Episode 431: Pokemon NO!

The past week has been rife with news about Pokemon GO! and all of the chaos the mobile game has caused around the world with people hunting creatures in museums and police stations. The podcast mostly avoids the craze.

The news this week includes:

  • Fake Pokemon Go! apps could contain malware and force your phone to click on porn links
  • Fraudsters force RimWorld dev to stop giving out Steam keys
  • Bethesda defends $60 price tag for Skyrim Remastered
  • Xbox One S arrives August 2

We also announce the winner of the contest.

0 thoughts on “Episode 431: Pokemon NO!”

  1. Goldeneye 007 on the N64 looked bad, but it was one of my favorite N64 games other than Banjo-Kazooie, Mario Kart, and etc., but I would not like playing it now because I dislike controllers for first person shooters, I played it in its entirety, and I dislike playing against AI, so I would only want to play against friends, which is not so easy without the internet.

    Congratulations, JerryK!

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Gaming Flashback: River Raid (Atari 2600)Gaming Flashback: River Raid (Atari 2600)

One of the first games I was introduced to on the 2600 was River Raid, back in 1982. I remember it vividly, as I was at my cousin David’s house, who was older than me, and he’d “baby sit” me so the adults could have some adult time hanging out in the dining room. We’d sit in the family room playing 2600, mainly River Raid.

This is an Activision game, and was later ported to Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, C64, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum, and MSX. The player controls an airplane in a top-down view over a river and gets points for shooting down enemy planes, helicopters, ships and balloons (for versions after the Atari 2600). By flying over fuel-stations, the plane’s tank can be refilled. The player can shift side to side and change the speed of the plane. Sections of the river are marked by bridges.

The game was highly acclaimed for its ability to stuff tons of map into small amounts of space. The map was huge and it fit on the disk because it’s randomly generated using a common starting seed, basically, imagine some of the Diablo dungeons…they’re randomly generated but the starting seed which starts the random process is also ‘random.’ (probably based on clock time which isn’t too uncommon). Atari, rather than try to make a random level each time used the level random generator to build a procedural based level rather than drawing it and saving it into the cart. GENIUS.

A more highly randomized number generation system was used for enemy AI to make the game less predictable.

Germany consider this game harmful to children, indexing it on their list of games “harmful for children” along with the game Speed Racer. It remained on their list until 2002 (since 1984) when developers petitioned it off the list before the PS2 launch of Activision Anthology (otherwise they’d not be able to put it in the game)

Some of the Germany reasons: Minors are intended to delve into the role of an uncompromising fighter and agent of annihilation (…). It provides children with a paramilitaristic education (…). With older minors, playing leads (…) to physical cramps, anger, aggressiveness, erratic thinking (…) and headaches (wikipedia)

All in all, a great game! To hear all the details on River Raid and our opinions, checkout TD Gaming Podcast Episode 78.

Gaming Podcast 215: HiatusGaming Podcast 215: Hiatus

Due to a familial emergency, TD Gaming Podcast is on temporary hiatus. This week is basically an outtake episode, though a bit short because for the last three months or so, the podcast has been pretty clean. However, there are some interesting conversations that you never got to hear.

There’s even an entire news item back from CES that was completely cut, and now you get to hear ten weeks later. Old news is so much fun!

Thanks for your patience, and we’ll have some new podcasts in a few weeks, we promise.

McFarlane Toys Makes Guitar Hero Action FiguresMcFarlane Toys Makes Guitar Hero Action Figures

Activision has decided to take Guitar Hero to the next level: Action Figures. This is a great move for the company, striking the iron while it’s hot! The Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises are growing in intensity while big blockbuster titles like GTA IV are waning in sales and profit.

Pretty soon you and your children can purchase action figures in the liking of Guitar Hero, would you consider this or is it just a gimmick?

McFARLANE TOYS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ACTIVISION
TO PRODUCE GUITAR HERO(tm) ACTION FIGURES

TEMPE, Ariz. ~ McFarlane Toys announces a partnership with Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) to produce action figures from the hit video game franchise, Guitar Hero®. The first line is expected to hit store shelves this fall.

The hugely popular Guitar Hero franchise delivers the ultimate guitar-bending experience and enabling aspiring axe-shredders everywhere the chance to Unleash Their Inner Rock Star. Featuring a wide variety of music spanning five decades, the franchise is highlighted by countless original recordings from many of the most beloved artists of all time.

Represented in the first line of action figures are four of the Guitar Hero game’s most popular characters:

JOHNNY NAPALM
AXEL STEEL
LARS ÜMLAUT
GOD OF ROCK

“We have very recently begun creating toys based on video games,” says McFarlane Toys CEO Todd McFarlane. “With Activision, we get to work on arguably one of the biggest video game franchises out there, and capitalize on the wide-ranging demographic that encompasses this game.”

Each figure has 15-18 moving parts. Additionally, a unique guitar is included with each character that is removable and interchangeable with the other figures. Each figure also comes with a sculpted Guitar Hero logo base.

McFarlane Toys’ 6-inch action figures retail for $10-$15.

Visit www.SPAWN.com for updates and the all the latest and to-the-minute news.

About McFarlane Toys
Grammy-and Emmy-winning producer/director Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and the founder of  SPAWN.com, is the force behind McFarlane Toys, one of America’s top action figure manufacturers. With an eclectic array of movie, TV and music licensing tie-ins – as well as the officially licensed teams of the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, McFarlane Toys has become a leader and redefined the standards within the action figure industry. For complete information on this pop-culture powerhouse, visit SPAWN.com.

About Activision, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.  Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $2.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea.  More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.