This week’s episode has bad audio, but at least it’s short, due to Jonah’s lingering laryngitis. Paul insists Homestar Runner hasn’t been good in 15 years, while Jonah talks about the NES classic bomb Athena.
This week’s news includes:
All this and Listener Feedback.
Activision has decided to take Guitar Hero to the next level: Action Figures. This is a great move for the company, striking the iron while it’s hot! The Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises are growing in intensity while big blockbuster titles like GTA IV are waning in sales and profit.
Pretty soon you and your children can purchase action figures in the liking of Guitar Hero, would you consider this or is it just a gimmick?
McFARLANE TOYS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ACTIVISION
TO PRODUCE GUITAR HERO(tm) ACTION FIGURES
TEMPE, Ariz. ~ McFarlane Toys announces a partnership with Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) to produce action figures from the hit video game franchise, Guitar Hero®. The first line is expected to hit store shelves this fall.
The hugely popular Guitar Hero franchise delivers the ultimate guitar-bending experience and enabling aspiring axe-shredders everywhere the chance to Unleash Their Inner Rock Star. Featuring a wide variety of music spanning five decades, the franchise is highlighted by countless original recordings from many of the most beloved artists of all time.
Represented in the first line of action figures are four of the Guitar Hero game’s most popular characters:
JOHNNY NAPALM
AXEL STEEL
LARS ÜMLAUT
GOD OF ROCK
“We have very recently begun creating toys based on video games,” says McFarlane Toys CEO Todd McFarlane. “With Activision, we get to work on arguably one of the biggest video game franchises out there, and capitalize on the wide-ranging demographic that encompasses this game.”
Each figure has 15-18 moving parts. Additionally, a unique guitar is included with each character that is removable and interchangeable with the other figures. Each figure also comes with a sculpted Guitar Hero logo base.
McFarlane Toys’ 6-inch action figures retail for $10-$15.
Visit www.SPAWN.com for updates and the all the latest and to-the-minute news.
About McFarlane Toys
Grammy-and Emmy-winning producer/director Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and the founder of SPAWN.com, is the force behind McFarlane Toys, one of America’s top action figure manufacturers. With an eclectic array of movie, TV and music licensing tie-ins – as well as the officially licensed teams of the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, McFarlane Toys has become a leader and redefined the standards within the action figure industry. For complete information on this pop-culture powerhouse, visit SPAWN.com.
About Activision, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $2.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.
This week, there’s only one news item, but that’s because Jonah Falcon returns from PAX East 2012 to discuss the games he managed to check out and even play, including Assassin’s Creed 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization V: Gods & Kings, Max Payne 3, Spec Ops: The Line, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, Borderlands 2, Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3, Orcs Must Die! 2, Tera, Solitaire Blitz, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Mark of the Ninja and Code Hero.
The show does cover one news item:
Finally, a new contest: win a free copy of Civilization V Special Edition on Steam. To win it, just state what your favorite civilization in history is and why. All that and Reader Feedback and a special surprise at the end!
Now that Blizzard feels their engine is solid, it’s time to move on to creating content for the full game. Jay Wilson, Diablo 3‘s lead designer, says the game engine is in an advance stage of completion and much of the art team has moved onto Act 2. Don’t read into that, he said game engine.
Blizzard is obviously not hurting for money, given the success of World of Warcraft and they’ve always taken their time with projects to make them solid products. Blizzard’s name is on the line and they’re brand consists of three major franchises: Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo. When you produce so few games you’re expected to do them perfectly.
How do they do it? As Wilson says, “If we haven’t rebuilt something five times it really doesn’t deserve to be shipped. That’s pretty much our policy.” (eurogamer) While a game engine is the foundation for a great game experience, the content is king. Blizzard is deep in the mire of content production so, although the engine might be solid, the final product is probably still far from complete.
End result, expect a high quality product once again from Blizzard.
I was soo looking forward to the new Silent Hill game… I’m a little upset but I guess this is how the industry is. It’s just unfortunate that it’s the gamers who tend to suffer when this type of stuff happens but as Paul likes to say… if you are not happy with the way they (developers/publishers) do things, stop supporting them. As for the discussion about older games… I sometimes use virtual machines to run older PC games but I have had a really hard time finding good ways to play my old console games short of reconnecting my old systems. I would love to see more support for emulator created and supported by portable console system like PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS that allows for downloading and playing of old titles in ROM format. I have a PS Vita and I only bought it to play PS One (I love Chrono Trigger) and PS Two games. As for old games I still play… Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy III, Zelda, Chrono Trigger… I couldn’t tell you which one it older… Good Episode, short and sweet.
Hello Guys.
Sorry that i did not comment your great podcast so frequently 🙁 I am moving to another city right now and my new Job takes a lot of time.
The most important thing: get well soon Jonah! (you sound terrible during the last podcasts, even if one of them was only a few seconds 😉 ).
I heard the last 4 or 5 episodes during the last few days and here are my questions to some questions of the week:
– snack during gaming –> salt sticks, because no fat or chocolate on the fingers 🙂
– future of old games –> i am into retro games, so i believe in the future of the old games and consoles. All the games, that came out during the last decade will fade very soon, or the 200. follow up will come out and nobody knows the original. But like you mentioned during the last episodes, there are still Atari 2600 Games or NES games, that people still want to play! I will stick with all my retro consoles. My newest console is an xbox360, and that only because of Street Fighter 4 … i am addicted to the street fighter series 🙂
– old game i still enjoy to play –> nearly all the NES titles, but especially Zelda, Metroid and Mega Man. These game DO NOT get old 🙂
Regarding to the topic of Kickstarter projects: i also pledged some projects, but most of the time, they were connected to some “Back to the future2 stuff (i am addicted to this trilogy as well 🙂 ). Since i only got Apple-Pc´s and i am not into pc-gaming i dont have a good opinion wheter it´s good or not good to pledge for a game.
And to the topic of getting Windows 10 for free …. like i said, i dont have a windows pc and i dont want any, the same reason Paul sticks with XP: my apple pcs do their work, no bluescreen, no problems, so why should i use a newer / different OS, when i am happy with my one?
I hope i wrote everything down, i wanted to say, and at least Paul asked for some love … ok here it is –> <3 …. i also tried to give him my Disney BluRay Codes, when he asked for them on FB, but german codes dont work in the US Disney Store 🙁
I hope to hear from you guys next week and the week after and the week after …. 🙂
Greetings from germany
Ralf
@Regiking got its act together. (Pokemon reference)
It’s a sensible idea. They gave away Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training for free a few months ago, so I can say that DS games are functional on the Wii U gamepad. If only they would have done this sooner. It seems to be that Nintendo is making some sound decisions lately. It’s as if someone gave Satoru Ivata a management guide book for his birthday. I am just concerned that this may be too little too late. Sega used to be a first party publisher too you know.
@Metal Gear Solid – Kojima = bread without butter.
I am going to argue with Paul here. I believe that one man’s vision can sell a game. I understand what Paul is saying. A huge title like MGS is produced by a lot of people. But the gaming industry’s perception is that Kojima is the one responsible for Metal Gear games. I just finished MGS3 and 4. It has Kojima Industries logo pasted everywhere. I almost forgot that Konami owns MGS. As as a side note, I am currently playing Zelda Skyward Sword. You can tell that Shigeru Miyamoto is less involved here, because the game is a re-hash of twilight princess. No shred of original idea whatsoever.
What I am interested in is why Kojima is leaving Konami? Is it him trying to take over the company? Is he trying to take ownership of the franchise? Is Konami afraid that Kojima is more popular than their entire company?
To be honest it’s very sad. First they kicked out David Hayter. Now Kojima is leaving. MGS will never be the same. The series might as well end now.
@QOTW
Hard to say. I have been too busy playing recent titles. I would have to say Morrowind. Some may consider the gameplay dated, but I love it nonetheless. No quick travel to ruin adventuring, no rag doll physics throwing quest items into hard to reach places. I still love it.