Ryan M. Eft has 8 chronicles

1. Year-in-Review part 1: All the News that's fit to something something something
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Dec 26 2008

   News-in-Review
   This bit is all about the major industry news that occurred within the year of 2008. Note that news about this or that specific game releasing, not releasing, sucking, not sucking or performing tricks on a unicycle is not included here. I’ll update this Chronicle, so if you recall any major news events in games I don’t cover, drop me a PM (don’t post a comment about them; I’d rather have a private message).
   
   Grand Theft Auto IV Hotwires Sales Records
   To be clear: Grand Theft Auto IV: didn’t just break sales records: it atomized them. It sold $310 million worth in a single day, becoming the highest-grossing entertainment product for an opening day in history…and not just in video games. TV and film might have to sit up and take notice.
   
   
   E3 passes out on the Sidewalk and pisses itself
   The Electronic Entertainment Expo suffered a big blow this year when Activision Blizzard announced it would be pulling out of the event, but industry insiders were of the opinion that the trade show had been leaking oil three lanes wide for years. In 2007 the restructured event became invitation-only, and since then has received increased hostility from developers and the press. Some companies no longer even trust the ESA, the industry’s internal governing body and organizers of E3, to talk to the government for them. This is especially bad in light of the fact that it came off some years in which the games industry scored some major social and political victories, spurred on by an ESA that seemed increasingly powerful and sure of itself. Reportedly, the ESA is attempting to rectify the issues. Here’s an idea: don’t fuck with what works.
   
   Jumping Ship
   Even the most die-hard PS3 hater can’t argue that Sony is down for the count. Similarly, even the most loyal supporter cannot state that the past two years have been Sony’s finest in the game market. What both sides can agree on---whether they’re enthused or crushed by the fact…is that the loss of the exclusive on Final Fantasy XIII was a massive kick in the gonads for the Playstation 3. Sony consoles have been the sole home of new, numbered Final Fantasy entries for over a decade. The really devoted can argue the point as much as they want, but FFs seven thru twelve were among the defining reasons to own the last two Playstations. Sure, there are question marks. Will there be a downgrade in quality on the 360? Will the two side games to the Fabula Nova Crystalis project also port over to the 360? What does this mean for the future of exclusive third-party games, period? Unfortunately for Sony, it wasn’t the last blow they would suffer in the RPG market this year: it was recently announced that Nintendo had secured the exclusive rights to Dragon Quest, by far the series that most weakens the knees of gamers in the East. Whether Sony survives the fight or not, their dominance of the RPG market appears to be at an end. Square Enix might not be the iconic presence they once were, but the force of these announcements proves they are alive and well…and kicking dirt all over Sony’s grave.
   
   Mating of the Titans
   Given their maverick-y roots as the very first third-party publisher (dating back to 1979 and the Atari 2600), Activision might not have been the name that first sprung to mind as a competitor for giants such as EA. But they’ve had their hands in everything from Pitfall to Call of Duty to the phenom that is Guitar Hero. They didn’t do it by themselves, of course. They merged with Vivendi. If you don’t know that name, you sure as hell know the name of their subsidiary Blizzard, virtual crack dealer to millions of WOW addicts the world over. With their powers combined, they are CAPTAIN PLANET! No, wait, sorry… they are Activision Blizzard, the most creative name in the known universe…and they’re actually worth more than EA. The news hasn’t all been good. A rash of seemingly incomprehensible decisions and the shoddy production values of Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments have made many gamers wonder if there’s a soul anywhere in the new conglomerate. What is indisputable is that the battleground populated by the major gaming companies has been seriously changed. For better or worse? We’ll have to wait and see.
   
   Battle of the Titans
   The most compelling stories offered in our increasingly mature (that doesn’t necessarily mean bloody) medium of games don’t get much more dramatic than the throwdown between Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar. In February, EA offered to buy Take-Two for 2 Billion bucks…an offer transparently timed to avoid having to pay more after the inevitable runaway success of Grand Theft Auto IV. The next seven months saw an increasingly bitter battle between the two giants. EA arrogantly continued to offer the undervalued price…less per share than the company was worth…even after GTA IV decimated sales records. They tried a hostile takeover. Naturally, eliminating their only viable sports competition was appealing to EA. Take-Two’s head honchos (and shareholders) semi-politely told EA to go fuck themselves. One could easily see on the horizon a titanic fight to the death in the streets, against the backdrop of a setting sun. When the dust cleared, neither side was unscarred. EA, having failed to take over either Ubisoft or Take-Two, and facing their first real competition in the ring of gaming monopolies, seemed to slowly bow to the fact that they couldn’t just keep buying everybody who posed a threat. And Take-Two recently reported that they spent $11 Million fighting off EA…no small sum in times such as these. The EA vs. Take-Two prizefight might have ended, but it represents the maverick vs. big business mentality of game development…a fight that’s likely to continue for a long time to come.

   
   

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Ryan M. Eft has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. Dynafire
   Posted On Dec 27 2008

   I liked all the random news stories from the year, but you should tone down the language a bit. You don't have to be a boy scout or anything like that, but try to avoid it in the future.