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.
A new draft of the R18+ classification has been released by home minister Brendan O’Connor through the Australian Federal Government. The new guidelines closely match those in place for Australia’s film industry. The new R18+ rating removes restrictions on bad language, drug use and nudity; in contrast, the current guidelines forbade the classification of any adult-themed games.
O’Connor’s draft claims that the R18+ rating will allow “virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes”, and violence in games “except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that it should not be classified.” As far as sex, the draft says, “Sexual activity may be realistically simulated. The general rule is ‘simulation, yes – the real thing, no'”.
Of course, “standards of morality, decency and propriety” is still troublesomely subjective, while “simulation, yes, the real thing, no” is comicly inept for videogames, where everything is simulation. You may be able to tell when live actors are actually performing sexual acts, but when can you tell a videogame character is actually having sex?
O’Connor stated:
“The Gillard government wants to provide better guidance for parents and remove unsuitable material from children and teenagers. The introduction of an R18+ classification will help achieve that and will also bring Australia into line with comparable nations. This issue has been on the table for many years, without the necessary progress to make a change. We’ve recently seen several states publicly express their support for an adult only rating for games and I’m keen to reach a unanimous decision at the July meeting.”
Rather than banning games, why not punish stores for selling mature games to underage children? Or put the onus of raising children on the parents?
This week’s episode didn’t initially have a Gaming Flashback, but the crew accidentally started one with 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, which shouldn’t be a flashback since it fails the “10 Year Rule”, but it was so fun to talk about, it became one. They also found some interesting stuff in a thin-news week, which is the usual for Summer.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
This week is a special episode as Jonah Falcon cooks up a true videogame roundtable and is giving away three Steam codes for the latest third person shooter, Spec Ops: The Line, while Paul Nowak reads this week’s gaming flashback Wally Bear and the NO! Gang.
The videogame roundtable has the crew discussing two topics: videogame violence and “play to win” premium game portals.
All that plus Reader Feedback.
To find out how to win a copy of Spec Ops: The Line, listen to the podcast and find out how!
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.