Hey Got Gamers!

It’s been a week of retro gaming for us here at the FAN590, and it wasn’t just me pulling out my old Sega Game Gear for another round of World Series baseball this time. Actually, this time we found ourselves somewhat inspired by an 80′s gaming party we recently attended…

…and it’s caused the whole Got Game crew to go retro game crazy. However, I am sure you’ll get that impression by yourself when you listen to the audio file below; or as I like to call it, the Got Game Podcast for Saturday, March 27th, 2010.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/got_game/gg20100327.mp3]

80′s to mid 90′s arcade games took up the majority of this week’s time, but that’s not surprising considering this was also the week that we saw the launch of Microsoft’s Game Room.

The Game Room seems like a awesome idea, but is it really worth going back? For the answer to that question (and more) Cooper and I cornered Xbox Live Canada’s Glenn Purkis for all the Game Room details. As per usual, those details can be found in our show, but we decided to leave out one major question (because it would make for terrible radio). What’s the full launch title list for the Game Room? Well, the beautiful part about show blogs is that I can post that information right here. Therefore I give you that Game Room launch titles list:

• Adventure
• Armor Battle
• Asteroids Deluxe
• Astrosmash
• Centipede
• Battlantis
• Crystal Castles
• Gravitar
• Lunar Lander
• Red Baron
• Combat
• Finalizer
• Football
• Tempest
• Jungler
• Millipede
• Outlaw
• Road Fighter
• Realsports Tennis
• Sea Battle
• Scramble
• Skiing, Mountain Madness/Super Pro
• Space Armada
• Space Hawk
• Shao-lin’s Road (Kicker)
• Star Raiders
• Super Cobra
• Sub Hunt
• Tutankham
• Yar’s Revenge

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Now before we go any further down the rabbit hole which is this week’s show blog, I would like to caution everyone to try the demos for any Game Room titles, before buying them. Like I said during the show, games like Red Baron and Luna Lander worked so well I’m considering buying them this minute. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I don’t want to buy more software when I already have a stack of 7 unopened games, sitting beside my TV, waiting to be played. However, I found games like Sub Hunt and Asteroids to be unplayable due to their controls, so please try the demos before buying anything.

Retro gaming may have taken up the majority of our time this week, but it wasn’t the only thing we talked about. An awesome piece of news we debated was this story by the Toronto Star’s Jesse McLean. In it we found out that the City of Toronto is trying to purchase $300,000 worth of video games to entice kids to come back to the libraries. This is an idea that no one on our show will come down against, but it could turn out to be a useless jester if not handled properly. What’s our fear? The show will tell you what worries us.

Another thing we went over very quickly was the idea of a DS capable of 3D gaming without the use of any sort of eye wear. It seems like a cool idea, but if you haven’t heard, the sudden news of this 3D DS has enraged gamers across the planet. Mostly because they feel that this news is to close to the North America release of the DSi XL or because of this video on youtube.

What do we think? Well I think it is safe to say we don’t totally agree with those raging over the 3DS news. Why? Well you’ll have to listen to the show to find out.

Finally, we talked about this website were gamers can pay to play with attractive women. We ran out of time again, so we didn’t really have a chance to debate this issue. However, Zack said on the show that he has no interested in this service, and for once I find myself agreeing with him. My opinion (which is mine alone and does not reflect that of anyone else) is that you should go out and meet real women instead; but all that being said, the chances of this service doing extremely well is (sadly) extremely high.

Hey Got Gamers!

“We’ll do it live!” is a reference to a youtube video that we’d love to link to our blog, but we can’t because it’s not family friendly enough. Which is a shame, because it would fit perfectly on our show blog; especially considering that the theme of this week’s show is that we did it LIVE!

At the same time though, we really can’t get away from our roots, so because of that you can also find a taped version of our latest show (the Got Game podcast for March 20th, 2010) in the audio file below this sentence.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/got_game/gg20100320.mp3]

This week we started off the show by talking about the newest DSi to hit market: the DSi XL. Calhoun was given a chance to go check it out, but to find out his thoughts on the subject, you’ll have to listen this week’s show.

And after that, don’t forget to check out our blog post on the DSi XL for a selection of pictures that will help you compare the physical size of the DSi XL to that of the other DS’s on the market. On top of that you will also find the interview that Calhoun did with Nintendo Canada’s Matt Ryan, were they talk about why Nintendo decided to release the DSi XL in the first place.

But the DSi XL is not the only thing we debated. On this week’s show we also previewed a new racer from Disney Interactive and Black Rock: Split Second.

Ken and Calhoun got a chance to check out this action packed game a little while back, and they give you their thoughts on it during our show.

Momin gives us his review of God of War 3; a game so violent that we can’t post any videos or pictures of on this blog. Simply put, this is not a game for children. However, is it a good game adults, or anyone for that matter? Check out the show for Momin’s thoughts on it.

We did one other major thing this week; we tossed out the phone numbers and took a listener’s phone call on air. We don’t take calls very often, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your game related comments on our show. All you have to do is email us your questions to gotgame@fan590.com, put them here on our blog, or direct message us on twitter (@gotgame590) to do so. Due to timing we may not always read your emails on the air, but we read each and every one of them!

 Hey Got Gamers!

Once again we find ourselves in a situation were we did not have enough time to put all of our weekly content in a one hour show, so because of that we’re happy to give you another web only interview. This time we’re talking with Nintendo Canada’s Matt Ryan about the new Nintendo DSi XL; and I started off by asking him, what makes the DSi XL different from the other DS’s?

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/dsixl-gg-20100320.mp3]

While I was there, checking out the DSi XL, I also decided to snap some pictures that may help you see the physical differences between this new XL and the other DS’s or DSi’s.

This first picture is of a DSi XL on the left and a DS Lite on the right. I took it to show off the differences in the size of the double screens on both units.

And to show the external size, here is the DS lite sitting on top of the DSi XL.

And here is my personal and original DS alongside an open XL (left), a closed XL (right), and a DS Lite up front.

Here are 3 closed DS’s. The DS Lite is at the top, a new XL is in the middle, and my old original DS is at the bottom of the below image.

And one last picture of all 3 DS models closed.

And what about the internal changes? I could not find any. Simply put, this is what was advertised: a physically bigger version of the DSi that works like any DSi. At one point I even put in my old copy of Scribblenauts (that was only ever used in my original DS before), and I had no problems using the XL. Heck, I ever enjoyed it a bit more, because the bigger screens made it easier to type out words.

Hey Got Gamers!

This week’s show is all about fighting the urge to make PlayStation Move puns… however, we failed miserably at that.

How bad did it get? Well you’ll just have to listen to this week’s podcasted version of our show to find out what happened. Luckily though, that podcast is easy to find because it’s in the audio right below this sentence.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/March-14th-Edition-Got-Game-20100315.mp3]

We managed to get through a number of topics during this show, but before we get to that (and just in case you haven’t seen it yet), here is a picture of the PlayStation Move Wireless Controller that Sony announced this past week.

But that wasn’t our only topic of discussion. For example, like we said on last week’s show; Zack, Momin, and I went to check out the God of War 3 preview event that Sony put on a few weeks back.

While there we did an interview with God of War 3′s Lead Cinematic Artist, and we have that interview for you in this week’s show.

Plus this is also the week that Zack reviewed Final Fantasy 13. His thoughts about that game can be found in our review segment of the show.

And in Zack’s parting shot, he mentioned this trailer for the upcoming Wii version of NBA JAM!

Plus this week’s gaming news and much much more!

Well it’s official; after months of Arc and Wand rumors, Sony has finally announced their new motion controller: the PlayStation®Move.
 
Along with a new name, we also found out that this device has a worldwide launch window of fall 2010. However, the biggest thing that the average gamers wants to know (how many games will it launch with?) is one of the things we can’t confirm at this time. Although, Sony has said that they’re planning to have 20 PlayStation®Move compatible games launch during their 2010 fiscal year.

At the same time they’re launching the PlayStation®Move, Sony will also be launching the PlayStation®Move Sub-Controller; which they says will, “be used along with the motion controller for intuitive navigation of in-game characters and objects.”

Basically, think of the Sub-controller as Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s Nunchuck. Actually, things like a set of action buttons, analog triggers, rumble functionality are just a few reasons for someone to draw a comparison between the two.

However, gamers should not automatically assume that this new PlayStation®Move is a Wii-Mote clone. There are some major differences between the two devices:

1. The PlayStation®Move will give users visual feedback by having the ball on top of the controller change colours
2. If the sub-controller does not catch your fancy, Sony says you have the option to use the DUALSHOCK® or SIXAXIS® Wireless Controller instead
3. The entire system requires the PlayStation®Eye to work

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In fact, it looks like the Playstation®Eye will be the corner stone of the whole system. According to a Sony press release we received, “the combination of the PS3 system and PlayStation Eye camera detects the precise movement, angle, and absolute position in 3D space of PlayStation Move motion controller, allowing users to intuitively play the game as if they themselves are within the game.”

Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today that they’re going to try and improve their online world, HOME, with some new features and improved loading times.

This new version, named PlayStation Home 1.35, will come to PlayStations via a service update available sometime March 11th. Sony says that this update, ”will decrease load times, enabling users to access PlayStation Home faster than ever before. In addition, PlayStation Home 1.35 replaces the PlayStation Home World Map with a new intuitive navigation system. This streamlined interface features multiple categories to enable users to quickly navigate through PlayStation Home.”

In theory, these different categories should allow users to locate their favorite places faster, find the exact location of their friends using the Home 1.35 service, view personal spaces and clubhouses quicker, and browes all the new HOME content in an easier way. 

Sony also promises that the process of launching and loginning into home will be a lot faster then before.

Hey Got Gamers!

Like we’ve said a million times before, we rarely have enough time to fit everything we do into each week’s show; but never has that been as true as it is this week. We literally had to leave half a show’s worth of material on the cutting room floor because of time restrictions. Heck, this week we had to drop a whole interview, that we did with Kevin O’Leary, regarding Battlefield Bad Company 2.

However, on the bright side, that means we can now present you with this week’s extended edition of the Got Game podcast, which you can find in the audio file below this sentence.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/got_game/gg20100307.mp3]

On this week’s show we spent a lot of time talking about God of War 3. You’ll have to listen to our show to get an idea of what we think about the game, but Zack and Momin spent a bit of time talking about what the event itself looked like. I think they both did a good job describing it, but a picture always speaks a 1000 words. Therefore, to give you a full mental image, here are a few actual images.

We also spent a lot of time reviewing games during this show, but that’s because we had 3 major ones to get through. Zack and Ken started us off by putting MLB 10: The Show and MLB 2K10 into a head to head match. Which one hits a home run? Well the show will answer that question.

And because some people prefer rifles to melee combat, we also reviewed EA’s FPS: Battlefield Bad Company 2. A game that above everything else, needs far better trailers. Then again, perhaps the trailers are fine, and the real problem is that there is no way to live up to these golden nuggets that EA used to advertise the first game?

Although, now that I think about it, the original game had great trailers, but bad game play; could Bad Company 2 be a great game with terrible trailers? We know that answer, and you can too if you listen to the show.

We also talked to entertainment lawyer Emmanuel Evdemon about the Activision/Infinity Ward situation. It is true that no one will know anything concrete for a while, because both parties are keeping their cards close to their chests; but just like a game of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Emmanuel helps us look through those events and tells us they could possibly mean.

He may even be the greatest guest of all time (at least from our point of view) because he did some leg work for us, so that we could direct everyone to check out this old Gamasutra article from years before Got Game even existed. The article focuses on another legal battle that Activision had over the Call of Duty franchise, and even provides a copy of that game’s development contract and some lawyer commentary. Now normally I find reading a contract as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist, but I have to admit that this article really gives you a good look into the corporate mind of Activision.

All that, plus gaming news, and more can be found by listening to this week’s GOT GAME!

Hey Got Gamers,

If you listened to Got Game live today, then you’ll know my final comment was used to tell everyone about a big interivew that we were not able to fit on the show this week.

In this interview, I had a chance to talk to Kevin O’Leary, who works for EA-DICE, about Badfield Bad Company 2; and if you’re sitting on the fence about Bad Company 2 then I highly suggest you check out this interview.

Now I spent most of the time I had with Kevin asking him about all the improvements DICE has made since the last game, but don’t want to steal Kevin’s thunder, so I’ll let him explain that in this audio file.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/k-gg-20100307.mp3]

I also wanted to say that we’ll have this week’s show blog, with lots of bonus content, up later tonight! So don’t forget to check the Got Game blog again very soon.

Rumors are currently flying across the internet that there is a major shake up happening at a world renowned and highly praised development studio.

However, we want to stress this is not confirmed yet.

According to the G4TV website, a number of individuals who have been described so far as “bouncers,” have shown up to the front doors of Infinity Ward’s studio (makers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2); and refuse to let anyone know what they’re doing on the premises.

According to the source who first mentioned this rumor, members of the Infinity Ward leadership team were also meeting with Activision representatives this morning, and haven’t been seen by staff members since.

We will let you know more when we know more.