Episode 464: EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II plans

Since the podcast recording last Wednesday had audio issues and the news was, frankly, boring, the crew decided to record a new 464th episode on Easter Sunday, after some more interesting stuff was announced near the end of the week. That, and Scott expresses his enthusiasm for Thimbleweed Park, the spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, using a SCUMM-like interface.

This week’s news items include:

  • Diving into Project Scorpio’s backwards compatibility, 4K, VR, and 1080p support
  • Nintendo discontinues the NES Classic Edition
  • It looks like Star Wars: Battlefront II will ditch the Season Pass

All that and some Listener Feedback.

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Episode 469: The Sims 4 Code GiveawayEpisode 469: The Sims 4 Code Giveaway

It’s Contest Time, as Gaming Podcast is giving away a swag bag that includes The Sims 4 and some videogame merch from E3. Most of the 87 minute podcast deals with more E3 talk, and 5 minutes spent on news items.

This week’s news includes:

  • Everything known about the Ataribox so far
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered standalone release confirmed
  • Gigantic launching in July, escapes Windows 10

Let us know what you thought of E3 this week in the comments.

(Must be a continental US resident to win the contest.)

Episode 402: One and a Half EpisodesEpisode 402: One and a Half Episodes

This episode is so long, we actually had to cut on of the stories that went too long. We get some listener feedback for Scott as well.

The news includes:

  • EA data leak on Pastebin exposes emails and passwords
  • Adobe confirms major Flash vulnerability
  • Report: Nintendo’s next platform NX combines console and handheld
  • Remaining Batman Arkham Knight Season Pass content revealed
  • EA: Remakes happen when you’re ‘out of ideas
  • Bandai Namco pulls plug on Rise of Incarnates
  • Analyst: Preorders drive more sadness than anticipation

Let us know what you think.

Robbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple VictorsRobbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple Victors

It’s amazing to think we’re in our third year of “next generation” console bliss. Three years have passed since the first Xbox 360 shipped, for good or bad, and it’s time to start thinking about the future.

Or is it?

Bobbie Bach, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices president, seems to believe this generation of consoles will expand out further than the typical four-year release cycle. Perhaps because the console developers have invested so much money in defeating each other in the market and making their console “number one” in the eyes of their investors.

Bach does not believe we’re cresting on the current generation, that is for certain, and we’ve yet to hear any hype over a new next-generation console from Microsoft. They were the first to market so, theoretically, they should be the first in the next-generation as well, right?

Their move to be number one was really a strategic attack which has paid out well, leading them above the past domination of Sony and Nintendo before it. However, they are holding strong with the Xbox 360 and there might be cause to sit tight and let this generation playout before bringing in another piece of hardware.

Bach stated that he believes consoles today are competing at different levels than ten years ago. There isn’t one clear winner, there isn’t one dominating console. There will be victors in different areas of the industry; casual consoles, top game sellers, best graphics and others. It’s not about sheer “units sold” it’s more about being profitable and building a community around your hardware, see Xbox Live as a great example.

Next generation will be full of fantastic new features, ways to connect and crazy hardware specifications, no doubt, but… for many of us, it will take years before we forget the pain and suffering we paid shipping our dead Xbox 360’s back to Microsoft for repairs. Would you be willing to buy into their next generation as their first customer?

(Thanks, 1up)