Episode 466: Kill This Kitten For Fun

This episode continues to have some audio issues thanks to Jonah leaving his expensive headset back in Los Angeles, forcing him to use his iPad once again as a mic. However, this week’s episode is chock full of game goodness.

This week’s episode includes the following news items:

  • Dragon Quest XI battle system further detailed
  • Overwatch has earned Activision Blizzard over $1 billion in less than a year
  • Steam changes cross-country gifting and gift trading
  • DOTA 2 is getting a co-op campaign with a story

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 311: Podcast Two, Xbox OneEpisode 311: Podcast Two, Xbox One

This week is just Jonah Falcon and Jordan Lund, but the podcast is double length as the Xbox One dominates the last part of the podcast. There’s also the Gaming Flashback of Bungie’s Oni.

This week’s news includes:

  • Games Industry Biz eulogizes Wii U, states it suffered “death by apathy”
  • Xbox One revealed by Microsoft
  • Microsoft: No fees for used games, special dispensation for gamers without internet
  • Microsoft’s Greenberg: E3 presentation will be “all about the games”

All this and Listener Feedback.

Episode 344: Origin ProblemsEpisode 344: Origin Problems

In this episode, Jonah complains about Origin and his inability to play Dragon Age: Origins, while a heated discussion between Jonah and Paul occurs over various topics, along with discussion of Frozen. Jordan discusses his son’s college tuitions as well. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the coin-op arcade game Wizard of Wor.

This week’s news items include:

  • Sony PlayStation honcho Jack Tretton stepping down
  • Disney Interactive cutting about 700 jobs
  • New Xbox Live updates coming in April
  • SimCity gets offline play today
  • Report: Microsoft working on augmented reality headset for Xbox

This week’s Question of the Week: “Ever purchase new games for an unsupported console?”

War On Video Game ExclusivesWar On Video Game Exclusives

Typically, we have “exclusive” fallout from the console war which forces the hand of the consumer to purchase all consoles to play all the games they love. Many hardcore gamers are into first person shooters like Halo and Gears of War but also like their Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy fixes. In years prior, you’d have to invest in Microsoft and Sony’s solutions to get your fix. Now things are changing.

With these third party developers playing neutral in the war on consoles, Microsoft and Sony are forced to rely on near “first-party” titles to keep their army strong. Metal Gear Solid is a Sony exclusive and Gears of War and Halo have been Microsoft’s hype babies for a year or so now. The problem? Many of these exclusive games are not divisions, subsidiaries or in any way under the wing of the console makers.

Nintendo holds exclusive rights to almost all their hard hitting titles. Mario, Link, Zelda, Samus Aran and all their mascot style characters are designed, developed and marketed under the name “Nintendo.” These characters are all part of Nintendo’s lineup of solid best selling titles including the Metroid, Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series and all their spin-offs. Nintendo has the power to re-implement their characters into games like Mario Party, Mario Kart, Links Crossbow, Metroid Prime, Metroid Pinball and a huge array of other first party titles.

Microsoft and Sony must continue to play nice with Konami, Bungie, and Epic Games to keep their exclusivity. What happens if one of these developers “betrays” their console and starts shipping multi-platform?

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