Episode 544: Kickstarter Fraud

This podcast deals with the shady dealings of a Kickstarter — no Gaming Flashback this week though.

The news includes:

  • An ambitious GTA Online-alike won’t be allowed to finish its Kickstarter campaign
  • Tetris Effect headed to PC next week via Epic Games Store
  • Joy-Con drift is becoming a real problem on the Switch

Let us know what you think.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Episode 515: Telltale ClosesEpisode 515: Telltale Closes

This week follows the stunning announcement over the closure of Telltale Games and the repercussions of the shuttering of one of the most influential companies in the industry. There’s also Scott continuing to gush about Dragon Quest XI and Jonah enjoying the 2008 version of Prince of Persia again. That, and Fallout 3 headlines the Gaming Flashback.

News of the week include:

  • Telltale employees left stunned by company closure
  • Swiss soccer fans temporarily stop game to protest esports
  • Brian Fargo will try to buy back Interplay if The Bard’s Tale IV sells well enough
  • Rez creator’s musical re-imagining of Tetris launches in November

Let us know what Telltale Games you were hoping to see in the future.

Video Games Are Entertaining, E3, Not So MuchVideo Games Are Entertaining, E3, Not So Much

Most folks in the game industry are already writing off E3 as an actual event to be attending. Even Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is calling it “virtually useless” for both retail and investors. The writing is on the wall and the reasons are obvious.

Publishers and developers didn’t want to invest the millions of dollars to make E3 a glamour show of epic proportions anymore. The lights, camera and action are all what the industry is about; the hype wagon in full steam. Gamers eat up the hype, bloggers and journalist rely on the hype and action to build readership and keep them coming back for more and retail uses it to gauge new releases and get a grip of the future.

Without the entertainment value of E3 nobody seems to care anymore. Large scale gaming entertainment is reflected in the large scale events and, at the end of the day, we want our conferences and shows to reflect the emotion and exciting of the industry.

“E3 had much more of an impact when it was a show,” comments IGN.com vice president of games content Tal Blevins. “The video game industry is about fun and entertainment, and we should have a show that reflects it.” (gamasutra)

Everyone is sad to see the state of E3, it’s like a cancer patient waiting for their final diagnosis. It’s unfortunate, it’s going to get worse and life will go on without it. In its wake, new shows will crop up while old shows increase in audience, excitement, intensity and cost.

As one show begins to fade others will grow to replace it and developers will yet again find themselves spending millions of dollars to be the best of show.