After a long delay, this episode looks at some of the more disturbing stuff going on in the videogame industry — and Minecraft. The Gaming Flashback comes back with Lucidity.
Let us know what you think.
This week we’re cooking up some final holiday treats in the form of gaming history, news, retro flashbacks and general commentary. We’re looking back at the Need for Speed franchise, a little gaming history on Black Box Studios and covering some news stories:
This weeks soap box covers a little holiday cheer, what games did you love as a child, which game got you the most excited, what’s your best memory and most prized achievements in gaming. What game was a total turn off?
Wish wish everyone a happy holiday no matter what you celebrate, when you celebrate and how you celebrate. Party hard. Drive Safe. Enjoy.
Podcast Crew.
This week features a long podcast, as there’s a ton of news to report. Jonah tries air quotes on a pure audio podcast, while Paul refuses to believe The Legend of Zelda: Skyword Sword failed to hit the top 10 in software sales.
In addition, the Gaming Flashback checks out the JRPG Ys.
This week’s news includes:
All this, and a bunch of reader feedback, as well as the Question of the Week: “Did you buy videogames as holiday gifts for friends and family?” Let us know.
The deal has been done, you can now officially call the company Activision Blizzard. Sure, the name is sorta lame but it does cover the bases… they’re Activision and they’re Blizzard; surely neither company wanted to lose their lively hood and branding.
We’re now looking at a company that’s more powerful than Electronic Arts, surely this worries Electronic Arts a bit. However, consumers like ourselves should be cheering for more competition against the big EA, perhaps forcing them to innovate a bit more and keep competitive.
Many gamers and industry participants would love to see independent companies grab a bit of the market share and bring in new startup companies and spin-off studios. However, if there is going to be a merger at the top-tier it might as well be one that puts pressure on Electronic Arts.
“We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction, and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential,” gushed Vivendi SA CEO Jean-Bernard Levy. “I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe.” (gamespot)
Now, we’ll have to wait and see if the upper level management can get along in a fluid manner and keep all their projects on track. With great power comes great responsibility, they’ve got the power… are they going to be responsible with it?
