Episode 366: Hashtag GamerGate

One again, the episode gets a little political as it deals with the GamerGate controversy again. No Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but plenty of annoyed podcasters. As a side note, there will be no podcast for the next two weeks as Paul will be on a trip. However, there will be a new podcaster when the show starts up again.

This week’s news includes:

  • Sarkeesian cancels Utah State presentation following threats of shooting
  • Former GamerGate member explains his departure
  • Unreal, BioShock dev Digital Extremes sold to Chinese companies
  • Games driving “nearly all” Google Play’s revenue growth in US
  • Mobile spending driven by 35-44-year-olds

All this plus Listener Feedback.

0 thoughts on “Episode 366: Hashtag GamerGate”

  1. “If somebody was making death threats against the head of BMW or mortgage bankers, the world would be up in arms…because it has to do with women in games, it’s not a real issue.”

    I seriously don’t think it’s possible to be more full of shit. The death threats against Sarkeesian were published by every news outlet and the entire world was up in arms, but when hackers got hold of the president of Sony’s flight information and made far more legitimate threats against him, no one cared. The only reason people are even talking about this is because it’s about women in video games.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Episode 577: Slow News WeekEpisode 577: Slow News Week

There really wasn’t all that much going on this week in terms of hard news, but there was a bunch of mini-items that got discussed, as well as a Gaming Flashback of the terrifying game Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

What little news this week had included:

  • Microsoft shutting down Mixer streaming platform
  • Street Fighter 5 pros forfeit Capcom Pro Tour matches over lag

Let us know what you think.

Rock and a Hard Place: Sony’s Japanese DilemmaRock and a Hard Place: Sony’s Japanese Dilemma

What a dilemma it is, Sony’s PlayStation 3 isn’t as hot as the Nintendo Wii in Japan. Even the Xbox 360 has had some minor success stories in Japan while Sony sits back saying “wtf?”

President, SCE Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida is pointing the finger at the publishers saying, “What’s happening is that lack of support from the Japanese publishers – not necessarily from intentions but from development capabilities.” (kotaku) Why, though, would publishers push to produce games on the console that’s currently losing market share?

Sony’s position is very tough to deal with because they’re not market leader so publishers are looking for the biggest bang for their proverbial “buck” and that’s not the PS3 right now. You can produce an expensive game for an expensive console or a cheaper game for a cheaper console and make more money.

How, then, can Sony get out of this situation? They must find a way to promote an incentive for publishers to create Sony exclusives or, at least, a Sony “port” of a game to build up their library of must-have titles. Perhaps Sony’s punishment at the hands of Nintendo and Microsoft in the States has a bit to do with their global marketplace issues — they need to put a concerted effort into one of their regions and champion themselves in one realm before trying for all of them. Right now, they’re a watered down expensive console with very few exclusive titles.

Metal Gear Sold 4, Home and Little Big Planet are great reasons to own a PlayStation 3 if the price was a bit more reasonable. Looking at the future, we’ve got Resistance 2 and a few other titles that may make some waves in the industry, at least in the United States, but it’s going to be an uphill battle in which they are the second best this time.

It’s always easy when you’re on the top. PlayStation 3 is not on the top so it’s time to start struggling, cutting prices or enticing publishers to build good exclusive titles.

Episode 293: Master of the HouseEpisode 293: Master of the House

This week sees the return of Paul Nowak from his holiday vacation. There’s plenty of news items and some reader feedback, but also the return of Gaming History as the crew checks out the failed portable console, the Game.com.

The news for this week includes:

  • Age of Empires Online won’t be seeing any more content
  • Sony patents tech to stop used games and rentals
  • Major Nelson posts countdown to E3 Expo 2013
  • PvP mode for Diablo III delayed yet again
  • Telltale is in the very early stages of The Walking Dead Season 2

Finally, the Question of the Week is simple: “What did you do on your holiday break?”