Episode 573: A Very Special Returning Guest

This week, Paul fills in for Scott, who has more pressing issues than discussing videogames, though some very serious topics about them do pop up, such as how misogyny became pronounced in the hobby. The Gaming Flashback is one of the legendarily panned titles, Bomberman Act:Zero.

The news for this week includes:

  • Video game spending reaches record high during pandemic
  • Epic Games Store keyless integration with other digital stores announced
  • Minecraft sales now exceed 200 million (from PC Gamer)
  • Star Citizen will hold a free fly event starting this week

There’s also some Listener Feedback from longtime fan Ralf from Germany.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Episode 400: So Long, PaulEpisode 400: So Long, Paul

Well, the fateful day has come on this landmark podcast, as Paul says farewell as a regular podcast host. We can all look back at Jonah’s debut in episode 200, with the knowledge that the next episode will make him the longest running host or co-host on the show – and that’s just scary. A former host leaves a message as well.

This week’s news includes:

  • Creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is crowdfunding a fighting game
  • Xbox head discusses why Final Fantasy 14 is not on Xbox One
  • Pachter: “The console installed base is as big as it’s ever going to get”
  • Andrew House: the PS4 is struggling against censorship in China
  • Analyst: 30 million VR headsets by 2020

The Question of the Week: “What’s the creepiest videogame you ever played?”

Rumor: Xbox 360’s New 60GB ModelRumor: Xbox 360’s New 60GB Model

The latest and greatest rumor on the Net brings back old rumors and spreads them with new rumors. The Xbox 360 will be getting a price drop on their 20GB model because they’re going to release a new 60GB model to replace it.

So, in essence, the price drop is just to move consoles off the shelves to make room for one of greater disk capacity. With all these Rock Band style games arriving, each with full song downloadable content (DLC), we’re going to need bigger disks! However, we don’t all want to invest in the 120GB Xbox 360.

Ars Technica says this information comes from a reliable source. Reliable source or common sense? The idea of dropping the Xbox 360 Pro down to a price that’s only USD $20.00 away from their lower model seems a bit rediculous if the original rumor is considered true. DLC is growing, disk capacity is becoming a bigger issue and finding manufacturers to build older 20GB disks is going to get tougher as months tick by.

Activision Blizzard Official, Merger CompleteActivision Blizzard Official, Merger Complete

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?