The GamingLives podcast returns from man flu and brings you that something special this week, no not Avatar items… This week we’ve got soul. The team discuss Halo being the big deal that it is and ask if it was more a case of ‘right place, right time’, Ben and Lee come out and say they didn’t like Oblivion, we talk about making connections with characters in games, Mark talks about X-Com (again!), Ben looks back over the GTA series, Lee says he’d pay silly money for a game if he could download it on launch day via Xbox Live and so much other stuff that it’s a good job we recorded it for you. All that and a competition where you could win some Microsoft Points or a PSN voucher!

Don’t say we aren’t good to you.

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Halo: A Case of Right Place, Right Time?

I’ve kept quiet for long enough on this subject. I find it difficult to speak about, simply because the total onslaught of opposition I have on the topic. It’s no surprise to anyone that a good portion of video gamers are ridiculously devoted to certain games, to the point where they would defend them, even in the face of indisputable evidence that a certain feature was poor…

Chris puts forward a good case

Open Up

There are times in life when you have to let yourself go, open yourself up to whatever is thrown at you. There will be times when the only option available to you is to break down and cry, no matter how tough you think you are; there will always be that moment where there is nothing left, you can’t take it and the tears stream down your face leaving glistening trails on your cheeks.

Joey gets emotionally attached

Nostalgia can be a bit of a strange beast, especially when it comes to gamers who seemingly, for whatever reason, are constantly in a partial state of remembrance for games of yesteryear. Everyone is guilty of it at some point, whether it’s talking with friends about the stomping grounds of old, educating youngsters about how good it was back in the day of 16kb memory and 3.5Mhz processors, or just wishful daydreaming about a HD remake of your favourite franchise…

A look back at GTA

DC Universe Online Goes F2P

John Smedley, SOE’s President, announced on Twitter this morning that over 120,000 new players have signed up for their action-RPG MMO DC Universe Online on the PC since the game transitioned to free-to-play Tuesday evening. In the same tweet, he announced that the number of concurrent users logged into the game has increased 300% in that same time, and that they’re planning to launch a massive TV and online ad campaign later this month. He did not mention any numbers for PS3 users.

Details over on PC gamer

Retail Model is “broken”

The retail video game model “has always been and still is broken”.

That’s according to Dino Patti, boss of Limbo developer Playdead games.

Limbo, a digitally distributed game that launched last year on Xbox Live Arcade, wowed critics and proved an immense commercial success. It was later released on PC and PlayStation 3.

Full story on Eurogamer

Last five articles by Podcasts

• GamingLives Podcast Episode 7
• GamingLives Podcast Episode 6
• GamingLives Podcast Episode 5
• GamingLives Podcast Episode 4
• GamingLives Podcast Episode Three