The title about says it all.
Microsoft has straight up purchased Activision/Blizzard — in cash, no less — and while it’ll take til September 2023 to get everything sorted, probably, it’s one of the biggest shakeups in the history of videogames just like when 1 can 2 can slot was released.
Meanwhile, T.J. is still salty over Vicarious Visions developing Diablo II: Resurrected, while the trio discusses the plans for Sony’s Game Pass. If you are looking for an awesome new game to try, come here and play it now.
The racing slots are perfect for a player who wants fun, fast and adrenaline filled action. The racing theme can cover a variety of things, from professional tournaments to illegal street racing. The following are some of the best racing themed slots available to play.
This week’s news includes:
- Microsoft spends almost $70B in buying Activision/Blizzard
- City-building RTS The Settlers launches in March, closed beta next week
- Split Pad Pro getting the Attachment Set
- PS3 games reportedly appear on PS5 Store
2021 is finally over. And for the first time in years, a proper Games of the Year Awards has been done by GameStooge/TD Gaming Podcast. While the Worst Game of the Year was a no doubter, the Best Game of the Year was not, with the nominees being Deathloop, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Metroid Dread and other titles available at 1UFABET.
But there are a whopping 26 award categories, technical and artistic, so listen in on this fat 2 1/2 hour episode to find out who the winners are.
Let us know what you think on the Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
Halo: ODST
Hi guys. I know we skipped out an episode recently, but how badly has Jennifer’s timeline been screwed?
You seemed to forget that God of War 3 came out early this year. The God of War collection (1 & 2 updated in HD) was released in November in North America, and has just come out in Europe. That meant that for you, it WAS out before 3. For me, well, I never played more than the demos of 1 & 2 on PS2. I got 3 because of the mass hype, but then ordered Collection from Canada for early play (since the PS3 games are region free) and have played them through to the finish to give myself the back story. Of course I would have loved to play them in order for continuity, but thanks Sony for screwing Europe again.
To Derrick – you seem to be slightly obsessed by porn games these days, and why did you feel the need to mention the potential 3DS genital camera shot??? (/rolleyes)
@ Rockstar fail – Yes, I feel dirty. But the Uber weapons I unlocked make the feeling go away when I manage to faceroll my way through the PVP now.
@Zelda in ’96 – That would have been Ocarina of Time. (And Majora’s Mask was also N64. I’m shocked you didn’t remember since you worship the series)
@QotW – Real ID is being updated and patched overnight here tonight. North America had 3.3.5 a week earlier than everyone else as a “giant beta”. Blizzard were expecting a fail on some scale, and from what I have heard there were some issues. Since I haven’t had a chance to test it I can’t comment. I haven’t used Steam either to any great extent, but will cast a vote and say “Yes, Steam won”. Why not?
Hi guys. I know we skipped out an episode recently, but how badly has Jennifer’s timeline been screwed?
You seemed to forget that God of War 3 came out early this year. The God of War collection (1 & 2 updated in HD) was released in November in North America, and has just come out in Europe. That meant that for you, it WAS out before 3. For me, well, I never played more than the demos of 1 & 2 on PS2. I got 3 because of the mass hype, but then ordered Collection from Canada for early play (since the PS3 games are region free) and have played them through to the finish to give myself the back story. Of course I would have loved to play them in order for continuity, but thanks Sony for screwing Europe again.
To Derrick – you seem to be slightly obsessed by porn games these days, and why did you feel the need to mention the potential 3DS genital camera shot??? (/rolleyes)
@ Rockstar fail – Yes, I feel dirty. But the Uber weapons I unlocked make the feeling go away when I manage to faceroll my way through the PVP now.
@Zelda in ’96 – That would have been Ocarina of Time. (And Majora’s Mask was also N64. I’m shocked you didn’t remember since you worship the series)
@QotW – Real ID is being updated and patched overnight here tonight. North America had 3.3.5 a week earlier than everyone else as a “giant beta”. Blizzard were expecting a fail on some scale, and from what I have heard there were some issues. Since I haven’t had a chance to test it I can’t comment. I haven’t used Steam either to any great extent, but will cast a vote and say “Yes, Steam won”. Why not?
You guys had too many long letters last episode, so my own answer to the Question of the Week went unspoken. So, here it is again đ
Question of the Week:
I have had the benefit of actually having been hands-on with all of these devices.
Nintendo 3DS: 3D video on it is pretty poor. It doesnât look 3D â it looks blurry. However, 3D CGI object, aka videogames, look spectacular. Pikmin and Super Mario Bros, for example, had depth and clarity.
Something you guys didnât mention is the fact that the 3DS adds an analog stick. Donât underestimate that gameplay factor.
Nintendo handheld fans are like Apple fans. Theyâll early adopt without hesitation. Theyâll not only buy it on day one, theyâll buy three or four of them in a year.
Move: The control works better than the Wiimote, but unfortunately, it still resembles the Wiimote. Sony not only had the bad sense to imitate Nintendoâs control, but to make the SAME. EXACT. GAMES.
Something you failed to mention: many of the single player games require two wands, like Boxing. This is a bad thing for Sony, because imagine youâre the consumer. You buy the bundle for $100. You start to play, but the game informs you: âSorry, you canât play Boxing without a second controlâ. You play their sports bundle. âSorry, you canât play half the sports like archery without a second control.â
I think thereâs a term for this. Oh, yes. BAIT AND SWITCH. Sony better put a label large and loud that says âRequires Second Wand to Playâ on some of these games.
Kinect: It works. That was the first hurdle. It actually works and works WELL. The second hurdle is getting people to wrap their heads around the concept of gesture-based control.
However, thereâs one huge mistake youâre making regarding Kinect â that itâs an Xbox 360 device.
Itâs not.
Microsoft may be launching Kinect on the Xbox 360, but they are developing a PC compatible version, and even more important, a SET TOP BOX version.
http://www.gamestooge.com/2010/06/23/kinect-standalone-pc-compatible-models-by-2011/
Thatâs right, a standalone version of Kinect whose tech will be farmed out to other hardware manufacturers â think Panasonic, Sharp, and so on. This is Microsoftâs attempt to enter the hardware electronics space.
So Kinect will be successful, whether on the Xbox 360 or not, so itâs hard to qualify what a success is. The funny thing is if by this time next year, Sony caves in, and creates a Sony Kinect. Now you have PS3 owners warming to the idea of Kinect, even if itâs not connected (pun realized) to their PS3?s directly.
One last thing. I posted a video on YouTube of booth babes at E3 doing Dance Central.
There was one comment that I think speaks volumes in a subtle way:
âNever thought I would see the day when booth babes wanted to play games at e3âŚ. kinect may be on to something here.â
You guys had too many long letters last episode, so my own answer to the Question of the Week went unspoken. So, here it is again đ
Question of the Week:
I have had the benefit of actually having been hands-on with all of these devices.
Nintendo 3DS: 3D video on it is pretty poor. It doesnât look 3D â it looks blurry. However, 3D CGI object, aka videogames, look spectacular. Pikmin and Super Mario Bros, for example, had depth and clarity.
Something you guys didnât mention is the fact that the 3DS adds an analog stick. Donât underestimate that gameplay factor.
Nintendo handheld fans are like Apple fans. Theyâll early adopt without hesitation. Theyâll not only buy it on day one, theyâll buy three or four of them in a year.
Move: The control works better than the Wiimote, but unfortunately, it still resembles the Wiimote. Sony not only had the bad sense to imitate Nintendoâs control, but to make the SAME. EXACT. GAMES.
Something you failed to mention: many of the single player games require two wands, like Boxing. This is a bad thing for Sony, because imagine youâre the consumer. You buy the bundle for $100. You start to play, but the game informs you: âSorry, you canât play Boxing without a second controlâ. You play their sports bundle. âSorry, you canât play half the sports like archery without a second control.â
I think thereâs a term for this. Oh, yes. BAIT AND SWITCH. Sony better put a label large and loud that says âRequires Second Wand to Playâ on some of these games.
Kinect: It works. That was the first hurdle. It actually works and works WELL. The second hurdle is getting people to wrap their heads around the concept of gesture-based control.
However, thereâs one huge mistake youâre making regarding Kinect â that itâs an Xbox 360 device.
Itâs not.
Microsoft may be launching Kinect on the Xbox 360, but they are developing a PC compatible version, and even more important, a SET TOP BOX version.
http://www.gamestooge.com/2010/06/23/kinect-standalone-pc-compatible-models-by-2011/
Thatâs right, a standalone version of Kinect whose tech will be farmed out to other hardware manufacturers â think Panasonic, Sharp, and so on. This is Microsoftâs attempt to enter the hardware electronics space.
So Kinect will be successful, whether on the Xbox 360 or not, so itâs hard to qualify what a success is. The funny thing is if by this time next year, Sony caves in, and creates a Sony Kinect. Now you have PS3 owners warming to the idea of Kinect, even if itâs not connected (pun realized) to their PS3?s directly.
One last thing. I posted a video on YouTube of booth babes at E3 doing Dance Central.
There was one comment that I think speaks volumes in a subtle way:
âNever thought I would see the day when booth babes wanted to play games at e3âŚ. kinect may be on to something here.â
@Sony re-releasing old games in HD:
LOL! They’re having issues getting new developers on? Kinda weird, since Valve will bring Portal 2 on PS3.
Derrick is pretty much right, I wouldn’t buy the same game again. Hey, I’m glad that Valve’s Portal and ID’s Quake 3 examples stuck with you đ
@New Kings Quest Game Coming:
Oh my … mod drama, the best ever drama.
Jennifer, you’re spot on. That would have been the best approach.
Do a search on “Red Alert – A Path Beyond”. It’s a fan game. Westwood not only allowed them to use the name, they also let them to use their game engine!
@PlayStation 3 update coming:
Consoles ARE for gaming. The people selling them however will use any means possible to sell more of them. And if that means integrating social networks like Facebook, they’ll do it!
Plus, having the “Be Efficient” achievement visible on Facebook = advertising đ
Guys, take some time, get some rest before doing the show đ
I love each episode and I don’t want to be left with the feeling that making each episode is all work and no fun for you guys.
I lol-ed when you started bashing the iPhone 4. As somebody else said, when making a RF device, RF performance is paramount. Jobs kinda mixed up the priority list. Stevie, the iPhone is supposed to be a cell phone first!
@Question of the week:
Yes. Because Steam sells more games than Battlenet. It sells more games, from more developers and publishers than Blizzard’s Battlenet.
Again, the entity that has more games wins. In this case, Steam.
@Sony re-releasing old games in HD:
LOL! They’re having issues getting new developers on? Kinda weird, since Valve will bring Portal 2 on PS3.
Derrick is pretty much right, I wouldn’t buy the same game again. Hey, I’m glad that Valve’s Portal and ID’s Quake 3 examples stuck with you đ
@New Kings Quest Game Coming:
Oh my … mod drama, the best ever drama.
Jennifer, you’re spot on. That would have been the best approach.
Do a search on “Red Alert – A Path Beyond”. It’s a fan game. Westwood not only allowed them to use the name, they also let them to use their game engine!
@PlayStation 3 update coming:
Consoles ARE for gaming. The people selling them however will use any means possible to sell more of them. And if that means integrating social networks like Facebook, they’ll do it!
Plus, having the “Be Efficient” achievement visible on Facebook = advertising đ
Guys, take some time, get some rest before doing the show đ
I love each episode and I don’t want to be left with the feeling that making each episode is all work and no fun for you guys.
I lol-ed when you started bashing the iPhone 4. As somebody else said, when making a RF device, RF performance is paramount. Jobs kinda mixed up the priority list. Stevie, the iPhone is supposed to be a cell phone first!
@Question of the week:
Yes. Because Steam sells more games than Battlenet. It sells more games, from more developers and publishers than Blizzard’s Battlenet.
Again, the entity that has more games wins. In this case, Steam.