This episode is chock full of obscure games. Did you ever hear of the MMO Ever, Jane? No? Well, this week’s Gaming Podcast features Roogoo, a game that was delisted from Xbox Live Arcade a year after it was released and is available on Steam for 99 cents.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think here.
Microsoft has proven the achievement system is one of the best ways to add replay value to a title and inspire players to overachieve in every game title, no matter how obscure. Now, Blizzard joins the battle for achievements by bringing them to the Blizzard franchises.
As of now, they’re talking Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 enabled achievements to reward players for exploring, leveling and, of course, doing the impossible. Jeff Kaplan, World of Warcraft lead designer, spoke with MTV Multiplayer blog at length about some of the topics on achievements. The future holds an Xbox 360 style achievement system across all Blizzard properties such as WoW, Starcraft and Diablo allowing people to see how you play at “Blizzard games.”
Today, we’re able to compare a gamers score on the Xbox 360 from games like GTA IV and Halo 3 down to titles like Texas Hold’em and Geometry Wars. Imagine being able to compare a players Diablo 3 skills combined with their Starcraft 2 techniques as compared to their epic World of Warcraft battles.
Will it work? Microsoft has proven the achievements drive more players interests but do we need this in a title like Diablo 3? Of course, people overachieve in all Blizzard games because their all so great while some 360 games are only beaten for the achievements (i.e. Madden NFL 06, GUN, etc.)
The end result, value add to a game you’re going to buy anyway. Can anyone really complain?
(Thanks, 1up)
If you thought you’d be getting a release of Starcraft 2 for the holiday of 2008 you’ll be upset at the news. The heavily awaited RTS title Starcraft 2 will be arriving sometime in 2009. The original title arrived in 1998 but we’re not going to see the first sequel until sometime next year, amazing people even remember the game after eleven years, right?
Activision Blizzard hardly makes a game we’d forget. The reason we all have fond memories of Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo is due to the craftsmanship that goes into the game titles (and a bit of the marketing). The developers take their time to hand craft and test a solid product, which is reason alone to see a release next year rather than in this one.
“Next year’s offerings from Activision Blizzard should include highly anticipated PC strategy title StarCraft II, the sequel to one of the world’s most enduringly popular games.” (starcraftwire.com)
It won’t make the 2008 holiday schedule, making us wonder if it’s a 2009 holiday schedule. Although Activision Blizzard doesn’t need to time their games for the biggest sales seasons it doesn’t hurt to push the title out when gamers are actively looking for new blockbusters.
Personally, we’d love to see a Spring/Summer release time frame to give us something to fill the void, but we’re sure Activision’s marketing team has plans revolving around money than a few gamers personal preferences. Regardless to the launch time we’re at least privvy to the knowledge that it’s coming next year.
Sorry, no podcast this week due to time constraints. See you next week.
