RadioRadar podcast 029: No servers, no Sims, no refunds

Superman 64. I was really excited to play this game before it came out and I'd never played a Superman game before. Plus it was based on the then running (and popular) Superman: The Animated Series and the graphics looked pretty slick for the time period. So I bought it on release day, took it home, popped it in my Nintendo 64, and...I had to fly through ring. But, I made the most of the lagging animations, ability to walk through wall, and boring gameplay until I got to the level with Darkseid. After finally defeating him, I was carrying him to the goal area and as I was walking, I just fell through the floor. And due to a lack of a save feature, I would have had to start all over again. I haven't touched the game since.

Don't know if this counts but screw it. My worst launch was for KOTOR 2. I loved the first game and was super excited to find out what happened to Revan and my crew since the 1st game. When it came out I was working in a mall so before work I went into EB games to make sure they had it. I stood there debating with myself on whether to buy it ($60 is alot on a mall salary). I left then came back on my lunch break with the same debate even though a part of me knew I wasn't leaving the mall that day without the game. So after work I went back for a 3rd time and finally bought the game. I then took it home and began one of the most grueling times in my gaming career. Through all the crap of that story I kept telling myself "Well Revan must show up at the end, right? They keep talking about him. It's gonna be an awesome ending to make up for the rest of the game he wasn't there for, right?"......... BUT THERE IS NO FREAKING ENDING!!!!!!!! It was then that I lost my faith in humanity.

I think the closest thing to a "bad launch" I've ever had was buying Pokemon Silver, and finding out that first, the language was all botched, and secondly, that the game didn't save, because the cartridge battery used for saving didn't work. Sounds awful, but it all makes sense when you take into account that I had bought a pirated, black market copy of the game.... What? I lived in a very small town in Mexico where back then, games took months, if not years to come here after they did in the US, and I was deep in the Pokemon craze back then so that was the only viable option I had back then, don't judge me. The funniest thing was... I actually stuck with that copy, I got someone to replace the battery of the cartridge so it could save, and played the ENTIRE game with a shitty, nigh unreadable translation... the things an 11 year old will do when he's obsessed AND impatient XD

Worst launch I've been a part of has been... well not many bad ones. The worst I've dealt with was Guild Wars 2 on launch and it was pretty tame. A few servers went down at first, but then they came back up. I did lose my progress a couple times, but I was also a part of pre-order group that played early.

Does Lucas really think Hollander Cooper is THAT hysterically funny, or does he just reflexively chuckle literally every time the man says ANYTHING on this show? I've been noticing this for awhile, and the guy certainly isn't showering, say, Henry with that kind of instant approval.

Let's just say it doesn't take much to make me laugh

During the launch of Battlefield 3 back in 2011, I decided I'd put my badass gaming PC to good use and buy it on PC. However, Origin decided to fight me at every turn, not letting me even start the damn game because of the shitty interfacing through the Origin website. I got so sick of not being able to play the game that I called up EA for a refund (and got one) and went and gave them my money again for the PS3 version, like I should have done in the first place. EA needs to give up this Origin bullshit and go back to Steam, since Valve is infinitely more competent at digital distribution than EA will ever be.

I haven't had time to listen to any of these for about a month, but I was pretty much laughing all the way through this episode. The part where you were describing the butler and how it was possible to lock him in that one room had me in stitches because I used to do that all the time too :XD: On the topic of launches, mine would have to be Smash Bros Brawl. I was SO HYPED for that game, especially since it would be my first Smash and also because I checked the Smash Dojo like every ten seconds for updates. I put in a really early preorder and much to my amazement I actually got sent the game a day or so early; I was so excited I almost daren't put the disc in my Wii. But when I did, it wouldn't work. I'm sure a lot of people have gotten defective disks of an much anticipated game, but of course, this wasn't the disk. This was that unforeseen problem where certain Wiis were rendered unable to read dual-layer disks due to dustclogging and suchlike. But obviously I didn't know that, having got the game early. I went to the store and swapped the disc just in case, but before that, the guy there actually tested my copy on their machine and it ran perfectly. Seeing that opening sequence...I was so miffed! So I just walked out, unplayable disk in hand, rather glum. Obviously no one really had any idea what was going on until later, when Nintendo came out and said "whoops guys! Better send your Wiis to us!" So, yeah, in short, despite getting it early I didn't actually get to play it until like a week after it released. I kept tracking the status of my Wii in the post, like, HURRY UP AND GET HOME SO I CAN SMASH. Surely I can't be the only one who had to do that. :/

I feel for you, i know a friend who suffered the same problem Heh, i remember the shenanigans of copies of Mass Effect 2 being inside of Black Ops 2 XD

My worst launch is going to have to be the 3DS. I went to go pick mine up at Toys R Us and it was sad to see that only me,my brother, and 2 other people were there for it. My brother and I go in, grab a 3DS, and then we had to decide what 3 games we wanted, because they were doing some kind of sale. I picked the Monkey Ball game and Street Fighter 4, while my brother picked Ridge Racer, and by far these were the terrible. Monkey Ball I beat in a couple of hours, Ridge Racer was just boring, and Street Fighter was just a useless buy because i can just play it on my xbox. I am still a 3DS owner, but I am happy Fire Emblem is out and I'm loving it.

Street Fighter IV for the 360, I waited for two hours to get my copy and they sold me the store display copy and they charged me for the price of a new one DESPITE the fact it was used!!!!

no soapbox politics!

Guild Wars 2. This is a sad, sad tale. You see, I was so hyped for this game, being a fan of MMO's but someone who couldn't afford a monthly subscription fee. The night it releases, I pick up my pre-ordered copy and rush it home. Put in the disk. Stare at the screen. Sweating palms. Suddenly, success! The game is downloading. BLUE SCREEN. I practically tear some hair out. I press the power button, and nothing. Nothing! My computer won't turn on! I do some tests, and realize it's the hard drive had gone bad. Perfect timing. Luckily I had a 250gig older hard drive still sitting around. I quickly put it in, knowing it had windows 7 installed on it from long ago, and began to download guild wars 2 yet again. It's 3 am at this point. And what happens next? My internet cuts out. Comcast hadn't received my payment. The next afternoon I finally got it working and the internet, but the game just had some sort of taint to it. Maybe it was my experience the night before. I think I cried myself to sleep.

Halo 3. My disappointment had nothing to do with the game. Instead, it stemmed from the fact that my 360 had red ringed the week before, and I was unable to play the game for a few weeks after its release.

Uhm. Spore. I don't really want to talk about it, but I faked excitement for so long after I bought it that I just felt really sad.

The PS Vita launch was disappointing for me. I preordered mine at Target and planned on getting to the store an hour before they opened in order to avoid what I imagined would be a huge line. Launch day came and my alarm clock didn't go off so I actually woke up 5 minutes before they opened. I jumped out of bed, threw on the first shirt and pair of pants I could find, slipped on some shoes, then jumped in my car and hauled ass to Target. The drive was nerve-wracking. I imagined that maybe the line was too big or perhaps they had oversold preorders and they'd have to sell my Vita to someone. I actually ran a red light and ignored a couple of stop signs. I arrived at Target at about 8:10 AM to what I believed was a deceptively empty parking lot. I ran inside the store and made a beeline to the electronics department. The electronics employee had a look of concern on his face as I ran up to the electronics counter with an exhausted expression. I asked him if he had any more Vitas. He said, "yeah, we haven't sold any yet." I leaned on the counter to catch my breath and thought, "shit, this system is going to die."

Foreshadowing...

The launch of the Wii was kind of frustrating. I was working retail during the holiday season of 2006 (I won't name the store, but its initials are Best Buy), and we got exactly ONE shipment of Wii systems on launch day. After that, nothing up until the week before Christmas, when we got another shipment of about six of them. The worst part wasn't that we didn't have any of the consoles, it was that I had the same dozen people calling EVERY FREAKING DAY to ask if we'd gotten any in. Also, the one weirdo guy who'd come in and pester the employees to no end because he was convinced that we were "holding out" on him because he "knew" we had a huge supply of the systems in the back storeroom (of course, we didn't). Ah, those were the days...

Well, my most problematic launch was when Half-Life 3 came out and... Oh, wait... Anyway, RadioRadar is amazing guys, I listen to you from Argentina. It was kinda hard at the beginning, but now I understand pretty much everything, so... Thanks for teaching me English I guess... PS: Thanks to RadioRadar, every time I sing "Radio Gaga" I go like "All we hear is RadioRadar". Hope I'm not the only one who does that

Well I think you have doomed us all now. That is all I will ever here too. Now we need to just convince Lucas the words to " Danger Zone " go " highway to the danger zone" and not " I went to the danger zone "