The East Wing Podcast

Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category

I realize it’s been an incredibly long time since we’ve done a podcast and I haven’t been writing here lately. However, I wanted to start a discussion here about the increasing price of games.

This week, DC announced the pricing and bonuses for pre-ordering DC Universe Online Collector’s Edition. There are some great perks like a statue of Batman (Jim Lee), a copy of the new comic book DC is releasing and exclusive in-game items.

Now, I think these are very cool things to give buyers as a bonus but at what cost?

I don’t think I’ve ever paid $100 for a game on any platform. Let’s not forget that DCUO is an MMORPG that takes place in the DC Universe and hosted by none other than Sony Online Entertainment. Now, I’ve been a dedicated Everquest and Everquest II player for years but even then, those games were $29 new because SOE understood they are charging $15 a month to play this game.

So let’s consider that to play DCUO for a year you are going to spend $280 the first year. Would you pay this much for any other game? Batman: Arkham Asylum really made you feel like you were the Batman! It was my favorite game of last year and it certainly didn’t cost me $280.

We’re not comparing apples to oranges here, more like oranges to tangerines.

But can game publishers keep upping the price of these so-called “collector editions” and still bring in the real fans? Comics, and the DC Universe for that matter are a niche market. My in-laws and my wife certainly aren’t going to be playing this game. That leaves only fanboys, DC comic book readers and perhaps a few PS3, XBOX, and PC gamers that want to try something new and are willing to pay up for that privilege. Again, are they going to pay the price for this privilege?

I know as a parent, if my kid wanted to play this game I would have to find a way for him to earn the money, especially if I’m going to play it with him in which case I’ll be spending twice as much for us both to play.

I understand why developers do this. They want to recoup as much development cost as possible right away because they don’t know if a game is going to fail or not. Still, there has to be a line. I just don’t think this business model is sustainable when you charge $100 for the game and tack on a monthly fee. How many gamers are going to play multiple MMOs if this is the case? Not many. What do you think?

I’m a gamer. I will play just about anything and that’s no joke. Yesterday I was playing Tonka Construction Play Pack for the PC because I wanted to show my 1 year old son the trucks and tractors which he loves.

However, every once in a while there comes a game that just can’t live up to its predecessors. This game is Medal of Honor: Airborne. I just spent the last 2 hours trying to get past the first level of this game to no avail.

I’ve played all the other MoH games and the last two were great. The controls were good, they made sense and were easy to get along with. Guns were accurate for their models and the graphics were awesome.

So did EA fire that entire team when they decided to create “Airborne”?

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It’s official. Diablo 3 is coming out soon. Blizzard unveiled this news at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. You can see the official site here: http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

Two of the five classes have been revealed. Barbarian and Witch Doctor. The site has a gameplay video that is amazing. I’m predicting this to be game of the year when it eventually comes out. Expect to see some familiar faces as well, like Deckard Cain.

I know, this is old news but I just got this game for the Playstation 2. It’s still hard to find the special edition that comes with not only a guitar, microphone, drum kit and the game itself but also a $167 price tag. Even though its a bit pricey, the bonus is the gear works on the PS3 as well so if I upgrade, I just have to buy the new version of the game.

The game itself is amazing. The drums have a good response and solid feel to them and I really like the guitar much better than the guitar hero guitars. The guitar is modeled after the iconic Fender Stratocaster made famous by so many rockers. I’ve heard you can even learn to play real drums because of this game since the motions are so similar. I haven’t put that to the test yet but I can play some solid drums on the easy setting so far.

I remember when I first got Karaoke Revolution and then Guitar Hero I said to my wife how awesome it would be if you could do both of those games in one…that was about 3 years ago. I totally predicted this because I’m awesome!

Anyway, this is a must have for any party because its insanely fun. The gear doesn’t take up too much space and easily breaks down into core components for easy storage. You can even buy a bag now for both the guitar and the drum kit to easily carry your gear to your next “gig”.