This week’s edition has Jonah being really down on the Legendary Edition of the Mass Effect Trilogy, and it has nothing to do with any sort of bugs. TJ empathizes, recalling his frustration with the remaster of Demon’s Souls.
In other news:
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Halloween is a scary time of year, no less when you’re posting a $310 million net loss. EA CEO John Riccitiello sees “weakness” at retail in October and we’re betting this isn’t the end of the road of sorrow for game publishers around the globe.
Electronic Arts isn’t unfamiliar with bad times and we’re sure to see them make constant adjustments to their headcount, game releases and press as the economy goes into a bit of a slump. Although the game industry won’t see as big a hit as the financial market, everyone is going to watch their spending during slower economic times.
That slowness is a red flag for the mega-publisher, which says it’s “proactively making cost adjustments now.” One of those adjustments is the axing of some 600 EA employees across the globe. (Kotaku)
Last year Electronic Arts lost a “small” $195 million during the same time, not exactly a gold star on the financial records but it sure looks better than this loss. A few games may crumble under the economic pressures, Tiberium for example, but let us not forget the good times! EA posted some nice figures for Spore, Madden NFL 09, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
So, they mixed a few sequels with a few new franchise hits and gave gamers some pretty hot titles for the year. Of course, hot titles in our hand do not always translate to positive revenue in theirs.
This month seems to be full of conferences, as Nintendo Direct was streamed the previous week, BlizzCon 2021 aired this week, and Sony’s State of Play is due next week. The announcement of Diablo II Remastered was only the highlight of the BlizzCon show.
The news this week includes:
All this plus Listener Feedback. Let us know what you think at the Facebook page.
The episode is a little late in publishing, though it was recorded on time – you know, real-life delays. However, it’s worth the wait as the Gaming Flashback is Team Ico’s second title, a PlayStation 2 title called Shadow of the Colossus.
There’s also some of the meatiest news of the year, which includes:
The Question of the Week is “Should Nintendo partner with Disney?“
