Episode 400: So Long, Paul

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015| Jonah FalconJonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 12:30 am
Categories:

Well, the fateful day has come on this landmark podcast, as Paul says farewell as a regular podcast host. We can all look back at Jonah’s debut in episode 200, with the knowledge that the next episode will make him the longest running host or co-host on the show – and that’s just scary. A former host leaves a message as well.

This week’s news includes:

  • Creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is crowdfunding a fighting game
  • Xbox head discusses why Final Fantasy 14 is not on Xbox One
  • Pachter: “The console installed base is as big as it’s ever going to get”
  • Andrew House: the PS4 is struggling against censorship in China
  • Analyst: 30 million VR headsets by 2020

The Question of the Week: “What’s the creepiest videogame you ever played?”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Related Post

Ensemble Studios To Close, Halo Wars Future Not In QuestionEnsemble Studios To Close, Halo Wars Future Not In Question

Ensemble Studios, owned and operated by Microsoft or, Microsoft Games Studios, has been targed to be dissolved. All employees will find new homes, a large quantity will start a new studio and continue maintaining the later released Halo Wars franchise.

Microsoft has chosen to close the studio as part of their growth plan of Microsoft Games Studios much like FASA was closed in the past. The difference, there is a new landing point for Halo Wars unlike the uncertain future of Shadowrun.

Commenting on the reason for the closure, Microsoft said, “This was a fiscally rooted decision that keeps MGS on its growth path. While the decision to dissolve Ensemble was not an easy one, Microsoft is working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible.” (gamespot)

Ensemble Studio’s folks will continue to work with Microsoft and will continue to support Halo Wars after its launch. It is important to stress their statement of continuing to support Halo Wars, there is no need to think the project will be done half-assed or without pride as the project will live on with a different studio name.

The only question is… what is causing Microsoft to close down studios with actively working real franchise projects? FASA went down, Bungie was let go on their own and now Ensemble Studios? There has to be something going on here… idea?

Read MoreRead More

Episode 527: Technical IssuesEpisode 527: Technical Issues

This week’s episode has minor audio issues, but otherwise is okay. Most of the talk is about the Resident Evil 2 remake, and how it’s taken over the world. The crew also discuss the latest Gathering Storm civ, Phoenicia.

The news of the week includes:

  • Capcom shipped 3 million units of Resident Evil 2
  • Valve calls exclusive Metro Exodus deal with Epic “unfair” to Steam customers
  • American McGee confirmed to be working on Alice 3 story, art and design
  • Fallout 76 Survival Mode – PVP Beta starting in March

Let us know what kind of game you want to see remade.

Read MoreRead More

New Australian R18+ Proposal DraftedNew Australian R18+ Proposal Drafted

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?

Read MoreRead More