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:
- Aussie Diablo III preorders not getting refunded from GAME
- CliffyB praises Dark Souls multiplayer, urges Japanese devs to take notice
- Atari: Eden Studios not closed, Test Drive Unlimited 2 support still ongoing
- Bach: Sony’s mismanagement of PS3 led to Xbox successes
- Report: 38 Studios fighting to stay solvent
All this, plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What is your favorite free-to-play game?”
The game industry, like other entertainment avenues, is a risky business in which publishers have to pick titles they “predict” will do well in the market while passing on other “risky” propositions. While a the good ol’ shooter title will break sales records, the market cannot rely on one genre to carry the business especially considering many of these titles are forgotten within two months from launch. Publishers are going to be forced in expanding their reach to “family games” in order to finance new blockbuster titles.
The idea of designing a “family” game isn’t new to our industry, as a matter of fact, it’s one of the oldest cornerstones of video game entertainment. Pong, Centipede, Pac-Man, Space Invaders and many other classic titles were no doubt playable by the entire family, but things have changed. We’ve evolved from hit titles like Donkey Kong to hit titles like Halo. We migrated from 2D gaming to full 3D adventures and pixel graphics to pixel shaders, but where do we go next?
@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.
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.
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.
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.
@PlayAlterEgo: I got kidnapped and killed on my way to school…