Image via Wikipedia "Everyone's Coming to Get Me!"
Hello and welcome to GamerCatz podcast number 4!
This podcast, Frostynuts joins our litter of GamerCatz! GamerCat Kheren unfortunately had to leave the cast due to a terrible attack of Real Life. We wish him well and look forward to having him back on now and then.
The gaming news for this podcast:
Virtual goods sales are poised to rise 40% in the US in 2011 to an estimated $2.1 billion (no, that 'b' is not a mistake), due to iPhone apps, free-to-play games like Everquest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online, virtual goods on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, digital distribution, and social network sites like Facebook. We share our theories on why we think the microtransaction model is increasing in the US.
Are pre-orders and collector's editions of games worth it? We have mixed reviews on the items that have come with the different pre-order and collector editions. Blizzard has some terrific collector edition items, Bioshock's collector edition and Bioware's pre-order items are less than stellar.
Digital distribution of games is increasing dramatically. We discuss the huge pros for companies like Steam, Direct2Drive, and gog.com having older games available that we can't buy in store anymore and not having to deal with scratched game discs. We also discuss the cons briefly, such as not having the original discs available and the decrease in graphics quality.
White Wolf has officially announced the worst kept secret of a long time, World of Darkness Online. So, we discuss the upcoming MMO and the White Wolf's games in general, such as Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines and the table-top games. The game is slated for release in 2012.
Frostynuts shares how his half-orc used a portable battering ram to take out an entire Orc army.
We make a digression to talk about Mayan calendars (due to end in 2012) and famous Mayan sites like Mexico's Chichen Itza (which shows up in Civilization V).
“Nintendogs blamed for child mauling”. First, let's be clear—we felt horrible for the young child who suffered through this attack, and we mean absolutely no ill will towards her or what she went through. We hope the girl heals well both physically and psychologically. We also feel bad for the dog's owner, who has to live with the fact that her dog both attacked someone and had to be put to sleep. That's something she'll never be able to live down. That being said, can someone please explain to us how a video game with a completely fake dog bark sound gets blamed for a child mauling, when the child allegedly kicked the dog?
Bobby Kotick is at it again. This time he's railing against EA, and former Infinity Ward employees Jason West and Vince Zampella, who were fired for insubordination and then promptly sued Activision in response. There are enough sour grapes in this interview to make an entire keg of red wine vinegar. Don't miss N'Eligahn using a Nixon voice to read Kotick's comments about ethics violations.
We make a digression to Navy movies like Top Gun, Stealth, and the upcoming movie “Battleship”. This unpaid service brought to you by the US Navy and Tommy Wiseau.
The Great Debate--net neutrality. We talk about the pros and cons of controlling the net, and where it should start and end.
Here's the background information:
Who was there: Washington DC-based nonprofit advocacy group Public Knowledge staff attorney Michael Weinberg and director of outreach and new media Mehan Jayasuriya.What they talked about: Legislation and public policy probably aren't what's on most gamers' minds at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, but that was just the topic during Public Knowledge's "primetime" 2010 Penny Arcade Expo. Specifically, Weinberg and Jayasuriya were on hand to discuss freedom of the Internet in a panel titled "Game Over: Why the Future of Gaming Depends on Net Neutrality."....
Jae asks, "Can net neutrality protect my kids from porn and pedophiles?" Where do we draw the line, if any line can be drawn at all?Takeaway: According to Weinberg and Jayasuriya, net neutrality is all about keeping things the way they are on the Internet, as far as the interaction among consumers, providers, and ISPs goes. Codifying this concept as law is important, they claim, because to not have net neutrality means that ISPs have the power to interfere with the flow of traffic in whatever way they see fit.
What are your thoughts on "net neutrality"?
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