Episode 483: Rolling Ones

This week’s podcast has been seriously delayed due to Jonah’s computer going belly up, then having to deal with reinstalling everything. Not to worry, however, since everything on the old hard drive was saved, learn more at desky.com.au. If that weren’t enough, Jonah is enjoying his new Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition.

The news of the week includes:

  • EA responds to community criticism of Battlefront 2 unlock system
  • L.A. Noire remaster requires 29GB, forcing Switch version to require MicroSD card
  • Physical media still “nation’s format of choice” for video games, says eBay
  • Xbox One S available for lowest price yet

If that weren’t enough, there’s about 30 minutes of outtakes we’re saving for the future as the gang talks about 2018. But that’s for an Outtakes episode.

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Episode 482: NaptimeEpisode 482: Naptime

This particular episode becomes a little sleepy as one host actually falls asleep during recording. Guess which one. After last week’s episode only partially uploaded, the Gaming Flashback for Okami is actually an insert, too.

The news items include:

  • It’s a big week for new game releases on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC
  • Lego Dimensions comes to an early end after two years
  • Why Xbox One backward compatibility took so long
  • Ex-BioWare says Anthem is an example of EA’s monetization plans

Let us know what you think — without falling asleep first.

Final Fantasy XIII Demo For PS3 AnnouncedFinal Fantasy XIII Demo For PS3 Announced

The first demo for Final Fantasy XIII has been announced, but, it will only be available (right now) on the PlayStation 3. It will arrive as “bonus material” when you purchase Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete because the game arrives on Blu-Ray and there is plenty of room for this additional content.

The game is scheduled to be released in March of 2009 in Japan, so the United States and other territories may not get an early demo of FFXIII. Does this give everyone a reason to purchase a PlayStation 3? Nothing says it won’t be available as a downloadable Demo on Xbox Live… because nobody’s really talked to that topic at all yet.

Square Enix has publically stated they’ll start the Final Fantasy XIII port to the Xbox 360 once it’s finished on the PlayStation 3, so presumably we won’t see a demo (or a final game) for some time to come. The end result, demo or no demo, is the same: a dual release on two of the big colorful platforms in the way of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Bethesda’s Hines: Don’t Shoehorn MultiplayerBethesda’s Hines: Don’t Shoehorn Multiplayer

Bethesda Softworks vice president of marketing Pete Hines is critzing publishers and developers who shoehorn multiplayer into their games that doing such a thing is “a waste of time” and advises, “Just drop it, don’t bother…it’ll make for a worse game.”

In an interview with Next Gen BIZ, Hines states that using online multiplayer as a tool to prevent used game trade-ins and rental simply doesn’t work, and robs developers of valuable man-hours.

Hines stated:

“(People ask us) for a game like Skyrim or Prey 2, why doesn’t it have multiplayer? Well, our question is always the opposite when we talk to a developer. If you’re doing multiplayer, why are you doing multiplayer? What are you trying to accomplish?

“If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game.

“We want the best game possible. If that’s a singleplayer game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2 are two Bethesda properties that will lack multiplayer, but one of the tools to encourage games to keep both games will be downlodable content and, even more important, good communications with the game communities and nurturing the fandom for both games.