Another late podcast, as Summer is in sight, and E3 looms ahead. Some minor audio issues with the podcast, but still the same podcast-y goodness we can expect from Paul and Jonah.
The news includes:
All that and Listener Feedback.
[This episode is unedited, so be prepared for some naughty language.]
This week has some stunning news items, causing an overstuffed, long episode, so big even Jordan’s wife chimes in, and Jonah and Paul argue hotly over the last item. The Gaming Flashback for this episode is Super Star Wars.
This week’s huge news:
Also some listener feedback, plus this week’s Question: “What was your Golden Era of videogaming?”
This week we’re working with our skeleton crew, Don was stuck at work so we’re flying duelies. Speaking of duelies, we’re flashing back to Rise of the Triad and covering some gaming history on Ralph Baer, a very important person in the gaming industry. This week, in the news, we’re a bit Wii centric with:
Wii Supply finally meeting demandAlso, listen in for your chance to win Peggle for Xbox Live Arcade with a simple question. We forgot to ask the question of the day on the show, so, here it is: Should Blizzard halt income made from addon develoment?
Believe this, Nintendo and their Wii console takes another month as top seller. The only product that moves more hardware than the Wii is the DS. As a gamer, it’s hard to understand how the Wii product continues to sell like this with the least supported game library on the planet.
The DS is completely understandable as it has a huge library of games, is more cost effective, comes in pretty colors and can save you tons of arguments and fighting from your kids on a long trip. In many ways the DS is synonymous with peace and quiet. What does the Wii offer us? Wii Sports and a new control scheme along with a few hit titles from Nintendo but little else for now.
I’ll be the first to admit, I thought this would be Nintendo’s chance to turn it all around and get the third parties involved. They have everything going for them in terms of sales, third party developers should be pushing out games each month considering the craze factor of the hardware. This just isn’t true.
@Better Than Life
Above title is a reference to the popular UK TV series Red Dwarf. Better Than Life was a virtual reality headset that rendered anything that you ever dreamed off. However, it was banned because people using Better Than Life would spend all their time in the virtual world and eventually starve and die.
I don’t think VR will fail. Simply because too many big players are investing into it. Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and Sony are all bringing out a separate headset. And no-one can fault them. VR and AR have a lot of potential, especially outside video games.
My experience with AR on the 3DS was limited but I was impressed nonetheless. Seeing your tabletop transform into a fire breathing dragon was pretty cool and it’s sad Nintendo never followed up on this feature.
I think there is so much interest in VR and AR because it was a big sci-fi hook in the 90s. As Paul mentioned, there was the Lawnmower Man. There was also Johny Quest. Now, in 2015, the 90s kids have turned into working adults and are willing to shell out a lot of money for their childhood dreams. If there was ever a time for a VR revolution, it is now.
Will it be as successful as the mobile revolution? Don’t think so. My iPhone is with me wherever I go. But I don’t see taking Oculus Rift on the train. VR and AR devices will be anchored to your house and will probably be as revolutionary as a VHS player. Which is not a bad thing really.
@Thanks a lot Nintendo for region locking your products because I really don’t feel discriminated against because I live in Europe
Wow.That is one sweet Humble Bundle. If only the codes worked outside of US I would probably have more than 2 Wii U games. Thank you Nintendo for catering to ALL your customers.
On a different note, Paul raises a serious point. Since the creation of Humble Bundle and Steam sales I accumulated a lot of games on my Steam account. So far I have properly played maybe 15. Adding it to the countless PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, GBA, DS, 3DS, PSP, Wii and Wii U titles, in terms of playing new games I should be sorted for the next 50 years. And yet I keep buying more. It is turning from a habit into a disorder. But if a game costs £1, as my friend puts it, “I could skip out on that can of coke”. It’s strange. In 2005 here in UK it was almost impossible to find a game under £10. How things have changed.
@World of Warcraft: Broken Wings and Raging Tears
My stance on this topic is that whoever wants to see more content will look for it and therefore not fly. On the other hand, whoever wants to zoom past on his legendary mount “Dragon-Hoof-That-Was-Forged-From-My-Dad’s-Credit-Card”should be free to do so. I don’t see why WoW can’t have both.
Great show guys!
@VR/AR: I think the whole VR thing has been a long time coming, I think it’s been mostly that the hard ware wasn’t easy to use, as pointed out that Mobile phones are. Between clunky headsets, tvs requiring glasses and price tags. I’m still waiting for Holodecks personally. I do like what I have seen with the Altered reality hardware where a virtual bad guy can pop out through your device in your own environment.
@Oh What do you do with the funny little things, they go no wings: (that was reference to the Animated Hobbit movie) I can see why this has made many angry, you give they a great feature something they had been demanding for awhile. Then take it away, talk about pissing in their cornflakes and smiling about it. I remember a area just above Ironforge I could never get to because of the restriction of flying. I, like you Jonah, haven’t played WoW in years but being able to get to these hard to reach places needed flying and now they want to limit that. So you’ll have your taxi but I guess the fancy mounts are all grounded. I don’t think Blizzard can afford to give reasons for people to quit their servers. Several have already commented that they have stopped playing.
@FFXV: This is a series that really does need it’s Final iteration. They’ve gone into a direction I no longer want to follow. It’s a shame too cause it was one of my favorite series. I think it goes with my point when you two can’t keep the latest ones straight.