A Tree Falling in the Forest

(Video from Thrill Kill. Don't watch if you are easily offended.) Mr. Riccitiello is making it clear that he is not afraid of M rated games. In his recent Gamespot interview addressing the takeover offer made to Take Two, he pointed out that he was the one who greenlit The Godfather, EA's first M rated game since Undying and American McGee's Alice, as well as Def Jam, and is a big fan of M rated titles like Bioshock and GTA. However, when doing his pandering, he may want to do a bit more research before speaking. In response to a question about the infamous Thrill Kill which was in development during EA's acquisition of Virgin, he said: "I never saw Thrill Kill, and I applaud you for digging up that little piece of history. I'm not sure if I would have liked it or not. I'm guessing I might have liked it, but I have no idea." Thrill Kill was originally cancelled by EA during Riccitiello 1.0 with a press release stating EA didn't want to publis...

I am concerned about John Riccitiello. He gave a very eloquent speech about his great concerns for every company which is smaller than EA and wants to be in the game business. In his mind, and in his life in games, the world order is very simple. There is EA, and there is everyone else. EA was number one when he left, and when he came back. Then he woke up one day and it was not. That must be fixed. Worse than that, the new number one to be will have a game that is vomiting incomprehensible amounts of cash on a monthly basis and EA has nothing of that scale. The whole thing has put John into a bit of a state. His communications are about as internally consistent as those of a two year old on speed. It is clear he really has to work on the filter between the words coming out of the little angel and devil sitting on his shoulders, and the words coming out of his mouth. Unfortunately, much like Ted Knight, he is simply mouthing the things these little guys are speaking into ...

I just completed the GDC expansion pack of the The Game Business. Despite being a bit tired from the DICE expansion two weeks ago, my guild was able to repel an attack from a rival guild and build its reputation. I question the release of the two expansions so close to each other but the consumer base seems to accept them both. I don't know if they will do so in the future. DICE, focused in one place, with a single speaking track and high level folks who actually do shit appeals to the hardcore. GDC, with multiple tracks and opportunities for all types of merchants and craftsman can try to sell items to the people who actually do shit hits the core as well as the mass. DICE worked out well. I took advantage of a speaking quest which leveled me up to a 55 Priest, increasing my healing ability for my guild members. This turned out to be very important when a rival guild leader, a level 40 Rogue, attacked some of my guild members and attempted to cast a spell of confusion. ...

Sony just announced the first of its new Xperia line of phones. It's slick, its functional, it creates a powerful tingling in the pants of any red blooded, gadget phile. . . the first step is admitting you have a problem. Many will run and and buy it, some may have pre ordered. Some of you may pre order it because you saw it here. But it also very vanilla and a bit off. Look at this picture: When the thing is just sitting there alone in the flesh you are no longer in the Abercrombie world of the video, and its flaws cry out like little beacons. Before you get to the function, just look at the design. It is square. It doesn't scream for me to pick it up. The front is not symmetrically balanced. I have to flip the thing over and open it to use it, and the screen is not glass. Perfect for the business world, not exciting to consumers. Even if it does more than the iPhone, and it does, it doesn't make a normal human being feel good looking at it. The iPhone is scream...

The console war continues after three Christmases for Xbox and 2 for Wii and PS3. While Microsoft feigned a a claim of victory as first to 10 million units worldwide, their press conference is starting to look more and more like George Bush in front of a Mission Accomplished poster. Microsoft has a lot to be proud of, if we focus on the US. In the month of December, Xbox sold 1.26 million units to PS3's 798,000 in the US. They don't like to talk about Wii which sold 1.35 million. For the year, Xbox almost doubled PS3's sale with 4.62 to 2.56 million units. Wii beat them both with 6.29 million. You can see more in real time at the bottom of this blog. Unfortunately, and it may sound un-American, but we have to consider the rest of the world. Xbox never made it out of the gate in Japan and still fails to sell. In Europe, sales have been trailing PS3 since last summer. According to Sony, the PS3 installed base is already larger in France, Spain, Germany and Italy th...

I wish I could say I hate to say I told you so, but I really don't. I kind of love it. On December 10, 2001 I published the article posted after the jump in the Gaming Industry News suggesting the Xbox was really a cable box. This was about two weeks after the launch of the Xbox. I thought it was kind of odd that while seriously defending itself against the Department of Justice, Microsoft was well beyond the central issue of that case. Publicly they were arguing over placement of the browser in the OS, in reality, the company was moving its focus to the living room. Much like cancer, Microsoft grows by metastasizing. If they get a foothold in your life, even if it is vaporware or buggy product, it is enough to iterate and grow. Anyone out like Windows 1x very much? My first Xbox - not so great. But my 360 is my friend. It will take media off my other computers and servers and deliver it to the TV, it will let me talk to others, it will even let me order HD movies at th...

Is there anything better than bubblewrap? But you can only use it once. Japanese science fixed that. Here is a little piece of endless bubblewrap to carry in your pocket. Here it is http://www.dynamism.com/bubblewrap/main.shtml