[Reupload]
The guys discuss EA closing servers for older games, the Red Dead Redemption controversy, Tekken 8 and Killer Instinct.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
Gamers get upset when developers sneak ugly hacks onto their computers when they just want to play video games. Although gamers really only revolt when they know their being exploited, Spore is a fine example of how not to lock down a video game. Using SecuROM was a bad decision on the part of Electronic Arts, no matter what their PR spin tries to tell us.
Imagine a world of DRM free spore and you may be imagining reality using the Valve’s Steam software download architecture.
“The moderator specifically mentioned Spore but it’s possible this extends to other EA games that used SecuROM as well (like Mass Effect). If a game on Steam uses third-party DRM, it’s supposed to be mentioned on the product page.” (cinemablend)
We’ve been complaining about the Spore DRM for month snow on the gaming podcast, perhaps we’ll have to shut our mouths soon enough.
(Thanks, GameStooge)
Now that Activision has merged up with Blizzard all under Vivendi it’s time to consider what to do with all the additional overhead, management, internal studios and sheer amount of people working on projects within their organization. In other words, it’s time to trim the fat and get leaned out for the long haul.
This isn’t unexpected news, the only way to grow more effective as a large company is to remove some of the access baggage that can slow you down and let your competitors take control. This is a sad job which nobody takes pride in (most normal people anyway) but it could mean the difference between rising to the top and sinking like a brick.
“We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organization and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing’s long-term corporate objectives,” Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith said in a statement. (gamespot)
It’s important to be aggressive as a large company, just like you would be as a startup company. There is a reason startup companies grow into powerful competitors that win, grow and eventually become (or be purcahsed by) larger companies.
As part of this move some staff will be migrated to new projects, persumably reporposed into other divisions or allowed to find new jobs somewhere else. This is called “realignment” by those in the management organization, and currently those up for realignment are:
These realignments along with other organizational changes will effect a few working game titles:
At this point we’re not sure which, if any, will continue to be developed under Activision and which will be sold off to other companies or retired. Surely, those money making titles will be sold off if Activision has no plans to finish them.
Again, it’s hard to consider this a bad decision. This is a decision of growth over having too many “Cooks in the kitchen” making soup. It’s better to have rock solid titles of epic proportions than a large pool of mediocre titles with minimal sales and bad reputations, and that’s why they spend a lot of time in the office working on this and having a type of office chair for long hours on a computer is really helpful in this area.
It’s not that the titles they’re questioning are necessarily bad, but are not the leading titles in their space and are should be either given a stronger team to work on them or retire them entirely. To build a stronger team with passion and direction it might be best to sell the franchise(s) to other organizations so they can do it right with time and attention to detail.
(Thanks, gamespot)
Thanks to Superstorm Sandy, the podcast has been delayed indefinitely. It’s likely that the next one will be recorded next Monday.
Hi guys.
Thanks for the episode as usual 🙂
I am still playing a lot of Pokémon Go cause I walk around a lot. My life is too fucked up at the moment that I don’t want to start a new game like baldurs gate. I really want to play it, all my friends are playing it and they love it.
Jonah is the first person I know who doesn’t like it and talks that bad about it …. But that’s ok for sure… it’s everyone’s personal thing to like something or don’t like it. Even if it’s only to be against 96% of all reviews ?
The other games you talked about, I really don’t know … besides suikoden .. that’s the only one I heard of from the Original PlayStation.
I did not play any sf6 but I like that tmnt costume idea, but I don’t like the price 🙁
I still want to watch the evo, especially the Street Fighter tournament … so I had to skip the last minutes of your podcast… I was afraid you talk about it ?
Ok, that’s all for today.
Stay healthy and happy 🙂
Greetings from Germany,
Ralf