This double stuffed episode makes up for last week’s week off, even without Paul in the podcast.
The news covers the following items:
They then covered the top stories of the year, which leads to the Question of the Week, “What was the biggest news item in 2012?”
The little DS title Guitar Hero: On Tour arrived with a hand-held attachment for playing guitar on the go. Some reviewers found it cramped, annoying and too damn small to really feel any comfort. Other reviews found it exciting, fresh and a break from standard DS games.
Reviews aside, 300,000 people are willing to bet money that the DS title was going to rock the house. The concept hit the mark for the DS because the game system is for on the go “touch and feel” style games; Guitar Hero: On Tour is definitely a touch and feel game.
Although we’ve not played it, we’re not too surprised that 300k people purchased the title, considering the install base for the Nintendo DS device itself. With such a large install base, even if only 25% of the target audience buys into the product they’ll be rolling in the dough.
Will this inspire a Rock Band style ‘drum game’ for the future from the Activision competitors or was this nothing but a fluke?
(Thanks, GameSpot)
Apparently the war is in full force and Microsoft’s Don Mattrick is ready to poke the flag in the ground and call it a sure fire victory (in so many words). He said he’s “willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PS3” (eurogamer)
They’re either not seeing the Wii as a competitor or are trying to avoid that evil word considering the growth of the tiny little console in the market. After telling the audience the Xbox 360 has already outpaced the PlayStation 3 and Wii he failed to mention the one-year head start the 360 had over its competitors.
There are, of course, bonuses to talking figures when you were first out of the gate. The interesting facts, which won’t present themselves for years now, will be the end unit sales figures for Wii, 360 and PlayStation 3 when all boxes are end-of-life’d. We’re sure to hear each side declare victory when they’ve decided when the war actually ends. In Microsoft’s eyes, the console war will probably end when they release the next-generation box, barring the fact that they should wait at least one year before claiming the title.
You can’t argue with the facts, Xbox 360 is doing very well in the United States (if we ignore Japan). The Nintendo Wii has sold 8.8 million units to the Xbox 360‘s 10.3 million units. How many units did the Xbox 360 have sold around the same time Nintendo boasts 8.8 million? Probably a bit less.
Press can be a great thing when you have numbers to play with and figures to skew. Oddly enough, if some of us are any indication, we’ve purchased multiple Xbox 360’s because of dead systems. Sure, we’re stupid for actually doing it, but those figures will work into the total units sold for the Xbox 360 hardware sales. Imagine, their failing systems may have actually boosted sales figures a bit; probably not statistically significant but funny non-the-less.
We can’t wait to see what type of numbers Sony and Nintendo are going to fling out. If we ask each competitor, we’re sure they’ll say we’re going to win the console war. Nintendo may just ask, “what console war? We just make game hardware” and you can’t fault them there!
Jordan Lund can’t make Episode 280, but fortunately, Paul S. Nowak makes his triumphant return, albeit pumped full of medication. Enjoy his drug-fueled babbling as he waxes poetic on the virtues of playing social networking games while high.
He was lucid enough to discuss the following news items with the gang, however:
Gaming Podcast is also running a new contest to win a free Steam code for the hotly anticipated XCOM: Enemy Unknown remake. All listeners have to do is answer the Question of the Week in the comments section, “What is your favorite game from the 1990’s?”
That one guy saying ps2 had “no good games” is an idiot, i never played shadow of the Colossus or ICO but i now own them on PS3 and know they are regarded as great, I like Killzone on PS2 for that system for it’s specs. however metal gear solid 2 killed it in its day and MGS 3 was considered great. Ratchet and clank and Jak and daxter games started on PS2 as well as Killzone. Red Faction got it’s start on PS2. I thought Twisted metal black was a solid game. Game cube and Xbox offered unique gameplay ie resident evil remake and prequel and mario and friends for Gamecube and poopy fps games for Xbox other than halo and fable being it’s little too late good game, also jade empire and KOTOR were overlooked by some. But i think when you consider Gamecubes weak start, and Xbox’s weak start and lack of solid games, they will think fondly of when PS2 was there main system for even just a little while, and smile with a fond memory.
Their** main system
Also the devil may cry series, it had a co op resident evil game i always wanted to play but never did (4 player zombie co op ahead of it’s time) it had wipeout i believe but i never played till psp. It’s a good racing game. It had some crash bandicoot games thatr were decent platformers, and some good 3rd party support (that should be a joke it had huge 3rd party support but def some crap games in there). But def some “gems” too, like the onimusha series which i wish they would remake in hd, cuz i only played the first one(was a broke kid)
@PS2 stops shipping
It is far from the end of the PS2. When I was leaving Russia in 2004, the top consoles there were PS1 and Sega MegaDrive. PS2 was priced above anyones budget and it was impossible to find one in stores. On the other hand, UK had Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. Therefore, I expect that PS2 will stop officially selling in 1st world places, but move on to BRICKs. China still stamps out Sega MegaDrives for sale in the ex-soviet states.
@WWE
I stopped caring for WW games. They were so cool in the PS1 days of Smackdown. But eventually evolved into FIFA style year-on updates. It’s just not the same anymore.
@QOTW
To be honest, none of stories look that big to me. Nintendo made a disappointing launch of the new generation. Racism and Sexism in a gaming industry where 90% of leading characters are white men. Some people I never heard of left. Some companies I never cared for shut down. If I am to choose one, I will go for PS2 breathing it’s Japanese last. A golden era of gaming is coming to a close. A time when games were unique and innovative. It will be missed.
@PS2 stopped shipping in Japan:
RIP ps2, you had an awesome run!
@QOTW:
i think that 2012 was not that big for gaming industries, with the recovery from the recession and stuff, it was relatively a slow year. new halo, new cod, the only 2 things that got my attention was borderlands 2 and battlefield 4 announced.
and of course, the THQ’s bankurrupcy (please correct)
… and I’m back from my almost internet-less vacation.
@Sony stops shipping PlayStation 2 in Japan and @Arthur V
I think it is the last breath for the console. Sure, current owners will still play their games, heck Cry is doing a let’s play for Haunting Grounds, so PS2 gaming will continue. But not for long. The death spiral starts when people stop developing for it, and I think this started earlier.
As for letting go of old hardware, dunno. Nostalgia does play a part, at least for consumers; I mean there are no other costs for owning an old console, so unless you want to raise some money or free some space, why ditch it?
@WWE may not get $45M owed by THQ for license
Meh, not a fan of those games. But THQ bankrupt? Man, I guess I have been living under a rock. Just went through the news, apparently the judge denied the bankruptcy plan.
In the light of that then yeah, I guess what Dan said is right, the Humble Bundle was a desperate ate attempt to get some money.
As for games published by a bankrupt THQ and with support of crowd funding, I would love to see how THAT would pan out in case the judge rules on denying the bankruptcy and auctioning the assets of the company …
Oh, apparently the assets will be sold title by title after all …
@QOTW: the bankruptcy of GSC Games, Ukraine.
The first game I played from them was Codename: Outbreak, and I was impressed by it despite its minor flaws. The STALKER games were also dear to me, and were proof that Outbreak was not a fluke.
I was excited by the announcements of STALKER 2, and in my eyes the company was golden.
Then they announced they went bankrupt.
Anyway, I think I know what will be the biggest news in 2013-2014: PS Vita and WiiU sales fail to meet expectations. Oh wait, this already happened … silly me …