Episode 240: Thanksgaming

It’s the episode just before Thanksgiving, and both Jordan and Paul have new jobs, as the latter settles into his new Los Angeles home. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the Atari 2600 game Kaboom!

The guys also discuss the following news items:

  • EA targeted for class action suit over Battlefield 3 PS3 bait and switch
  • Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M in 5 days
  • Square-Enix officially opens Montreal studio
  • Blockbuster has “ramped up the rental” of games, getting an “awful lot of support”
  • Rockstar eager to return to Bully IP

The question of the week: “How do you buy games most often these days: retail, online retailer, or digital distributor?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 240: Thanksgaming”

  1. … what’s with the disclaimer?

    @BF1943 bait and switch
    Well, it is a bait and switch move alright, regardless of the EULA. There is no contract that can have clauses that justify wrongdoing. Those clauses would be deemed illegal.

    Jonah, EA would have to pay the 15 USD AND the costs for all legal actions. It’s not just 15 USD.

    @Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M
    You know what’s weird? One host of another podcast (yeah, I do listen around :P) called it a glorified MP map pack. The person was not pleased with the 6 hours short SP campaign, and the fact that the engine was not a leap forward as BF3 is.
    Still, it sold 3/4 billion dollars.

    Jonah, I played the first MW. It was new, and nice. My brother played MW2. To me, it felt the same like MW, and I lost interest. MW3 to me is a “meh …”.

    @Square-Enix officially opens Montreal studio
    (tongue in cheek): I think the US administration will notice the revenue from games (see MW3) and decide to increase taxes on game developers.

    @QOTW:
    My last purchases were done via Steam. So, despite the fact that I like having the disk, it’s digital distribution for me.

  2. Sorry about replying with ‘No DRM’ last week, because honestly I’ve hated every type of DRM that I’ve encountered. I don’t know if it counts as a type of DRM, but a few days ago I received Skyward Sword in the mail and it had a mandatory update for the Wii before I could play it (It warned that it would brick my Wii if it was modded). Not only was it very short, but it also updated my Wii to the latest version without having to connect it to the Internet. I think I could tolerate this kind of DRM, it doesn’t require you to do anything and most importantly it doesn’t get in the way.

    @EA targeted for class action suit over Battlefield 3 PS3 bait and switch: That’s just wrong. This shouldn’t ever have happened and I would be angry if this ever happened to me. Pre-order bonuses are almost void in value, and now we have to be careful about stuff like this?

    @Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M in 5 days: I both love and hate these figures. I love them because it shows the entertainment business that gaming is a big deal and I hate them because it shows that you can earn lots of money just by adding a few things to a game and releasing it year after year. I think we need more innovations in video games (and not just in the indie market).

    @QOTW: As I have previously stated, I buy all my games as physical copies over the Internet. Firstly, it is the cheapest option for me (I can get almost half the price of Steam on release day), and secondly because I love having the boxes, even just to have them there so I can look at them.

  3. Well, today EA made it a happy ending by giving away Battlefield 1943 after all.

    As for the disclaimer, Paul now works for Disney Interactive, so he has to make that disclaimer.

  4. Hey fellas,hows it hanging?
    @MW3..yes that game is very much overhyped fluff,I cant see any qualities warranting this to be called any more a sequel to modern warfare 2 then “united offensive” was a sequel to the original “call of duty”
    I got the game for free,have played it some online,but thinks its kind of sad that Activsion actually gets rewarded for pursuing this sloppy business model.

    @EA/BF 1943 : well this got a happy ending of the time of writing so yay..I guess(still pretty lame that EA puts “no sue-sies” in the “nobody reads this anyway” agreement.

    @QTOTW Most of my games on PC I buy on steam,same as I prefer to download games on XBL as well,im lazy when im gaming so I dont want to be changing discs or even handling them constantly..UNLESS theres an added bonus for doing just that..e.g:pauls gold remote..(im so getting the version with that thing nowxD)

    PS so Paul is working for Disney now?..can you get Donald Ducks autograph for me?
    or do the mickey mouse voice and say “HAHHA Im the mascot of a big evil corporation!”:P

    Until next time guys,i am listening to every show,just haven’t had the time to comment as im in the middle of moving myself..

  5. @Paul working for Disney, I want to know why they decided to ditch Split / Second, and when will we have another Duck Tales game, since that has to be the best franchise, with Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers a close 2nd. (Flashback on the NES game please???)

    @Jordan’s awful Monty Python attempt – as a Brit, all I can say is “never again, please”.

    @QotW – The Uncharted 3 game I bought last week (from a store), which I subsequently resold and picked of Arkham City (from a store) are probably the last games I intend to actually purchase. I signed up for the LoveFilm service in UK, for which I pay £14.99, and get unlimited streaming to pc and PS3, as well as unlimited rentals of games and movies, including Blu-Ray, with 3 discs being sent to me at any one time. This allows me to have 1, or sometimes 2, main games to work on, with a 3rd disc being shipped back every couple of days. Since signing up, I have completed well over £100 worth of games, not to mention the films I also caught up on.
    If I do like any rental enough that I never want to send it back, I can keep it indefinitely until i see the price fall on ebay/store to a satisfactory price.

    @Zelda gold Wiimote – I bought my Wii with Sports and Sports Resort bundled, so had a motion plus from day 1 (albeit the plug rather than integrated). I considered buying the new Zelda for the gold Wiimote, but found I was asking myself, when has my Wii EVER had more than just me playing it, so why would I need a 2nd controller? I’m still tempted, because it’s shiny, but I managed to pass the opportunity of the Tri-Force logo GameBoy Advance SP, so I imagine this will fade to a distant memory soon enough.

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Gaming Podcast 188: How Old Am I?Gaming Podcast 188: How Old Am I?

This week we almost forgot about the episode due to Labor Day! We thought we had a day off, but alas, no! Here is the news of the week, community comments and a complete gaming history and flashback. Today’s industry news included:

This week we’re starting our first round of questions for episode 200, a trivia quiz for Derrick and Don. Please send your trivia questions to Jennifer (e-mail in show).

Castle Crashers: Ye Old School Gaming!Castle Crashers: Ye Old School Gaming!

In a world of 3D worlds, dynamic lighting and intense shadows we see far too few old school retro style platformer titles. With the advent of Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare and the PlayStation Network we’re seeing a few new indy developers getting into the game.

Castle Crashers, developed by The Behemoth, is an upcoming side scroller of cutely neat beat ’em up action on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). The game will be 1,200 Microsoft Points (USD $15) and will launch August 27th, very soon. This side scroller allows for 4-player action, local or over the Xbox Live system with your friends and there is another mode for battling each other known as Arena.

This is like an artistically rendered version of Golden Axe with Knights! There are many different knights, each with their own powers of attack, Blue Knights can attack with Ice while the Orange Knight attacks with Fire, the Ninja Knight fires shurikens and a host of other unique Knights do battle with their own methods of madness.

If you checkout The Behemoth‘s Castle Crasher Website you’ll see a host of images and their recent trailer showing off the action. It’s safe to say, this is going to be a fast paced slightly silly slightly retro beat ’em up game paying homage to Golden Axe, Double Dragon and TMNT (original arcade one at least) with the graphic style of Alien Hominid HD, their last title.

Stay tuned, we’ll be announcing a contest to win a copy of Castle Crashers in the very near future!

Episode 333: Boss BattlesEpisode 333: Boss Battles

Paul returns to the Gaming Podcast, having doing the major work on the Facebook game he’d been helping develop, Team USA Pinsanity. The trio argue over boss battles, and this week’s Gaming Flashback is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Jordan also finally has a great Vita game to fawn over, Tearaway.

  • Take-Two files ‘Bully Bullsworth Academy’ trademark in Europe
  • Twitch cracks down on PS4 Playroom inappropriate content
  • Blizzard dev apologizes for remarks on sexualized designs
  • Sony to make $250M entertainment cuts, “nothing too sacred”

The Question of the Week: “What is your opinion on boss battles?”