The deal has been done, you can now officially call the company Activision Blizzard. Sure, the name is sorta lame but it does cover the bases… they’re Activision and they’re Blizzard; surely neither company wanted to lose their lively hood and branding.
We’re now looking at a company that’s more powerful than Electronic Arts, surely this worries Electronic Arts a bit. However, consumers like ourselves should be cheering for more competition against the big EA, perhaps forcing them to innovate a bit more and keep competitive.
Many gamers and industry participants would love to see independent companies grab a bit of the market share and bring in new startup companies and spin-off studios. However, if there is going to be a merger at the top-tier it might as well be one that puts pressure on Electronic Arts.
“We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction, and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential,” gushed Vivendi SA CEO Jean-Bernard Levy. “I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe.” (gamespot)
Now, we’ll have to wait and see if the upper level management can get along in a fluid manner and keep all their projects on track. With great power comes great responsibility, they’ve got the power… are they going to be responsible with it?
Did someone say Yoga? I have returned from my deep educational derangement, securing my graduation and unemployment. Now that I am a professional vagabond with a smexy new Xbox One, I will dedicate more time to gaming and ultimately this podcast. Don’t go Paul. Here is some love. Manly comrad-like non-platonic love.
@Non-tangible gaming
I purchased the Xbox One Titanfall bundle and had to endure a 4 hour download of the game. I fully understand why console gaming is still disk based. On the other hand, my Steam library has 170 titles which I can download at high speed at a moments notice. Until my Xbox can pull off that kind of performance at Steam like prices, I don’t think I will download that many console games. I have loads of digital PS3 titles for that very reason.
@Gaming conventions
Never been to one purely dedicated to a single game. Never really been that dedicated to just one game. Here in UK it’s rare to find a gaming convention at all. Even major events tend to skip out a year or two. I know there are some dedicated communities in London but it’s easier to buy weaponised uranium then to find one. However, if I could ever go to one, it would most likely be about Elder Scrolls or Halo.
PS: City of Heroes was made in the dark days of gaming when homophobia was supreme and untraditional sexual orientation was frowned upon. Allowing a city full of adolescent boys running around in coloured briefs would be marketing suicide. It’s quite amusing. Since then homosexuality went mainstream and even became a marketing selling point for some games. It’s only a matter of time until you can create a transgender 5th generation foxkin character in an RPG.
Another good episode guys and I’m glad you enjoyed the Princess Bride reference.
@Console Digital gaming: I’m all for this as I really do enjoy not having to worry about where disks are. I have quite a few in digital format on my PS3.
@Sims4: I agree with Jonah, it’s one thing to re-write the mechanic on how something works in a game like with Civ V’s Espionage and Religion being vastly different to how it worked in previous games. To just stripping out features that you know will be repackaged into a expansion pack not looking much different or better for it’s delay. All the things that have been left out has had us feel like we’re going back to Sims 1.
@Youtube offline: Hey if they want to give me free music who am I to complain? heh
@QotW: I almost went to a Minecon in Orlando since that’s near to where I live. However it was really hard to get tickets. They sold them in groupings of 3k and they all went in seconds. Freaking jackals.
heyaaaaa xD after 2 years lol downloading an episode here feels like a trip to memory lane haha not sure if u remember me xD