TJ returns this week, as Blizzard continues to embarrass itself. No Gaming Flashback this week.
This week’s news includes:
Let us know what you think.
This week’s Gaming Podcast is chock full of news and reader feedback. Rather than do a Gaming Flashback, a conversation about the middling sales of the PlayStation Vita is discussed, while Paul is anxiously looking for a black Wii U so he can play Epic Mickey 2. We also hand out the indie game prizes to our two winners.
This week’s news includes:
This week’s Question of the Week: What was the best game you ever played that cost less than $5?
In addition, this is the two days of Kickstarter funding. Help the TD Gaming Podcast with its Kickstarter fundraising.
Gamers around the world are going to feel the pain in the 2009 holiday season after the economy shakes apart many great development studios. Electronic Arts feels the pain of being a public company as their investors complain about lackluster revenue, THQ deals with closing studios to extend their runway and other firms will lose more headcount in the coming months.
It’s not all bad. But, it’s going to get ugly before it gets better.
The financial market has played tricks on everyone in our global economy and companies across all industries are going to feel a bit of a tightening around the belt. Investors are shaken and doing their best to protect their investments and cutting loose those that aren’t projecting profits in the near future. Game studios are going to slow their financial burn rates, trim a bit of the fat and hunker down the long term. The end result, next years holiday season will have a few less games because those games are being dropped to the floor now.
Mid-sized studios within larger firms may find their projects canceled or put on hold and their employees re-structured or let go while big studios assess what projects will make the long haul. This is the ugly side of the business, having to make a decision on what games stay and what games go with the grief of having to tell some of your best talent “goodbye.”
The bad part of the industry is occurring today, with publishers posting mediocre profits and trying to convince their investors to be patient and trust they’ve got a firm hold on their destiny. The game industry is not alone in this, many firms are reducing head count and many startups are finding themselves without series A or B funding; they’re closing their doors because the money is being directed to more stable ventures.
What’s the good in all of this?
The Japanese government has not allowed PlayStation Network to be activated for Japanese gamers yet due to security concerns, and now an expert is advising Australia to follow suit.
Professor Bill Caelli told newspaper The Australian, “Why is it that in the IT industry enterprises certify themselves?” said Caelli, noting that PSN didn’t have the same restrictions, and added that the public has “no way of assessing the assurances given by the owners of the (PSN) system themselves”.
Reportedly, Australian privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has been in contact with Sony, and has not judged yet whether Sony has given them enough information to restore PSN. His investigation will be an ongoing one as well, even after PSN is restored.
When it was discovered user information had been stolen during the PSN breach, the Australian federal government announced plans for a law forcing companies to disclose privacy breaches, although it was unclear when it might come into effect. Privacy minister Brendan O’Connor had stated:
“Sony isn’t alone. We’ve seen serious privacy-related incidents in recent months involving other large companies. All companies that collect customers’ personal information must ensure that the information is safe and secure from misuse.”
We’ll stay on this story as it develops.
