by Jason Wilk on December 19, 2008
- The videogames industry is not recession proof. In addition to last month, Electronic Arts announces more layoffs today along with details of closing studios due to weak sales. The layoffs will now total 10.0% of EA’s global workforce, eliminating 1,000 jobs. In addition, 9 total studios will be closed. the reductions will save the company $120 million annually once the plan goes into motion. News of the housesweeping bumped the stock up 4.3%, or 72 cents, to $17.48 this morning.
- The restructuring will not officially be completed until March 31st, thus EA will definitely miss their year end revenue estimates of $5.3 billion. Current analysts are calling EA to pull in around $4.7 billion.
- This is a smart move for EA. The company is still cash rich, with zero debt. Restructuring will keep them in a stronger position to beat earnings next year once everything is said and done. Don’t count out EA, they are in it for the long haul.
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by Jason Wilk on December 8, 2008
“We are proud to announce that Tiesto has teamed up with the game developer Activision and their latest project DJ Hero. I am very excited about this! I think this is a great way to introduce people into DJing. Maybe they realise it’s not as easy as they think. I am sure this brings new fans to the scene, dance music is not far from hip-hop for example. Hopefully the music I have composed appeals to all kinds of fans!”
- As if DJ’ing hasn’t gone mainstream enough with laptops and plastic turntables. On the flip side, I guess this will be the only chance I’ll ever get to spin Tiesto’s In Search Of Sunrise 7. Do you think this game will be a top contender next year with the likes of Guitar Hero and Rockband?
by Jason Wilk on December 7, 2008
- For the last 3 months, US and U.K video game giants have seen a huge slump in sales and stock price. Companies like Electronic Arts and Take-Two have seen their stock prices fall over 50%.
- The Korean Government has been keeping a close eye on the struggling markets and plans to take advantage of it, setting their sights on having one of the largest game industries in the world.
- According to Digital Chosun Ilbo, the Korean government plans to invest 350 billion won (over $200 million) in the game industry through 2012 to help Korea get to that level. The money will be spent on launching 60 new game projects.
- With the cash injection, Korea expects to see gaming revenues upwards of 5 trillion won (over $3 billion) a year. They recently just passed their goal of exporting $1 billion worth of games this year. US companies are keeping a close eye on them. Just last week, EA acquired Korean online game developer J2M. Aside from their stock price, EA is not worried about their position. The company is sitting atop over $3 billion in cash with zero debt. Many analysts say the stock is very undervalued.
- Do you think the US should be worried about Korea as a gaming threat?
by glu on December 1, 2008
- AOL officially launched its gaming education site, Playsavvy, which is targeted at parents of gaming children (read: children) who want to know more about the games their kids are playing.
- The Business
- Traffic to AOL games sites (games.com, gamedaily.com, bigdownload.com) is up roughly 40% over the past year.
- Online content has long been AOL’s shining light, filling out major categories such as games with more focused sites such as Playsavvy looks great to advertisers.
- The Reality
- The opinion of some idiot blogger
should not take the place of first hand interaction when it comes to parents protecting their kids.
- Many parents might like to believe that they lack the expertise to make good judgments about the appropriateness of particular games, but lets be honest it’s not a terribly difficult thing to deduce.
- While it’s great that a parent takes time to investigate the content their child is consuming, it would be better if they sat down with the kid for a few minutes during game time. Who knows, they might even have some fun while they’re at it.
- Can we expect some honest analysis at Playsavvy or will this be another trumpet for the ESRB?
by John Jorgensen on November 22, 2008
- Alex Rigopulos, co-creator of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, says he is very interested in creating a version of the games on the iPhone.
- Alex: “If we made a move to the iPhone, I would want to take an ambitious step in that direction, rather than just do a kind of port to the platform. Maybe we’ll get to [to the iPhone] late. But if we get there with something that’s better, for five dollars, we can probably sell it.”"
- As for Tap Tap Revenge, Alex says the game is hard to get into and besides the special NIN edition, the music selection sucks. I’d be inclined to agree with him.
- Please hurry, Alex.
SAI
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