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Episode 238: No Free PornEpisode 238: No Free Porn

November 9, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 8:06 pm

This week’s episode is also abbreviated, as Jordan is somewhere in Pennsylvania looking for a gingerbread house while Paul is still trying to pack his entire NES library into a single suitcase. Jonah and Paul still got in enough time to do a Gaming Flashback on Thief: The Dark Project, and the following news items:

Steam forums hacked
Xbox 360 failure rate down to 10%
Sony revamps< PSN sharing policy
BioWare and EA send cease-and-desist order to NeoGAF over Mass Effect 3 spoilers

All this and Reader Feedback, too, as well as a new Question of the Week, “If you have the opportunity to read or view a highly anticipated game’s story months before it was released, would you do it or would you deliberately turn it away to preserve yourself from spoilers?” Let us know!

Episode 232: Remember Pong?Episode 232: Remember Pong?

September 21, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 7:44 pm

This week, there’s no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there is a ton of news and Reader Feedback as Paul is finally present to react to some hate mail.

The news includes some huge items, like:

No PSN unless you waive lawsuit
Netflix adds game rentals to Qwikster
DC Universe Online goes free-to-play
Xbox Live officially a part of Windows 8
Microsoft: Xbox TV this Fall
Rogers Cable ordered to stop throttling gamers
Nintendo and Valve say no to smartphone games

The Question of the Week: What was the very first home videogame you ever played?

Episode 228: Two Thirds ShowEpisode 228: Two Thirds Show

August 24, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 7:27 pm

This week is a shorter-than-usual show as Paul S. Nowak is away on a birthday vacation. Instead, Jonah and Jordan discuss the Sega Saturn game Burning Rangers, and the following news topics:

Dragon Age III will be a ‘mix’ of the first two games
GameStop developing console and PC game streaming
Is the Xbox 720 chip set?
Sony on when they’ll consider the PS4
Developer sez industry is failing female gamers

There’s also reader feedback and the Question of the Week: What do you look for first in a game’s bullet-point features? Also, check out some of the outtakes after the show ends.

Star Wars Galaxies Shutdown BacklashStar Wars Galaxies Shutdown Backlash

June 30, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 6:41 pm

Despite the announced shutdown of Star Wars: Galaxies and the approaching new Star Wars-based MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, loyal subscribers don’t want Galaxies to end. They’ve begun a petition to try to convince Sony to let the MMO live on as a free-to-play MMO.

The petition asks Sony to convert the game to a ‘freemium’, microtransaction-based MMO, and that Sony consolidate players onto a smaller number of servers and facilitate character transfer to reduce operational costs in order to keep the game running. The petition has already gotten thousands signatures in a few days.

One of the petition leaders posted:

We are not your typical gamers.

We are not a commodity.

But if you look at the recent decision by Lucasarts to shut down Star Wars Galaxies, you might be inclined to think we are both of those things. Lucasarts thinks that we are a non-perishable commodity that can be shoved into a shipping crate and moved down the road to their next project. That is not the case. Not even close.

We are a vibrant community. We have seen our ups and downs, but we are only stronger because of it. We have endured all manner of broken promises and misleading “improvements” to this game, and throughout all of it, we have continued to build our community, and show support and loyalty to this great game. But we didn’t do it because of a game. We did it because of our community here.

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Gaming Podcast 219: ColecoVision RulesGaming Podcast 219: ColecoVision Rules

June 21, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 10:52 pm

Paul crows about Nintendo’s dominance over the ColecoVision and Dreamcast, while Jonah and Jordan reminisce about this week’s Gaming Flashback, Electronic Arts’ Barnstorming for the Atari 2600.

The news also includes the following topics:

Duke Nukem Forever review fiasco
Harrison: Apple will be the games industry in 10 years
Tretton: No need for PS4, PS3 now hitting its stride
Slimmer PS3 coming?

This week’s Gaming History looks at the husband-and-wife developing team Freefall Associates, while the Question of the Week is: How much weight do you give the score of a review? Let us know what you think.

Sony to Testify In Person Re: PSN OutageSony to Testify In Person Re: PSN Outage

May 31, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 5:15 pm

Sony will finally be sending a high-level executive to testify before the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade on the three week outage of PlayStation Network and Sony’s slowness in informing its customers on the compromising of personal and credit card data.

Ken Johnson, an aide to subcommittee chairwoman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), told The Atlantic Magazine that Tim Schaff, president of Sony Network Entertainment, would testify before the subcommittee next week:

“While Chairman Bono Mack remains critical of Sony’s initial handling of the data breaches, she also is appreciative that the company has now agreed to testify. The Chairman firmly believes that the lessons learned from…the Sony…experiences can be instructive and guide us as we develop comprehensive data protection legislation. We expect to introduce that legislation, which will provide new safeguards for American consumers, in the next few weeks.”

Previously, Sony’s Kaz Hirai had only sent his testimony in a letter to the Committee.

Australian PSN Restoration DelayedAustralian PSN Restoration Delayed

May 17, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 8:55 am

The Japanese government has not allowed PlayStation Network to be activated for Japanese gamers yet due to security concerns, and now an expert is advising Australia to follow suit.

Professor Bill Caelli told newspaper The Australian, “Why is it that in the IT industry enterprises certify themselves?” said Caelli, noting that PSN didn’t have the same restrictions, and added that the public has “no way of assessing the assurances given by the owners of the (PSN) system themselves”.

Reportedly, Australian privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has been in contact with Sony, and has not judged yet whether Sony has given them enough information to restore PSN. His investigation will be an ongoing one as well, even after PSN is restored.

When it was discovered user information had been stolen during the PSN breach, the Australian federal government announced plans for a law forcing companies to disclose privacy breaches, although it was unclear when it might come into effect. Privacy minister Brendan O’Connor had stated:

“Sony isn’t alone. We’ve seen serious privacy-related incidents in recent months involving other large companies. All companies that collect customers’ personal information must ensure that the information is safe and secure from misuse.”

We’ll stay on this story as it develops.

PSN Service Restored (Partially)PSN Service Restored (Partially)

May 14, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 11:09 pm

CNet is reporting that partial service PlayStation Network has been restored, allowing gamers to play online and shop in the PSN Store. Nearly its entire portfolio of online games, game forums and Web sites will go back online but the company will also require players to reset their passwords.

Sony states:

As the result of a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s network, SOE shut down its game services in order for the company to undertake an investigation and incorporate rigorous enhancements to the overall security of the network infrastructure. SOE worked with several outside respected security firms during the course of implementing significant security measures that strengthen safeguards against unauthorized activity and provide customers with greater protection of their personal information.
SOE made enhancements to overall data security as well, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, additional software monitoring, performing new penetration and vulnerability testing, and increased levels of encryption.

“Our main priority is the safety and security of our customers’ personal information,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “We are making consumer data protection a full-time, company-wide commitment, and have applied enhanced security technologies so that our customers can feel protected and confident about playing our games.”

Hirai added, “We are committed to delivering secure and entertaining games for players of all ages and thank each of our players for their patience and support during this difficult time.”

SOE will also be offering its customers a “Welcome Back” program that includes special game content and services to all registered Station Account holders. As part of this program, players will receive 30 days of additional game time plus one day for each day SOE’s services were down.

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PSN Outage Causes 200% Rise in PS3 Trade-InsPSN Outage Causes 200% Rise in PS3 Trade-Ins

May 13, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 12:57 am

The patience of PlayStation 3 owners is wearing thin as retailers are reporting a 200% increase in PlayStation 3 trade-ins, usually for Xbox 360 consoles, as well as sales slumps for PSN points cards and fewer multiplatform game sales for PS3.

“In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades,” says one source, a store manager at a major UK retailer speaking on condition of anonymity. “However from the second week onwards we have seen an increase of over 200 per cent on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.”

Another UK source has reported that the independent retailer had seen a “massive increase” in the volume of PS3s traded in in recent weeks, and has pegged the biggest trade-in demographic as “the hardcore online shooter crowd”, who are logically the group most likely to defect when their online gaming is wiped.

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Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”

May 11, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 9:58 am

While full PlayStation Network service is expected to return by May 31, Eurogamer is reporting that an internal Sony source is promising that online matchmaking will be up “in a few days”.

SCE corporate communications director Patrick Seybold would not confirm this, only stating:

“We’re working to get the network back on as soon as we can.”

An unnamed PlayStation Europe community manager has confirmed that Sony is prioritizing online play, and getting online matchmaking up as soon as possible.

According to a tweet from Musterbuster:

“Once again, 31st May is the date for FULL restoration of PSN services. Restoration is phased. Online gaming will return BEFORE May 31st.”

We’ll keep following the story as it happens. Soon, PS3 gamers will finally be able to hack enemies to pieces with Kratos online in Mortal Kombat.