Aeropodcast #62: A Video Kobayashi Maru

Well, Fourhman and Joe are joined by another Munn this week, and unfortunately for us, it is Stephen, not Olivia. In all seriousness, it is a triumphant return for Stephen, now done with school, and hoping to join us on a regular basis. The title refers to our attempt to use video in the podcast, only to meet with a no-win scenario (KHAN!!!!!). This week we look at the art of unfinished games, and the responsibility for game developers in fixing them. Does a company have a responsibility to fix a game that they deliver to market broken. You would think yes, but as we progress in our discussion, we point out many occasions where game devs have left gamers sitting in the cold waiting for a fix.

We have some great community questions including one that caught us a bit off-guard, but I want to thank Jordan Snyder (two times I have gotten it right) and william745 for providing us with some great questions. Make sure you are heard by contributing to the podcast with quetsions. In the news side of the business, we look at how Sony seems to screw its most loyal market, EA Games moving into the Steam neighborhood, more company layoffs and closures, and how to convert 7 euros into other currencies. Pure gave us a naughty word list you might want to look at (very NSFW), as well as The King launching is own flame broiled, scented cologne, and no it is not a joke.

This week’s podcast music comes from Castlevania: Judgment, a Konami title. The podcast is put together by the Aeropause Mixmaster, Stephen Munn, and his twin turntables of steel.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.

Aeropodcast #61: Crash Theft Slideshow

Fourhman and Joe are joined by the our man in New Jersey, Paul Munn, to discuss all thing great and wonderful in gaming. Our topic this week looks at Wii Music and if we in the gaming industry are giving the game a fair shake, or are we dismissing it automatically, due to its less than stellar presentation at E3. Is is really a challenging game, or has Nintendo been reduced to drinking their own Kool-Aid?

We had a couple of great questions this week from the community including how we got into game writing, as well as someone wanting to know what games would run on his soon to be Apple Macbook. Zack, not sure if your parents listen to the podcast but if they do, you are probably not getting that laptop anymore!

Finally we look at some of the news from the last week, including the horror and abomination that is Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC, as well as some companies not paying their employees, games being patched against cheating and even watching Guitar Freaks get schooled again by Guitar Hero.

Music this week is from Revolution Void, and can be found at www.revolutionvoid.com. The podcast is put together by the Aeropause Mixmaster, Stephen Munn, and his twin turntables of steel.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.

Social Networking Coming to Blu-ray Movies

This week’s PlayStation Store update included a trailer from Disney that frankly shocked me with the feature set they’re going to be implementing with their Blu-ray releases. It’s called the BD-Live Educational Demo on the Store and it’s talking about infusing Blu-ray releases of their classic movies — Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella seem to be showcased — with internet-enabled social networking features like a trivia game, live online chat, and video mail. BD-Live was added to the PS3 in Firmware 2.20 back in March. I’m pretty sure some of these are going to be PS3 exclusive features unless you’ve seen a standard Blu-ray player with a webcam attached to it on the market. I haven’t.

In the past we’ve seen BD-Live touted as a way to connect to websites to download movie trailers for sequels to the movie you’re watching and other things like that but it looks like Disney is going all out with this new generation of movie releases with some impressive features focused squarely on the internet generation that might be just starting to think about buying Disney movies now that the HD disc format war is over.

The proof, however, is in the final release, which reminds me: Can anyone out there recommend movie sites that do great reviews of Blu-ray releases and their feature sets? With so many older films now getting re-released on Blu-ray it’s important to know what’s worth seeing or getting on Blu-ray and what would be just fine on DVD.

Pirates Online Offers Free Weekend Unlimited Play

Disney’s Pirates Online is based in the Pirates of the Carribean universe, and features all of the characters from the movies, as well as ship building, swashbuckling or just socializing with friends.

Recently, I have started playing in the Pirates Online universe to give it a review, and for most that are familiar with these types of MMOs, there are free areas and then premium areas which you can unlock with microtransactions.  Well, Disney has opened up the Pirates Online universe for free, this weekend only.

So far my experiences are limited, as I just started playing, but I have a feeling that Pirates Online could have some potential, but check back for a full review soon.

via Disney’s Pirates Online

Jake Looks Ripped As the Prince

Some pictures have been snapped on the set of Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and I have to say that as of right now, it looks like the film is really nailing the look of the prince, albeit the wrong game version.  Jake Gyllenhaal (dude, change up some letters already), is looking positively ripped as The Prince, but he looks more like the Warrior Within version of the character.  That said, at least they are looking more accurate than most game character conversions.

While Jake does look the role, we do have to wait an extra year to see how this movie will translate from the small screen to the big screen, as the movie has been delayed by one year for release.  That said, I hope to see The Prince wall-running, jumping and swashbuckling with the demons from the Sands of Time in the Summer of 2010.

Currently the script is using the Sands of Time plotline, and has Jake Gyllenhaal playing a prince by the name of Dastan, who teams up with Tamina (played by Gemma Arterton), a princess from a far away land to keep an evil man from unleashing the Sands of Time upon the Earth.  Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus), and Ben Kingsley (slumming in B- movie hell) are also signed to be in the movie, with one of them most likely signed on as the bad guy.

via comingsoon.net

Cover Pure on Aeropause

We cover a lot of events and conferences during the course of a year, but one particular event this month is inaccessible to us because we’re all just too darn busy. So we’re giving you the chance to cover this game and enhance your journalism resume.

We want to give this rare opportunity to a enthusiastic game journalist who lives in the San Francisco area to attend the “Pure Multiplayer Event and Sneak Preview” in San Francisco - which is coming out on the Xbox 360, PC and PS3.

The event is hosted by Disney Interactive Studios and they will unveil the multiplayer aspects, new features and tracks for the game which will all take place in a cool set decorated like the game itself. You will have the opportunity to try the game hands-on while you’re spoon-fed free food and drinks by hovering pixies with translucent wings, plus receive an early review build of the game in mid-September for review on none other than Aeropause.

All you need to do is drop us a line at (tips AT aeropause DOT com) and tell us why you want to cover this event, along with 3 writing samples game-related or not. It’s that easy.

We look forward to reading your submissions and good luck!

Turok Says: Kill a Teammate, Get an Achievement

You are deep into a multiplayer game with your buddy. You are slowly coordinating your way to the flag on the other side of the map. You take out enemies left and right till you arrive at the flag. After a moment of celebration before running back to your base, your fellow teammate shoots you in the back. You are pissed and he gets to see the immortal words, “Achievement Unlocked”.

Yep, that’s right, one of the achievements in the upcoming Turok game requires you to, “Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match”. This achievement is called The Grab Bag, and it is just another sign of how crappy achievements are starting to ruin the whole gamerscore idea. To promote team killing for an achievement is just plain stupid. And the fact that a Disney spokesperson came out to defend, to some degree, the achievement is as ridiculous as the achievement.

So if you are into team killing, sounds like Turok is the game for you.

via Computersandvideogames.com