So I think I should also mention that our blog, and all other major updates, are pretty late as well, and we apologize, as with all the other shit that we mentioned that went down with the last couple of weeks, but we have been on the up and up, so thank you all for bearing with us!
We'll soon be on Zune, and with some other big changes in the works; first off, we'll be having a new segment on the show, Quarter Circle Forward, which will be our Review segment to where we'll all take turns every other episode to review any number of games. We'll be starting off with Toast as he will be reviewing Brutal Legend, released by EA, and the latest and greatest software developed by Double Fine. The Quarter Circle Forward segment, or QCF as we will be calling it, and debuting it in this episode, as Andrew will be reviewing Brutal Legend. In future episodes, he will be reviewing all current Console and PC releases for the Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and, hopefully, soon, the PlayStation 3 when he picks one up hahaha. Paco's QCF will be focused on all portable gaming for the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and the Apple iPhone, and as for George, he'll be doing the QCF for everything and anything retro. So Quarter Circle Forward aside, we feel it's time we get down to the nitty gritty of the topic on hand for this week's episode—Oh, and we'll also be updating the Top 5 as well with it's own small blurb being as it was Paco's choice this Episode hahaha.
With the release of the Microsoft Xbox 360, among all of the new features that came with it, like built-in wireless connectivity, cutting-edge graphics, and a whole new interface and experience with Xbox Live, the new feature that stood out as the silliest bell and whistle in the list was the new "Achievement" system.
Every game released on the Xbox 360 would have hidden objectives related to direct gameplay of the game that could span a number of different categories, whether it would be time invested, a specific action performed, or a set number of collected objects, and when completed, would prompt an Achievement to unlock for your Gamer tag. These “cheevos” could be unlocked for any number of reasons the developer intended, with a skill level that would be inferred by the score attached to them, and prominently display on your Xbox live user name and account for pure bragging rights.
The new craze caught on so well with the gaming public that Sony introduced Trophies for the PS3, and Steam would also offer their own achievement system that would be implemented with all of its games available in their service for PC gamers. With Achievements and Trophies being at the core of all major online gaming communities, has it helped strengthen the relationships that we produce with other gamers online, or has it negatively affected the overall experience with unnecessary aggression and animosity in a rate race for fake awards from a contest meant for fun? Also, another point that we briefly touched upon is that with Valve including achievements on Steam after Microsoft and Sony have fueled the fire, how long is it going to be before we see a similar system done with Nintendo? We'll dive into the topic with much more intensity.
So please take the time to give the new episode a listen, and also if you were interested about the results of the Press Pause Radio Sega Dreamcast Giveaway, also give the new episode a listen, hell, we think you guys should give us a listen anyway. So we want to thank everyone who reads our posts and listens to our podcasts, and humbly ask that they also take the time to review us on iTunes so we can spread the word of Press Pause Radio! Thank you all again, and here's the episode!
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Kaz Hirai, 
