Gaming Podcast 118: Jump The Shark

The gaming podcast of the week, the best gaming podcast on the planet! No, just kidding. This week we’re taking a look back at Starfox, we’re reading off some great community questions, covering history on Dave Arneson and hitting up some news:

  • podcast-200x200Will Wright Leaves Electronic Arts
  • Nintendo Wii Bringing Video Download
  • Nintendo Wii Manufacturing Costs down 45% since launch
  • RockStar connecting Flash games and the Nintendo DS
  • Dave Arneson Dies at Age 61
  • Electronic Arts Want Their Brass Knuckles Back

Thanks for the great responses this week, as always, we’re also asking a question of the week: Is anyone else angry that Wizards of the Coast came out of nowhere to buy TSR, Inc back in the day?

0 thoughts on “Gaming Podcast 118: Jump The Shark”

  1. I wasn’t pissed off when the sale was made. I was mildly disturbed when Wizards of the Coast said they’d be revamping and fixing the game – by allowing things like level 20 halfling mage-slash-thief-slash-paladin-slash-monk-slash-fighters.

    I became angry when 4.0 game out and they succeeded in turning it into a computer game version of D&D, and sucking the life out of the actual roleplaying. Computer RPGs are the way they are because they LACK the ability to have an intelligent GM. It’s the tail wagging the dog now.

    At least GURPS is still out there.

  2. 3.0 was my first experience, so I had no ill will toward WotC. It wasn’t until Hasbro took over that I got ticked. And yeah, 4.0 is utterly pointless for pen-and-paper purposes, in my opinion.

    Also, not to get needlessly nitpicky or anything, but I don’t think you could actually be a thief/paladin/monk, could you? Unless that was a 3.5 change. ‘:)

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Analyst Draws Connection To Netflix Growth and 360 GoldAnalyst Draws Connection To Netflix Growth and 360 Gold

netflixThe famous Michael Pachter, industry analyst has been drawing some strong connections between Xbox 360 gamers and the Netflix subscriber base since 360 launched their Netflix addition. Our family has seen the same thing, we signed up for Netflix a few days after it arrived on the Xbox 360 firmware launch.

Oddly enough, we’ve not used the Netflix addition to the Xbox 360 much after subscribing for Netflix. We’ve utilized the DVD shipment feature and we’re using the Tivo version of Netflix for the living room. Although we’ve found the Xbox 360 Netflix version is much more user friendly and fast.

“Pachter estimates that roughly one million Xbox Live Gold members are also Netflix subscribers, and that 200,000 or so of them signed up for Netflix after the debut of the New Xbox Experience in late November, 2008.” (joystiq)

Prachter believes 35% of all new Xbox 360 purchasers will sign up for an Xbox Live Gold account. He expects “as many as 1 million [XBL Gold members] join as Netflix members in the next year.” We’re fairly certain the Netflix and Microsoft Xbox 360 partnership was a well thought out plan to expand their domination in the industry.

Of course, as we’ve seen, Netflix didn’t just stop at Xbox 360, their Tivo solution is another great way to leverage your downloadable video content. Now, we just have to hope we don’t blow through the 250GB cap Comcast supposedly contains.

Small Games Make Big WavesSmall Games Make Big Waves

The game industry is doing “okay” in this bad economic time compared to other industries.  Primarily, Nintendo is rocking the house with their games, hand-held’s and consoles while mobile developers are showing some great successes in the industry. Many success stories in our industry are based on small titles, downloadable games of the more “casual” style while a few larger titles are experiencing slower than expected sales trends.

wiiwareWe’ve mentioned this in the past, but the tough economy gives many smaller developers great opportunities for success. While big publishers struggle to look good in the eyes of the investor, tiny developers can produce quality titles for minimal cash investment and time to market. Ten years ago, smaller developers tried to compete with the big boys making larger titles, cloning successful titles or simply asking investors to put it on the line for their game. Today, developers can create a small iphone app, a cute WiiWare title or exploit the XNA efforts of Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade and actually have a chance.

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Those smaller developers putting a huge passion into their titles actually have a chance in this new industry trend. Game makers, internationally, now have a chance to grasp a small piece of the industry and make their dreams come true. The core audience may see this as a trend of noisly low quality titles, but I believe the industry needs this change to grow a new generation of developers based on niche interests.

While many can wait for their next release of Madden the rest of us will continue to spend a little money to see what the future innovators are going to be bringing to the table.