03-11-14 Show Notes

Hour one and two: It’s our Gamer Tuesday Show with Computer America Correspondent Grayson Hamilton!  Now that the amazing Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are here, we’ll discuss even more options, new games and so much more!  Don’t miss this show!

Radio Show Topics (3.11.2014)

1.     Already a Winner: Xbox One Named Product of the Year for 2014

a. survey of 40,000 consumers via research firm TNS

b. MS director of product planning Albert Penello “The gaming console has moved out of the basement and into the living room”

c. POTY has been major source in UK for over 30 years; in US for only 6

d. Is this too early to call?

e. PS4 still outselling Xbox One by a healthy margin, on track to break 5 million units by March; what makes Xbox One POTY over other devices/competitors?

2.     There’s a Method to this Madness: The “Twitch Plays Pokemon” Phenomenon

a. Twitch TV user “TwitchPlaysPokemon” created a way for viewers to play Pokemon Red version by inputting a command via the chat window

b.  80,000 people all playing the SAME game all at once!

c. Anarchy vs. Democracy control system inherently created to help game progression

d. game was officially completed in 390 hours (16.25 days)

e. Simply a fun side project, or does this reveal new dimensions of social gaming and unique collaboration? Can this process be replicated on a larger scale or with more modern games? How does this compare to games like Minecraft, or upcoming Destiny?

f. Check out a clip of TPP in action: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-is-a-fascinating-vision-of-the-future/1100-6417867/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

3.     Moving On: Ken Levine Shutting Down Irrational Games

a. studio and creator of Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite shutting now?! WHY?!

b. Ken Levine taking on a more “entrepreneurial role” with Take-Two (publisher), keeping only 15 staff members

c. new goal? “to create narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable”; content will also be exclusively delivered digitally… sound familiar?

d. What is Ken’s long-term plan? Can he replicate a TellTale style gaming experience with brand new stories, or adapt from existing IPs?

e. http://irrationalgames.com/new-featured/a-message-from-ken-levine-2/

4.     Checking In with Charles: Did you play The Last of Us or Bioshock Infinite yet?!?

5.     Other Industry News!

  1. Amazon getting ready to debut their own TV Box: http://recode.net/2014/02/21/amazon-gets-its-tv-box-ready-again/
  2. Sony announces a new “archival disc” capable of 1 TB of storage: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2106260/sony-panasonic-develop-300gb-optical-discs-for-enterprise-storage.html
  3. Hideo Kojima says gamers are losing interest in AA titles, spending more time with social and mobile gaming: http://www.gamestm.co.uk/news/young-people-are-losing-interest-in-high-end-games-focusing-on-mobile-and-social-titles-kojima/
  4. Amy Hennig, story writer for the Uncharted franchise allegedly “pushed out” of Naughty Dog studios: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/05/uncharted-ps4-writer-amy-hennig-leaves-naughty-dog