Episode 504: Very Very Late

This week’s episode is very late thanks to Jonah having to prep for E3, which much of the podcast focuses on. There’s even a massive argument between Jonah and TJ about which film was better: Tron or Tron: Legacy, while Tron 2.0 gets its love as well. This week’s Gaming Flashback is Microsoft’s most popular JRPG, Blue Dragon.

The news items include:

  • Capcom registers Devil May Cry 5 site, fueling E3 2018 rumors
  • Ubisoft confirms E3 reveal of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • Rumor: Microsoft to reveal three Gears of War games at E3
  • Rumor: Rocksteady to announce a Superman game at E3

What do you expect from E3? Let us know.

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Episode 222: Gorilla LoveEpisode 222: Gorilla Love

This week is a big episode, as it is chock full of surprising news this week, as well as some long, long reader mail. If that weren’t enough, we take a look back at the IntelliVision game Maze-a-Tron, deal with too much love for Paul, and the mystery that is the popularity of gorillas.

This week’s news includes:

  • Electronic Arts buys Popcap Games
  • Microsoft: Only Master Chief in Halo from now on
  • PlayStation Vita dev costs closer to PSP
  • Netflix takes aim at usage based billing
  • Expert glitcher hired to clean up Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer
  • Skyrim ‘less confusing’, not ‘more accessible

There’s no Gaming History this week, but the Question of the Week is: “What old game do you most want to see remade?” There’s no contest behind it, but you can always take heart in the fact that your question was probably the most awesome.

Final Fantasy XIII Not Simultanious EverywhereFinal Fantasy XIII Not Simultanious Everywhere

It seems the promise of Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360 is a big “work in progress” as it’s not actually under development yet. Square Enix is fully ready to commit on a simultaneous release for Europe and North America but not every territory around the globe.

The reason is simple: there are just too many countries to perform language translations in the time of a release window. Final Fantasy, as many know, is very text heavy in terms of dialog and storyline. We’ve spoke at length about that in the gaming podcast which helps explain why certain countries get some releases of Final Fantasy at different times and why some sequels never make it out of Japan.

“We’re ready to start developing FFXIII for 360,” said Square Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto. “First, we will complete the game for PS3 in Japan, then begin localization for America and Europe while developing the 360 version simultaneously. The PS3 and 360 versions will be released at the same time outside of Japan — although, due to language and other conditions, the game may not be released simultaneously across territories.” (1up)

Their plan of attack seems solid and gives the PlayStation 3 a bit of an advantage in the Japanese market, but considering the lack of 360 presence in the land of the rising sun, this isn’t too surprising. What is surprising, still, is the concept of Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360 at all!

When it comes to E3 announcements, letting the crowd know Final Fantasy XIII was arriving on Microsoft’s console was a positive shock to the system. It may not be simply because yet another Final Fantasy game is in the works but to prepare gamers for the idea that they don’t have to run out and invest in a PlayStation 3 just to play the next big RPG.

The value to the Xbox 360 is growing and the need to collect all the consoles is fading. End of an era?

E3 Brings Back The Booth Babes, oh, and DevelopersE3 Brings Back The Booth Babes, oh, and Developers

e3As not to be shown up by other conferences, E3 is bringing back the booth babes, the glitz, the glamor and the publishers and developers. All but NCSoft is reported to be making it to E3 this year and they’re opening up registration again, without having an invite only exclusive club.

Is it really that easy to breath life back into E3? It makes me question why they changed it to begin with as developers and publlishers were the ones reported to not want to spend the millions of dollars in cost to obtain a few extra eyeballs on their products. We all contemplated mini-conferences with each major developer to take the place of the big E3 where each confierence would focus on just a few small brands.

Now, we’re heading back to the way it always was… isn’t this what the big boys were trying to avoid? Apparently not, because they’re all signed up and ready to return and hype their product. Perhaps these same developers saw some falling trends and realized E3 is needed to push their new games?

Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft and all their friends are back again to battle, this is like a long awaited Street Fighter sequel. The new Super Smash Bros Brawl of press events with the hot chicks in tow hoping to flash the lights upon their awesome next greatest game development.

Will this really reinvigorate the conference? Will it cause other conferences like TGS and GDC to lose attendance this year? We know many mainstream press folks are sighing as they realize they’re going to all have to show up and really work the show, for them this is business and ratings. While a few of us are impressed by the anime clad chicks, most of the folks there are actually working for a living.