Jonathan plays SkullPogo!
Hemisphere‘s breaks Sam’s brain!
Alex enjoys Dragon’s Dogma!
Sam and Alex recon Ghosts!
Max Payne is dark!
E3 Predictions get ridiculous!
See you next week!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We’ve mentioned The Way of the Game’s official Twitter feed before, but where before it’s just been a conduit for announcing that a new episode has been posted, we’re going to be trying to post to it more often. Stuff that doesn’t fit in as discussion for the podcast will find a voice on the feed. Check it out.
Sam’s broken record continues. Moving and Skyrim. Moving and Skyrim. Moving and Skyrim. With any luck, the launch of Mass Effect 3 will break him out of his rut, but probably not until episode 110.
Alex has been playing Syndicate. In 4-player co-op, he’s continuing to enjoy himself, but console freezes and predictable enemy routines are a bit of a drag. He’s also taken a shot at the new SSX. As a huge fan of the earlier entries in the series, the new one leaves him entirely ambivalent. Alex has also picked up Quarrel for iOS and XBL, and enjoys everything except the part where it told him “GRAPES” isn’t a word.
Jonathan continues to get 2011 games from GameFly, though none have yet made him reconsider any of his picks from episode 104. Alice: Madness Returns proves to be fairly competent, if a bit overwrought. Two Worlds 2, meanwhile, starts off terribly, a fact everyone seems to agree on, and the the few people who claim it gets better only serve to show that Jonathan won’t have the patience to wait. Meanwhile, the dwarves have arrived at Hero Academy, and they’re play-style is entirely different from either the humans or dark elves, and that’s a good thing.
In our topic this week, the guys decide to go out on a limb and preemptively pick their 2012 Game of the Year. With nothing to go on but gut instinct and marketing hype, each host stakes a claim in a wildly different game. We can pretty much guarantee that there will be crow to be eaten in January.
Next week, Reverse Casting Call returns, and the guys talk about… something. See you then!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Jonathan wasn’t available to record for episode 72, so we invited the esteemed Luke from the Podgecast to join us. The conversation immediately turns to the Gears of War 3 beta, since none of the WotG crew got around to actually booting it up. Then the talk turns to Frozen Synapse, and Alex reveals that he’s getting creepily obsessed with it. When the subjects of waypoints, field of fire and server problems are exhausted, Sam reveals his latest thoughts on L.A. Noire, Duke Nukem and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Are we still talking about Batman? Hell yes, we are.
Then the boys get down to the nitty-gritty: E3 predictions. The talk includes speculation on new consoles for all the major players, the need for a hardcore shooter for the Kinect and what form that may take, giant robots, tiny hats, sandwiches and honey badgers.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I’m least excited about Microsoft’s showing at E3. It’s not because I have inside knowledge, and not because I think they’ll have a poor showing, it’s just that I’m not sure how Microsoft is going to bring anything really new to the table. Nintendo will be announcing a new home console. Sony will lock down the details on their new portable. What will Microsoft bring?
I expect a slow-and-steady approach. It’s not exactly exciting, but Microsoft’s in a good position. The Kinect’s been well-received. The 360 is firmly cementing its place in households (especially following… well, you know). Microsoft doesn’t need to announce a new console, doesn’t seem to want to mess with portables, and has no debacles to recover from.
We’ll get software. We might get some new content partnerships. Microsoft could come out and shock us all, but I doubt it. Those of us looking for the whiz-bang may be underwhelmed, but I bet Microsoft’s investors will be pleased.
I’m going to be really curious about what happens at Sony’s press conference. Will they talk about the PSN hack or avoid it? Will the details center on security and stability, or will they try to shift to games and hype? It should be pretty interesting.
In a way, Sony has the least to worry about with their press conference. E3 is going to be their moment to finally shape the conversation and direct exactly where they want it, rather than have a laser focus on their network woes. We’re likely to get close-to-final details on the NGP (including a name). We’re going to get the maturation of the Move. We’ll get Twisted Metal, Uncharted, Resistance, and (finger’s crossed) Last Guardian.
This E3 is theirs to lose. Too bad it’s so easy to imagine them losing it….
Nintendo is in a precarious position at this E3. They have the most to gain of the Big Three, and the most to lose. The Wii is rapidly falling out of favor with consumers, the 3DS has had a slow start, and Nintendo’s software lineup continues to stagnate, with only a few bright spots officially in the future.
That said, Nintendo’s also the only company expected to make a big hardware announcement this year. Sales of the Wii proved the viability of motion-control. With the Kinect and Move last year, Microsoft and Sony essentially conceded that Nintendo had the right idea. Now, Nintendo is in the enviable, Apple-like position of showing us what the next big thing in the market will be when they reveal the details of Project Cafe.
The trouble with taking the Apple approach, though, is that you have to deliver. I felt that Nintendo had the strongest showing last year. They have no choice but to have the strongest showing this year, as well. Expectations are high, and if they fail to impress, if Microsoft or Sony shows them up even a little bit, the failure will be magnified.
Either way, it ought to be a lot of fun.
