Escapist Podcast: 017: Steve Jobs, Scrolls vs Scrolls & X-Men Destiny

[vxicepickxv]

Steve Jobs, Xerox, and the Wizard of Woz. As for the dumb little where were you thing, I was at work, on Fark.com because it was a News Flash.

I'm so glad my parents are still tech savvy. Back in the early 90's I helped my dad set up a 10/T ring network. My parents are pretty open and willing to talk to people. They don't really seem racist.

Scrolls vs Scrolls - Damn you trademark office.

Tragic, the garnering is a card game within a game.

X-Men Destiny sounds like it's nothing more than a cash in. It's really a shame that it sounds so terrible. I know so much about the X-Men history, that I was able to follow who the hell you were talking about. Quicksilver and Northstar both go really fast... hmm. As for the whole Emma Frost thing, remember that she started out evil, and actually upgraded to pants.

Superhero / X-Man - Zatanna. She's got the Deus Ex Machina, but she doesn't need it to get stuff done. Also, her disguise is Zatanna, a stage magician.

As for my X-Man, I'm going to have to go with Pixie. She's Welsh, she has a Soul Dagger, she has wings, she can create hallucinogens as a weapon, and because of her Soul Dagger, she can use magic. Which means she can teleport.

As for the Superman thing, I know his minor Marvel counterpart Gladiator creates psychic fields when he lifts things that he shouldn't lift, like buildings.

Spider Man: A little weak? I take it you haven't read the 90's stories, or One More Day.

On Emotions

Heavy Rain: After the opening sequence, once you get your son over, there's almost a palpable sense of hopelessness.

Mass Effect (series): Try jumping back to Wrex in Mass Effect on Virmire. That was a very charged scene.

On Morality

Fallout: It's harder to actually walk the path of Neutrality than to run at either end of the spectrum of good or evil.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

017: Steve Jobs, Scrolls vs Scrolls & X-Men Destiny

This week, we talk about the passing of Steve Jobs and head into round 2 of Mojang vs Bethesda. We also discuss some of what we've been playing and answer some listener questions.

Watch Video

Hey Susan, I'll explain Ayumi's scarf (or turtleneck as you called it during the latest podcast ) thing.


You see, since she's Japanese and all Japanese people are Ninjas as everybody knows, she wears this scarf as a failed attempt to look more ninja-like since yes, a long scarf being blown backwards by the wind as though it's a mantle or a cape is indeed a ninja thing in a lot of anime or other games.


Here's a few images to show you what I mean:

Spoiler

(I made this post in the xmen review topic as well but since I'm not sure if you guys check those all that much I figured I might as well post it here too to double my chances, tracking down varied-enough pics took a bit so I don't want it to be ignored )

 

[Formica Archonis]

You guys are back! I've missed you so much =)

... where've they been? There was a podcast last week and one the week before.

Back in the early 90's I helped my dad set up a 10/T ring network.

My vintage LAN skills are rusty but could you clarify that? If you meant 10BASE-T, that uses star topology, not ring.

 

[Eagi]

Saying "that's what we got, that's what's there", is fairly limited since the trademark system is International, then how does it work that only the American courts are bringing this up? Since Mojang does most of its sales online...

 

[Theta]

Thank you for letting me know that the Scrolls-issue is less about Bethesda having stupid people on their payroll and more about the two studios being forced into it by a stupid law.

That said, Notch did post on his blog that they offered to give up the trademark. That offer was refused. Just saying, you left out that part and I feel it changes the situation a little.

I'll admit, the deathmatch-challenge was silly, but I was having trouble taking the whole thing seriously at the time, maybe they were to.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Saying "that's what we got, that's what's there", is fairly limited since the trademark system is International, then how does it work that only the American courts are bringing this up? Since Mojang does most of its sales online...

Great question. I have absolutely no idea how that all works.

Thank you for letting me know that the Scrolls-issue is less about Bethesda having stupid people on their payroll and more about the two studios being forced into it by a stupid law.

That said, Notch did post on his blog that they offered to give up the trademark. That offer was refused. Just saying, you left out that part and I feel it changes the situation a little.

Legally, it doesn't change a thing. If he goes ahead and uses the name, and Bethesda doesn't challenge it, then the next time someone tries to use it, Bethesda can't fight. That's the thing - you don't have to own the trademark to a name in order to publish a game under that name. So offering to give up the trademark doesn't solve the underlying issue, though I certainly don't blame him if he doesn't know that. Trademark law is counterintuitive and absurd.

 

[Theta]

Thanks for clearing that up. See, laws are interesting to me when they follow logic, but in that instance I usually treat them like puzzles to be solved. When logic breaks down I really dislike stuff like this.

Worst I ever thought of Bethesda when I saw this mess was "Have both their Legal and PR departments taken total leave of their senses?" Because the whole David vs Goliath thing is such an obvious first glance at the situation. I guess there's not much to do except hope the fallout of it doesn't hit either company too badly.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Saying "that's what we got, that's what's there", is fairly limited since the trademark system is International, then how does it work that only the American courts are bringing this up? Since Mojang does most of its sales online...

Great question. I have absolutely no idea how that all works.

Thank you for letting me know that the Scrolls-issue is less about Bethesda having stupid people on their payroll and more about the two studios being forced into it by a stupid law.

That said, Notch did post on his blog that they offered to give up the trademark. That offer was refused. Just saying, you left out that part and I feel it changes the situation a little.

Legally, it doesn't change a thing. If he goes ahead and uses the name, and Bethesda doesn't challenge it, then the next time someone tries to use it, Bethesda can't fight. That's the thing - you don't have to own the trademark to a name in order to publish a game under that name. So offering to give up the trademark doesn't solve the underlying issue, though I certainly don't blame him if he doesn't know that. Trademark law is counterintuitive and absurd.

Did I just get ignored?


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.316933.12909458

 

[UNHchabo]

Regarding in-game morality, as it pertains to alliances:

One game that I thought did it well was GTA 3. There's no real moral-choice system. At the start of the game, you're new in the city, and nobody particularly likes you or dislikes you. As you start taking missions for the Mafia though, many of them involve hurting the Triads. So over time the Triads become more and more aggressive about killing you, even outside of missions. Then after you betray the Mafia, their people start gunning for you as well.

If you wanted, you could just do "side missions" forever after arriving at the city, and as long as you didn't kill anybody, nobody would ever try to hurt you.

 

[GonzoGamer]

About the issue of trying to convince others that 360 games will not play on a ps3.
I wonder if these people tried cramming SMS cartridges into NES consoles.

However, now that pretty much all games you buy in a store are on dvd, maybe it's about time they standardized the format. It's kind of absurd that devs need to make 3 different versions of a game, retailers have to have a few different sections, and gamers need to try and figure out which system the game was built on (usually the 360) because the other versions are likely to be anywhere from slightly substandard to completely broken. I know that it wouldn't work in every case (Wii games will still need to be dumbed down and PC games will also have room to be upgraded) but the current standard isn't doing anyone any favors: especially not the consumer and especially not the devs.

I thought only old people took Colbert seriously.

I think I'm going to go play Rolled Up Pieces of Paper now. Love that game.

 

[shiajun]

If that "he's just this guy, you know?" is a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe radio show, you just made my day, Susan.

 

[Susan Arendt]

If that "he's just this guy, you know?" is a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe radio show, you just made my day, Susan.

Well, it was more the BBC version of HHGG. Is that good enough?

 

[Sofus]

Courts are terribly boring. I vote for them to resolve it in quake at E3.

 

[Nojh]

Hey! Don't be hating on Surge! She kicked butt saving the last set of New X-Men/New Mutants from the purifiers. I mean she's not as cool as Pixie...