Episode 416: Blowing Winds

Unfortunately, we had to skip a week despite recording a good podcast thanks to technical difficulties – don’t worry, we’ll air it at some point in the near future. It was a good episode. This episode had its own issues, as Jonah was unable to record the podcast at home, so he was outside in the New York City night air podcasting with TJ and Scott.

This week’s news includes:

  • Microsoft cancels Fable Legends, closes Press Play Studios, considers shuttering Lionhead Studios UK
  • Report: SpinTires developer sabotaged his own game
  • 10 months later, MAME finishes its transition to open source
  • Valve announces The Lab, a compilation of free VR “experiments”

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 232: Remember Pong?Episode 232: Remember Pong?

This week, there’s no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there is a ton of news and Reader Feedback as Paul is finally present to react to some hate mail.

The news includes some huge items, like:

The Question of the Week: What was the very first home videogame you ever played?

PopCap’s Bejeweled Franchise Hits 25 Million Units Sold MarkPopCap’s Bejeweled Franchise Hits 25 Million Units Sold Mark

Congratulations to PopCap for showing why casual games will always be a viable market. Let’s put this in perspective, investors believe GTA IV will push 13-million sales by the end of 2008 and, as of January 2008, Halo 3 had sold 8 million copies. PopCap’s little casual game has hit 25 million units sold, that’s fairly impressive considering these blockbuster titles haven’t achieved such numbers.

You may say “well, these titles sold 3+ million in the first week, what about Bejeweled?” True, Bejeweled probably didn’t hit 3 million in a week, but which game will still be played in 2010? Bejeweled or GTA IV and Halo 3?

Casual games age well, they’re not competitive on the graphic space and, instead, focus on fun value. Fun value is a lasting appeal and is immortal in the time line of video games. The same reason people still find fun in Pac-Man gamers still find cash to pickup their copies of Bejeweled.

Which game had the smallest budget? Bejeweled or GTA IV? We’re pretty sure PopCap did not give the bejeweled team $100-million to make it! Investors take notice, casual games have a long lasting appeal.

Read on for full press release details.

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Episode 624: Sound IssuesEpisode 624: Sound Issues

This episode has some white noise during it, so please don’t listen to it wearing headphones. The mic that was used is dying, so I purchased a new mic which will be used for Episode 626.

Til then, the news includes:

Let us know what you think.