The guys discuss RoboCop: Rogue City, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and F-ZERO 99, among other things.
The news items include:
Let us know what you think.
The washed up Jack Thompson, also known as the thorn in the side of Take-Two has gone off the deep end. Originally, Thompson would do everything in his power to bring the negative press (and lawsuits) to Take-Two for Grant Theft Auto, Man Hunt and any other game he didn’t like.
Rather than allowing parents to utilize the ESRB rating, Thompson found it in his Christian heart to pursue game companies like his own personal holy war. Luckily he’s lost all his power because people finally realized he’s a lukewarm loon with a one track mind. But wait, there’s more!
“Mr. Zelnick’s problems at Take-Two are miniscule [sic] compared to the eternity of punishment that is coming his way unless he repents and accepts Christ as I did 32 years ago this month.” (1up)
When the law doesn’t work out for him, he takes it into Gods hands. He fires right over at the chairmen, “there is no blessing for Strauss Zelnick, who is not a Christian, when he gets what he deserves…”
The game industry was doing well before Jack and it will thrive without him in the way as well. One man cannot change the world, especially when that one man tends to act like a raving lunatic. Parents must guide their children down the right paths, show them life’s possibilities and understand what content is rated for what age. We’ve figured out how to handle movie ratings, we’re sure adults will figure out the ESRB rating as well.
We give too little credit to parents when it comes to making decisions for their children. If they cannot make the right decision on allowing a six year old to play Halo or Resistance, then can we actually trust them to keep a child out of R rated movies or finish their dinner before getting a snack?
This week’s podcast is a little late thanks to life interrupting, but better late than never. We discuss the Gaming Flashback, Robocop, and other weird tangeants that have nothing to do with videogames.
The news this week includes:
All this and Listener Feedback.
Nothing is more annoying than going into iTunes to see what video games are available for the iPod Touch and iPhone to find it cluttered with hundreds of duplicate games. Developers seem to find it most useful to release two games instead of one single game: a full version and a “lite” version.
Developers know gamers want to try before they buy, so many will create a game they’re hoping to sell, then a limited “lite” version with partial levels or stripped of features. They’re obviously trying to work around the fact that Apple released a half-assed game shopping experience. These pro and lite versions assist in cluttering the shopping space.
iTunes App Store should allow users to trial a game by allowing them to download a neutered version of the game title or using a time-trial like many other downloadable game services. Electronic game downloads are usually non-refundable because you can never give back a product which you can make infinite copies. The solution to getting users to buy into your product is to allow them to try before they buy.
Apple’s obviously enjoying the immense game sales from the application store but they may be able to increase their sales by allowing gamers to see what they’re buying before they walk away empty handed. This would also limit the total products found in the App Store because developers won’t have to post to revisions to their game title to allow gamers to try before they buy them.
There are some obvious downsides, Apple wouldn’t be able to boast the thousands of products in their store because many would be substituted for a real game download system. Okay, that’s really the only download I can think of… any others?
Developers may opt out of a trial system, forcing gamers to buy it before they try it based on the text and screenshots or utilize a time trial or limited featured version.
Thoughts?
