CAGcast #199: Wombat, Wake Up

Cheapy, the book industry and music industry ARE trying to squash out the second-hand market. Kindle and iTunes.
 
Great episode. I think you're spot on about all the used stuff. The only reason other industries aren't as aggressive when it comes to combating used sales is simply because they don't have the means. And people have this delusional picture of companies like EA being some evil group of billionaires, swimming in cash trying to take over the world. These big publishes are losing massive amounts of money every single year.

And hopefully you guys play more RDR before next week's show. The game is incredible and really opens up after the first few hours.
 
^ I would like to know where you get your data about losing massive amounts of money every single year. I believe that if it was "every single year" they would be out of business by now.
 
OK, I looked it up. Here is the info straight from EA Investor Relations website.

For fiscal year ending March 31, 2010:

GAAP net loss for the year was $677 million as compared with a net loss of $1.088 billion for
the prior year. Diluted loss per share was ($2.08) as compared with a diluted loss per share of
($3.40) for the prior year. Fiscal 2010 GAAP results include a $140 million restructuring charge
associated with the fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010 restructuring plans.

Non-GAAP net income was $145 million as compared with net loss of $96 million a year ago.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.44 as compared with diluted loss per share of
($0.30) for the prior year.

I am not sure that they actually lost money last year, just that they lost it according to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).
 
[quote name='megma42']I am not sure that they actually lost money last year, just that they lost it according to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).[/QUOTE]
Seems like you're clutching for straws. I'm not going to pretend to know what this means, though.

I'm not saying these big name companies are fully innocent, but they aren't as well off as people think.
 
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In response to Wombat's question, "can you name any well known games that copy the Pokemon formula" I can name one known to hardcore gamers.

The Shin Megami Tensei series is basically Pokemon, but with more mature themes involving topics such as religion and morality. If you really want to get more technical, it could be argued that Pokemon stole their gameplay ideas from the Shin Megami Tensei series since the Shin Megami Tensei series has been around since 1987 in japan.

So if you ever wanted a Pokemon esque game that wasn't aimed towards kids I would suggest that series. However I wouldn't neccesarly recommend that series to Wombat, or any parents, since those game tend to go on forever (for example, it took me well over 80 hours to beat persona 4).

I hope that answers your question, and I do think that marvel super heroes game idea is awesome. No one would ever make it because it's too clever, but it's still a good idea none the less.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']Seems like you're clutching for straws. I'm not going to pretend to know what this means, though.

I'm not saying these big name companies are fully innocent, but they aren't as well off as people think.[/QUOTE]
I get what you are trying to say. A lot of people think companies like Activison and EA are loaded with money because they are such big publishers and in this day and age that simply isn't true. Both companies are far from bankrupt, but they haven't been turning much profit in the last few years. Activison has had the saving grace of Call of Duty, but for every great success is a few epic fails and for Activison that epic fail is anything having the word Hero or Hawk in it. The last batch of Guitar Hero/Band Hero and Tony Hawk ride just didn't sell all that well and with the high cost of shipping these games to stores had to have cost them a small fortune.

Something I would like to know about EA is how much money they actually make on some of these EA Partners deals with companies like BioWare and DICE. I wonder how much money EA takes in on these deals versus what the developers get. I'd be interesting to know the numbers because some of EA's best selling titles are from developers that are on the EA Partners deal.

[quote name='Vegan']Cheapy, the book industry and music industry ARE trying to squash out the second-hand market. Kindle and iTunes. [/quote]
Any industry is going to try to stop people from buying digital or worse, USED! I see the music industry being a digital only business model within the next 6 or 7 years. CDs are already on the verge of extinction
and many major retailers are giving CDs less space on the shelves or simply getting rid of them all together. Same goes for books, but it'll be decades before we live in a Mass Effect-esque world where all books are on iPads and Steve Jobs is the President of the World!

Back to CAGcast discussion though, I am still listening to show and once again another great show. I can't wait for the big #200 next week. The talk on Alan Wake is making me want to spend more money this week! I just picked up RDR and 3D Dot Game Heroes so I wanted to wait a few weeks to pick up Alan Wake, but after hearing Cheapy and Ship give the game glowing praise and getting some first hand time with it at a friends yesterday, I am already pulled into the story by just playing the first 30 minutes of episode 1. Remedy has made a brilliant game, with an unparalleled presentation. I don't know why everyone want's to compare this to Silent Hill and Resident Evil, Alan Wake really doesn't have much in common with either game and quite honestly it's better than just about every game in either of those series especially the disappointing RE5.
 
I loved hearing about Wombats gripe with saving in Red Dead Redemption. It took me back to my days working the electronics department at Wal-Mart. People would come in with their perfectly fine products and ask me why its not working. The first question I always asked them was, 'Well what does the instruction manual say?', to which I was always answered, 'I didn't read the instructions'.
 
As for the discussion on used things. Text book companies do use a way to combat used sales. I can't tell you how much money I spent in college getting the new 8th edition of a book that changed some page numbers and examples just enough for the 7th edition to be useless for class homework. It would also drive me crazy when I found a typo in that 8th edition, meaning next year there would be a 9th edition.

I don't mind the codes given out for new games, because the only used games I buy are a few years after they released (i wait for them to drop to $15-$20) and by that time not many people are online to find a match with anyway.

If anything, I think it would drive down used game prices. Say you could hypothetically get Mass Effect 2 used for 50 with a code, or 35 without the code.
 
[quote name='Sigma']
Something I would like to know about EA is how much money they actually make on some of these EA Partners deals with companies like BioWare and DICE. I wonder how much money EA takes in on these deals versus what the developers get. I'd be interesting to know the numbers because some of EA's best selling titles are from developers that are on the EA Partners deal.[/QUOTE]

Not to invalidate your question about EA Partners, but BioWare and DICE are owned by EA. EA Partners are companies like Valve, Crytek, Epic, and MTV Games.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Not to invalidate your question about EA Partners, but BioWare and DICE are owned by EA. EA Partners are companies like Valve, Crytek, Epic, and MTV Games.[/QUOTE]
That's right! I actually did know that EA owned BioWare and DICE, woke up earlier than usual today and had yet to have my coffee.

Regardless thanks for setting my last post straight, Ship.

Still has me wondering what cut of the sales EA gets and what cut the developers are getting on these partner deals. Same goes for Bungie and Activison too, which I believe was discussed a bit on the CAGcast a few weeks back.
 
I've had the unfortunate luck of listening to the first 50 minutes of this podcast. Wombat's feedback on Red Dead Redemption is not only totally inaccurate (you can't fastravel without a map?) but incredibly retarded. The fact that he didn't know how to save in game after playing for two hours is inexcusable as well. Volus, you really have to step your game up.
 
I'm surprised no one mentioned that the large percentage of gamers who don't have their systems connected to the internet stand to gain from EA's Online Pass if it reduces the selling price of used copies of their sports games.

Like Cheapy, I don't have any problem with EA doing this. If you don't buy the game new, you are not their customer, and they really don't owe you anything.


I'm glad even though Cheapy and Shipwreck really like Alan Wake, they managed to stop themselves from reading out who gave it low scores on MetaCritic and saying how all those reviewers sucked or whatever. Sometimes we all just need to accept that a game we love isn't going to get the same love from everybody else. 83 is a good average score, and people like Chris Kohler at Wired are entitled to their opinions.
 
[quote name='Ogelthorpe']I've had the unfortunate luck of listening to the first 50 minutes of this podcast. Wombat's feedback on Red Dead Redemption is not only totally inaccurate (you can't fastravel without a map?) but incredibly retarded. The fact that he didn't know how to save in game after playing for two hours is inexcusable as well. Volus, you really have to step your game up.[/QUOTE]

So you are saying I spoke about the game for 50 minutes? Maybe I spent 3 minutes.
 
[quote name='Curufinwe']I'm surprised no one mentioned that the large percentage of gamers who don't have their systems connected to the internet stand to gain from EA's Online Pass if it reduces the selling price of used copies of their sports games.

Like Cheapy, I don't have any problem with EA doing this. If you don't buy the game new, you are not their customer, and they really don't owe you anything.


I'm glad even though Cheapy and Shipwreck really like Alan Wake, they managed to stop themselves from reading out who gave it low scores on MetaCritic and saying how all those reviewers sucked or whatever. Sometimes we all just need to accept that a game we love isn't going to get the same love from everybody else. 83 is a good average score, and people like Chris Kohler at Wired are entitled to their opinions.[/QUOTE]

48539.gif

BULLSEYE!

How many serious online players of any sports game wouldn't already be picking the games up new on day one anyway?
 
[quote name='Wombat']So you are saying I spoke about the game for 50 minutes? Maybe I spent 3 minutes.[/QUOTE]
I just like how he says first 50 minutes like it was a short snippet of the podcast, when it's half the length of the whole podcast!

[quote name='WombatHaterGuy']I've had the unfortunate luck of listening to the first 50 minutes of this podcast. Wombat's feedback on Red Dead Redemption is not only totally inaccurate (you can't fastravel without a map?) but incredibly retarded. The fact that he didn't know how to save in game after playing for two hours is inexcusable as well. Volus, you really have to step your game up.[/quote]
He did say he couldn't give a proper opinion of the game yet because he had only played for 2 hours. You are acting like 2 hours in the game everyone should be playing at an expert skill. He knows now, so why come in here and bash Wombat? Is it because you wanna be mentioned on the podcast because we all know that Wombat insults typically get a mention.
 
Here is a better question: Do you have to be an "expert" to realize that there was an in game save? How about taking 2 minutes to sort through the menu, or pay attention to what is going on in the game! I know, I know - I'm expecting too much. I'll forgive him if he gives me a British Cosby impression on the next cagcast.
 
So with Red Dead Redemption, just out of curiosity. Does anyone here know what exactly they are doing when they play horse shoes and when they are dueling? I taught myself to throw horse shoes well enough to win a match where I bet a buck. Dueling though...I win sometimes and I lose sometimes; I really don't know what the hell it is I am doing.

The tutorials in this game are horrible, and that's the one thing I'd dock it for.

Wombat, I definitely agree that John Marshton is painted as being more of a good guy. What I don't like though is that story missions give you honor, so what if you are trying to be dishonorable? I think this game could have benefited very nicely from a Mass Effect esque conversation system.

Also, you guys need to be sure to buy the bandanna in Thieve's Landing. If you dawn the bandanna it gives you like an alternate persona. So you can build up a bounty and what not for yourself with the bandanna and when you take it off John Marshton won't have a bounty. It'll also keep your honor high. (Keep in mind you have to put on and take off the bandanna with no one around.)

[quote name='hollitz']I want to hear Shipwreck say "cunt".[/QUOTE]

Nah, him saying it for the sake of saying it wouldn't mean anything. I want to hear him call someone a "Goddamn fucking piece of shit!" with so much ginger rage that he is spewing tons of spit all over the place and he is about to throw bows on a bitch. Perhaps someone could take an axe to his Donkey Kong machine to bring forth this theoretical rage of the mighty Shipwreck.

Another thing, Ship and Wombat...

Steam is the SHIT!!! It's digital distribution done the way the good lord intended. Not only are these games new to the Mac, but so is STEAM. Let them get the hiccups out before you write it off; I'm sure you guys will be able to play on your mac books.
 
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Re: Iron Man plotholes

Yeah you can easily enough think of a reason why Whiplash figured out where Tony was, but the execution of it in the movie was lazy. One line or two of dialogue takes care of the whole issue, where is the proofreader?

A bigger issue was how the heck did Whiplash survive all that chaos he caused? All the shrapnel and explosions should have wiped him out. Getting hit by a 4000 lb car 6 times should have crushed him to a pulp. But all he got were some bruises????
 
Cheapy, your comment about Rockstar's VIP only E3 booth reminded me that Bethesda did the same thing last year. It didn't dominate the show floor like buses and a fence, just a really large black box in the corner, but you had to have an invite to play any of their stuff. From what I remember they were the only company to put all of their titles behind closed doors. Here's hoping they change their plans this year, especially with Fallout: New Vegas on the way.
 
[quote name='rupan_sansei']Cheapy, your comment about Rockstar's VIP only E3 booth reminded me that Bethesda did the same thing last year. It didn't dominate the show floor like buses and a fence, just a really large black box in the corner, but you had to have an invite to play any of their stuff. From what I remember they were the only company to put all of their titles behind closed doors. Here's hoping they change their plans this year, especially with Fallout: New Vegas on the way.[/QUOTE]

While most of their stuff was behind closed doors, I seem to remember there being kiosks with Wet on the outside. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, though.
 
Poor Shipwreck, he looks so terrified.


[IMG-C=6394]14942[/IMG-C]
"Please! Don't leave me with these people."





​
 
[quote name='shipwreck']While most of their stuff was behind closed doors, I seem to remember there being kiosks with Wet on the outside. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, though.[/QUOTE]

There were definitely kiosks, but I think they were just running trailers. I might be remembering that one wrong though.
 
Hello! Wombat,

I am a big fan of your show, and respect all your objective opinions about the current gaming business.

One thing about Alan wake I wanted to tell you is, the game has James McCaffrey's voice in it. I think you might be interested to hear his voice again after Max Payne 1 and 2. Especially, he is the person who gave you the Copy of Max Payne 2.

Also, I believe the game developer Remedy has very good relationship with the actor, James McCaffrey, and the finnish band, Poets of the Fall who sang the credit theme of Max Payne 2 and Alan wake. That's what they come back for this Alan wake Project. I just felt like, Remedy is a good small gaming developer which spend alot of time to creative something amazing for gamer to appreciate.

Cheapy D and Shipwreck was right about this game. They really did nail the feeling of the environment and the storytelling. I wish you enjoy the game once you get it.

Futhermore, I believe the upcoming Mass effect 2 and Alan wake DLCs will be one of those better DLC compare with the shitty DLCs out there. 'Cause if DLC can serve as a bridge between their Franchise, more people will be willingly buying the DLC. Like Alan wake will add two new episodes that can might link to ALan wake 2

And I suggest Bioware that Mass effect 2 can make a DLC that offer an in game choice which will affect the major story in Mass effect 3. I believe that would sell the DLCs. Although Mass effect 2 might not build their game that way, DLC with major choice. But I would like to see that.

Sorry for this long e-mail, just to express this interesting little stuff before you play Alan wake, and my suggestion toward the DLC. Thank you
 
Shipwreck, did you get M-Frames or Half Jackets?

I still have my issued M-Frames.... Never wear them because it makes me look like I'm off to the local batting cages or drink on my john boat
 
[quote name='reddjoey']Shipwreck, did you get M-Frames or Half Jackets?

I still have my issued M-Frames.... Never wear them because it makes me look like I'm off to the local batting cages or drink on my john boat[/QUOTE]

These are what they look like:
19946.jpg
 
Good show guys, but I found Shipwreck and Wombats preview for Steam on the Mac to be unfair giving it more flak than positives even though its only been out for 2-3 weeks? Only because a single game on Steam from another developer did not work? Come on guys.

To Wombat and Shipwreck. What are the specs of the MacBooks are ya'll using? And what are the specs for your iMac Cheapy?
 
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NO reason Torchlight shouldn't run on a newer Macbook with the 9400M integrated gpu or better.

I have an iMac with that same gpu and Torchlight runs fine.
 
You guys are crazy for saying that Fable III is the game to get Natal out there with. Logic dictates that Microsoft wants to get project shitbox bundled with their best franchise. E3 they will probably announce that Halo Reach will have it featured and you can get some kinda bundle. That would be a better game than Fable III.

Also, your junkett talks are getting boring. Why the fuck would you go to a junket and not be able to talk about the game, but instead just talk how cheap EA LA is. EA LA only produces shit games and I was looking forward to the revamp of Medal of Honor until Shipwreck mentioned they where working on it. Is there an embargo on talking about the game?
 
[quote name='Davestation']You guys are crazy for saying that Fable III is the game to get Natal out there with. Logic dictates that Microsoft wants to get project shitbox bundled with their best franchise. E3 they will probably announce that Halo Reach will have it featured and you can get some kinda bundle. That would be a better game than Fable III.

Also, your junkett talks are getting boring. Why the fuck would you go to a junket and not be able to talk about the game, but instead just talk how cheap EA LA is. EA LA only produces shit games and I was looking forward to the revamp of Medal of Honor until Shipwreck mentioned they where working on it. Is there an embargo on talking about the game?[/QUOTE]

Yes, there is an embargo until June 15th, that's why I can't talk about it. They did not inform us of this embargo date prior to me going. If you'd like to hear some stuff about the game, you can listen to last week's Giant Bombcast. Apparently Ryan Davis wasn't given the same embargo because he did not see it at this event. The game looks really good.
 
[quote name='banodyne']Just to throw some fuel on the fire of Steam on Mac: Steam for Mac Benchmarks: Windows Is Much Faster. It shows that on the same hardware setups Windows is a lot faster. Mac OSX can do many things well. Gaming is not one of them.[/QUOTE]

Silly comment at this stage.

Maybe you're just a perpetual glass is half-empty kind of guy, but gaming just got a lot better on the Mac because of Steam's arrival. Portal plays just fine too.

Performance gap will only get better as games/drivers/STeam get better optimized for the Mac.

edit: "One surprising result, however, is that the same version of Portal is five times more stable on Mac OS X than on Windows."
 
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Your comments on Alan Wake pushed me over the purchasing edge and I'm just starting chapter five and scared shitless basically but not enjoying it as much as Cheapy is unfortunately, probably because I don't do well with scary games like this. Anyway, has anyone tried to spoil the ending for you like they did with Heavy Rain? I was in the middle of my game when some douche bag by the name of "Sinister Poison" sends me a voice message in an attempt to spoil the ending but fortunately I was pretty quick with the B button there. I don't even know the guy, probably a recent player.

Two: Any chance we'll see Mrs. Boatcrash on the Cagcast ever? Might be nice to have a women's opinion on poop too. =P
 
Shipwreck, Wombat - There was a huge Portal update today (May 25th) to fix the crashing issues you were having. I don't have a Mac myself so I can't test it, but maybe try give Portal a second chance to see if it'll work.

Don't know about Torchlight either. You're missing out on a great game, but I'm sure you have a giant game backlog you gotta address anyway.
 
[quote name='Davestation'] Also, your junkett talks are getting boring. Why the fuck would you go to a junket and not be able to talk about the game, but instead just talk how cheap EA LA is. EA LA only produces shit games and I was looking forward to the revamp of Medal of Honor until Shipwreck mentioned they where working on it. Is there an embargo on talking about the game?[/QUOTE]


Personally I enjoy hearing all about the junkets that Shipwreck & Wombat get invited to even if the games are under embargo and hope they get invited to more. I don't have the time nor contacts at CAG's disposal to attend these events, so if if they are go and take the time to talk about what's it's like to visit a studio or attend a junkett then by God I want to hear them. As Shipwreck already said once the embargo is lifted he'll talk about the game, what's the rush?
 
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