Blizzard Streisand
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| Blizzard Streisand | |
| Number | 2746 |
| Broadcast Date | APRIL 27, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 50:35 |
| Hosts | Scott Johnson |
| Guests | Jenn Cutter |
Why do game companies like Blizzard have such a rabid following and what does it mean for the future of video game trade shows like E3? Jenn Cutter and Scott Johnson discuss.
Guest
Headlines
- The FBI disclosed a security flaw affecting iPhone and Macs on April 14th under the Vulnerability Equities Process Apple told Reuters yesterday. The Vulnerability Equities Process is a White House policy to determine when a security vulnerability is shared with affected companies or withheld for national security reasons. According to MacWorld the vulnerability was one that Apple already knew about. The FBI will not submit the hack used to gain access to the iPhone in the San Bernadino case because agency doesn’t know the methods used.
- Apple’s stock dropped as much as 8.3% to $95.68 early this morning after yesterday’s 2nd quarter earnings call. Bloomberg reports sales slid 13% from $58 billion a year before to $50.6 billion and a 16% fall in iPhone sales. Net income dropped to $10.5 billion. The company said it would increase its share-repurchase program to $175 billion and increase its quarterly dividend to $0.57 from $0.52.
- Yahoo announced it has reached a deal with activist investor Starboard Value. According to TechCrunch 4 new board members are being added including Starboard CEO Jeff Smith plus 3 of his director nominees; Tor R. Braham from Deutsche Bank, Eddy W. Hartenstein from Tribune Company and Richard S Hill CEO of patent troll company Tessera Technologies. 2 current yahoo board members won’t seek re-election. Smith will also get a seat on the committee formed to lead the auction process. Starboard Value recently wrote a letter calling for the current Yahoo board to be replaced.
- Intel wants to replace the venerable 3.5” audio jack with a USB-C connector according to a company proposal shared at a Shenzhen developer forum. Anandtech highlighted the advantages of ditching the ananlog audio jack with USB-C digital connector including the ability to add health monitoring functionality to earbuds for fitness trackers and removing the D to A converter to create space on smartphone circuit boards. Chinese company LeEco recently launched 3 smartphones without headphone jacks.
- Nintendo officially announced March 2017 as the launch for Nintendo NX...a gaming console they have previously not commented on, or even admitted was real. It is, and is coming in less than a year. During their earnings report today, they commented on the new device, saying "For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed 'NX' with a brand-new concept,". They did not elaborate on what the "new concept" is, nor did they share any details about the hardware plans. In somewhat expected news, the next Legend of Zelda title originally slated for WiiU has been delayed again, and will surface on both the Wii-U and the NX, not unlike the gamecube / Wii crossover we saw with Twighlight Princess. Nintendo also confirms the ONLY playable game they will have at E3 this year is the new Zelda title.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that according to people familiar with the matter the FTC is expanding its investigation into Android over alleged abuse of its market position. The Commission’s investigation was prompted by complaints from app developers that other firms that free Android mobile software gives Google an unfair advantage over competitors. The FTC and Google have declined to comment on the investigation. The EU has an antitrust investigation focusing on Google's Play Store.
- Speaking of Google and hot water... Getty Images isn't real happy that Google search displays copyrighted full-screen, high-res photos....which includes some Getty Images. In a complaint filed with the European antitrust commission, they say Google is digging third party sources for content, and promotes piracy...piracy they say is hurting Getty Images and their business. In the complaint it filed with the European Union's antitrust commission, it accused Google of scraping images from third-party sources and promoting piracy, which is apparently hurting its business. They say once people have already seen the pictures through a Google Image search, "there is little impetus to view the image on the original source site." Lawyer for Getty Images, Yoko Miyashita, said in a statement: "Getty Images represents over 200,000 photojournalists, content creators and artists around the world who rely on us to protect their ability to be compensated for their work. Google's behavior is adversely affecting not only our contributors, but the lives and livelihoods of artists around the word, present and future."
- You can now pay your Neflix bill with Google play account. “Coming soon: Subscribe for Netflix via Google Play Billing (new permission required).” is now listed under the What’s New in the Neflix App entry on the Google Store. Netflix has told Variety that the rollout will take place over the next several weeks and that a segment of users will be able to go to the Google Play store and pay for Netflix.
- TheWrap reports Amazon wants to get all up your face with VR content of their own! Amazon’s sent it's Hollywood arm of the company to meet with VR companies, and organizations pushing VR content to various devices, this according to multiple people familiar with the matter. While talks appear to be in the early stages, Amazon is meeting with studios who currently work with them on original programming, like Transparent for example. An Amazon job posting for a VR manager happened in March, which seems to show the company is interested in getting into the game. While the jury is out on whether or not Amazon will ever get into the hardware side of VR, it seems probably they're interested in content creation at this stage.
- Distracted German smart phone users can cross the street with a little more confidence, thanks to a interesting new pilot program. Authorities in the city of Augsburg, about 35 miles outside of Munich, have embedded rows of LEDs into the street pavement. You get a red flash when you are not supposed to cross. And no light when it's ok to go. German television station N-TV says it become necessary to try this new idea after a 15-year-old girl, starring down at her smartphone with earbuds on, was killed when she stepped in front of a tram. "We'll see how that is received." "...new traffic lights create a very different attention."
- Submitted by anotherjmartin
- Facebook reached 1.65 billion monthly users and surpassing estimates in its Q1 2016 earnings report. Had $5.38 billion in revenue and $0.77 earnings per share. Facebook’s share price climbed over 8% in the moments after earnings were announced, reaching over $117 in after-hours trading. Revenue was up 52% year over year with $1.5 billion in profit in Q1. Average revenue per user was up 32% YoY.
Discussion
Pick of the Day
- I would like to recommend a series that the Crash Course channel on Youtube is doing.<br /
Crash Course Games is 20 week series that is talking about games and not just video games. They will be covering board games, role playing games, "sports ball" games among other games.
So far they have done an overview on games and what will be coming up the series and a very interesting episode on ancient games.
The production values are high for a Youtube series and the series has been very informative so far.
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series. Give it a look. - Submitted by Nik
- I would like to recommend a series that the Crash Course channel on Youtube is doing.<br /
Messages
- In regards to the music streaming exclusives, it reminds me a little bit about how the state of game consoles work.
In the past, game consoles used to boost a lot of exclusives.
As the consoles get more equal however, most developers adopted the strategy of being as console agnostic as possibly by releasing on as many platforms.
Real exclusives for game consoles are pretty rare these days, you might see some "time exclusives" such as rebooted Raider 2 for the Xbox One but by and large most games are developed for most of the popular consoles (except the Wii U because it's weaker and reasons unrelated to the discussions). - Sent by Yaru in Malaysia
- In regards to the music streaming exclusives, it reminds me a little bit about how the state of game consoles work.
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Disclaimer: Beyonce’s Hubby works at Tidal" |
Blizzard Streisand |
Followed by: "A Wolfram Ate My Homework" |