Oklahoma Rep. Introduces Surtax for Teen/Mature Games
Saturday, February 4th, 2012Oklahoma State Representative William Fourkiller (D) has put forth legislation in the State house that would impose a 1% surtax on all sales of Teen, Mature, and Adults-Only video games. Representative Fourkiller has claimed the intent of the bill is to combat the dangers of violent video games, with the tax revenue gained from its [...]
2 CommentsHarmonix Lead is the Top Contributor to Stephen Colbert Super PAC
Saturday, February 4th, 2012Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC – and its goal of making a better tomorrow, tomorrow – has been more than just a running gag for the faux-conservative pundit’s lampooning of the incestuous nature of campaign donations. The fund has raised over $1 million since its inception, with very few contributors donating above a couple thousand dollars. [...]
No CommentsWal-Mart Agrees to Release Sales Data to NPD
Saturday, February 4th, 2012The NPD sales records on video games have long had a hole in their figures, with Wal-Mart – one of the biggest sellers of the media – refusing to release its statistics, until now. NPD recently confirmed an agreement with the retailer that will allow them to report on the company’s sales figures for not [...]
No CommentsUTV Acquired by Disney
Friday, February 3rd, 2012Disney has officially announced its acquisition of Indian-based game developer UTV, and its publishing arm UTV Ignition (El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron). According to the BBC, the original deal was proposed to the Indian government last month, the cabinet just recently issuing its approval for the final move. UTV has yet to issue a [...]
No CommentsFacebook Files for IPO
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012Facebook is looking to make a gigantic leap into public trading, having just filed for a $5 billion initial public offering. Facebook’s IPO is over twice the size of Google’s from back in 2004 (at $1.9 billion), and the New York Times is reporting that the company is “aiming for a far greater offering that [...]
1 CommentTHQ Faces Possible Nasdaq Delisting
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012For failing to keep their share price above $1 for 30 consecutive days, video game publisher THQ is facing down a possible de-listing from the Nasdaq electronic stock exchange. Trading consistently below $1 since early this past December, THQ has been given 180 days to restore its stock value. Should the company be unable to [...]
No CommentsNintendo Reduces 2012 Forecast, Confirms Wii U for 2012 Holiday
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012A stronger yen and competition from smart phones were the reasons given by Nintendo for its projection of its first annual loss in over three decades. For the fiscal year ending in March, the Big N has expanded its expected loss from ¥20 billion (approx. $260 million) to ¥65 billion (approx. $838 million0. Slashing its [...]
No CommentsNo Game Rentals from Netflix
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012In a recent conference call to its investors, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told shareholders that the company would not be going forward with its plan to integrate video game rentals into its service catalog. Given the fact that Netflix customers that stream their content outnumber those that receive media by mail 2 to 1, [...]
No CommentsValve’s Steam in 2011
Saturday, January 7th, 2012In a rare show of open (if vague) accounting, Valve has released some impressive sales data for their Steam digital distribution platform in 2011. Sales increased over 100% for the seventh year in the row, and over 14.5 million games using Steamworks – a suite of production and operating services released three years ago – [...]
3 CommentsGaikai Signs Deals with Best Buy, Ubisoft, and Youtube
Friday, January 6th, 2012Game streaming service Gaikai has seen its web presence expand exponentially in the last six months, and new deals with Best Buy, Ubisoft, and Youtube are only adding to the growth. The specifics of the partnerships have not been released to the public yet, although it is expected that Best Buy will use Gaikai as [...]
No CommentsHarmonix Wins $383 Million In Case Against Viacom
Friday, January 6th, 2012The sale of Harmonix almost exactly one year ago came with a lot of financial baggage. Former parent company Viacom later sued the former shareholders of Harmonix for a refund of $131 million in bonuses that were previously paid out to the developer. The shareholders then counter-sued the media conglomerate for a hefty $700 million [...]
No CommentsReport/Rumor: US 3G Charges for PS Vita Revealed?
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012UPDATE (1/10/2011): AT&T has confirmed the month-to-month rates, but has yet to detail any plans for overage costs or possible download caps. Vita owners with a pre-existing AT&T plan – however – will get a free game of their choice (from a yet to be revealed list). GameZone recently claimed to have gotten the statistics [...]
3 Comments2009 ‘Final Fantasy XI’ Class Action Suit Dismissed
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a 2009 class action lawsuit against Square Enix and its MMO Final Fantasy XI, the publisher’s US office recently announced. The suit, filed by San Francisco resident Esther Leong, alleged that the publisher used “deceptive advertising, unfair business practices, and fraudulent concealment with respect to the online [...]
No CommentsCD Projekt Taking Legal Action Against ‘Witcher 2′ Pirates
Thursday, December 29th, 2011Late last month CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski estimated that for everyone who purchased a copy of their RPG The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, there were four to five that pirated the software. The developer has since mounted a legal campaign against these pirates, although it has assured the press it is only going [...]
No CommentsSteam Begins Coupon Integration
Friday, December 9th, 2011A new Steam support page seems to have added coupons to the already impressive list of the pending features for the digital distribution platform. Presumably, the integration of coupons will allow for more targeted – and thus cheaper – promotional material from companies, rather than the expensive, universal “Steam Deals”. According to Valve’s posting, these [...]
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