Episode 309: Best Episode Ever?

[This episode is unedited, so be prepared for some naughty language.]

This week has some stunning news items, causing an overstuffed, long episode, so big even Jordan’s wife chimes in, and Jonah and Paul argue hotly over the last item. The Gaming Flashback for this episode is Super Star Wars.

This week’s huge news:

  • EA gets exclusive license to publish Star Wars games, powered by Frostbite 3 engine
  • Uplay causing problems with Steam version of Heroes VI expansion Shades of Darkness
  • The Sims 4 officially announced by Electronic Arts
  • Michael Biehn hints at Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon sequel
  • Doritos Crash Course 2 coming May 9, still free
  • Spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness hitting crowdfunding on May 6
  • Gearbox dismisses Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit as “beyond meritless”

Also some listener feedback, plus this week’s Question: “What was your Golden Era of videogaming?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 309: Best Episode Ever?”

  1. Had to re-write the message … lesson learned: don’t rush into rebooting your computer.
    I also noticed that I skipped an episode 🙁 …

    @EA gets exclusive license to publish Star Wars games, powered by Frostbite 3 engine
    Yay, quick profits, here we go! Sure, it’s easier to license an IP rather then keep a studio. There is however the issue of quality: would people like “Call of X-Wings”?
    Jonah, the name of the studio was Westwood. They did all C&C games up to and including Renegade. Not sure how many of the devs remained with EA though, after the studio was aquired.

    @The Sims 4 officially announced by Electronic Arts
    The time of CD key for EA has passed :P. This time they’ll be putting DRM first, but drop the MMO-like requirements. I expect an on-line DRM, but with much less bandwidth requirements. Think of Assasin’s Creed as opposed to Diablo III.

    Don’t you dare edit the “fucking seasons”!

    @Michael Biehn hints at Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon sequel
    Could be a lot of wishful thinking, if you ask me.

    @Spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness hitting crowdfunding on May 6
    Is there a success story that involves an old IP that the publishers forgot about and crowd funding? So far everything I heard of are just projects in development, so I’m asking: was something similar to this released?

    @Gearbox dismisses Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit as “beyond meritless”
    The lawsuit is meritless. Unless there’s a written document, signed by all parts involved, that the game will not contain human opponents, it won’t stick.
    Yes, what they did is bad. Yes, we don’t learn the lesson. We never do. Yes, we’ll most likely still pre-order games.

    @QOTW:
    Hard to name a particular generation. I liked the ’90s in Romania, with their NES clones and pirated cartridges. The whole experience was new, and there were so many games to play!
    I also liked the 2001-2005 period. It’s then when I turned to the PC.

Leave a Reply

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

Related Post

Episode 722: Off the RailsEpisode 722: Off the Rails

[This file was corrupted and re-uploaded.]

Podcast notes:

  • Sony backs down on demand that Helldivers 2 players log into a PSN account
  • Microsoft announces Xbox Games Showcase and mystery Direct for June 2024
  • EU rules iPadOS must comply with Digital Markets Act, opening door for Fortnite
  • Hades 2’s surprise early access release already has more stuff in it than the first game
  • Square Enix announces it’s tanked $140 million in losses due to “content abandonment”

Feel free to leave feedback.

Tales of Vesperia: Xbox 360 Outsells PS3 In JapanTales of Vesperia: Xbox 360 Outsells PS3 In Japan

Sony’s been talking about how they’ve overtaken the Xbox 360 here in the States, perhaps this is because Microsoft shifted their attention to pwning them in Japan? Xbox 360 sold 25,000 units to PlayStation 3‘s minor 9,673 units according to Edge Online, that’s 2.5 times more if you’re into that math thing.

Seriously though, Microsoft didn’t really shift any effort, they just got a Japanese style game called Tales of Vesperia from Namco Bandai. Go figure, when a Japanese focused game arrives for a console Japanese gamer will go out and buy it.

The big barrier to the 360 in Japan is the games and their contents. Microsoft is in tune with the needs and demands of the United States gamers, it usually involves FPS titles and excessive killing. Japanese gamers are not exactly huge FPS fans, we’ve seen the Asian community dominate in RTS style games (Starcraft is a great example) and they’ve always had interest in MMO’s, especially micro-transaction based games and we all know that’s the land of Final Fantasy. Is it so surprising the Xbox 360 moves off Japanese shelves when they have a game or two the gamers actually want to play?

This is only partly Microsoft’s fault, Microsoft doesn’t specialize in Japanese games anymore than Square Enix excels at western style games. The big difference? Square Enix doesn’t manufacturer its own console hardware. It is Microsoft’s console and they should have an interest in making games the Japanese people will like, thankfully Namco Bandai came through for them this time!

Episode 416: Blowing WindsEpisode 416: Blowing Winds

Unfortunately, we had to skip a week despite recording a good podcast thanks to technical difficulties – don’t worry, we’ll air it at some point in the near future. It was a good episode. This episode had its own issues, as Jonah was unable to record the podcast at home, so he was outside in the New York City night air podcasting with TJ and Scott.

This week’s news includes:

  • Microsoft cancels Fable Legends, closes Press Play Studios, considers shuttering Lionhead Studios UK
  • Report: SpinTires developer sabotaged his own game
  • 10 months later, MAME finishes its transition to open source
  • Valve announces The Lab, a compilation of free VR “experiments”

Let us know what you think.