Headline RePLAY – 7.27.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Law firms are on Zynga’s case, both Valve’s Gabe Newell and Blizzard’s Rob Pardo are not convinced on Windows 8 and GameStop is looking into selling used digital content.

In the wake of news that Zynga insiders cashed out $156 million in stocks four months before it crashed, multiple law firms have announced that they will be investigating claims against the company for violating federal securities laws and breaching fiduciary duty.

The investigating firms include Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe, Newman Ferrara, Johnson & Weaver, Wohl & Fruchter and Levi & Korsinsky.

According to Kotaku, Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe is investigating whether Zynga insiders had insider information when their shares were sold in April while Levi & Korsinsky is looking into “concerns that Zynga misinterpreted and/or failed to disclose materially adverse facts about its business and financial condition.”

|Source: Kotaku

PC industry veterans like Valve co-founder Gabe Newell and Blizzard executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo are not so confident with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, the former even going as far as calling it a “catastrophe.”

“I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space,” Newell told All Things D. “I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

“nice interview with Gabe Newell,” Pardo agreed on Twitter. “I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC Space*—not awesome for Blizzard either.”

While no details have been revealed, the criticisms seem to be over the Windows Store in Windows 8, which could restrict companies’ options in selling their software directly. According to CVG, Microsoft will take a 30 percent royalty cut per sale made in this store.   

|Source: CVG, All Things D

Already well-established in the physical used-game market, GameStop is looking into the future on how to sell used pre-owned digital games.

“It’s very interesting,” GameStop CEO Paul Raines told GameSpot. “There are some technologies out there in Europe, and we’ve looked at a couple that are involved. We’re interested; it’s not a meaningful business yet.

“Right now we’re not seeing that as a huge market, but I think we’re on the leading edge. There are a few companies, a few startups, out there that we’ve talked to that are doing this.”

Raines declined to identify which companies are involved with GameStop in this endeavor, citing concerns over competitors “rushing in.”

|Source: GameSpot

Headline RePLAY – 3.28.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Details on the next PlayStation are revealed, Silicon Knights founder slams the used games market and Capcom opens its own store.

With all the attention on what the next Xbox will (or won’t) be, what about the next PlayStation? A reliable, but anonymous source recently revealed details to Kotaku on Sony’s next home console: codename “Orbis.”

According to the source, the Orbis will have an AMD x64 CPU or AMD Southern Islands GPU. The Orbis’ GPU is capable of displaying games at a 4096x2160 resolution, which Kotaku notes is “far in excess of the needs of most current HDTV sets.”

Most likely due to Sony’s push on 3D games and 3D television sets it’s unsurprising that the Orbis will be able to play 3D games in 1080p in contrast to the PlayStation 3’s 720p.

Unfortunately, the source tells Kotaku that the Orbis is not backwards compatible with any title from the PlayStation 3. Furthermore, the new console will have “anti-used games measures” built-in that prevents consumers from accessing the full content of a pre-owned game.

The source explains that new games for the console will be available either on Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download. Assuming the game is bought on disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account before it can even be played. If the owner decides to trade the game in, the pre-owned customer that buys it will either be limited to a demo/trial mode or some other restriction and will have to pay a fee to unlock/register the full title.  

Sony hopes to launch the Orbis in time for the 2013 holiday season, which coincided with the PS3 release in 2006.

*Source: Kotaku

Recently, Frontier Development’s David Braben blasted the used games market by saying that it’s “killing single player games,” and now Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack is joining the fray to say that used games are “cannibalizing the industry.”

“There used to be something in games for 20 years called a tail,” Dyack explained to GamesIndustry International, “where say you have a game called Warcraft that would sell for 10 years. Because there are no used games, you could actually sell a game for a long time, and get recurring revenue for quite a while. Recurring revenue is very key.

“Now there is no tail. Literally you will get most of your sales within three months of launch, which has created this really unhealthy extreme where you have to sell it really fast and then you have to do anything else to get money.”

With the “tail” cut off, Dyack claims the existence of the industry is threatened by the used games business.

“I would argue, and I’ve said this before, that used games are cannibalizing the industry,” continued Dyack. “If developers and publishers don’t see revenue from that, it’s not a matter of hey ‘we’re trying to increase the price of games to consumers, and we want more,’ we’re just trying to survive as an industry. If used games continue the way that they are, it’s going to cannibalize, there’s not going to be an industry.”

*Source: GamesIndustry International

Apparently, an e-store and international retailers carrying their products is not enough for Capcom, so the company is opening its own store at Odaiba, Japan on April 14th. In-store events, sculptures and on site Wi-Fi to promote Monster Hunter are all in the works for the store.

The Capcom Store is expected to carry, of course, Capcom products, specifically goods that were previously exclusively found in its e-store.  

*Source: Destructoid

Headline RePLAY – 12.13.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: Hideo Kojima doubles the headlines, Iran responds to Battlefield 3, and Obsidian Entertainment expresses its hatred for used games.

Kojima hits the headlines again, this time striking the Twitter feeds and confirming an “authentic stealth MGS” in the works and asks fans to “patiently wait for the sequel coming in the future.”    

And if that is not enough for fans, Kojima reaffirmed his desire in making a Zone of the Enders 3. “We would want to make that game as well,” he told GameFitNation.

More interestingly, Kojima said the game could be built on the Fox Engine, but noted there was a lack of staff available to devote to the project.

*Source: Kojima’sTwitter & GameFitNation

Banning Battlefield 3 was not enough of a response for Iran. To counter EA’s blockbuster shooter, Iran announced it will produce the computer game “Attack on Tel Aviv.”

Iran’s National Foundation for Computer Games (NFCG) said the game is an answer to Battlefield 3’s missions where an American soldier is fighting on Tehran’s streets in search of missing nuclear warheads.

“The United States is governed by a Zionist Regime so Attack on Tel Aviv would make Americans angrier than a game about an attack on Washington,” said Behruz Minaii, the head of NFCG.

Arguably, what makes gamers angrier like no other are the Battlefield vs. Call of Duty troll wars.

*Source: Tehran Times via Kotaku

 

Saying used games are a thorny issue for publishers and developers is an understatement. Obsidian Entertainment decided it was not stated clearly enough and wanted their stance on the record when they discussed digital distribution with IndustryGamers yesterday.

“Of course, one of the greatest things about digital distribution is what it does to reduce the used game market. I hope digital distribution stabs the used game market in the heart,” said Obsidian Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer Chris Avellone.

And this is why we cannot have good things and why things like Online Passes exist.

*Source: IndustryGamers