Video Game Industry Thread: February's done, go to the new thread

Zxerol

Gatekeeper is apparently in existence in 10.7.3 which you can activate for development purposes, and attempting to execute an unsigned application says: "[app] has not been signed by a recognized distributor and may damage your computer. You should move it to the Trash." And of course, you can't run it.

On a platform that's marketed as "everything just works," coupled with that strong warning language, I doubt the general population of Mac users would bother to go in and turn it off. You pretty much have to get your shit signed to do anything for 10.8 now, I'd imagine.

expendable

Zxerol wrote:

Gatekeeper is apparently in existence in 10.7.3 which you can activate for development purposes, and attempting to execute an unsigned application says: "[app] has not been signed by a recognized distributor and may damage your computer. You should move it to the Trash." And of course, you can't run it.

On a platform that's marketed as "everything just works," coupled with that strong warning language, I doubt the general population of Mac users would bother to go in and turn it off. You pretty much have to get your shit signed to do anything for 10.8 now, I'd imagine.

"Our research shows that an overwhelming majority of users did not turn off Gatekeeper, so we have removed that superfluous feature in 10.8 Cheetah."

Suriko

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/dynamic/press_center/2012/02/board-elects-robert-a-kotick-as-director.html

ATLANTA, Feb. 16, 2012 -- The Board of Directors of The Coca-Cola Company today elected Robert "Bobby" Kotick as a Director of the Company, effective immediately.

Kotick, 48, is President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Activision Blizzard, Inc., a global interactive entertainment software leader and the world's largest independent video game publisher. An entrepreneur in the interactive industry, Kotick purchased a stake in Activision in 1990, became CEO in 1991 and grew the company to its industry-leading position.

From 2003 to 2008, Kotick also served as a Director of Yahoo!, Inc., one of the most visited internet destinations worldwide. Kotick began his career in 1983 creating software for the Apple II.

"Bobby brings an entrepreneurial mindset and a high level of financial literacy and digital knowledge to our Company," said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. "His global brand expertise and insight will be invaluable as we continue to grow our business and invest in enhancing our digital engagement with consumers and customers around the world."

As part of his election, Kotick was appointed to the Company's Management Development Committee.

Kotick is a member of the board of trustees for The Center for Early Education and The Harvard Westlake School, both located in Los Angeles. He also serves as Chairman of the Committee of Trustees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is the founder of the Call of Duty Endowment, which is dedicated to securing jobs for unemployed veterans.

GnomeTank

Am I the only one who gets a little sick to their stomach when they read corporate speak like "invest in enhancing our digital engagement with consumers and customers around the world"...it's like, saying something but saying nothing, in this really homogeneous, painfully obvious boiler plate language. For whatever reason, it just makes my brain itch, in a bad way.

Undead Scottsman

Wait, does this mean he's no longer with Activision Blizzard? Or does that just mean he has two jobs now?

Dritz

Just means he is on the board of directors of Coca-Cola

Undead Scottsman

Darn.

Zxerol

He's truly of the 99%, working multiple jobs to get by.

Henroid

Does that mean we're gonna get annual releases of coke from now on?

harvest

I fucking hope so. I want to see non-diet Coke with lime in my state.

amnesiasoft

I can't wait for Modern Cola. It'll be the pinnacle of cola, but I'm sure the sequels will fail to live up to previous generations.

Santa Claustrophobia

amnesiasoft wrote:

I can't wait for Modern Cola. It'll be the pinnacle of cola, but I'm sure the sequels will fail to live up to previous generations.

You're thinking too small.

They'll release Coke With Pepsin.

Then claim to be the first soda to ever do that.

vagrant_winds

This shouldn't come as any surprise, but AT&T fucked up again. It seems not a single 3G Vita can actually sign up for 3G, getting an error code every time someone tries. This happens on both the Vita app and trying to sign up on a normal computer typing in your Vita's IMEI & ICCID on their website.

/facepalm.

mere_immortal

So 5 minute CoD XP boost coming in bottles of Coke?

Or has that been done already.

Local H Jay

vagrant_winds wrote:

This shouldn't come as any surprise, but AT&T fucked up again. It seems not a single 3G Vita can actually sign up for 3G, getting an error code every time someone tries. This happens on both the Vita app and trying to sign up on a normal computer typing in your Vita's IMEI & ICCID on their website.

/facepalm.

lolat&t?

Undead Scottsman

Kaz: AT&T
Crowd: Booooo!
Kaz: *deer in headlights*

Great moments in E3-dom!

SkutSkut

mere_immortal wrote:

So 5 minute CoD XP boost coming in bottles of Coke?

Or has that been done already.

Been done, double xp for 24 hours or something in 12 packs of Mountain Dew.

Undead Scottsman

And doritos, IIRC.

ManetherenWolf

vagrant_winds wrote:

This shouldn't come as any surprise, but AT&T fucked up again. It seems not a single 3G Vita can actually sign up for 3G, getting an error code every time someone tries. This happens on both the Vita app and trying to sign up on a normal computer typing in your Vita's IMEI & ICCID on their website.

/facepalm.

Not true. I signed up a few minutes ago.

Couscous

Does anybody expect most people to turn off the gate keeper thing? I'm expecting most people to simply be too lazy.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40373/Sega_to_distribute_Atlus_games_from_April.php

Newsbrief: Sega announced today that it has signed a deal with Index Holdings subsidiary Atlus, that will see Sega distributing the company's games worldwide in the future.

Atlus, best known for its Persona series and the recent, critically acclaimed Catherine, is looking to expands its sales via Sega's extended distribution network.

Sega stated that the deal will help diversify its publishing lineup. The deal is due to take effect from April 2012 onwards.

Magic Pink

Couscous wrote:

Does anybody expect most people to turn off the gate keeper thing? I'm expecting most people to simply be too lazy.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40373/Sega_to_distribute_Atlus_games_from_April.php

Newsbrief: Sega announced today that it has signed a deal with Index Holdings subsidiary Atlus, that will see Sega distributing the company's games worldwide in the future.

Atlus, best known for its Persona series and the recent, critically acclaimed Catherine, is looking to expands its sales via Sega's extended distribution network.

Sega stated that the deal will help diversify its publishing lineup. The deal is due to take effect from April 2012 onwards.

Holy crap.

Couscous

Oh, and FFXIV has been doing as well as you may have expected.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SimonLudgate/20120215/9449/Analysis_FFXIVs_Consolidation_Plan.php

One such bombshell of an apparently bad decision was lobbed out of Square Enix’s office last Thursday (Feb 9, 2012). As I described in my recent feature article, Square Enix announced a round of World Mergers that would reduce the number of active servers for its MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV from 18 to 10. Their plan involved eliminating all the previous servers and letting active subscribers pick one of ten new servers to move to. Inactive players would be allocated randomly. Square Enix would also delete every Linkshell (in-game community, like a guild) and wipe every friends list and blacklist clean.

At the time, the decision to start charging a fee was controversial, but it made sense. By this time, most of the people playing FFXIV casually had drifted away (about 12,000 active players down from 600,000 copies sold), and Square Enix figured most active players would be willing to pay a reduced subscription fee to keep playing the game until the 2.0 overhaul. They were right (orange is the number of FFXIV logins during Japanese prime time pre-subs, red is post-subs).

(Caveat: player population numbers are player-generated estimates. However, unless Square Enix wants to provide data showing the contrary, I assume these numbers are pretty accurate.)

Beltaine

Fuck communities!

Oh, and fuck anyone who has quit and wants to come back later!

Classy...

darleysam

Warlock82 wrote:

You could say indie gaming is a lot like Cans though. I mean, look at Minecraft for example. Sure there are some derivative indie games, but I'm sure Cans has some derivative movies too

Okay, I really couldn't let this pass. It's Cannes. It's a French town.

Skull2185

SkutSkut wrote:

mere_immortal wrote:

So 5 minute CoD XP boost coming in bottles of Coke?

Or has that been done already.

Been done, double xp for 24 hours or something in 12 packs of Mountain Dew.

Saving grace: the codes were also included with diet mountain dew.

Diabeetus averted!

Cantido

I don't care about this, I'm still not drinking Pepsi.

Couscous

As a Georgian, I am obligated not to drink Pepsi so this causes problems.

The_Scarab

Haha. Kotick on the Coca-Cola board.

I bet we'll start seeing insert clever joke here sometime soon won't we?

Oh the satire. The satire.

Couscous

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1218944p1.html

Today, IGN spoke at length with Sony Computer Entertainment America's CEO and President Jack Tretton about all things PlayStation. The PlayStation Vita took center stage in the discussion, but inevitably, the next generation of PlayStation consoles came up.

When asked if the rumors of there being no PlayStation 4 reveal in 2012 were true, Tretton talked about how Sony constantly iterates and is always working on what's next for the PlayStation brand.

"In terms of when you talk about [the next generation] and when you announce it, it really depends on the health of the existing platform and the other things you have going on," Tretton remarked. "And right now, we're focused on PlayStation 3, and I've got another platform (PlayStation Vita) to get out the door in seven days, so I don't want to be thinking about trying to launch new technology anytime soon. I want to focus all our energy on our console business, which is really just hitting its stride, and Vita, which really deserves a dedicated push from us."

Tretton concluded, "I, quite frankly, would be very distracted if I had to be talking about next generation hardware this year," insinuating that PlayStation 4, in line with rumors supporting it, wouldn't be seen or heard from in 2012.

Look for the full content of our interview with Jack Tretton soon here on IGN.

A console that takes six goddamn years to hit its stride needs help.

Algertman

If they want Vita to live in the West they better focus their attention to Holiday shopping season. They better drop the price by then because them going $250 base, before sales, up against the cheaper 3DS which has Mario is nothing but a losing situation. Sony also needs some marketing that's not bat shit crazy.

The_Scarab

Problem with the Vita for me is the same problem the 3DS has. It's in the price range of an iPhone and the iPhone can make phonecalls as well as play games. And the games are a fraction of the price.

Now, I understand the depth and quality of entertainment on these purpose built handhelds is probably better. But they're moving into the realm of a home console. The Vita Uncharted game is just an Uncharted game, except slightly worse. Who described it as a direct-to-dvd version of an Uncharted blockbuster movie? Giantbomb? It was very apt.

It's like some kind of uncanny valley for handhelds. The closer they get to being a facsimile of the dedicated home consoles, the less I actually want one. I own a 3DS and some of the game have been fantastic. But I still have buyer's remorse.

It's like when the roman empire was in its death throes, the coliseum games became more and more strange and innovative, rolling in ships and having multi-layered events. Well the 3DS and the Vita are both adding features like crazy. All kinds of new input abilities and interactive stuff. It is feature-creep of the worst kind and by comparison, a smartphone simplicity is more appealing.

I can't see the Vita being a success at all.

Henroid

Couscous wrote:

Does anybody expect most people to turn off the gate keeper thing? I'm expecting most people to simply be too lazy.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40373/Sega_to_distribute_Atlus_games_from_April.php

Newsbrief: Sega announced today that it has signed a deal with Index Holdings subsidiary Atlus, that will see Sega distributing the company's games worldwide in the future.

Atlus, best known for its Persona series and the recent, critically acclaimed Catherine, is looking to expands its sales via Sega's extended distribution network.

Sega stated that the deal will help diversify its publishing lineup. The deal is due to take effect from April 2012 onwards.

This makes me nervous because I consider Sega to be a piece of shit these days.

Algertman

Because they are a piece of shit.

chocobolicious

The_Scarab wrote:

Problem with the Vita for me is the same problem the 3DS has. It's in the price range of an iPhone and the iPhone can make phonecalls as well as play games. And the games are a fraction of the price.

Now, I understand the depth and quality of entertainment on these purpose built handhelds is probably better. But they're moving into the realm of a home console. The Vita Uncharted game is just an Uncharted game, except slightly worse. Who described it as a direct-to-dvd version of an Uncharted blockbuster movie? Giantbomb? It was very apt.

It's like some kind of uncanny valley for handhelds. The closer they get to being a facsimile of the dedicated home consoles, the less I actually want one. I own a 3DS and some of the game have been fantastic. But I still have buyer's remorse.

It's like when the roman empire was in its death throes, the coliseum games became more and more strange and innovative, rolling in ships and having multi-layered events. Well the 3DS and the Vita are both adding features like crazy. All kinds of new input abilities and interactive stuff. It is feature-creep of the worst kind and by comparison, a smartphone simplicity is more appealing.

I can't see the Vita being a success at all.

If you sign a contract for two years, sure, and even then you end up paying roughly 30% more for the phone over the life of said two year contract.

So, yes, if by 'In the price range' you mean, 'You can buy 2 to 3 Vita or 5 3DS systems for the price of an iphone' then I agree, they are very much in the same price range.

To make a secondary point: The cheapest 4th gen ipod touch is 195$ currently. Thats for the 8gb model. So thats almost the cost of the vita, for a device with a smaller screen, no actual controls and storage you cant expand.

UncleSporky

Couscous wrote:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1218944p1.html

I want to focus all our energy on our console business, which is really just hitting its stride, and Vita, which really deserves a dedicated push from us.

A console that takes six goddamn years to hit its stride needs help.

I can't take credit for this, seen at GAF:

July 2008

Washington Post wrote:

Jack Tretton, president and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said the PlayStation 3 is "hitting its stride" and starting to reap the rewards of its long-term strategy for the console.

February 2010

Gamesindustry.biz wrote:

Following NPD figures that show the PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360 by 84 per cent in June, Sony CEO Jack Tretton has declared that the PlayStation brand is "hitting its stride" in the US.

June 2011

Forbes wrote:

When will you start talking about PlayStation 4?

Tretton: PlayStation 3 is really just hitting its stride.

Henroid

That just proves it has a long lifespan, because it's taking forever for that first stride to really come through!

Skull2185

Playstation 3 is the minty chewing gum of the video game industry.

The_Scarab

chocobolicious wrote:

The_Scarab wrote:

Problem with the Vita for me is the same problem the 3DS has. It's in the price range of an iPhone and the iPhone can make phonecalls as well as play games. And the games are a fraction of the price.

Now, I understand the depth and quality of entertainment on these purpose built handhelds is probably better. But they're moving into the realm of a home console. The Vita Uncharted game is just an Uncharted game, except slightly worse. Who described it as a direct-to-dvd version of an Uncharted blockbuster movie? Giantbomb? It was very apt.

It's like some kind of uncanny valley for handhelds. The closer they get to being a facsimile of the dedicated home consoles, the less I actually want one. I own a 3DS and some of the game have been fantastic. But I still have buyer's remorse.

It's like when the roman empire was in its death throes, the coliseum games became more and more strange and innovative, rolling in ships and having multi-layered events. Well the 3DS and the Vita are both adding features like crazy. All kinds of new input abilities and interactive stuff. It is feature-creep of the worst kind and by comparison, a smartphone simplicity is more appealing.

I can't see the Vita being a success at all.

If you sign a contract for two years, sure, and even then you end up paying roughly 30% more for the phone over the life of said two year contract.

So, yes, if by 'In the price range' you mean, 'You can buy 2 to 3 Vita or 5 3DS systems for the price of an iphone' then I agree, they are very much in the same price range.

To make a secondary point: The cheapest 4th gen ipod touch is 195$ currently. Thats for the 8gb model. So thats almost the cost of the vita, for a device with a smaller screen, no actual controls and storage you cant expand.

Yeah but that extra cost translates directly to extra functionality.

I can make phonecalls on my iPhone, for example.

The breadth of functionality justifies the increased price, and you will save a lot on the cost of games also. There are very few £30 iPhone apps. Furthermore, the style of the games is, in my opinion, better suited to the purpose of a handheld. I don't want an Uncharted game on a portable system. The scenarios in which I play a portable game would universally detract from the experience that it is trying to provide.

But that's an old argument with handhelds. My main point is that there is an alternative now that is undercutting them all. Not just Apple either, but most smartphone offerings. The response from Nintendo and Sony has been to make beefier, more powerful and crucially, more expensive handheld devices when they should be doing the exact opposite. But they can't because they know they can't compete in a level market, so that have to go for the one niche that remains. And that niche is too small for them.

Magic Pink

Henroid wrote:

Couscous wrote:

Does anybody expect most people to turn off the gate keeper thing? I'm expecting most people to simply be too lazy.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40373/Sega_to_distribute_Atlus_games_from_April.php

Newsbrief: Sega announced today that it has signed a deal with Index Holdings subsidiary Atlus, that will see Sega distributing the company's games worldwide in the future.

Atlus, best known for its Persona series and the recent, critically acclaimed Catherine, is looking to expands its sales via Sega's extended distribution network.

Sega stated that the deal will help diversify its publishing lineup. The deal is due to take effect from April 2012 onwards.

This makes me nervous because I consider Sega to be a piece of shit these days.

They have either grand successes or terrible failures. There is no middle ground with Sega. But I still like them.

The Wolfman

Henroid wrote:

Couscous wrote:

Does anybody expect most people to turn off the gate keeper thing? I'm expecting most people to simply be too lazy.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40373/Sega_to_distribute_Atlus_games_from_April.php

Newsbrief: Sega announced today that it has signed a deal with Index Holdings subsidiary Atlus, that will see Sega distributing the company's games worldwide in the future.

Atlus, best known for its Persona series and the recent, critically acclaimed Catherine, is looking to expands its sales via Sega's extended distribution network.

Sega stated that the deal will help diversify its publishing lineup. The deal is due to take effect from April 2012 onwards.

This makes me nervous because I consider Sega to be a piece of shit these days.

So long as "distributing the company's games worldwide" means they do nothing but stamp the disc and ship out the case, there should be no problem. If they somehow become involved in translating games I'll be a little worried. And if they're the ones who decide which games to bring over worldwide, I'm just slitting my wrists right now, because you can forget ever seeing a Persona game this side of the ocean ever again.