Game Publishers Archive

  • The top five unanswered questions about the Nintendo 3DS

    The top five unanswered questions about the Nintendo 3DS

    Posted on June 15, 2010 | No Comments
    The Nintendo 3DS is real -- we know that. The 3D works well -- we know that, too. But that's where our 3DS knowledge stops. Nintendo isn't talking-up 3DS details right now and we have so many questions about the handheld 3D gaming.

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  • Epic Games says something silly about piracy

    Epic Games says something silly about piracy

    Posted on May 18, 2010 | No Comments
    Anyone else tired of video game publishers complaining about piracy? Like, human nature is such that you'll always have a bunch of knuckleheads who will hop on BitTorrent and download away. Forget them, they're jerks. Just focus on the non-jerks out there and go about your business. Anyhow, today the spotlight falls on Epic Games, makers of Unreal and Gears of War. Seems those guys think that all the money these days is in consoles, so PC gamers will have to get used to crummy ports or nothing at all!

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  • Sony: “The PS3 is all the 3D gaming you need and you better like it.” (or something like)

    Sony: “The PS3 is all the 3D gaming you need and you better like it.” (or something like)

    Posted on March 24, 2010 | No Comments
    Yesterday's Nintendo 3DS took everyone by surprise. Who expected that Nintendo would announce its next big thing on a random Tuesday in March. Not us. Curious what Sony has to say about it? Well, basically don't expect a 3D PSP anytime soon.

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  • Call of Duty cash cow will be milked completely dry

    Call of Duty cash cow will be milked completely dry

    Posted on March 3, 2010 | No Comments
    Let's go back to the year 2005. That autumn, RedOctane released a game called Guitar Hero. It was pretty successful, so it spawned a sequel, Guitar Hero II. That came out on the fall of 2006. One year later, Rock Band first popped up. Then, in the span of around two years, video game publishers lost their minds, and published approximaely 800 music rhythm games. Now you have a situation where not even The Beatles can make Rock Band big again. The lesson: don't saturate the market with same-y games too suddenly. With that in mind, laugh: Activision has created a “dedicated [Call of Duty] business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world.” “Brand initiatives,” folks. Get ready for, like, 900 new Call of Duty games in the next few years!

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  • Because of leaks, we need to immediately implement DRM on console games

    Because of leaks, we need to immediately implement DRM on console games

    Posted on February 5, 2010 | No Comments
    It's time we start implementing DRM on console games. I mean, look at this nonsense. The Xbox 360 version of BioShock 2 leaked yesterday, a full five days before its official release. The same thing happened with Mass Effect 2, which leaked something like six days for the Xbox 360 before its official release. Since publishers are so keen to treat PC gamers like filthy thieves, I say we start implementing annoying DRM on console games, too.

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  • What’s it going to take for PC game publishers to drop DRM altogether?

    What’s it going to take for PC game publishers to drop DRM altogether?

    Posted on January 28, 2010 | No Comments
    For all of its stupidity, the music industry should be commended for relaxing its DRM requirements. Every single song on iTunes is DRM-free, as are the songs on Amazon MP3 and electronic music specialist Beatport. The Zune Marketplace works a little differently, but many of the downloadable songs there are DRM-free, too. But PC game publishers? They're still bat-shit crazy, as evidenced by the DRM requirements of BioShock 2 and presumably every single one of Ubisoft's upcoming releases. What's it going to take for PC publishers to step back and realize that DRM does absolutely nothing to prevent piracy? Not only that, but that it encourages piracy because the pirated version of the game ends up being superior to the legitimate copy?

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  • Redbox still working on getting games to its rental kiosks

    Redbox still working on getting games to its rental kiosks

    Posted on December 2, 2009 | No Comments
    Do you have any idea how effen cool it will be if Redbox kiosks start spitting out video games? Think about this: you would be able to get your beer, Funyuns, and rent the latest gaming titles at one location. The future is near, friends and Redbox is still pursuing the game rental market. Actually, Redbox is experiencing some technical difficulties. You see, Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, and NBC Universal have cut off access to their collective libraries because they do not get any revenue from the rental kiosks. Plus, Redbox is stating that 20th Century Fox and Warner Home Video are somehow stopping the company from purchasing movies at retail from Target and Wal-Mart. Welcome to the jungle, Redbox. The movie industry makes it worse here everyday.

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  • Do video game publishers misrepresent their games in order to get lower ratings?

    Do video game publishers misrepresent their games in order to get lower ratings?

    Posted on November 18, 2009 | No Comments
    There's some sort of video game developer conference going on in Motreal this week (titled, to use its full name, the Montreal International Game Summit), and an interesting charge was just levied there. The CEO of A2M (the company that developed Wet), Rémi Racine, said that some game publishers will go out of their way to deceive the ESRB in order to get a lower rating for their games. You know how Hollywood tries hard to make sure the summer blockbusters are rated no higher than PG-13 in order to ensure a large audience? Same thing with video games, apparently. Why release an M-rated game, and know that your limiting your potential audience, when you can eek out with a T rating?

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  • Cheating the App Store: PR firm has interns post positive reviews for clients [UPDATED]

    Cheating the App Store: PR firm has interns post positive reviews for clients [UPDATED]

    Posted on August 22, 2009 | No Comments
    When it comes to winning in the App Store, one PR firm has discovered a dynamite strategy: throw ethics out the window. Reverb Communications, a PR firm that represents dozens of game publishers and developers, has managed to find astounding success on Apple’s App Store for its clients. Among its various tactics? It hires a [...]

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  • Video game publishers complain (again) about used video game sales; GameStop defends practice (again)

    Video game publishers complain (again) about used video game sales; GameStop defends practice (again)

    Posted on June 4, 2009 | No Comments
    Help me out here, guys. I have zero sympathy for video game developers and publishers who cry poverty vis-à-vis used video game sales. At the same time, I have zero sympathy for the likes of GameStop, what with its hyperactive employees always trying to sell me some added nonsense, when it claims that used video game sales help expand the video game market as a whole.

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