On this week's show host E. Zachary Knight is joined by guest host Jeremy Powers to talk about Ubisoft's ongoing controversy about including female characters and its response to the Watch Dogs PC mod, Playstation Now pricing, and some stuff on YouTubers. Download Episode 103 now: SuperPAC Episode 103 (1 hour, 12 minutes) 66.4 MB.
Ubisoft has issued a statement attempting to explain why the PC version of Watch Dogs included unused graphical options hidden within its game files. The company also said that a mod enabling these features is not a good thing for PC users because it can cause a number of unwanted technical and gameplay issues.
If you are a PC owner that enjoys playing EA Sports titles like FIFA, then I have some sad news for you: you won't be playing the latest editions of these games. You'll be weeping alongside Wii U owners who also have been told that EA Sports titles are not available to you. The reasoning behind this, according to EA? Most of your PC rigs are just not powerful enough to handle EA's new Ignite Engine - the technology that was touted during EA's E3 press event being used to develop PS4 and Xbox One sports titles.
It seems like everyone simply "misunderstood" last week when I Am Alive creative director Stanislas Mettra said that the survival game wouldn't be coming to the PC because of piracy. In an interview with IncGamers, Mettra said that piracy makes porting a game to the PC financially difficult for publishers and developers.
Activision says that it "misspoke" earlier this week when it said via Twitter that Call of Duty: Elite support for the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 probably wasn't going to happen.
"We are working towards a universal Elite experience but we cannot guarantee if or when a version will be available for the PC," Activision stated via its CoD: Elite Twitter account yesterday.
Facebook game maker Zynga says that the new hardcore gamer is not that teenager playing Halo or Gears of War, but the 40-year-old woman playing games such as Farmville and Cityville. Zynga brand advertising head Manny Anekal says that the company's explosive growth would not have been possible if not for that particular segment of the market.
"More women are playing Farmville than watching soap operas," Anekal told WebProNews recently.
He added that 40-year-old women spent more time playing Zynga games than any other demographic and are the same segment that spends the most money on virtual purchases.
Figures from Anekal suggest that 55 percent of all social gamers in the US are female while, 53 percent of Zynga players are females between 25 and 44.
Does it hurt to do a little research before writing an episode of NCIS? Apparently it's a major hassle for whomever penned an episode of the popular CBS crime drama about an MMO, as evidenced in this clip from the show. The storyline features a fake MMO called Fear Tower 3 and a "high scorer" named "MaxDestructo." Are they playing breakout or an MMO? Maybe they meant to convey that these gamers were playing an online game like Quake Live or Battlefield Heroes. I do not know, so watch the video and judge for yourselves.
Source: Kotaku
The Vietnamese government see online gaming as the black magic of our time and blame the activity for everything from robberies and violent crimes among teens to bad grades and even the occasional murder. So the government got tough with teens and with Internet cafes that serve up the wickedness to them and the rest of the Vietnamese population.
A curfew was put in place to curb gameplay; now everyone in the country is banned from playing games after 10 PM and before 8 AM. While cafe owners are feeling the bite of lost revenues during those peak playing hours (some report a decline of about 25 percent in profits), teens seem mostly unaffected. This despite the fact that this new curfew has been in place since March 3.
According to a report on BigDownload, Microsoft and NVIDIA, two key players in the PC industry, have left the PC Gaming Alliance. BD confirmed the news with PC Gaming Alliance president Matt Ployhar. Microsoft and NVIDIA were founding member of the organization set up to champion creating and playing games on PC. Ployhar declined comment on why these companies have left the group.
Ployhar went on to tell BD that his organization will change its focus from research and reports on the industry to assisting game developers, publishers and hardware companies make better PC games.
"Another key thing we'll be doing is creating a more technical based advisory board that you'll all be hearing more about very soon," Plyhar said via his Intel Blog.
Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
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Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm
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Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
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Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
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Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm
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Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
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Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm
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Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm
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ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
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MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
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Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm
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MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am
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Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am
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quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm
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Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
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Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm
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Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
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james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm
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