With the unveiling of the iPhone 5 and the Wii U within a day of each other, last week was a next-gen extravaganza for two of the biggest juggernauts in their industry. Oh, and Vinnk had a baby the same day — the REAL next generation who won’t eve know anything less sophisticated!
Sean and Vinnk try to decide which of these devices they’ll be getting first (if at all) this fall, and if either one is a big enough change compared to the competition.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/62
Gaming can be deadly. Oh, we’re not preaching about violence in games becoming violence in real life. More about self-inflicted injury — like playing Starcraft in an internet cafe for 36 hours straight until your heart gives out. Sean and Vinnk discuss their narrow brushes with that big game pad in the sky by way of a variety of titles mobile, PC, and console.
Should Nintendo be scared? Since the launch of the iPhone — which encouraged the rise of the Android platform — smartphone gaming is set to become a majority of the handheld market, eclipsing Nintendo for the first time since the release of the Game Boy in 1989. Vinnk and SeanOrange take a look at the data, how the mobile gaming pie is growing, why smartphone gaming has been so successful, and what (if anything) Nintendo can do about it.
Is there a right way to introduce your child to the world of video gaming? It might be a more difficult proposition for the children of adult gamers, whose boundaries are a bit less clear on the subject, but their non-gamer spouses (if indeed they are non-gamers) might keep them in check. Maybe. With Vinnk already a father of a 2 year old daughter, and Sean a father-to-be in 2012, we try to tackle those questions. How young is too young? How much is too much? What’s appropriate, and what’s deemed okay? Plus, in an audio bonus exclusive to the website, Sean tells the tale of how a camcorder gave birth to Puppy Star Trek, and helped to shape the rest of his life.
The recent passing of Steve Jobs has left us to reflect on how he and his business ventures have affected our lives and the rest of the world. For us retro gamers (at least our age), that means looking back on the Apple ][, Apple //e, and that line of PCs that literally made “computer” a household name. Sean and Vinnk recall a time when “Apple” was still synonymous with “gaming” — before the iPhone, before the Macintosh, and (in some cases) before Nintendo. Also, a history of Apple’s rise to dominance, Steve Jobs’ gig at Atari, and why the original iPod came with free copies of Breakout.
The developers of Marathon, Myth, and Halo game series have turned 20!
Bungie Studios has had the bittersweet duty of handing over the Halo franchise officially this week to Microsoft’s internal Halo team, 343 Industries. Now is a great time to get acquainted with the team as they embark on their next big action game (which is still a total secret, but definitely coming to PS3 and XBox 360).
They’ve put together a 55 minute documentary on their history, worth a watch if you’re a fan of any of their games or you just want to see how a company can go from a few guys in an apartment to one of the biggest and most powerful in the industry.
The past week as been rife with ignorant tomfoolery for the geek communities I happen to be apart of, that happen to spill into the category of “nerdrage inducing”.
First off, it appears that Apple – a multi-billion dollar company that almost monopolizes the electronic industry – can’t be bothered to screen the Applications submitted to them to be put on their App Store. IronHide Games’ had their flash game Clash of the Olympians completely ripped off by Vietnam-based PTT Solution’s iPhone game Achilles’ Defense. The only difference is Ironhide’s game offers three playable characters, and PTT’s app has just one. However, the music, art and gameplay remain the same. (though the “Credits” part is conveniently replaced with “Instructions”) Seems Ironhide is not alone, however. Semi-Secret Software’s Canabalt, Nitrome’s Icebreaker & Skywire and Halfbot’s The Blocks Cometh all had the exact same thing done – the source code ripped, renamed, and slapped together for submission to Apple’s App Store for sale. With such a sudden trend in blatant copyright infringement, it raises questions about how Apple screens its Apps, but even more so if it even bothers with the wronged developers at all as currently, none have been given any follow up from Apple regarding the issue.
So what do you think? Is this something Apple should be bothered with? Should there be stricter regulations regarding Apps?
I’m the last guy who should be posting StarCraft news. Hell I bought the original game from a discount bin in 2003 and then chucked the disc into the street in a fit of rage when it wouldn’t install on the laptop I had at the time.
But this trailer is neat. Maybe I should see if that disc still works.
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The past week as been rife with ignorant tomfoolery for the geek communities I happen to be apart of, that happen to spill into the category of “nerdrage inducing”.