RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Mandatory viewing for all Deus Ex fans.

Howdy folks!  Getting busy around here before E3, but we still have time to wrap up the news. Let’s break it down:

• Groupon joins Zynga, PopCap, etc. in preparing to go public, despite not actually making a profit.  We should make a drinking game out of this.
• A huge preview build for Deus Ex: Human Revolution got leaked to the internet.  To everyone’s surprise, nobody minds.  File that under “did not see coming.”
• Interplay teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, as they seemingly have for years now.  But don’t worry, Fallout Online is gonna be here any day now!
• Dueling digital distribution services: Gamestop automatically charges for re-downloading “insurance,” which its competitors give away for free…
• …while EA launches its own DD network coincidentally named after one of the studios it absorbed.  Oooh, awk~waaard.
• E3 pre-conference projections: Nintendo’s new hardware, Sony’s image problem, and Microsoft’s Kinect… stuff.

In addition we have some late-breaking news that didn’t make it into the recording: NPR and NECN.com reported that not only was Nintendo hacked, but they were hacked by the same group that’s been plaguing Sony recently.  No data was stolen in the Nintendo hack, but the group, calling itself Lulz Security, has claimed responsibility for an attack on Sony Pictures that resulted in a million more users’ personal information.

From where I sit there’s actually a fairly clear line between exposing a company’s lackluster security procedures – which Sony is clearly guilty of – and releasing sensitive information for all to see.  The second Robin Hood starts shooting random people and telling them to blame the authorities for failing to protect them, he’s lost the argument.  I don’t see the Nintendo hack changing the game much, although I’d put money down that these ongoing hacks are going to draw more attention than LulzSec might like.  Much as it pains me to admit, life isn’t Shadowrun, and when the feds come knocking the game’s pretty much over.

And now, on with the actual episode.  Enjoy!