QUESTION ONE: UbiSoft has put DRM on their upcoming PC releases, including Assassin's Creed II, that forces gamers to have an active Internet connection while playing. How do you see that working out for them?
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 | | Todd Vote |
People will bitch about it of course, they bitch about everything. But honestly, how many people do PC gaming without an active internet connection. I'm not all to hip on PC gaming, but from what I understand a DRM is put in place to prevent piracy, correct? More power to them. They are protecting their own investment, who can blame them?
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 | | Armando Rodriguez |
I hate that! Personally, my internet connection breaks up constantly, so that will be a real hassle. I think this anti-piracy measures suck because in reality they hurt the people who actually purchase the game. I bet you that hackers and pirates will crack that in a few weeks and they will be able to play without internet connections. They need to come up with something new ASAP.
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 | | Sean Garmer |
I don't know, I mean there aren't many people in this day and age that don't have some kind of connection to the internet, especially one that is constantly connected. I'm sure this won't hurt the core fanbase of ubisoft's games, but I'm sure it will alienate some people out there. This is a good way to combat piracy, but there will always be those that find their way around the blocks put in front of them.
At least the system saves your game and it allows you to install the game on multiple systems too. Aside from the small minority that doesn't have a constant connection to the internet nowadays; I really don't see this affecting too many people. It does suck if you live in a place where the weather knocks out your internet a lot though. I don't see this becoming the new revolution for other PC game makers, but it is worth a shot for Ubisoft.
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 | | Joshua Richey |
I see this being an epic failure and a PR disaster for Ubisoft. Seriously, what are they thinking? Internet connections can be sketchy, especially if you're in a college dorm. And what if you want to play Assassin's Creed II on your gaming laptop somewhere other than your home? Just an awful, awful move by Ubisoft. If they're this concerned with piracy, just don't even release it for the PC in the first place |
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 | | Quizmaster |
In the spirit of all this new DRM, everyone loses fifty points because I can't prove they're not pirating a game, playing a pirated game, or planning to pirate a game in the future.
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QUESTION TWO: Sony might be developing a universal game controller. Flight of fancy or potential gold mine?
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| | Todd Vote |
A very interesting idea, but why? Part of the appeal individual consoles, if you listen to the fanatics the way a controller feels in your hands is as important as the games themselves. Look at all the complaints about the Xbox 360's lame d-pad… Yes it is lame as hell, and for that reason, you will hear gamers spout the merits of the PS3's d-pad. Alternately, I prefer the feel of the 360 controller when playing games like Modern Warfare and the likes. The PS3 controller just feels to small in my hands. Anyway the point of this is, Sony will never get the clearance from Microsoft and Nintendo to do this. I guess they could go the Mad Catz way and just have it be unlicensed. But doesn't Sony have bigger fish to fry?
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
I talked about this in the Ultra Combo News Report. I think that if it works as intended, this will be awesome. But I have way too many questions about this. If we are talking about displaying the controller inside an LCD screen and using the touch functionality to play it will be a real hassle to play games using big and unique controllers like the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and Gamecube ones. Then it talks about backwards compatibility......how will they achieve that? Does the controller ship with a dozen different connectors so that you can plug it in in your SNES, Gamecube and Genesis slots? (Which are different!)? I really don't know how that will work out, but I am very interested.
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| | Sean Garmer |
I don't see Microsoft or Nintendo signing on to this, because they lose money for people that want to buy four controllers, especially Nintendo who almost forces you to buy four of everything. Why would they want to help Sony make a profit? Yeah, Nintendo and Microsoft get a cut, but the base of the money goes to Sony. While I think it is a novel idea for Sony to try to be economical, unless they are going to charge 30 bucks for it, I don't really think it is worth it. Sony do make the best controllers on the market, but I don't know if an LCD controller works for every system, not to mention usually universal things tend to lack something. The quality may be better than your run of the mill third party controller, but I just don't see things panning out as nicely as Sony thinks.
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| | Joshua Richey |
I'm impressed Sony of all people thought of something like this. I think it's a fantastic idea, I'm just not sure it'll ever leave the patent stage. |
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| | Quizmaster |
"Unique" is certainly a polite way of saying the N64 and Gamecube controllers were crap. No one seems to think that this will go anywhere soon, so everyone gets ten points for agreeing with each other. Now don't do it again, we need controversy for hits.
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QUESTION THREE: Civilization V has been announced. How many hours have you lost playing any of Sid Meier's creations of world domination?
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| | Todd Vote |
About 25 minutes with the demo for whatever version was released on Xbox 360. It was my intention to revisit the game on release, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm not against the type of game, just not all to familiar with them.
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
Wow....hundreds! I have played all the Civilizations, Alpha Centauri, Colonization, Railroads, Pirates and even SimGolf! If Sid Meier made it, I have played it! The thing about those games is that they eat away at your life and you don't find out until it is too late. For example, I remember once coming home from school and sitting down to play Civ II at 7pm and somehow playing until 4am without realizing it! Yes, I got an F on the test I had the very next day.....
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| | Sean Garmer |
My dad had an old Sid Meier game that was similar to Civilization, but didn't have the Civ name on it. I lost plenty of hours of my life playing that game defeating Napoleon and other leaders to make America numero uno. Considering I didn't have internet when I was a kid it was a nice way to spend some hours. Nowadays I tend to despise these type of games because I don't have the patience for them, nor do I care to make a city and watch little men or things do battle. Set me up with a good ole JRPG or an action game and I'm there.
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| | Joshua Richey |
Meier's Civilization Revolution was my first experience with this series. It took me a while, but once I got the hang of it, I started to quickly see how people were able to get so addicted to it. Seems like a lot of people were just now getting their social lives back on track when Civilization V was announced. |
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| | Quizmaster |
Todd doesn't get any more points this week until he plays at least one version of Civilization. Everyone else gets the same number of points as hours they wasted.
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QUESTION FOUR: God of War and Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe called Calling All Cars "a mistake". Activision admitted that they had chances to own Maxis before they made The Sims, Harmonix before they made Rock Band, and Blizzard years before the eventual merger. Peter Molyneux says Fable 3 will piss people off. Why are gaming companies admitting publically that they do stupid things lately?
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| | Todd Vote |
My guess is it's an attempt to humanize these giant corporations. I have a theory… In this rough economy, as much as people hate to admit, nobody wants to hear about a company making money hand over fist, while they themselves struggle to make ends meet. I see these admittals of mistakes as a way to keep themselves on the level with gamers of all types. Admitting that you make mistakes, and showing that you are fallible can go a long way towards projecting an image of "we work for you, we make mistakes at times, but we do in fact work for you". It may not be a sound theory, but I bet it has something to do with trying to connect to their audiences.
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
I think it is a way to show that they are just human beings like us and perhaps try to erase the "evil corporate" image. When they make mistakes and they admit them they appeal to us, the gamer. I think it is better that way instead of some people (ID Software with Daikatana is a prime example!)Who make mistakes and they refuse to admit them, saying that the game was awesome but we didn't get it! Like it was OUR fault the game sucked....
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| | Sean Garmer |
Maybe it's just to show that they are like any other big company, they make dumb mistakes. But then again, under the Activision banner, how do we know these other companies would have become what they are today? I always think it's stupid for one company to say, "Well we could have owned them" Yeah, so what? Who cares? In the end, you didn't pull the trigger and the world is probably better for it to be honest. Some mergers work, some don't. Thank you for being honest, I guess. I don't really think it shows their stupidity, as much as it shows how great it is that there are companies' still out there doing what they want to do, and making the industry better.
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| | Joshua Richey |
With the world we live in today, these blunders are known whether the companies admit to them or not. Why not go on record as saying "Hey, we messed that one up. Our bad." I think it's a pretty cool gesture to see that a company is willing to admit that they're not perfect. I kind of wish more of them would do so. Oh, and I agree, Calling All Cars was a huge mistake by Jaffe. |
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| | Quizmaster |
Everyone's so forgiving today. You'll be terrible cyborgs when Skynet goes online. Three thousand points each for making me feel emotions. You bastards.
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BONUS QUESTION: So, if this is the closest thing there is to a gaming version of Around the Horn, let's treat it like one. Have a little Face Time to talk about anything in gaming near and dear to you.
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| | Todd Vote |
Oh now you done it. You already know what it is I will talk about. Rare, why have you continually teased us with Killer Instinct 3? You know the fans of the game are dying for it. You know how beloved the series is to us, yet instead of giving us a new installment, you continually beat us over the head with the fact that you can make a new one anytime you want. Does it make you feel good to know that we want what you can give us? How about just releasing the first two on one of the console arcades? Seriously, where's the love?
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
The Nintendo DS is heaven.....I have to get one somehow! My favorite genre, turn-based strategy RPG's in living and breathing on the DS. Valkyrie Profile, Front Mission, Disgaea DS, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Luminous Arc and the list goes on and on.....The DS is RPG heaven. Also Scribblenauts is awesome; everyone should play it at least once and experience what innovative and creative gaming is all about.
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| | Sean Garmer |
I can't believe within about three weeks we will finally have our hands on Final Fantasy XIII. The game that seems has taken forever to make, will hit stores on March 9th. I just hope it is a great continuation to the series, especially since XII was a bit of a let down. I still am not too fond of the almost MMO approach they took with the battle style. I'm sure the comparisons will be made as to which version, the PS3 or 360 one is better, but I think it was a great move for Square to finally take the series outside of the Sony realm. Yeah sure, Microsoft's box only has a certain amount of graphical power, but just like Square did with Nintendo, they stand a chance of putting their flagship series into the hands of people that have never touched a FF game. Anything that helps Square continue to make my favorite series of games will only help them continue to come up with new ideas for Final Fantasy. Not to mention it helps fund possibilities for remakes and for other new or existing IP's to have games of their own on the next gen systems.
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| | Joshua Richey |
At the end of 2009, it was looking like 2010 was front loaded with great games. Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy, God of War 3, but thanks to last weeks X10 event, we now know for certain that we're going to be in for some great games all year long. Halo Reach was breathtaking, Fable III didn't piss anyone off, Crackdown 2 looks better every time it's shown, and Alan Wake actually looks interesting now. Start saving your money, folks. |
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