In-Game Chat

We’re whistling for the wind at the following link.

For the first time in the longest we’re actually motivated by the summer doldrums.  We’re generally impatient people and we’d love to have the new consoles and many new games in hand, but we’re also anxious to clear this extraordinary backlog of games from our ledger.  We won’t get it done of course, but we’ll labor under the illusion that we will, and we’ll happily add to the list during every sale and discount the summer cares to offer.  Two steps forward and two steps back, I suppose.

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We’re setting course for the status quo at the following link.

We’re not sure if a reversal of of its policy will lead to a reversal of fortunes, but Microsoft has taken unprecedented action in response to overwhelming negative sentiment by removing the XBox One’s DRM.  This solves one very important issue with the new system, but leaves us wondering if maybe we’ve only seen the first of many adjustments to come between now and the release of the console this fall.

This should have been our chance to talk in detail to one another about The Last of Us, but out of respect to those hosts who couldn’t attend this show and the many listeners who haven’t quite finished the game, we’re leaving spoilers out of the conversation for the time being.  We made a deliberate exercise of talking at length without talking in depth, and it’s a testament to the quality of the game that there was still so much to say.

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My heart is in the Gold Saucer at the following link.

There’s simply no ignoring Microsoft at the moment; the leanest piece of news, the merest fraction of information about their designs on the future of games demands our full attention.  Every pound and ounce of us screams to leave the story be for just a few more days so that history can be a judge and we can pretend to have been wise and judicious in a time of boiling rage and bombast and vile, stinking stupidity.  But we’ve got designs of our own, and we have our own thoughts to share, and we’re wrong so often we can’t help but keep clawing away in an effort to be right.

Whatever is said on the many stages of E3 this coming week, you can be sure that our beloved hobby will have suffered its most painful growth spurt, and that the easy, effortless fun of the past is well and truly gone.  There’s plenty of fun left to us, make no mistake, and it may well be the best we’ve ever had, but we’re going to pay for it, and we’ll pay in bitter cash.  I remember a time when I wished desperately that my hobby would grow up; that it would put on big-boy pants and engage the world with an adult’s sensibilities.  Whichever god or djinn or monkey’s paw happened to be listening in clearly misunderstood what I was after.

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A high tide lifts all boats at the following link.

Much has been said, by this show and others, about the supposed schemes and restrictions we’ll face with the new consoles when they arrive later this year.  There’s a lot of (forgivable) wailing and gnashing of teeth when you consider the worst of all possible outcomes, and what effect it’s likely to have on our darling hobby.  But there are reasons to be optimistic.  There are reasons to believe our pastime will be improved in many, if not most, respects, and that this will be true for all platforms, if not all players.  It’s certainly best to remain skeptical as all hell right now, but the bad dream has hardly come true, and good news is still a possibility.

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We’ve got a bridge to sell you at the following link.

Despite a solid three hours of gesticulation, exasperation, raised voices and facepalms, we really don’t know what to make of Microsoft’s announcement of the new Xbox.  There are optimistic voices in the press, in the gaming community and inside our own skulls suggesting we wait until E3 to pass judgement, but there’s little chance we’ll be rewarded for our patience and understanding.  Microsoft hasn’t done themselves any favors and I don’t think their customers should either.  We’ll watch and we’ll wait and we’ll give them a chance to explain, but we’ll be carrying a torch for Sony while we do.

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We’re in the swing of things at the following link.

Our first segment, as usual, is brought to you by Electronic Arts and their very tarnished image, which they’ve managed this week to rub off onto Nintendo.  Then we spend a short stretch with a spoiler-free, qualitative discussion of Metro: Last Light.  In the second hour we talk with Jamie Fristrom of Happion Labs about his game, Energy Hook.

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We’re going over our buyout contract with Disney at the following link.

It’s the final time that you’ll be hearing us pre-taped as we recorded the show about six hours earlier. Next week sees us back live on the air again and, hopefully, with you in the chat room making sure we have our facts straight. In the meantime, we still cover some of the rumors concerning Microsoft’s next console, talk about what it means for EA to make games for the Star Wars franchise while Disney lords over their shoulders, and we try as best we can to tell you just what is happening with this whole Silicon Knights & Precursor Games situation.

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We’re polishing up our crystal ball at the following link.

Time is closing in on Microsoft for the reveal of their next console and that only leaves us with a few weeks left to predict and speculate on what they’ll deliver. It starts with going over game release dates, but like we always do, that spirals into a much larger conversation of how we’re taking the release of new consoles. Also, Jeremy took to Zeno Clash II this week and gives us his take on the “first person fister”. Outside of next-gen talk and what Zeno Clash II actually is, we cover the lawsuit filed over false advertising and our hopes (however unlikely) that it might change the way we’re presented with early game footage.

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Our latest episode is up for auction at the following link.

We’re not exactly sure how auctions work, or, more specifically, how the auctioning off of THQ works, but we know some of how Gearbox works and we haven’t yet come to terms with them holding onto the IP of Homeworld. Beyond the discussion of all the titles Nordic Games grabbed from THQ, we received an interesting email with an idea of a new mode developers could provide for gamers who want to get the experience of a game, but without experiencing the parts that exist to extended the length of one. It provides an interesting concept, and we’d be curious to know what you think in comparison to our thoughts on the subject.

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In-Game Chat was taped before a live studio audience (that was empty) at the following link.

Microsoft takes center stage for this episode. The first hour is covering their recent rumors of being always online, subscription model pricing, their media focus, and a number of other things pouring out of the mill the past two weeks. Still, Microsoft remains silent on the issue, but time waits for no one and soon…we should have a lot more to say on the subject with some amount of actual concrete facts. The second hour of the show gives us time to step into the mailbag and respond to some of it that has been piling up over the past few weeks or so.

A show note: This episode and the next few will be pre-taped. We record them live the morning of the show due to scheduling and then have it play back during its regular time slot. You can still listen to the episode as it airs, but it will also be available to download at the same time. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but hope you will bear with us for the next few weeks until our own personal schedules get back on track.

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Don’t shoot the skitterlings at the following link.

It’s been a long time since they were a driving force in gaming, but the passing of LucasArts demands acknowledgement and somber reflection, though not for more than half an hour, apparently.  We devote at least as much time to struggling with our feelings about Defiance; a game that far exceeds expectations, but has no right to be as fun as it is.  We also undertake a second, equally fruitless examination of Bioshock: Infinite, and can’t decide if a week’s worth of hindsight puts the game in a better light or a worse one.

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God only knows what we’d do without you at the following link.

Tonight’s first hour is largely about GDC, very much against our original plan.  In any other year it would be our sole point of discussion, but it’s unlikely that any other year saw or will see the release of BioShock: Infinite this week.  Given our druthers, we’d talk about nothing but the game, but Matt was within spitting distance of the ending, so we broke protocol, sent him back home to finish, and demanded he come back around for the second hour of spoilers.

Sadly, and predictably, this doesn’t turn out as well as we’d like.  A single hour isn’t nearly enough time to compare notes on Infinite, and as two of us had only just finished the game before the program, there was no time for us to come to terms with what it all means.  As a result, we sound less like practiced critics, and more like moviegoers huddled outside the theater after an especially interesting film.  I expect we can form some honest questions and criticisms before we meet again.

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We’ve reached our stretch goals at the following link.

We pass the first hour this week discussing the resignation and legacy of EA’s CEO John Riccitiello, the possibility of price hikes for games of the next generation, and the various available Bioshock: Infinite pre-order bonuses.  For the second half of the show, we speak with Kevin Saunders and Colin McComb of InXile Entertainment about the funding and development of Torment: Tides of Numenera.  We’d like to thank Colin and Kevin for sharing their time, and we offer special thanks to everyone who joined us live and offered questions for the developers and insights for the hosts.

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We’re available offline at the following link.

EA’s feeble excuses for SimCity’s cockamamie server dependence continue to be the most interesting thing going in the news, which gives that story full rights to our first hour.  In the second half we’re back into the mailbag, waffling over a Bioshock Infinite preorder, and reaffirming our stance on mooks, assassins, and the fourth wall.

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