Episode 409: No Spoilers This Time

This week’s podcast is kind of boring, since there’s little to talk about, but Jonah and Scott are game. Most of the entertainment comes from Scott talking about his Fallout 4 adventures.

This week’s news includes:

  • Sony wants to trademark the term ‘Let’s Play’
  • Star Wars open world game Kickstarter proposal canceled
  • OculusVR founder claims Rift selling at $599 is “obscenely cheap
  • Pirated games may cease to exist in two years thanks to Denuvo

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 461: Messy Effect: AndromedaEpisode 461: Messy Effect: Andromeda

This week’s episode, which has been posted a little late due to life interruptions, has Jonah ranting about Mass Effect Andromeda, which T.J. and Scott pine for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wind.

This week’s news includes:

  • Report: JoyCon wireless issues caused by “manufacturing variation”
  • There is a way to transfer Switch save data, Nintendo just doesn’t want you to know
  • Alexander the Great will lead Macedon in Civilization 6

Let us know what you think.

Xbox 360’s Fable 2: No Online Co-Op In BoxXbox 360’s Fable 2: No Online Co-Op In Box

Much like Kameo: Elements of Power, Fable 2 ships without online co-op mode on day-one. However, Kameo didn’t promise the co-op mode prior to the games release, or talk about it in their presentations and hype machine conferences.

How does that happen? It’s easy to promise a feature but words do not make games true. More than likely the online co-op was a bit more complicated or had some bugs that needed to be shaken out prior to shipping. Microsoft is talking about releasing a patch for the new co-op play on the first week or so of the game release.

There are two options: ship a product that’s buggy and deal with the online PR nightmare with bugs and day-one patches, or, ship it without the feature and promise it early in the launch phase of the game. Once the code is complete, game software has to go through the packing, duplication and shipping phase. A lot of last minute testing can get done in the time it takes to produce the boxed product.

Hopefully Microsoft is doing some last minute testing to make a more reliable presentation of online co-op which everyone can use. However if it releases with a bunch of bugs…

(Thanks, GameSpot)

Activision and Blizzard LayoffsActivision and Blizzard Layoffs

If you’ve ever been through an acquisition or merger you’d have expected this news to come, but for those new to the concept it’s simple: you can’t keep everyone. After a complete merger you end up with two sales departments, two IT departments, etc.

Do you really need them all? No, not really. You’ll need to keep some on board in order to “brain dump” your job onto others and hopefully stick around for the long hall. Some employees will probably be shuffled to other job responsibilities while some get packages and a thank you card.

These are some of the growing pains when working towards a successful merger, so don’t be surprised or start spreading rumors when a few people are let go. As someone who’s gone through it in two big mergers I can say that certain departments already know their fate ahead of time. Many IT and sales folk start looking for new jobs the minute the merger is announced.