Nah, I'm more of a pseudo-intellectual snob. Every year post-college I get a little dumber.
Anyway, the company's in trouble, but they are big and influential... so maybe a year and a half before they implode completely if things don't improve, I'm guessing.
Edit: Dude, they put the video game imagery on the book. Was that really necessary? I don't care if they said "oh, of course it's not completely true to the book" a thousand times, their overall PR campaign is not-so-subtly suggesting just that.
You know what? I'm willing to put up with all kinds of crap if it keeps the classics alive.
It won't. The overlap between people who would love an ADD, Beavis and Butt-head version of Hell and those who would actually sit down to read The Inferno is practically nil. This is just ham-handed marketing.
Considering that two of three translations of The Divine Comedy that I've read have been awful, I can't see it hurting anything. With a decent translation, it's fantastic. If anything, this version would err on the side of "enjoyable to read" as opposed to "ideal for your thesis" which is perfect for most people.
I think that the internet has been for years on the path to creating what is essentially an electronic Necronomicon: A collection of blasphemous unrealities so perverse that to even glimpse at its contents, if but for a moment, is to irrevocably forfeit a portion of your sanity.
Xbox - PearlBlueS0ul, Steam
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
On one hand, part of my brain thinks if this whole farce gets even one kid interested in classic lit. then it can't be all bad. The other part of my brain is still in severe pain from looking at that cover ...
Why are we not talking about EA performing so abysmally? Seriously, their quarterly losses just keep going up and up, falling short of expectations. I'm starting to wonder how long they can go on like this. Seriously, when was their last profitable year? 2001 or so?
Yeah, it's hard to see how a better economy (to the extent that has mattered) or a new generation less dominated by Nintendo as a publisher would be enough to help either EA or Take2.
lowlylowlycook on
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited January 2010
Considering that Take2 has been riding the coattails of GTA for years, really only using their other stuff as holdovers until the next GTA was released. EA took a gamble, but lost, what'cha gonna do?
That reminds me, I still need to go out and buy Mirror's Edge since I can now get it super cheap.
Considering that Take2 has been riding the coattails of GTA for years, really only using their other stuff as holdovers until the next GTA was released. EA took a gamble, but lost, what'cha gonna do?
That reminds me, I still need to go out and buy Mirror's Edge since I can now get it super cheap.
Following a blog post last week describing unfair work conditions at Rockstar San Diego, a former Rockstar New York staffer spoke to MTV Multiplayer of the fear the East coast office instills in the developer's West Coast employees.
Last Thursday's blog post, signed by "Determined Devoted Wives of Rockstar San Diego employees," described mandatory long work days, extended crunch times with little or no relief, and generally stressful conditions. Multiplayer's source confirms these allegations, saying, "I can support what those accounts are saying, where you're working long hours with last minute demands and no direction."
The source then elaborates further, however, explaining that the New York corporate offices lord over satellite studios like Rockstar San Diego much like the Eye of Sauron lords over Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings. Studios work without guidance for years, until one day the New York office focuses on their project, ordering sweeping changes to projects that hadn't been scrutinized for months.
"That's opposed to any other studio where there are regular meetings and milestones and stuff so you don't get too far down a path before people come in to make sweeping changes."
One can almost imagine a giant eye atop Rockstar's New York offices, suddenly shifting Westward and opening wide. It's a rather apt comparison, right down to the fear such attentions bring.
"Anyone from the New York office is feared, because people in the San Diego office know that they are unstable and needy ... in other words, if a comment comes from a person from New York, it's a mandate that needs to be immediately addressed regardless of previous priorities."
That's not to say the New York staffers had it easy either, as the source describes instances where employees were called into work on a weekend without any actual work to finish, calling it "kinda like face time, just so [the top of Rockstar] sees you there."
What MTV Multiplayer's source describes sounds like several bad jobs I've had, all rolled up into one. Of course none of mine involved creating a Grand Theft Auto game, which would have made some of the suffering worth it.
You're making sacrifices, but for the end result. There's very few times that you're able to be a part of something like that.
In minor news, some minor layoffs:
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has confirmed layoffs at its three studios located near Seattle, USA.
Roles at Monolith, Snowblind and Surreal were made redundant to reduce overlap and move he teams towards shared resources, the firm said.
The full statement explaining the decision, as originally posted by Gamasutra, reads: "We are committed to growing Warner Bros. in the game space and will be retaining robust teams in our Seattle studios. We have been moving towards sharing certain resources across the studios and have also been reallocating resources to align talent with our development needs.
"Unfortunately, we had a few too many resources in certain functions and some positions were eliminated in this process.
"Our plan is to continually review staffing needs and as future projects evolve we would expect to see the studios grow."
So, at Rockstar it's either no guidance whatsoever (which can lead to Capcom's hired gun blunders a la Bionic Commando and Final Fight) or extreme micromanagement (worst case scenario: Duke Nukem Forever). That certainly helps explain why they're struggling.
Meanwhile, wasn't Warner Bros. still trying to expand and establish themselves to begin with? The fact that they're having to lay people off already isn't confidence-building.
Electronic Arts warned investors yesterday that its fiscal 2010 will come in lower than it expected, chalking the estimate miss up to weak retail -- and promising to compensate in the long term with digital business.
But many financial sector game analysts messaging their clients after EA's restatement feel the game business is performing solidly, and that the publisher's problem is mainly that it forecasts poorly.
EA, too, has solid performance potential and strong assets, says Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, but investors are getting impatient with two straight years of missed estimates and a prolonged restructuring that even CEO John Riccitiello admits is "taking longer" than EA expected. The publisher's stock has plunged 7 percent to $16.98 (as of press time) on the bad news.
"In our view, the company has excellent assets, but continues to spend too much money in creating and marketing them," says Pachter. The analyst says EA's core publishing unit (excepting digital distribution) will earn more revenue than Activision Blizzard's -- but its profits will be only about 35-40 percent of its rival's in that area.
"Some portion of the difference is attributable to the fact that Activision has a blockbuster franchise in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but a large part of the difference is attributable to EA’s sharply higher cost structure," says Pachter.
So Electronic Arts' misses are less to do with the shape of retail and more to do with its cost structure and management, Pachter claims.
"We think that EA management is somewhat shell-shocked by its second holiday pre-announcement in two years, and think that the negative industry growth forecast was made out of an overdeveloped sense of vigilance about not making the same mistake for three years in a row," he says. "We think that management is just plain wrong about the industry’s growth prospects."
Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian says that the publisher's oft-stated three-tier strategy -- cost cuts, fewer SKUs at higher quality, and an increased focus on digital business -- should help it drive profitability again. However, Sebastian also thinks it's wise to be conservative on the industry's prospects as a whole.
When it comes to EA's belief that game industry growth will be flat to down 5 percent in 2010, analyst opinions vary. But the prevailing concern regarding the publisher is that investors will too heavily weigh EA's estimate misses and negative opinion of game retail -- something which would impact other publishers.
"Investors are likely to remain skeptical about the industry in general and EA in particular until they see evidence of industry growth and evidence that EA can participate in this growth," says Pachter.
"The industry faces relatively easy comparisons beginning in March, and we expect double-digit sales gains in that month and in each month thereafter through year end," he adds. "EA has demonstrated a poor ability to forecast, so it is not clear that investors will embrace the stock until they see evidence that the company is participating."
In his own note to investors, Cowen's Doug Creutz is less optimistic on Electronic Arts' chances going forward: "We continue to think EA has missed the current hardware cycle and is unlikely return to historical operating income margin levels," he says.
Retailer GameStop has announced plans to buy back $300 million of its own shares, a move that would add 10 percent to its earnings per share.
Alongside the move, the company stated it expects its cash flow to stay at or above existing levels in the year to come, a major vote of confidence in video game industry growth and stability in an uncertain time.
As evidence of its ongoing solvency, the company noted it's opened 2,000 new stores, purchased French chain Micromania, and paid back $500 million in long-term debt over the past three years, and says it will continue to be similarly well-heeled going forward.
Specifically, GameStop says it'll close fiscal 2009 with $700 million in cash on hand. In 2010, it'll open 400 new stores to the tune of $200 million, put aside $100 million for potential acquisitions, and spend $300 million on the share repurchase programs -- and still close out next year with $700 million on hand.
"As GameStop expects to generate significant excess cash over the next several years, we are pleased that the Board has authorized this program as our equity represents a very attractive investment opportunity," says CEO Dan DeMatteo in a statement.
He continues: "This capital allocation plan underscores the financial strength and long-term confidence of our company and returns significant capital to shareholders even as we continue to expand worldwide."
Analysts reacted positively to the move, although without visibility on when the retailer will actually finish the buyback, few made adjustments to their models for the company.
Sometimes I get the feeling that analysts still believe the whole 'recession-proof' thing. I expect sooner or later we'll hear something like 'EA is too big to fail.'
Sometimes I get the feeling that analysts still believe the whole 'recession-proof' thing. I expect sooner or later we'll hear something like 'EA is too big to fail.'
This year will be the second biggest for industry revenue ever. Last year was the biggest. The industry is weathering the recession just fine.
lowlylowlycook on
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Sometimes I get the feeling that analysts still believe the whole 'recession-proof' thing. I expect sooner or later we'll hear something like 'EA is too big to fail.'
This year will be the second biggest for industry revenue ever. Last year was the biggest. The industry is weathering the recession just fine.
Study: Industry hit by 11,500 layoffs since 2008
by Rob Crossley
New research also tallies ‘record number of studio closures’
The global game industry has been hit by as many as 11,500 job losses since late 2008, a new study suggests.
Research by entertainment analyst group M2 Research says that “the final count for layoffs since the economic meltdown in late 2008 reached 11,488 worldwide, with the majority of the losses coming in 2009.”
The study has identified staff redundancies from 95 individual studios, adding that 52 of the affected studios were situated in the US.
M2 adds that the majority of layoffs come at “studio level”, with QA staff often being the first to go.
The analysis group adds that 2009 saw a ‘record number’ of studio closures, including 3D Realms (pictured), various Midway studios and EA’s Pandemic Studios.
Specifically, the research claims that it found 18 studio closures last year – a total number which, on appearance, suggests that the study may have missed a few closures.
The study adds, however, that more studios had filed for bankruptcy and went up for sale.
A large portion of layoffs seems to have come from projects and companies that had difficulty ‘retooling’ for current-gen consoles, the study adds.
"We have crushed the recession which dared to venture here. Now it's outside the wall and the heroic Video Game Industry is now in control of the whole market. After we finish defeating the recession we will disclose that with facts and figures. They think we are retarded - they are retarded.
Yes, the recession has advanced further. This will only make it easier for us to defeat it. Everything is okay."
Employment within the US games sector has risen slightly on last year thanks to the opening of a number of new games studios dedicated to social and online gaming, research has found.
Also so, so late.
lowlylowlycook on
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Employment within the US games sector has risen slightly on last year thanks to the opening of a number of new games studios dedicated to social and online gaming, research has found.
Also so, so late.
"Traditional" console and PC games down, other stuff up.
With the number of studio closures, the endless poor and under performing financial reports from game companies and the constant PRs delaying layoffs, I don't know how you can solely use '2nd best annual revenue ever' to claim 'the industry is weathering the recession just fine.'
also, it is never too late to use the information minister.
What's to talk about? For years people hated EA because of their 'grind-it-out' mentality. Everybody cheered when they announced a switch to more IP-friendly production. Then, two years of raisins and Activision buying Blizzard and we find out the old way was the best way.
The real question is how long will it take until Activision buys out EA?
Activision didn't buy shit. They were just merged into Vivendi Games, with Vivendi (the parent company) retaining a majority of the companies shares (52%).
Regardless, Activision Blizzard doesn't have nearly enough money to buy out a company the size of EA. If anyone buys them out it'll be Disney.
He's also, you know, missing the point. He said, in the other thread, that he'd've been fine with the whole Inferno thing if only they'd said "inspired by" instead of "based on" (because, you know, that's a massive linguistic change) and when they do that and when it's pointed out to him that they've been doing it all along, he's still not happy about things.
A simple thing like naming the game after the book implies that it's an adaptation of the book, so no it's still fucking stupid.
Of course telling you this won't make a difference because you apparently like the game enough to defend it. But hey, if you want to look forward to God of War 1.5*, that's your (insane) business.
* 1.5 because the level design, gameplay and graphics don't match God of War 2, let alone God of War 3.
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has confirmed layoffs at its three studios located near Seattle, USA.
Roles at Monolith, Snowblind and Surreal were made redundant to reduce overlap and move he teams towards shared resources, the firm said.
The full statement explaining the decision, as originally posted by Gamasutra, reads: "We are committed to growing Warner Bros. in the game space and will be retaining robust teams in our Seattle studios. We have been moving towards sharing certain resources across the studios and have also been reallocating resources to align talent with our development needs.
"Unfortunately, we had a few too many resources in certain functions and some positions were eliminated in this process.
"Our plan is to continually review staffing needs and as future projects evolve we would expect to see the studios grow."
Funny when I read that, I read "members of the QA department (testers) were made redundant and consolidated"
Pachter says something useful. Haven't we been saying something similar here for a good while now? :P
Posted this in another thread.
No one cares about Heavy Rain. Poster mentioned something about it being in the heavily watched/anticipated AAA lineup coming up similar to Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, ec.
It very well could be AAA quality, but I don't expect it to set the sales charts on fire.
What's to talk about? For years people hated EA because of their 'grind-it-out' mentality. Everybody cheered when they announced a switch to more IP-friendly production. Then, two years of raisins and Activision buying Blizzard and we find out the old way was the best way.
The real question is how long will it take until Activision buys out EA?
Activision didn't buy shit. They were just merged into Vivendi Games, with Vivendi (the parent company) retaining a majority of the companies shares (52%).
Regardless, Activision Blizzard doesn't have nearly enough money to buy out a company the size of EA. If anyone buys them out it'll be Disney.
I say Activision only because they're easier to hate (fucking Kotick) than the larger ownership group. It's a generic thing.
Either way, I'd find it difficult to imagine anything other than another games organisation buying them up. The bean counters at Disney can't be looking at a company that's hemorrhaging money so easily and seeing that as an ideal purchase. Even if only to have some kind of games publishing arm. It's just too good a deal for them to keep their own devs and sign pub deals elsewhere.
And I, sadly, agree with the Heavy Rain assessment. Indigo Prophecy is going to weigh a bit against them rightly or wrongly. They're going to need massive advertising and luck to make a significant impact.
But it's a game I've been looking forward to for a while, so even I'm going to buy a copy. Whether or not I own a PS3 to play it on.
Pachter says something useful. Haven't we been saying something similar here for a good while now? :P
Posted this in another thread.
No one cares about Heavy Rain. Poster mentioned something about it being in the heavily watched/anticipated AAA lineup coming up similar to Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, ec.
It very well could be AAA quality, but I don't expect it to set the sales charts on fire.
Yea, I'm not sure how well "Heavy Rain: The Quick Time Event Simulator" will ultimately sell. I'm sure many of the PS3 purists will buy it, but it won't do the numbers that some of the other big names will.
With the number of studio closures, the endless poor and under performing financial reports from game companies and the constant PRs delaying layoffs, I don't know how you can solely use '2nd best annual revenue ever' to claim 'the industry is weathering the recession just fine.'
also, it is never too late to use the information minister.
Well somehow I'm not up for another war over this but I don't see what those things have to do with the recession. Basically that's because I don't see how unemployment, paycuts or whatever could affect the games industry in any way but through lower sales and thus lower revenue.
The one exception would be that smaller companies might close sooner rather than later because of credit problems, but the overall problem in the industry is with costs and I don't see how the recession could have led to higher costs.
I dunno, I'm willing to listen to ways that the recession could have an effect by a different path than through revenue, I guess.
lowlylowlycook on
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With the number of studio closures, the endless poor and under performing financial reports from game companies and the constant PRs delaying layoffs, I don't know how you can solely use '2nd best annual revenue ever' to claim 'the industry is weathering the recession just fine.'
also, it is never too late to use the information minister.
Well somehow I'm not up for another war over this but I don't see what those things have to do with the recession. Basically that's because I don't see how unemployment, paycuts or whatever could affect the games industry in any way but through lower sales and thus lower revenue.
The one exception would be that smaller companies might close sooner rather than later because of credit problems, but the overall problem in the industry is with costs and I don't see how the recession could have led to higher costs.
I dunno, I'm willing to listen to ways that the recession could have an effect by a different path than through revenue, I guess.
Companies, by their nature, are conservative with their finances. They won't spend exorbitant amounts of money unless they can be assured of exorbitant amounts of returns. When the economy takes a shit, and we get raisins, the last thing they like to do is spend exorbitant amounts of money on anything. So they start cutting left and right.
If the industry was healthy, it'd be growing. Well, it sort of is, but not in the places that cost any money to produce. I don't think it's a coincidence that EA decided at this time to try to take a newer, cheaper tack in the marketplace, whilst Activision decided to shed anything it couldn't piledrive into the ground in pursuit of guaranteed money wells.
When things recover, you'll see the same kind of expansion we saw when the video games business rebounded from the crash in the '80s. A crash that came about in the same atmosphere of an economic 'downturn' in the early '80s.
I say Activision only because they're easier to hate (fucking Kotick) than the larger ownership group. It's a generic thing.
Either way, I'd find it difficult to imagine anything other than another games organisation buying them up. The bean counters at Disney can't be looking at a company that's hemorrhaging money so easily and seeing that as an ideal purchase. Even if only to have some kind of games publishing arm. It's just too good a deal for them to keep their own devs and sign pub deals elsewhere.
Oh sure, I'm all for Activision hate, I just don't like crediting them with doing anything right (like buying Blizzard).
What makes you think Activision would buy out a company that's hemorrhaging money and Disney wouldn't? If anything, it'd be the other way around. Disney earns so much money that they'd be able to hold EA up until it's profitable again. Whereas Activision rely on two franchises (WoW and CoD) to hold up the entire company as it is.
And I, sadly, agree with the Heavy Rain assessment. Indigo Prophecy is going to weigh a bit against them rightly or wrongly. They're going to need massive advertising and luck to make a significant impact.
But it's a game I've been looking forward to for a while, so even I'm going to buy a copy. Whether or not I own a PS3 to play it on.
I don't think it'll sell millions but I don't think it'll bomb either. I just hope it does well enough to get a sequel and maybe some imitators.
Brainiac: Calling it a "Quick Time Event Simulator" is pretty disingenuous.
In echoing what Santa said, I've long agreed lowly that the industry has been on a ominous path with regards to ever increasing costs. I just find it highly unlikely that the recession didn't act as a catalyst toward reaching that endpoint along with wreaking havoc elsewhere. Lines of credit suddenly dried up and now the mid level guys didn't have a way to pay their bills. Others lost when asset values fell or when respective exchange rates went the wrong way. And while it may be the 2nd best year for revenue it doesn't change the fact 2009 is still a recession-aided step back and many companies didn't plan for that step back. It's always relative: 2nd best revenue year ever, or 18% YoY decline in the UK and 7-8% declines YoY in the US and Japan.
**FINAL plug for NPD predictions, numbers land in ~38 hours. Details here. So far estimates from DMK, plufim, Brainiac, lowly and myself. Though Brainiac you left off the 'Total SW $' prediction.**
Nintendo is bringing Netflix’s online streaming video service to its Wii gaming console, the most popular in the industry, the companies plan to announce Wednesday. The service lets subscribers choose from a catalog of generally older movies and television shows and watch them instantly.
Wii owners with a broadband Internet connection who have at least a $9-a-month subscription to Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service will be able to use the online service at no additional cost.
But Wii owners will need to receive a free software disc in the mail from Netflix and put it into their console when they want to watch a movie, as on the PS3.
The Wii, unlike the PS3 and Xbox, is not powerful enough to display high-definition streaming video. Some analysts and industry observers expect Nintendo to announce a new Wii HD version of its console next year.[!]
Annnnd the Top 100 for Japan 2009
#1-#50 YTD / LTD
1. [NDS] Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix) - 4,100,968
2. [NDS] Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (Pokemon) - 3,382,597
3. [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) - 2,485,150
4. [NDS] Tomodachi Collection (Nintendo) - 2,311,948
5. [PS3] Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) - 1,698,256
6. [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - 1,542,806
7. [WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) - 1,298,533
8. [WII] Monster Hunter 3 (Capcom) - 968,033
9. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2 Fire/Blizzard (Level 5) - 943,615
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G PSP The Best (Capcom) - 911,497 / 1,110,614
11. [NDS] Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo) - 717,940
12. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 588,258 / 3,555,555
13. [NDS] Professor Leyton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny (Level 5) - 552,085
14. [NDS] Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Square Enix) - 522,260
15. [PS3] Yakuza 3 (Sega) - 509,223
16. [PS3] Biohazard 5 (Capcom) - 508,959
17. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) - 480,326 / 1,830,997
18. [WII] Mario Kart wii (Nintendo) - 446,447 / 2,449,762
19. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Sega) - 443,216
20. [NDS] Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorer of Skies (Pokemon) - 417,226
21. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii (Namco) - 390,416 / 641,599
22. [PSP] Dynasty Warriors MULTI RAID (Koei) - 384,336
23. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (Konami) - 377,340
24. [PSP] Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus (Bandai Namco) - 339,034
25. [PS3] Tales of Vesperia (Bandai Namco) - 337,783
26. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) - 330,079 / 879,427
27. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon) - 328,490 / 2,515,827
28. [NDS] The Legend of Zeldas: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo) - 320,940
29. [NDS] Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) - 319,422 / 1,174,849
30. [PSP] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Bandai Namco) - 317,730
31. [WII] Animal Crossing City Folk (Nintendo) - 311,261 / 1,206,563
32. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Wars (Bandai Namco) - 307,754
33. [NDS] Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Capcom) - 303,445
34. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 287,399 / 5,659,586
35. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 286,634 / 3,592,834
36. [NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 259,705
37. [NDS] Animal Crossing Wild World (Nintendo) - 258,996 / 5,111,049
38. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 (Konami) - 250,204
39. [PSP] Gran Turismo (SCE) - 247,869
40. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo) - 246,192 / 3,563,510
41. [WII] Poke Park Wii: Pikachu's Big Adventure (Pokemon) - 243,075
42. [PSP] Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) - 242,136 / 902,398
43. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 (Konami) - 239,928
44. [WII] Monster Hunter G (Capcom) - 236,020
45. [PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Portable 4 (Konami) - 233,864
46. [PS3] Mobile Suit Gundam Senki (Bandai Namco) - 233,473
47. [PSP] Tales of Versus (Bandai Namco) - 231,351
48. [PS3] Warriors Orochi Z (Koei) - 221,718
49. [NDS] Momotarou Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) - 218,856 / 340,996
50. [NDS] Tongari Boushi: and the 365 Days of Magic (Konami) - 218,139 / 451,588
#51-#100 YTD / LTD
51. [WII] New Play Control: Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo) - 216,069
52. [NDS] Professor Leyton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) - 214,474 / 842,617
53. [NDS] Super Robot Wars K (Bandai Namco) - 213,454
54. [NDS] Puyo Puyo 7 (Sega) - 210,056
55. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii 2 (Bandai Namco) - 209,083
56. [360] Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (Square Enix) - 208,521
57. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master DS: Big Adventure of 7 Islands (Bandai Namco) - 206,780 / 650,913
58. [WII] Samurai Warriors 3 (Koei) - 205,370
59. [NDS] Sloane and McHale's Mystery Story (Level 5) - 201,043
60. [PSP] Sengoku BASARA Battle Heroes (Capcom) - 198,799
61. [PS3] BAYONETTA (Sega) - 196,150
62. [NDS] Love Plus (Konami) - 192,207
63. [NDS] Dragon Ball Kai (Bandai Namco) - 192,200
64. [NDS] The 4 Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Square Enix) - 191,020
65. [PSP] Idol Master SP Perfect Sun/Missing Moon/Wandering Star (Bandai Namco) - 189,568
66. [NDS] Wario Ware DIY (Nintendo) - 187,404
67. [NDS] Power Pro Kun Pocket 11 (Konami) - 185,644 / 284,720
68. [PSP] Persona 3 Portable (Atlus) - 183,283
69. [PSP] Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (Bandai Namco) - 181,888
70. [WII] Tales of Graces (Bandai Namco) - 177,925
71. [PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (Sega) - 173,834
72. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai X: 7 Soldiers of Heaven (Konami) - 171,790
73. [PS3] Tekken 6 (Bandai Namco) - 170,150
74. [NDS] Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 169,538
75. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven (NDS) - 167,273 / 396,284
76. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2009 (Konami) - 166,085
77. [PS3] Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 164,619
78. [NDS] SaGa 2: Goddess of Destiny (Square Enix) - 164,352
79. [NDS] Rittai Picross (Nintendo) - 161,690
80. [PS3] Demon Souls (SCE) - 159,278
81. [PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 157,704
82. [PSP] Persona (Atlus) - 149,740
83. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 149,555 / 2,742,849
84. [PSP] Macross Ultimate Frontier (Bandai Namco) - 149,541
85. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (Koei) - 146,520
86. [PSP] Let's Make a J. League Pro Soccer Club! 6 Pride of J (Sega) - 146,371
87. [WII] New Play Control: Pikmin 2 (Nintendo) - 139,560
88. [WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii (Hudson) - 139,093 / 254,144
89. [NDS] Seventh Dragon (Sega) - 137,857
90. [PSP] Boku no Natsuyasumi 4: seitouchi Shounen Tanteidan, Boku to Himitsu no Chizu (SCE) - 137,785
It's pretty damn clear at this point that MS signed a download exclusivity deal with Netflix and that it is set to expire sometime late this or early next year.
George Stewart once wrote that a man may stumble over a pebble and fall, but his weariness, rather than the pebble, is the cause.
The recession hurt a lot of companies, but I can't help noticing that the ones which aren't around anymore going into 2010 are largely the ones which were over-invested in derivative or long-delayed titles, and some of the ones which reported hefty losses were counting on huge sales from the oversaturated rhythm game market. Lego Guitar Beatles DJ Rock Band Hero 14 didn't sell right off the shelves? Color me surprised. And people weren't lining up in this economy to buy an extra $100 of plastic shit to go with it? I'm stunned. Really.
Zoku Gojira on
"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." - Bertolt Brecht
People were lining up in 2008 in months with an even worse economy for $100+ pieces of plastic crap. It's more to do with over saturation of the market then bad times.
The Wii, unlike the PS3 and Xbox, is not powerful enough to display high-definition streaming video. Some analysts and industry observers expect Nintendo to announce a new Wii HD version of its console next year.[!]
Goddamnit, New York Times, stop feeding Patcher back the same shit he's spewing.
I'm a little late to the party on the topic of Dante's Inferno. I'd like to see my favorite book, 1984, get the "shitty action game" treatment. Part 3rd person shooter, part stealth action! Guide Victory Gin swilling Outer Party member Winston Smith on his quest to take down Big Brother and save the woman he loves! Avoid viewscreens! Fight the Thought Police! Resist rat torture! It's pretty much Metal Gear Solid but with a story I can follow. This summer, two plus two equals kickass!
Posts
Anyway, the company's in trouble, but they are big and influential... so maybe a year and a half before they implode completely if things don't improve, I'm guessing.
Edit: Dude, they put the video game imagery on the book. Was that really necessary? I don't care if they said "oh, of course it's not completely true to the book" a thousand times, their overall PR campaign is not-so-subtly suggesting just that.
Considering that two of three translations of The Divine Comedy that I've read have been awful, I can't see it hurting anything. With a decent translation, it's fantastic. If anything, this version would err on the side of "enjoyable to read" as opposed to "ideal for your thesis" which is perfect for most people.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
In the key of C. A bouncy C.
Hachacha!
Yeah, it's hard to see how a better economy (to the extent that has mattered) or a new generation less dominated by Nintendo as a publisher would be enough to help either EA or Take2.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
That reminds me, I still need to go out and buy Mirror's Edge since I can now get it super cheap.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
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Ok guys, watch this video. It's hilarious, and shows just why NSMBWii is dangerous for marriages, or heck even friendships.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
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Certainly seems to be authentic.
this is just so surreal, especially given the target audience of the game
Is raping employees a phase in the video game producer/developer death cycle?
http://kotaku.com/5446339/former-staffer-compares-rockstar-ny-to-the-eye-of-sauron
In minor news, some minor layoffs:
Meanwhile, wasn't Warner Bros. still trying to expand and establish themselves to begin with? The fact that they're having to lay people off already isn't confidence-building.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26767/Analysts_Game_Biz_Solid_But_EA_Poor_At_Estimating_Managing_Cost.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26770/GameStop_Banks_On_Significant_Excess_Cash_With_300_Million_Share_Buyback.php
And all that during a recession. Yow.
This year will be the second biggest for industry revenue ever. Last year was the biggest. The industry is weathering the recession just fine.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah. Meat-grinders are always needed, too.
"We have crushed the recession which dared to venture here. Now it's outside the wall and the heroic Video Game Industry is now in control of the whole market. After we finish defeating the recession we will disclose that with facts and figures. They think we are retarded - they are retarded.
Yes, the recession has advanced further. This will only make it easier for us to defeat it. Everything is okay."
Also so, so late.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
also, it is never too late to use the information minister.
Activision didn't buy shit. They were just merged into Vivendi Games, with Vivendi (the parent company) retaining a majority of the companies shares (52%).
Regardless, Activision Blizzard doesn't have nearly enough money to buy out a company the size of EA. If anyone buys them out it'll be Disney.
A simple thing like naming the game after the book implies that it's an adaptation of the book, so no it's still fucking stupid.
Of course telling you this won't make a difference because you apparently like the game enough to defend it. But hey, if you want to look forward to God of War 1.5*, that's your (insane) business.
* 1.5 because the level design, gameplay and graphics don't match God of War 2, let alone God of War 3.
Funny when I read that, I read "members of the QA department (testers) were made redundant and consolidated"
Posted this in another thread.
No one cares about Heavy Rain. Poster mentioned something about it being in the heavily watched/anticipated AAA lineup coming up similar to Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, ec.
It very well could be AAA quality, but I don't expect it to set the sales charts on fire.
I say Activision only because they're easier to hate (fucking Kotick) than the larger ownership group. It's a generic thing.
Either way, I'd find it difficult to imagine anything other than another games organisation buying them up. The bean counters at Disney can't be looking at a company that's hemorrhaging money so easily and seeing that as an ideal purchase. Even if only to have some kind of games publishing arm. It's just too good a deal for them to keep their own devs and sign pub deals elsewhere.
And I, sadly, agree with the Heavy Rain assessment. Indigo Prophecy is going to weigh a bit against them rightly or wrongly. They're going to need massive advertising and luck to make a significant impact.
But it's a game I've been looking forward to for a while, so even I'm going to buy a copy. Whether or not I own a PS3 to play it on.
Yea, I'm not sure how well "Heavy Rain: The Quick Time Event Simulator" will ultimately sell. I'm sure many of the PS3 purists will buy it, but it won't do the numbers that some of the other big names will.
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Well somehow I'm not up for another war over this but I don't see what those things have to do with the recession. Basically that's because I don't see how unemployment, paycuts or whatever could affect the games industry in any way but through lower sales and thus lower revenue.
The one exception would be that smaller companies might close sooner rather than later because of credit problems, but the overall problem in the industry is with costs and I don't see how the recession could have led to higher costs.
I dunno, I'm willing to listen to ways that the recession could have an effect by a different path than through revenue, I guess.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Companies, by their nature, are conservative with their finances. They won't spend exorbitant amounts of money unless they can be assured of exorbitant amounts of returns. When the economy takes a shit, and we get raisins, the last thing they like to do is spend exorbitant amounts of money on anything. So they start cutting left and right.
If the industry was healthy, it'd be growing. Well, it sort of is, but not in the places that cost any money to produce. I don't think it's a coincidence that EA decided at this time to try to take a newer, cheaper tack in the marketplace, whilst Activision decided to shed anything it couldn't piledrive into the ground in pursuit of guaranteed money wells.
When things recover, you'll see the same kind of expansion we saw when the video games business rebounded from the crash in the '80s. A crash that came about in the same atmosphere of an economic 'downturn' in the early '80s.
Which, of course, is totally unrelated.
Oh sure, I'm all for Activision hate, I just don't like crediting them with doing anything right (like buying Blizzard).
What makes you think Activision would buy out a company that's hemorrhaging money and Disney wouldn't? If anything, it'd be the other way around. Disney earns so much money that they'd be able to hold EA up until it's profitable again. Whereas Activision rely on two franchises (WoW and CoD) to hold up the entire company as it is.
I don't think it'll sell millions but I don't think it'll bomb either. I just hope it does well enough to get a sequel and maybe some imitators.
Brainiac: Calling it a "Quick Time Event Simulator" is pretty disingenuous.
:^:
Netflix officially coming to Wii
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/technology/companies/13netflix.html
Annnnd the Top 100 for Japan 2009
#1-#50 YTD / LTD
2. [NDS] Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (Pokemon) - 3,382,597
3. [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) - 2,485,150
4. [NDS] Tomodachi Collection (Nintendo) - 2,311,948
5. [PS3] Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) - 1,698,256
6. [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - 1,542,806
7. [WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) - 1,298,533
8. [WII] Monster Hunter 3 (Capcom) - 968,033
9. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2 Fire/Blizzard (Level 5) - 943,615
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G PSP The Best (Capcom) - 911,497 / 1,110,614
11. [NDS] Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo) - 717,940
12. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 588,258 / 3,555,555
13. [NDS] Professor Leyton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny (Level 5) - 552,085
14. [NDS] Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Square Enix) - 522,260
15. [PS3] Yakuza 3 (Sega) - 509,223
16. [PS3] Biohazard 5 (Capcom) - 508,959
17. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) - 480,326 / 1,830,997
18. [WII] Mario Kart wii (Nintendo) - 446,447 / 2,449,762
19. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Sega) - 443,216
20. [NDS] Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorer of Skies (Pokemon) - 417,226
21. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii (Namco) - 390,416 / 641,599
22. [PSP] Dynasty Warriors MULTI RAID (Koei) - 384,336
23. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (Konami) - 377,340
24. [PSP] Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus (Bandai Namco) - 339,034
25. [PS3] Tales of Vesperia (Bandai Namco) - 337,783
26. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) - 330,079 / 879,427
27. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon) - 328,490 / 2,515,827
28. [NDS] The Legend of Zeldas: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo) - 320,940
29. [NDS] Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) - 319,422 / 1,174,849
30. [PSP] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Bandai Namco) - 317,730
31. [WII] Animal Crossing City Folk (Nintendo) - 311,261 / 1,206,563
32. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Wars (Bandai Namco) - 307,754
33. [NDS] Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Capcom) - 303,445
34. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 287,399 / 5,659,586
35. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 286,634 / 3,592,834
36. [NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 259,705
37. [NDS] Animal Crossing Wild World (Nintendo) - 258,996 / 5,111,049
38. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 (Konami) - 250,204
39. [PSP] Gran Turismo (SCE) - 247,869
40. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo) - 246,192 / 3,563,510
41. [WII] Poke Park Wii: Pikachu's Big Adventure (Pokemon) - 243,075
42. [PSP] Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) - 242,136 / 902,398
43. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 (Konami) - 239,928
44. [WII] Monster Hunter G (Capcom) - 236,020
45. [PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Portable 4 (Konami) - 233,864
46. [PS3] Mobile Suit Gundam Senki (Bandai Namco) - 233,473
47. [PSP] Tales of Versus (Bandai Namco) - 231,351
48. [PS3] Warriors Orochi Z (Koei) - 221,718
49. [NDS] Momotarou Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) - 218,856 / 340,996
50. [NDS] Tongari Boushi: and the 365 Days of Magic (Konami) - 218,139 / 451,588
#51-#100 YTD / LTD
52. [NDS] Professor Leyton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) - 214,474 / 842,617
53. [NDS] Super Robot Wars K (Bandai Namco) - 213,454
54. [NDS] Puyo Puyo 7 (Sega) - 210,056
55. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii 2 (Bandai Namco) - 209,083
56. [360] Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (Square Enix) - 208,521
57. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master DS: Big Adventure of 7 Islands (Bandai Namco) - 206,780 / 650,913
58. [WII] Samurai Warriors 3 (Koei) - 205,370
59. [NDS] Sloane and McHale's Mystery Story (Level 5) - 201,043
60. [PSP] Sengoku BASARA Battle Heroes (Capcom) - 198,799
61. [PS3] BAYONETTA (Sega) - 196,150
62. [NDS] Love Plus (Konami) - 192,207
63. [NDS] Dragon Ball Kai (Bandai Namco) - 192,200
64. [NDS] The 4 Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Square Enix) - 191,020
65. [PSP] Idol Master SP Perfect Sun/Missing Moon/Wandering Star (Bandai Namco) - 189,568
66. [NDS] Wario Ware DIY (Nintendo) - 187,404
67. [NDS] Power Pro Kun Pocket 11 (Konami) - 185,644 / 284,720
68. [PSP] Persona 3 Portable (Atlus) - 183,283
69. [PSP] Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (Bandai Namco) - 181,888
70. [WII] Tales of Graces (Bandai Namco) - 177,925
71. [PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (Sega) - 173,834
72. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai X: 7 Soldiers of Heaven (Konami) - 171,790
73. [PS3] Tekken 6 (Bandai Namco) - 170,150
74. [NDS] Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 169,538
75. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven (NDS) - 167,273 / 396,284
76. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2009 (Konami) - 166,085
77. [PS3] Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 164,619
78. [NDS] SaGa 2: Goddess of Destiny (Square Enix) - 164,352
79. [NDS] Rittai Picross (Nintendo) - 161,690
80. [PS3] Demon Souls (SCE) - 159,278
81. [PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 157,704
82. [PSP] Persona (Atlus) - 149,740
83. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 149,555 / 2,742,849
84. [PSP] Macross Ultimate Frontier (Bandai Namco) - 149,541
85. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (Koei) - 146,520
86. [PSP] Let's Make a J. League Pro Soccer Club! 6 Pride of J (Sega) - 146,371
87. [WII] New Play Control: Pikmin 2 (Nintendo) - 139,560
88. [WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii (Hudson) - 139,093 / 254,144
89. [NDS] Seventh Dragon (Sega) - 137,857
90. [PSP] Boku no Natsuyasumi 4: seitouchi Shounen Tanteidan, Boku to Himitsu no Chizu (SCE) - 137,785
91. [PS3] White Knight Chronicles (SCE) - 136,657 / 339,690
92. [NDS] Beautiful Letter Training (Nintendo) - 139,619 / 561,891
93. [PS3] Pro Baseball Spirits 6 (Konami) - 134,910
94. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 133,725 / 1,880,838
95. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Legend of the Strongest Penguin (Konami) - 132,515 / 287,502
96. [NDS] Welcome Back Chibi Robo! (Nintendo) - 130,092
97. [NDS] Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (Atlus) - 127,946
98. [NDS] Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (Pokemon) - 127,567 / 5,751,997
99. [WII] Momotarou Dentetsu 2010 (Hudson) - 125,494
100. [360] Biohazard 5 (Capcom) - 123,817
NDS - 41
WII - 20
PSP - 19
PS3 - 15
PS2 - 3
360 - 2
First Party:
NDS: 16 (includes Pokemon Co. as Nintendo)
WII: 12
PSP: 2
PS3: 2
PS2: 0
360: 0
Third Party:
NDS: 25 (includes Mario&Sonic as Sega)
PSP: 17
PS3: 13
WII: 8
PS2: 3
360: 2
Company Software Sales Breakdown:
1. Nintendo: 14,400,000
2. Square Enix: 8,590,000
3. Bandai Namco: 7,590,000
4. Pokemon: 4,730,000
5. Konami: 4,660,000
Company Top 100 Ranking:
1. Nintendo: 25 Titles
2. Bandai Namco: 16 Titles
3. Konami: 11 Titles
4. Square Enix: 9 Titles
5. Capcom: 8 Titles
Hardware (YTD/LTD):
NDS: 4,025,313 [29,160,589]
PSP: 2,307,971 [13,386,455]
WII: 1,975,178 [9,501,999]
PS3: 1,727,041 [4,391,407]
360: 331,706 [1,197,873]
PS2: 255,960 [21,803,762]
The recession hurt a lot of companies, but I can't help noticing that the ones which aren't around anymore going into 2010 are largely the ones which were over-invested in derivative or long-delayed titles, and some of the ones which reported hefty losses were counting on huge sales from the oversaturated rhythm game market. Lego Guitar Beatles DJ Rock Band Hero 14 didn't sell right off the shelves? Color me surprised. And people weren't lining up in this economy to buy an extra $100 of plastic shit to go with it? I'm stunned. Really.
Goddamnit, New York Times, stop feeding Patcher back the same shit he's spewing.