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| Megacorps are bad for gaming; Sony, EA, Activision, MS, and their ilk | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 24 2006, 09:29 AM (6,742 Views) | |
| sheath | Nov 5 2010, 09:08 AM Post #321 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Oh happy day when the law of the bell curve applies to Squenix at last. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-11-05-square-enix-earnings-tumble-by-75-percent Square Enix earnings tumble by 75% Japanese publisher Square Enix has seen its first half net income drop to ¥1723 million ($21 million) - a 75 per cent decline from ¥6826 million ($85 million) in the second half of 2009. Results for the six months ending September 30 saw net sales decrease by 30 per cent, down to ¥68 billion ($843 million) from the last half's ¥101.7 billion ($1.26 billion). Forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 2011 put net income at ¥12000 million against last year's ¥9509 million, and revenues at ¥160 billion (¥192 billion in FY09). Sales did not meet the publisher's forecasts, but higher than expected profits came in due to catalogue sales of titles including Just Cause 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. During its fiscal half, the company sold 8.17 million software units - 2.84 million in Japan, 2.71 million in Europe and 2.48 million in the US. The biggest seller over the six months was Japanese-only title Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, at 1.28 million units. Kane & Lynch 2 racked up 1.12 million sales globally, while Just Cause 2 added 0.56 million units over the last six months, to reach a lifetime total of 1.48 million. Much of the decline was laid at the feet of MMO Final Fantasy XIV's disappointing performance. The PC game mustered global sales of 630,000 - although a PS3 version due in March may improve its fortunes. "We're quickly working on reforms. We'd like to put our full power into regaining trust," CEO Yoichi Wada told investors. "If we satisfy our users, they will return. On the other hand, once the users say, 'forget this,' there's no turning back. We can only recover our trust so far." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| Belpowerslave | Nov 5 2010, 01:34 PM Post #322 |
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Administrator
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I love it: "We're not bringing FFXIV to the 360" they said. Sony fanboys around the world rejoice. FFXIV a bigger failure than the last MMO FF. Sony fanboys have nothing to say. Bel |
| Whip Ass Gaming | |
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| Belpowerslave | Nov 11 2010, 04:15 PM Post #323 |
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A quick follow up to the disgrace that is FF: http://blog.games.yahoo.com/photos/178-biggest-game-flops-of-2010/1#OmgPhoid=1 First game on the list. Gotta love it. Bel |
| Whip Ass Gaming | |
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| sheath | Nov 11 2010, 04:55 PM Post #324 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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That link trashes the original Iron Man game by Secret Level. They also lean too hard on metacritic scores. All the same, it is nice to see a Final Fantasy game on a list like that, you know, where it belongs. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| benstylus | Nov 13 2010, 09:08 AM Post #325 |
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Taster's Choice
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I didn't like the original Iron Man game, either. I bought it because it had Sega on the front, and I just didn't care for it at all - largely due to the controls. |
| Electronic Arts - We put the 'suc' in success! | |
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| sheath | Nov 13 2010, 12:11 PM Post #326 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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It really is one of my favorite flight sim/mission games now. I just really enjoy the way they allow you to fight everything in the air and on the ground. I can't think of another game like that. Iron Man 2 just didn't do it for me, at least the demo didn't. I will probably pick it up for cheap to see if the full game has more aerial stuff and less emphasis on button mashing cinematic kills. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Nov 15 2010, 06:54 AM Post #327 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Well, this is interesting. Activision isn't going to fine you for buying used games. It is also interesting that the only way they can made more money is to constantly update games they've already sold. I love that "keep them engaged comment." I've played stuff like Street Fighter 2, Strider and Shinobi III for decades, but casual/core gamers need to purchase "special features" to keep playing. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-11-15-kotick-online-passes-arent-in-the-best-interest-of-the-gamer Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has claimed the publisher is not interested in introducing an online pass system to increase its revenues from the trade-in market. "We can do some of these things that EA and others have done," Kotick told Joystiq. "We actually don't think it's in the best interest of the gamer, and so we've chosen not to. "We're not doing anything to suppress used games today." Instead, the publisher is focusing on appealing DLC, especially for its Call of Duty games. "The best way to keep people engaged in your game experience is keep giving them more great content." Kotick hinted that the high pricing ($15) of Modern Warfare 2 DLC was related to attempts to profit from traded-in games. "I think we've generally tried to do things like encourage our customers to used-game sales, probably more so than our competitors. But you know, we're very mindful of what's happening macroeconomically and I think that that plays a role when we're thinking about the price of our content." Kotick also restated his earlier assertion that "Call of Duty games probably represent more than 50% of the total Xbox Live traffic." While acknowledging that Activision took a small cut of Xbox Live subscription fees, he suggested that Microsoft put its burgeoning Live revenues into "the provision of a higher level of customer service [and] towards game enhancement." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Nov 17 2010, 08:10 AM Post #328 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Death to all franchises! http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-11-17-tony-hawk-shred-flops-with-only-3000-units-sold-in-us Tony Hawk: Shred flops with only 3000 units sold in US The most recent multiformat Tony Hawk title from Activision has had a disastrous launch in the US, selling only 3000 units in its first week in October. According to Cowan and Company, Tony Hawk: Shred was "a virtual no-show" at retail, with another Activision title, DJ Hero 2, also suffering low sales of 59,000 during the two weeks of sale in the month. Electronic Arts' first-person shooter Medal of Honor sold just over 1 million units during October, below expectations of 1.5 million. The company's latest sports title, EA Sports MMA sold 45,000 units. The biggest software release in the US for the month was Take-Two's NBA 2K11 which sold 1.15 million units, roughly twice the sales of last year's iteration. Cowan also noted that the low 6 per cent in software growth for the month was largely due to poor continued sales of games released in September, including Halo: Reach and EA's NHL 11. Electronic Arts is currently restructuring its development process for its sports titles, while Activision is taking more drastic measures to staffing levels. Yesterday it confirmed the closure of its Budcat Creations studio, as well as job losses in QA. It has also put staff at Bizarre Creations on 90 days notice as it considers the future of the UK studio. Tony Hawk: Shred developer Robomodo let 60 staff go last month, revealing that it would no longer be working on the franchise. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Nov 21 2010, 04:04 PM Post #329 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Damn, I feel like posting a "WTF did this happen" thread about this alone. EA go the rights to NFL Blitz too?! http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/21/rumor-ea-tiburon-early-in-development-on-new-nfl-blitz/ Giant Bomb reports that an anonymous tipster recently sent word of a fairly thrilling project that's currently in the early stages of development at EA Sports: A reboot of the NFL Blitz franchise. The rights for EA to do so were apparently acquired when the publisher purchased the NBA Jam license from Midway -- we wonder if they were holding a two-for-one sale on over-the-top, lawless sports simulations? According to Giant Bomb's report, the game is in development at EA Tiburon, the current home of NFL Blitz co-creator Mark Turmell. The only other details that came from the anonymous tipster are that the game would get a multiplatform release, and probably won't arrive until 2012. It's not a lot to go on, but it's enough to fill our heads with beautiful visions of 30-yard first downs and late, late hits. We've contacted EA for a comment on Giant Bomb's report. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Nov 30 2010, 07:33 AM Post #330 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Nobody loves you, everybody hates you, why don't you just eat worms? http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-11-30-riccitiello-ea-avoiding-big-acquisitions-as-were-still-out-of-favour EA boss John Riccitiello has claimed the publisher is not currently seeking further large acquisitions, admitting that investors' faith has been shaken by its tumbling share price. The CEO claimed to be focusing the company on boosting digital revenues - from online, mobile and Facebook - to $750 million. "I need to finish engineering and building to make that happen," he told Bloomberg. "I don't need a billion-dollar acquisition." However, he was considering smaller deals. " There are probably 25 companies on our radar that would make sense for us at somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of the asking price." EA has seen its stock collapse by 74 per cent since 2007, and over the course of this year the value dropped by 15 per cent. High profile and expensive purchases such as Playfish and Chillingo have likely contributed to this, as apparently did the critical and commercial performance of Call of Duty rival Medal of Honor. When quizzed as to whether the publisher was interested in buying Harmonix following Viacom's decision to rid itself of the Rock Band studio, Ricitiello admitted that "We're still out of favour. Moves that look like I'm doubling down on yesterday would make it harder still to convince investors that tomorrow is the Promised Land." As well as a potential negative shareholder response, Riccitiello hinted that Harmonix could be something of a poisoned chalice. "I'm sure some smart investor will buy the business feeling that they can catch a falling knife, but more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefitted from getting the timing exactly right." Riccitiello remained positive that EA, at least, would have another day in the sun, thanks to its digital investments. "There is going to be a time when perception catches up with the facts." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| Belpowerslave | Dec 1 2010, 05:41 PM Post #331 |
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Administrator
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They better hope that no one *ever* catches on to the illegal monopoly they've got with the NFL licensing deal. They loose that and 2K Sports starts doing football games again...it's over for EA. Bel |
| Whip Ass Gaming | |
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| sheath | Dec 1 2010, 07:29 PM Post #332 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Is that illegal? Man, I'll report them myself. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| Belpowerslave | Dec 1 2010, 07:42 PM Post #333 |
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Administrator
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It really is. Just hit RGVS and ask KKC about it. Bel |
| Whip Ass Gaming | |
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| DarcSeven | Dec 2 2010, 03:56 PM Post #334 |
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I'm gonna sing the DOOM Song.
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I thought the NFL did get caught for that already. I can't remember if anything came of it. Probably not since they still with EA only. |
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Just call me Steve. ;) Twitter Page http://ds7gamestalk.blogspot.com/ | |
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| sheath | Dec 6 2010, 01:29 PM Post #335 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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At long last, the last month of 2010 sees the absolute death of creativity in gameplay. Say goodbye to games you have to learn how to play and then adore playing forever folks, it's "fun" everybody can join in on for you or nothing! http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-12-06-zynga-the-game-industry-is-not-art-its-a-craft Zynga Beijing general manager Andy Tian has claimed that metrics and player research are more important to social games than creative decisions. Speaking at GDC China over the weekend (as attended by Gamasutra), the head of the FarmVille maker's Chinese headquarters argued that "We are not developing 'cool' features - we know we're developing relevant features. We want to make sure that a lot of people think something is fun, but we also want to achieve commercial success, not something the development team thinks is cool. "The game industry is not art, it's a craft." He continued, "So we need the user support. We need to know what the users really like and we have to know what is the root cause for declines in performance. A good designer asks metrics good questions." This had led to Zynga abandoning further plans for boss fights in its Facebook hit Mafia Wars. "We spent a lot of time putting [that] in, including writing stories, writing tests... But it doesn't drive any metrics, and we spent a lot of effort on that. "We kept it in the game but we can't do much with it. The efforts did not increase our reach, retention, nor revenue. No matter how good we do it, it doesn't help our business." Because of such discoveries, he felt that "the biggest part of game development is after launch. In May 2009, the features of FarmVille were really elementary, but the total number of features has grown 10 times by today. Every week we will push to update our content." The resultant growth in users meant that "the team is getting bigger and bigger.. There is no shortcut for this. You need to constantly invest." Tian also argued that Zynga shouldn't necessarily be perceived as a games company. "Zynga, along with Amazon and Google, we're all web-based companies. We consider ourselves a web-based company." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Dec 10 2010, 07:28 AM Post #336 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-12-10-final-fantasy-xiv-delayed-indefinitely-on-playstation-3 Final Fantasy XIV delayed on PS3 as team restructures Hiromichi Tanaka has stepped down as the producer of Final Fantasy XIV after continued negative fan feedback over the PC version of the game led to yet another delay of its PlayStation 3 release. Square-Enix has released a statement explaining that it wishes to ensure that the PS3 version of the game meets its customers expectations and is therefore undertaking a restructure of the production team. The no-subscription trial of the PC version of the game has also been extended. "While more than two months have passed since the official launch of Final Fantasy XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that Final Fantasy fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies," read a statement by Square Enix president Yoichi Wada. "After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was to approach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team. "To realise this vision, and in doing so, provide our customers with a better game experience, we have assembled our company's top talent and resources. Taking over the role of producer and director is Naoki Yoshida, a passionate individual for whom customer satisfaction has always taken top priority." Outgoing producer Tanaka also issued a statement as part of the post, apologising for his part in the problems which players had experienced. "First of all, I would like to apologise for our inability to fully satisfy our users with the initial release of Final Fantasy XIV. I take full responsibility for the game's current situation, and have therefore made the decision to step down from my role as producer." The PC version of FFXIV received generally negative reviews, averaging only 54 per cent on Metacritic and reaching tenth on the UK chart. Square-Enix responded by extending the free-to-play trial period of the game and apologising to customers via the company's official blog. Statements on that blog promised that nearly all of the reported problems with the game would be fixed by late November, when the free trial period would end, and that a PS3 version would hit shops in March 2011. No new date hs been set for the game's release. Last month, poor sales of Final Fantasy XIV on PC were partially blamed for suddenly plummeting profits in Square-Enix's financial reports. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Dec 22 2010, 07:37 AM Post #337 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Megacorps don't make great games, they derail anybody who makes better games than them... http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-12-22-activision-adds-ea-to-west-zampella-lawsuit Call of Duty publisher Activision has amended its cross-complaint against former Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella to include Electronic Arts as a defendant. New court documents accuse Electronic Arts of unlawful conduct at "the highest levels". The harshly-worded statements claim that: "Electronic Arts conspired with two former senior Activision executives [West and Zampella] to derail Activision's Call of Duty franchise, disrupt its Infinity Ward development studio, and inflict serious harm on the company." Activision is demanding $400 million in actual and punitive damages, "including profits Activision would have made but for EA's interference, costs incurred in rebuilding the affected studio, and damages suffered as a result of delays and disruptions." The angry language then intensifies, with Activision seeking to "recapture compensation previously awarded to its faithless executives" and "prevent Electronic Arts and the former executives from benefiting from their illegal conduct." The complaint then goes on to summarise the entire case, which began when Activision fired West and Zampella for "insubordination". Activision claims that the pair conspired with Electronic Arts to use the publisher's resources to renege on their contract, which still had two years yet to run. The documents then describe how, "Electronic Arts would finance the illicitly-created start-up in exchange for an ownership interest or exclusive distribution rights to the content created by their new company, which would produce video games for Electronic Arts instead of Activision." Soon after West and Zampella's exit they did establish new studio Respawn Entertainment with the help of Electronic Arts - a development which EA Games president Frank Gibeau described in May as, "something that fell into our laps". Activision alleges that an August 2009 meeting With Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello was facilitated by former Xbox evangelist Seamus Blackley (now working for Creative Artists Agency - which is also named as a defendant by Activision) and lawyer Harold Brown. Brown's law firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown is also now a defendant, with Activision alleged that Brown was specifically chosen because he was a former board member and legal counsel to Activision. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the new complaint is Activision's apparent evidence of West and Zampella's conspiracy with Electronic Arts and attempts to discredit rival studio Treyarch. Activision claims to have copies of e-mail exchanges between the pair that include quotes such as "Dunno how to scan secretly" and "Probably better to just photocopy and Fedex." The most provocative language though is left to describe the pair's attitude to fellow Call Of Duty developer Treyarch: "Although West and Zampella preferred to portray themselves - both to the public and within Activision - as game developers often forced to battle with corporate 'suits,' the reality was and is much different. They were small-minded executives almost obsessed by jealousy of other developers and the thought that another Activision game or studio might share their spotlight." The documents offer specific examples, claiming that a Modern Warfare 2 video was purposefully released the same day as a World At War downloadable video. Activision even claims to have text messages sent between West and another unnamed Infinity Ward employee, which has West responding to the release of the Treyarch video by saying: "We release our video? Crush and destroy with our video." The other employee then responds with: ""We already did. And . . . we already did", to which West replies, "Nice." Activision also claims that West and Zampella attempted to block retention bonuses and other incentives for Infinity Ward employees, in order - it is alleged - to make it easier to encourage staff to leave Infinity Ward. A group of 38 former Infinity Ward employees have already filed a $54 million lawsuit against Activision, primarily over unpaid bonuses. According to Activision though West and Zampella, "were already appropriating for themselves approximately 1/3 of the total Infinity Ward bonus pool each quarter." The lawsuit also claims that the pair refused to reveal which other employees were due bonus payments. As a final retort Activision's lawyers complain that censored information in court documents, classified as confidential by Electronic Arts and West and Zampella, are being concealed merely because they contain information that is "embarrassing and damaging to Electronic Arts and its co-conspirators." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Dec 23 2010, 07:31 AM Post #338 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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EA sued twice in two days. BEST_CHRISTMAS_EVER. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-12-23-judge-allows-ea-price-fixing-anti-trust-lawsuit A class action anti-trust lawsuit against Electronic Arts, that claims the company illegally raised the price of Madden videogames after it obtained exclusive rights to the NFL licence, is to go ahead in the US. A district judge has certified the class action, which covers any Madden NFL title released by EA during or after 2005. As a result any American consumer that bought one of the games during this period is able to register as a plaintiff. The case is expected to go on to become a jury trial, with the main allegation being that once EA acquired the exclusive licence they then inflated the price of games by up to 70 per cent. The complaint does acknowledge that Take-Two's NFL2K5 was sold at a budget price in 2004, of just $19.95. This forced EA into a temporary price war where Madden NFL 2005 was sold for a lower price of $29.95. EA's lawyers will argue that the subsequent rise in price, once the exclusive licence was obtained, was merely a return to previous industry standard levels. The question of whether EA's use of the licence constitutes unfair competition appears to be of only secondary importance to the plaintiffs. "Consumers now have a legal standing to demand that EA refund consumers millions of dollars it made from Madden NFL and other sports titles through what we contend was an illegal price-gouging scheme," said lawyer Steve Berman. "We believe EA forced consumers to pay an artificial premium on Madden NFL videogames," he added. "We intend to prove that EA could inflate prices on their sports titles because these exclusive licenses restrained trade and competition for interactive sports software." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| DarcSeven | Jan 13 2011, 04:49 PM Post #339 |
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I'm gonna sing the DOOM Song.
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Is Capcom considered a megacorp? if so, then man- Do I have some bullshit to share. http://wireless.ign.com/articles/114/1143638p1.html I can't copy the article. I kinda relies on the picture. Short story: Capcom Mobile riped off Twisted Pixel. |
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Just call me Steve. ;) Twitter Page http://ds7gamestalk.blogspot.com/ | |
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| sheath | Jan 13 2011, 05:10 PM Post #340 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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I saw that, apparently they are now a mega-corp as that is the context of the entire issue. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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6:26 PM Jul 10