I hope you all had a happy holidays(Unless you were one of those who played on Playstation Network). And now, here is the NPD of November 2014
At number 10, Halo: The Master Chief Collection by 343 Studios and Microsoft for the XBox One. About as buggy as a Windows ME Machine
At number 09: NBA 2K15 by 2K Games for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3 and PC. Space Jam's got nothing on this
At number 08: Pokemon: Omega Ruby by Nintendo and Gamefreak for the 3DS. Why is this lower than Alpha Sapphire?
At number 07: Far Cry 4 by Ubisoft for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3 and PC. At least it's not a buggy mess
At number 06: Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire by Nintendo and Gamefreak for the 3DS. Come to think of it, why are both games separate, but Smash Bros is bundled into one?
At number 05: Assassin's Creed: Unity by Ubisoft for the PS4, XBone and PC. Seems the beta testers were asleep on this one
At number 04: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Wait. Madden couldn't afford a PC?
At number 03: Super Smash Bros 4 by Nintendo and BandaiNamco for the Wii U and 3DS. The Duck Hunt Dog laughs at Assassin's Creed: Unity
At number 02: Grand Theft Auto V by Take 2 and Rockstar for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Didn't this come out last year?
And number 1: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. So...uhhh, when did they jump the shark?
The overall software sales for games is up. But surprisingly, it seems Wii U and 3DS Software has gone up thanks to the sales of Smash Bros and Pokemon. But even more surprisingly, sales of the X Box One has skyrocketed past the Playstation 4 no thanks to a temporary lower price.
Folks, I'm afraid I have some bad news. As much as I hate to say this, I have grown tired of posting news articles about video games. I enjoyed it in the past, attmepting in vain to mirror the now former host of the Colbert Report himself: Stephen Colbert. So with the next NPD, I will be retiring this Blog for good and leaving it up for archive status. With the next NPD, I will bid you farewell.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
RIP Ralph Baer
Folks, it has come to my attention that Ralph Baer, inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey, the light gun, and even the game Simon!, has passed away. Gamasutra has more details on his passing.
Ralph Baer, a true pioneer of video games, has passed away
at the age of 92, Gamasutra can confirm via independent sources close to
Baer.
Baer developed the very first console video game system, originally known as the Brown Box, but later licensed and sold as 1972's Magnavox Odyssey, which laid the foundation for video games as we know them today.
Baer, an engineer and inventor through and through, also developed the light gun, recognized as the very first peripheral for video game consoles, the interactive memory game, Simon, and other inventions.
He'd been widely recognized for his achievements throughout the course of his life, such as receiving the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
He also received a 2008 Game Developers Choice Pioneer Award (video above). "Thank you very much," he said at the time. "I appreciate the honor, and I'm still cranking out stuff. Goodbye."
Baer developed the very first console video game system, originally known as the Brown Box, but later licensed and sold as 1972's Magnavox Odyssey, which laid the foundation for video games as we know them today.
Baer, an engineer and inventor through and through, also developed the light gun, recognized as the very first peripheral for video game consoles, the interactive memory game, Simon, and other inventions.
He'd been widely recognized for his achievements throughout the course of his life, such as receiving the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
He also received a 2008 Game Developers Choice Pioneer Award (video above). "Thank you very much," he said at the time. "I appreciate the honor, and I'm still cranking out stuff. Goodbye."
Folks, had it not been for this pioneer, we would not have any form of video games on our television sets, on handhelds, on cellphones, or even computers. Heck, we wouldn't even have had cell phones, home computers or even tablets. Life wouldn't have been interesting without the man who made the video game industry possible.
Here's to you Ralph Baer. RIP and thank you for bringing to us video games
Ralph Baer: March 8, 1922 - December 6, 2014
Works Cited: Gamasutra
Thursday, November 27, 2014
NPD September and October 2014: Happy Thanksgiving
While all of you are enjoying your turkey, I will do another month comparison of the NPD sales. Here we have both September and October of 2014 software sales
First for September:
At number 11: Hyrule Warriors by Nintendo for the Wii U. I stand with Ganondorf
At number 10: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls by ActivisionBlizzard for the PS4, Xbone, 360, PS3 and PC. No one can stop Death
At number 09: Disney Infinity 2.0 by Disney Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4 and XBone. PC version now available on Steam
At number 08: The Sims 4 by EA for the PC. Now with 20% more uncut features
At number 07: Minecraft by Mojang and 4J Studios for the 360 and PS3. Now owned by Microsoft
At number 06: NHL 2015 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360 and PS3. Where's Wayne Gretezky when you need him?
At number 05: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor by Warner Bros Interactive for the XBone, PS4 and PC. Gollum loves the precious
At number 04: Super Smash Bros by Nintendo for the 3DS. Wait. How did that get up there?
At number 03: FIFA 15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3, Wii, PSVita and 3DS. Wait, how did a Wii title make it onto the Top3?
At number 02: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone, and PS4. Boy it's been awhile since we had some serious competition
And at Number 01: Destiny by ActivisionBlizzard for the XBone, PS4, 360 and PS3. World of Warcraft this ain't.
And yet, despite the free game deal, the XBone could cut it above the Playstation 4 that month. What was really surprising was that Super Smash Bros made it onto the list and it managed to outsell games liek Disney Infinity 2.0 and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Who knows what Nintendo has in stall for this year.
Now let's take alook at October's sales
At number 10: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360, PS3 and PS4. An Xbone version is due out soon.
At number 09: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor by Warner Bros Interactive for the PS4, XBone and PC. Keep your eyes peeled for the final chapter of the Hobbit due out on December 17th
At number 08: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. That's a long drop
At number 07: FIFA 15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3, Wii, PS Vita and 3DS. How there isn't a Wii U version, but a Wii version is beyond me.
At number 06: Skylanders: Trap Team by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Mobile platforms. Kaos Rises again
At number 05: Destiny by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. I still can't believe they're doing a Destiny 2
At number 04: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel by Gearbox software and 2K Games for the 360, PS3 and PC. Who needs a Next-Gen system just to play this game?
At number 03: The Evil within by Bethesda Software for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. Hey what happened to Alien Isolation?
At number 02: Super Smash Bros by Nintendo for the 3DS. How well will the Wii U version do?
And at number 1: NBA 2K15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3 and PC. And why Madden doesn't show up on the PC is beyond me.
Other than Alien Isolation, Sunset Overdrive didn't even make the Top 10 this time around.
Interesting, while Hardware was up 59% YoY, Software sales are down 28%.
Black Friday is around the corner. Will Microsoft be able to claim the feast? Or will Sony make them a turkey? Stay tuned.
First for September:
At number 11: Hyrule Warriors by Nintendo for the Wii U. I stand with Ganondorf
At number 10: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls by ActivisionBlizzard for the PS4, Xbone, 360, PS3 and PC. No one can stop Death
At number 09: Disney Infinity 2.0 by Disney Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4 and XBone. PC version now available on Steam
At number 08: The Sims 4 by EA for the PC. Now with 20% more uncut features
At number 07: Minecraft by Mojang and 4J Studios for the 360 and PS3. Now owned by Microsoft
At number 06: NHL 2015 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360 and PS3. Where's Wayne Gretezky when you need him?
At number 05: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor by Warner Bros Interactive for the XBone, PS4 and PC. Gollum loves the precious
At number 04: Super Smash Bros by Nintendo for the 3DS. Wait. How did that get up there?
At number 03: FIFA 15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3, Wii, PSVita and 3DS. Wait, how did a Wii title make it onto the Top3?
At number 02: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone, and PS4. Boy it's been awhile since we had some serious competition
And at Number 01: Destiny by ActivisionBlizzard for the XBone, PS4, 360 and PS3. World of Warcraft this ain't.
And yet, despite the free game deal, the XBone could cut it above the Playstation 4 that month. What was really surprising was that Super Smash Bros made it onto the list and it managed to outsell games liek Disney Infinity 2.0 and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Who knows what Nintendo has in stall for this year.
Now let's take alook at October's sales
At number 10: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360, PS3 and PS4. An Xbone version is due out soon.
At number 09: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor by Warner Bros Interactive for the PS4, XBone and PC. Keep your eyes peeled for the final chapter of the Hobbit due out on December 17th
At number 08: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. That's a long drop
At number 07: FIFA 15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3, Wii, PS Vita and 3DS. How there isn't a Wii U version, but a Wii version is beyond me.
At number 06: Skylanders: Trap Team by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Mobile platforms. Kaos Rises again
At number 05: Destiny by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. I still can't believe they're doing a Destiny 2
At number 04: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel by Gearbox software and 2K Games for the 360, PS3 and PC. Who needs a Next-Gen system just to play this game?
At number 03: The Evil within by Bethesda Software for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. Hey what happened to Alien Isolation?
At number 02: Super Smash Bros by Nintendo for the 3DS. How well will the Wii U version do?
And at number 1: NBA 2K15 by EA for the PS4, XBone, 360, PS3 and PC. And why Madden doesn't show up on the PC is beyond me.
Other than Alien Isolation, Sunset Overdrive didn't even make the Top 10 this time around.
Interesting, while Hardware was up 59% YoY, Software sales are down 28%.
Black Friday is around the corner. Will Microsoft be able to claim the feast? Or will Sony make them a turkey? Stay tuned.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Jim Sterling goes independent
One year ago, Jim Sterling made his move from Destructoid to Escapist Magazine, which already housed the Jimquisition videos, along with Movie Defense Force and his little collaboration with Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw.
But now it is with a heavy heart that Jim Sterling is no longer with Escapist Magazine, and instead has become independent. Greg Tito, Editor-In-Chief at Escapist, has this to say
Jim Sterling began posting videos on The Escapist back in April 2011. The first few Jimquisitions were a bit unpolished, shall we say, in the technical department. But once Jim got a new microphone, his voice got a lot stronger and his shows only got better. The Escapist proudly hosted Jim's op-ed videos on the gaming industry for more than three years and 210 episodes. Last year, I was extremely happy to ask him to join the editorial team as Reviews Editor. Jim's professionalism was only outmatched by his surprisingly tender heart - despite his persona, Jim is really just a big teddy bear of a person. He was a fixture at the Escapist Expo, worked with the other contributors on tons of collaborations and everyone here considers him a part of the family.
It is with a heavy heart, then, that I announce Jim Sterling's departure from The Escapist. Jimquisition, Movie Defense Force and Uncivil War will no longer be published here. There will also no longer be any game reviews written by Jim Sterling at The Escapist.
I'm happy to say that even though Jim's work will no longer be presented at The Escapist, it is by no means going away. He has set up an amazing Patreon which will allow him to continue writing reviews and making Jimquisition videos through the direct support of his readers. Jim will only be beholden to you, the consumers, and I think that's awesome. On behalf of everyone here at The Escapist, I wish him all the best and I sincerely hope you head to Jim's Patreon to check it out. I know I will be going there to watch his videos every week.
Jim Sterling will now have his Jimquisition videos at here And if you want, you can donate to his cause right Here
Good luck to you Jim, and may we all Thank God for you.
Works Cited: Escapist Magazine
But now it is with a heavy heart that Jim Sterling is no longer with Escapist Magazine, and instead has become independent. Greg Tito, Editor-In-Chief at Escapist, has this to say
Jim Sterling began posting videos on The Escapist back in April 2011. The first few Jimquisitions were a bit unpolished, shall we say, in the technical department. But once Jim got a new microphone, his voice got a lot stronger and his shows only got better. The Escapist proudly hosted Jim's op-ed videos on the gaming industry for more than three years and 210 episodes. Last year, I was extremely happy to ask him to join the editorial team as Reviews Editor. Jim's professionalism was only outmatched by his surprisingly tender heart - despite his persona, Jim is really just a big teddy bear of a person. He was a fixture at the Escapist Expo, worked with the other contributors on tons of collaborations and everyone here considers him a part of the family.
It is with a heavy heart, then, that I announce Jim Sterling's departure from The Escapist. Jimquisition, Movie Defense Force and Uncivil War will no longer be published here. There will also no longer be any game reviews written by Jim Sterling at The Escapist.
I'm happy to say that even though Jim's work will no longer be presented at The Escapist, it is by no means going away. He has set up an amazing Patreon which will allow him to continue writing reviews and making Jimquisition videos through the direct support of his readers. Jim will only be beholden to you, the consumers, and I think that's awesome. On behalf of everyone here at The Escapist, I wish him all the best and I sincerely hope you head to Jim's Patreon to check it out. I know I will be going there to watch his videos every week.
Jim Sterling will now have his Jimquisition videos at here And if you want, you can donate to his cause right Here
Good luck to you Jim, and may we all Thank God for you.
Works Cited: Escapist Magazine
Thursday, October 30, 2014
I am Colbert and so can you.
Folks, the Anita Sarkeesian drama has been going on since 2012 due to the death threats the woman has been getting for her critical point of view on Video Games. From being forced from her home to having to cancel an appearance at a college, Sarkeesian has been showing up in the news trying to prove her point about video games, and having others prove it right for her(Just in a bad way).
But it seems the Anita Sarkeesian drama has hit its peak when she was recently interviewed by a known media site. No, I'm not talking about IGN, Gamespot or Kotaku.
I'm talking about Stephen Colbert.
That's right folks. The same Stephen Colbert who hosts the Colbert Report every Monday through Thursday night on Comedy Central(Soon to be vacated in January when he becomes the new Late Night host).
Now, due to a situation beyond my control, I cannot directly link the embedded videos here. What I can do is provide to you the link to the videos itself and let you be the judge, plus I have this information from Huffington Post.
The importance of GamerGate -- a cultural firestorm and ostensible video games consumer revolt fixated on feminism, journalistic ethics and right-wing politics -- is not necessarily easy for an outsider to grasp. That's because from the outside it doesn't seem... to make a whole lot of sense.
As such, it has proven to be a topic best treated in recent days by humour and parody.
US late night host and satirical firebrand Stephen Colbert produced perhaps the best 10 minute discussion of the issue so far last night, when he invited feminist blogger (and focus of serious, equally inexplicable abuse) Anita Sarkeesian to discuss it with him on The Colbert Report.
What happened next was probably the best and most incisive piece on GamerGate to yet appear on mainstream TV.
And yes, the fact that's true is incredibly depressing.
Works Cited:
Huffington Post
You can look at the videos at
http://on.cc.com/1tScrPt Part 1
http://on.cc.com/1DB7SZJ Part 2(Stephen interviews Anita Sarkeesian)
But it seems the Anita Sarkeesian drama has hit its peak when she was recently interviewed by a known media site. No, I'm not talking about IGN, Gamespot or Kotaku.
I'm talking about Stephen Colbert.
That's right folks. The same Stephen Colbert who hosts the Colbert Report every Monday through Thursday night on Comedy Central(Soon to be vacated in January when he becomes the new Late Night host).
Now, due to a situation beyond my control, I cannot directly link the embedded videos here. What I can do is provide to you the link to the videos itself and let you be the judge, plus I have this information from Huffington Post.
The importance of GamerGate -- a cultural firestorm and ostensible video games consumer revolt fixated on feminism, journalistic ethics and right-wing politics -- is not necessarily easy for an outsider to grasp. That's because from the outside it doesn't seem... to make a whole lot of sense.
As such, it has proven to be a topic best treated in recent days by humour and parody.
US late night host and satirical firebrand Stephen Colbert produced perhaps the best 10 minute discussion of the issue so far last night, when he invited feminist blogger (and focus of serious, equally inexplicable abuse) Anita Sarkeesian to discuss it with him on The Colbert Report.
What happened next was probably the best and most incisive piece on GamerGate to yet appear on mainstream TV.
And yes, the fact that's true is incredibly depressing.
Works Cited:
Huffington Post
You can look at the videos at
http://on.cc.com/1tScrPt Part 1
http://on.cc.com/1DB7SZJ Part 2(Stephen interviews Anita Sarkeesian)
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
I actually did want to talk about the Ubisoft Situation....
But it seems something new has popped up from Anita Sarkeesian. Last we heard of her, she went into hiding due to her information being doxxed and her address was posted online. This time, it seems things got worse.
Utah State University stated it received a threatening email today from someone claiming to be a student; the person directed threats at the Center for Women and Gender Studies ahead of a talk Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency was scheduled to give tomorrow morning. USU stated Sarkeesian has canceled her speech. Classes and business will continue.
A spokesperson for USU's Center for Women and Gender Studies said the email was sent to the director of the center, the Standard Examiner reported. In this article, USU spokesperson Tim Vitale said USU planned to hold the event with extra security at the event. Federal and state agencies advised USU that it was all right to still hold the event. However, the speech has been canceled.
Utah State Today, the campus' online news source, reports Sarkeesian decided to cancel the speech after speaking with police on whether weapons are permitted at the speaking venue. Police confirmed that people are allowed to carry a weapon at the venue if they have a concealed firearm permit in accordance with Utah state law.
Sarkeesian wrote on Twitter, "Forced to cancel my talk at USU after receiving death threats because police wouldn't take steps to prevent concealed firearms at the event." Because of Utah's open carry laws, police cannot do firearm searches, Sarkeesian said. Sarkeesian alleged she has received many threats with intent to kill her and others at USU, and she also alleged "one threat did claim affiliation with #gamergate."
Now I cannot talk detail about this situation, as I consider the tex. The Works Cited below will talk more about this. However, I can bring up the motive, plus the fact that there was a similar situation that went on at a previous convention.
The sender claimed to be a student at the university, writing, "Feminists have ruined my life and I will have my revenge, for my sake and the sake of all the others they've wronged."
This is far from the first time threats have been issued at a venue for hosting Sarkeesian. Last weekend officials confirmed to Polygon threats were directed at GeekGirlCon for Sarkeesian's appearance. Sarkeesian had to leave her home in August when she receiving death threats directed at her and her family and reported the incident to the San Francisco Police Department, who confirmed the existence of the police report. The FBI is now investigating.
I disagree with Anita many times on her own opinions, but resorting to these lows is just...ugh. I dunno what to say about this. This makes her opinion more credible.
But it seems the whole GamerGate situation has somehow hit the Cable News. MSNBC became the first to cover the situation courtesy of Joy-Ann Reid's Reid Report.
Today's episode of The Reid Report on MSNBC discussed GamerGate and invited journalist Eric Johnson and independent game developer Brianna Wu to speak on the issue.
Hosted by Joy-Ann Reid, The Reid Report examined the culture of games from the consumer side and also the industry side. Johnson, a journalist for Re/Code, explained that people participating in the GamerGate hashtag are calling for a reform of journalism ethics. Johnson then said, "But it has originated as and continued to be about undermining women in the game community."
Reid turned to Wu, who is the head of development at Giant Spacekat and recently released the game Revolution 60, to discuss sexism within the games industry as well as the death threats she has received. Wu had to leave her home Friday night and called the police after a person wrote violent tweets containing her address. A person on the 8chan GamerGate board posted Wu's personal information. Wu told Kotaku that she received the death threats within moments of her personal information being posted.
On The Red Report, Wu explained the games industry is incredibly male-dominated. Statistics show 76% of game development positions are occupied by men while women make up 22% of game developers and people who are transgender make up only 2% of game developers. While women in programming make up approximately 20% of programmers, women are only 3% of programmers within the game industry, Wu said.
Wu is not the only one who has had to leave her home. Independent game developer Zoe Quinn and feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency have both received threats and had to leave their homes. The FBI is now investigating the police report Sarkeesian filed.
"I know almost all the women in the game industry at this point," Wu said on The Reid Report. "All of us are terrified about this. We are terrified about our jobs, we are terrified that we are going to be next, and what we feel is that there is a literal war in this industry on women."
For those of you who want to see the entire GamerGate article, the video is down here. I'll let you be the judge of this
Works Cited:
Escapist Magazine article 1
Escapist Magazine article 2
Utah State University stated it received a threatening email today from someone claiming to be a student; the person directed threats at the Center for Women and Gender Studies ahead of a talk Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency was scheduled to give tomorrow morning. USU stated Sarkeesian has canceled her speech. Classes and business will continue.
A spokesperson for USU's Center for Women and Gender Studies said the email was sent to the director of the center, the Standard Examiner reported. In this article, USU spokesperson Tim Vitale said USU planned to hold the event with extra security at the event. Federal and state agencies advised USU that it was all right to still hold the event. However, the speech has been canceled.
Utah State Today, the campus' online news source, reports Sarkeesian decided to cancel the speech after speaking with police on whether weapons are permitted at the speaking venue. Police confirmed that people are allowed to carry a weapon at the venue if they have a concealed firearm permit in accordance with Utah state law.
Sarkeesian wrote on Twitter, "Forced to cancel my talk at USU after receiving death threats because police wouldn't take steps to prevent concealed firearms at the event." Because of Utah's open carry laws, police cannot do firearm searches, Sarkeesian said. Sarkeesian alleged she has received many threats with intent to kill her and others at USU, and she also alleged "one threat did claim affiliation with #gamergate."
Now I cannot talk detail about this situation, as I consider the tex. The Works Cited below will talk more about this. However, I can bring up the motive, plus the fact that there was a similar situation that went on at a previous convention.
The sender claimed to be a student at the university, writing, "Feminists have ruined my life and I will have my revenge, for my sake and the sake of all the others they've wronged."
This is far from the first time threats have been issued at a venue for hosting Sarkeesian. Last weekend officials confirmed to Polygon threats were directed at GeekGirlCon for Sarkeesian's appearance. Sarkeesian had to leave her home in August when she receiving death threats directed at her and her family and reported the incident to the San Francisco Police Department, who confirmed the existence of the police report. The FBI is now investigating.
I disagree with Anita many times on her own opinions, but resorting to these lows is just...ugh. I dunno what to say about this. This makes her opinion more credible.
But it seems the whole GamerGate situation has somehow hit the Cable News. MSNBC became the first to cover the situation courtesy of Joy-Ann Reid's Reid Report.
Today's episode of The Reid Report on MSNBC discussed GamerGate and invited journalist Eric Johnson and independent game developer Brianna Wu to speak on the issue.
Hosted by Joy-Ann Reid, The Reid Report examined the culture of games from the consumer side and also the industry side. Johnson, a journalist for Re/Code, explained that people participating in the GamerGate hashtag are calling for a reform of journalism ethics. Johnson then said, "But it has originated as and continued to be about undermining women in the game community."
Reid turned to Wu, who is the head of development at Giant Spacekat and recently released the game Revolution 60, to discuss sexism within the games industry as well as the death threats she has received. Wu had to leave her home Friday night and called the police after a person wrote violent tweets containing her address. A person on the 8chan GamerGate board posted Wu's personal information. Wu told Kotaku that she received the death threats within moments of her personal information being posted.
On The Red Report, Wu explained the games industry is incredibly male-dominated. Statistics show 76% of game development positions are occupied by men while women make up 22% of game developers and people who are transgender make up only 2% of game developers. While women in programming make up approximately 20% of programmers, women are only 3% of programmers within the game industry, Wu said.
Wu is not the only one who has had to leave her home. Independent game developer Zoe Quinn and feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency have both received threats and had to leave their homes. The FBI is now investigating the police report Sarkeesian filed.
"I know almost all the women in the game industry at this point," Wu said on The Reid Report. "All of us are terrified about this. We are terrified about our jobs, we are terrified that we are going to be next, and what we feel is that there is a literal war in this industry on women."
For those of you who want to see the entire GamerGate article, the video is down here. I'll let you be the judge of this
Works Cited:
Escapist Magazine article 1
Escapist Magazine article 2
Sunday, October 12, 2014
*Sigh* I dunno what to say anymore
I'm just jaded right now, seeing something like this happen again. You all know how upset I am over this. The fact that I have to go and post this to prove how bad it's gotten is just...appalling.
Anyway, the newest victim is Brianna Wu, developer of Revolution 60.
Wu, who has written about the harassment against women in gaming, has long been critical of the recently-formed Gamergate movement and what she and others have seen as the targeting of women in the industry. Earlier this week she caught the attention of users of the pro-Gamergate message board 8chan after Tweeting snark about the movement, only to then see users of that board mock her, post details about her husband and ultimately publish her personal information (a screencap of a post with redacted info remained on the thread on Saturday).
While Wu received a lot of sympathy online, she was also charged by
some with making the whole thing up. She bristles at that, of course. "I
am a professional developer," she told Kotaku. "The quickest
way I could think of to end my career and destroy my credibility would
be making something like this up and getting arrested for filing a false
police report."
Right now, I am completely clueless on the Gamergate issue. But to see someone like Wu get harassed by a random stranger and have her address posted on Twitter is just...well...ugh. I really don't know what to say anymore.
Works Cited(Including Twitter postings): Kotaku
Anyway, the newest victim is Brianna Wu, developer of Revolution 60.
Wu, who has written about the harassment against women in gaming, has long been critical of the recently-formed Gamergate movement and what she and others have seen as the targeting of women in the industry. Earlier this week she caught the attention of users of the pro-Gamergate message board 8chan after Tweeting snark about the movement, only to then see users of that board mock her, post details about her husband and ultimately publish her personal information (a screencap of a post with redacted info remained on the thread on Saturday).
"I was literally watching 8chan go after me in their specific chatroom for Gamergate," she told Kotaku today. "They posted my address, and within moments I got that death threat."7
Wu contacted the police and tells Kotaku that they offered to send patrol cars by her home. As she noted on Twitter, she left home last night and has not returned.
Wu's account of her harassment was widely retweeted last night and
viewed, by many, as a distressing new incident to add to the progression
of people in gaming, mainly women, who've born the brunt of intense
harassment largely due to their views on games and the gaming scene. Wu
joins Zoe Quinn, the indie developer who was the original target for
what was then not yet called Gamergate in late August and who said she
had to leave her home
due to threats. There is also Anita Sarkeesian, the critic behind a
video series about the depiction of women in gaming, who chronicled in
late August the most recent threats that had her leaving home and notifying police out of fear for her safety.8
Captain Richard Flynn of the Arlington, Massachusetts police department confirmed to Kotaku
today that the police took a report on the incident last night and that
"the matter is now under investigation by our Criminal Investigation
Bureau."9
Right now, I am completely clueless on the Gamergate issue. But to see someone like Wu get harassed by a random stranger and have her address posted on Twitter is just...well...ugh. I really don't know what to say anymore.
Works Cited(Including Twitter postings): Kotaku
Monday, September 15, 2014
Will Master Chief appear in Minecraft now?
There were speculations going on about Microsoft buying out Mojang and the rights to the Minecraft franchise. This would make one of the most popular independent games apart of the X-Box family.
Well today, the speculation became a reality. Microsoft bought out the rights to Minecraft, making them the sole owners of the franchise
Mojang has confirmed it's being sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.
The news was confirmed on the developer's official site, in which it also went into some of the reasons for the decision. As has previously been discussed, a large part of it centers on founder Markus ‘Notch’ Persson growing tired of working for such a big organisation. He and the two other founders, Carl and Jakob are all leaving the company following the deal.
"Minecraft has grown from a simple game to a project of monumental significance. Though we’re massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch’s intention for it to get this big," a statement reads. "As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He’s decided that he doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. Over the past few years he’s made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang. He’ll continue to do cool stuff though. Don’t worry about that.
"There are only a handful of potential buyers with the resources to grow Minecraft on a scale that it deserves. We’ve worked closely with Microsoft since 2012, and have been impressed by their continued dedication to our game and its development. We’re confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in an awesome way."
First off, a special and hearty good luck to Notch and the gang following Microsoft's buyout. I hope your next project becomes a great experience for people to enjoy.
Second off, what does this mean? It means that now Microsoft owns the rights to Minecraft, they can do whatever they want, even if it means pulling the game from the Non-Microsoft stores like iOS, Android, and Playstation. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. I bet Microsoft wouldn't keep the other versions retroactive.
As had been reported, the PC, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, iOS, and Android editions will continue to be supported and developed as they currently are, despite the deal. While the blogpost promises things will continue to develop, it's unlikely to stop players from making videos, mods or anything else that makes Minecraft so special today. The post concludes by explaining its unclear where this leaves other projects, like Scrolls, but it seems Minecraft is Microsoft's main focus.
*Jaw drops*
Okay. It appears I have been mistakened. It looks like Minecraft will remain in support throughout the year. Fans of Minecraft on any system right now will continue to support it. And believe it or not, a Vita version is still due out soon. But what will become of Minecraft in the future? Maybe a cameo by Halo's Master Chief, or a Bear and Bird crew from Rare?
Works Cited:
IGN
Well today, the speculation became a reality. Microsoft bought out the rights to Minecraft, making them the sole owners of the franchise
Mojang has confirmed it's being sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.
The news was confirmed on the developer's official site, in which it also went into some of the reasons for the decision. As has previously been discussed, a large part of it centers on founder Markus ‘Notch’ Persson growing tired of working for such a big organisation. He and the two other founders, Carl and Jakob are all leaving the company following the deal.
"Minecraft has grown from a simple game to a project of monumental significance. Though we’re massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch’s intention for it to get this big," a statement reads. "As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He’s decided that he doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. Over the past few years he’s made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang. He’ll continue to do cool stuff though. Don’t worry about that.
"There are only a handful of potential buyers with the resources to grow Minecraft on a scale that it deserves. We’ve worked closely with Microsoft since 2012, and have been impressed by their continued dedication to our game and its development. We’re confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in an awesome way."
First off, a special and hearty good luck to Notch and the gang following Microsoft's buyout. I hope your next project becomes a great experience for people to enjoy.
Second off, what does this mean? It means that now Microsoft owns the rights to Minecraft, they can do whatever they want, even if it means pulling the game from the Non-Microsoft stores like iOS, Android, and Playstation. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. I bet Microsoft wouldn't keep the other versions retroactive.
As had been reported, the PC, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, iOS, and Android editions will continue to be supported and developed as they currently are, despite the deal. While the blogpost promises things will continue to develop, it's unlikely to stop players from making videos, mods or anything else that makes Minecraft so special today. The post concludes by explaining its unclear where this leaves other projects, like Scrolls, but it seems Minecraft is Microsoft's main focus.
*Jaw drops*
Okay. It appears I have been mistakened. It looks like Minecraft will remain in support throughout the year. Fans of Minecraft on any system right now will continue to support it. And believe it or not, a Vita version is still due out soon. But what will become of Minecraft in the future? Maybe a cameo by Halo's Master Chief, or a Bear and Bird crew from Rare?
Works Cited:
IGN
Saturday, September 13, 2014
NPD July and August 2014: Double Dose comparison
Instead of the usual single NPDs, we're double downing on the NPD by comparing months. How's that for a change of pace?
First, for July:
At number 10: Lego Marvel Super Heroes by Warner Bros and Traveler's Tales for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4, 3DS, DS, Wii U, Vita and PC. And Disney is still letting Warner Bros do this?
At number 09: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interative for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Slam Dunk-y
At number 08: Sniper Elite III by 505 Games for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Finally, a game not made by Activision, Take 2, Ubisoft, EA, or any of the 3 hardware makers
At number 07: GTA V by Take 2/Rockstar for the 360 and PS3 with an impending XBone and PS4 versions coming out soon
At number 06: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the XBone, PS4, 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. Seriously, how is this game still popular?
At number 05: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Coming soon: Koopalings in Smash Bros
At number 04: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. A Wii U version is due out in November
At number 03: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and Vita. Wait, wasn't there suppose to be a PC version?
At number 02: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. XBone and PS4 versions now available.
And at number 01: Last of Us by Sony for the PS3 and PS4. Exactly what was the point of a lack of BC?
Now let's compare that to the August 2014 software numbers. Let's see what changed.
At number 10: The LEGO Movie Video Game by Warner Bros Interative for the 360, 3DS, PS3, Wii U, PS4, Xbone and Vita. Too bad there aren't any playable Turtles in this game. :(
At number 09: Battlefield 4 by EA for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. Still buggier than Windows ME, that's for sure.
At number 08: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. I still think Saints Row 4 is better.
At number 07: Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare by EA/Popcap Games for the 360, PS3, PS4 and XBone. And yes, a PC version does exist on Origin.
At number 06: LEGO Marvel Superheroes by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, PC, and Wii U. Now with 20% more Howard the Duck
At number 05: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, XBone, PS3, PS4, Wii U and PC. Sales of this will slow down due to Destiny.
At number 04: Last of Us by Sony for the PS4 and PS3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this is not.
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. I heard rumors that Microsoft is gonna buy out Mojang.
At number 02: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls by Activision for the PS3, 360, PS4, XBone and PC. No one can stop Death
And at number 01: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. The only bright spot to the problems with the NFL, ironically.
Comparing the two months, games like Mario KArt 8, Sniper Elite III and GTA V fell off in favor of Madden, Diablo and Battlefield.
In both months, Sony is leading the pack both hardware and software wise with the PS4 and PS3 leading the sales pack combined while software is giving Sony a boost against Microsoft's XBone and Nintendo's Wii U, despite the slow months and the XBone's price drop. As of July, the PS4 has surpassed 10 million units sold, as the fastest selling Playstation in history, despite having no BC like the Playstation 2 did.
What does September bring us with Destiny and Hyrule Warriors? Stay tuned
Works Cited:
NeoGAF(NPD July)
NeoGAF(NPD August)
First, for July:
At number 10: Lego Marvel Super Heroes by Warner Bros and Traveler's Tales for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4, 3DS, DS, Wii U, Vita and PC. And Disney is still letting Warner Bros do this?
At number 09: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interative for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Slam Dunk-y
At number 08: Sniper Elite III by 505 Games for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Finally, a game not made by Activision, Take 2, Ubisoft, EA, or any of the 3 hardware makers
At number 07: GTA V by Take 2/Rockstar for the 360 and PS3 with an impending XBone and PS4 versions coming out soon
At number 06: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the XBone, PS4, 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. Seriously, how is this game still popular?
At number 05: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Coming soon: Koopalings in Smash Bros
At number 04: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. A Wii U version is due out in November
At number 03: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and Vita. Wait, wasn't there suppose to be a PC version?
At number 02: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. XBone and PS4 versions now available.
And at number 01: Last of Us by Sony for the PS3 and PS4. Exactly what was the point of a lack of BC?
Now let's compare that to the August 2014 software numbers. Let's see what changed.
At number 10: The LEGO Movie Video Game by Warner Bros Interative for the 360, 3DS, PS3, Wii U, PS4, Xbone and Vita. Too bad there aren't any playable Turtles in this game. :(
At number 09: Battlefield 4 by EA for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. Still buggier than Windows ME, that's for sure.
At number 08: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. I still think Saints Row 4 is better.
At number 07: Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare by EA/Popcap Games for the 360, PS3, PS4 and XBone. And yes, a PC version does exist on Origin.
At number 06: LEGO Marvel Superheroes by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, PC, and Wii U. Now with 20% more Howard the Duck
At number 05: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, XBone, PS3, PS4, Wii U and PC. Sales of this will slow down due to Destiny.
At number 04: Last of Us by Sony for the PS4 and PS3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this is not.
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. I heard rumors that Microsoft is gonna buy out Mojang.
At number 02: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls by Activision for the PS3, 360, PS4, XBone and PC. No one can stop Death
And at number 01: Madden NFL 2015 by EA for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. The only bright spot to the problems with the NFL, ironically.
Comparing the two months, games like Mario KArt 8, Sniper Elite III and GTA V fell off in favor of Madden, Diablo and Battlefield.
In both months, Sony is leading the pack both hardware and software wise with the PS4 and PS3 leading the sales pack combined while software is giving Sony a boost against Microsoft's XBone and Nintendo's Wii U, despite the slow months and the XBone's price drop. As of July, the PS4 has surpassed 10 million units sold, as the fastest selling Playstation in history, despite having no BC like the Playstation 2 did.
What does September bring us with Destiny and Hyrule Warriors? Stay tuned
Works Cited:
NeoGAF(NPD July)
NeoGAF(NPD August)
Thursday, August 28, 2014
How to go too far: Part 2
Normally, I would want to talk about the new Nintendo news going on like the Smash Bros Leak, the Pokemon/Tekken fusion and the Mario Kart 8 DLC. But I have to get this out of the way.
Days ago, I talked about the flight of Sony Online CEO John Smedley getting diverted to Phoenix, Arizona over a false bomb threat. And once again, it seems there is a new low within gaming. This time, directed at the host of "Tropes vs Women" Anita Sarkeesian.
Ever since the start of her kickstarter towards the "Tropes vs Women" video blog, Anita has been on the receiving end of harassment by various gamers and trolls. Defenders like Tim Schafer and Jim Sterling had to stand up for her, with Jim pointing out that Anita wouldn't have had this kind of publicity if the angry gamers didn't flip out over this.
But now, it has come to this.
Sarkeesian, whose video articles showcase negative representations of women in video games, often publishes captions of threats she is sent via Twitter, email and though other communication channels. Many of these threats include sexual violence, while some mention her address and family.
On Wednesday the situation had escalated to the point that she contacted the authorities and vacated her home.
"Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my family. Contacting authorities now," she wrote on Twitter, before adding:
"I'm safe. Authorities have been notified. Staying with friends tonight. I'm not giving up. But this harassment of women in tech must stop!"
The threats and hateful comments sent to Sarkeesian are often in response to her collection of essays, called Tropes Versus Women, which examines why women are often represented as powerless, sexualised and enfeebled characters in games.
Though a vocal, and often abusive, minority of games enthusiasts condemn her work, Sarkeesian's analysis is widely praised by some of the most prominent games industry figures, from Tim Schafer to Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckman.
I'm no fan of Anita. Heck, I barely even watch her videos. But this kind of attack was a new low for many of these gamers. And I, frankly, am ashamed that this is happening. To those of you who justify this, you need to get a grip. There is no justification to this what-so-ever. You can like or dislike her videos. But these kinds of attacks need to stop for the sake of sanity, because by doing this, you will end up justifying Antia's arguments.
That is all.
Works Cited:
Computer and Video Games
Days ago, I talked about the flight of Sony Online CEO John Smedley getting diverted to Phoenix, Arizona over a false bomb threat. And once again, it seems there is a new low within gaming. This time, directed at the host of "Tropes vs Women" Anita Sarkeesian.
Ever since the start of her kickstarter towards the "Tropes vs Women" video blog, Anita has been on the receiving end of harassment by various gamers and trolls. Defenders like Tim Schafer and Jim Sterling had to stand up for her, with Jim pointing out that Anita wouldn't have had this kind of publicity if the angry gamers didn't flip out over this.
But now, it has come to this.
Sarkeesian, whose video articles showcase negative representations of women in video games, often publishes captions of threats she is sent via Twitter, email and though other communication channels. Many of these threats include sexual violence, while some mention her address and family.
On Wednesday the situation had escalated to the point that she contacted the authorities and vacated her home.
"Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my family. Contacting authorities now," she wrote on Twitter, before adding:
"I'm safe. Authorities have been notified. Staying with friends tonight. I'm not giving up. But this harassment of women in tech must stop!"
The threats and hateful comments sent to Sarkeesian are often in response to her collection of essays, called Tropes Versus Women, which examines why women are often represented as powerless, sexualised and enfeebled characters in games.
Though a vocal, and often abusive, minority of games enthusiasts condemn her work, Sarkeesian's analysis is widely praised by some of the most prominent games industry figures, from Tim Schafer to Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckman.
I'm no fan of Anita. Heck, I barely even watch her videos. But this kind of attack was a new low for many of these gamers. And I, frankly, am ashamed that this is happening. To those of you who justify this, you need to get a grip. There is no justification to this what-so-ever. You can like or dislike her videos. But these kinds of attacks need to stop for the sake of sanity, because by doing this, you will end up justifying Antia's arguments.
That is all.
Works Cited:
Computer and Video Games
Sunday, August 24, 2014
How to go too far.
Early yesterday, a group of hackers known as Lizard Squad has taken down the Playstation Network and Blizzard's Battle.Net servers(Along with various others). This is what Shack News had to say
Several gaming servers have been at the receiving end of DDoS attacks over the past several hours. Blizzard's Battle.net servers, Riot's League of Legends, Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile, and PlayStation Network are among those under attack by a group of hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad.
Several tweets have gone up throughout Saturday evening, in which Lizard Squad has taken responsibility for the attacks. The group started with Blizzard's servers that include Hearthstone, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft and others. The group quickly spread to League of Legends and Path of Exile before deciding to spread their terror to PlayStation Network. The latter's outage is not related to the scheduled maintenance set to begin Monday morning.
A harmless little DDOS attack, nothing to worry about except no way to play your favorite games online, right? Then just recently, it started to get worse.
This
afternoon at around 1:30pm Eastern, the group Lizard Squad tweeted at
American Airlines to say that a flight carrying John Smedley, president
of SOE, the developer behind EverQuest Next among other games, had "explosives on-board."
Wait a minute. What did Jason Schrier of Kotaku say? And this about the Lizard Squad?
At around 3:00pm Eastern, Smedley tweeted that American Airlines had changed his flight's destination.
And thus my faith in humanity just dropped.
Folks, there is nothing funny about this incident what-so-ever. It doesn't matter what problems the company has, pulling something like this off is going too far. I urge gamers who ether like or hate Sony to condemn this kind of incident. There is no justification in this kind of Twitter Pranks.
Works Cited:
Shack News
Kotaku
Several gaming servers have been at the receiving end of DDoS attacks over the past several hours. Blizzard's Battle.net servers, Riot's League of Legends, Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile, and PlayStation Network are among those under attack by a group of hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad.
Several tweets have gone up throughout Saturday evening, in which Lizard Squad has taken responsibility for the attacks. The group started with Blizzard's servers that include Hearthstone, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft and others. The group quickly spread to League of Legends and Path of Exile before deciding to spread their terror to PlayStation Network. The latter's outage is not related to the scheduled maintenance set to begin Monday morning.
A harmless little DDOS attack, nothing to worry about except no way to play your favorite games online, right? Then just recently, it started to get worse.
American
Airlines has diverted a flight carrying the president of Sony Online
Entertainment following what may have been a bomb threat by a group
of alleged hackers—the same group that has claimed responsibility for a
series of outages across the PlayStation Network and other gaming
services this weekend.
Wait a minute. What did Jason Schrier of Kotaku say? And this about the Lizard Squad?
At around 3:00pm Eastern, Smedley tweeted that American Airlines had changed his flight's destination.
"Something about security and our cargo," Smedley added.
American
Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but their
website's flight tracker confirms that the airline diverted flight #362
this afternoon. Representatives for SOE also did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.And thus my faith in humanity just dropped.
Folks, there is nothing funny about this incident what-so-ever. It doesn't matter what problems the company has, pulling something like this off is going too far. I urge gamers who ether like or hate Sony to condemn this kind of incident. There is no justification in this kind of Twitter Pranks.
Works Cited:
Shack News
Kotaku
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
NPD Super Late June 2014
So yeah. I'm super late, considering the July numbers are due tomorrow. But I will get this done.
At number 10: GTA V by Rockstar/Take 2 Interactive for the 360 and PS3. Warning, stay off online due to a certain annoying mod.
At number 09: Tomodachi Life by Nintendo for the 3DS. As if Animal Crossing wasn't enough
At number 08: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Rumor has it that Advanced Warfare will also be on the Wii U in addition to the usual suspects.
At number 07: Wolfenstein: The New Order for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Evening Red
At number 06: NBA 2K14 by 2K Games for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. We still miss seeing Michael Jordan on the hoops.
At number 05: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and Vita. Wait, wasn't there a 3DS, Wii and PS2 version as well?
At number 04: UFC by EA for the PS4 and XBone. The problem is, trying to decide which version is the best
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. Who said you need a huge budget to win?
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with seven troublemaking Koopas
And at Number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the PS4, 360, XBone, PS3 and PC. Wii U version coming soon.
It was during that time that Mario Kart 8 sales were at the 885K range and are close to hitting the 1 million unit sold range. Even more so, it is said that the XBox family has sold the most games across the 360 and XBone combined.
As for hardware, it's no secret that the PS4 is outselling the XBone. The 3DS is holding steady. But surprisingly, the Wii U is now above 100K, hovering around the 140K range. Mario Kart 8 may have helped give Nintendo that boost.
How well will Mario Kart 8 keep Nintendo above? More importantly, how well will the industry fair in this drought? Stay tuned this week when I reveal the NPD of July.
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857224
At number 10: GTA V by Rockstar/Take 2 Interactive for the 360 and PS3. Warning, stay off online due to a certain annoying mod.
At number 09: Tomodachi Life by Nintendo for the 3DS. As if Animal Crossing wasn't enough
At number 08: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Rumor has it that Advanced Warfare will also be on the Wii U in addition to the usual suspects.
At number 07: Wolfenstein: The New Order for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Evening Red
At number 06: NBA 2K14 by 2K Games for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. We still miss seeing Michael Jordan on the hoops.
At number 05: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and Vita. Wait, wasn't there a 3DS, Wii and PS2 version as well?
At number 04: UFC by EA for the PS4 and XBone. The problem is, trying to decide which version is the best
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. Who said you need a huge budget to win?
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with seven troublemaking Koopas
And at Number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the PS4, 360, XBone, PS3 and PC. Wii U version coming soon.
It was during that time that Mario Kart 8 sales were at the 885K range and are close to hitting the 1 million unit sold range. Even more so, it is said that the XBox family has sold the most games across the 360 and XBone combined.
As for hardware, it's no secret that the PS4 is outselling the XBone. The 3DS is holding steady. But surprisingly, the Wii U is now above 100K, hovering around the 140K range. Mario Kart 8 may have helped give Nintendo that boost.
How well will Mario Kart 8 keep Nintendo above? More importantly, how well will the industry fair in this drought? Stay tuned this week when I reveal the NPD of July.
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857224
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Gaming at Comic-Con
Starting tomorrow, the San Diego Comic-Con will once again be in town. And like last year, there will be gaming companies who will show off their wares to their consumers.
Microsoft will once again be located at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. They will have the following games available.
Sunset Overdrive
Evolve
Forza Horizon 2
Fable Legends
Ori and The Blind Forest
Super Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix
Madden NFL 15
Skylanders Trap Team
The Evil Within
The Crew
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition)
Killer Instinct
Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved
Project Spark
Minecraft
Powerstar Golf
Project Totem
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
#IDARB
Fenix Rage
Dance Central Spotlight
Titanfall
Forza 5
Kinect Sports Rivals
In addition, Microsoft will have two panels available for the public:
Halo: The Master Chief Collection Developer Panel
Digging E.T. - Behind the Scenes of the Xbox Originals Documentary, “Atari: Game Over”
Both panels will be on Friday. So any fan of the XBox should definitely check it out.
As for Nintendo, they will also be back at the Marriott next door to the Convention Center. So any and all Nintendo fan should check it out. Their games will be
3DS:
So far, we have Microsoft with 2 panels and Nintendo with a Smash Bros Tournament. But what happened to Sony? Turns out, they have no plans for the San Diego Comic-Con this year compared to previous years. Why did Sony drop the ball on Comic-Con this year? With no news regarding Comic-Con and their attempt to appeal to the general public, it seems this might be a big mistake for the house of Playstation.
Anyway folks, if you're looking for a good console clash, check out the Nintendo or Microsoft gaming lounges this week at Comic-Con.
Works Cited:
XBox
Nintendo
Microsoft will once again be located at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. They will have the following games available.
Sunset Overdrive
Evolve
Forza Horizon 2
Fable Legends
Ori and The Blind Forest
Super Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix
Madden NFL 15
Skylanders Trap Team
The Evil Within
The Crew
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition)
Killer Instinct
Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved
Project Spark
Minecraft
Powerstar Golf
Project Totem
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
#IDARB
Fenix Rage
Dance Central Spotlight
Titanfall
Forza 5
Kinect Sports Rivals
In addition, Microsoft will have two panels available for the public:
Halo: The Master Chief Collection Developer Panel
Digging E.T. - Behind the Scenes of the Xbox Originals Documentary, “Atari: Game Over”
Both panels will be on Friday. So any fan of the XBox should definitely check it out.
As for Nintendo, they will also be back at the Marriott next door to the Convention Center. So any and all Nintendo fan should check it out. Their games will be
3DS:
- Super Smash Bros.
- Pokémon Art Academy
- Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
- THEATRHYTHM FINAL FANTASY CURTAIN CALL
- Shovel Knight
- Siesta Fiesta
- Super Smash Bros.
- Hyrule Warriors
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Yoshi’s Woolly World
- Mario Kart 8
- Bayonetta 2
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- Just Dance 2015
- Skylanders Trap Team
- Shovel Knight
- 1001 Spikes
- Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition
So far, we have Microsoft with 2 panels and Nintendo with a Smash Bros Tournament. But what happened to Sony? Turns out, they have no plans for the San Diego Comic-Con this year compared to previous years. Why did Sony drop the ball on Comic-Con this year? With no news regarding Comic-Con and their attempt to appeal to the general public, it seems this might be a big mistake for the house of Playstation.
Anyway folks, if you're looking for a good console clash, check out the Nintendo or Microsoft gaming lounges this week at Comic-Con.
Works Cited:
XBox
Nintendo
Friday, July 4, 2014
NPD May 2014: Why talk about video games?
Before I discuss about the NPD, let's discuss things. As of now, both Kaz Hirai and Satoru Iwata have confirmed that they will be remaining as CEO of their respective bases of operation: Kazi Hirai for Sony and Satoru Iwata of Nintendo. But both have been grilled by their respective shareholders for lagging sales, especially with Iwata who wasn't available due to health issues.
As a matter of fact, one investor at Nintendo wonders why Nintendo keeps making video games?
I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo's shareholders' meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as "what the future of video games should be," while I, for one, was flabbergasted that Mr. Iwata continues to hold his position although he had said that he would resign if the company's performance were bad*.
I hope that Nintendo's shareholders' meeting will become an opportunity where the shareholders discuss the company's business operations from the viewpoints of capital gain and dividends
Exactly. Why bother being a company about designing video games when you could be something more like a bank? In fact, hasn't that shareholder consider wanting to ask Bains Capital on buying out Nintendo in the future? It's not like they'll destroy the company from within.
Anyway, it's that time again. Time to see what games sell and what don't.
At number 10: Call of Duty: Ghosts by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, PC and Wii U. A best friend to man's best friend.
At number 09: Kirby: Triple Deluxe from Nintendo for the 3DS. Since when did an antagonist become a captive?
At number 08: Titanfall by EA for the 360, XBone and PC. Still not as good as Loadout. XP
At number 07: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Bet Shaq can't shoot a 3 pointer
At number 06: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, 3DS and Wii U. Rumors of the X Box systems not getting this game were shot down, believe it or not.
At number 05: Minecraft by Mojang and 4J studios for the 360 and PS3. Just be sure you're not being stalked by Cree...*BOOM* Too late
At number 04: Wolfenstein: The New Order by Bethesda for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Welcome back BJ Blazkovic
At number 03: MLB 14: The Show by Sony for the PS3, PS4 and PSVita. In memory of Tony Gwynn. RIP
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with 7 Koopaling Goodness
At number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Wangsty goodness. XP
As you are aware, Mario Kart 8 debuts at number 2, just shy of being number 1 thanks to Watch Dogs(Later due out on the Wii U). But still a nice display of power by Nintendo of all companies. As for the hardware, the PS4 is the number one hardware followed by the 3DS. And the Wii U may still be lagging, but it has gone up from last year, at least showing it has some form of legs.
Speaking of legs, the XBone may be getting some in June thanks to a price cut and the removal of Kinect. How will that favor Microsoft in June? Stay tuned.
Works Cited: Kotaku
NeoGAF
As a matter of fact, one investor at Nintendo wonders why Nintendo keeps making video games?
I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo's shareholders' meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as "what the future of video games should be," while I, for one, was flabbergasted that Mr. Iwata continues to hold his position although he had said that he would resign if the company's performance were bad*.
I hope that Nintendo's shareholders' meeting will become an opportunity where the shareholders discuss the company's business operations from the viewpoints of capital gain and dividends
Exactly. Why bother being a company about designing video games when you could be something more like a bank? In fact, hasn't that shareholder consider wanting to ask Bains Capital on buying out Nintendo in the future? It's not like they'll destroy the company from within.
Anyway, it's that time again. Time to see what games sell and what don't.
At number 10: Call of Duty: Ghosts by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, PC and Wii U. A best friend to man's best friend.
At number 09: Kirby: Triple Deluxe from Nintendo for the 3DS. Since when did an antagonist become a captive?
At number 08: Titanfall by EA for the 360, XBone and PC. Still not as good as Loadout. XP
At number 07: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Bet Shaq can't shoot a 3 pointer
At number 06: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, 3DS and Wii U. Rumors of the X Box systems not getting this game were shot down, believe it or not.
At number 05: Minecraft by Mojang and 4J studios for the 360 and PS3. Just be sure you're not being stalked by Cree...*BOOM* Too late
At number 04: Wolfenstein: The New Order by Bethesda for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Welcome back BJ Blazkovic
At number 03: MLB 14: The Show by Sony for the PS3, PS4 and PSVita. In memory of Tony Gwynn. RIP
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with 7 Koopaling Goodness
At number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Wangsty goodness. XP
As you are aware, Mario Kart 8 debuts at number 2, just shy of being number 1 thanks to Watch Dogs(Later due out on the Wii U). But still a nice display of power by Nintendo of all companies. As for the hardware, the PS4 is the number one hardware followed by the 3DS. And the Wii U may still be lagging, but it has gone up from last year, at least showing it has some form of legs.
Speaking of legs, the XBone may be getting some in June thanks to a price cut and the removal of Kinect. How will that favor Microsoft in June? Stay tuned.
Works Cited: Kotaku
NeoGAF
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
E3 Smash Madness
Folks, we've had a good run of E3. The last couple of days brought with us anticipation to the upcoming games of E3. Games like Destiny, Project Spark, Hyrule Warriors, the new Little Big Planet, Sonic Boom and various others blew the minds of gamers.
Meanwhile, Sony announced it's Micro Console the Playstation TV. The system will be out in North America during the Fall and will retail for ether $99 or $139 for the system, a controller, a game(Lego Movie) and an 8GB Memory Stick.
But what was the biggest announcement of E3 2014? It may be nothing but Super Smash Bros. Already due out in October for the 3DS version and the Holidays of 2014 for the Wii U version, the hype for what may be Nintendo's biggest title ever is at its highest.
And while we have characters like the Miis and Palutena joining us, the biggest surprise was the announcement of Namco's own Pac-Man
That's right folks. Pac-Man, the famous power pellet muncher and Ghost snacker will be joining Mario, Sonic and Mega Man in the 4th Super Smash Bros.
And believe it or not, there was a Smash Bros Invitational Tournament hosted by Nintendo, marking this as the first Smash Bros 4 Tournament. You can check out the complete video courtesy of Youtube user ZephyrSonic.
All in all, Super Smash Bros is the game to look forward to. Keep your eyes peeled this October for the 3DS version and the Holiday season for the Wii U version.
Meanwhile, Sony announced it's Micro Console the Playstation TV. The system will be out in North America during the Fall and will retail for ether $99 or $139 for the system, a controller, a game(Lego Movie) and an 8GB Memory Stick.
But what was the biggest announcement of E3 2014? It may be nothing but Super Smash Bros. Already due out in October for the 3DS version and the Holidays of 2014 for the Wii U version, the hype for what may be Nintendo's biggest title ever is at its highest.
And while we have characters like the Miis and Palutena joining us, the biggest surprise was the announcement of Namco's own Pac-Man
That's right folks. Pac-Man, the famous power pellet muncher and Ghost snacker will be joining Mario, Sonic and Mega Man in the 4th Super Smash Bros.
And believe it or not, there was a Smash Bros Invitational Tournament hosted by Nintendo, marking this as the first Smash Bros 4 Tournament. You can check out the complete video courtesy of Youtube user ZephyrSonic.
All in all, Super Smash Bros is the game to look forward to. Keep your eyes peeled this October for the 3DS version and the Holiday season for the Wii U version.
Monday, June 9, 2014
NPD April 2014: E3 Day
Folks. Today is the day E3 steps down and shows off the future of video games. Later on, I'm going to talk about each of the panels. But before I do that, here's what's going on in the sales of Video Games in April
At number 10: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4, XBone and PC. Shiver Me Timbers
At number 09: Grand Theft Auto V from Take 2 and Rockstar for the 360 and PS3. Now why haven't they made a PC version?
At number 08: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4 and 3DS. It's not really that amazing
At number 07: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii U, DS, 3DS, XBone, PS4, PSVita and PC. I still can't believe Disney let Warner Bros publish a Marvel game
At number 06: The LEGO Movie Video Game by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, 3DS, PS3, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and PSVita. There's still one more on the list
At number 05: LEGO The Hobbit by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, 3DS, Wii U and PSVita. Told ya there was one more. LEGO games are still going on strong
At number 04: Minecraft by Microsoft and Mojang for the 360. Also, keep your eyes peeled for Notch's new game "Cliffhorse."
At number 03: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. I hope you're a better free thrower than Shaq.
At number 02: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii U and PC. I dunno, we could use more explorative FPSs unlike this game.
And at number 01: Titanfall by EA for the 360, XBone and PC. Personally, I enjoyed Loadout more.
Overall, Software Sales are down 10% year over year despite a jump in hardware. But while the PS4 has the best selling hardware, the XBone is starting to take a dive at around 115K. And that may be a disaster considering that Mario Kart 8 is coming out in May and despite Titanfall being at number 1, it may not be enough to stave off the Wii U if Mario Kart 8 gets its up there.
Later today, I'll talk about most of the events going on at E3. So keep your eyes peeled.
Works Cited: NeoGAF
At number 10: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4, XBone and PC. Shiver Me Timbers
At number 09: Grand Theft Auto V from Take 2 and Rockstar for the 360 and PS3. Now why haven't they made a PC version?
At number 08: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4 and 3DS. It's not really that amazing
At number 07: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii U, DS, 3DS, XBone, PS4, PSVita and PC. I still can't believe Disney let Warner Bros publish a Marvel game
At number 06: The LEGO Movie Video Game by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, 3DS, PS3, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and PSVita. There's still one more on the list
At number 05: LEGO The Hobbit by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, 3DS, Wii U and PSVita. Told ya there was one more. LEGO games are still going on strong
At number 04: Minecraft by Microsoft and Mojang for the 360. Also, keep your eyes peeled for Notch's new game "Cliffhorse."
At number 03: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. I hope you're a better free thrower than Shaq.
At number 02: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii U and PC. I dunno, we could use more explorative FPSs unlike this game.
And at number 01: Titanfall by EA for the 360, XBone and PC. Personally, I enjoyed Loadout more.
Overall, Software Sales are down 10% year over year despite a jump in hardware. But while the PS4 has the best selling hardware, the XBone is starting to take a dive at around 115K. And that may be a disaster considering that Mario Kart 8 is coming out in May and despite Titanfall being at number 1, it may not be enough to stave off the Wii U if Mario Kart 8 gets its up there.
Later today, I'll talk about most of the events going on at E3. So keep your eyes peeled.
Works Cited: NeoGAF
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Watching the Dogs and GoG goes Steam crazy
Folks, it's been a week since the end of May. We all want to know how games like Watch Dogs and Mario Kart did.
In a surprising twist, Watch Dogs sold 4 million units across 5 systems: The 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Mario Kart was able to get on by with 1 million units on the Wii U alone. Not bad. But is the sales worth it.
There are people who question the game's quality. Who think Ubisoft should have done better. Who think there are too many bugs in Watch Dogs.
And then....there is Glenn Beck.
That's right folks. Last week, Glenn Beck went and attacked this game straight out because of its Hollywood-like ability to hack into anything and even going as far as to criticize the protagonist of the game.
In a surprising twist, Watch Dogs sold 4 million units across 5 systems: The 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Mario Kart was able to get on by with 1 million units on the Wii U alone. Not bad. But is the sales worth it.
There are people who question the game's quality. Who think Ubisoft should have done better. Who think there are too many bugs in Watch Dogs.
And then....there is Glenn Beck.
That's right folks. Last week, Glenn Beck went and attacked this game straight out because of its Hollywood-like ability to hack into anything and even going as far as to criticize the protagonist of the game.
Popular American conservative TV and radio host Glenn Beck has spoken out to criticize Ubisoft's recently released open-world Watch Dogs, the fastest selling game in Ubisoft's history. During a recent episode of his show, The Blaze (via Polygon), Beck first called out the game's protagonist Aiden Pearce for being an anti-hero and not a traditional hero like Superman.
"Why
must everyone be an anti-hero? Why must everyone break the law? Why
can't we have a Superman? Why can't we have somebody who is doing the
right thing, does the hard thing? Instead, everybody is an anti-hero,"
Beck said.
Because if everybody is not like Superman, then they are like Wolverine and Deadpool. Chimichangas, bub.
And as I stated, Glenn Beck went after Watch Dogs for the hacking.
Beck also took issue with the way in which, he believes, Watch Dogs promotes hacking.
"The
idea here is they are teaching you to hack and then become the ultimate
voyeur in other people's lives--including their bedrooms--by hacking
into their phones and everything," Beck said. "This game is teaching
people to hack into whatever is docked in your bedroom. What the heck is
wrong with us? What are we thinking? We are inviting this into our home
and our lives. We are teaching our kids [hacking] for entertainment
purposes."
We have reached out to a Ubisoft representative for a response to Beck's comments.
Cuz nothing says teaching them in a negative way than to teach a gamer how to hack Hollywood Style. Just be glad Alex Jones of all people didn't go after this game.
Meanwhile, CD Project Red has confirmed that they will be taking GoG down a darker path: A Client like Steam. That's right, folks. GoG has now joined the dark side like Steam, Origin, and uPlay. I mean, who knows what kind of evil they're going to throw at us that will glue us to the PSN and XBLA.
Today we are excited to announce GOG Galaxy,
a truly gamer-friendly, 100% DRM-free online gaming platform that will
finally provide the GOG.com community with the easy option to play
together online. GOG Galaxy will allow you to share your achievements,
stay in touch with your pals and get the updates for your games
automatically. We've developed this technology to improve your GOG.com
experience. We think GOG Galaxy really deserves your attention and we
hope many of you will give it a try!
But, here's the great thing: it is
totally optional, so it's all up to you! If you do not want to play
online, or use our optional client to access these features, then no
worries, you will always be able to play the single-player mode 100%
DRM-free, and download manually the latest updated version of your
favorite title from our website.
Now, for one more feature we call cross-play.
We always believed in an open world for gamers, with no obligation to
be tied to a specific platform or client; and this is why GOG Galaxy
will allow gamers to play with their buddies who use Steam, without any
need to use any 3rd party client or account, nothing, nada. We’re taking
care of connecting GOG.com and Steam players, so just sit back, relax
and give it a try.
Oh my goodness. That is revolutionary.
I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WANT IT!
Works Cited:
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Watch Dogs PR Epic Fail
Before we get to this epic fail, something I wanna point out.
Last week Tuesday, Nintendo and GameSpy ended their partnership completely, meaning as of then, you can no longer play your Wii or DS games online. But it's not just the Wii and DS that will forever lose its official online service. Some other gaming services will be gone at the end of this month when Gamespy shuts down its gaming servers completely.
Games like the Star Wars Battlefront games, Saints Row II, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Bulletstorm for the PS3, Crysis 1, 2 and Crysis Wars, and even 3 Command and Conquer games will be taken offline.
Later, I will talk more about the Gamespy shut down when the servers are no more and which games are affected.
Meanwhile, in Ubisoft land, Watch Dogs has released onto a number of system: The 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC with a Wii U version due out later this year. Unfortunately, it seems something went horribly wrong.
Growing
slightly concerned it might be an explosive device, Ninemsn started
calling other newsrooms to see if they'd gotten a similar package.
Now as you are aware, Ninemsn is a joint effort between Nine Entertainment Company and the Microsoft Network, founded in 1997. The company also acquired mobile publishing leader HWW Limited and leading Australian SMS and mobile marketing service provider 5th Finger Pty Ltd in 2006. This allows the site for much better
But something like what's going on is freaking me out a bit.
"We
did check with other newsrooms to see if they had received a similar
package as we thought it was a PR stunt, but no-one else had. We weren't
panicked at any point, but given there was no note explaining what it
was, we had to take sensible precautions."
This is getting nerve wrenching. I mean who would be stupid enough to leave something like that?
That meant evacuating some staff and calling the bomb squad, who opened the safe (you can see it pried open up top) to find...a copy of Watch Dogs, a baseball/iconic cap and a beanie.
.......
Ubisoft, what were you think driving Ninemsn to calling in the Bomb Squad? You should be ashamed of yourselves resorting to this kind of negative publicity.
If anything, this is going to look bad on their part and on Watch Dogs.
Works cited: Reddit user Stevoisiak
Electronic Arts
Kotaku
Last week Tuesday, Nintendo and GameSpy ended their partnership completely, meaning as of then, you can no longer play your Wii or DS games online. But it's not just the Wii and DS that will forever lose its official online service. Some other gaming services will be gone at the end of this month when Gamespy shuts down its gaming servers completely.
Games like the Star Wars Battlefront games, Saints Row II, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Bulletstorm for the PS3, Crysis 1, 2 and Crysis Wars, and even 3 Command and Conquer games will be taken offline.
Later, I will talk more about the Gamespy shut down when the servers are no more and which games are affected.
Meanwhile, in Ubisoft land, Watch Dogs has released onto a number of system: The 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC with a Wii U version due out later this year. Unfortunately, it seems something went horribly wrong.
A
PR stunt for Ubisoft's new Watch Dogs game has backfired, with a Police
bomb squad called to the offices of an Australian news station.
A package arrived at the offices of Ninemsn yesterday, containing a letter and a small safe. Media industry site Mumbrella reports that the letter told the addressee to check their voicemail, only that reporter didn't have a new voicemail. When they then punched a pin code into the safe, the safe started beeping.
Now as you are aware, Ninemsn is a joint effort between Nine Entertainment Company and the Microsoft Network, founded in 1997. The company also acquired mobile publishing leader HWW Limited and leading Australian SMS and mobile marketing service provider 5th Finger Pty Ltd in 2006. This allows the site for much better
But something like what's going on is freaking me out a bit.
"This is
definitely the other side of the line in terms of what it's safe for a
PR company to send anonymously to a newsroom", Ninemsn's Hal Crawford
told Mumbrella. "The thing was black, heavy and slightly creepy.1
This is getting nerve wrenching. I mean who would be stupid enough to leave something like that?
That meant evacuating some staff and calling the bomb squad, who opened the safe (you can see it pried open up top) to find...a copy of Watch Dogs, a baseball/iconic cap and a beanie.
.......
EPIC FAIL!
Ubisoft, what were you think driving Ninemsn to calling in the Bomb Squad? You should be ashamed of yourselves resorting to this kind of negative publicity.
If anything, this is going to look bad on their part and on Watch Dogs.
Works cited: Reddit user Stevoisiak
Electronic Arts
Kotaku
Friday, May 16, 2014
Fight for the Internet begins
Anyone here who has been reading the news about Net Neutrality knows that it has been a rough year. First it was struck down by the United States Supreme Court. Then a rumored merge between Comcast and Time Warner were announced. And even more so, the FCC proposed rules that would add in speed tiers to the internet.
And despite protest, it seems the FCC is winning the battle.
U.S. regulators on Thursday advanced a "net neutrality" proposal that would ban Internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to websites but may let them charge content companies for faster and more reliable delivery of their traffic to users.
For four months now, the public can weigh in on the rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in what promises to be an intense tug-of-war between some tech companies and consumer advocates on one side and Republicans and broadband providers on the other, over the extent to which the agency can regulate Internet traffic.
Dozens protested the vote at the FCC on Thursday as many consumer advocates have rejected FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal that may allow some "commercially reasonable" deals in which content companies could pay broadband providers to prioritize traffic on their networks.
Critics worry the rules would create "fast lanes" for companies that pay up and mean slower traffic for others. Wheeler pledged to use all of his powers to prevent "acts to divide the Internet between 'haves' and 'have nots.'"
Anyone here who knows what Net Neutrality is all about, knows that by adding tiers, it would make the internet less equal and more favoring those with huge amounts of cash in their bank accounts. Especially companies like Comcast and AT&T.
Folks, we are at an impasse. We need to tell the FCC that this is not acceptable as part of Net Neutrality. No speed of ANY website should be faster than the other. Let them know that this is not Net Neutrality.
In the meantime, read the rest of the article at Reuters and stay tuned. We'll talk more about the Net Neutrality situation in the future.
And despite protest, it seems the FCC is winning the battle.
U.S. regulators on Thursday advanced a "net neutrality" proposal that would ban Internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to websites but may let them charge content companies for faster and more reliable delivery of their traffic to users.
For four months now, the public can weigh in on the rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in what promises to be an intense tug-of-war between some tech companies and consumer advocates on one side and Republicans and broadband providers on the other, over the extent to which the agency can regulate Internet traffic.
Dozens protested the vote at the FCC on Thursday as many consumer advocates have rejected FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal that may allow some "commercially reasonable" deals in which content companies could pay broadband providers to prioritize traffic on their networks.
Critics worry the rules would create "fast lanes" for companies that pay up and mean slower traffic for others. Wheeler pledged to use all of his powers to prevent "acts to divide the Internet between 'haves' and 'have nots.'"
Anyone here who knows what Net Neutrality is all about, knows that by adding tiers, it would make the internet less equal and more favoring those with huge amounts of cash in their bank accounts. Especially companies like Comcast and AT&T.
Folks, we are at an impasse. We need to tell the FCC that this is not acceptable as part of Net Neutrality. No speed of ANY website should be faster than the other. Let them know that this is not Net Neutrality.
In the meantime, read the rest of the article at Reuters and stay tuned. We'll talk more about the Net Neutrality situation in the future.
Friday, May 9, 2014
NPD March 2014: It's back Baby
Before we get into the NPD of March, I have some good news for you.
That's right, folks. The last time Epic Games game out with an Unreal Tournament was in 2007, and it didn't do well. So the folks at Epic are gonna try again with Unreal Tournament 2014. Only this time....It will be free.
And not just Free-to-play. Free completely. The only money you'll spend is for the mods that will be for sale on the marketplace.
If you want more information about Unreal Tournament 2014, go to https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/the-future-of-unreal-tournament-begins-today for more information.
Now with that out of the way, here are the Top 10 games of March
At number 10: Minecraft by Mojang and Microsoft for the 360. RUN! IT'S A CREEPER!
At number 09: The LEGO Movie Video game by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and Vita. Right now the best Batman movie game of 2014
At humber 08: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster by SquareEnix for the PS3 and PSVita. Seymour ain't no Kefka.
At number 07: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. And I don't see Madden on the list. Oh well
At number 06: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros by Konami for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Exactly why did they not do a PC version?
At number 05: Dark Souls II by Namco Bandai for the 360 and PS3. The PC version is highly recommended
At number 04: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii U and PC. Not as huge as it use to be
At number 03: South Park: The Stick of Truth by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3 and PC. Oh my god, they killed Kenny.
At number 02: inFAMOUS Second Son by Sony for the PS4. Still won't justify buying a shoddy new console with zero backwards compatibility.
And at Number 01: Titanfall by Electronic Arts for the XBone and PC. Personally, I don't justify paying money for an online-only game when you can play Unreal Tournament 2014 in the future for free.
Software Sales are down 28% this year compared to the same month last year. Overall retail sales are up 3%.
Meanwhile, it seems that, despite Titanfall doing better than InFAMOUS, the former can't help the XBone keep up with the PS4 even with both systems doing more then 300K. The Wii U had a small fall from last month at 70K while the 3DS is steady at 159K.
How will Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls stand compared to the competition? Stay tuned?
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=803922
UNREAL TOURNAMENT IS BACK, BABY
That's right, folks. The last time Epic Games game out with an Unreal Tournament was in 2007, and it didn't do well. So the folks at Epic are gonna try again with Unreal Tournament 2014. Only this time....It will be free.
And not just Free-to-play. Free completely. The only money you'll spend is for the mods that will be for sale on the marketplace.
If you want more information about Unreal Tournament 2014, go to https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/the-future-of-unreal-tournament-begins-today for more information.
Now with that out of the way, here are the Top 10 games of March
At number 10: Minecraft by Mojang and Microsoft for the 360. RUN! IT'S A CREEPER!
At number 09: The LEGO Movie Video game by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and Vita. Right now the best Batman movie game of 2014
At humber 08: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster by SquareEnix for the PS3 and PSVita. Seymour ain't no Kefka.
At number 07: NBA 2K14 by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3, Xbone, PS4 and PC. And I don't see Madden on the list. Oh well
At number 06: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros by Konami for the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4. Exactly why did they not do a PC version?
At number 05: Dark Souls II by Namco Bandai for the 360 and PS3. The PC version is highly recommended
At number 04: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4, Wii U and PC. Not as huge as it use to be
At number 03: South Park: The Stick of Truth by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3 and PC. Oh my god, they killed Kenny.
At number 02: inFAMOUS Second Son by Sony for the PS4. Still won't justify buying a shoddy new console with zero backwards compatibility.
And at Number 01: Titanfall by Electronic Arts for the XBone and PC. Personally, I don't justify paying money for an online-only game when you can play Unreal Tournament 2014 in the future for free.
Software Sales are down 28% this year compared to the same month last year. Overall retail sales are up 3%.
Meanwhile, it seems that, despite Titanfall doing better than InFAMOUS, the former can't help the XBone keep up with the PS4 even with both systems doing more then 300K. The Wii U had a small fall from last month at 70K while the 3DS is steady at 159K.
How will Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls stand compared to the competition? Stay tuned?
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=803922
Thursday, April 24, 2014
The woes of Net Neutrality continue
Ever since the beginning of this month when a U.S. Appeals Court Judge struck it down, Net Neutrality has taken a nosedive. Many have hoped that the FCC would take action in restoring the Open and Free Internet.
That is, unfortunately, not the case, according to the Wall Street Journal article courtesy of Kotaku's sister site: Gizmodo
Initial reports about the FCC's hotly anticipated net neutrality rules are out, and they are foreboding. While they'll prevent broadband providers from blocking legal content on the internet, it does not explicitly ban companies from paying for better service. While that's bad for net neutrality, it's not entirely a surprise.
Basically, the internet is going to be tiered. The big companies will dominate the internet while start ups die out because of favored treatment. It is as bad as it sounds, maybe even worse.
But, there might be a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
That is, unfortunately, not the case, according to the Wall Street Journal article courtesy of Kotaku's sister site: Gizmodo
Initial reports about the FCC's hotly anticipated net neutrality rules are out, and they are foreboding. While they'll prevent broadband providers from blocking legal content on the internet, it does not explicitly ban companies from paying for better service. While that's bad for net neutrality, it's not entirely a surprise.
Net neutrality advocates have long hoped that the FCC would rise up to protect the free and open internet, after a U.S. Appeals Court came down on the side of big telecom
and threw out an earlier version of the FCC's rules. That version did
make it illegal for telecom companies to offer pay-to-play deals to
internet companies, but the FCC chose not to appeal. Not long after
that, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said that the commission would write new
"Open internet" rules. On Wednesday, he said that he'd circulate a draft
of the new rules on Thursday and that the agency will meet on May 15 to
discuss everything.
Wheeler
has said in the past that the new net neutrality rules would not
address pay-to-play deals, also referred to as interconnection. And by
not addressing interconnection, the FCC is more or less opening the
floodgates for more backroom deals between service providers and
corporations that can afford to pay for preferential treatment. This,
many say, will create an uneven playing field for business on the
internet, since big companies can gain a competitive advantage over
start ups with the power of their checkbooks. It's already happening.
Basically, the internet is going to be tiered. The big companies will dominate the internet while start ups die out because of favored treatment. It is as bad as it sounds, maybe even worse.
But, there might be a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
There is hope. We don't know exactly what the FCC will propose, because they haven't proposed it. The Journal
could be wrong. Or the government could have something else up its
sleeve, some other way to protect net neutrality. After all, when the
last set of FCC rules were tossed out, the White House did say
that President Obama "remains committed to an open internet, where…
online innovators are allowed to compete on a level playing field based
on the quality of their products."
So dig in, folks. This is going to be a long fight. It already has been. [WSJ]
What we don't know is if these rules will be implemented. But one thing's for sure, the fight to restore Net Neutrality is going to be a hard one. If we lose, we can kiss the open internet good-bye
Works Cited:
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
NPD February 2014: Countdown to the March NPD
The March NPD is in two days and it's all about the fight between Infamous and Titanfall. But what about February's NPD? Well it goes like this
At number 10: Bravely Default by Nintendo/SquareEnix for the 3DS. SquareEnix, take note that gamers would actually want to play something like this.
At number 09: Minecraft by Mojang/Microsoft for the 360. Personally, I prefer playing it on the PC
At number 08: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII by SquareEnix for the PS3 and 360. So, uhh, when are we getting a more traditional Final Fantasy again?
At number 07: Assassin's Creed IV by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Shiver me Timbers mateys.
At number 06: Battlefield 4 by Electronic Arts for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Warning: a new bug where your weapons may end up killing you. Go to http://kotaku.com/battlefield-4-bug-kills-you-when-you-try-to-shoot-1563138274 for more information
At number 05: GTA V by Rockstar for the 360 and PS3. So how come they can't have a female protagonist?
At number 04: Thief by SquareEnix for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Not as good as the original.
At number 03: NBA 2K12 by 2KGames for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Betcha Shaquille O'Neal would slam dunk a monster into that one
At number 02: The LEGO Movie by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and Vita. And believe it or not, the Movie was great.
And at Number 01: Call of Duty: Ghosts by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Shares the same popularity with Clash of Clans and Candy Crush.
If you saw at number 10, it seems a game that SquareEnix hesitated on releasing in North America made the list. According to NeoGAF, it sold over 200K in both Physical and Digital sales. One wonders why SquareEnix isn't doing alot of oldskool JRPGs.
The PS4 and the XBone are still duking it out. The PS4 leads with around 286.7K units sold with the XBone at 258K units sold. The 360, the highest selling Generation 7 system is dipping down at 114K units. Strangely, due to the sales of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the Wii U got a small boost to 82.5K.
Now the big question is: Will the PS4 maintain its lead, or will the Call of Duty with Mechs game Titanfall push the XBone to number 1? Stay tuned
Works Cited: NeoGAF
At number 10: Bravely Default by Nintendo/SquareEnix for the 3DS. SquareEnix, take note that gamers would actually want to play something like this.
At number 09: Minecraft by Mojang/Microsoft for the 360. Personally, I prefer playing it on the PC
At number 08: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII by SquareEnix for the PS3 and 360. So, uhh, when are we getting a more traditional Final Fantasy again?
At number 07: Assassin's Creed IV by Ubisoft for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Shiver me Timbers mateys.
At number 06: Battlefield 4 by Electronic Arts for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Warning: a new bug where your weapons may end up killing you. Go to http://kotaku.com/battlefield-4-bug-kills-you-when-you-try-to-shoot-1563138274 for more information
At number 05: GTA V by Rockstar for the 360 and PS3. So how come they can't have a female protagonist?
At number 04: Thief by SquareEnix for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. Not as good as the original.
At number 03: NBA 2K12 by 2KGames for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Betcha Shaquille O'Neal would slam dunk a monster into that one
At number 02: The LEGO Movie by Warner Bros Interactive for the 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, XBone, PS4 and Vita. And believe it or not, the Movie was great.
And at Number 01: Call of Duty: Ghosts by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Shares the same popularity with Clash of Clans and Candy Crush.
If you saw at number 10, it seems a game that SquareEnix hesitated on releasing in North America made the list. According to NeoGAF, it sold over 200K in both Physical and Digital sales. One wonders why SquareEnix isn't doing alot of oldskool JRPGs.
The PS4 and the XBone are still duking it out. The PS4 leads with around 286.7K units sold with the XBone at 258K units sold. The 360, the highest selling Generation 7 system is dipping down at 114K units. Strangely, due to the sales of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the Wii U got a small boost to 82.5K.
Now the big question is: Will the PS4 maintain its lead, or will the Call of Duty with Mechs game Titanfall push the XBone to number 1? Stay tuned
Works Cited: NeoGAF
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The whole Oculus Rift Facebook thingy
At the end of last month, the unthinkable happened that no other Kickstarter could have felt.
The Oculus Rift originally started out as a Kickstarter campaign to get the device into developer's hands and raised over $91 million. As a result, the true jump to VR Video Games began that day with the Rift in mind. Games like Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and even games from the Unreal Engine would be created with the Rift in mind.
But recently, a rift was formed in the Rift when Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook company bought out the rights to the Oculus Rift for $400 million in cash.
In a Tuesday afternoon shocker, Facebook announced it is buying hot virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR for $2 billion. That includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock. There’s also an additional $300 million potential earn-out in cash and stock based on “the achievement of certain milestones.”
Fresh off Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is showing the world that he isn’t afraid to use his company’s skyrocketing share price to get an edge in Silicon Valley. Facebook stock is up over 150% in the last year and both the WhatsApp and Oculus deals took advantage of that with large stock-cash splits.
Which meant that Oculus VS was no longer an independent company and is now integrated into the Facebook Empire. And not everyone is taking this well. As a matter of fact, it isn't just Kickstarters who have flipped out over the announcement. The whole gaming community who pre-ordered the Rift are now cancelling it out of protest, according to this Huffington Post article.
Video gamers who preordered the forthcoming Oculus Rift, the company's flagship virtual reality headset, blasted the social media giant for gobbling up a product they genuinely loved. Facebook, they said, will just turn the headset into another device for mining personal information and selling advertising.
Reddit's r/gaming section, a well-trafficked hub for online video game discussions, lit up with angry threads where people said they were canceling their orders. "How to CANCEL your Oculus Rift Pre-Order," with a prominent link to Oculus VR's cancellation webpage, was voted up to Reddit's massively popular front page shortly after the deal was announced.
BTW, kinda ironic that the Huffington Post now requires Facebook to even comment in it.
Also, with the Oculus Rift now in the hands of Facebook, one company has opposed the idea itself: MoJang. Markus Persson, the creator of Mincraft was in talks about bringing Minecraft to the Oculus Rift. But the moment the buyout by Facebook was completed, they cancelled their plans simply because Facebook creeps him out.
On the other hand, the Oculus Rift got an unlikely defender: Cliff Bleszinski.
"Notch, your cancelling Minecraft makes you look like a
pouty kid who is taking his ball and going home. It's a bratty and petty
move and it saddens me greatly," he said.
Talk about burn by the Gears of War Vet.
Also, it seems Valve is also working on its own variation of the VR headset since the announcement was made in November of last year. We do not know how it will perform. What we do know is that two members of their team jumped ship to the Oculus Rift Facebook team
Oculus VR already snapped up a couple of Valve veterans last month -- and today the company said that it has hired yet another Valve developer to help steer its virtual reality business in the right direction.
The company has announced the addition of Aaron Nicholls to its team. Nicholls has previously worked as a developer at Valve for the last four years, and in particular is known for his research into virtual reality tech.
This follows the news that Oculus has hired both Atman Binstock, Valve's lead VR engineer, and Michael Abrash, another big name in VR at Valve. Nicholls took to Twitter to say that he "can't wait to continue working on the future with Atman, Michael, and the Oculus crew tomorrow."
And there you have it folks. It seems that all our boycotts, all our protests may be for naught because Facebook is one step closer to dominating everything around us. Ether that or the whole VR thing may be overblown. Just ask Jim Sterling of Escapist Magazine.
Works Cited: Forbes
HuffingtonPost
GameSpot
Gamasutra
The Oculus Rift originally started out as a Kickstarter campaign to get the device into developer's hands and raised over $91 million. As a result, the true jump to VR Video Games began that day with the Rift in mind. Games like Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and even games from the Unreal Engine would be created with the Rift in mind.
But recently, a rift was formed in the Rift when Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook company bought out the rights to the Oculus Rift for $400 million in cash.
In a Tuesday afternoon shocker, Facebook announced it is buying hot virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR for $2 billion. That includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock. There’s also an additional $300 million potential earn-out in cash and stock based on “the achievement of certain milestones.”
Fresh off Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is showing the world that he isn’t afraid to use his company’s skyrocketing share price to get an edge in Silicon Valley. Facebook stock is up over 150% in the last year and both the WhatsApp and Oculus deals took advantage of that with large stock-cash splits.
Which meant that Oculus VS was no longer an independent company and is now integrated into the Facebook Empire. And not everyone is taking this well. As a matter of fact, it isn't just Kickstarters who have flipped out over the announcement. The whole gaming community who pre-ordered the Rift are now cancelling it out of protest, according to this Huffington Post article.
Video gamers who preordered the forthcoming Oculus Rift, the company's flagship virtual reality headset, blasted the social media giant for gobbling up a product they genuinely loved. Facebook, they said, will just turn the headset into another device for mining personal information and selling advertising.
Reddit's r/gaming section, a well-trafficked hub for online video game discussions, lit up with angry threads where people said they were canceling their orders. "How to CANCEL your Oculus Rift Pre-Order," with a prominent link to Oculus VR's cancellation webpage, was voted up to Reddit's massively popular front page shortly after the deal was announced.
BTW, kinda ironic that the Huffington Post now requires Facebook to even comment in it.
Also, with the Oculus Rift now in the hands of Facebook, one company has opposed the idea itself: MoJang. Markus Persson, the creator of Mincraft was in talks about bringing Minecraft to the Oculus Rift. But the moment the buyout by Facebook was completed, they cancelled their plans simply because Facebook creeps him out.
On the other hand, the Oculus Rift got an unlikely defender: Cliff Bleszinski.
Industry veteran Cliff Bleszinski, who most notably worked at Epic Games for 20 years, has written a lengthy blog post addressing the $2 billion Oculus/Facebook deal wherein he also calls Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson a "pouty kid" for canceling the virtual reality version of the sandbox game.
Bleszinski
made clear upfront that he participated in an early round of venture
capital funding for Oculus VR and said he stands to make a "very sizable
chunk of money" from Facebook's buyout. With that out of the way,
Bleszinski said he was a believer in VR when he first saw the tech and
he remains one today.
"When that dust settles
my heart says that I really, genuinely care about VR and I want to
experience and enjoy it myself, and I have faith that it will still
happen, and it will be better than ever," Bleszinski said.
Many
have criticized Facebook in the past for being intrusive with regards
to the private information it collects from users. Zuckerberg is not
blind to this concern, but said the "Internet Outrage Machine loves to
pile on something like this."
"Maybe Zuck sees
what everyone else has seen--the future--and wants to make sure it's
more than just great games and saw that it would add value to his
business?" he said.
In addition, Cliffy B took a potshot at Markus Persson
Talk about burn by the Gears of War Vet.
Also, it seems Valve is also working on its own variation of the VR headset since the announcement was made in November of last year. We do not know how it will perform. What we do know is that two members of their team jumped ship to the Oculus Rift Facebook team
Oculus VR already snapped up a couple of Valve veterans last month -- and today the company said that it has hired yet another Valve developer to help steer its virtual reality business in the right direction.
The company has announced the addition of Aaron Nicholls to its team. Nicholls has previously worked as a developer at Valve for the last four years, and in particular is known for his research into virtual reality tech.
This follows the news that Oculus has hired both Atman Binstock, Valve's lead VR engineer, and Michael Abrash, another big name in VR at Valve. Nicholls took to Twitter to say that he "can't wait to continue working on the future with Atman, Michael, and the Oculus crew tomorrow."
And there you have it folks. It seems that all our boycotts, all our protests may be for naught because Facebook is one step closer to dominating everything around us. Ether that or the whole VR thing may be overblown. Just ask Jim Sterling of Escapist Magazine.
Works Cited: Forbes
HuffingtonPost
GameSpot
Gamasutra
Friday, March 28, 2014
A Double Whammie: EA not the worst and Leland Yee under fire
There has been a double whammy of news going on this week. So much that it will drive you mad.
First off, is Electronic Arts. In the last two years, EA was declared the worst company in America by Consumerist, no thanks to the Mass Effect 3 ending drama and the SimCity debacle. But this year, it seems EA met its match.
Video game giant Electronic Arts stepped into the Worst Company In America nonagon of unpleasantness this morning crowned with two Golden Poos and with the confidence that the tournament’s only two-time winner deserves. But in the end, it wasn’t EA that was carried out of the arena in victory — it was Time Warner Cable.
In the narrowest margin of victory since 2011, when BP beat Bank of America for the WCIA by less than one percent, Time Warner Cable upset EA’s attempt at a three-peat by eking out 51.2% of the vote.
Despite its cock-up of the Battlefield 4 and Titanfall releases, EA just didn’t have the all-out support that it had received in the previous two tournaments. And while Time Warner Cable has always merited a spot in the WCIA brackets, the company’s pending merger with former WCIA champ Comcast undoubtedly played into readers’ voting decisions. Judging by the absolute crushing that Comcast brought down on Yahoo in its first round match, there is a lot of hatred out there for the nation’s largest cable/Internet provider, and today’s TWC result confirms that voters are more than happy to spread that hate around.
In theory, there could be a final Death Match showdown between merger partners TWC and Comcast, but there are some big speedbumps in the way. Before we can even start planning that contest, TWC will need to defeat Koch Industries in Round Two.
What an upset. But when you go up against a company that wanted to merge with Comcast and make itself the most powerful Cable/Internet company in the world, it's no contest to why Time Warner Cable managed to squeeze out EA.
Our second whammy comes from Leland Yee. Many know this fellow at the California State Senator who wanted to regulate violent video games like tobacco and alcohol, is now under fire when he was arrested on March 26th on bribery and corruption charges. What did he do for bribery and corruption? Well GamePolitics has this to say.....
In the fall of 2012, in exchange for a $10,000 campaign donation to help pay down the debt from his failed mayoral campaign (the legal limit on individual donations applied to retiring such a debt is $500), Yee put in a good word with the Department of Public Health and wrote an official letter of support for a software consulting company that desired to expand into the San Francisco Bay area.
On March 29, 2013, in exchange for a $6,800 campaign donation towards his bid for Secretary of State, Yee had a staff member present an official State Senate proclamation on his behalf at the Chee Kung Tong's 165th anniversary dinner. What's the Chee Kung Tong? Essentially the Chinese mafia. Seriously.
So wait a minute. Lemme get this straight. You mean to tell me that Leland Yee doesn't like violent games getting into the hands of kids, but he favors a mafia? What kind of hypocrisy is this anyway? But it gets worse from here.
During the summer of 2013, Yee introduced a medical marijuana businessman to two state legislators that could help him expand his business into California in exchange for $21,000-worth of donations to his campaign for Secretary of State. In this case, $6800 is the legal limit for individual donors.
In an attempt to solicit even more donations, from August 2013 right up until about two weeks ago, Yee tried to broker a deal between an arms dealing acquaintance of his and a Jersey businessman with admitted mob ties (another undercover FBI agent).
Yeah, didn't see that one coming, did you?
There were talks of $50,000 for the first successful arms deal (that would have brought weapons from the Philippines to a port in New Jersey) and Yee using his position as Secretary of State to help ship weapons to Africa and launder money from the proceeds made by future sales of weapons.
As it happened, Yee's weapons contact fell through but it turned out he knew another arms dealer in the Philippines.
You know, I'm beginning to think that Leland Yee gets his ideas from Grand Theft Auto of all games. For someone who wanted the game to be sold like cigarettes, he sure shows he ain't a moral champion.
Summing up, Yee could be on the hook for one count of "Conspiracy to Deal Firearms Without a License to Legally Import Firearms" and six counts of "Wire Fraud of Honest Services" (the illicit campaign donations). The former carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and the latter 20 years. Both carry a $250,000 fine. Add all that up and that could possibly amount to 125 years in prison along with a fine of $1.75 million.
I'm not the one to laugh it up, but I gotta say this.
HAH HAH!
There was a third whammy that went on. Earlier this week, Facebook bought out the Oculus Rift and that lead to a fury of flames. However, due to the complexity of this story and the drama surrounding it, I cannot cover everything in this one page. Keep your eyes peeled for my Oculus Rift Drama update.
Works Cited:
Consumerist
GamePoltics
First off, is Electronic Arts. In the last two years, EA was declared the worst company in America by Consumerist, no thanks to the Mass Effect 3 ending drama and the SimCity debacle. But this year, it seems EA met its match.
Video game giant Electronic Arts stepped into the Worst Company In America nonagon of unpleasantness this morning crowned with two Golden Poos and with the confidence that the tournament’s only two-time winner deserves. But in the end, it wasn’t EA that was carried out of the arena in victory — it was Time Warner Cable.
In the narrowest margin of victory since 2011, when BP beat Bank of America for the WCIA by less than one percent, Time Warner Cable upset EA’s attempt at a three-peat by eking out 51.2% of the vote.
Despite its cock-up of the Battlefield 4 and Titanfall releases, EA just didn’t have the all-out support that it had received in the previous two tournaments. And while Time Warner Cable has always merited a spot in the WCIA brackets, the company’s pending merger with former WCIA champ Comcast undoubtedly played into readers’ voting decisions. Judging by the absolute crushing that Comcast brought down on Yahoo in its first round match, there is a lot of hatred out there for the nation’s largest cable/Internet provider, and today’s TWC result confirms that voters are more than happy to spread that hate around.
In theory, there could be a final Death Match showdown between merger partners TWC and Comcast, but there are some big speedbumps in the way. Before we can even start planning that contest, TWC will need to defeat Koch Industries in Round Two.
What an upset. But when you go up against a company that wanted to merge with Comcast and make itself the most powerful Cable/Internet company in the world, it's no contest to why Time Warner Cable managed to squeeze out EA.
Our second whammy comes from Leland Yee. Many know this fellow at the California State Senator who wanted to regulate violent video games like tobacco and alcohol, is now under fire when he was arrested on March 26th on bribery and corruption charges. What did he do for bribery and corruption? Well GamePolitics has this to say.....
In the fall of 2012, in exchange for a $10,000 campaign donation to help pay down the debt from his failed mayoral campaign (the legal limit on individual donations applied to retiring such a debt is $500), Yee put in a good word with the Department of Public Health and wrote an official letter of support for a software consulting company that desired to expand into the San Francisco Bay area.
On March 29, 2013, in exchange for a $6,800 campaign donation towards his bid for Secretary of State, Yee had a staff member present an official State Senate proclamation on his behalf at the Chee Kung Tong's 165th anniversary dinner. What's the Chee Kung Tong? Essentially the Chinese mafia. Seriously.
So wait a minute. Lemme get this straight. You mean to tell me that Leland Yee doesn't like violent games getting into the hands of kids, but he favors a mafia? What kind of hypocrisy is this anyway? But it gets worse from here.
During the summer of 2013, Yee introduced a medical marijuana businessman to two state legislators that could help him expand his business into California in exchange for $21,000-worth of donations to his campaign for Secretary of State. In this case, $6800 is the legal limit for individual donors.
In an attempt to solicit even more donations, from August 2013 right up until about two weeks ago, Yee tried to broker a deal between an arms dealing acquaintance of his and a Jersey businessman with admitted mob ties (another undercover FBI agent).
Yeah, didn't see that one coming, did you?
There were talks of $50,000 for the first successful arms deal (that would have brought weapons from the Philippines to a port in New Jersey) and Yee using his position as Secretary of State to help ship weapons to Africa and launder money from the proceeds made by future sales of weapons.
As it happened, Yee's weapons contact fell through but it turned out he knew another arms dealer in the Philippines.
You know, I'm beginning to think that Leland Yee gets his ideas from Grand Theft Auto of all games. For someone who wanted the game to be sold like cigarettes, he sure shows he ain't a moral champion.
Summing up, Yee could be on the hook for one count of "Conspiracy to Deal Firearms Without a License to Legally Import Firearms" and six counts of "Wire Fraud of Honest Services" (the illicit campaign donations). The former carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and the latter 20 years. Both carry a $250,000 fine. Add all that up and that could possibly amount to 125 years in prison along with a fine of $1.75 million.
I'm not the one to laugh it up, but I gotta say this.
HAH HAH!
There was a third whammy that went on. Earlier this week, Facebook bought out the Oculus Rift and that lead to a fury of flames. However, due to the complexity of this story and the drama surrounding it, I cannot cover everything in this one page. Keep your eyes peeled for my Oculus Rift Drama update.
Works Cited:
Consumerist
GamePoltics
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