Episode 543: Viva Pinatas

This week’s episode takes a look at this week’s Gaming Flashback, Viva Pinata.

The news includes:

  • No Man’s Sky‘s Sean Murray says devs should be quiet after a rough launch
  • Xbox Game Pass adds Play Later feature
  • Nintendo Switch 2 controller could redefine how people play games, company suggests

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 249: Milestone LoomingEpisode 249: Milestone Looming

For those of you good at math, you might notice that the TD Gaming Podcast is one episode away from a special number. While we have a surprise in store for loyal listeners, there’s still this week’s news to discuss. For starters, the classic Silent Hill 2 is the subject of the Gaming Flashback, even though none of the podcasters have gotten a chance to actually play it.

There’s also some interesting news to discuss, including:

  • Christian group accuses The Old Republic of “warping kids” with pro-gay message
  • Rumor: Next Harmonix project being released on XBLA, PSN, and Facebook
  • EA Sports: SSX will bring extreme sports videogames back to prominence
  • Xbox 720 rumors springing up like wildfire
  • PS Vita continues to struggle in Japan
  • SNK brings Neo*Geo back as a handheld

There’s plenty of Reader Feedback, but there’s no Question of the Week, because there’s a special episode coming up. Ooooh, what could it possibly be?

Microsoft Says They’ll Win Console WarMicrosoft Says They’ll Win Console War

Apparently the war is in full force and Microsoft’s Don Mattrick is ready to poke the flag in the ground and call it a sure fire victory (in so many words). He said he’s “willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PS3” (eurogamer)

They’re either not seeing the Wii as a competitor or are trying to avoid that evil word considering the growth of the tiny little console in the market. After telling the audience the Xbox 360 has already outpaced the PlayStation 3 and Wii he failed to mention the one-year head start the 360 had over its competitors.

There are, of course, bonuses to talking figures when you were first out of the gate. The interesting facts, which won’t present themselves for years now, will be the end unit sales figures for Wii, 360 and PlayStation 3 when all boxes are end-of-life’d. We’re sure to hear each side declare victory when they’ve decided when the war actually ends. In Microsoft’s eyes, the console war will probably end when they release the next-generation box, barring the fact that they should wait at least one year before claiming the title.

You can’t argue with the facts, Xbox 360 is doing very well in the United States (if we ignore Japan). The Nintendo Wii has sold 8.8 million units to the Xbox 360‘s 10.3 million units. How many units did the Xbox 360 have sold around the same time Nintendo boasts 8.8 million? Probably a bit less.

Press can be a great thing when you have numbers to play with and figures to skew. Oddly enough, if some of us are any indication, we’ve purchased multiple Xbox 360’s because of dead systems. Sure, we’re stupid for actually doing it, but those figures will work into the total units sold for the Xbox 360 hardware sales. Imagine, their failing systems may have actually boosted sales figures a bit; probably not statistically significant but funny non-the-less.

We can’t wait to see what type of numbers Sony and Nintendo are going to fling out. If we ask each competitor, we’re sure they’ll say we’re going to win the console war. Nintendo may just ask, “what console war? We just make game hardware” and you can’t fault them there!

Episode 523: Valve Running Out of SteamEpisode 523: Valve Running Out of Steam

Valve continues to have problems in the wake of Epic (and now Discord) giving developers more of the earnings pie, as the year draws to a close. Meanwhile, T.J. explains his gamertag.

This week’s episode includes the following news items:

  • Developers do not believe Steam is worth it anymore
  • Canada announced for Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
  • Studio Wildcard’s Atlas is delayed by a week
  • Rainbow Six Siege chat filter and toxicity update

Let us know what your favorite game of 2018 was.