Episode 583: #MeToo in Videogames

The latest sexual harassment scandal rocks, and things are not steady with the developer. Bad puns aside, the industry continues to have to grow up from dude-bro heaven to actual places of business.

All that, as well as the following news items:

  • Batman: Arkham studio accused of failing to prevent sexual harassment
  • Spelunky 2 is now on Steam with an updated release window
  • Nintendo’s next Switch indie presentation tomorrow
  • 7.5 million players claimed a free copy of Total War Saga: Troy

Let us know what you think.

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Xbox 360 Silver Accounts, Free XBL Cross-Platform GamingXbox 360 Silver Accounts, Free XBL Cross-Platform Gaming

Microsoft has announced they’ll be giving Xbox Live silver accounts access to play some multi-player cross-platform games for free until the fall update. Recently, Microsoft announced free online play with Games for Windows titles, effectively giving PC gamers “gold accounts” to play online.

Most people agree the move to give gold subscriptions to PC gamers was done because PC gamers don’t care to play Games for Windows games online if they have to pay for it. The culture of PC gaming is much different than console gaming on XBL, gamers expect the online experience at no cost; they’re already paying an ISP for network access, paying for a match-making system with a yearly subscription is not desired.

Console gamers don’t have a choice, buying the 360 experience arrives with simple to play games (no drivers, no installs) but limited online choices: pay or go away. Now, silver members will get a little taste of network play, along side PC gamers in the cross-platform Games for Windows titles.

“Supported cross-platform titles include Universe at War, Shadowrun, and Lost Planet: Colonies Edition.” (gamespot)

We question the intention here… is this as a good faith move or are they wetting people’s appitite for XBL so they’ll want to upgrade to gold in the fall? Or, maybe there are some logistical reasons to doing this in the Xbox Live infrastructure to prepare for upgrades where making it free solves a few of their internal upgrade paths and, as a side effect, gives gamers some games to play.

Of course, we’ve seen few people playing Shadowrun or Lost Planet lately. Maybe this will re-popularize a few older titles as well.

Gaming Podcast: Monster MashGaming Podcast: Monster Mash

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Episode 443: Nintendo Pulls a SwitchEpisode 443: Nintendo Pulls a Switch

So, this episode covers that fact that Nintendo is about to announce their next device, which they did earlier today: the Nintendo NX is now called the Nintendo Switch. The official Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer was also unveiled today too, and the multiplayer aspect is discussed. Jonah advises TJ and Scott to try The Stanley Parable as well.

This week’s news includes:

  • Dishonored dev’s The Crossing, put on hold in 2009, gets a new trademark filing
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 announced for Xbox One and PS4, but not PC
  • Voice actors threaten strike against EA, Activision, and nine other companies
  • Grand Theft Auto 5‘s exploding Note 7 mod video yanked from YouTube by Samsung

All this and two Questions of the Week!