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?
@GameStop vs. Deus Ex
Paul, Deus Ex are two separate words.
As for the news item itself, well, we talked already in the forums. Just one thing I want to say: they should have pulled the game from the shelves right at the beginning, instead of taking out the coupon.
That’s tampering with a product, so I agree with Paul.
@Origin EULA:
Jonah pointed it clearly, the new formulation says absolutely nothing of what they will or will not do.
If this is not an excuse for pirates, then I don’t know what is …
Paul, the question is, once you have the power to access a lot of customer information, what will enforce a corporation to only do “the good thing”?
Yes Jordan, you can call me Mr. Alien.
And Jonah, the reason my sister liked UT is because of the flak cannon: she loved shredding enemies to pieces with it.
@Are you interested in Epic Mickey 2?
No. Sorry, just can’t see myself jumping from STALKER/Doom 3 and the likes to Epic Mickey 1, 2, 3 or 999.
Paul, Jonah doesn’t dismiss your opinions. He dismisses any opinion that doesn’t fit with his. So yeah, he’s a bit of a bully.
Still, while he doesn’t agree with some of the stuff that I write, he still gives voice to my comments (although now it seems to be Jordan).
Jordan was right, this kind of conflicts do give the show some charm.
@ Flop vs. Failure:
The two terms are interchangeable when it comes to the subject at hand. Heck, one of Miriam-Websters’ definitions of flop is “To fail completely.”
@ Who has one console?
If you count current-gen consoles, I only have one. If not, then I still only have two, the other being a PS2. The Wii never managed to grab my interest outside of its initial scavenger hunt craze to find one. (Which I didn’t.) The PS3 was out of my price range long enough for me to skip over it, and the bulk of the people I play with are either mainly or only 360 owners, as well.
@ Episode 227’s Question:
I used to dream of DDR, and still see stepcharts in my head while listening to music daily. Now that I’ve been watching some MLG videos, I’m dreaming about being there and wondering what the heck I’m doing.
@ Epic Mickey 2:
Possibly, as the first seemed to have interesting concepts, but I never got to play it, as I don’t own a Wii. I would think about picking up a sequel if it comes out for the platform I own.
(And, yes, I know that askewed isn’t a proper conjugation of the word, that’s kind of the point.)
Is this where I send my hate mail for VGRT?
haha.
not sure what that was about…
Paul sounded like he was PMS-ing pretty bad…
get that guy a Midol! stat!
funny show, with lots of good info, and, though
I hate to admit it, the arguing makes it even more entertaining…
He’s like your Bababooey or something.
anyway, thanks for the info & laughs!