Hey Got Gamers!

I am sad to say that the Sony Store is still down. However, Zack did receive an email while we were taping this week’s show. It said that Sony has begun restoring the store to operational status; so hopefully Sony will reach the May 31st mark that they set earlier this month. With any luck this whole PSN situation will finally be behind us before E3 is here.

Something that is certainly not be behind you is our May 29th edition of Got Game, and you can find that show in the audio file below this sentence.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/YEKKy]

On this week’s episode of Got Game we discussed:

• A 14 Year old Irish kid landing a job with Microsoft
• MLB 2K11 awarding a million dollars to the winner of their Perfect Pitcher Promotion
• Sony’s confirmation that they’re developing a successor to the PS3
• The Uncharted movie and its search for a new director

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We also spent a fair amount of time dissecting EA’s new NHL 12 Features Trailer and as promised that trailer is right here.

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On top of that, we shine our spotlight on a some recently announced games:

1. Disney Universe
2. Tecmo Bowl Throwback for the iOS
3. Hulk Hogan’s Main Event for the 360′s Kinect
4. Icebreaker for the iOS

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And in our review section, Calhoun takes DIRT 3 for a spin.

…I wonder if anyone will buy this.

Modern Warfare is due for release here in North America on November 8, 2011.

Hey Got Gamers,

To answer the most common question we’ve received in the last week, yes, go and get L.A. Noire.

Why specifically? Well for that answer you’ll have to listen to this week’s show. Luckily for you we spent roughly 1/3 of this week’s show dissecting L.A. Noire, and what it has to offer gamers. As always you can find the show in the audio file below this paragraph, but we just call that audio file the May 21st Edition of Got Game.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/oH4e6]

However, we still managed to talk about some non-L.A. Noire subjects this week. Those subjects include:

• The latest details regarding the recently announced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• A lot of Batman content coming with Batman Arkham City
• A second Batman game called Gotham City Impostors being announced last week
• Microsoft’s most recent patch bricking a few consoles
• Listener emails about the PSN Welcome Back Program and the pros/cons of the 360 and PS3
  

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And as promised here is that NHL 12 screen shot we talked about during the show.

Plus in our review section, Calhoun finishes off his SOCOM 4 review with the multiplayer.

And then takes SEGA Rally Online Arcade for a few laps.

Hey Got Gamers!

If you haven’t heard yet, the PlayStation Network (PSN) is now back up and running all across North America.

Because of this, part of this week’s show is out of date. We originally aired at 8 pm EST Saturday night, and shortly thereafter, some people were already able to log in to their accounts (just shy of 1-month anniversary of the PSN going down).

We also recorded the show before Activision officially confirmed rumours we spoke about regarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (see images and teaser trailer below) in the May 14th 2011 edition of Got Game:

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/VHKhh]

Other items we discussed:

• UK gamers trading in their PS3 consoles at an alarming rate
• Sony experiencing a growth in hardware sales while the PSN was down for the end of April
• Hackers taking information from a pair of Eidos websites that are related to the new Dues Ex game
• Nintendo delaying the launch of the 3DS E-Shop
• The US government classifying video games as art
• A new PS3 exclusive called Starhawk (Here’s the IGN and GT TV coverage Zack promised)

As for the Call of Duty biznass… check out the official (American) teaser trailer put out by Activision (England, France, and Germany each got their own as well):

Here are the images first leaked (and since removed) from the gaming forum Electric Hydra.

The common theory is that this second image is part of the project that Beachhead Studios is currently working on.

Modern Warfare 3 is expected to arrive in November.

Putting down the guns, and picking up the sword… Momin had a chance to chat with Matt Ryan from Nintendo Canada about the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS.

And in our review section Zack takes aim at Brink.

Momin reviews the colourful Outland.

While Christine takes a look at Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.

…don’t forget… next week we’ll have our review of LA Noire.

Hey Got Gamers!

I can’t believe it either, but we’ve somehow managed to stay on the air for 2 years! If you have a cupcake handy, light those candles!

It’s hard to believe how much the world of gaming has changed in past 2 years. For example, when we started this show DLC wasn’t a big deal. Heck, it barely existed until made famous by Assassin’s Creed 2 and now look at how much DLC is out there. Almost every disc based product out there (and some download only products) will eventually include some sort of digital add on. Our show’s even seen some changes as former Got Game co-host Ken Rodney has moved forward with his career, and Christine Chubb has joined us since.

Actually, in the past 2 years only a single thing has really remained the same, and that thing would be the location of the weekly post-broadcast podcast. However, we just call it the May 8th 2011 edition of Got Game, and as always you can find it in the audio file below this paragraph.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/Ep0A9]

On this anniversary edition of Got Game we discuss:

• The latest news surrounding the PSN outage
• A local woman suing Sony for $1 Billion because of the stolen
• Sony offering free fraud insurance to it’s American users
• A new price point for the Nintendo Wii
• The Tomb Raider franchise going dark and gritty
• The Uncharted Film
• A Smart-TV subscription gaming service called GameTree TV

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Plus we talk to Chang Toy of A&C Games about the new A&C World arcade that they’ve created in the heart of Toronto.

And in our review section Zack takes a look at the new DLC pack for Call of Duty Black Ops.

And Calhoun reviews the single-player portion of SOCOM 4.

Hey Got Gamers,

As we discussed during the May 8th 2011 edition of Got Game, Zack and Momin had a chance to check out the launch of something called GameTree TV.

Now at this point I should mention that I didn’t go to the GameTree TV launch event myself. This time I am just helping out the others by writing the blog and posting the interview, so I basically have as much knowledge on this subject as most of you do. Regardless of that though, these 3 images of the GameTree USER INTERFACE make me feel like we should be calling this the iOS TV instead. I say that because of games like Plants vs Zombies, Garage Inc., World of Goo HD, and other titles shown in these images are famous cross platform games that are best known for their sales on the iPhone or iPad.

The final of these 3 USER INTERFACE images even shows something called a “PopCap Channel.” Is that a reference to PopCap Games? One of the most renowned developers of small pick up and play titles, and a developer who has ported most of its catalog to Apple’s iOS devices?

I honestly don’t know the answer to that question, but I wouldn’t leave you guys hanging like that.

Vikas Gupta is the President and CEO of Transgaming Incorporated, the company behind GameTree TV. That makes him the guru of all things GameTree TV, and when Zack and Momin chatted with him this past week they discussed: my iOS question, the price, when you can get your hands on GameTree TV and more. As always, you can find our interview in the audio file below this paragraph.

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

Hey Got Gamers,

Before we get this show blog rolling, I just wanted to point out this interview that we did with Shaun Hatton from The Electric Playground. In the interview, we discuss the current state of Toronto’s Independent Video Game Development community; a community that usually comes under the banner of Toronto’s IGDA branch.

Once you check out that interview, don’t forget to take a listen to the audio file below this paragraph. However, we just call it the post-broadcast podcast of our April 30th 2011 Got Game show.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/zziGK]

This week on Got Game the crew discusses:

• The current state of the PS3
• Microsoft seeing some massive profits from their Xbox Division
• New features for this year’s edition of Madden
• An unlikely choice for the next Madden cover athlete
• The Buffalo Bills’ new Jersey being leaked by Madden promotional material
• Fruit Ninja coming to the Kinect
• Portal 2 getting DLC
• The recently leaked Need For Speed: The Run trailer
• New details regarding Marvel’s upcoming MMO
• Why Beyonce is getting sued by a video game company

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Plus as promised, here are those two videos showcasing some new details for this year’s edition of Madden Football. This first video previews some of the core game play mechanics that will be in Madden 12.

The second video showcases some visual elements that can give Madden 12 the atmosphere of a real NFL game and broadcast.

And in this week’s review section, Calhoun take the new Xperia Play gaming smart phone for a spin.

Another promise we made during last week’s show was to post the technical specifications for the Xperia PLAY Smartphone, so here they are:

1. The Basics
* Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
* Weight: 175 grams
* Phone memory: up to 400 MB
* Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32 GB
* Memory card included: 8GB microSD™
* Operating system: Google™ Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
* Processor: 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7
* Phones comes in black or white

2. Camera

* 5.1 megapixel camera
* Auto focus
* Flash / Photo light
* Geo tagging
* Image stabiliser
* Ability to send to web
* Touch focus
* Video light
* Video recording

3. Music

* Album art
* Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
* Google™ Music Player
* Music tones (MP3/AAC)
* PlayNow™ service*
* Sony Ericsson Music player
* Stereo speakers
* TrackID™ music recognition application

4. Internet

* Android Market™*
* Bookmarks
* Google™ search*
* Google™ Voice Search*
* Pan & zoom
* Web browser (Webkit)

5. Communication

* Call list
* Conference calls
* Facebook™ application (from Android Market™)
* Google™ Talk*
* Noise Shield
* Polyphonic ringtones
* Speakerphone
* Sony Ericsson Timescape™***
* Twitter™ application (from Android Market™)
* Vibrating alert

6. Messaging

* Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)
* Email
* Google Mail™*
* Instant messaging
* Picture messaging (MMS)
* Predictive text input
* Sound recorder
* Text messaging (SMS)

7. Design

* Auto rotate Touchscreen
* Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)
* Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)
* Picture wallpaper
* Wallpaper animation

8. Connectivity

* 3.5 mm audio jack
* aGPS
* Bluetooth™ technology
* DLNA Certified
* Google Latitude™
* Google Location Service
* Google Maps™ with Street View
* Media Transfer Protocol support
* Micro USB Connector
* Modem
* USB 2.0 high speed support
* Wi-Fi™
* Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality

9. Screen

* 16,777,216 colour TFT
* Capacitive multi-touch
* 4 inches
* 480 x 854 pixels (FWVGA)

10. Titles available at Launch:

• Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from Digital Legends (pre-installed)
• FIFA 2010 from EA Mobile (pre-installed**)
• Sims 3 from EA Mobile (pre-installed**)
• Star Battalion from Gameloft (pre-installed**)
• Tetris from EA mobile (pre-installed**)
• Asphalt 6 from Gameloft (free to download)
• Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave from Trendy Entertainment
• Galaxy on Fire 2 from Fishlabs
• Assassins Creed from Gameloft
• Need for Speed SHIFT from EA Mobile
• Worms from EA Mobile
• Nova 2 from Gameloft
• Modern Combat Black Pegasus from Gameloft
• Guns n Glory from Handygames
• Reckless Racing from Polarbit
• Real Football 2011from Gameloft
• Gun Bros from Glu Mobile
• Racer Luma from Arcade/Unity
• Cordy from SilverTree Media
• Aporkalypse from Handygames
• Brothers in Arms Global Front from Gameloft
• Guerrilla Bob from Angry Mob Games/Unity
• Let’s Golf 2 from Gameloft
• Zenonia 2 from Gamevil
• Cyberlords from Handygames
• Guitar Hero™ Warriors of Rock Mobile from Glu Mobile
• Age of Zombies from Halfbrick Studios
• Spectral Souls from HyperDevBox Japan
• Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft
• Air Attack from Art in Games/Unity
• Armageddon Squadron from Polarbit
• Uno from Gameloft
• InfeCCt from Handygames
• Spiderman total Mayhem from Gameloft
• Millionaire City from Digital Chocolate
• Avatar from Gameloft
• Raging Thunder 2from Polarbit
• Homerun Battle 3D from Com2us Games
• Aftermath XHD from Jakyl
• I Must Run from GameLion
• Baseball Superstars 2011from Gamevil
• Ground Effect Pro from Jakyl
• ZeNonia from Gamevil
• Super KO Boxing 2 from Glu Mobile
• Farm Story from Team Lava
• Wave Blazer from Polarbit
• Soccer Superstars from Gamevil
• Battle Bears from Skyvu
• Tower Blocks New York from Digital Chocolate
• Super Dynamite Fishing from Handygames
• Iron Sight from Polarbit
• Toonwarz from Polarbit
• Restaurant Story from Team Lava
• Escape from AMA
• Raving Babies from AMA
• Bakery Story from Team Lava
• Denki Blocks! Deluxe from Jakyl
• Rollercoaster Rush from Digital Chocolate

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There is one last promise we need to keep. At the very end of last week’s show we also promised to post a quick chat that Calhoun had with professional gamer Tom Taylor; however, you may know him better by his gamertag of TSquared.

Please keep in mind that some of the following questions or answers may seem slightly dated at this point. They may seem this way because TSquared and Calhoun recorded this interview before the Xperia Play launched this past week.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/t-squared-gg-20110429.mp3]

Hey Got Gamers,

The Toronto area game development community is coming together for the IGDA Toronto Spring Gala at the Bell Lightbox on May 9.  As we discussed in this week’s show: if you don’t already have a (free) ticket, you’re out of luck.

But wait!  If you’re bummed out that you don’t have a ticket, but you still want to socialize with our wildly expanding gaming community, you can check out the IGDA Toronto Spring Gala SOCIAL – basically a free opportunity for some quality geeked-out after-party shmoozing.

As for what’s been brewing in the Toronto gaming development scene, we had a chance to speak with a man who’s always had his finger on the pulse (when it’s not on the controller).  You know him as one of the hosts from Electric Playground.  We know him as the lovable and always cool Shaun Hatton.  Also… If you’re into the indie music scene, you may be aware of his band, Cobra.

(Shaun Hatton and Zack playing DJ Hero at 2009′s Microsoft Showcase event in Toronto)

…and now we present to you: the past, present, and future of the Toronto game development scene:
[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/shaun-gg-20110429.mp3]