The man occupying a vacation condominium in Palm Springs, California without paying rent was not thrilled that his new landlord planned to cut off the electricity. He said that it would affect his work, which he does from home and earns $1,000 to $7,000 per day. What kind of work? Developing video games, apparently. [More]
video games
World’s Largest Video Game Collection Sells For $750,000 (Maybe)
By 6.17.14
When last we checked in with the auction for the world’s largest video game collection, bidding had reached just more than $90,000 — a substantial amount of money but far short of the $700K-800K estimate the seller had put on it a few months earlier. Turns out his approximation was spot-on, with the winning bid coming in at slightly more than $750,000. [More]
Snooping Sites, Aimless Ads, Sexist Stereotypes: A Look Back At The Week In Tech News
By 6.13.14
It’s a big, busy world, and even with a smartphone in your pocket at all times it’s hard to read everything written about it in a week. Sometimes, useful info slips through the cracks. So, here are five interesting stories from the world of internet and technology news. [More]
These Are The End Times For The Gaming Console
By 6.11.14
The newest, fastest, shiniest, next generation of video game consoles — Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 — launched to great fanfare last fall. They are both generally well-received and have sold in respectable numbers. Both companies have declared success, and not without reason. And yet, in spite of all the indicators of a thriving console business, this is almost certainly the last generation of set-top video game consoles we will ever see. [More]
Competitive Gaming: The Next Big Spectator Sport That You Probably Don’t Know About
By 6.10.14
In October of 2013, 19.2 million viewers tuned in live to watch the Red Sox clinch a World Series title, soundly routing the Cardinals in game six. That same month, 32 million viewers tuned in to watch SK Telecom T1 trounce Royal Club, 3 games to 0 to take home the Summoner’s Cup. Nearly all of us know that the first sport is baseball. Many fewer can identify the second as League of Legends, a competitive online multiplayer video game. And yet maybe we should. [More]
With PlayStation TV and PlayStation Now, Sony Takes More Steps Away From Traditional Consoles
By 6.10.14
Sony made a couple of interesting announcements at their annual E3 press conference last night. One was for a streaming program and one was for a device — but both point toward a future that takes the PlayStation out of “PlayStation games” altogether. [More]
It’s Time To Start Treating Video Game Industry Like The $21 Billion Business It Is
By 6.9.14
The majority of video games in the U.S. are purchased and played by adults. The largest titles make money that Hollywood films could only dream of raking in, and the biggest players in the industry run multibillion-dollar multinational operations that employ thousands of people. Yet many consumers still think of gaming as a kid’s thing that doesn’t merit serious consideration or scrutiny. In an age where our culture recognizes previously sniffed-about industries like professional sports as much more than child’s play, it’s time to get over that same hump about video games. [More]
Bidding For World’s Largest Video Game Collection Passes $90K
By 6.9.14
Once you’ve been certified by the Guinness folks as the owner of the world’s largest video game collection, you can either sit around looking at your library… or you can auction it off in the hopes of making a pile of cash. [More]
EA To Pay College Athletes Up To $951 Each For Stealing Their Likenesses
By 6.2.14
What are you worth? Or rather, how much would you want to be paid to have your likeness used in a wildly popular and profitable sports video game? According to video game giant (and two-time Worst Company In America winner) Electronic Arts, the price tag for a college athlete’s face is just shy of one thousand bucks. [More]
Comcast Commercial Claims Their Fast In-Home WiFi Can Make Your Offline Game Work Better
By 5.28.14
Comcast’s been irking a large segment of the internet again this week. This time, though, it doesn’t have anything to do with their pro-merger mania, their stance on net neutrality, or the problems with their actual service. The latest kerfuffle is all about a thirty-second commercial — one that doesn’t even seem to get the basics of its own technology right. [More]
“Watch Dogs” Video Game PR Stunt Leads To Newsroom Evacuation
By 5.28.14
Back in the day when I worked at places where writers were allowed to receive free promotional crap (mostly DVDs and vodka… so much bad vodka) from PR companies, I got all manner of bizarre stuff, the strangest probably being a box that allegedly contained a few of Troy Polamalu’s signature curly locks. But if I received a tiny unmarked safe with a note to “check your voicemail,” and which beeped when I tried to open it, I might have gotten freaked out enough to call the police. [More]
YouTube In Talks To Buy Video Game Streaming Company Twitch For $1B
By 5.19.14
You can only fill the day with so many videos of cute kittens. For the other hours you might be tempted to watch or play a few video games. The transition from cute baby animal videos to action-packed gaming could be smoother now that Google’s YouTube is reportedly close to purchasing streaming video game service Twitch. [More]
Obnoxious Xbox One Users To Start Being Warned About Being Doofuses
By 3.26.14
While there are millions of video game players who are perfectly nice people, there are enough jerks out there to give the gaming community a bad name, so much so that some folks refuse to play multiplayer games just to avoid dealing with the schoolyard bullying that can sometimes come over the Internet. Last year, Microsoft promised that its new Xbox One console would have a way to minimize jerks’ access to online gaming, and the company says it is now ready to start issuing warnings to users who behave badly. [More]
Walmart Wants To Be The GameStop Where You Trade In Games For Groceries
By 3.18.14
Starting next week, Walmart shoppers looking for something to do with those Batman: Arkham Origins discs they no longer play will have one more option for unloading their used video games, as the nation’s largest retailer aims to likely become the largest purchaser of customers’ old games. [More]
The Competition Is As Fake As The Blood: Why New Video Games Are Always The Same Price
By 3.15.14
Video games have gotten ridiculously predictable. Not in stories, writing, or mechanics (although sometimes those, too) but in release, pricing, and distribution. When it comes to the big-budget blockbuster console-ready games, by now pretty much every player can recite the pricing timetable by heart. [More]
Shaquille O’Neal Wants To Crowdsource $450K To Create New Version Of Cruddy Shaq Fu Video Game
By 3.6.14
Nearly 20 years ago, basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal lent his name and digitized likeness to Shaq Fu, a poorly slapped-together cash-in video game in which even contrarian hipsters have trouble finding any redeeming qualities. Now, with two decades to mull it over, Shaq has not only decided that it’s time for the sequel no one asked for, but that a sizable chunk of the funding should come from consumers. [More]
EA Doesn’t Really Want People Sharing Negative Game Reviews Where Someone Might Read Them
By 2.10.14
It’s almost time to start thinking about this year’s Worst Company In America tournament, which can mean only one thing — two-time reigning WCIA champ Electronic Arts is once again making a final push to be hated by its own customers. This time, the video game giant has been caught apparently trying to game the Google Play review and ratings system. [More]
EA Finally Decides You Don’t Need To Be Online To Play SimCity
By 1.13.14
When reigning two-time Worst Company In America champ Electronic Arts released the hugely anticipated SimCity game in April 2013, it unleashed a hornets’ nest of bad publicity by not only requiring that players be online in order to use the game but also grossly underestimating its ability to deal with all of those users trying to play the game at the same time. Many owners of the game were unable to play for weeks until EA resolved the issue, but the company stood by the ill-advised decision to require an Internet connection. Now, ten months and ten updates later, it’s finally relenting. [More]
