Episode 263: Play Alter Ego

This week lacks Paul, but has plenty of good show, as Jordan refuses to believe in the magic of the old adventure game Alter Ego. This week’s game of the week is inspired by the Kickstarter reboot, as the gang discusses the classic Battle Chess.

As for the news:

All this, plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What is your favorite free-to-play game?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 263: Play Alter Ego”

  1. @Aussie Diablo III preorders not getting refunded from GAME
    This sucks major balls. Aussies already get the short end of the stick, due to significantly higher prices. I pity them, they deserve better.

    @Dark Souls multiplayer
    I think that another game that uses a similar concept is TrackMania Nations. Granted, in TMN you only see the ghost of the other players, they don’t affect the game too much.

    @QOTW:
    Hmm, I don’t really play free-to-play games. I did play a free game (“Red Alert: A Path Beyond”) though.

  2. Good news, Herr: Blizzard is accepting those preorder refunds from GAME. Just send them your receipt, and you can purchase it from Blizzard minus the deposit.

  3. Hi Jonah, Jordan, Paul and Dan;

    I love the show and really enjoy listening to your buys perspective on the gaming industry.

    I was wondering if you guys could discuss the recent announcement for an Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate I & II and their plans to make Baldur’s Gate III.

    Do you think they will actually make this worth buying since you can get both of the Original games gog.com rather cheaply. I’m sure these Enhanced Editions will be around $60. I can’t help but want to keep my expectations low on this even though I do love the BG series.

  4. Some awkward silence there… I think Dan was a bit tired during recording.

    @QOTW: I would say hands down Team Fortress 2, it is just so fun. I have clocked in 265 hours and the only reason I have stopped playing it is because I know every nook and cranny in it. It also gets kind of boring when you’re constantly at the top of the leaderboard :P.

    I have recently started play the MOBA Super Monday Night Combat. It’s great, I’ve played 78 hours of it, but it only has 1 mode and 3 maps as of yet. There isn’t much else to do but master the different classes. I think it also made me hate MOBA games just because there is rarely a team environment. Everyone gets pissy whenever their team loses, and blame it on their teammates even if they were the worst player. I don’t know, in TF2 I always had that feeling of being in a huge team cooperating, and if you died it was your fault.

    I would also like to note that I have never spent a penny on free-to-play games.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

TD Gaming Podcast 100: KatastroephicTD Gaming Podcast 100: Katastroephic

This weeks gaming podcast flashes back to Yo! Noid, for the NES and a bit of gaming history on Accolade while touching on some hot news topics:

This week’s soap box we’re asking you if you believe social networking and new media techniques will help or hinder the gaming industry.

Episode 246: Computer SpecsEpisode 246: Computer Specs

CES 2012 is going strong, as Jonah and Jordan do tonight’s podcast without Paul, who is packing for a trip. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the notorious Custer’s Revenge, and a punch of intriguing news and rumors comprise this week’s topics:

  • Fallout MMO rights belong to Bethesda as Interplay settles
  • Pachter sez there’s “zero chance” of PS4 at E3 2012
  • Rumor: Next Xbox tablet-based?
  • Rumor: Kaz Hirai to return as president of Sony
  • Diablo III release held due to South Korea (from GameFront)

Plenty of Reader Feedback this week, which is good because we forgot to include a Question of the Week this time.

Beauty of Micro-transaction MMO’sBeauty of Micro-transaction MMO’s

Taken from Florensia OnlineThere is room to grow in the world of massive multiplayer online gaming. A large online community should not have to subscribe to a monthly charge to play great MMORPG’s because there are other known models that work, including the micro-transaction based MMO.

At first, this sounds like a dirty word, micro-transaction. Often we relate it with being “nickle and dimed” through a video game by means of dirty marketing which feeds our enthusiastic gamer addiction. Put this thought aside for a minute and keep an open mind.

Imagine a game with worlds the size of World of Warcraft and stories as in-depth as Guild Wars (which is not monthly itself) but free from monthly payments (or “playments” a new term that needs to be coined). The reason behind the monthly charge covers service fees, technical support staff, bandwidth, servers and sheer volume of Activision Blizzards user base.

The micro-transaction concept could still help pay for all the overhead of running an online gaming business because gamers tend to be over-enthusiastic about their great addictive games. If you build a game with excellent content, replay value and strive for a community atmosphere a micro-transaction title can work just as well as a subscription based game.

One beautiful aspect to micro-transaction models is paying for content when you’re willing to pay. This includes cosmetic character alterations, basic needs items (health potions) and other products to enhance the playability of the game without requiring the gamer to do so. There will be some gamers that use this as a “free ride” and never buy anything while other gamers spend way too much because they have expendable income which helps balance out costs.

(more…)