Episode 475: Sterling Reviews

This week’s episode is 50% longer as the first 20 minutes or so are devoted to the reaction to Jim Sterling’s explosive review of Hellblade and his subsequent recanting later that day. This week has no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there are six news items to make up for it.

The items include:

  • EA talks about Nintendo Switch support
  • Rainbow Six: Siege “Operation Blood Orchid” update launches August 29
  • Myth-inspired RTS Deadhold charges into Early Access later this month
  • No Man’s Sky “Atlas Rises” update adds story content and “limited” online co-op
  • EA says Star Wars: Battlefront “lacked long-term goals”
  • Moons of Madness is Lovecraftian horror on Mars

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 246: Computer SpecsEpisode 246: Computer Specs

CES 2012 is going strong, as Jonah and Jordan do tonight’s podcast without Paul, who is packing for a trip. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the notorious Custer’s Revenge, and a punch of intriguing news and rumors comprise this week’s topics:

  • Fallout MMO rights belong to Bethesda as Interplay settles
  • Pachter sez there’s “zero chance” of PS4 at E3 2012
  • Rumor: Next Xbox tablet-based?
  • Rumor: Kaz Hirai to return as president of Sony
  • Diablo III release held due to South Korea (from GameFront)

Plenty of Reader Feedback this week, which is good because we forgot to include a Question of the Week this time.

Call of Duty: World at War – October Open Beta!Call of Duty: World at War – October Open Beta!

If you’ve got Microsoft Windows or an Xbox 360 you’ll be eligible for the public beta of Call of Duty: World at War by Activision. Although the game is set to deploy on the 11th of November, many of us will be able to get a taste of the multi-player action early by entering into the beta.

Activision has always been great about getting stable multiplayer beta’s for their Call of Duty series, hopefully this turns out to be as awesome. ” These betas will serve as an early chance for players to practice the tactics needed for survival in the intense chaos of Call of Duty: World at War’s Pacific and European theaters,” says their press release (below) and we’re ready to take on the challenge of “bug finding.”

Okay, in all honesty, most beta’s I’ve entered on my Xbox 360 have just been to get some free gaming in early and be able to feel cool about getting into the action before everyone else. In return, Activision gets some server stress testing and early feedback (if I’m so inclined to yell).

All-in-all, great news from the Activision crew.

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Nielsen Ratings, PS3 Played Less Than Classic Xbox?Nielsen Ratings, PS3 Played Less Than Classic Xbox?

In a WTF moment, Neilsen Ratings shows more gamers are playing the classic Microsoft Xbox console than the PlayStation 3. While 9.7% of gamers are playing the Xbox 7.3% are playing the PlayStation 3 but Sony isn’t out of the picture by a long shot, having 31.7% of gamers playing the PlayStation 2!

Only 13.4% of gamers are playing the Wii even though it’s the hottest selling console on the market, showing the fury of the casual gamer it seems. It’s trendy to own a Wii but it’s not trendy to play it; it would be interesting to see how much of the 13.4% is Wii Sports.

We’re guessing there are more classic Xbox gamers playing their console compared to the PlayStation 3 because of the console cost. You can find a used Xbox for under $25.00 on eBay but the question remains, who wants a used Xbox? The audience for the PS3 is more hardcore, more elite and more rare compared to the cost conscious gamers in the larger game industry pie.

More than likely, in ten years, we’ll see most gamers playing the PlayStation 3 while Microsoft works to claim demographics on whatever their next console will be. However, we’re not so sure how many Wii gamers will be playing their current generation console in ten years. Probably very few given the two year old console still has a small amount of gaming public.

(Thanks, 1up)