Episode 300: The Third Century

The landmark 300th episode is here, and while we only got one special guest, Dan Quick, it’s still a jam-packed episode. In this episode, Jordan continues to pine for Half-Life 3, male full frontal nudity gets discussed, and Paul claims he invented the term “Whosphere”. This weeks’ Gaming Flashback is Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.

The news items include:

  • The Last of Us features Naughty Dog’s “longest ever” campaign
  • Sony confirms 4K movie service for PS4
  • BioShock Infinite‘s ending may cause controversy
  • Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

There’s a ton of Listener Feedback as well as the Question of the Week, “What was your favorite moment in the TD Gaming Podcast over the years?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 300: The Third Century”

  1. @The Last of Us features Naughty Dog’s “longest ever” campaign
    … me likes. I quite like long SPs, so, bring it 🙂
    The entire premise of the game sounds really nice, so this turns out to be one of the games I’m looking for.

    @Sony confirms 4K movie service for PS4
    … eh? I guess they’re trying to create a market for their TVs? Just doesn’t make sense. Somebody else should create content and be able to distribute it in order to drive up demand. If you do both then you’re risking too much.

    As for eye resolution, it’s about 60 arc seconds. Think of a 3DS held at 10 – 12 inch away from the eyes.

    @Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
    … but Assassin’s Creed III is still quite recent. This is slowly becoming a Call of Duty thing. Not much of a fan.

    @What was your favorite moment in the TD Gaming Podcast over the years?
    I honestly can’t tell. Just too many to pick from.

  2. @The Last of Us features Naughty Dog’s “longest ever” campaign: Again, as a PS3 fanboy and a huge Uncharted fan I can’t be more excited about The Last of Us. Already pre-ordered it.

    I don’t believe it’s going to be a bad game so the more the better. However, I hope it’s more difficult than Uncharted 3 and is more tactical or strategic rather than an interactive movie. Sure, it’s not going to be open world but add some more decisions to it!

    BTW, the fact that the infected are not zombies has been long known and is not a spoiler in any way unless you’re employing Paul’s blackout strategy while waiting for game releases 😉

    @Sony confirms 4K movie service for PS4
    Don’t care, don’t want. I’m usually satisfied with DVD-quality movies, I very rarely use the Blu-ray drive in my PS3. The movies should be more about other qualities than presentation. I hated Avatar which was nothing else than Pocahontas in space and all the fancy 3D CGI effects couldn’t save the movie for me. This is Sony being Sony and messing things up for no purpose whatsoever.

    @BioShock Infinite‘s ending may cause controversy:

    Insert disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author of this comment in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of the podcast’s staff 😉

    This is great news! As an ardent atheist I’m always looking forward to breaking boundaries as far as talking about religion and showing it in media goes. In my opinion a game where Jesus and the Christian God are presented is nothing different than Kratos and Zeus in God of War. If you want to quit your job because of a controversial portrayal of a fictional character it’s your choice.

    @What was your favorite moment in the TD Gaming Podcast over the years?

    I only started listening some 30 episodes ago but I always enjoy Paul’s one-liner ‘don’t give a f*cks’ 😉 No hate mail for you, Paul, sorry…

  3. @Naughty Dog

    I agree. Every time they say they created amazing AI it always falls short. I still remember AI in FEAR using empty see-through shelves as cover. I just wish they would make a good Crash Bandicoot game. I miss them so…

    @Sony better-than-life videos

    I thought Sony learned their lesson with 3D: do not support technology unless it’s widely accepted by the consumer. If you care about resolution so much then you are fickle. You can have a 4k Star Wars Episode 1 but it will still be shit. It’s all about the content.

    @Bioshook
    I agree with Paul. Sounds a lot like a publicity stunt. Reminds me of Hitman. Never cared about controversy. Incest in Metal Gear Solid 2. Ghetto in GTA San Andreas. As long as they implement it appropriately and not just to shock some weak minded fools so that they make some racket i.e. free publicity.

    @Assasins Greed

    Milk is going sour. Maybe the franchise is really turning into the bull. Last one I played was AC2. I like the franchise but I prefer to leave it for later. To much of the same game can ruin franchise.

    @QOTW

    I enjoy each and every episode. And I plan on enjoying it for a long time to come…

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At E3 Reggie Fils-Aime let the world know he wasn’t satisfied with the sales progress of the Wii or DS in 2007 and hopes Nintendo can do better this year. Perhaps Nintendo is playing the humble card? No doubt they bragged about their 10 million sales of the Wii and 20 million sales of the DS but quickly followed it by saying they’re not satisfied.

Or, is this a threat?

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Perhaps Microsoft and Sony are right; maybe every Wii owner that wanted a PlayStation 3 and/or an Xbox 360 purchased their console too. There may be some truth to that as hardcore gamers may purchase a Wii for many reasons:

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Fils-Aime isn’t impressed with their sales figures, perhaps because he expected a higher degree of Wii sales by now, but the fact that people cannot purchase them two years into production has hurt sales figures. Although 10 million units sold is an impressive figure, knowing you had such higher potential if the product was actually on the shelves has to hurt a bit of your pride.

The DS sales were impressive considering the product has been in the market for awhile and is easier to find (minus the holiday rush). We’re not sure why he’s not satisfied with the figures, but inspiring a higher degree of DS sales will require some work. Perhaps this is why they’ve gone with the GTA Chinatown approach; using the GTA name to grow their DS sales figures?

It will be interesting to see how Wii does through the next few quarters and if sales slow down now that we’re a few years into the product. What was the last home console Nintendo owned to get this high of a demand?

Perhaps none.

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David Reeves, Sony Europe’s President said, “we simply have to suffer a little” when talking about the PS3, Europe and the competition. He was talking specifically about Sony’s loss of market share, mind-share and overall performance in the latest competitive console arena. While Sony’s president dismisses Nintendo as in a separate market, David Reeves said, “we’ve learned from Nintendo how to grow the market and move from hand-held device to device – they’ve done it brilliantly.”

Buster Douglas Takes Down Mike TysonWhat Sony may be dealing with is the fact that they’re not top dog in the latest battle for consoles. Europe has taken to the PlayStation 3 better than the United States and they’ve got plenty of fans in the region. There has been a recent upside to it all, some light at the end of the tunnel:

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Although it’s reported the PSP says are down 15% and PS2 software sales are down 51%, at least the PlayStation 3 is filling in the gap for some of those losses. At some point you’d expect the PlayStation 2 to decline, gamers are probably migrating over to the new hardware.

They’ve got some things to be proud of:

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Sony is playing the defensive, guarding themselves against the punches of the competition. Nintendo making headlines for sales, Microsoft coming out of nowhere to try to build market share, while Sony holds out for the tenth round to win it in the end? We’re not yet sure if it’s Ali vs. Foreman or if Microsoft is the next Buster Douglas.

(Thanks, Guardian)