Business

The news about Ridge Racer for the PlayStation Vita and its dearth of content in favor of downloadable content (DLC) reignites the discussion about how DLC affects retail games. Issues with weak content versus numerous DLC offerings is nothing new for Namco.

Here's our second episode of State of Play with Brandon Bales!

In this episode, we discuss with Kellee Santiago more about thatgamecompany's "Big Idea," as well as pretty much everything there is to say about their last hit game, Flower.

And next week: we discuss their delicious upcoming PSN-exclusive, Journey!

When I got home from the store [with Metal Gear Solid HD Collection], I was looking forward to popping the disc into my PlayStation 3 and seeing how the games looked in HD... but upon reading the disc, I got the message that I've seen way too many times over the course of this console generation: Version 1.01 found.

Welcome to the first episode of State of Play.

This show is a new voice in the gaming journalism world. Our interviews are long-form, personal, and in-depth. You should check it out, as I don't think there's much like it on the web right now.

Our first interview is with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany, creators of the iconic Flow, Flower, and (the upcoming) Journey. In it, we discuss their company, their philosophies, and their first game, Cloud. If you like what you see, stay tuned: upcoming interviews will include Jonathan Blow and David Jaffe.

I am so super-excited to launch this show, as it's been a real labor of love.

The new trailer for Grand Theft Auto V was revealed this week.

According to the trailer, the protagonist is a bad guy trying to get out of the life. Guess what? Things didn't or aren't working out. Cue music, explosions and car chases.

So, let me guess... You haven't played Rochard yet. In fact, there's probably a pretty good chance you haven't even heard of it—and that's a damned shame, since it's one of the best download-only titles I've played all year. I gave it an absolutely glowing review, but a game like this deserves more. So, in my pursuit of fighting the good fight, I'd like to present this brief interview I was fortunate enough to have with the Lead Level Designer of Rochard, Samuli Viikinen.

It's unfortunate that the console video game industry has come to locking out single-player content to combat used game sales. The case of Batman: Arkham City is closing in on a feared worst-case scenario.

Anyone who plays games has their own opinion on the right and wrong way to do a review, and oddly, it's tougher than you'd think to find two people who agree on what a good review is—or how it should be scored. Anyone who spends five minutes on the Internet knows this to be true, but if there's ever a need for further proof, just get a group of gamers together, pick any review, and an argument will break out in a matter of moments.

I've never thought that Online Passes were a good idea, but I accepted them. I don't like that the other profiles on my Xbox 360 can't use the pass to go online with, but I deal with that. I've taken the other crap in stride up to this point, but when my Online Pass code doesn't work AND it's now been used? That's the end right there.

Microsoft should be pleased with moving another 308,000 Xbox 360 units, especially during a pretty dry month for new game releases. As I mention in the analysis piece, Microsoft will likely interpret this as a signal that a price drop isn't needed for at least the rest of 2011. That doesn't mean that the company won't be offering some interesting deals.