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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 (6,738 Views) | |
| Belpowerslave | May 7 2012, 01:40 PM Post #401 |
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http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/alternatives-60-video-games-192535376.html "Alternatives to $60 video games" Though it's almost a re-hash of that last article, I do like this one guy and what he says about trying to publish on the consoles: "That publishing model is like a 1950s record label," says Will Harbin, CEO of Kixeye, a free-to-play game publisher. "If I wanted to make a console game, I'd have to raise $50 million or have some BS relationship with a studio or hardware manufacturer. The Internet has, pillar by pillar, destroyed old industries and given consumers and publishers a direct one-to-one relationship. Pre-Internet helped the middle man, and we say f---- the middle man." I like that guy! Bel |
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| sheath | May 9 2012, 07:44 AM Post #402 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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EA needs to completely shift its business strategy to stop the stock decline. Hah, that will be the day. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-09-ea-stock-lowest-since-1999-but-analysts-remain-hopeful Wedbush and Cowen believe digital business will carry Electronic Arts to far greater success Electronic Arts www.ea.com Electronic Arts' stock price has fallen to its lowest point since 1999 amidst concerns over future earnings and player retention for its flagship MMO The Old Republic. The company closed the day's trading at $14.48 a share yesterday, a far cry from the $60 highs of 2005 and its lowest price in almost 13 years. In its recent financial results, EA showed year-on-year revenue growth, but projected a dip for fiscal 2013. In addition, it revealed that The Old Republic now has 1.3 million subscribers; significantly lower than the 1.7 million claimed by John Riccitiello in March. However, analyst firm Cowen And Company believes that the "negativity" around EA has "become significantly overdone," and expects the company's stock to outperform the market by 25 per cent over the next 12 months. Nevertheless, Cowen expects The Old Republic's subs-base to decline to just 1 million players by March 2013. Both Cowen and fellow analysts Wedbush attribute the concern around EA's revenue guidance to earlier, higher estimates from the company's management. Despite The Old Republic's disappointing performance, both analysts remain positive on EA's future, largely due to its strong, growing digital business. "We believe EA represents the best opportunity for investors to benefit from continued digital growth for the industry next year, as well as from a likely rebound in packaged goods sales next year," a statement from Wedbush read. "Therefore, we recommend that investors continue to accumulate shares of EA while they trade at a significant discount to our price target. "EA has suffered from management credibility problems in the past, and the reversal on revenue guidance will likely disillusion many investors... However, this time, we think that they are legitimately on track, and think that the company is positioned to deliver the kind of revenue and profit growth that will finally propel its shares significantly higher." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| Belpowerslave | May 9 2012, 08:45 AM Post #403 |
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Administrator
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I would just like to see it get so bad that they actually begin to sub-let the NFL license to other publishers....just to watch 2K Sports show up and hand them their ass, like they used to when they were allowed to use it. Bel |
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| sheath | May 11 2012, 07:02 AM Post #404 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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It just isn't getting old, reading these kinds of headlines is sweet. http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/sonys-fiscal-2012-results-820-million-loss-due-to-floods-ear/ Sony's financial results for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2012 are in, with the Japanese giant reporting year-over-year losses in revenue and operating losses that it attributes to "the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates, the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the floods in Thailand, and deterioration in market conditions in developed countries." Sony's fiscal 2012 ran from April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012, with the company reporting net revenue of ¥6.49 trillion ($79.1 billion), down 9.6 percent year-over-year from the ¥7.18 trillion (approx. $89 billion) reported at the end of fiscal 2010. After expenses, Sony reports an operating loss of ¥67.3 billion ($820 million), which is actually a smaller loss than that reported at the end of fiscal 2011 (¥199.8 billion/approx $2 billion). Year-over-year sales decreases were primarily due to Sony's Consumer Products & Services (CPS) and Professional, Device & Solutions (PDS) divisions, with CPS sales down 18.5 percent at ¥3.13 trillion ($38.2 billion) in 2012 vs. ¥3.84 trillion (approx. $48 billion) in 2011, resulting in an operating loss of ¥229.8 billion ($2.8 billion) – more than a 2,000 percent decrease from 2011's operating income of ¥10.8 billion (approx. $135 million). CPS encompasses Sony's consumer electronics sectors, including LCD TVs, PCs, photography solutions and, of course, gaming. Sony partially attributes CPS' decline in sales to "lower sales of PlayStation®3 hardware due to a strategic price reduction and lower sales of PlayStation®2 due to platform migration," among other reasons like deteriorating conditions in North American and European TV markets. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| Belpowerslave | May 11 2012, 10:16 AM Post #405 |
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Yeah, beat me to it: http://news.yahoo.com/sony-reports-record-annual-loss-061732622--finance.html "Sony Corp. racked up a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) in its fourth straight year of red ink as the once-glorious maker of the Walkman and PlayStation struggles toward a turnaround under a new president." You hear it so much, that you'd think that it'd be sinking in at some point: The Japanese are no longer the leaders in a lot of categories anymore. They just refuse to acknowledge this, and they're getting their asses handed to them because of it. I'm with that ex-Capcom guy, they need to get their asses in gear, look at what's working and try to keep up. I mean, think about it, when *US-made* games are whipping your ass, you know somethings going down. Another factor, imo, is that with videogames becoming a worldwide obsession(not just a Japanese one), you can't just cater to the Japanese market and expect dominate anymore. I love a good, wacky Japanese-made game and all...but, there are lot of people who want FPS games and the Japanese have yet to come up with one that rivals what the US devs can do. It's that whole superiority complex they've got going on...granted, over the 20+ years they've been dominating the game market, they've earned it...but it's finally time for them to open their eyes to the truth: Japanese games have been sucking for a while now. Bel |
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| sheath | May 14 2012, 07:31 AM Post #406 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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More good news this morning. Just think, this is in addition to the billions in losses per year while they kept the PS3 on the market at ~$400 per console less than the system cost to manufacture. Sega racked up maybe $1 billion in losses after the Saturn's discontinuation and the Dreamcast launch and we have all had to muddle through ten years of "Sega was stupid, Sony was smart" press because of it. Now it's Sony's turn. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-11-sony-corp-shares-hit-32-year-low Drop 7 per cent after it reported $5.7 billion annual loss Sony Sony Corporation Sony Corporation's worrying financial results have contributed to a 6.7 per cent drop in share price bringing them to ¥1,110, their lowest since 2008. "I didn't see anything positive in there," a US trader told Reuters. "There is really nothing in there that can justify buying the stock." "You see the loss narrowing in the TV business. That's fine, but I don't see any future in the TV business, so it doesn't matter what they do." The most recent financial reports have clearly made investors anxious. The Consumer Products and Services division alone saw an operating loss of $2.8 billion. "Sony is facing a lot of difficulties and the new president has not been able to produce a clear plan as to how he will turn around the company," Fukoku Capital Management's Yuuki Sakurai told the BBC. "The little that investors have heard, they are not very impressed with." The share price currently stands at ¥1,135 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| DarcSeven | May 25 2012, 09:13 AM Post #407 |
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I'm gonna sing the DOOM Song.
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This makes me sad. http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/24/report-38-studios-lays-off-entire-staff UPDATE: Following recent financial problems, the entire staff of 38 Studios has been laid off and Big Huge Games has been closed. Kotaku broke the news that layoffs were happening at Big Huge Games earlier today followed by a report from The Verge that 38 Studios has let go its entire staff. Now, WPRI in Rhode Island has confirmed the layoffs. According to WPRI, the following memo was sent to all 38 Studios employees earlier today: "The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary. These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary. This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012." |
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Just call me Steve. ;) Twitter Page http://ds7gamestalk.blogspot.com/ | |
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| DarcSeven | May 25 2012, 05:42 PM Post #408 |
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I'm gonna sing the DOOM Song.
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I know I usually leave the Sony bashing to Scott, but...sigh...this...I just- I can't- Fictional Wife, come talk to your son before I lose it.: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2012/05/25/sony-patent-pauses-games-advertising A new Sony patent will allow the company to pause your gameplay while it serves up advertising. Delightful. In the illustration submitted with the patent, cars are racing against other cars and some louder speakers or warning lights are show. The gameplay pauses and then a soda ad appears. After the ad is served the game resumes. Companies have tried subtle and not-so-subtle ways of advertising in games but this might be the most irritating way of handling it that we have seen. On the other hand advertiser-sponsored games could give players access to AAA titles without having to pay the premium prices usually associated with them. How Sony would use this type of patent (beyond irritating players) we do not know, but we'll keep you posted on it. http://media1.gameinformer.com/images/news/sonyadpatent.pdf I mean, I'm sure this one won't happen. Nintendo has dumbass patents like this that never see the light of day. This just gave me the facepalm of the day. Edited by DarcSeven, May 25 2012, 05:44 PM.
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Just call me Steve. ;) Twitter Page http://ds7gamestalk.blogspot.com/ | |
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| sheath | May 26 2012, 02:53 PM Post #409 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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-edit- Doh, you beat me to it, but still, this is actually happening. Way to go Sony, we all knew you never cared about the games. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-25-sony-patents-ads-that-can-pause-games Designed to stop and start game play while advert shows Invented by Gary M Zalewski and filed last July, the patented system is designed to suspend "playing of the interactive content," display an advert and then resume the game again. Players will get a warning that their game is about to stop. An example advert featured in the patent The specific text of the patent describes it as such: "A method for use in advertising includes initiating playing of interactive content, suspending playing go the interactive content, displaying an advertisement, and resuming playing of the interactive content." In the small print it adds that this advert could be initiated by a server signal to make sure all players see it simultaneously, which should prevent multiplayer fans getting hit with an inappropriate advert and being disadvantaged. It also notes that the same advert could be played on multiple client devices. While its easy to predict the outcry Sony would see if it introduced the system into triple-A titles, the scheme could work as part of a free-to-play business model.
Edited by sheath, May 26 2012, 03:08 PM.
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Jun 4 2012, 07:04 AM Post #410 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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I'm just not going to be sick of seeing the piranhas go after Sony's image. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-06-01-the-rise-and-fall-of-sony-part-2 Richard Browne continues his in-depth look at Sony's failings and how the future could indeed still be very bright Sony Computer Entertainment Yesterday, industry veteran and former Sony executive Richard Browne offered Part 1 of this special feature on Sony's rise to power in the video game business. In Part 2 below, Richard looks at the many problems encountered with PlayStation 3, the impact of Microsoft and Xbox Live, Vita's early struggles, and he also offers a potential solution for how Sony can get its mojo back. The PS3 : Did Sony blink? The PS3 story is one full of fascinating twists and turns but in the overall scope of things the machine was as influenced by Microsoft and it was by Sony themselves. Sony was never one to toe the line in hardware design, and the PS3 set off on a journey that would somewhat be prematurely ended, and one that led to a great deal of difficulty for everyone who came into contact with it. The cell chip was ambitious, somewhat ingenious, and something that developers had never had to deal with before. With an eight core parallel processing unit that initially didn't have great software tools to aid the division of labor, it took an awful lot of understanding. Sony at least understood that and got the cell development kit out to developers before the PS3 itself even had a GPU. The GPU was in a whole different world of problems. Sony's own proprietary system being developed with IBM wasn't working out, or if it was it wasn't going to be developed on the new schedule the machine was being targeted toward. Microsoft had lost a lot of money on the Xbox. In many circles discussion shifted away from when Microsoft would launch a successor to their first machine to whether they would at all. But when Xenon development kits started arriving, the reality of the date of the 360 became apparent. Beyond that, despite Microsoft's financial issues with the Xbox they had introduced something that had changed the face of gaming: Xbox Live. When Project Gotham 2 launched and showed how properly integrated multiplayer services could change gaming experiences Sony found themselves on the end of a problem that they were probably not well equipped to solve. PS2 multiplayer had been problematic at best... add-on peripheral requirements, multiple bandwidth alternatives and no central system. PS2 multiplayer was difficult to implement and somewhat arbitrary. With Xbox Live Microsoft had changed the game. The PS3 wasn't going to be ready in the timeframe of the 360, not from a hardware perspective and not from a software perspective. But Sony decided that even with almost total control of the marketplace with PS2 it had to pull the machine in to compete with the 360. This had huge ramifications for Sony. The GPU solution that was being worked on would have to be shelved and a relatively off the shelf GPU put in to replace it; in the end, one has to think the PS3 GPU bottlenecks that exist today were a result of that call. More impactful in the real world, it meant that the cost of the machine, for both Sony and for customers at retail, was going to be much higher. Blu-ray was still a very expensive storage solution but one that Sony was banking on. High price or not, the PS3 had to have it. HDMI output was another costly standard. When development kits finally arrived in full form with developers the machine was an absolute handful. The three processor solution of the 360 was far easier to cope with and far easier to understand than the central processors supported by the cell chip with its seven cores and SPURS (SPU Runtime System), limited memory and the ease of stalling the system causing multiple headaches in getting the machine to run smoothly. Moreover, many developers had underestimated exactly how hard it would be to port from the 360 to the PS3; more than one developer had all but ignored the original cell development kits, preferring to wait for the GPU outfitted kit. But initially porting from 360 to PS3 was the only option. When Sony blinked and set the PS3 date, the development community shifted to being next-gen focused, and the days of the PS2 were going to be left behind. The question that still vexes me to this day is what would have happened had Sony stayed on its original schedule for the PS3. There's no question that the hi-def 360 was turning heads, and there's no question that the lure of Live was a compelling argument for people to switch allegiance, but in the PS2 Sony had a huge installed base headed toward 100m and there was no question of any publisher abandoning the PS2 for a new platform with zero installed base. That's not to say that publishers wouldn't have developed software in quantity for the 360, but as with some of the early 360 multiplatform games they would have been PS2 ports (with resolution bump) rather than fully fledged 360 exclusives. A year is an awful long time in the console world though, and Sony was already going to be battling against some form of installed base from Microsoft. Sony made their decision and the PS3 launched not only behind the 360 but at great expense to both the corporation and consumer; not since the disaster of 3DO had a machine been launched at such a high price. Beyond that, nearly all the cross platform software was inferior and their online experience while free was not as well formed (or, as it turned out, as secure) as Microsoft's now relatively mature Live platform. To be absolutely fair to Sony, through hard work and aided by some extreme brand loyalty, especially in Europe and Japan, the system has matured and despite some hiccups along the way has become successful, if a long way from the dominance of the PS2. To that end, Microsoft deserves an awful lot of credit with what they've done with the 360 and the revolution and revelation that is Live. The Vita - hubris or cultural blindness With the PS3 finally faring OK in the marketplace Sony turned their attention to regaining some traction in the portable gaming market. The PSP had continued to turn decent numbers in Japan; with the iteration of hit titles like Monster Hunter it continued to show the machine had legs in its native territory. Hardware sales over the years had continued in the West to be reasonable as well, though software sales had for most titles slowed to the point where supporting the system no longer became viable. From a third-party perspective the PSP was never a great success, something that left most people in bemusement when the Vita made its first appearance on the scene. Since the days of the PSP, the mobile gaming market had shifted remarkably. The advent of the iPhone had materially changed both what portable games meant and what prices people were willing to pay for them. Nintendo had moved from DS to 3DS and even with its new screen it hit significant problems in this area; the 3DS was nothing but a mild curiosity to many until last Christmas when the lure of a strong slate of Nintendo first-party software launches lured consumers back to Nintendo. Vita came along with eerily similar promises to the PSP; it would be a PS3 in your pocket, it would have a proprietary storage system and, more interestingly to me, the same flawed ergonomic design. Once again Sony had gone down the path of a non-pocket sized device. The comparison that was offered was that it was more akin to the iPad conceptually, but unfortunately that also led back to the same problem that the PSP suffered from - it wasn't portable, it was a platform for the home on the couch (where iPads are also most used). Unlike the PSP, there was to be no problem with having parallel experiences on the Vita and PS3, and indeed, a large part of Sony's marketing campaign has actively pushed the concept of saving the game on your PS3 and starting where you left off wherever you are with your Vita. Alas, that contradicts itself, unless you want people to sit on a couch playing the PS3 game that's also right in front of them. From all I know, this initial pitch was derided by pretty much everyone; it was not what publishers had expected. The early rumors about Vita suggested that it was going to be a phone, with carriers brought in to subsidize the hardware, a totally digital eco-system with no traditional retail components. After all, the PSP Go had pioneered this concept already, but found itself hamstrung by the need for the machine to be distributed by the retailers that digital software delivery was meant to make irrelevant. People's expectations of on the go software had also changed. Entertainment is time and in this day and age there is far more entertainment available than can be consumed in the hours people have available; moreover, a lot of it is either free or extremely cheap. Sony was saying they were bringing to market basically a revamped PSP and nobody was terribly happy about it. The machine needed to be a phone, the machine needed to be distributed through alternative channels (carriers), it needed to fit in your pocket, it needed to solely be supplied via digital channels and with onboard storage large enough to store apps and games. Those games should not necessarily be immense blockbusters with high development costs, but should range in price the way the App Store does. The message from the West was quite clear. In Japan the message was clearly not being heard. The message was clearly sent, the response back was to stay on target. The PSP was successful in Japan, continued to be successful and even now has been shown to actually outsell the newer machine (how much of that is down to demand or available stock this past Christmas is debatable) thanks to certain software availability. The gamer in Japan is still very much a core market that will play PSP, DS, 3DS and in time possibly Vita when the core IP that propelled the PSP to great success becomes available. In the West, though, that has not proven the case and the Vita is almost DOA. Sony has been very cautious with giving exact numbers of units sold, but it's evident from publisher and developer support that the future of the Vita is very much a problem for Sony. That is not to say the machine isn't beautiful, functional and downright desirable in a certain light. But in a world of freemium and 99-cent games to play while sitting on a bus on a device that sits in my pocket and easily handles the rest of my busy life, carrying a Vita along as well is a big ask, as is asking me to spend $40 on software that frankly I'd rather play at home on my HDTV. Uncharted as the killer app for the platform was stunning as a showpiece for the technology, but also was clear a message as could be sent that Sony doesn't understand where the portable gaming market has gone. And without IP as perennial as Nintendo, it's truly difficult to see how the Vita can be made relevant in today's market. The Future - Can Sony Rise Again? The question of Sony's ability to rise to the forefront of the games industry has an even greater weight than ever before; it's not just Sony Computer Entertainment that's fallen from grace, but it's Sony as a Corporation. With mounting losses, an uncompetitive core electronics business, more and more Sony has become as much a purveyor of entertainment as it is a consumer electronics company of the past. "They have to define that lifestyle connection that they did so well with the PlayStation, but now they have to revitalize the company around it in everything they do" With Kaz Hirai now taking charge at what can only be described as an awkward time - after all, Sony's fortunes are not good and at the end of the day the Vita has his name on it - there are a host of questions of whether or not Sony can become relevant again. They've lost the portable music player space, they've lost the TV space, they're losing the video game battle... just where does Sony go now? The Vision - "My Sony Life" Jack of all trades, master of none... to a great extent this is what Sony has become. At one time or another they've been on top of the game wherever they played, but right now that's all in the past and the only end game for Sony is to focus, streamline and merge their efforts into one concerted effort at rebuilding their brand and their relationship with the consumer. They have to define that lifestyle connection that they did so well with the PlayStation, but now they have to revitalize the company around it in everything they do. My Sony Life is all about connecting each of their devices to each of their consumers and each of their consumers to one another in a single software solution, a software solution powered by their hardware. To this there are many elements in the Sony empire. |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Jun 17 2012, 01:05 PM Post #411 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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EA can take it too. Entire articles are being published about how bad EA is trying to reverse the image? Time will tell. http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/14/why-do-people-hate-ea Why Do People 'Hate' EA? Seriously? What is that all about? We asked EA. by Colin Campbell June 14, 2012 Why do people hate EA? When I say 'people,' I mean 'some people,' some of the time -- a minority. And when I say 'hate' I mean mostly the writing of mean things on the internet. This brand, this company, this group of people, creates some of the best and biggest games in the world with an average Metacritic rating that’s high and rising. It is profitable, but not outrageously so, and is under-valued by the stock market. So how has it managed to create enough ill-will to be voted the worst company in America? And even if it wasnt, even if we put that down to a temporary 'Mass Effect ending' negative blip that everyone has already forgotten about, there’s no doubt that ‘EA Hate’ is a thing. I wanted to talk about this with Peter Moore, EA’s COO and he was big enough to tackle the uncomfortable question head on. It’s obvious that the whole issue bugs the hell out of him, and other people who work at EA and who care about EA as an entity. “It's painful when you read that commentary. The vitriol is hard on the teams. They read this stuff, their neighbors ask them about it. You probably saw the video, EA in a Nutshell. It portrays us as a money-grubbing monolith, gouging. And you just want to say... really...we are The Man? Unfortunately, I've always learned that the tallest trees catch the most wind.” Of course, there’s no doubt that EA does silly things and makes dumb mistakes, as do all large companies. The point of this question isn’t really to exonerate EA for every foolish or greedy thing it’s ever done, but to investigate the depth of emotion that the company attracts -- to try to understand why. More at the link |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Jul 3 2012, 07:32 AM Post #412 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Hmm, Sony bought Gaikai for 380 million dollars. Buckle up kids and get ready for mandatory super high speed internet and even more controller lag than Sony made the norm with the PS2. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-03-sony-acquisition-of-gaikai-a-genius-move |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Jul 23 2012, 07:37 AM Post #413 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Yup, even when they get busted it's too late for it to matter. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-23-ea-settles-USD27m-madden-monopoly-lawsuit Banned from signing new NCAA deal for 5 years, must refund consumers EA has settled a class action lawsuit that claimed its exclusive rights to NFL Football were an illegal monopoly. The $27 million settlement means a restriction on further exclusive deals between EA and the NCAA, and a minimal refund for consumers. Kotaku reports EA now has a five year ban on signing another exclusive deal with the NCAA. This doesn't mean that when its current deal ends in 2014 EA can't continue to make titles like its mega hit Madden, it just can't do it exclusively. Meanwhile the $27 million will go to consumers who bought an NFL, NFLPA. NCAA or AFL title after 2005, and on Xbox 360, Wii or PS3 and those who bought a game on PS2, GameCube or Xbox, who can claim either $1.95 or $6.79 respectively. Analyst Michael Pachter thought it seemed unlikely this would mean a sudden surge in new American sports titles from other publishers. "Take-Two Interactive was burned by Major League Baseball, and only Konami and Take-Two make sports games (soccer and NBA, respectively)," he told GamesBeat. "Nobody wants to compete with [Electronic Arts]." The lawsuit was filed in July 2008, and open to all who had purchased a Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football League between January 1 2005 and the present. "Plaintiffs in the case are purchasers of Electronic Arts football video games, and they claim that Defendant Electronic Arts entered into a series of exclusive licenses with the National Football League (NFL), National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and Arena Football League (AFL), which plaintiffs claim foreclosed competition in an alleged football video game market." In 2011 EA renegotiated its exclusive NFL Madden deal, reportedly requesting a $30 million reduction in the price because of disputes between the NFL and its players. Edited by sheath, Jul 23 2012, 07:38 AM.
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Aug 16 2012, 11:02 AM Post #414 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Er, apparently megacorps are bad for civilization as we know it. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-08-16-ea-drops-all-weapon-ads-associated-with-moh Eurogamer article causes publisher to pull links to real-life guns and blades Electronic Arts ea.com Electronic Arts has pulled all of the advertisements and links associated with real-world weaponry from its Medal of Honor website, in response to articles posted about the offers on Eurogamer and The Gameological Society. Previously, ads and blog posts on the game's website had linked to 'sponsors' selling weapons and equipment featured in Medal of Honor - including a custom-built Tomahawk and a tactical sniper rifle kit. Also linked were several blogs detailing the equipment on offer - such as silencers, muzzle brakes and clothing - with videos of executive producer Greg Goodrich testing them. When Gameological wrote an editorial about the offers, calling into question the wisdom of selling weapons to people who'd been practising using them to kill people competitively, the program was already in full swing, having been announced in June. Then, however, the story had been given a different gloss by EA PR, with press releases focused on the cut of the profits which would be going to help armed forces veterans. Eurogamer's piece, by ex-editor and current operations director Tom Bramwell, added an even more bemused European angle to the criticism. Yesterday, speaking to Eurogamer's Martin Robinson at Gamescom, Goodrich said that the links had been removed in response the outcry. "The Voodoo Tomahawk has since been removed from our website because of the article," said Goodrich, referring to Bramwell's editorial. "That was an effort to raise a lot of money for charity, and we were well on our way to raising a lot of money with that tomahawk, but I don't know what will happen with that now," he added. "That whole effort, we've been working with those partners because we wanted to be authentic, and we wanted to give back to the communities. Every one of those partners, none of them paid a dime for product placement - all the money generated went to Project Honor." Goodrich was also keen to point out that, usually, gaming press are fully in favour of emphasising the disconnect between fantasy and reality when it comes to play causing violent behaviour. "It's an experience, and it's a video game, and they're going on that journey and learning about these group of people. It doesn't mean that they have any less respect for these. Maybe it's a cultural thing. "If I played Need for Speed, and I'm handed the key to a Porsche, does that make me want to get in it and drive like a maniac and run people over? No, I played a game, and now I'm drivng a car in real life but I'm not going to go crazy with it because I played a video game. "In a first-person shooter we're not teaching someone how to shoot better or be a better operator just by playing a game. It doesn't compute, just like when I play John Madden football I can't expect win the Super Bowl just because I played a video game." |
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| sheath | Aug 21 2012, 10:52 AM Post #415 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Ah how the mighty have fallen. Does anybody think that we will have ten plus years of journalistic interpretations of history based solely on all of EA's missteps? No, of course we won't. http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/08/18/1643240/electronic-arts-up-for-sale?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed John Wagger writes "One of the world's largest gaming publishers and developers Electronic Arts has quietly put itself up for sale. While there have already been talks with private equity companies, the talks have not resulted in anything concrete. One of the sources is saying that EA would do the deal for $20 per share (currently at $14.02). Over the past year, EA's stock price has fallen 37 percent. Like other major game publishers, EA has been struggling against growing trend of social and mobile gaming." |
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www.gamepilgrimage.com Buy the games of yore before they are no more
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| sheath | Oct 7 2012, 05:48 PM Post #416 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Apparently not even the incredibly awesome "Kevin Butler" can survive Sony's anti-competitive business. How dare you use something Sony had anything to do with Mr, er, Lambert. Sony owns every thing it has ever had any influence over absolutely. http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/07/sony-kevin-butler-actor-in-lawsuit-over-breach-of-contract/ Sony filed a lawsuit implicating Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays Kevin Butler, Sony's high-energy, aggressive spokesman and fake VP of whatever happens to be relevant. Sony's claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship, senior director of corporate communications Dan Race writes in a statement to VentureBeat. Early in September, images and video of Lambert in Bridgestone Tires' "Game On" promotion gained traction online, wherein Lambert is playing a Wii and over-acting in a style similar to his Kevin Butler character. Lambert appeared in Bridgestone commercials as early as February. On September 11, Sony filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone Tires and Wildcat Creek, an advertising agency for which Lambert is actually president. Since the filing, Lambert has been removed from the most recent Bridgestone ads. The Game On promotion ended on September 30. "We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he's become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years," Sony's statement says. "Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony's intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony." Lambert and Sony reached an agreement on September 26, and Sony has until October 12 to officially withdraw the suit or announce it will continue forward. NeoGAF member Takao has a detailed breakdown of the entire lawsuit. |
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| sheath | Nov 4 2012, 06:08 PM Post #417 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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The game media is corrupt?! Puh-Shaw. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-11-02-the-games-media-must-renew-the-trust-of-its-audience A culture of casual corruption has become ingrained in the games media - but this week's scandals give us a golden chance to change It's been a pretty rough week for the games media. For those not keeping tabs, in the wake of an article on Eurogamer by writer Rab Florence decrying cosy relationships between games journalists and PR people, one of the writers named in the piece, Lauren Wainwright, threatened the site with legal action, resulting in the editing of the article - an act which led, predictably, to it being vastly more widely read and disseminated than it would have been otherwise. Reactions have been intense and polarised, from those taking this as proof that all games journalism is deeply corrupt, through to those accusing Florence of effectively bullying the writers named in his piece and of making a mountain out of something which barely qualifies as a molehill. Mud has been flung. Names have been called. It's all been rather depressing and squalid. The sad thing is that in this silly, completely avoidable storm of outrage, Florence's original point seemed to have been lost - much to the relief of a cadre of games media who react aggressively to any accusations of impropriety, precisely because they know their actions would not stand up to the slightest scrutiny. A few people have wondered out loud why on earth Wainwright's industry colleagues did not talk her out of actions which anyone with media experience would have recognised as a path to disaster; I cannot help but consider how convenient it was for many people that Wainwright foolishly and unfairly became cast as the sole villain of the piece, providing a focus away from the industry's wider practices. Florence himself is a divisive figure - abrasive, sometimes to the point of skirting on being abusive - and his decision to "name names" in his article, even though those names were cited based on their public pronouncements on Twitter, has also been deeply divisive. Perhaps his critics are right to say that he went about this the wrong way. However, one thing is perfectly clear to me, at least - whatever about Florence's methods, the point he was making was absolutely straightforward and completely correct. "There is a deep and fundamental lack of professional ethics in the games media." There is a deep and fundamental lack of professional ethics in the games media. It is not overt corruption, of the "you give us this review score, we'll give you this advertising deal" style conspiracy so beloved of suspicious commenters on Internet forums - that happens, but it is rare, confined to a certain minority of publications, and utterly despised and decried by the vast majority of writers and publishers. Rather, it is a matter of culture - a culture of how writers and publishers deal with PR people, and of how permeable (indeed, non-existent) the barrier between those professions is. It is a culture in which writers vie to win places on the most lavish press trips (and those PR people who always lay on great side entertainment and keep their cards behind the hotel bar until the small hours of the morning are well known and well liked), brag about their most beloved freebies and exclusive swag, and cultivate personal friendships with PR people, going for nights out with them, or to concerts or football matches. It is a culture that is so absolutely ingrained in this industry that a great many writers (and PR people) would probably read the above paragraph, eyes rolling in their heads, and say "yeah, so what?". We are, as an industry, like a third world country where corruption has become so endemic that it's "just how things are done", and where the locals look at you askance if you suggest that their practices contravene some kind of morality or ethics. "It's just how we do things." As if that excuses anything. Plenty of other excuses are trotted out. A common one is that "we're clever enough not to be influenced by any of this"; there's often a sense within the games media of back-slapping over getting as much as possible out of a PR person's credit card and access to gaming swag, of "getting one over" the publisher. It's nonsense, of course; publishers are canny, and they account for every dollar, measuring the influence it buys, the swings in positivity in press coverage, the boost in Metacritic scores. The entire reason they're willing to spend so much on PR is because it's a subtle form of influence, but an entirely measurable and valuable one all the same. "Publishers are canny, and they account for every dollar, measuring the influence it buys, the swings in positivity in press coverage, the boost in Metacritic scores." The reaction to Rab Florence's piece from within the game media has been telling. Initially, it was also very depressing. The loudest voices were those essentially shouting down any debate or discussion - and some of them were from very senior figures in the games media. Social media feeds filled up with snide comments which rarely addressed any of the issues head-on, but rather attempted to deride the discussion itself. "It's just games journalism, it's not important, can't you focus on something that's actually important?", went one common line of argument. "Oh god, more games media navel gazing," sneered another regular stalwart of discussion. Let's get this clear. People who make these arguments are saying, in a nutshell, that games media - a multi-million dollar field in its own right, one which employs a lot of people (in the thousands worldwide, I'm sure) and which in fact pays the salaries of the very people making these comments - isn't important enough for its ethics to be worthy of discussion. In other words, the games media is just important enough to pay their salaries (and quite bloody large salaries too, in the case of some people who hammered at this line of argument), but not important enough to warrant any scrutiny. How terribly convenient! What a wonderfully useful middle ground this profession falls into, in which it is serious enough to pay your wages but yet so frivolous as to warrant no discussion of your ethics! Besides, the games media does matter, even if sometimes it wishes, perversely, that it didn't. In financial terms alone, it matters gravely. The tone of coverage around a forthcoming release in major publications can shift the share prices of publicly traded corporations by tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Review scores, aggregated on Metacritic, not only influence retailer stocking decisions and publisher share prices, but can also trigger payouts of bonuses for development staff. This isn't all abstract stuff; most publishers give their rank and file staff share options. Words written on sites like IGN, or Gamespot, or Eurogamer, can directly impact the finances of other people working in the industry, or even their future prospects of employment; media coverage is also taken into account when publishers make their crucial decisions on which studios to shut and which to keep alive. Anyone arguing that the ethics of an industry with such wide-reaching effects aren't worthy of discussion is someone whose motives need to be questioned. "The games media does matter, even if sometimes it wishes, perversely, that it didn't. In financial terms alone, it matters gravely." Something worthy of highlighting in the preceding paragraphs is this - we're not really talking about newcomers and wet-behind-the-ears kids here. In fact, I have a large degree of sympathy for Wainwright, who has had her professional practices and ethics ripped open and dissected by an often abusive and unpleasant band of self-styled Internet sleuths over the past week. She is a young and inexperienced writer, and honestly, young writers who come into this culture haven't got a hope; when all of your peers merrily eat, drink and holiday on PR cards, post pictures of their latest swag on Facebook or Twitter, and occasionally saunter down to a trade-in shop to cash in the stacks of free games they've accumulated, when all of this is seen as perfectly normal and reasonable, what hope has a young writer of emerging without a jaundiced ethical viewpoint? This is why the discussion which emerges from this has to be about culture, not individuals - because the culture which permits and encourages this action comes from the top. Indeed, it is often the older, more experienced and more senior staff - often, in fact, those who have left behind journalism and moved into publishing roles - who are most to blame. They're the most egregious abusers of the system, the most enthusiastic consumers of corporate hospitality and the countless bounties of PR credit cards; in some cases, even the most willing to accept outright bribery, in the form of genuine free holidays, press trips to exotic locations where they are not even expected to turn up to the events or write any copy. They encourage staff further down the chain to mirror their lack of ethics, because otherwise their activities would stand out and be commented upon. What, did you really think that in an ethical, honest media company, a young writer could simply take it upon themselves to accept gifts, freebies and lavish trips? The decision to endorse and encourage that comes from much higher up, and it is much higher up that culture must change. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"; I've heard plenty of variations on that this week, too. It's a useful term when trying to stop a village of backwards peasants from murdering a woman, but in the hands of those who stand to lose from whistleblowing and honesty, it becomes an odious and weaselly defence. Sometimes those who have sinned are the only people who know where to aim the stones. We are truly speaking of a pervasive culture - few writers could claim to have a clean report card. I certainly can't. I've been on trips that were much too lavish for their purposes, attended plenty of launch parties and eaten a fair few free dinners. It took exposure to the wider world of journalism, and how codes of ethics work elsewhere (especially in financial journalism, which some of my work now borders upon and which has especially strict standards) to realise that this wasn't normal, wasn't acceptable, and was in fact outright wrong in many cases. Withdrawing from this kind of culture hasn't always been easy; it's meant turning down a fair bit of work, and I know few of my peers ever have the luxury of doing that. Hence why this culture must change, not just individuals. "Withdrawing from this kind of culture hasn't always been easy; it's meant turning down a fair bit of work." After the storm, there are rays of sunlight through the clouds. A few days ago I feared that nothing would be learned from this utter debacle; positions seemed too entrenched, hearts too hardened. It has been wonderful, then, to see some journalists and publications openly stating that they have come to understand how important it is that they should at least consider the public perception of their actions, and that their practices must change. There will be a struggle for those practices to settle into something acceptable; I think, for example, that some people go too far in calling for outlets to buy their own copies of games or their own flights to events (these are things which are requirements of the job; teachers aren't required to buy their own blackboards), but perhaps there are middle grounds to be reached on such issues. What matters is that there must be a discussion of them - a clear, public, transparent discussion, where writers and readers alike engage and rebuild a spirit of trust that's better than what came before. Some will argue that it's only the good, trustworthy writers and outlets who are engaged in this process anyway, but that's fine. If they can place more clear blue water between themselves and the murkier end of journalism - the end where endless PR hospitality really does often go hand in hand with dodgy deals over scores and exclusives - then that's all for the better. And if they create a culture where new young writers entering the media who accept a lavish night out on a PR credit card receive from their editors a slap on the wrist rather than a pat on the back, they'll have achieved something which I, being a cynic, never thought would happen in this industry. I'd raise a glass to that - and I'd pay for the beer in it myself. |
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| sheath | Nov 22 2012, 07:18 AM Post #418 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Sony's credit rating is downgraded below investment status. Good bye you miserable anti-competitive megacorp! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-22/sony-panasonic-credit-rating-cut-to-speculative-grade.html " Sony, Panasonic Credit Rating Cut to Speculative Grade By Naoko Fujimura and Terje Langeland - Nov 22, 2012 4:11 AM CT Sony Corp. (6758) and Panasonic Corp. (6752), the Japanese electronics makers reeling from record losses, had their credit ratings cut to junk for the first time by Fitch Ratings amid slumping demand for their televisions. Sony’s rating was cut by three levels to BB-, three steps below investment grade, and Panasonic by two levels to BB, with the outlook on both companies being negative, Fitch said in separate statements today. Both companies had their short-term ratings reduced to B from F3. " More at link |
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| sheath | Dec 18 2012, 08:56 AM Post #419 |
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I have been, and remain, non-sequitur
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Electronic Arts falls from NASDAQ 100: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-12-17-ea-dropped-from-nasdaq-100 Madden publisher falls from the the exchange's list of largest non-financial companies The NASDAQ exchange is giving Electronic Arts a lump of coal for Christmas, dropping the publisher from its NASDAQ-100 Index effective December 24. The index is a collection of the 100 largest non-financial stocks (based on market capitalization) listed on the NASDAQ exchange, and is adjusted each December. This year's readjustment will see a bit of churn, with 10 companies falling off the index. Joining Electronic Arts on the way out are a handful of stumbling companies including Netflix and Blackberry-maker Research in Motion. The companies replacing them include storage specialists Western Digital, data center operator Equinix, and Liberty Media Corporation (owner of Starz and the Atlanta Braves). Though EA is gone, the NASDAQ-100 retains a handful of companies with gaming interests, including Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Intel, Google, and Apple. |
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| DarcSeven | Jan 3 2013, 08:50 PM Post #420 |
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I'm gonna sing the DOOM Song.
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...*sigh* Fictional Wife, can you deal with your son again? I fear I might spank him too hard. -_- http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/03/report-new-sony-patent-blocks-second-hand-games "Sony has reportedly patented technology that will prevent the use of second hand games on consoles. According to NeoGAF member gofreak, the patent application was filed on 9 December 2012 by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, and will work by linking individual game discs to a user's account without requiring a network connection meaning any future attempt to use this disc on another user's console won't work. The patent explains that games will come with contactless tags that will be read by your console in much the same way as modern bank cards. When a disc is first used, the disc ID and player ID will be stored on the tag. Every time the disc is used in future, the tag will check if the two ID’s match up and, if not, then the disc won’t work. The document goes on to explain that such a device is part of Sony's ongoing efforts to deter second-hand games sales, and is a far simpler solution than always-on DRM or passwords. It's worth noting that Sony has not confirmed the existence of the device, and the patent doesn't state what machine it will be used in, with later paragraphs also mentioning accessories and peripherals. It does raise some concerns though. Firstly, the impact on game rental stores would be catastrophic as surely this means they'd no longer be able to do business? Given publishers' usual desire to keep retailers sweet by not undercutting them on prices and the like, this would be an unusual move. There's also the issue of what happens should your console break and need replacing, or if you have more than one console. Will the games be linked to your PSN account, meaning they can still be used, or the console, meaning an entire new library of titles would need to be purchased? IGN reached out to Sony for comment but was told the company doesn't comment on rumour and speculation." |
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Just call me Steve. ;) Twitter Page http://ds7gamestalk.blogspot.com/ | |
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6:26 PM Jul 10