I’m going to spend the weekend taking remedial economics courses, since apparently my opinion on the Guitar Hero 2 downloadable content, specifically my thinking that it’s reasonably priced, is wrong. I’m thinking I should probably hire an accountant before I fritter away my savings on things like, say, plastic controllers in the shapes of miniature guitars. The folks at Joystiq have a damage control interview with Major Nelson, in which the Microsoft Live dude tries out a little explanation of the situation, just to see how it will sit with the public. His words: "It’s roughly about $2 a song that you can play over and over. You can’t get interactivity with a song on iTunes, and I don’t want to defend it: it is what it is." So, that’s kinda the dictionary definition of a copout. I actually don’t think the $6.25 price for three songs is outrageous, considering the hours of playtime traded for your cash, but the Major couldn’t have picked a more wishy-washy defense. To be fair, it’s not Microsoft’s decision to charge that much; it’s Red Octane’s, and the developer must continue paying licensing costs for the songs in question.
Anyone following the development of Fallout 3, currently under wraps at Bethesda, has a single, quiet plea: Don’t make post-nuclear Oblivion. Well, I can’t soothe your aching soul in that regard, but Voodoo Extreme does bring us word that Bethesda has finally purchased outright the Fallout intellectual property from Interplay, meaning that they now have the right to make as many Fallout games as they wish. Also that Interplay has to pay them for the privilege of publishing the Fallout MMO that will never, ever see the light of day, ever. Depending on how Bethesda spin Fallout 3, this could be great news, as it means the franchise is no longer tied to a deadbeat publisher, but instead one whose beats are lively, and even fresh.
Please don’t do post-nuclear Oblivion. We already have STALKER, and it’s not very fun.
Electronic Arts just released their first entry into the Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday with Bizarre Creations’ Boom Boom Rocket, but they’re apparently committed to shoveling fodder onto the service, if this website is any indication. Not the content of the website, exactly, since it’s pretty sparse, but the very fact that the website exists. Either that, or they’re engagin in a marketing strategy reminiscent of a sick patient weakly pushing blanket off its fevered body.
To close out this meager Friday, I’d like to steer you in the direction of The Frugal Gamer, who today have links to places you can buy Viva Pinata for $30. Do it, please? You loved Rare back in the day; you can’t just cut that part of your life away, man.
Time for me to crack open the textbooks. (Hey, Econ majors: does this "Invisible Hand" crap have anything to do with Black & White?)