Today on Headline
RePLAY: BioWare receives and re-donates 400 cupcakes, Microsoft responds to a
study that claims credit card information can be retrieved from pre-owned Xbox 360s
and analysts believe that neither Sony nor Microsoft will block pre-owned
titles on their next-gen hardware.
Yesterday, 400 cupcakes donated by Mass Effect 3 fans as a
form of friendly protest to the game’s controversial endings arrived on BioWare’s
doorstep at Edmonton, Canada. BioWare went to the forums to thank fans for
their “creative” and “thoughtful” attempts but ultimately donated them to a
local youth shelter.
“The gesture certainly
gained our attention both with its creativity and deliciousness,” said BioWare’s
Chris Priestly. “However, while we do appreciate that fans were creative in how
they expressed their views, after a lot of discussion, we decided ultimately
the reason that they were sent was not done in the context of celebrating the
work or accomplishment of the Mass Effect
3 team. This is a subtle, but important aspect in determining how to pass
the feedback to the team.”
In that context, rather
than handing out the cupcakes to staff or “wasting good food,” BioWare instead
donated them on behalf of the fans to a local Edmonton youth shelter.
“We know that for the
kids that have to use this facility, something as simple as a cupcake is a rare
treat and would definitely brighten up their day,” said Priestly. “Thank you
for the fine folks at the local youth shelter for accepting the donation and to
the fans who donated the cupcakes.”
*Source: BioWare Forums
After it was reported
that hackers can obtain credit card information from pre-owned and refurbished
Xbox 360s, Microsoft responded swiftly to assure owners that the company is
investigating Drexel University’s research.
“We are conducting a
thorough investigation into the researchers’ claims,” said Jim Alkove,
Microsoft’s General Manager of Security of Interactive Entertainment Business,
in a statement to Kotaku. “We have requested information that will allow us to
investigate the console in question and have still not received the information
needed to replicate the researchers’ claims.
“Xbox is not designed
to store credit card data locally on the console,” Alkove explained, “and as
such seems unlikely credit card data was recovered by the method described.
Additionally, when Microsoft refurbishes used consoles we have processes in place
to wipe the local hard drives of any other user data. We can assure Xbox owners
we take privacy and security of their personal data very seriously.”
*Source: Kotaku
While it’s no secret
that many in the videogame industry would love to see the pre-owned market
disappear, analysts all agree that it would be suicidal for Sony or Microsoft to
implement such technology on next-gen consoles despite rumors suggesting the contrary.
“It isn’t really in
Sony’s or Microsoft’s best interests to blocked used games,” said Michael
Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst. “It would benefit Activision and EA
slightly, and would hurt GameStop a great deal. If Sony unilaterally did this,
I could see GameStop refusing to carry their console, and sales of the PS4
would therefore suffer.”
Pachter is confident
none of the big three console manufacturers (i.e. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony)
“are stupid enough to do this unilaterally” nor “evil enough to do it together.”
The analyst argues “if one does it and the others don’t, the one who does it will
see a loss of market share.”
DFC Intelligence’s David
Cole concurs, and adds that a console with anti-used technology would deter
hardcore gamers. “A system that tried to stop used game sales would probably
turn off the core consumers that rush to trade in their old product to buy a
new product. In other words, I don’t think it would do so well in the core
market.”
“Customers would
rebel,” agreed Lewis Ward, IDC’s research manager. “Until there’s the
equivalent of a great ‘used’ digital console game trade-in program up and
running, gamers will continue to like the ability to trade in discs and
basically get discounts on other games.”
*Source: GamesIndustry International
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