Seth Gilbert, 11-14-2008
Is there an Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) with a Hollywood connection in Ubisoft’s future plans?
The convergence of Hollywood with the video game industry is a recurring theme. Traditional studios like Paramount and Disney have expanded their game offerings. Publishers like EA, have signed up talent agents and sought out visual storytellers to partner with; striking development deals with luminaries like Spielberg and up and comers too. French publisher Ubisoft is as much a part of this process as any studio.
Arguable, Ubisoft may even be blazing part of the trail. In the past couple years, the company has made significant strides to align itself with the movie (and TV) industry. Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 11-13-2008
THQ is trimming staff and focusing on a smaller slate of titles. EA announced layoffs too and forecast caution. Activision showed results that were stellar. Sony got crushed with currency issues. Nintendo raised sales expectations for the Wii. Depending on where you looked, this earnings season was filled with mixed messages from gaming companies. These, stacked on top of stalling retail foot traffic and surprisingly weak retail sales data in August and September, have made it very difficult to gauge the health of the gaming industry heading into the pivotal holiday shopping season.
Is the industry recession resistant? Are negative results merely the result of delayed purchases, or single company management choices? Or is the industry feeling the weight of the greater economy? It’s been so tough to tell.
Today, NPD Group released their U.S. sales data for October. The new information adds some much needed additional perspective.
Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 11-11-2008
When a couple moves in to live together, the old wagon-wheel coffee table or never worn clothes get tossed. Some things just don’t fit together. Others have to go to make room for the new. The same process applies to corporate mergers. Overlapping jobs or assets that don’t match the new coupling get discarded.
Last July, when Activision and Vivendi Games combined to form Activision Blizzard there was no doubt some Vivendi Games properties would meet this unpleasant end. Reviews were already being conducted. Staff “realignments” were in the works. “Options being explored.”
The questions were what would go, when and, for the lucky few to find new homes – where.
Today, the fate of Vivendi’s Sweden based Massive Entertainment studio was finally revealed. It will be let go, but saved. Subject to terms not disclosed, Ubisoft has agreed to buy the critically acclaimed studio.
Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert,
How much does it cost to start up a premium cable channel assuming you already have a library of programming to show? Apparently $110m to $150m is a good start.
Last April, in a surprise announcement, Lions Gate, Viacom (Paramount) and MGM announced plans to launch their own premium cable channel. Soon after, Business Week reported former Showtime exec Mark Greenberg was set to take the helm. Besides those two tidbits of information, there’s been much speculation but limited detail. A new SEC filing, however, adds a little bit more.
Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 11-10-2008
In early September, EA began selling the hotly anticipated PC game title, Spore, around the globe. The ambition was huge, the hype enormous. Spore was to be a “sure thing” hit. So far, it’s lived up to that expectation. The game is a top seller in Amazon’s PC and Mac games categories (#1 in PC and Mac simulation games, #6 in PC games overall) and according to EA, near two million copies sold in the first three weeks of sales. Unfortunately, with the sales and high visibility have come another less desirable achievement: Spore has become a lightning rod for complaints over the SecuROM embedded digital rights management system EA is using to thwart piracy.
Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert,
In 2006 and 2007, Apple was one of the torch-bearers in the movement to push record labels to license downloadable copies of their music without digital rights management encryption (DRM) but when the fruits of that effort were eventually harvested, when the labels decided to go DRM-Free, the rewards largely passed Apple by.
At the time, iTunes was already the leading distributor of digital music. There wasn’t a competitor even close. The record labels, in an effort to level the field and try to shift the balance of distribution power to a less monopolistic scenario, allocated DRM-Free licenses only to Apple’s rivals; stores like Amazon and Walmart. It’s a strategy they’ve yet to reconsider.
To date, EMI remains the only representative of the Big 4 (the world’s four largest record companies) that allows Apple to sell DRM-Free tracks. Rumor has it, however, that may soon start to change.
Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 11-7-2008
Have a favorite Beatles song? Is it something you’d like to play along with in a video game?
In response to MTV Games’ (Harmonix) announcement last week that they’re working to create a new game built entirely around the band’s history and songbook, we’re testing out a poll on Metue to offer fans a chance to vote their favorite songs.
If you’re a fan, take a minute and share your perspective. You can only vote once but you can pick more than one song.
Click to Read More
