Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 29

We’d buy that for a dollar at the following link.

It would be hard to pretend that EA wasn’t offering the Humble Origin Bundle to garner praise and sow good will, but it’s also hard to pretend it isn’t working.  As much well-deserved hate as EA has borne in recent years, it’s worth reiterating that consumer sentiment is useless if it can’t be adjusted, and voting with our wallets simply doesn’t work if you keep them closed.  If positive reinforcement works for puppies and children, then we can assume it works to some degree for publishers.  And radio hosts.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 28

We’ve been kept in the dark at the following link.

It would be hard for us to hide or deny our love of up-to-the-minute facts about the state of the games business or the progress of our most anticipated titles, but a reveal wouldn’t amount to much without the anticipation.  For that to work, publishers have to cultivate their lies and develop their policies in secret, and we try to remember that some degree of misdirection is fair.  But there’s a point beyond which every word they utter becomes suspect, and no two of us seems to agree on where that line should be placed.  We’ve been told by what passes for games journalism that gamers seem incapable of rising above their own entitlement – to product, price, and content – but it seems that where information is concerned, many of them have forgotten to pick the plank out of their own eye first.

 

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 27

We’re head over heels at the following link.

While it’s nice to be rewarded for skepticism with the sure knowledge that you dodged a bullet or avoided an unwise purchase, it’s a far better thing to be pleasantly surprised by something you hadn’t been hoping for at all.  In this case, having never strapped one of the contraptions to my own head, I’ve been doubtful of the Oculus Rift’s capabilities and I’ve harrumphed about it often.  But the consistent goodwill toward the Rift has it creeping up my interest meter, and now, with the joining of John Carmack’s positronic cyborg brain to the Oculus imaginarium, I have no choice but to be excited for whatever the hell it is that thing will do.  No choice at all.

Categories
Episodes

Season 7, Episode 26

We’re exploring the overworld at the following link.

It’s not uncommon for the developer of a newly announced MMOG to promise players the moon and stars and to insist they’ll offer a revolutionary way of getting there.  What’s strange to me is to see them (apparently) abandon the safest choices made by their peers, and to borrow so heavily from the most successful games in nearly every other genre and category.  If Everquest Next can deliver on even a portion of what they’ve promised and alluded to, then it will be well worth our time to investigate everything it has to offer.  But the odds are against them – against all of us, really – and I’m beginning to doubt the moon and stars exist at all.