This week’s episode has no Gaming Flashback, but there is a lot of talk about how awesome the Good Old Games digital store is.
The week’s news items include:
Let us know what you think.
Sony’s been talking about how they’ve overtaken the Xbox 360 here in the States, perhaps this is because Microsoft shifted their attention to pwning them in Japan? Xbox 360 sold 25,000 units to PlayStation 3‘s minor 9,673 units according to Edge Online, that’s 2.5 times more if you’re into that math thing.
Seriously though, Microsoft didn’t really shift any effort, they just got a Japanese style game called Tales of Vesperia from Namco Bandai. Go figure, when a Japanese focused game arrives for a console Japanese gamer will go out and buy it.
The big barrier to the 360 in Japan is the games and their contents. Microsoft is in tune with the needs and demands of the United States gamers, it usually involves FPS titles and excessive killing. Japanese gamers are not exactly huge FPS fans, we’ve seen the Asian community dominate in RTS style games (Starcraft is a great example) and they’ve always had interest in MMO’s, especially micro-transaction based games and we all know that’s the land of Final Fantasy. Is it so surprising the Xbox 360 moves off Japanese shelves when they have a game or two the gamers actually want to play?
This is only partly Microsoft’s fault, Microsoft doesn’t specialize in Japanese games anymore than Square Enix excels at western style games. The big difference? Square Enix doesn’t manufacturer its own console hardware. It is Microsoft’s console and they should have an interest in making games the Japanese people will like, thankfully Namco Bandai came through for them this time!
Nobody wants to get in the way of a hardcore gaming addict. The last thing an addicted user needs to know is their account has been hacked, their weapons and armor have been sold and all of their money is gone.
World of Warcraft is a timeless classic, timeless because you can play it forever, and classic because it’s now going on 4-years old. This MMORPG, like all MMO’s, is account based and your account describes everything about you, your gaming habits and your character traits. It’s the next greatest bundle of important riches aside from your bank account. Shouldn’t it be just as secure?
For a mere €6.00 (or USD $9.46) you can purchase this international electronic device which allows you to press a button to get a secret key to login; the key code is only good for one use so the owner of the device is the only one whom can login to the account.
This system is similar to the PayPal device or some Government Contractor remote login accounts for working from home.
The device is not yet available, but shall be showing up in the “near future.” If you’re a WoW player, consider this because $9.00 is a great piece of mind for hundreds of hours of grinding safety.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this episode was recorded on Monday, but despite the lateness, it’s full of rich news items, including some very disturbing trends in videogames, as well as a question by a listener that got mental juices flowing. This week’s Gaming Flashback is Professor Pac-Man.
The news items include:
This week’s Question of the Week: “What do you think is the future of older games?”
