No Paul this week, no Gaming Flashback this week – just Jonah, Dan and Jordan discussing a ton of news items where Jonah expresses shock that Jordan had never heard of No One Lives Forever.
The items this week include:
- Wii U sells 1.2 games per console
- BioWare was planning spy action title in 2009
- Sony Santa Monica outline reasons for sticking with God of War franchise
- Hitman Facebook app removed for off-color joke
- Activision: Black Ops II grossed $1 billion in 15 Days
- Spike VGA 2012: The Phantom Pain announced, probably MGS5
This week’s Question of the Week: “What’s the most offensive thing you’ve seen in a videogame?”
Bad economic times mingled with company acquisition spells disaster for many game titles but the story ends well, we hope, for Ghostbusters. The game was slated for a Holloween release, last year, but was given the boot by 
Apple cutting into
@Wii U sells 1.2 games per console
Hmm, lemme see, what would that be … I say it is that the bundle was so very compelling. Yep. Trust me.
Not!
While we’d all like to make our choices based strictly on the experience we’d get from a product, price does matter.
@BioWare was planning spy action title in 2009
Oookay … so? I also wanted to buy an SUV in 2009, but that doesn’t mean I now own one.
I did hear and play NOLF around 2007, but mainly to see what the LithTech engine could do; back then I was into modding, and the game I was interested in used the same engine.
@Hitman Facebook app removed for off-color joke
The app is actually funny! I guess if they just re-worked the hit message things would have worked out differently.
@Activision: Black Ops II grossed $1 billion in 15 Days
This is ridiculous. This will definitely shift the focus from movies to games, for all major entertainment companies. I mean come on, 1 billion bucks!
Regarding SP versus MP, I do play the campaigns. I guess it’s a scar of my internet-less past :P. Thing is, even now I prefer a good SP story over a good MP.
@What’s the most offensive thing you’ve seen in a videogame?
Hmm … dunno. I mean since it’s a video game, I don’t really think of them as offensive.
I guess me. I’m the most offensive thing I saw in STALKER Clear Sky. The god damned guide kept asking me “What’s with the stalling?” and “Is this a starring contest?” while I was minding my own business investigating my inventory . So I pulled out the handgun and put a bullet in his head.
@Nintendo Weakness
Since I missed out last podcast, I never read Nintendo Power. I used to read the Official Nintendo Magazine which was aimed at the UK gaming market. Since we only get like a 1/4 of Nintendo games that come out in US, there was no point in reading an import mag.
@Wii U tanking harder than Titanic
I read the Famitsu report. 7th best launch in Japan. Just to tell you how bad it is, PS Vita was 6th. In UK every store bundled the Wii U with a whole bunch of games. You can’t buy a premium unit for £300. You have to buy it for £400+ with a boatload of games you probably don’t want. Because there is only one game worth of anyones attention. The Mario game which is a remake of a remake of a remake of a remake.
@Hitman
This is a blatant publicity stunt. No way can I believe that serious men sitting around a table would decide that this app was a good idea.
@Record breaking
“And now in other news of 2015, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 grossed $3 billion dollars from pre-order deposits alone.” I don’t expect this record breaking to persist. Call of Duty is running out of steam. At least that’s what it feels like.
@QOTW
Since I am Russian I get a little offended when shooting games portray us as low-intelligent over-violent trigger happy brutes. Then again, it’s less of an issue these days since the US started an open season on Arabs.
One thing I do remember was when I was playing House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii. During the first level cutscene you are introduced to the main bad guy talking to a paralysed kid in a wheelchair. The bad guy smacks him on the face with his cane and calls him a cabbage. I know that this game was specifically built to offend the soft audience of the Wii. But there are some jokes that are just in poor taste.