Jake and Mike Videogame Show

If you played heavy rain then you’ll recognize this man, as the voice and face of Scott Shelby from Heavy Rain. We’ll he was in a movie a few years back and had a scene wear he essentially plays Scott Shelby, so it’s pretty cool to see something like this that happened before the game, but is being viewed after having played it. Enjoy.

-(MS)Mike out.

Some interesting news from the latest US game sales charts, Bioshock 2 and Dante’s Inferno came out for both the PS3 and 360 and the numbers are in. I bet most of you are saying “Jake, who cares about game sales numbers? I own all the systems and play the games that are best for each platform.” Well you are a great person, I think more people need to be like you and in being more like you they will be more like me, which is fantastic. I know that game sales numbers are really only for fanboys to jerk off too but I think there is some interesting things happening out there in the gaming world and you should be informed. Don’t fall asleep on the job here people.

Alright, anyway, lets start with Bioshock 2, a first person shooter that had it’s predecessor come out exclusively for the 360, then about a year later saw a release on the PS3. I think it’s pretty logical how the sales for this game look, the 360 version has sold more then double the copies of the PS3 version, and why wouldn’t it? It is a game that we loved here in the US (where the 360 has almost double the consoles sold compared to the PS3), it is a first person shooter, and it had a long exclusive run on the 360. Almost all first person shooters do better on the 360, I don’t have the info in front of me but I would be willing to guess that a 360 FPS sells more then it’s PS3 version almost every time. So no big surprise there, but the Dante’s Inferno sales are a little more interesting.

So assuming that there are a little under 2x as many 360s as opposed to PS3s in the US you would think Dante’s Inferno would have a similar ratio of sales, but that is not the case. We have seen a trend recently of games that are not FPS’s selling very comparable on both consoles, not only that but in the case of games that have some sort of exclusive content (Batman Arkum Asylum anyone?) they are selling better on the PS3. Dante’s Inferno has some sort of exclusive content on the PS3, I don’t know what it is because I don’t really care about the game, but I can assure you there is something. I’m guessing a scythe, no that’s too easy… a big claw weapon. I bet people are clamoring over this big claw weapon as we speak, “Oh what do you think of the big claw?” they will say, “I got the 360 version, I didn’t get the big claw” their friend will reply, then everyone will laugh at them. Kids can be cruel. So back to the numbers, Dante’s Inferno is selling better on the PS3. That’s right, BETTER. Now I need to point out that I don’t really care which version sells better, I don’t own any stock in either company, but I think Sony is starting to compete with the 360 due to its price drop and exclusive content and that is something gamers need to realize. The PS3 is selling video games now, and some of them are better.

How long will this trend last? Is Sony finally taking some business from Microsoft? What’s up with the stuff? These are all great questions that I can’t answer but I hope I have given you something to think about and for you 360 fanboys, maybe it is time to buy a PS3. Oh, and for you PS3 fanboys, calm down.

jake

ps – haters wanna hate, get your shine on, I’m Gutta Gutta. Good night.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how the exclusive Joke content in Arkham Asylum actually became the deciding factor in which version of the game sold best and that Sony needed to take this new found decision to remove their heads from their asses and start offering up things that make a Multi-platform title look better on their console and also to make their television commercials less creepy and strange and more accessible, useful and entertaining.

Well, here we are a few weeks later and, I’m a bit surprised to see that Sony actually seems to be continuing this trend. To be honest, when I wrote those words a few weeks ago, I really didn’t believe that many more decisions similar to the Batman thing would be popping up again, especially this soon. I kinda thought it was a well timed fluke that Sony wouldn’t capitalize on.

It’s a good thing for Sony that I was incorrect.

First they offer up the Brutal Legend content for free, compared to a price tag that the 360 offers, commercials convincing you to lean towards the ps3 version of multiplatform games (Assassins Creed 2 and Rock Band), the God of War 3 demo coming bundled in on all the District 9 blu-rays, but I’ve also, oddly enough, found myself entertained by the commercials as of late. Rather then creepy dolls or a white room filled with birds and then the PS3 logo, they’re actually TELLING people what their system has to offer, and making you laugh while they do it. Hell, they’re marketing the games they have to buy in a decent manor as well, which they haven’t done the best job of in the past. I never saw a Motorstorm commercial on TV. I never saw a Resistance commercial on TV, and aside from Infamous, it was always just weird clipshow commercials of a few seconds flashing of random games without them telling you anything of substance. I’ve now seen several separate commercials for Uncharted 2 and a couple for Ratchet and Clank as well. All of these things are something Sony has reeaalllyyy needed to be doing this whole time and I think they’ll actually start seeing a return now that they FINALLY started telling people they have a console worth having, rather than trying to trick people into remembering how much they Liked the playstation 2 and that the 3 can be good as well.

-(MS)Mike out.

Jake and I were checking out the NPD numbers for Batman: Arkham Asylum because we were very curious about how strongly the Exclusive Joker stuff would actually impact the sales. We were also curious about whether or not the price drop would affect the games sales as well.

We were both hypothesizing that, most likely, the two would be near identical in sales, but that the x360 version would prolly be like, 10-20 thousand more. Still a tie in the whole scheme of things, but technically Microsoft would come out on top. So, by those estimations, we would be taking the normal 2/3 victory Microsoft tends to have over Sony with Multi-platform titles, and assigning the exclusive Joker stuff and price drop the role of evening things up, but not winning them anything.

We were close.

What ACTUALLY happened was, The Joker content was alone enough to close that 2/3 victory and tie them up with Microsoft, only beating them by a few thousand, but once that price drop kicked in, they’ve been able to keep that lead over the x360 version and actually build a lead over it week-to-week.

This is all some completely unheard of stuff when it comes to Multi-platform games on the PS3 and x360, and it’s also enough to show you that all someone needs to do is offer a little incentive and it can go a looooong way. There is a reason why Fallout 3 and GTA4 were such a drastic difference, because those little incentives that Microsoft had were the single regulating reason for the huge sales displacements between the two.

So, there you go Sony, you’ve got a hell of a second chance to redeem yourself this generation, just make sure you capitalize off of this, instead of making us all find out your clever Batman decision was all actually just a fluke. Get yourselves into that respectable third place, and we’ll all have a hell of alot more faith in you as time passes.

-(MS)Mike out.

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Here is the second part! Uhmm……What else is there to really say?

……….Jake digs blondes and I like Mexican chicks. Not everything has to be about Video Games.

-(MS)Mike out.

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Well, here we are, back in the saddle again! Huzzah my friends, huzzah!!

We’ve got a hell of alot of podcast love for you guys this week to make up for our wacky update schedule.

We talk about so many games, that I honestly don’t remember all the many, many things we talked about. I don’t know the order at all, but I know we talk about Wet, Scribblenauts, Mario and Luigi 3, Halo: ODST, Beatles Rock band, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and I’m sure a few other things that i’m missing. So just listen to them, and find yourself in a world of fantasy where your imagination is your car and hopes and dreams are the gasoline!

Also, I noticed that we say “When we were talking about it earlier” a shit load in our podcasts. This one is no exception.

-(MS)Mike out.

-(MS)Mike out.

Normally, I try and update each weekday, but I’m a bit on games overload right now, so I’m having a tough time narrowing down one thing to talk about. I actually had to sit down with Jake, and we essentially had to make a diagram and timeline about when and how and what order we’ll need to play the games that are coming in the next 3 weeks because it’s soooooo freakin jam packed with goodness.

Hell, I’m actually PURCHASING 3 games within the next two days, on top of the 3 games I’m gameflying. So that’s the type of shit I’m talking about right now.

JAM PACKED!!!!!!

But yeah, I have no way to narrow down my thought process right now, so you can suck it.

I mean…Suck it, Friends <3

-(MS)Mike out.

Anyone whose had an email address within the last 15 years knows what “spam” is, and should most likely be very familiar with it at this point. Inboxs are filled with it’s evil, MSN conversations are interrupted with its filth, my mind will always secretly wonder if there really is someone out there that thinks I need a bigger penis or if its just coincidence.

Well spam reached a new last night and I’d like to transpire that new low to you in text form, but first… A little back story.

So, I had just gotten done played about and hour and a half of Fat Princess and I happened to see that I had a new message. I occasionally get messages and add’s from randoms I play games with or from you guys on the site, so I didn’t really feel like I was going into anything unexpected.

Here is the message exactally as I received it:

“Hey there VANSAVESLIVES ON PLAYSTATION NETWORK,

It was really a fun time I had when I was playing A Fat Princess for the PlayStation Network with you just now. Remember me? Probably not because I was SO FAR DOWN on the leaderboards and you did that much more of a great job. HAHA, good times. Anyways, Did you know you can get….

Never Pay Retail prices for your medications again
Our Online Pharmacy Offers Hundreds Of Meds At Wholesale Prices
Cut Out The Middle Man And Save between 30 and 70% On Your Medshttp://www.hetegir.ctn

Anyways, lets play another A Fat Princess sometime soon. Keep up the hard and good work sir, haha, you know its all in fun.”

Haha It was fun reading that message because, although I should be afraid that there’s a potential for all sorts of spamming to be going on, since its so easy to make accounts on PSN, I’ll save that worry for another day. If all spam was this wonderfully written and entertaining, I’d prolly consider switching to hetegir.ctn for all of my wholesale pharmacy needs.

But yes, this could be our grim future friends, let us laugh long and hard, until it’s late to prevent the Spam Renaissance’s arrival!

-(MS)Mike out.

Does that mean I also shouldn’t play any wii games, since they’re all so uniformly white?? No…you should not play any Wii games, because their aren’t any decent one’s coming out this month! BUT, don’t let that deter you, because black never goes out of style (in the metaphor, black will mean the ps3 and Elite 360) and there is plenty of stuff coming out in the near future for those two glorious beast’s. We’re knocking on the door of the big end of the year releases, and we’ve got some nice pre-meal appetizers to cleanse your pallet before you start (I guess is a food metaphor now too?)

I would say that this month, the big boys are gonna be Ultimate Alliance 2, Wet, Halo: ODST, GH5 and Beatles Rock band going head-to-head, and the new Need for Speed rounding things out for good measure. NOW, this isn’t to say that their aren’t some other titles out there that are at least medium profile things, but I think those are gonna be the ones to be watching out for. Soooooo, you’re gonna be wanting to expect quite a bit of news from us about the games were playing and the podcast being a bit more chunky over the coming week’s since we’ll be paying so much more!

Also, It’s important that all of you remember how addicted to drugs the two makers of The Cast that Never Was Kingdom hearts podcast are. Like, Its’ getting pretty bad that they’d rather sell their tv for a new fix, then to sit down and record another one of their quality podcasts. Its sad is what it is.

-(MS)Mike out.

So the final character in Ultimate Alliance 2 is supposed to be revealing today, but according to the buzz and rumor’s floating around the net, and the fact that this buzz was created by the same people that pointed towards who would be revealed for the wii version, it appears as if the announcement is going to be lame.

Jake and I have been pontificating back and forth like crazy trying to come up with a character that is the right fit, had to do with civil war, and worth bringing up very last like two maniacs, and then they have to go and ruin all of that fun and speculation by making it freakin’ Iceman?

Ugh, boring much?

Oh well, it still isn’t official and I’d really like to see that small glimmer of hope that somehow people were right about the wii exclusives, but wrong about the 360/ps3 characters. Fingers crossed!

-(MS)Mike out.

Is pretty kick ass. Figured I would put this up on the site.

Yeah, you are welcome.

-jake

Seriously, 10? 20? 100?!

I don’t know, but it’s a good thing they did, because they’ll prolly end up with a bunch more copies sold. Seriously, I think it will drastically change the spready between 360 copies sold and ps3 copies sold.

Hopefully, Sony will learn how sweet the taste is that Microsoft has been savoring this whole time, and start getting some damn exclusive content for their games.

-(MS)Mike out.

I sat here a few months ago and told you all that I felt that Nintendo was fully capable of releasing the DSi and making some real waves when it came to small downloadable games that would rival the fun and hype the iPhone has created with some of its better games and apps.

Obviously I couldn’t have been more incorrect.

But I’m getting a lucky second chance to redeem myself thanks to some of the things Sony showed off at their big Gamescom press event. Obviously I mentioned quite a few of the things they announced on our twitter, if any of you were following that, but the one I wanna focus on is what LOOKS like some real app/game style support they have planned for the PSPgo.

Now like I mentioned before, I had said this exact same thing about Nintendo, but I always seem to forget that Nintendo has this habit of doing something, and then not really letting it become cool or useful till 6 or so months later while it builds steam and Nintendo works their voodoo magic.

Sony on the other hand, they kind of HAVE to hit the ground running at this point when they are releasing things, but I feel like the fact that they’ve stuck around the way they have this Gen and even gained some more steam (which I will inevitably increase even more so with the announcement of the new PS3 model at $299), will allow them to drop this new PSPgo store thingy and really do some good stuff with it.

Hell at this point, they finally found themselves in a situation where they can do something no one else in the Big Three is doing: Take your handheld and your online store and really give the people something to be excited about. While that sounds obvious, look at how poorly Nintendo did this, they didn’t do much of anything to really make anyone excited about the DSi only offerings, unless you’re a huge fan of Nintendo themed clocks and calculators. Microsoft will usually be considered the one that has, arguably, the best online storefront but they have no logical mobile device other than the Zune to really connect with it, and that limits you to Music and Video.

With the PSPgo and Sony’s newfound boost of morale, out of the box idea’s like their partnership of bringing Marvel comics to the digital reader on the PSP, and a hopefully successful library of cheap PSPgo targeted app style games, I truly think we might see them jump back into the race like they mean it and possibly even shake off the “butt of every gaming joke” hat they have been wearing for the last 2 years.

Good luck Sony, this may be your last legitimate shot at redemption.

-(MS)Mike out.

Ever since Capcom first showed the original gameplay video for Lost Planet two and its full 4-player co-op campaign, people have been asking them if its going to be multiplatform. Why have they been asking this? Well, because 2 years ago Capcom announced to the world that they would no longer be releasing any platform specific titles and preceded to release Lost Planet on the ps3 and Devil May Cry 4 on the 360, all of which seemed to back up their earlier claim, but then they released the first video for Lost Planet 2 exclusively through xboxlive, had only the Microsoft and xbox live related logo’s on all press material, and had a noticeable lapse of information regarding any details about its ps3 release.

So, all of this was about 4 video game trade shows ago, and Capcom has STILL avoided revealing any more information about the multiplatform release future of this game, even managing to avoid showing up at E3, allowing them to claim ignorance about how much they really knew about the video game, and NOW the 360 is getting the co-op demo soon and we are continuing the Xbox-centric information trend.

Bravo Capcom, Bravo! (If this was real life, I would have said that slowly and with a hint of braggart, while I slowly turned in my large velvet chair to face Capcom, slowly stroking my white, long-haired cat). I see one of three things happening at this point:

• 1) The game is a timed exclusive  and comes out for the 360 like 4 or 5 months ahead of the ps3 release. So they get it enough ahead of time to make a deal, but much shorter a turn around time than your normal timed exclusive so that Capcom can claim that they haven’t broken their original promise.
• 2) Capcom continues to not answer anyone’s question until about a week before the game comes out, if even that, and we find out that Capcom had some type of advertising deal made with Microsoft so that all Lost Planet 2 press was made using the 360 as it’s outspoken platform. Both platforms receive the game and all the unanswered questions suddenly make sense.
• 3)Capcom straight goes back on what they said, and we don’t see ANY type of Lost Planet release on the ps3 until a good year or more from now and they claim that since the game eventually came out, that it was never considered an “Exclusive” and there is a bit of controversy which eventually blows over like most Capcom stuff. Or we see no release at all.

So that is about all I have to say. I’m prolly more irritated about the situation because I have had a bit of a falling out with the way Capcom has treated it’s audience as of late, but I still feel like the lack of any type of clarification, hell, not even a denial to clarify, is an obvious insult to the people asking the questions. I don’t like when game companies act oblivious to the obvious, and ignore the questions everyone’s asking.

It wouldn’t hurt to pull a Nintendo and, although we’ve been largely ignored so far, to finally address concerns, and at least let us know you’re listening, whether we get a real answer or not.

-(MS)Mike out.

Every time Jake and I get into a discussion about games eventually being more downloaded and less bought at a store, at some point in time, I usually bring up the fact that the games should probably cost less but that I’m afraid they won’t. There is a reason why PC games cost 10 bucks cheaper for the exact same game then its console counter part. Theres a reason that 5-20$ is the sweet spot for downloadable titles.

Alot of people just think its because the games are from smaller studios or because that’s just how a dlc title works, but also, a large factor is because they don’t need to spend a ton of money on printing disc’s, paying to get box art done, paying to print manuals and manufacture or purchase cases and all that junk, so they can afford to give you a game for cheaper and still see a return.

Now you could use some of the few full retail games that Sony has released on PSN and attempt to say that, since the games were fully downlodable, that they were indeed cheaper, but I’m not quite sure if that can be 100% yet, because as of today, all the full retail games released on PSN have been online only games that normally have a smaller price tag to begin with, so that skews things a big. Not to mention that they both came with headsets in retail and but didn’t in the download only versions, which also throws off our ability to see if there was a standard as far as the games being cheaper. Then was the digital only release of the PSP exclusive Tekken, which released lower then some PSP titles, but higher than others, so again, no solid comparison in price can be made. Unfortunately, it seems like those are the only examples that I know of as far as any of the consoles offering up a full retail title in a new school way that had any type of price variance you could use to see where their head is at.

Sadly, as much as we all know that cost’s would be down with a digital release, I can’t really picture the titles costing one price digital and another retail. Knowing Microsoft, who I assume will be the first to make a major digital push for their normally retail only games (Aside from Sony testing the waters with the pspGO), I doubt you’ll see any price drop between the two. More likely we’ll either see something similar to Sony so far, where the price is less digital, and more retail, but the retail version comes with something extra, or  we’ll see a bigger push from them next generation rather than this one, and they’ll keep the 59.99 price tag for digital stuff and well see an increase in the price for retail purchases.

Either way, this is really all just musings and hearsay, but it will be interested to see how this road winds up and how successful each of the big three are with their respective takes on the idea of pricing for legitimate game releases in a digital environment.

-(MS)Mike out.

I have been playing a lot of Fat Princess lately and the game is really great (you will hear more on the podcast this Friday). There have been some major issues with the game so far, like any online only game, it was not ready for people to “play it”, go figure. Anyway, the people over at Titan Studios have made an announcement in their developer blog about some of the games problems. Here is their entire post so you don’t have to check their twitter.

Feedback, Fixes, FAQ and Strategies

We’ve received a flood of emails in the last 36 hours.  We’re humbled by the incredible outpouring of appreciation and support from the community, and by the number of fans who have invested staggering amounts of time and effort in writing thoughtfully about their experiences and offering suggestions.  Many of you are also actively contributing to forums all over the web.

Ninety-five out of a hundred emails are from gamers loving the game, even though some of them are experiencing varying degrees of networking  problems and other bugs.  Some of you have have serious troubles and are rightfully frustrated.  We’re frustrated too, and we’re on it.  Regardless, we thank you all.  Titan loves you back.

Patch in Testing

We have implemented fixes that should substantially improve critical connection and lag issues.  A patch has now entered testing.  No ETA yet.  When we have information to share, you’ll get it.

Known Issues, Bugs, Imbalances

The following bugs and imbalances have been well reported and documented.  In general, there is no need to send additional information.  If you come across something new – please send it on.

• Failed Game Connections
• Lag
• Hosting Problems
• AoE Scoring Exploits
• Stalemates
• Missing Princess (on certain levels)
• Dead Hat Machines
• Scoreboard Issues (only top 1000 scores shown)
• Ranking System Problems

Balancing, Feature Requests, Other Comments

We have also received hundreds of great suggestions, some of which will directly result in changes to the game at some point down the road.  Among those that have been well documented:

• Changes to Ranking System
• Changes to Scoring System
• Stalemate Breakers (e.g. – Finite Cake, Slim Fast Princess)
• Server Lists
• Clan Management
• Hosted Servers
• Class Balance
• More Classes
• More Class Upgrades
• More Maps
• More Modes
• More Sports
• Even Fatter Princesses
• Unbelievably Fat Gargantuan Princesses

Please note: we have so many emails coming in that though we’ll read it all, we will not be able to respond to everything.  We only have so many hours in the day, and I am sure you’ll all agree that work on the game takes priority.  Thanks for your understanding.

FAQ Coming

We’ll be working on a FAQ in the coming days.  The FAQ will address the game, technical problems, systems, etc.  Stay tuned.

Strategy / Tips

Titan Studios is also working on a Fat Princess strategies and tips page.  Some of them were by design, and some have emerged from live play.  Until then, play as a team, use voice chat, and know that a piece of virtual cake has 150 calories.

So like any good video game nowadays you should wait a few weeks before you buy it and if you already bought it, we just helped you play it better by forwarding the good will! Go go gadget robot arms!

-jake

I signed onto my PS3 today to download the new Fat Princess game to find  I had two new friend requests.

Now after quite a bit of pondering, I can only imagine that these people are listeners and Sooooo, I wanted to give a shout out to Groton and LinkMahBoy for taking up my PS3 based olive branch of friendship and HOPEFULLY we get to play us some damn games soon. If either of you picked up Fat princess, I’m all kinds of down!

Again, any listeners to the podcast or patrons to this site can feel free to add Jake or I on xboxlive or PSN, using the following methods of convenience.

PSN: Vansaveslives and Spragels

Xbox Live: VanSavesLives and Spragels

Super easy, right? Right!

-(MS)Mike out.

P.S. You see, I titled this post about shout outs, and I put a caption of a guy shouting….I’m so clever.

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Welcome back to turkey town you crazy chickens, We’ve got a heck of a podcast for you this week.

We talk a hell of alot of Battlefield 1943 and our love for going commando. We each bring up a few of the games we managed to play in a month that had no games to play in it and Mike touches on his VERY furst experience with an MMORPG.

Its touching, its thought provoking, its tear jerking, its laugh inducing, its fat burning, its a burst if flavor in each bite! Enjoy!!

Also, watch for Mike and Jake to Name drop CheapyD several times, they’re very tricky like that!

-(MS)Mike out.

A whole lot of gaming stuff in the world these days really seems like it should be judged by some type of standard or something. Back in the day when Nintendo had the Seal of approval, you knew that they meant business but we dont have anything like that anymore….Or do we? What if you could walk into a store and be like, “oh, this doesn’t have the Mike Steele Stamp of approval….I better move along”.

Well you’re in luck.

I have invented the Mike Steele Stamp of Approval screening process so that people can finally use me as the medium for whether or not things are worthy of liking or hating because I’m the only one that matters and you know it. Here’s some of the Stuff that currently has the Mike Steele Stamp Of Approval, and some other things that totally didn’t pass the screening process.

Things that are Mike Approved:

Steam

Starcraft, even after 8 years

Retro Adventure titles making a big comeback

The Nintendo DS

Pokemon videogames

PC gaming, oddly enough

Games with Co-op

The way you buy and download titles on the Wii and PSN

The amount of fighting games that have been coming out recently

Things that failed the quality assurance screenings:

Microsoft points

Microsoft XBLA pricing

Games developers confusing “annoying” with “challenging”

People not wearing a headset in Left 4 Dead

The Nintendo DSi store constantly releasing clocks and calculators

The amount of time I have to wait until I can play Borderlands

LucasArts trying to make new IP’s when they could just bring back Tie-Fighter and we’d all forgive them

-(MS)Mike out