Episode 537: Riotous Development

After a long delay, this episode looks at some of the more disturbing stuff going on in the videogame industry — and Minecraft. The Gaming Flashback comes back with Lucidity.

  • Riot Games employees walkout in protest
  • Claptrap actor accuses Randy Pitchford of physical assault
  • Microsoft teases new Minecraft AR game for mobile

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 356: Gi-BlowEpisode 356: Gi-Blow

This week’s podcast finally reveals the winner of the E3 Swag Bag. The episode is packed full of show, including a Gaming Flashback about Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the Gaming History celebrating Donkey Kong‘s 33rd birthday.

The news includes:

  • Another EA exec explains why mobile Dungeon Keeper suffered
  • PS4 fails to inspire Japanese market
  • Former Epic director Bleszinski unretires to reveal Project Bluestreak
  • Divinity: Original Sin developer turned off global chat to silence trolls
  • Bartle: “Free-to-play has a half-life

All this plus the Question of the Week: “Have online players caused you to quit playing that session?”

Life Sized Gears of War Lancer, Oh GoshLife Sized Gears of War Lancer, Oh Gosh

Imagine that, the USD $139 Gears of War 2 bundle includes a life-sized plastic gun that goes “zoom zoom bang.” It comes with a removable handle clip and an adjustable side-handle but… in the end… it’s a plastic toy gun manufactured for adults.

Gears of War 2 is “Mature Audiences” only but apparently that doesn’t mean these adults aren’t ready and willing to go out and buy a bundle that comes with a collectible plastic weapon. It’s listed as an Amazon top-seller and plenty of mature audiences are going to be chasing each other around the house going “boom boom, I got you” this November.

Seriously, isn’t this just going over the top in terms of stupid toys? Somehow people seem to think this is “cool,” but how many would be straight-faced walking into a Starbucks and seeing a 40 year-old man sitting at the table sipping apple juice while playing with his GI Joe’s and He-Man action figures?

In my mind, this is a piece of junk that’s going to end up in a box under your staircase or packed in the attic within a month or collecting dust hiding from your grown up friends. But who am I to judge, Amazon #1 top-seller says it all.

Wii U Priced at $300 for Basic, $350 For DeluxeWii U Priced at $300 for Basic, $350 For Deluxe

Nintendo announced the price of the Wii U in New York City today, and to the surprise of some, the Wii U will come in two price SKUs:

  • Basic Set ($299.99) – 8 GB white Wii U, white Wii U GamePad
  • Deluxe Set ($349.99) – 32 GB black Wii U, black Wii U GamePad, GamePad Cradle, Wii U console stand, Nintendo Land

Already, GameStop is offering the following trade-in deals:

  • $50 trade credit for a Wii
  • $90 trade credit for an Xbox 360 (original), PS Vita or 3DS
  • $115 trade credit for a PS3 (original) or Xbox 360 (slim)
  • $140 trade credit for a PS3 (slim)

(more…)