Episode 250: Do the Time Warp Again

It’s the fabulous 250th Episode milestone, and this particular podcast features a major surprise for longtime listeners. Not only is this one of the funniest podcasts in a long while, but there’s plenty of show to go around, too. First, the Gaming Flashback checks out the classic shooter No One Lives Forever, while the Gaming History examines the infamous Gizmondo handheld gaming console.

As for the news:

  • Hirai: Sony could be facing “serious trouble
  • Take Two CEO states “strong become stronger” with next-gen transitions
  • Developer Starbreeze fears Syndicate may be “too hard
  • Oklahoma state rep wants 1% violent videogame tax
  • Ubisoft cuts off legit players With DRM server migration

There’s no Question of the Week, but we’re definitely sure there will be plenty of comments for the podcast hosts.

0 thoughts on “Episode 250: Do the Time Warp Again”

  1. 🙂 Now that is a nice surprise! Glad to hear the old crew again.
    @NOLF:
    NOLF was a pretty cool game. The developers also released modding tools and a part of the source code as an SDK, and that created quite a community around it.
    The game was geared around comedy; too bad they don’t make any games like that.
    Don, it’s LithTech, not LeechTech.

    @ Sony could be facing “serious trouble“:
    Sony IS in serious trouble. PS3 never selling too well, then getting its root key exposed, then PSN getting hacked, then Vita tanks, then they change the EULA to have users dismiss their rights to class action lawsuits … man! 2011 was not the year for Sony.

    @Take Two CEO states “strong become stronger” with next-gen transitions:
    What’s a bit weird (and worrisome) is that the company is in a good shape because of its franchises. Really? No new games, just rehashes of the same?

    @Developer Starbreeze fears Syndicate may be “too hard“:
    Well, the difficulty can ramp up, as long as it ramps up instead of being a vertical wall of a learning curve.

    Ninja Gaiden was ok-ish. Contra was also ok-ish. Granted, at the time I was playing those, I had all the time in the world to try again after a failure.
    Now, emulators can create saves, so …

    @1% violent videogame tax:
    Good luck with that. 90% of the games are violent.

    @Ubisoft cuts off legit players With DRM server migration:
    Something tells me that the backlash they will get for this will not change their mind about this particular DRM system.
    The article has said it all: so far, DRM only hampered legit customers.

  2. That was a really nice surprise! I had never listened to a podcast made by them, but I really enjoyed it. Seeing as this was only published on a Sunday, is there still going to be an episode on Thursday?

    @Developer Starbreeze fears Syndicate may be “too hard“: I agree. The least they can do is TRY to make an easy mode, or maybe they could implement a quick-save feature which is the only thing that keeps me playing hard games.

    @Ubisoft cuts off legit players With DRM server migration: I have no idea why they are still trying with DRM. Can’t they try to find some other system, it’s already evident that DRM drives customers away.

  3. When I heard Don’s voice before the intro music I smiled. Then Jennifer did the intro. Hard to believe that it was almost a year ago when the handover happened and the Episode 200 quiz happened.

    I don’t get too much time to post up a comment normally, but I wanted to say thanks to the old crew for gracing my ears once again. As one of the first podcasts I subscribed to, the “married couple and their pal” were part of my weekly routine. I hope they get a moment to see the comments from the old listeners who loved them.

    Not to say that the new crew are bad (except Paul – Hate mail!), but I haven’t found things flowing quite so well as you clearly can’t record in the same room like Derrick and Jennifer.

    So from someone who has listened to all 250 episodes, thanks.

  4. hahaa. I was right I guessed it right thanks jonah for bringing them back for this episode but I sure do hope they could stay permanently I’m not saying that the new guys suck ,just sayin I miss the old days. Do I get an award for guessing the special happening right? Jk

    @sony could be facing big trouble
    there’s no doubt that sony is indeed facing a big problem coz the ps3 the vita the issues and almost everything they have done last year was a failure….uhhmm maybe they should consider quitting and make tv’s instead

    @ ubisoft drm server migration
    This is the main reason I bought a cracked copy of assasins creed revelations.hahaaa advantages

    Wish the old guys could really come back and join the new guys

  5. It was great to hear Derrick, Jen, and Don’s voices again. This was a really, really pleasant surprise.
    Hope all of you and your families are doing well.

  6. Thanks folks, it took a lot of effort and scheduling to find a date that all three of us could pull off-crazy lives lately.

    Too bad it’s so tough to build a career/job out of podcasting otherwise doing these things all day (Leo Laporte style) would be nothing but a gift. Unfortunately, real life and other opportunities struggle to take up time.

    I’m overjoyed that many of the original listeners keep going far after the core group of the show has moved on. Jennifer and I created the podcast roughly five years ago and to know there is still a team pushing on with it is pretty crazy.

    Perhaps that’s what happens when people do it with a passion over a profit. Granted, profit is always nice too 😉

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Sony Home Arrives This YearSony Home Arrives This Year

From the horses mouth, Home producer Martijn Van der Meulen “100% guarantees” PlayStation gamers will have the infamous Sony Home before the end of this year. He didn’t, however, mention what defines Sony Home as a finished product. Perhaps just the shell of a social gaming network frame or a fully fleshed out product.

Most social network sites are constantly “works in progress” so we’re guessing Sony Home won’t be finished but it will be available or “shipped” if one could call it so. The trick comes down to the punch-list of features which nobody has seen; all we’ve got to go on was the 2007 GDC announcement of Home and all of its “rich features.”

The product has been delayed a few times now, chances are good the punch-list of features will be smaller than initially announced. It will no doubt be a work in progress for years to come… if anyone cares to use it.

Episode 226: Line SteppingEpisode 226: Line Stepping

This week’s episode is light on news but heavy on features, as the Gaming Flashback checks in on the coin-op arcade classic I, Robot, while the Gaming History takes a look at the career of Danielle Bunten Berry.

As for the news, the gang comments on the following items:

This week’s Question of the Week: What board games, if any, do you love to play? Let us know!

Gaming Flashback: Mega ManGaming Flashback: Mega Man

Mega Man, a series franchise was born in the month of December, a series we rarely hear about today but one that inspired many great games in the side scrolling genre. Mega Man was foundation brick in the early Nintendo consoles and a bread winner for Capcom, he was a mascot to represent a genre typically dominated by Mario.

The name Mega Man, in the 1980’s was synonymous with the word awesome. It was also synonymous with the word difficult.

A character that had so much potential you can now find him in mobile phone gaming and the virtual console in Europe.

“In the year 200X, master robot designer Dr. Thomas Light, and his assistant, Dr. Wily, worked on a project to create human-like robots with advanced intelligence.” (wikipedia) Each robot was designed to perform a specific task, Cut Man was designed to cut down trees, Guts Man is designed to pickup heavy things, Ice man for arctic exploration, etc. His assistant grew envious of Dr Light so he reprogrammed the robots to do his bidding, which was nothing but evil. Your job is to undo this evil.

(more…)