Episode 345: Old in the Valley

This week’s Jonah discusses an article about ageism in Silicon Valley, while Paul complains about an achievement ruining a casual game he’d spent $200 on. This week’s Gaming Flashback is Dance Dance Revolution.

The news includes:

  • Facebook acquiring Oculus for $2 billion
  • Valve’s Portal coming as Tegra 4 Android App to Nvidia Shield
  • Xbox One may allow loaning of digital games
  • Nintendo, Sony won’t attend PAX East

All this and a little Listener Feedback, with the Question of the Week being “Do you subscribe to videogame magazines now?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 345: Old in the Valley”

  1. Hi guys great episode!

    I found Infamous to be a pretty easy game, if they make the third even more so just seems sad. Not a lot of games seem to be as difficult as the old 8-bit games. I do like the paper trail feature Jordan talked about and I know Rockstar has a similar thing though not quite as cool as unlocking more missions through using the website, you can still track your progress of various games on the site.
    Hearing Paul spending 200 on in game purchases on a FB game just makes me sad. I know it’s his choice on how to spend his money but a lot of FB games really seem to encourage you to spend real money to get fake in game money just to speed things up and make the game enjoyable. The Foxtrot comic Jonah brought up is a good example of why I don’t like those games. I feel like it’s lazy game making and undeserving of my money. I know they got to make money to pay their bills but I don’t like what they are selling. I guess though if there is a demand for these type of games who am I to judge? I’ll stop beating the dead horse now.
    @Occulus bought by FB: When I first heard the news I was like “Why?” I wasn’t the only one scratching my head at this. I really didn’t want to think of Virtual Farmville. I do like the idea though of remote classroom, though I know we already have video chat for that sort of thing. Is anyone going to really want to wear this thing on their head? It’s like a fancier virtual boy.

    QOTW: I subscribe to Gameinformer, which can be read online now. It does seem like it’s less and less necessary now though given how easy it is to hear about gaming news.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Episode 320: Like This Like ThatEpisode 320: Like This Like That

The posting of Monday’s podcast has been delayed a day, sorry about that. This week is fairly long, and the Gaming History gets into the venerable Sega Dreamcast, which still has some developers making new games for it.

Otherwise, this week’s news items include:

  • Assassin’s Creed series will have end, assures Ubisoft
  • EverQuest Next gameplay revealed, accepting beta registration
  • Blizzard confirms Project Titan overhaul, “unlikely to be subscription-based”
  • EA claims freedom of speech in NCAA lawsuit appeal, court rejects it
  • Region-based factions will be in The Crew

This week’s Question of the Week: “What makes you decide to preorder a game or console?”

Wii Speak – Speaker PhoneWii Speak – Speaker Phone

Nintendo’s press coverage is on the move, currently they’ve demonstrated Wii Speak which will allow voice chat on your Nintendo Wii console. Although the Xbox 360 has had voice chat since its day one release, Nintendo is bringing it in a new unique way: community chat.

Basically, the device which will go on top of the Wii sensor bar will allow everyone in the room to talk to everyone in the room on another Wii. Where you need a headset on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this will give the entire room a chance to chat along.

Having a speaker phone style behavior is neat, but what about when everyone is asleep and you want to play a network game with a buddy? Will the device pickup a whisper across the room? Perhaps a speaker attachment will be announced later, but for now… you’re going to be conference calling with everyone in the game room.

(Thanks, Kotaku)

Wii Punch-Out!Wii Punch-Out!

Nintendo has announced the continuation in a series that started in 1984 known as Punch-Out!! for the Wii. Once upon a time we all got to pop coins into Punch-Out!!, later we were able to power on our NES and play Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! or, if you’re younger, the version of Punch-Out!! with Mr. Dream (since Tyson’s contract expired with Nintendo and he wasn’t the champion anymore).

At Nintendo’s press conference today they announced Punch-Out, Another Code, Dynasty Warriors and Sins & Punishment 2. Although Dynasty Warriors sounds like it might simply rock on the Wii, Punch-Out really digs down into the history of Nintendo and brings back one of the older franchises.

Perhaps Nintendo is hoping Punch-Out will provide proof they’re serious about the franchise titles on the Wii console. Gamers have been skeptical considering they’re getting one (real) Mario and one Zelda game every few years. Many of us buy Nintendo for their popular mascots and to relive some of the nostalgia of being a kid. Punch-Out may definitely bring back some Nostalgia.

Hopefully, Punch-Out stays true to the original series and is designed to utilize the Wii controller better than Wii Sports Boxing.

(Thanks, Kotaku)