This week is the battiest episode Gaming Podcast has ever done, and it’s not just because the crew argue over the first news item more emotionally than usual, but because it’s full of Batman. Lots of Batman. Plenty of Batman. In addition, the winners of the Spec Ops: The Line contest were also picked.
The news items this week include:
- Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”
- No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network
- Next Rocksteady Batman game will feature Silver Age Bats
- Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick
All that and the question of the week, “Which Batman would you most like to see a game made from?”
Reportedly we’re going to see smaller 45 nanometer cell processors in 2009 which leads to similar cost savings as we saw in the Xbox 360 hardware. Cost savings appear on the manufacturing side, of course, along with less power consumed by the processor leading to less heat generated by the console.
Ubisoft was asked by 
Gamers around the world have noticed a large trend in the video game industry in the last 15 years, massive growth with massive projects and unbelievable costs, goals and sales. We’ve seen the impossible become achievable in epic projects like World of Warcraft and huge sales figures from Halo 3 but we’ve also seen game titles fall down in a burning wreck.
Funny enough I actually started by looking for podcasts in Google. Yes I was overwhelmed by the number of podcasts I had no idea. Then I started narrowing my results and typed podcasts about games. Yes you were the first one that popped up.
@ question of the week- this question made me laugh because I just watched six batman movies. I was watching my nephew who is obsessed with barman. I also watched the brave and the bold. I think I would have to say Christopher Nolan batman. The catch is he would have to have a big say in the game. I think his view on Gotham City and batman is phenomenal.
Did I hear Jordan’s wife in the background?
@Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”
… what? So they left for the web and found it a greener pasture than a console? As for profit margins, dunno. Yes, production costs are smaller for a browser. But the competition is …
Question: how many big names (Activision, id and so on) dropped the console totally in the favor of a web browser plug in?
@No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network
They have to recoup the costs from some other place. What will that be?
@Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick
Erm … movies made after games don’t have a great track record …
The main issues with movies made after games is that they deceive the gamer. They have expectations set up by the game and the movie somehow doesn’t deliver.
Both game fans and movie makers seem to forget one aspect that makes the game good and (because of it lacking) makes movies … not so good: interactivity.
@Batman game:
Erm, I don’t like super hero games that much (my way of saying I wouldn’t play one … well, except the NES games).
Dunno. I’d go for Christopher Nolan, the atmosphere in Dark Knight was good – less super hero-y stuff, more realism.
Keep the bloopers coming 🙂
@Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”: You already covered every argument on this subject so I’ll just say this: I think that Sony and Microsoft are making a mistake by letting Nintendo get a year or more head-start in next-gen consoles.
No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network: Completely agree with the opinion that they had no other choice in this matter.
Next Rocksteady Batman game will feature Silver Age Bats: I’m hoping they can pull this off after the amazing Arkham series, it can be a nice change of pace.
Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick: Have zero expectations for this, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
@QOTW: I already have enough of my Batman fix (cartoons, movies and video games), so I don’t really care what version they use at this point.
Hey!
@ass ass in Creed movie
I hope this movie is better than other movies based on games… Mario comes to mind right away 🙁
@QOTW meh.. Not my kind of comic… But ill go with adam west batman, he was funny in a kinda sad way
Thanks for the code!! (but i still have not got it) :p
@Square Enix and lifespans
That’s a difficult one to answer. For money consious gamers this generation was the best. However, the gaming industry is slowing down. Most of the upcomming titles are sequals or reboots. A new generation might bring back some originality. Regarding iOS and WEB game turncoats, you covered an item a few weeks back where Epic games stated that their iOS game brought more profits than Gears of War. But I don’t think that big names like, Activision or EA, will go purely iOS/WEB. The console market is highly monopolistic. It’s difficult and costly to make a console game. It’s much cheaper and easier to programm for an iPad.
@WiiU and free network
The 3DS has a free network. But you cannot benefit from it if there are NO GAMES THAT USE IT. Satoru Iwata released a statement at some point, that they will not concentrate on on-line, like Xbox 360. Which means that WiiU users will be stuck with crap network, like the Wii (2 minutes to get to the Wii Shop screen).
@Batmans QOTW
I am not sad enough to know what guy made what Batman. WIKIPEDIA!!! I CHOOSE YOU!!!
Tim Burton’s Batman could be fun, if they would bring back the actors that played villans (Danny Devito, Arnie, Jim Carrey). The recent comix emo Batman would make for a nice 18 rated game. But I think the animated series would be the best choice. It was a very good representation of Batman.
PS: they had Batman: Brave and the Bold game on Wii and DS. Might want to check it out.
@Arthur V – console lifespan
I’m afraid it’ll be just the opposite: new hardware? No cool new software available yet? Quickly, do a high definition version of Mario and sell it as Mario U! Or a high definition of Halo and call it Halo-rango!
“It’s difficult and costly to make a console game. It’s much cheaper and easier to programm for an iPad.”
Not sure about that in term of immediate costs. XNA is free, there’s a free version of Visual Studio.
If I’m not mistaking, all compilers for Apple are not free, and there’s a developer fee you have to pay.
The Terry McGinnis Batman from Batman Beyond, is awesome and it’s a from a Batman age that haven’t been explored much so developers would have great creative freedom and few restrictions.