Games Industry Podcast - Episode 5

[Ashlann]

In this Episode: What's on our play-list, upcoming games on the radar, and an in depth look at Publishers we love and hate.

[Ashlann]

In this episode:

What's been on our playlist?
On the look-out: Games Out Soon
Game Developers: An in depth look at those we love and those we love to hate.

Download Here (For PC: Right Click Save As - 44.4M .mp3)
Originally Recorded: July 30, 2009

Please post up your comments, questions & feedback for us!

We hope you enjoy the cast,

Ashlann + Father

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[astrospud]

Great show as usual, guys.
I'm kind of with you on the EA thing, Ash. The game needs new content, not only to keep the original fresh, but also to weed out the hackers and macro spammers who destroy the gaming experience for the rest of us.
Before Battlefield, my only FPS experience was HL2. Then I got my $14 boxed edition of BF2 with a Pizza Hut meal deal and it took off from there. I have now been playing BF2142 since recieving my pre-order version in 2006.
It has hooked a great many people, and I still see new TOGgers' joining our ranks because of the TOG 2142 div commitment to the game.
Like you said, Father, EA is a monster corp, and has a mass production mentality to go with it.
As popular as the games are, they are severely flawed - rage quit anyone?
This can only come down to the downward pressure EA is putting on their coding houses. Rush this title by this date or you won't get the sequel contract etc..
I would love to see these games delivered via Steam (Or just anyone else except EA).

Keep it up guys!

PS - feel free to rag on EA all you want

[Ashlann]

Thanks for the comments! We really appreciate it

Originally Posted by astrospud

PS - feel free to rag on EA all you want

So, I'm not overdoing it?

...wait til you've heard 7 + 8 before you answer, maybe! *laughs*

[RogueSlayer]

Got done with 4 a bit ago and have 5 playing now. Always worth a listen as normal.

I do have to say though, the sound quality is much better. Father stays nice and loud as well as clear. Whatever you two have done on that end, it has worked quite well.

[Ashlann]

Originally Posted by RogueSlayer

Got done with 4 a bit ago and have 5 playing now. Always worth a listen as normal.

I do have to say though, the sound quality is much better. Father stays nice and loud as well as clear. Whatever you two have done on that end, it has worked quite well.

Thanks Rogue - I really appreciate that feedback. Editing & Mastering these things takes a lot of time, and I have been working hard to learn how to achieve a quality result.

I've moved from Audacity to Adobe Audition 3 which has something to do with it, but a lot of it is simply reading 'How To' guides. I can see how audio mastering is a serious profession!

[Bulgroz]

Great podcasts.

Minor point on the discussion on payment models (micro transactions, DLC, MMO model), you left out the LOTRO approach, which was to offer lifetime membership, at a cost of around 18 months' worth of monthly fees. I bought it and it's been great because I've been playing for more than 2 years. That model would have the benefit for the publisher as they get upfront money, and of course they get the cash from people not staying there for the 18 months, and it's good for gamers as they don't have to worry about paying monthly fees.

Also, have you thought of interviewing Funky J, given he works in a game company and worked on a few titles like force unleashed?

[Ned]

Fallout 3 get a mention again... I'm soooo getting this game. As I've said before, I need to first finish some other games on my list. I'm intrigued by how Stef is re-playing the game and experiencing a totally different gameplay by playing a 'bad guy'.

OK! I just checked out some gameplay footage!



Just how OPEN is this game? Are you limited in any way with your navigation (not including map parameters) ie. are there "paths" in the game subtly made the surroundings?

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition should be out here soon.

The game includes Fallout 3, winner of over 80 Game of the Year awards, plus all five game add-ons -- Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta.

Fallout: Welcome to the Official Site



Thanks for another top Podcast!

cheers
Ned

[Father]

The game is certainly very open in design and I would consider the world a real sandbox where you can go about your ways in every which way you like.

It's a standard design seen in many sandbox games but it's implementation is superb.

In a way that there is a main plot to follow and then there are tons of sidequests, you will inevitably require to do a certain degree of sidequests as the character progression depends on doing them, the game does an excellent job in making them feel very natural as part of your travels, not a forced type sidequest with little content, they are all excellent.

And depending on your personality you certainly can take plenty of decisions as to how you want to approach these quests, pretty much every one of them has a choice to make which makes replaying the game such a great experience.

[Ned]

Nice! Thanks for the feedback