Coffee Talk #236: Do You Care About Gaming Affinity Programs?

I’m fanatical about affinity programs like Starwood Preferred Guest and United Mileage Plus (even though UAL sucks for not having a DEQM promotion this year). For some reason, I’m not nearly as interested in videogame affinity programs.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Brian Wilson’s resemblance to Randy Savage (or Bonesaw), continuing this excellent discussion on people Justin Timberlake should sleep with instead of Bolivia Bunn, or Taylor Swift blossoming before our very eyes, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sony announced that it will be testing an affinity program called PlayStation Rewards. According to the press release, “Everyone who participates in PlayStation Rewards has the opportunity to earn a wide range of exclusive rewards. Some examples include exclusive PSN avatars that display member status in the program, dynamic themes and PlayStation Home content, as well as the opportunity to participate in members-only sweepstakes and giveaways.”

I’m fanatical about affinity programs like Starwood Preferred Guest and United Mileage Plus (even though UAL sucks for not having a DEQM promotion this year). For some reason, I’m not nearly as interested in videogame affinity programs. Club Nintendo is pretty cool, but I’m not (yet) interested in PlayStation Rewards, Xbox Live Rewards Squad, or GameStop PowerUp Rewards. To be totally honest, part of it is because I get a lot of videogame goods for free, but part of it is that the gaming programs are kind of dull.

How about you ladies and gents? Are you into any affinity programs? How about videogame affinity programs in particular?

Get Your RPad.tv Shirts, Mugs, and Other Goodies

Would you be a dear and help me promote the site by wearing an RPad.tv t-shirt? Here’s your chance! Head on over here to buy some RPad.tv goodies, including shirts, coffee cups, beer mugs, and more. The goods are a little on the pricey side, but I’ve read great things about this vendor, so hopefully they’ll last you a long time.

If you happen to pick up a shirt or twelve, please send me pictures of you wearing it. I’d love to post them. I’d also love to post any photos you snap of famous people or hot chicks wearing an RPad.tv shirt. I’ll post those and use them as wallpaper.

Today’s Poll: Do You Still Care About the White iPhone 4?

Depending on which story you believe, the white iPhone 4 has been delayed until March 2011 or completely canceled. At this point, do you even care? If it comes out in March, the iPhone 5 will be months away. Then again, it’s kind of like a super-rare Pokemon — cool to have and show off. Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss!

[poll id=”81″]

BlizzCon 2010 Video Tour

Here’s a guided video tour of BlizzCon 2010. You’ll get to see the awesome sights of the show, including elaborate booths, statues, grand stages, statues, astronaut training contraptions, statues, demo areas, and your old pal Brian Leahy! Please, please, please check out this video and let me know what you think! (And yes, I totally ripped off Chris Jericho with the whole “statue” thing. I think I miss him.)

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The PSP Phone is Real…and Necessary

The PSP/Android phone is very real (like Sardo Numspa). Engadget delivered a sizzling scoop on the rumored PSP/Android phone. According to the site, the phone will run Android 3.0 (Gingerbread), sport a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (similar to, but faster than, the T-Mobile G2’s CPU), have 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and have a screen larger than 3.7-inches. The site believes that the phone will land some time in 2011, though late 2010 is a remote possibility.

A Google Android phone that played PSP games would be awesome…and necessary on several levels. Here are some reasons it absolutely makes sense.

  1. Sony needs an edge to compete with Nintendo. While I seriously doubt that the next two generations of PSP products can closely compete with Nintendo’s next two handhelds, Sony can do better than it did against the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo 3DS will dazzle consumers with 3D visuals, but mobile phone capabilities would be more practical for numerous users — particularly older gamers with disposable income. Combining the PSP and Android platforms offers gamers an awfully tempting combination.
  2. Sony can push back against Microsoft and Windows Phone 7. One of the big draws — albeit to a limited audience — of Windows Phone 7 is its connectivity with Xbox Live. The PSP/Android phone offers real games instead of limited ones. If Sony can up social networking features of PlayStation Network on this phone then it will trump what Microsoft has accomplished with WP7.
  3. Google needs help in gaming. The iOS platform is the undisputed king of mobile phone games. Although Android games have improved, they’re still way behind their iOS counterparts. The PSP/Android phone offers a large library of games for enthusiast and casual gamers. This would be tremendous for Google.

What do you think of the PSP/Android phone? Engadget is confident that this is a real product. Do you agree? Would you want one? Would you prefer PSP games on a phone over iOS games? Let’s talk! Let’s speculate! Let’s party!!!

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Coffee Talk #235: Downloadable Games Should Be Like E-Books

One nifty feature about e-books is the ability to borrow and lend them. This adds a social element to e-readers and takes advantage of the digital nature of e-books. Digitally downloaded games should be handled the same way.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your World Series prediction, the Celtics thrashing Miami Thrice, or Bryan Danielson acing two WWE shows in a row, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

One nifty feature about e-books is the ability to borrow and lend them. This adds a social element to e-readers and takes advantage of the digital nature of e-books. Digitally downloaded games should be handled the same way. The social impact would be awesome and the borrowing/lending could be a more effective marketing tool than demos.

Let’s say RPadholic thundercracker buys a strategy RPG called Christina Aguilera’s Quest for RPad. He knows that Final Fantasy Tactics is my all-time favorite game and thinks that I’ll love Christina Aguilera’s Quest for RPad. He clicks a button on the menu screen and pushes the game to me. The next time I turn on the console, I see a notification that says I have a game available from thundercracker. I would be able to play the borrowed game for a limited time and have the option to buy it.

I’d love to see a feature like this implemented into PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. A friend’s opinion is worth more than any reviewer’s. Plus pushing games to friends would be fun. I hate to use modern buzzwords, but it would add a “social discovery” element to gaming. What do you think? Would you use something like the borrowing/lending scheme I mentioned? Would you want something different? Do you think publishers would go for borrowing and lending?

Steve Jobs Was Pissed Off When Microsoft Bought Bungie

Former Microsoft vice president Ed Fries told Develop a fantastic story about how Apple CEO Steve Jobs was pissed off when Microsoft acquired Bungie. Apparently His Royal Worshipfulness High Master Steve phoned up Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and unleashed the wrath of Jobs. Here are the details from Fries:

As soon as we announced we bought Bungie, Steve Jobs called. He was mad at Ballmer and phoned him up and was angry because we’d just bought the premier Mac game developer and made them an Xbox developer.

So, during the day, I got an email from Steve Ballmer asking me to phone Steve Jobs and calm him down about the whole thing. Anyway, we did this deal with Apple where we’d port some PC games to the Macintosh and help Peter Tamte create this company to do it, and I had to go to a Mac developer conference and get on stage and talk about this whole new partnership. It was a pretty strange time.

Man, that conversation must have been awesome. Both Jobs and Ballmer have tempestuous personalities, so it must have taken a lot for Ballmer to back down and ask Fries to assuage Jobs. Let’s play a game and imagine what Jobs said to Ballmer. I’ll go first. In my head Steve said something like this:

Listen you bald-headed f*ck. I don’t care if you’re in charge of Microsoft now. You’ll always be Bill Gates’ b*tch to me and you better do something to make me happy. You just took away the Mac’s best game developer. Seriously. Have you ever played Marathon?!? That’s the best thing Bungie ever did and ever will do. How the f*ck do you take that away from my glorious platform and put it on your stupid-ass game-box, which — by the way — will never go anywhere. I’m going to have fun watching Nintendo and Sony rape your skull on this one.

Your turn!

Source

BlizzCon 2010 Cosplay Video

One of the coolest parts of BlizzCon 2010 was checking out all the great cosplayers. From World of Warcraft to StarCraft, the show had some of the best costumes I’ve seen at an American show. Here’s a video — along with some wise-ass commentary — featuring the excellent cosplay at BlizzCon 2010.

After you check out the vid, please let me know which cosplayer was your favorite.

(Pro tip: The resolution is pretty high, so go full screen if your PC is up for it.)

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