Zekhariah

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe (science news)

Sword & Laser (book club / news)

The Anandtech Podcast (they almost never put these out though >.>. really cool when they do however)

GP NZ - The Gameplanet Show (kiwi game podcast, has a bit of a different feel than the US / UK ones)

@andorski: They probably have decent upscaling hardware.

The big limitation with 4k right now will be the max 30Hz screen refresh rate, because of the current HDMI standard. Work is being done to finalize an update leading into having higher frame-rate 4k work (and display port theoretically ahs some support of it), but its not really a mature tech. I think Samsung indicated their TVs would be upgradable to the new standard when it comes out, but that is not the sort of arrangement Seiki will have (though I do think they are probably a legit enough brand - post CCFL backlights there should not be to much left to have a horrible failure rate even if you go cheap on materials).

I'm inclined to with hold any judgement until it is possible to see what Patrick ends up doing when he is out of HQ. Though I sort of hope Giant bomb might develop a better setup to allow for call in guests. This would be a Patrick / Alex thing, but would also extend to maybe diving into more cross-over content (fingers crossed for Michael Pachter on the bombcast for 1 segment or similar......).

@dgtlmeatloaf

I've ended up wondering that myself a few times too (~6 years past college for reference). My conclusion, so far, is that my taste and finickiness with how game systems work is the part that has changed a lot. But when the right title comes along, I'm still completely into it and enjoying myself just as much as my 8-14 year old self. The part that gets weird is when I try to force the issue of buying and playing games that have a good reputation (since they seem incredibly cheap post-college). When I do that, I just go through a pile of games that are not enjoyable ("this call of duty modern warfare 2 thing is supposed to be really good....."), and that leads to wondering whether I have any interest still.

The thing to do is to not force it, and wait and only pickup titles that really speak to you (not in the "everyone on the internet is saying this is great way"). It does take some time to get there, but the big thing is to keep in mind that what is going to work for your personally is going to come from a sensibility that is very different than a person with more time to kill, or who is neck deep within the industry as a day job. For me, it ends up being one game very few months that really interests me, and I've found that if I don't have a modern game to play, just going back to something from a previous era can help.

Does Portal 2 count?

If I'm being realistic that is the only one I thought was exceptional, otherwise games I have liked were at best non-offensive (and a even greater number were kind of bad.... hi uncharted 2.....).

That would be hilarious. Sometime Origin bugs out and removes games from your account months after installation, or fails to register CD keys on initial release. Translating those issues into the console world as "whoops, looks like you can't play that game you bought after that patch" would be great.

I've not pre-ordered anything this time around (compared to Wii U at launch). There are not a lot of games that I'm super interested in the launch, so it seems more reasonable to wait until there are a few more games out to purchase. My primary thought is to go whenever Costco puts up a bundle with a 2nd controller + extra game for a slight cost increase over the single unit.

There is still some chance I do not bother with either console though. So far the new consoles have slower CPUs than my PC, and graphically are not any better. So while I am sure that I will eventually buy a PS4 or something.... it is probably going to be yet another console I barely use. I am mostly able to keep up with the slow Wii U release schedule, which makes a sudden option for more games really a non-concern unless a lot of my friends jump on. And I weirdly am uncomfortable even considering the new Xbox1 due to the partnerships with junk food companies.

I really hate the association of gaming with what amounts to chronic poisons. When there is a major sponsorship / partnership by any company with that garbage it reminds me that games are not serious, not art (although occasionally Oscar-bait style), and not really intended for adults.

And then I end up thinking rather negative things about the United States. It really is a sad state of affairs. Anyway, down with Frito-lay / Pepsico / Cocacola / Redbull / Monster / etc.

Probably not. For Nintendo games you usually see enough in their direct communication videos to really know whether something will be of interest or not. Wasting a bunch of gas to play a long with something slightly before where you would otherwise get to play it does not seem like it is worthwhile.

If the demos already exist they should eventually hit eShop anyway.

My expectation is that the new consoles will receive developer versions that are also sent out to youtube personalities.

Maybe that means there will be Xbox press accounts w/ associated hardware and capture output options. Along the lines of the steam accounts where every game on the service is enabled (but with individual time control parts, so you can do exclusive reveal type articles for XYZ publication).