This week starts with two hosts and mysteriously turns into three without any warning. It’s scary. Otherwise, this week’s Gaming Flashback is the source of scorn from the hosts: Spore. Yes, SimEverything was SimDisappointing. Listen in and find out why.
The news for this week includes:
Let us know what you think.
The last podcast of 2019 is also the last podcast of the 2010’s, as Jonah, TJ and Scott discuss the past year of videogames, while mentioning some of the news from last week, like the announcement of The Wolf Among Us 2 and the Xbox Series X. The last podcast is also the longest ever, clocking in at over 2 and 3/4 hours.
The Question of the Week: “What was your favorite videogame of the past decade?”
The Japanese government has not allowed PlayStation Network to be activated for Japanese gamers yet due to security concerns, and now an expert is advising Australia to follow suit.
Professor Bill Caelli told newspaper The Australian, “Why is it that in the IT industry enterprises certify themselves?” said Caelli, noting that PSN didn’t have the same restrictions, and added that the public has “no way of assessing the assurances given by the owners of the (PSN) system themselves”.
Reportedly, Australian privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has been in contact with Sony, and has not judged yet whether Sony has given them enough information to restore PSN. His investigation will be an ongoing one as well, even after PSN is restored.
When it was discovered user information had been stolen during the PSN breach, the Australian federal government announced plans for a law forcing companies to disclose privacy breaches, although it was unclear when it might come into effect. Privacy minister Brendan O’Connor had stated:
“Sony isn’t alone. We’ve seen serious privacy-related incidents in recent months involving other large companies. All companies that collect customers’ personal information must ensure that the information is safe and secure from misuse.”
We’ll stay on this story as it develops.
This weeks Gaming Podcast comes out a bit early due to some travel plans and an upcoming trip to Popcap’s Bejeweled Twist launch party. This week in the news we took a look at:
We also take a look back at Pitfall! and cover yet another DRM issue on our soapbox, asking the question, is online gaming the DRM of the future? Our history segment does a bit of history on Popcap games.
Our NFS: Carbon and Saints Row contest has ended, the gang names are in, and we’re giving away the games to the winner. Next, we’re going to give away Project Gotham Racing 4.
