- Sega Sammy reports $499m loss. They look more and more like a split up or takeover target, despite what they say. With a chest full of top IP they could be doing a whole lot better.Â
- Sony videogame unit still running at a loss. This is why they can’t compete with Microsoft on console price and comes despite Sony’s manufacturing cost prowess. Cell and BluRay just cost too much.
- Electronic Arts makes big losses as well. They need to be very careful. If the stock price depresses they will make an even more tempting target and there are a lot of predators around for game companies just now. They have big plans for the current year, let’s hope they work.
- Very strange Austrian Playstation PS3 advert. One of the weirdest things I have seen in 30 years in the industry. You would wonder what they are trying to say and who they are trying to say it to.
- EA to buy Rupture social networking site? Makes perfect sense as social networking and gaming converge. It could be for Warhammer online, but one would have thought that the EA Mythic guys would have their social networking technology bolted down by now.
- Craig Ferguson, host of the Late Late Show on CBS, has a nice monologue on GTA IV . Further proof that more of the popular media are coming to grips with the social significance of gaming.
- More evidence of Microsoft Xbox “Newton” motion controller. As “Calibration options for motion sensor devices” features in leaked list of spring update features. And Microsoft are still hedging their denials.
- “I would say without hesitation that our quality is going to be up this year versus the prior year“. A quote from Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. And he is so right. There is no room for rubbish games, shoddy conversions and shovelware. We charge the public a lot of money for these games and they deserve quality and value for their hard earned cash. Riccitiello wants to get their avarage Metacritic over 80, which is just about right.
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With regards to the quality of software and metacritic. I tend to use the user scores as a guide rather than the critics scores, as they are harder to fix. If it’s getting good user scores then you know that it is good because people have paid for the games and will not hold back on their criticism.
I think that most of the big games review sites are biassed, because they are dependant on advertising from the companies whose products they are reviewing Look at the whole Kane and Lynch / Gamespot fiasco at the end of last year.
I listen to the 1up podcasts (GFW Radio and 1up Yours) and they have spoken about the pressure from games publisher to give good reviews. They are no longer receiving copies of ubisoft games because they didn’t like some of the reviews they were getting.
As far as print reviews go I only buy one magazine these days and that’s Edge. More for the articles than the reviews though.
Oh and if anyone has a Wii I can heartily recommend Boom Blox. It’s very enjoyable, it’s even stopped me playing GTA on my PS3 for the past couple of nights.
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I’ve stopped reading reviews and just keep an eye on (good) games forums. Edge isn’t worth bothering with now with the standard of the articles dropping heavily from it’s old best.
I just got Boom Blox in the post today. Looking forward to it. When will the work day end?!??