Thursday, September 19, 2013

Atlus the Hedgehog

It was only a couple of days ago that Atlus was its own company.  But just recently, Atlus and its parent company: Index Corporation, was bought out.  The buyer in question?  SEGA Sammy


Sega Sammy Holdings will acquire Index Corporation, the parent company of Japanese publisher and developer Atlus, for ¥14 billion ($140 million) in November, according to the company.

According to Sega's business transfer agreement notice, Sega expects to "achieve steady flows of revenue" through the acquisition of Index's video game IPs. Further revenue growth is expected by exploiting the IPs across online PC gaming and smartphone content. The company also aims to "maximize the value of acquired IPs" by releasing them across pachislot, pachinko and amusement machine segments.

Sept. 18 marked the conclusion of business transfer agreement, according to the notice, and Nov. 1 is the tentative due date for the transfer of Index, pending approval from the court under by Civil Rehabilitation Act.. Sega Dream Corporation was established on Sept. 5 as a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings to oversee the transfer of Index operations. Sega Dream Corporation's name is slated to change in the future.



 What does that mean?  That means expect the next Persona game to feature Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd, Ulala, Alys, Vyse the blue Rogue, and Segata Sanshiro

Special congratulations goes to SEGA for at least getting them before Electronic Arts.

But while one buyout has gone as expected, another one is being held back.  What I'm talking about is ActivisionBlizzard separating itself from Vivendi.  Back in July, it was confirmed that ActivisionBlizzard would split from Vivendi and operate as an independent company.  But one shareholder is protesting this and has halted the sale from going through.


Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision-Blizzard's previously announced deal to buy back its majority stake from parent company Vivendi hit a new snag today, as the company announced the transaction had been temporarily halted pending the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit.

Last week, Activision-Blizzard shareholder Douglas M. Hayes filed suit against the publisher through the Delaware Chancery Court. The suit alleges that the company's CEO, chairman and an elite investor group will disproportionately benefit from the buyback, and should instead leave the buyback deal to a vote by non-Vivendi stockholders, such as the plaintiff. As a result of the filing, Activision-Blizzard has come under a preliminary enjoiner from the court, forcing the company to temporarily halt its buyback proceedings until either the injunction is successfully appealed or the purchase is approved by vote.

In the midst of this, Activision-Blizzard released a statement reaffirming its commitment to the stock buyback from Vivendi, as it outlined in July. The company added that it is "exploring the steps it will take to complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible." This may mean acquiescing to a vote from non-Vivendi stockholders or continuing to campaign for an appeal to modify the injunction.





In other words, expect a delay in the next expansion to World of Warcraft and a slightly watered down version of Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Unfortunately, we must conclude this with some sad news.  Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, has passed away recently.  Here's the news of his recent passing



Today marks a sad day indeed as Nintendo’s former president Hiroshi Yamauchi has passed away aged 85, Nikkei reports.

After his grandfather suffered a stroke Yamauchi-san stepped in as Nintendo’s president back in 1949, a role he held until 31st May 2002 when he passed the role to Satoru Iwata.

It was still a traditional card company when he had taken over, although his decision to diversify soon lead it into the electronics industry and to stride into the increasingly popular arcade market across North America. When his son-in-law couldn’t find success with games such as Radar Scope, Space Fever and Sheriff, he turned to the young Shigeru Miyamoto who dutifully delivered Donkey Kong in 1981. The rest, as they say, became history.

Hardware development teams created the portable Game & Watch and later produced the Famicom, which we obviously know as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). His leadership grew the console’s success through predicting what consumers would want in terms of the software that was being produced, with the company subsequently releasing the Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, and GameCube under his watchful guidance.

Whilst he has been readily attributed as being one of the richest men in Japan due to being Nintendo’s largest shareholder, he donated much of the 7.5 billion yen that he earned through Nintendo’s success with the Wii and Nintendo DS to build a new cancer treatment center in Kyoto.

His efforts contributed to the sheer influence that Nintendo’s output have had on countless people across the world. Rest in peace, Yamauchi-san.


Hiroshi Yamauchi: November 7, 1927 – September 19, 2013


Works Cited:
Polygon
Gamasutra
Nintendo Insider

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