Man thats long its going to take Dial-up users long to d-load lucky i got broadband

Good Spore picture, can't wait for the rest!

In "Final Thoughts", you mention an online game being played by the kids in the business center while you were on vacation. The name is actually "RuneScape".

My nephew is totally addicted to this game.

Some smart marketing by the company that developed this thing. It runs on any machine (no high end video card requirement like WoW) and it's free for the basic version with a very reasonable $5/mnth for extended version - well within most teenager's budgets....

lol runescape, scary since I still have 3 accounts on there lol, tried member, thought the game was gettin outta where it came from since the original was my fav, lol an my accounts are like 5 or 6 years old I think by now.

Wasn't it Half Life that had the marines replaced with robots in Germany? Or was it both?

I think you kind of overrated the 360 in some way.

I think the 360 just consumes too much power, althought I do speculate that the PS3 will also. However, as the industry progresses, for more detailed games and better interactive features, it needs better, thus more power consuming technologies, but they lack the renovation of some ideas that Nintendo might be boiling up for Revolution (as you have mentioned in the podcast, not that I'm an Nintendo fanboy).

Second, the 360 interactive feature sounds great, but now I am not so sure about online gaming as the "biggest thing", as I have argued for, when the 360 was just released. My non-nerd friends play console games with real people and they smite the idead of online players. Also, multi-player and online multi-player is completly different. However, I do agree that probably more people will be involved and it will be a major factor to the console industry.

With that being said, I do agree that Microsoft has put in a lot of effort making this traditional gaming console that has a lot of power and alot of traditional ideas about gaming (namely online interactive features).

Telstar Arcade was my first "console". The pong machines before it were no really consoles because they were just stand alone systems (no catridge). Man I loved that system. It had a real steering wheel etc. Very forward looking.

So i see that Steve is really reaching deep down to find anything new about Spore. It's not your fault Steve, I just wish Maxis would give us more info.

Anyone got that newsletter from them yet?

For more info/pics of Telstar look here:

http://www.pong-story.com/coleco.htm

Great show (as always)...

I understand your concerns about game ratings and its enforcement, and how this may effect the industry as a whole.

Here in the UK, we pretty much have this already. A similar rating system for videos and movies also applies to video/pc games, which is self regulated by UK game industry. For example on San Andreas there is a big 18 certificate on the cover (trust me this hasnt affected sales). I think in some ways it may add to a games 'notoriety' and help sales - a bit like the parental guidance sticker used to on albums. According to a recent survery in UK between January 2003 and July 2004, just 16 out of the 1,208 games on sale in the UK were given a 18+ certificate, so I am not sure it is such a big deal. I am not sure what happens to stores here that sell an 18 certificate game to people who are underage though - anyone know?

My problem are the parents that buy games like Manhunt or Condemmed and then let children play them - would they let them watch The Devils Rejects too?

By the way I agree that Halo 2 is not an 18. Whatever system that gets introduced in the US needs to have a higher degree of flexibilty.

You didnt mention the X360 great family settings system...works well. Also, on another point you can change your privacy settings so that people cant see what you are you doing - hope that helps!!

FIFA is pronounced "Fee-fer", not "Fife-er", by the way Steve ;-)

Just found that kind of funny! Nice podcast, keep it up mate.

Heya Steve,

Great show (as always) this week. One note about the Xbox Live gamertag features, though:

I'm sure that someone else has already pointed this out to you, but there are indeed privacy settings that you can use to either temporarily or permanently disable the "rich online presence" (as MS calls it) provided by the Xbox 360, Xbox Live, and xbox.com.

I can't remember if it is in the system "blade" of the desktop or in the "personal settings" option on the ever present guide, but suffice it to say, there is no need to use multiple accounts if your are worried about protecting your privacy.

Steve, you mentioned on LIVE you can't turn off the ability for people to see what you are doing. You actually can. I don't know how to do it exactly but on GT TV when they were showing the dashboard features they showed the guy doing it and Major mentioned it aswell, because Paul Bunyan, one of the MS emploes had to turn his off because he was playing some unannounced games.

The options are:
Don't let anyone see what I'm doing.
Only let my friends list see what I'm doing.
Let anyone see what I'm doing.

Yes, thank you everyone for the many emails about "not being able to turn off your activities while using Live". I don't even remember saying this but you are correct, you can turn off the ability for people to see what you are doing in the options. Sorry for all the confusion, I didn't mean for this to get out of hand.

Just listening to the latest podcast and I have an interest in the way videogame censorship is going in the US (I'm from Australia, and as most people know we like to ban games!). I'm guessing its next to impossible to get an interview with your local senator, but it would be interesting to hear an interview between someone who knows about gaming and Hillary Clinton.

I always think this when I hear these proposals made. I'd love to interview Johnnie Howard (Aussie PM) who refused an R rating classification for games in Australia, when 88% of the population wants one, and when his own censorship office was asking for one.

The only good move they made in the censorship office here is that movie and game ratings are the same (well except for the over 18 R rating). So if someone asks about a game (and yes I've seen it happen) the register jockey can say "Would you take your kid to see a .... rated movie".

We have an over 15 age restriction on games here (MA) but it doesn't seem to effect the sales at the local big stores (K-mart, Target), its probably different in the US, but then again we dont allow any sex/nudity (except for God of War, I dont know how that passsed) in our games. BTW I dont agree with the US ratings either, FFVIII had an M rating for a small amount of blood in the first cutscene of the game. It didn't really deserve that rating overall!

Keep up the good work, sorry for the random thoughs, I'm trying to cut down my comments as they could go on for pages!

For more of what fans think of EA's AFL game, check out the following MB:

http://boards.arenafootball.com/categories.aspx?catid=46

Great cast, but why don't I ever hear about Facetags for the Xbox 360?! They're awesome Xbox 360 skins. Check em out...www.facetags.com

By the way, Spore info was great. I'm excited about the game now!

Another superb podcast!

This is one of my favorites!

Hey Steve, great episode. I've been listening for a while now but this is my first comment.

I'd just like to bring up the censorship issue. As Steveo has just said above, here in the UK things are already basically rated in a way that the US seems to be heading toward.

Games are rated over here in two different ways, depending on the game. I'm not sure exactly what the requirements are on the game to get one age rating rather than the other, if there is one at all, but maybe someone else can enlighten me.

The first system is pegi (Pan European Game Information - http://www.pegi.info).

And the second is the bbfc (British Board of Film Classification - http://www.bbfc.co.uk).

The pegi age rating system is similar to the current US age rating system (from what I know of it), being a guide for parents. It helps them to make decisions on whether or not their child can play that game or not.
If a game has a higher age rating (16+ for example), icons are printed onto the back of the box along with the age recommendation, clearly showing a parent what content is in the game. If you have a look at the site above, you can see what they are.

The second age rating is the bbfc, and this is used for films, videos and most recently games. Like in the US, this is not a government system, but you would be very, very pushed to find any shop (store for people in America) which would not adhere to their guidelines.

The reason the bbfc has worked so well is because firstly; it has been around for so long (It was set up in 1912), and secondly; it gives an exact age on who is allowed to purchase a game. If you go into a shop and pick up an 18 certificate game and you aren't 18, and the person working there suspects you aren't 18, they have the right to ask you for ID, and if you can't provide it, they will not sell you the game. This system is used throughout the movie, video and game industry, which also makes it a better system to use; if there is one global system, everyone will recognise it.

The bbfc is a foundation, if you will. It gives a specific age for people buying the game, and along with pegi as a guideline, there isn't a lot more that could be done. The only flaw with it is that parents can still buy these games for their kids, but if that is the case, no system will stop them from doing so.

This is turning out longer than I expected, but I'll give you quick example of it working.
When hot coffee was discovered in San Andreas, as you said on your podcast, it was taken down from shelves in America. Was it taken down from shelves in the UK? No. The reason that it wasn't even mentioned is because it already had the highest rating for any movie, game or video that is currently in use, an 18 certificate. Since you had to be over 18 to buy the game anyway, and there is no other age rating, no one was going to bother complaining that it had sex in it. What difference does sexual content make in a game that already has violence, drug references; basically everything? It makes no difference, the game was already rated as having adult content, therefore the addition of sexual content had no effects.
Because, as you said, there aren't many AO-only games in America, there was a fuss over it. They had the option to push the boundary up from an M, so they used that option. I may be missing something here, but what makes sexual content more aimed at adults than, say, violence? If anything I would say it should be the other way around.

Either the game should have been an M and kept at an M, or it should have always been AO rated game.

I'm trying not to go into too much detail as I don't know an awful lot about the system other than what I have heard and read, but if you visit the links to the sites I have posted, you will find everything you want to know.

That's about it really. I can't say much about America's game rating systems, so I'll be waiting for someone to point out the mistakes I've made.

Anyway, as I've said, great show. I'll unpause this now that I've finished typing... it's harder to concentrate on two things at once than you might think.

I'm downloading it now, tottally new to podacasts i just want to find free ones.

I liked the show a lot. As far as online games, I have seen many people play runescape. I personally play ogame (ogame.org), which is another browser based game. I think some of these will be popular with the casual gaming crowd.

Hey Steve, great show as always. Me and my freind Justin really enjoy your podcast, and you along with other greats have inspired us to do our own. Its not that great, but were trying to really include the community. Were having a new guest every week that talks with us during the whole show. No one special, just regular gamers that have something to say. So if anyone here or even you Steve would like to talk with us that would be awesome. We are Podcasting noobs, but we are trying and we feel we have something else to offer, and not just copying everything you say Steve. Thanks again for a great show and please check out our latest show, were up to 3 now!!

Jerry
http://jandjadventures.libsyn.com/

On an enforceable videogames rating law, I have a practical argument on top of the unconstitionality of it all.

The ESRB may be the initial source for the raters. Later, probably within a year, the entire board will be replaced by power hungry politicians trying to bridge the gap to Congress. These politicians will only be motivated by funds, not actual game content. All of the experienced raters are gone and replaced by inexperienced pork-barrel politicians. It sets the stage for a money-pit scenario of corruption.

I disagree with the legislation being "Draconian" because that word refers to a much more severe and controlling government. However, it is a major stepping stone toward eventual "Draconian" tactics of supressing speech, and arresting and executing free speech advocates. I think even one step in that direction is very evil.

The proposed bill is presented with the full intention of violating the US Constitution. It is in the guise of "good intentions," but no intelligent person can dismiss the incredibly bad intentions of such a bill. Your Senator is a very intelligent woman, and it makes me conclude her intentions are flawed at best.

Ironically, such a bill would severely damage her former employer, Walmart, and other retailers. If the M is not carried, that's a percentage lost in profits for them, as well. Is Ms. Clinton forgetting her roots and the overall detrimental effect to the GNP?

Awesome show.

I have seen Cricket being played in the US! Very close to NYC, also! On a trip from Atlantic City International Airport to Egg Harbour (about a three mile trip thru NJ), I spotted a pick up game of Cricket. It was unmistakable with the wicket assembly and the bat. I'm guessing that the Cricket was imported from the Carribean countries.

I doubt Cricket will be US culture anyday soon, but I expect you'll see it in NYC parks soon, if not already.