 2 Part Eins, Zwei and DreiStarcraft 2 Part Eins, Zwei and Drei

Nobody is perfect. When it comes to creating an epic story arc, awesome pre-rendered movies and a fully fleshed campaign Blizzard has done well. Now, Blizzard speaks of Starcraft 2 and the world shuts their mouth and listens to each and every word. What’s the word?

A Trilogy.

We’re not talking about the Lord of The Rings style trilogy, but three games with full stories which all end with the gamer being satisfied at the closure, not cliffhangers.

The three standalone games will be (says GameStooge):

  • Terrans – Wings of Liberty
  • Zerg – Heart of the Swarm
  • Protoss – Legacy of the Void

Gamers are probably thinking, “so, I can play multiplayer with only one race?” No! The campaign is split into three separete games, not the races and multiplayer features. Although, each title is sure to introduce something new to the game engine, Blizzard has said:

“Nothing changes for multiplayer or skirmish mode. All three races are fully implemented from the get go. Each campaign will feel like an epic story – not a cliffhanger into the next one. They will each have separate arcs that have a clear start, middle, end – and you will feel like you’ve really finished *something* at the end of each game. More content than we’d previously planned – many more Movies, Missions, etc.” (games.on.net)

From our perspective, it seems Blizzard is itching to release the multiplayer system to the world sooner than later, considering some countries use Starcraft as a professional league, but they don’t want to rush out fast to market campaigns just to satisfy this multiplayer desire.

Instead, they’re going to take their time, in usual Blizzard style, by releasing the game as they finish it… per races story. This should give us a less watered down storyline or having one or two races with a piss poor storyline while another has a kick ass storyline because it was done first.

End result? Multiplayer gamers will be happy in the end while those that play Starcraft for the story will need to wait for each game to be completed. We know Blizzards release schedule is “when it’s ready” so we can only imagine how long it will take to reach that third game in the trilogy.