Episode 574: Naked People On Bikes

The podcast returns after a week off, and Scott also returns. The Gaming Flashback is another imfamous title, Acclaim’s BMX XXX, something Dave Mirra definitely did not approve of. The news features all sorts of Nintendo Switch items, too.

This week’s news includes:

  • Metroid Prime Trilogy listed with June 19th release date
  • Platinum insists Bayonetta 3 hasn’t been cancelled
  • Pac-Man teams up with Minecraft to celebrate his 40th anniversary
  • Ooblets releasing in early access ‘pretty soon’

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 264: This Podcast is DRM-FreeEpisode 264: This Podcast is DRM-Free

This week is full of gaming goodness as E3 slowly creeps up like kudzu, but there’s still plenty to talk about this week. For one, the Gaming Flashback is the classic Infocom game Planetfall.

The news for the week:

  • DICE has Frostbite-powered titles for 2013 that “will require a 64-bit OS”
  • Actors confirm return to recording booth for Mass Effect 3
  • CD Projekt RED: The truth is DRM does not work
  • Potential $1 billion suit against EA by former student-athletes moves forward

All that and Reader Feedback. This week’s Question of the Week, “Have you ever wanted a game but didn’t buy it due to DRM?”

Are Game Controllers Too Complicated?Are Game Controllers Too Complicated?

The same company that brought us the NES Advantage has proven the Wii control scheme isn’t as bad as critics speculated. The beauty of adding the “waggle” technology is limiting your button count to a reasonable level without overwhelming gamers.

We’re seeing casual gaming on the rise both in the press and in the public. Yet, each “next generation” console brings new features and functionality to the consoles, games and accessories. Since NES birthed the SNES we’ve seen button count increase on controllers.

Nintendo has usually been conservative on buttons, trying to work “shape” over sheer volume of buttons, barring the C button count on the N64 controller. Nintendo controllers change shape with each generation and they’ve evolved, not innovated, their way around with the Wii control scheme. Each function of the controller exists, on its own, in other products but nobody has built a fully functional controller in such a way for a game console until now.

Sony took pieces of this concept in their PS3 controller and its ability to detect “tilt.” Xbox 360 stuck with the beefy controller with lots of buttons and analog sticks. Not just a D-Pad but two analog sticks and a ton of buttons to press, some pressure sensitive as well. What of our next-generation console? Maybe a few new buttons?

Or, maybe a few new motions? Wii evolved the control scheme and Sony validated their decision, what’s next? Are the controllers just too damn complicated in today’s world? Or, perhaps limiting the buttons brings in more gamers, like Grandma and Grandpa, to play your console as well.

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