Games Industry Podcast - Episode 7

[Ashlann]

In this Episode: What's on our play-list, Best console buy: PS3 vs XBOX 360, and The Game of Boredom.

[Ashlann]

In this episode:

• What have we been playing?
• PS3 vs XBOX 360 - What's the best buy?
• The Boredom Game: what games are played past all common sense?
• I take a look at the Razer Naga, Father hangs some angst around the place (it wasn't me for a change!) and we get an impromptu review of Rise Of Flight.

Download Here (For PC: Right Click Save As - 33.3M .mp3)
Originally Recorded: August 27, 2009

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We hope you enjoy the cast,

Ashlann + Father

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[astrospud]

Ash, if you like blowing stuff up (like I imagine a long time BF player does ) and curious about trying the whole "boring games" thing, then try DCS Black shark (refer sig below!).
I'm only half way in to the podcast while typing this, but the whole boring thing is clearly a subjective viewpoint. My missus finds battlefield boring, whilst she gets totally engrossed in her Facebook minigames.
For me, the whole idea of simulating something that is grounded in reality is really appealing. It gives me the impression that I am close to something that may considered an "elite" vocation. Bit of an ego shot, really.

EDIT 1: WOW was probably the first MMO that coined the term "grinding". Indicative of boring gameplay - to me anyways. And yes, I have played for about a month, and I had subscribed to Eve Online for a year. It's horses for courses, I s'pose.

EDIT 2: cut and paste from Ep 6 thread.
On the point of controls, as you mentioned in the podcast, there seems to be a shift by the bigger developers toward consoles. To me, this may damage the simulation market. I could be wrong, but if FSX is dead, as Stephaan, points out, then this genre will become even more obscure and peripheral designers like Logitech will be moving toward rumble pack controllers rather than flight sticks, yokes and the like.
Don' t get me wrong, the sim market will always be there, but this shift may push sim noobs like me away due to the exorbitant cost of custom boutique flight systems to match up with our chosen sim.
PC is a great platform for simulation as you probably know. I really hope the major controls manufacturers like Saitek, Thrustmaster and now Logitech will keep designign new and involved controls gear for the PC.

[Atrayo]

Hi There,

Originally Posted by astrospud

PC is a great platform for simulation as you probably know. I really hope the major controls manufacturers like Saitek, Thrustmaster and now Logitech will keep designign new and involved controls gear for the PC.

Well i think we can actually thank the U.S. military indirectly for keeping the simulation genre alive for PC's. Since some game developers cater under contract to the worlds military for their simulators.

Case in point an article from "Stars & Stripes" dated November 23rd 2008. Link.

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The Army has created a video game unit and will invest $50 million over five years on games and gaming systems designed to prepare soldiers for combat.


Lt. Col. Gary Stephens, product manager for air and ground tactical trainers at Project Executive Office — Simulation Training and Instrumentation said Thursday that the $50 million has been approved for a "games for training" program starting in 2010.


"The Army takes this seriously," Stephens said of PEO-STRI and its Army gaming unit, which will handle military video game requirements. "We own gaming for the Army — from requirements through procurement," he said.

Game development has become a multibillion-dollar industry in recent years, with large game studios employing thousands of developers and sales that compete with Hollywood’s blockbusters.

One example which Father cites time and again is "America's Army 3". Although this is not a simulation game per say, it's more of a FPS. Nonetheless it's a recruitment tool for the U.S. Army which is invested into the games industry.

[Atrayo]

Hello Ashlann & Father,

Ok, now i've listened to episode 7 just now.

At the end of the podcast Father stated the this new podcast is Award Winning? Is that so, or was that just a slip of the tongue akin to a puffery statement?

When Father was recounting about obtaining Xbox points for online purchases. Besides direct purchases of the Xbox currency. Isn't it also available via in-game achievements that one unlocks after accomplishing a milestone?

At one time i was myself considering in buying an Xbox 360. But i decided not to since i had to invest to buy a HD Tv to really enjoy the graphics of the games. My cousin is an avid Xbox gamer (finishes new games in a couple weeks). Where he plays his games on a 42" HD Tv. It's quite stunning, which one time he played "Dead Space" on my analog family room Tv and it looked very lack luster.

[Ashlann]

Originally Posted by Atrayo

At the end of the podcast Father stated the this new podcast is Award Winning? Is that so, or was that just a slip of the tongue akin to a puffery statement?

Yes I laughed when he said that too, and wondered if there was an award I didn't know about! Fact: no awards have been won yet that I am aware of

And thank you for all your feedback!

And I really hope you enjoy Ep.8

[Father]

Yeah just tongue and cheek there for sure.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Ned]

This Podcast was incredibly informative for me. The PS3 and Xbox chat was excellent. The pros and cons all made sense and it was good to hear feedback from someone who uses them both. Even though I'm an avid PC gamer and I doubt I'd ever get a console the information provided was very interesting. I definitely don't like the idea of the Microsoft Points system.

@Atrayo, good points re post #4 and thanks for the "Start & Stripes" link!

Originally Posted by astrospud

PC is a great platform for simulation as you probably know. I really hope the major controls manufacturers like Saitek, Thrustmaster and now Logitech will keep designing new and involved controls gear for the PC.

I agree.



Regarding the 'Addicted to Boredom' topic, Stef mentioned Flight Sims and how it's hard to explain what you do and even harder to explain why it's fun. I play this genre occasionally and for me at least the fun side of it is the satisfaction of achieving. (For those that don't know, sometimes achieving something in the genre can take many many hours.)

Continuing the 'Addicted to Boredom' topic, Ashlann mentioned the LAN staple Quake III Arena (hell yes!) and Stef mentioned a new Quake browser game. This new Quake game is called Quake Live and is free to play thanks to id Software. We have several TOGgers playing this at the moment, more here.

Originally Posted by astrospud

My missus finds battlefield boring, whilst she gets totally engrossed in her Facebook minigames.

yay I'm not alone lol




Thanks again for a great Podcast!

Cheers
Ned

[Ashlann]

Ned - as always, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed this one