Depressingly, sexual harassment in a development studio is once again the lead news item this week, and from a studio most gamers would never think it could happen. That, and major seismic shifting in the power structure of the digital storefront landscape.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
Typically, we have “exclusive” fallout from the console war which forces the hand of the consumer to purchase all consoles to play all the games they love. Many hardcore gamers are into first person shooters like Halo and Gears of War but also like their Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy fixes. In years prior, you’d have to invest in Microsoft and Sony’s solutions to get your fix. Now things are changing.
With these third party developers playing neutral in the war on consoles, Microsoft and Sony are forced to rely on near “first-party” titles to keep their army strong. Metal Gear Solid is a Sony exclusive and Gears of War and Halo have been Microsoft’s hype babies for a year or so now. The problem? Many of these exclusive games are not divisions, subsidiaries or in any way under the wing of the console makers.
Nintendo holds exclusive rights to almost all their hard hitting titles. Mario, Link, Zelda, Samus Aran and all their mascot style characters are designed, developed and marketed under the name “Nintendo.” These characters are all part of Nintendo’s lineup of solid best selling titles including the Metroid, Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series and all their spin-offs. Nintendo has the power to re-implement their characters into games like Mario Party, Mario Kart, Links Crossbow, Metroid Prime, Metroid Pinball and a huge array of other first party titles.
Microsoft and Sony must continue to play nice with Konami, Bungie, and Epic Games to keep their exclusivity. What happens if one of these developers “betrays” their console and starts shipping multi-platform?
It’s time to use your meat, you gotta work at it! Yeah, this weeks gaming podcast talks a bit about moma’s meat on her Pooyan, this is your gaming flashback for the week! We’ve also got some news bulletins including:
This weeks question of the week, sorta off the cuff random: What’s your favorite old school game, and how long do you believe it took to make it? (and, do you really know how long–do the research and let us know!)
This week we’re learning a bit about Donkey Kong Junior as well as listening to Don convince Derrick that the second stage in Donkey Kong was in Donkey Kong Junior. We’re also looking back to Billy Mitchell, a Guinness Book World Record holder for video games. This week, news was a bit light but we managed to cover:
Xbox 360 Most Satisfying Console in Japan?We also tackle the incoming comments answering our question of the week about TSR and Wizards of the Coast. This week, we’re asking people if Don is wierd for replaying video games right after he beats them. Does anyone else do that?
