In this week's episode of Speak-Up on Kotaku, Ursus Veritas, RyderJ, Klip Twings, and For the Love of Games discuss Madden marketing tie-ins, the cost of DLC, Maxim, and all of that warm, fuzzy, Pokémon love.
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About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every Wednesday we'll pull the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight them here.
Head & Shoulders Above The Rest
For The Love Of Games shares this little bit of marketing brilliance for Madden.
I didn't know where to send this but I happened to run into this neat little bundle while shopping at Target. Cheers!
Dandruff protection is no game!
Downloadable Hate
RyderJ doesn't seem too fond of downloadable content, though his solution seems a bit extreme.
I can't stand DLC. I hate it as a fad amongst developers now. I know used game sales, and to a lesser extent piracy, are making it hard for the developers themselves to bring in money, but it's just scummy to make us shell out $10 after $10 for these little additions to games we've already bought. Regardless of being nearly 100% profit for the people who made the game and deserve the money, it's a practice that's made the already overly expensive hobby of gaming even less sustainable. Used game sales need to be destroyed, and new games need to cost half as much, so people don't miss buying used. It seems like the only thing that could stop the overinflated prices of games, whilst keeping the devs afloat.
I've spent $90 on Borderlands alone so far, and it's likely not going to stop there. I just find it ridiculous.
Just because I want to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject, I'm gonna speakup this comment.
Got Catch All The Love
Ursus-Veritas is not afraid to let us know of their deep love for Pokémon.
Gaming is full of classic series that will go down in the annals of its history - Mario, Legend of Zelda, Half-Life, Halo, Final Fantasy, the list drags on. But none have been quite so ‘Generational' as Pokémon has been. Those other series are classics we will hand down to the generations after ours. But to me, like it already has done over the past decade, I think Pokémon will always be there in some new, exciting way, with new places to go, new Pokémon to capture, new Masters to defeat. Not unlike a certain popular British TV icon, Pokémon will regenerate over and over again, and be there in the many years to come. I hope that this is the case, that in 20 years time I'll be buying the latest Pokémon games for my children and nostalgically telling them about my first Pokémon games.
Maxim Overdrive
Klip Twings is still not sure why his EGM subscription was replaced with Maxim, but at least his wife finds it fascinating.
Got another issue of Maxim today. Anybody else wind up in that embarrassing situation of getting Maxim because at one time you subscribed to EGM... then EGM went under... and they decided to ship... Maxim instead?
My wife is an anthropologist, and at least she thinks the magazine is fascinating as an artifact of our times.
I just wonder when "I the gamer" am going to be taken seriously. I mean, Maxim, seriously? Not... I don't know... Popular Science? I'm sure there was a very good reason they chose Maxim (shared publisher or something?). I just feel like, as a gamer I'm suppose to be really excited by thinly veiled boobies. Anyways, have to get back to my seXbox.