Beating Mass Effect Andromeda and Buying Video Games in Installments In this episode: OMG! BIG NEWS! We are incredibly excited to announce that we made a new friend! YAAAAAY! The Geektitude podcast has joined the Geek to Geek podcast network. Geektitude is an interview show, which our network has been looking to include for quite a while. We just had to find the right one. And Joe is the right guy for the job. We couldn't be happier with the addition, and we certainly hope y'all will give him the same kind of love and warm-fuzzies that you have given the rest of us. Make sure you head over to the Geektitude Facebook page and give it a like, subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and give him a shout at @epicgrays on Twitter. And you know what's best of all? He has like 70ish episodes to listen to already, so what are you waiting for? Get to streaming! Mass Effect Andromeda Void beat Mass Effect Andromeda very quickly. He reviews the game for those of us who haven’t played it, and he discusses the game’s strengths and weaknesses. Primarily, the open-worldedness wasn’t interesting enough to make him explore, the new races were too limited, and the story was pretty similar to the old one. The thing is, Void wanted to love this game, and instead he only liked it. There is a lot to like here, and a lot of the internet’s reactions have been overblown. The new dialogue options are really great, and they work a lot better than the stark good/bad dichotomy most Bioware games have. The premise of the game is still pretty amazing, and he has incredibly high hopes for Mass Effect Andromeda 2 because this first game laid a great foundation for a series, provided they make a series of improvements he outlines in the episode. Games as a Service More and more these days, games aren’t a buy-once/play-forever kind of thing like they used to be. Between DLC and expansion packs and passes and constant content updates, video games have to be treated as a service to keep players interested. We discuss a number of these models--MMO subscriptions, the one-game-I-play-forever-and-nothing-else system, microtransactions, mobile updates, events, episodic releases (free and paid), and even things like toys to life and shareware titles from a consumer standpoint. Geek Offer of the Week: Get DUNE by Frank Herbert at audibletrial.com/geektogeekcast and see why Mass Effect Andromeda has all the genre conventions it does. Weekly Geekery Beej Beat Zelda: Breath of the Wild / American Crime Story / Mario Kart 8 / 10% Happier - Hannah Hart episode / Spider-man Homecoming Trailer 2 Void Treadmill desk / Splatoon 2 “Testfire” / I Am Setsuna / Mario sports Superstars / Card Thief Be sure to subscribe to the Geek to Geek Podcast your favorite podcast app, drop a review so we know how we’re doing, and feel free contact us via email at geektogeekcast@gmail.com or @geektogeekcast on Twitter with any comments, questions, or suggestions for the show. Thanks for listening, and we can’t wait to hear from you! Subscribe: iTunes Overcast Pocket Casts Google Play Music RSS Feed Geek to Geek Podcast Network: Geek to Geek Geek Fitness Health Hacks The Comic Box Geektitude Music by CarboHydroM