Episode 694: Baldur’s Starfield

As Starfield readies its launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 gets a ton of updates.

The news includes:

  • Star Wars: Dark Forces is getting the Nightdive remaster treatment
  • Xbox must have mobile presence if it’s going to thrive, Phil Spencer says
  • No Man’s Sky adds its first new race in its biggest update of the year
  • Citizen Sleeper 2 announced
  • League of Legends is ditching Mythic items

All this and Listener Feedback.

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Gaming Podcast 196: Lies!Gaming Podcast 196: Lies!

This week we’ve got the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect and we thought we’d do a quick review on a couple of the titles we picked up. We’ve dug up some history on the Game Com Handheld, comment on some community feedback and hit the news:

  • More MMORPGS using the free to play model
  • Microsoft convinced Kinect will sell better than awesome
  • Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well
  • Microsoft Kinect Selling out

This week’s question of the week, have you ever caved into the peer pressure, press and “sold out” signs to pickup a piece of hardware, software or other device?

War On Video Game ExclusivesWar On Video Game Exclusives

Typically, we have “exclusive” fallout from the console war which forces the hand of the consumer to purchase all consoles to play all the games they love. Many hardcore gamers are into first person shooters like Halo and Gears of War but also like their Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy fixes. In years prior, you’d have to invest in Microsoft and Sony’s solutions to get your fix. Now things are changing.

With these third party developers playing neutral in the war on consoles, Microsoft and Sony are forced to rely on near “first-party” titles to keep their army strong. Metal Gear Solid is a Sony exclusive and Gears of War and Halo have been Microsoft’s hype babies for a year or so now. The problem? Many of these exclusive games are not divisions, subsidiaries or in any way under the wing of the console makers.

Nintendo holds exclusive rights to almost all their hard hitting titles. Mario, Link, Zelda, Samus Aran and all their mascot style characters are designed, developed and marketed under the name “Nintendo.” These characters are all part of Nintendo’s lineup of solid best selling titles including the Metroid, Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series and all their spin-offs. Nintendo has the power to re-implement their characters into games like Mario Party, Mario Kart, Links Crossbow, Metroid Prime, Metroid Pinball and a huge array of other first party titles.

Microsoft and Sony must continue to play nice with Konami, Bungie, and Epic Games to keep their exclusivity. What happens if one of these developers “betrays” their console and starts shipping multi-platform?

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