In an interesting journalistic move, console gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly has been banned from further writing about any content specifically regarding game companies Ubisoft, Midway and Sony's sports game division. Apparently this was done in the response to a column from Editor-in-chief Dan "Shoe" Hsu
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Showing posts with label Ubisoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ubisoft. Show all posts
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, November 19, 2007
Jade Raymond: Caught In The Crossfire
From Angry Pixel:
After a tasteless comic of Jade Raymond surfaced online, it looks like the person who delivered one of this year's best games is caught in a controversy that has most gamers pointing their fingers at perverted gamers and UbiSoft. The Angry Pixel looks at the issue from Jade's perspective and how people can make stuff up just because they can.
My two cents: I'm not going to comment on the comic. Haven't seen it. Don't care to. I am going to comment on the idea that Jade Raymond is where she is because she's pretty not because she has talent. While I am sure that it doesn't hurt to have someone attractive representing your game to the media, Jade has a proven track record in game development. It bothers me because if she were a guy, gender wouldn't be an issue. It bothers me because from my own experience people tend to make assumptions based on appearances and because of that I feel like I have to work harder than anyone else. If I am the best at what I do, then no one can say that I am where I am because I am this that or the other thing. Everyone should say that I earned it.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Why it makes sense for Bungie to break away from Microsoft
There has been a whole lot of discussion about the possibility of Bungie leaving Microsoft. Some of the feedback from the community has been "they can't leave Microsoft owns them" or "why would Microsoft let them leave".
This is only my opinion and not based on any knowledge specific situation.
The idea of Bungie breaking away is plausible because Microsoft owns Halo, not Bungie. The company was acquired in 2000 by Microsoft to ensure the development of quality games to launch a little system called the Xbox.
If, and this is a big if, the developers at Bungie could buy their way out of their agreement with Microsoft then they would be free to develop games for other consoles.
I am sure they would come back to do Halo 4 , but I would bet that Sony would love to have them develop an A-list exclusive for them as well. Looking at the success of companies like UbiSoft and Epic has to have the folks at Bungie wondering what are they leaving on the table as far as dollars go being tied to Microsoft. This could also be a win in the short term for Microsoft because they may retain the distribution and publishing rights to select future titles for a timed period after the split.
This is only my opinion and not based on any knowledge specific situation.
The idea of Bungie breaking away is plausible because Microsoft owns Halo, not Bungie. The company was acquired in 2000 by Microsoft to ensure the development of quality games to launch a little system called the Xbox.
If, and this is a big if, the developers at Bungie could buy their way out of their agreement with Microsoft then they would be free to develop games for other consoles.
I am sure they would come back to do Halo 4 , but I would bet that Sony would love to have them develop an A-list exclusive for them as well. Looking at the success of companies like UbiSoft and Epic has to have the folks at Bungie wondering what are they leaving on the table as far as dollars go being tied to Microsoft. This could also be a win in the short term for Microsoft because they may retain the distribution and publishing rights to select future titles for a timed period after the split.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Friend or Foe? EA and Ubisoft
In late 2004/early 2005, Electronic Arts(EA) made a bid to buy an almost 20% stake in publisher UbiSoft. Understandably, UbiSoft feared a hostile takeover by one of its biggest rivals. A move to merge the two companies together would greatly benefit EA who hasn't had great success developing anything other than sports games. Initially Ubisoft expressed great concern about a potential takeover, especially since that stock purchase gave EA considerable voting rights, approximately 18% voting interest.
While it isn't abnormal for companies to invest in other companies via stock purchases, it raises a lot of eyebrows when a company buys stock in a competitor. When Microsoft made an investment in Apple in the late 90's, there were lots of questions to be answered and that was for a purchase of non-voting stock.
In the last few days, it has been reported that EA now has voting rights even greater than the founders of the company. This essentially means that EA has greater influence on the activities of UbiSoft's board. Of course, they have gone on record as saying that they had no intention of nominating anyone to the board, but reserved the right to do so.
It is going to be very interesting to see how these events play out in this generation of games. If EA continues to be weak at developing its own intellectual property (IP), they have enough cash and influence on UbiSoft's board to take over.
Should UbiSoft be concerned with these developments? Analysts are saying not to worry, but if I were one of the original founders, I would start looking for a big dog to get the fox out the henhouse.
While it isn't abnormal for companies to invest in other companies via stock purchases, it raises a lot of eyebrows when a company buys stock in a competitor. When Microsoft made an investment in Apple in the late 90's, there were lots of questions to be answered and that was for a purchase of non-voting stock.
In the last few days, it has been reported that EA now has voting rights even greater than the founders of the company. This essentially means that EA has greater influence on the activities of UbiSoft's board. Of course, they have gone on record as saying that they had no intention of nominating anyone to the board, but reserved the right to do so.
It is going to be very interesting to see how these events play out in this generation of games. If EA continues to be weak at developing its own intellectual property (IP), they have enough cash and influence on UbiSoft's board to take over.
Should UbiSoft be concerned with these developments? Analysts are saying not to worry, but if I were one of the original founders, I would start looking for a big dog to get the fox out the henhouse.
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