Episode 511: Grim Sky at Riot

The guys discuss the recent report by Kotaku released this week on the shady institutionalized sexism at Riot Games, the people behind League of Legends. There’s also hints of racism as well, especially since everyone in charge is, well, a white male. Otherwise, T.J. gushes about his experiences at EVO, the fighting game convention/competition, and is looking forward to QuakeCon.

The news this week includes:

And Jonah confesses he still hasn’t played GTA5 because, well, GTA4 soured him on the series.

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Game Publishers Hate RiskGame Publishers Hate Risk

It’s clear publishers like Electronic Arts hate to take risks on video games. They’re not alone in their opinion, look how many sequels we’ve got for the holidays compared to new creative titles like Little Big Planet, or how publishers push out sequels to hot titles until we can’t take it anymore; how many Guitar Hero titles will arrive before we scream “enough!”?

Speaking to rocking music, Electronic Arts may pass on the chance to pickup Brütal Legend, a title originally being published by Vivendi Games prior to the Activision Blizzard merger. The title was left without a home when the merger was complete along with other dropped titles.

Why would EA not take the chance with the game? Risk factor. Brütal Legend is a game title developed by Double Fine Productions and has been designed by Tim Schafer, with past games like Monkey Island, NES’s Maniac Mansion and the fantastic title Full Throttle. With such sweet titles under his belt, why wouldn’t a game designed by Tim Schafer be a hot commodity in the market?

The game brings music and action adventure together in a creative twist. No, it’s not Rock Band and it’s not Guitar Hero, thus, MTV and Activision don’t care about it. However, the game plot and storyline are music related and, supposedly, the main character is voiced by Jack Black, vocalist of Tenacious D and popular actor (School of Rock anyone!?)

Creator Tim Schafer has said that roadies have long fascinated him. Schafer originally thought of the game’s title over fifteen years ago. “I was riding a bus, thinking about a game that would be the complete opposite of what we were working on, The Secret of Monkey Island. And Brütal Legend leapt into my head. (wikipedia)

It appears a series of publishers have walked away from Brütal Legend without much hesitation. “I have seen it,” EA CEO John Riccitiello told Gamasutra. “I am well aware of what the game is. It’s a very significant creative risk.” (joystiq)

Where would the game be without significant creative risks? In many ways, World of Warcraft was a risk… it’s only got 9 million or more players.

Xbox 360 Price Drop: July 6th?Xbox 360 Price Drop: July 6th?

The new rumor, based on a K-Mart sales sheet, is stating we’re going to see an Xbox 360 Premium price drop this summer (July 6th, 2008). The new price is said to be USD $299, down USD $50 from the last price drop on the 360 hardware.

The sales sheet only shows the 20GB Premium product, but this is probably going to hit all units to keep pricing competitive. This wouldn’t be the first time a price drop has been slipped from a sales sheet for a current generation console and we’re sure Microsoft will deny it this time as well.

This brings the console closer to a Wii price tag, making it much more desirable by the average gamer; will Wii respond with a price drop? More than likely the answer would be “no” due to their inability to keep up with demand. The dry channels for Wii consoles makes the product highly desired but also impossible to promote and market further than saying “we have Wii in stock” because demand is just so high.

Sony will have to watch out, their PS3 product is catching up in terms of hype and demand but a drop in 360 price will yet again put them behind the 8-ball in terms of competitive pricing.

Will you consider a 360 for $299?

(Thanks, 1up)

DRM Free Spore Steams Forward!DRM Free Spore Steams Forward!

Gamers get upset when developers sneak ugly hacks onto their computers when they just want to play video games. Although gamers really only revolt when they know their being exploited, Spore is a fine example of how not to lock down a video game. Using SecuROM was a bad decision on the part of Electronic Arts, no matter what their PR spin tries to tell us.

Imagine a world of DRM free spore and you may be imagining reality using the Valve’s Steam software download architecture.

“The moderator specifically mentioned Spore but it’s possible this extends to other EA games that used SecuROM as well (like Mass Effect). If a game on Steam uses third-party DRM, it’s supposed to be mentioned on the product page.” (cinemablend)

We’ve been complaining about the Spore DRM for month snow on the gaming podcast, perhaps we’ll have to shut our mouths soon enough.

(Thanks, GameStooge)