This week is a little special as Jonah, Jordan and Paul discuss some of the things that were common in the golden age of 1990’s consoles that are no longer around.
In addition, the news includes:
The Question of the Week: “What gaming activities do you no longer do?”
[This episode has been re-uploaded due to technical issues]
This week’s episode deals with the fact it was published on April Fool’s Fool’s Day, and discussion of the games that have been floating the hosts’ boats. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the magnum opus of Telltale Games: The Walking Dead. The guys also discuss the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4 and whether anyone cares about it.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
The new episode was recorded last Wednesday but only posted now due to server issues. In this edition, Jonah, T.J., and Scott all geek out about Civilization VI. They also weigh in fully about the newly revealed Nintendo Switch, and speculate on whether it’s going to be a purchase. (Short answer: depends on how much it costs.)
This week’s news items include:
This week’s Question of the Week: “Are you ready for VR?”
It’s amazing to think we’re in our third year of “next generation” console bliss. Three years have passed since the first Xbox 360 shipped, for good or bad, and it’s time to start thinking about the future.
Or is it?
Bobbie Bach, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices president, seems to believe this generation of consoles will expand out further than the typical four-year release cycle. Perhaps because the console developers have invested so much money in defeating each other in the market and making their console “number one” in the eyes of their investors.
Bach does not believe we’re cresting on the current generation, that is for certain, and we’ve yet to hear any hype over a new next-generation console from Microsoft. They were the first to market so, theoretically, they should be the first in the next-generation as well, right?
Their move to be number one was really a strategic attack which has paid out well, leading them above the past domination of Sony and Nintendo before it. However, they are holding strong with the Xbox 360 and there might be cause to sit tight and let this generation playout before bringing in another piece of hardware.
Bach stated that he believes consoles today are competing at different levels than ten years ago. There isn’t one clear winner, there isn’t one dominating console. There will be victors in different areas of the industry; casual consoles, top game sellers, best graphics and others. It’s not about sheer “units sold” it’s more about being profitable and building a community around your hardware, see Xbox Live as a great example.
Next generation will be full of fantastic new features, ways to connect and crazy hardware specifications, no doubt, but… for many of us, it will take years before we forget the pain and suffering we paid shipping our dead Xbox 360’s back to Microsoft for repairs. Would you be willing to buy into their next generation as their first customer?
(Thanks, 1up)
Hey guys,
A short comment on Naughty Dog. While it is true that people often leave studios after the game is completed this is not the case with NG. The game is far from done, with one of the main villains also leaving and being recast. The game seems to be in trouble and will probably come out later than previously expected. Still, I trust Naughty Dog and believe they will be able to put out a quality product.
Onto the ‘gaming nostalgia’ theme. There are many things I used to do as a younger gamer, playing mostly PC games. Mostly, I no longer buy gaming magazines. I used to be a long-time subscriber of one such magazine in Poland but then I lost interest in PC gaming and when I came back to gaming with PS3, I realized I can get all the info online and/or listening to podcasts. I don’t mind reading as a whole but as far as gaming goes I’d rather read books such as ‘The Maters of Doom’, which I just finished, than read gaming magazines.
Also, I very rarely play couch multiplayer games. Mostly because those modes are rare in games nowadays but also because when we meet up with friends, we usually play board games that can accommodate more people and which our wives can enjoy too. However, Move-based games such as Sports Champions or Just Dance, get played occasionally.
I really enjoyed the episode with all the old-school gaming talk and I find it more interesting than reading pre-prepared gaming history segments. This episode had much more discussion and excitement than previously, but maybe that’s just me. Also, there was something different about Paul’s voice. He sounded clearer and less grainy so I hope that’s permanent 😉
Hi guys great show I loved the Top Ten fads article no longer in use.
@Gamestop: that just seems sad, I guess they were going for a joke but it would have been nice to show their actual female execs the ones that Jordan had mentioned.
@Naughty Dog loosing people: That does concern me if people are leaving the franchise which has done pretty well so far. I wonder if the quality of Uncharted will suffer because of this. I have enjoyed all three games so far. If Uncharted 4 is going to be PS4 only I may have to break down and get it. I have enjoyed this series so much, any one of the games would have made a better Indy (this time I really do mean Indiana Jones) movie.
@Top Ten Fads:
1) I don’t remember the blockbuster exclusives and the store exclusives seem to be more recent like when you pre-oder a game from Target versus Best Buy and get a different exclusive depending on where you bought it.
2) I was an abuser and sucker for the hint line before game guides and the internet. I think Sierra and Nintendo, though I love them, was perhaps making some of their puzzles so obtuse you were forced to call their hint line or buy their magazine. I remember having a gotten a lot of game guides both from Sierra and Nintendo. This is one “fad” I am glad is gone thanks to the Internet.
3) Demo discs I remember well, it’s how I got Doom and Hexen. It was a nice way to try out games before buying at least.
4) I didn’t mind physical DRM I thought it was kind of fun. There was a Tabloid space magazine with Space Quest V and in it had a star chart for planets for you to go to. So long as you had those coordinates from the chart you could get to any planet you needed to. I think when the DRM was more seamless and less heavy handed like the enter code from page, paragraph, line and word 3, it was more fun and immersive. The SQV star chart felt like it fit with the tongue in cheek nature of the Space Quest series. You could imagine yourself as Roger using a tabloid magazine to chart his way through space.
5) The slips thing I understand though now these days I am buying my games digitally and less from stores.
6) Can’t say that I played any games from cereal boxes, mostly felt they wouldn’t be good games so why bother? Especially when I could be playing games I knew were good.
7) I don’t remember any pin pads for saving progress in Arcade games, that would have been nice to have had more often. Probably would have helped kids memory if they had to quickly remember a password for their next play session.
8) I do miss having those huge gaming magazines that would just seem full of gaming goodness. The Ads were nice since they were tailored for gaming desires as opposed to things that wouldn’t have appealed to us gamers.
9) I remember the cleaning kits and I’m like Jordan I kept my games in their sleeves when not in use also pins facing down so not to collect any dust on those metal pins. The rest of my room was a mess but my games were clean dammit! I do admit to blowing on them a few times but not a lot. There is an article online showing the affects of a (don’t laugh) daily blowing on the cartridge versus one that just used a cleaning kit.
10) I think a sweet one is the one with Robin Williams and his daughter and him explaining how and why he named her Zelda. I remember Sony trying very hard to make Crash Bandicoot a beloved mascot and failing miserably.
I also remember the game genie and it’s game breaking ways of cheating. I’m glad Jordan mentioned that.
QotW: I had to think about this but I suppose going to game rental store like Blockbuster or even going to a game store period. I do everything digitally now. No more worrying about scratched discs or losing a cartridge or any of those worries with physical media.