Henroid

The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

Recommended Posts

Of course the biggest difference with Amazon is that they own their own game devs plus publisher, and they are probably a lot better situated to work professionally with both the big players and indies.

 

Yeah, you're totally right about that part. They are great to work with and do throw a lot of resources behind developers they're courting to their platform.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The only apps it has at launch is Amazon and Hulu Plus. They promise all those other apps, but I'm not interested in buying it until it has them.

 

Good to know they are using an RF/wireless remote.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This fills basically zero gaps in my life so I have no interest in buying one, but the fact that they have a game studio to actually make games for it means I'll keep an eye on it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Microsoft is having some sort of conference right now, and I'm trying to gather info on it. But a couple things.

 

They're dropping the licensing fee on Windows Phone, so there's a good move.

 

And if this tweet is to be believed, Windows 8 is finally going to have like a traditional Start menu. Sort of. It still has mobile-phone shit attached to the side it looks like? Or maybe that's in the background on the "desktop." I can't tell. Also Windows 8 is still shit in my mind and I'm not convinced.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They dropped the license fee on Windows Phone, and they license fee of regular windows on devices with screens smaller than 9".

 

Windows 8 is indeed going to have a traditional Start menu that does integrate the live titles found on the Start screen.

 

I'm excited about Windows 8 Update mostly because 1) Metro apps that run Windowed in desktop mode increase the value of those apps to me by infinity percent and 2) cross-form factor apps mean that I may get interfaces for my Windows 8 tablet that are a little more tablet-friendly and are a little more desktop-friendly in their desktop mode, instead of an app that appears like it'd be good on a tablet but isn't and also is shit on desktop.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Extensively - 

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/2/5570866/cortana-windows-phone-8-1-digital-assistant

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/2/5570700/cortana-for-windows-phone-8-1-hands-on-video

 

The buzz on Twitter from tech journos was that it's basically the one thing that WP8.1 has over Android and Apple in a serious way. In every other way, WP8.1 seems to be playing catch up, though this latest update seems to be it's Android 4.0/iOS5 in terms of cohesiveness and vision.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So is the Windows 8.1 update going to be available for all phones currently running Windows 8 or will it only work with new hardware?

 

After having had it for over a year now, I still really like my Windows 8 phone but I haven't heard much about their phones in recent months so I've been a little concerned that interest has been waning. I'll be up for an upgrade soon and I'm on the fence about whether I should stick with the Windows phone in the hope that it will continue to receive support and gain more features/apps or if I should jump ship back to Android.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

All phones running Windows Phone 8 will be upgradeable to Windows Phone 8.1.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like Kim Swift and Clint Hocking have both joined Amazon Game Studios.  Their console thing is suddenly looking much more interesting.

 

Seriously, not some post April Fools joke?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm only partway through this, but this piece on the absolute implosion of the GAME_JAM is super interesting. 

 

Thank you for all of the posts regarding this. It was in my peripheral vision, but I hadn't actually read any of the information out there about it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So is the Windows 8.1 update going to be available for all phones currently running Windows 8 or will it only work with new hardware?

 

After having had it for over a year now, I still really like my Windows 8 phone but I haven't heard much about their phones in recent months so I've been a little concerned that interest has been waning. I'll be up for an upgrade soon and I'm on the fence about whether I should stick with the Windows phone in the hope that it will continue to receive support and gain more features/apps or if I should jump ship back to Android.

 

I've been feeling the same way Zeus.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like Kim Swift and Clint Hocking have both joined Amazon Game Studios.  Their console thing is suddenly looking much more interesting.

 

Well that was... unexpected.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well that was... unexpected.

 

A grenade rolls down a hill and through a portal...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The only apps it has at launch is Amazon and Hulu Plus. They promise all those other apps, but I'm not interested in buying it until it has them.

 

Good to know they are using an RF/wireless remote.

 

It looks like the Fire TV is going to use the existing Amazon Android app store to deliver content, which includes things like Netflix.  Maybe the Amazon and Hulu Plus apps will come preloaded, but it seems like the other stuff is available now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Huh, I wonder if there's any optimization for those Android apps. I think Google rightly tried to develop two separate ecosystems for TV and mobile, but ultimately failed in their TV offering so they moved Android apps to Google TV. Without optimization, I can imagine that certain apps certainly may work but I don't know if I'd actually want to use them if their interface is comparably poor to the baked in apps from Amazon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Because a lot of games journalists don't have much HR experience, so this might not be said, it's worth noting that "terminated without cause", which is what o'Donnell says, is not the same as "terminated without explanation" or "terminated unfairly". Washington state is not (yet) a right-to-work state, so if you terminate someone (outside certain situations) you need either to compensate them according to their contract/state law or demonstrate that you have "just cause".

 

"Without cause" here is o'Donnell clarifying immediately that he wasn't terminated due to wrongdoing or poor performance, for example, but rather that he was terminated for a reason that doesn't legally count as "just cause". It's an assertion that he was a good employee, essentially.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was just honestly surprised they let him go at all, he's been as iconic a figure at Bungie as any developer there.  And that it wasn't handled in a better way, seems like there was a real opportunity there to do something positive, and instead you get headlines like that.

 

It's always been surprising that Bungie had a staff composer in the first place. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Because a lot of games journalists don't have much HR experience, so this might not be said, it's worth noting that "terminated without cause", which is what o'Donnell says, is not the same as "terminated without explanation" or "terminated unfairly". Washington state is not (yet) a right-to-work state, so if you terminate someone (outside certain situations) you need either to compensate them according to their contract/state law or demonstrate that you have "just cause".

 

"Without cause" here is o'Donnell clarifying immediately that he wasn't terminated due to wrongdoing or poor performance, for example, but rather that he was terminated for a reason that doesn't legally count as "just cause". It's an assertion that he was a good employee, essentially.

 

That's actually a very interesting point. I've lived in right-to-work states all my life, so it didn't quite click that being fired in a non-rtw state could mean something different.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, from what I understand, most terminations are classified as "without cause." If you give cause, that opens up all sorts of legal issues.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Absolutely - you can terminate someone for any reason or no reason in Washington state, unless there's a contract prohibiting that - in which case you'd need to fire them "for cause", or persuade them to leave or accept a buy-out or other settlement. Uncontracted workers are usually terminated without cause, for ease of administration, I think. But "with cause" would mean something very different...

(Contrast that with e.g. West and Zampella at Infinity Ward - they were contracted employees Activision terminated with cause, and the legal dispute between those parties was in large part about whether that cause was actually a just cause - whether they had done something that entitled Activision to fire them. The argument was basically "who violated the contract first?")

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now