EA released a new Star Wars game called Battlefront II. One game mechanic got the Internet (represented by Reddit), into a roar: in-game micro-transactions that open random loot boxes. Not only were they expensive, but they also influenced how well you did in multi-player mode, which seemed unfair and greedy on EA’s part. With all the criticism, EA pulled the loot boxes at the last minute, but it begs the question: what is the true cost of a game? Why does EA feel it’s necessary to charge micro-transactions for performance? Is that OK? Or are they going too far?
Is your job safe? With so much AI and robotic research happening, jobs are becoming automated at faster rates. This week we talk about that automation. Plus, we talking about Facebook cleaning house, Snapchat staying alive, the future of communication apps, Apple’s AR endeavors, Amazon’s new gift cards, Sony’s new company, AMD’s plan to open up, and the FCC proposed rules for cable boxes.
Cory Arcangel wrote a book about people tweeting about writing a book, Matthew bought a Philips Hue, the Vocca Light Switch is voice activated, Best Buy is seeing falling iPad sales but doing well overall, Samsung won’t be launching Tizen anytime soon, Zillow bought Trulia, the USB may not be safe anymore, HP unveils a pretty watch designed by Michael Bastian, Amazon need a 10th man for the Fire Phone, the NFL will start tracking players in real time with FRID, EA and Xbox team up to bring you older titles while Sony launch PlayStation Now to stream old games, Nintendo continues to lose money, HelloWorld gives you a way to share your location with friends, and the House of Lords in Europe agree than the right to be forgotten rule should be forgotten.
Google does the unthinkable and plans to shut down Reader. This is a time period that will go down as a massive inflection point for the Internet. At the very least, it’s something we’re going to complain about for REALLY long time.
We also talk about SimCity’s online requirement, Samsung’s new Galaxy S4, Mailbox’s acquisition by Dropbox, Facebook’s maturity, the miracle compound called Graphene and Netflix’s new social integration.
In case you missed it, SimCity came out this week. The game is amazing on multiple levels. First, this is the BEST simulation ever by EA. Second, it’s the WORST launch ever by EA. Grab your copy on Origin, wait 20 minutes to play, and then start building!
We also mentioned Samsung’s new Galaxy S IV eye tracking software, Roku’s remote headphones, SimCity, more SimCity, Facebook’s new news feed, Samsung piling onto the Windows 8 blame game, the lean startup app class, and the Onion’s satirical article about a social media startup that shuts down in 45 minutes.
Sudden breakthroughs are the results on small regular actions over time which slowly compound into something amazing. Save $10 per day and you’ll be able to retire a millionaire 40 years later. Start with a phone, improve upon it slowly every day and you’ll have breakthrough smart phones. That’s what we talk about today – the result of those simple actions compounded over time.
Today’s focus is on Google glass and bone vibration, Zillow’s home improvement app, Dell going private, Mailbox for iPhone, iWatch for Apple, Vine for adults, House of Cards on Netflix, EA’s Origin coming to Mac, and Apple’s iPhone India sales.
It’s E3! In honor of E3 we have a very special episode for you. We invited two industry experts to give us their thoughts and opinions on the five presentations. We covered Microsoft and Halo 4, EA being better with connect, Nike+, Univision, SmartGlass, Internet Explorer, and Black Ops 2. We talk about EA, the UFC, and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. We briefly touch on Ubisoft. A gush about Sony and Beyond, AllStars, Assassin’s Creed, their new Wonderbook: Book of Spells, and The Last of Us. We finish up with Nintendo, who didn’t have enough time to tell us about the new Wii U, or Mario, or Pikmin, or the 3DS, or Lego City.
Thanks to Rog and Dave for joining our show. You can find them online at:
