Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Pretty much every MacBook I've seen ends up with Office on it. And the "corporate animosity" there is probably way higher since the catastrophe for Apple that was the 90s.
Sony's been buying stuff from Microsoft for years. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the software on the PSP or PS3 came from Microsoft.
Additionally, Zynga's revenue recognition is weird as hell.
Zynga was two types of goods: consumable and durable virtual goods. When they sell consumable virtual goods, they match the revenue when the good is used. But for durable virtual goods, they recognize revenue over the estimated life of playing period of paying players. You basically need to trust their numbers as a basis for revenue recognition - they can decide when and how to book the revenue just by changing the estimated lives on the revenue! That's just so god damn weird.
They use a lot of manipulative deferrals for it, and if you do some research, you can see that their bookings, which is revenue + current period deferred revenue, capture a better picture of their growth. But of course, this is too conservative, so Zynga reports it the wrong way, along with this adjusted EBITDA bullshit.
Also, for 2011, Zynga recorded a $113 million allowance against its deferred tax assets, basically wiping it out. A tax asset is basically your future expenses that will offset any future tax liability - it's like a gift card for taxes that you get now but give later when you're making money. In order to let a company assume they're gonna be profitable and therefore have this asset on their books, they need to make it net of an allowance account for an amount the company expects to actually use. Like, if you have a 30,000 tax asset on your books, but you only really see yourself paying taxes of like, 5,000, you have to book 25,000 on your allowance account. When Zynga booked theirs, it basically wiping out their deferred tax asset account means they don't anticipate much taxable profit in the coming years.
Seriously, everyones bad feelings about Zynga are pretty well founded.
Just as an addendum to this - this shit's not actually too farfetched. If you take a look at their S-1s, you can see them actually getting aggressive with the estimate lives. It's a mess.
@tyrannus :that's some crazy, fucked up stuff right there.
That reminds me, Gamasutra did an analysis of Zynga's crazy spending habits a few days back:
With $1.8 billion burning a hole in its pocket from its recent IPO (coupled with its complete lack of debt), there's no arguing that Zynga is cash rich. But by flashing that cash wad so prominently, it's unnecessarily inflating the price it will ultimately pay for other companies, and causing the tech bubble to expand at a rapid clip. And when that bubble ultimately bursts, Zynga might wish it had kept a little more of that cash in hand.
The spending concerns started, of course, with OMGPOP. Despite having just one hit game and a so-so track record of other, rather generic, games, Zynga paid more for the company than it did for its past 22 acquisitions -- combined. Draw Something certainly has earned the right to sell at a premium, but not that much of one -- and if the team behind it can't sustain that level of success with future titles (or if Draw Something turns out to have less staying power than Words With Friends), the sale price -- possibly driven upwards thanks to a bidding war -- is going to seem even more outrageous.
The Motley Fool did the best job of putting the OMGPOP buy into perspective. Draw Something brings in an estimated $250,000 per day. At that rate, it will be more than two years before Zynga breaks even -- and that's not even factoring in the niggling detail that the $250,000 figure is revenue -- not profit.
...
The company is full of top tier developers. In fact, it arguably has one of the biggest talent pools in the industry these days. Lately, though, its biggest hits have come through buyouts. Ultimately, that's going to raise questions about what the talented people who work there are doing with their time – or worse, it's going to cause them to leave and either start or join competing companies,
Talent retention has already proven to be a weakness at the company. And as the tech market evolves, that's something Zynga will need to shore up – 'cause when this bubble does burst, having a collection of fading hits and diminished prospects for new ones isn't going to help the company advance.
I really, REALLY don't think Zynga's business model is sustainable. Especially since Pincus rammed his last company into the ground while ensuring he got a hefty payout.
Semi-related tidbit:
In a new SEC filing, Facebook has revealed that approximately 15 percent of its revenue during the first fiscal quarter of 2012 came from sales of virtual goods in Zynga games, and advertising on Zynga games.
The company said that 11 percent of its total revenue for fiscal Q1 ended March 31, 2012, came from payment processing fees related to Zynga's sale of virtual goods, while an addition 4 percent of revenue is estimated to have been generated from ads displayed on the same pages as games from Zynga.
This compared to the estimated 19 percent of total revenue that Facebook attributes to Zynga during the same quarter of the 2011 fiscal year. That lower percentage indicates that Facebook is becoming less reliant on Zynga's financial health.
In the widely followed AppAnnie’s Top Grossing chart of iPad applications, the game hit the peak of #6 on two consecutive days – March 20 and March 21. On the second day, Zynga announced the acquisition of OMGPOP. After that, Draw Something dropped a couple of notches and then returned to #6 on March 29 for a single day. Today it dropped out of Top Ten, slipping to #12. It looks like the iPad version of the game has already peaked – without ever hitting Top Five and after spending just a few weeks in the Top Ten.
Oh, the schadenfreude.
(Man, Tyrannus, that's some good stuff... you should post here more often.)
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
@tyrannus :that's some crazy, fucked up stuff right there.
That reminds me, Gamasutra did an analysis of Zynga's crazy spending habits a few days back:
With $1.8 billion burning a hole in its pocket from its recent IPO (coupled with its complete lack of debt), there's no arguing that Zynga is cash rich. But by flashing that cash wad so prominently, it's unnecessarily inflating the price it will ultimately pay for other companies, and causing the tech bubble to expand at a rapid clip. And when that bubble ultimately bursts, Zynga might wish it had kept a little more of that cash in hand.
The spending concerns started, of course, with OMGPOP. Despite having just one hit game and a so-so track record of other, rather generic, games, Zynga paid more for the company than it did for its past 22 acquisitions -- combined. Draw Something certainly has earned the right to sell at a premium, but not that much of one -- and if the team behind it can't sustain that level of success with future titles (or if Draw Something turns out to have less staying power than Words With Friends), the sale price -- possibly driven upwards thanks to a bidding war -- is going to seem even more outrageous.
The Motley Fool did the best job of putting the OMGPOP buy into perspective. Draw Something brings in an estimated $250,000 per day. At that rate, it will be more than two years before Zynga breaks even -- and that's not even factoring in the niggling detail that the $250,000 figure is revenue -- not profit.
...
The company is full of top tier developers. In fact, it arguably has one of the biggest talent pools in the industry these days. Lately, though, its biggest hits have come through buyouts. Ultimately, that's going to raise questions about what the talented people who work there are doing with their time – or worse, it's going to cause them to leave and either start or join competing companies,
Talent retention has already proven to be a weakness at the company. And as the tech market evolves, that's something Zynga will need to shore up – 'cause when this bubble does burst, having a collection of fading hits and diminished prospects for new ones isn't going to help the company advance.
I really, REALLY don't think Zynga's business model is sustainable. Especially since Pincus rammed his last company into the ground while ensuring he got a hefty payout.
Semi-related tidbit:
In a new SEC filing, Facebook has revealed that approximately 15 percent of its revenue during the first fiscal quarter of 2012 came from sales of virtual goods in Zynga games, and advertising on Zynga games.
The company said that 11 percent of its total revenue for fiscal Q1 ended March 31, 2012, came from payment processing fees related to Zynga's sale of virtual goods, while an addition 4 percent of revenue is estimated to have been generated from ads displayed on the same pages as games from Zynga.
This compared to the estimated 19 percent of total revenue that Facebook attributes to Zynga during the same quarter of the 2011 fiscal year. That lower percentage indicates that Facebook is becoming less reliant on Zynga's financial health.
Additionally, Zynga's revenue recognition is weird as hell.
Zynga was two types of goods: consumable and durable virtual goods. When they sell consumable virtual goods, they match the revenue when the good is used. But for durable virtual goods, they recognize revenue over the estimated life of playing period of paying players. You basically need to trust their numbers as a basis for revenue recognition - they can decide when and how to book the revenue just by changing the estimated lives on the revenue! That's just so god damn weird.
They use a lot of manipulative deferrals for it, and if you do some research, you can see that their bookings, which is revenue + current period deferred revenue, capture a better picture of their growth. But of course, this is too conservative, so Zynga reports it the wrong way, along with this adjusted EBITDA bullshit.
Also, for 2011, Zynga recorded a $113 million allowance against its deferred tax assets, basically wiping it out. A tax asset is basically your future expenses that will offset any future tax liability - it's like a gift card for taxes that you get now but give later when you're making money. In order to let a company assume they're gonna be profitable and therefore have this asset on their books, they need to make it net of an allowance account for an amount the company expects to actually use. Like, if you have a 30,000 tax asset on your books, but you only really see yourself paying taxes of like, 5,000, you have to book 25,000 on your allowance account. When Zynga booked theirs, it basically wiping out their deferred tax asset account means they don't anticipate much taxable profit in the coming years.
Seriously, everyones bad feelings about Zynga are pretty well founded.
Just as an addendum to this - this shit's not actually too farfetched. If you take a look at their S-1s, you can see them actually getting aggressive with the estimate lives. It's a mess.
Wait a second, isn't that something they have to openly disclose to investors and... everyone else? They're pretty much allowed to make shit up, if I'm reading this right?
S-1's are open disclosures to investors. it'll have the prospectus and shit you'd look at. it's basically the standard long-form registration statement filed with the SEC before an IPO
edit: and even if they do disclosure that "hey, our accounting for revenue's a little wonky", it's still a bullshit number. I'd say just look at the bookings or follow the cash. free cash flows to the firm are harder to manipulate.
tyrannus on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
S-1's are open disclosures to investors. it'll have the prospectus and shit you'd look at. it's basically the standard long-form registration statement filed with the SEC before an IPO
Well how common a process is it to play the numbers like that? Or is Zynga some sort of unique case here? I don't know how many companies really deal in digital-goods to this degree.
seems like it follows suit with the virtual business model, aside from one that's collecting ad revenue, so I bet we'll be seeing major revisions or FASB pronouncements about the proper way to recognize it. otherwise, we have Big 4 firms like E&Y coming up with revenue recognition methods for digital companies before their IPOs and then auditing those same methods after the digital companies go public. it'll effectively be saying "we're going to audit our own work".
tyrannus on
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited April 2012
It sounds like Nintendo is wanting to get some pre-Pikmin 3 hype going. This actually surprised me quite a bit, as the NPC series of Wii games kind of died a while back.
Huh, I expected that thing to be deader than a doornail.
Me too, the NPC series didn't light any fires sales-wise, so Nintendo dropped them pretty hard. I was pretty surprised when I saw this happen. I'm happy though as I really wanted Pikmin 2 with the new superior controls the Wii had for the first game.
...what the poop? That's... wacky. And it's been, what, three years since the last one? Hey, I shouldn't question it.
In other news, I've had it with these motherfucking announcement announcements on this motherfucking plane industry.
Geoff Keighley, Game Trailers TV host and master of the world exclusive video reveal is currently in hype mode for Thursday's installment of GTTV and is promising the following in a new promo for the show...
"A huge PlayStation 3 exclusive..."
"...this new game that will definitely be the talk of the Internet..."
"the next great PlayStation 3 exclusive..."
The development studio is the start-up Superbot Entertainment.
Oh, and on Twitter, he added: "I was absolutely blown away!"
Theories? Not God of War: Ascension. Maybe the long-rumored PS3 all-star fighting game? Something else?
The new episode of GTTV will air on Thursday night (aka Friday morning) at 1:05 ET/PT.
Pikmin 2 was the one that had all those random advertisements and such in the objects you dug up, like Duracell batteries, right?
What an utterly bizzare form of corporate shilling... and yet completely believable and transparent at the same time. A shit ton better than having a pristine Gillette billboard standing in a wartorn future apocalypse.
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
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Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
Translation: prepare to be really fucking unimpressed and go "lol game journos" again.
It sounds like Nintendo is wanting to get some pre-Pikmin 3 hype going. This actually surprised me quite a bit, as the NPC series of Wii games kind of died a while back.
Yeah, largely for the reasons Wolfman said I really can't remember another time I was weirdly charmed by the presence of ads in a game. Then again I tend to play games that have precious little to do with reality and are hard for ads to target, so I don't have a hell of a lot of experience in that end.
Meanwhile, here's yet another article on the history of a video game movie, this time Mortal Kombat. (There's a book out devoted to the subject, that's why we're getting all these.)
...what the poop? That's... wacky. And it's been, what, three years since the last one? Hey, I shouldn't question it.
In other news, I've had it with these motherfucking announcement announcements on this motherfucking plane industry.
Geoff Keighley, Game Trailers TV host and master of the world exclusive video reveal is currently in hype mode for Thursday's installment of GTTV and is promising the following in a new promo for the show...
"A huge PlayStation 3 exclusive..."
"...this new game that will definitely be the talk of the Internet..."
"the next great PlayStation 3 exclusive..."
The development studio is the start-up Superbot Entertainment.
Oh, and on Twitter, he added: "I was absolutely blown away!"
Theories? Not God of War: Ascension. Maybe the long-rumored PS3 all-star fighting game? Something else?
The new episode of GTTV will air on Thursday night (aka Friday morning) at 1:05 ET/PT.
If I was Sony I would be more concerned about announcing huge Vita exclusives, if they even exist.
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
I plan on grabbing it even though I already have the GCN disc. Pikmin 2 is fantastic and I want to help support the series, as I really want Pikmin 3 to be a hit when it lands.
Yeah, the Pikmin series really is one of those games that's improved by the Wii controls. Unlike, say, the Gamecube Donkey Kong game. It's just not the same without the bongos.
Meanwhile, everything's just hunky-dory over at the Star Wars MMO:
BioWare claim that subscriber numbers haven’t dropped, but concurrent users at peak times have. This, Erickson says, is the reason why players are noticing a lot of ‘light’ server populations – and also why mergers are on the cards, but not a priority. According to Erickson, they’re doing “anything and everything” to bring that concurrent users number up. “Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server.”
The demands of building a fully-voiced MMO means that new missions and planets have to be planned far in advance – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that BioWare can’t change tack if the community demands it. “We’re getting spryer all the time” Erickson explains “usually it’s a question of priority and since we have separate teams working on different initiatives we can usually change priorities for a particular game update fairly easily.”
It’s in response to player demand that the focus has shifted to what BioWare call “quality of life features” – convenience updates like the Legacy update’s Guild Bank system. The next priority, according to Erickson, is a “robust” group finder.
In our own guilds, the PC Gamer Mint Imperials and PCG Revel Alliance, the cap on membership has made overflow guilds a necessity. Mint Imperials member Bocephus suggested that in the future it might be possible to add a players legacy – all of their characters from a given faction – to a guild, occupying a single slot. Erickson was taken with the idea. “We’d actually never thought of this” he says, “but it’s now on the list!”
Events like the Rakghoul plague outbreak, which ends tomorrow, are one of the ways that BioWare are looking to make SW:TOR an attractive place to return day after day. Erickson wants the game to be “not just a destination to see your friends but a place to log in just to see what’s new.” To that end, more variety in daily quests is also a priority. “Interesting replayable content is the top of the list of design prototypes going on over here.”
It’s important to BioWare that the Rakghoul plague is a one-off. “Events are, by their very nature, transient things that build a sense of history within the game” Erickson explains. “Later you’ll pull out your red rakling pet and say, ‘remember when the rakghoul plague hit.’”
If you're even having to think about server mergers, something's gone wrong. After all, you have to eat all the money you spent on the server you're no longer using.
Yeah, the Pikmin series really is one of those games that's improved by the Wii controls. Unlike, say, the Gamecube Donkey Kong game. It's just not the same without the bongos.
Meanwhile, everything's just hunky-dory over at the Star Wars MMO:
BioWare claim that subscriber numbers haven’t dropped, but concurrent users at peak times have. This, Erickson says, is the reason why players are noticing a lot of ‘light’ server populations – and also why mergers are on the cards, but not a priority. According to Erickson, they’re doing “anything and everything” to bring that concurrent users number up. “Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server.”
The demands of building a fully-voiced MMO means that new missions and planets have to be planned far in advance – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that BioWare can’t change tack if the community demands it. “We’re getting spryer all the time” Erickson explains “usually it’s a question of priority and since we have separate teams working on different initiatives we can usually change priorities for a particular game update fairly easily.”
It’s in response to player demand that the focus has shifted to what BioWare call “quality of life features” – convenience updates like the Legacy update’s Guild Bank system. The next priority, according to Erickson, is a “robust” group finder.
In our own guilds, the PC Gamer Mint Imperials and PCG Revel Alliance, the cap on membership has made overflow guilds a necessity. Mint Imperials member Bocephus suggested that in the future it might be possible to add a players legacy – all of their characters from a given faction – to a guild, occupying a single slot. Erickson was taken with the idea. “We’d actually never thought of this” he says, “but it’s now on the list!”
Events like the Rakghoul plague outbreak, which ends tomorrow, are one of the ways that BioWare are looking to make SW:TOR an attractive place to return day after day. Erickson wants the game to be “not just a destination to see your friends but a place to log in just to see what’s new.” To that end, more variety in daily quests is also a priority. “Interesting replayable content is the top of the list of design prototypes going on over here.”
It’s important to BioWare that the Rakghoul plague is a one-off. “Events are, by their very nature, transient things that build a sense of history within the game” Erickson explains. “Later you’ll pull out your red rakling pet and say, ‘remember when the rakghoul plague hit.’”
If you're even having to think about server mergers, something's gone wrong. After all, you have to eat all the money you spent on the server you're no longer using.
So basically subscriptions haven't dropped, just the people actively playing has.
By itself that's not a bad thing. Hell, if you're an evil business that's kind of a good thing. People aren't using up your resources and they're still paying you? Win/Win!
It's when those people who aren't playing start coming to the conclusion that, if they're not playing, just cancel the sub and stop wasting money. That's when it's a bad thing.
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Yeah, the Pikmin series really is one of those games that's improved by the Wii controls. Unlike, say, the Gamecube Donkey Kong game. It's just not the same without the bongos.
Meanwhile, everything's just hunky-dory over at the Star Wars MMO:
BioWare claim that subscriber numbers haven’t dropped, but concurrent users at peak times have. This, Erickson says, is the reason why players are noticing a lot of ‘light’ server populations – and also why mergers are on the cards, but not a priority. According to Erickson, they’re doing “anything and everything” to bring that concurrent users number up. “Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server.”
The demands of building a fully-voiced MMO means that new missions and planets have to be planned far in advance – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that BioWare can’t change tack if the community demands it. “We’re getting spryer all the time” Erickson explains “usually it’s a question of priority and since we have separate teams working on different initiatives we can usually change priorities for a particular game update fairly easily.”
It’s in response to player demand that the focus has shifted to what BioWare call “quality of life features” – convenience updates like the Legacy update’s Guild Bank system. The next priority, according to Erickson, is a “robust” group finder.
In our own guilds, the PC Gamer Mint Imperials and PCG Revel Alliance, the cap on membership has made overflow guilds a necessity. Mint Imperials member Bocephus suggested that in the future it might be possible to add a players legacy – all of their characters from a given faction – to a guild, occupying a single slot. Erickson was taken with the idea. “We’d actually never thought of this” he says, “but it’s now on the list!”
Events like the Rakghoul plague outbreak, which ends tomorrow, are one of the ways that BioWare are looking to make SW:TOR an attractive place to return day after day. Erickson wants the game to be “not just a destination to see your friends but a place to log in just to see what’s new.” To that end, more variety in daily quests is also a priority. “Interesting replayable content is the top of the list of design prototypes going on over here.”
It’s important to BioWare that the Rakghoul plague is a one-off. “Events are, by their very nature, transient things that build a sense of history within the game” Erickson explains. “Later you’ll pull out your red rakling pet and say, ‘remember when the rakghoul plague hit.’”
If you're even having to think about server mergers, something's gone wrong. After all, you have to eat all the money you spent on the server you're no longer using.
So basically subscriptions haven't dropped, just the people actively playing has.
By itself that's not a bad thing. Hell, if you're an evil business that's kind of a good thing. People aren't using up your resources and they're still paying you? Win/Win!
It's when those people who aren't playing start coming to the conclusion that, if they're not playing, just cancel the sub and stop wasting money. That's when it's a bad thing.
I dunno, it's exam week for me. How long has SW: ToR been out? It came out in the middle of winter break. Assuming the game is going for the typical male 18-24 demographic, you'd have to give it a year before announcing any doom.
On a side note, after my last exam tomorrow, I'm so going to finish The Witcher. And I'll still probably never play an MMO.
Yeah, the Pikmin series really is one of those games that's improved by the Wii controls. Unlike, say, the Gamecube Donkey Kong game. It's just not the same without the bongos.
Meanwhile, everything's just hunky-dory over at the Star Wars MMO:
BioWare claim that subscriber numbers haven’t dropped, but concurrent users at peak times have. This, Erickson says, is the reason why players are noticing a lot of ‘light’ server populations – and also why mergers are on the cards, but not a priority. According to Erickson, they’re doing “anything and everything” to bring that concurrent users number up. “Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server.”
The demands of building a fully-voiced MMO means that new missions and planets have to be planned far in advance – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that BioWare can’t change tack if the community demands it. “We’re getting spryer all the time” Erickson explains “usually it’s a question of priority and since we have separate teams working on different initiatives we can usually change priorities for a particular game update fairly easily.”
It’s in response to player demand that the focus has shifted to what BioWare call “quality of life features” – convenience updates like the Legacy update’s Guild Bank system. The next priority, according to Erickson, is a “robust” group finder.
In our own guilds, the PC Gamer Mint Imperials and PCG Revel Alliance, the cap on membership has made overflow guilds a necessity. Mint Imperials member Bocephus suggested that in the future it might be possible to add a players legacy – all of their characters from a given faction – to a guild, occupying a single slot. Erickson was taken with the idea. “We’d actually never thought of this” he says, “but it’s now on the list!”
Events like the Rakghoul plague outbreak, which ends tomorrow, are one of the ways that BioWare are looking to make SW:TOR an attractive place to return day after day. Erickson wants the game to be “not just a destination to see your friends but a place to log in just to see what’s new.” To that end, more variety in daily quests is also a priority. “Interesting replayable content is the top of the list of design prototypes going on over here.”
It’s important to BioWare that the Rakghoul plague is a one-off. “Events are, by their very nature, transient things that build a sense of history within the game” Erickson explains. “Later you’ll pull out your red rakling pet and say, ‘remember when the rakghoul plague hit.’”
If you're even having to think about server mergers, something's gone wrong. After all, you have to eat all the money you spent on the server you're no longer using.
So basically subscriptions haven't dropped, just the people actively playing has.
By itself that's not a bad thing. Hell, if you're an evil business that's kind of a good thing. People aren't using up your resources and they're still paying you? Win/Win!
It's when those people who aren't playing start coming to the conclusion that, if they're not playing, just cancel the sub and stop wasting money. That's when it's a bad thing.
Active players is more important the subscribers in alot of ways since it's those active players that get other people to start paying for and keep paying for your game.
Sounds like the issue is what alot of people were saying just after release (and a smaller number before that): there's not enough or good enough content (especially endgame) to keep people playing for long periods of time
I plan on grabbing it even though I already have the GCN disc. Pikmin 2 is fantastic and I want to help support the series, as I really want Pikmin 3 to be a hit when it lands.
As someone who didn't own the Gamecube, I haven't played it yet...it'll be nice to have all three games playable on the Wii U.
I plan on grabbing it even though I already have the GCN disc. Pikmin 2 is fantastic and I want to help support the series, as I really want Pikmin 3 to be a hit when it lands.
As someone who didn't own the Gamecube, I haven't played it yet...it'll be nice to have all three games playable on the Wii U.
I never owned a Gamecube either but I have been on a collecting spree of Gamecube games that I missed since getting the Wii, since I can play them on it. I didn't want to spend how much you have to for Pikmin 2 on ebay, so one day I happened to find a copy of it at a local pawn shop for ten bucks in prestine condition. It was an awesome day.
I don't know about EA's subscription numbers, but I just love how their cash flow for 2011 has them really working up (heh) their working capital requirements to make their operating cash flows look better (they're inflated). Also they're a company sitting on, what, 5 years of GAAP losses? And don't talk to me about EBITDA or any other non-GAAP financial measurement, because EBITDA is a crock of shit.
Part of me thinks the sub $15 price is a result of the tech bubble deflating slowly but it definitely hasn't been going up as much as its been going down in an otherwise flat market.
Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Sony VAIO Laptops
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Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Notebooks and the iMac-esque All-In-One units. I don't think they've made towers since the early 2000s.
Skype has been owned by Microsoft since last year, right?
I guess Sony was able to make a deal? Good on them. But like Cloudeagle, I wonder about the use you'll get on 3G (maybe no video chat?).
Ha I forgot about that. That does make this really odd. You wouldn't think Sony would even be able to license it. Or maybe Microsoft takes some pleasure in knowing a little piece of Sony's money is going to them :P
Sony computers run Windows. Just because they both have consoles and are "at war", doesn't mean the other divisions don't work with each other.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Sony VAIO Laptops
Ah right, laptops. Totally forgot. In any case, I don't know, it still seems weird. I mean, for computers sure, they are going to use Windows. That's largely the standard OS for most computers - it's what most people are going to want/need. Skype is weird because there are other VOIP solutions out there (but who knows, maybe it still ends up the best/cheapest one). *shrug*
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Pretty much every MacBook I've seen ends up with Office on it. And the "corporate animosity" there is probably way higher since the catastrophe for Apple that was the 90s.
Sony's been buying stuff from Microsoft for years. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the software on the PSP or PS3 came from Microsoft.
Just as an addendum to this - this shit's not actually too farfetched. If you take a look at their S-1s, you can see them actually getting aggressive with the estimate lives. It's a mess.
That reminds me, Gamasutra did an analysis of Zynga's crazy spending habits a few days back:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167668/Analysis_Is_Zyngas_spending_out_of_control.php
I really, REALLY don't think Zynga's business model is sustainable. Especially since Pincus rammed his last company into the ground while ensuring he got a hefty payout.
Semi-related tidbit:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/169079/Facebook_less_reliant_on_Zynga_new_filing_indicates.php
So if Zynga croaks, Facebook should be able to absorb the hit okay.
It was hilarious.
Oh, the schadenfreude.
(Man, Tyrannus, that's some good stuff... you should post here more often.)
Holy shit that would be hilarious.
What is the point of that?
That is, if Facebook will stop it with the billion-dollar backroom acquisitions.
Wait a second, isn't that something they have to openly disclose to investors and... everyone else? They're pretty much allowed to make shit up, if I'm reading this right?
If that's true, then,
Zynga deserves to pay more than it should be for things, since they're trying to play the role of like... evil massively-profitable corporation.
edit: and even if they do disclosure that "hey, our accounting for revenue's a little wonky", it's still a bullshit number. I'd say just look at the bookings or follow the cash. free cash flows to the firm are harder to manipulate.
Well how common a process is it to play the numbers like that? Or is Zynga some sort of unique case here? I don't know how many companies really deal in digital-goods to this degree.
New Play Control Pikmin 2 is headed to the US!
http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=176074
like I said, it sounds like they are wanting to get some hype going for the series since E3 will be unveiling Pikmin 3.
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Me too, the NPC series didn't light any fires sales-wise, so Nintendo dropped them pretty hard. I was pretty surprised when I saw this happen. I'm happy though as I really wanted Pikmin 2 with the new superior controls the Wii had for the first game.
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In other news, I've had it with these motherfucking announcement announcements on this motherfucking plane industry.
http://kotaku.com/5904710/well-know-about-a-heart+stopping-playstation-3-game-on-thursday-night
What an utterly bizzare form of corporate shilling... and yet completely believable and transparent at the same time. A shit ton better than having a pristine Gillette billboard standing in a wartorn future apocalypse.
Thank god. I've been waiting 3 years for that.
Here's hoping there's a shred of a chance of Chibi Robo making it over someday as well.
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Meanwhile, here's yet another article on the history of a video game movie, this time Mortal Kombat. (There's a book out devoted to the subject, that's why we're getting all these.)
http://kotaku.com/5904311/how-hollywood-managed-to-not-screw-up-mortal-kombat-the-movie
If I was Sony I would be more concerned about announcing huge Vita exclusives, if they even exist.
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Meanwhile, everything's just hunky-dory over at the Star Wars MMO:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/04/23/bioware-doing-anything-and-everything-to-keep-players-logging-in-to-swtor/
If you're even having to think about server mergers, something's gone wrong. After all, you have to eat all the money you spent on the server you're no longer using.
So basically subscriptions haven't dropped, just the people actively playing has.
By itself that's not a bad thing. Hell, if you're an evil business that's kind of a good thing. People aren't using up your resources and they're still paying you? Win/Win!
It's when those people who aren't playing start coming to the conclusion that, if they're not playing, just cancel the sub and stop wasting money. That's when it's a bad thing.
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I dunno, it's exam week for me. How long has SW: ToR been out? It came out in the middle of winter break. Assuming the game is going for the typical male 18-24 demographic, you'd have to give it a year before announcing any doom.
On a side note, after my last exam tomorrow, I'm so going to finish The Witcher. And I'll still probably never play an MMO.
Active players is more important the subscribers in alot of ways since it's those active players that get other people to start paying for and keep paying for your game.
Sounds like the issue is what alot of people were saying just after release (and a smaller number before that): there's not enough or good enough content (especially endgame) to keep people playing for long periods of time
As someone who didn't own the Gamecube, I haven't played it yet...it'll be nice to have all three games playable on the Wii U.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
If there is, I'd love to know about it.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I never owned a Gamecube either but I have been on a collecting spree of Gamecube games that I missed since getting the Wii, since I can play them on it. I didn't want to spend how much you have to for Pikmin 2 on ebay, so one day I happened to find a copy of it at a local pawn shop for ten bucks in prestine condition. It was an awesome day.
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Part of me thinks the sub $15 price is a result of the tech bubble deflating slowly but it definitely hasn't been going up as much as its been going down in an otherwise flat market.
There's this:
http://mmodata.blogspot.com/
...but it's a little outdated.
Nope.
Sony makes computers?
Or are you referring to their office computers? In which case, that's not a product sold/marketed to customers.
Yes, Sony actually makes consumer computers.
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&identifier=S_Notebooks&SR=tab:store:brand_bin:vaio_computers:ss
Sony VAIO Laptops
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Notebooks and the iMac-esque All-In-One units. I don't think they've made towers since the early 2000s.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Ah right, laptops. Totally forgot. In any case, I don't know, it still seems weird. I mean, for computers sure, they are going to use Windows. That's largely the standard OS for most computers - it's what most people are going to want/need. Skype is weird because there are other VOIP solutions out there (but who knows, maybe it still ends up the best/cheapest one). *shrug*