Acer's search for a new chief has come to end. The man who will replace interim CEO Stan Shih is Jason Chen, who served at TSMC from 2005 to 2008 as the vice president of TSMC Corporate Development. Since then, he's been serving as senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at TSMC. As for Shih, he will continue to serve as Chairman of Acer and Chairman of the Transformation Committee, Acer said.
"Jason is an excellent manager with extensive management experience and proven execution capability. Acer's search committee met with him on several occasions for in-depth dialogue and exchange of views," Shih said in a statement. "We consider him to be the ideal executive to lead our transformation with his wealth of new thinking, international perspective, and willingness to face this challenge. Moreover, he shares the consensus on our strategy and development for Acer's future."
Chen also has experience working for Intel. From 1991 to 2005, he held a variety of sales and marketing positions, eventually being named vice president and general manager of Intel's Asia Pacific region before his last assignment as the corporate vice president of Sales and Marketing group in the U.S. Prior to Intel, he worked at IBM Taiwan from 1988 to 1991.
The incoming CEO has his work cut out for him. Acer co-founder Stan Shih returned to Acer to serve as interim CEO after a quarter of record losses. His return came less than three weeks after former chief J.T. Wang announced his resignation. It's now up to Chen to get Acer on the right track.
Little Bobby's upstairs wondering why his wireless Xbox connection keeps dropping out, his sister's in the next room waiting on her streaming tunes to finish buffering, and you're just wanting a reliable Internet connection. Did you skimp on a router? That blue-light special you picked up isn't so special, after all. A big boy router will offer up a strong signal so Bobby can stay in the game and his sister can belt out Katy Perry's playlist. Looking for one? Then check out today's top deal for a Netgear WNDR4300-100NAS N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router - Premium Edition for $90 with free shipping (normally $150; use coupon code: [EMCWVVX49]). This model has 128MB of RAM plus 128MB of flash storage so you can (optionally) flash it with third-party firmware, and it's loaded with other features like DLNA support, Time Machine compatibility, ReadyShare USB access, and the list goes on.
When I looki back at a year of Guild Wars 2releases, one thing stands out to me: I really like Kasmeer, Braham, Marjory and Rox, and I'm not alone. ArenaNet's four newest iconic heroes have remained steadfastly popular in the midst of other criticism of GW2's living story. They're not universally popular -- no character is -- but you can usually count on their dialogue and characterization prompting appreciative threads and analysis. At the start of the Tower of Nightmares release, a few of my friends even linked to a forum post that theorized that Kasmeer might die (she didn't), and were deeply concerned until Wintersday came around. "ANet had better not," one of them said heatedly. "If Kas or Jory die, I'll quit."
While the iconics of the personal story and dungeon story modes, Destiny's Edge, have their fans, I've never heard anyone threaten to uninstall if one of them shuffles off to the Mists, even after a long history and a novel dedicated to their exploits. I think the main reason is that it's a lot easier to respect characters and want to be around them when you aren't left feeling like the only adult in the room.
Ask Me Anything question-and-answer sessions are a good idea, in theory. But, like any other Q&A format in the publisher-controlled game journalism field, they're specifically designed to showcase the game in question as opposed to providing potential customers with complete or completely accurate information. Live AMAs are of course more challenging for devs and their PR handlers than email or forum questions, and it's the latter approach that ZeniMax takes with its latest Elder Scrolls Online publicity push.
The AMA -- or really, AUA, for Ask Us Anything in this case -- focuses on ESO's PvP. Pre-screened questions include bits on bottlenecks, siege weapons, ranking systems, and the effectiveness of low-level players.
It's the final Massively Speaking podcast of the year! We've been diligently collecting bloopers, outtakes, and general tomfoolery from our past shows, and now we've assembled them all for a hilarious stream of weirdness and non sequiturs. Laugh with us and at us (mostly the latter), and we'll see you all in 2014!
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The problem with people asking, "What do you want for the holidays" is that most of the things you actually want aren't valid answers. What would I like? I'd like to see Final Fantasy XIV adapt its PvP advancement series for PvE purposes and have housing that people can actually afford. I'd like to see WildStar implement body sliders. I'd like City of Titansto be an enormous hit, and I'd really like to see a Transformers MMO that looks playable and enjoyable.
Yes, they may be pie-in-the-sky wishes, but darn it, that's what I'd like. So what about you, readers? Regardless of whether or not it will happen (and it probably won't), what would you like for a game-related present? Bring back a title that died? Add extra features to an existing title? Have developers join forces to make some sort of combination super-title? The choice is yours even as the odds are low.
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Elite: Dangerous combat alpha was updated with support for 3-D monitors and the Oculus Rift gaming headset this week, and developers gave fans a look behind the scenes in a new development newsletter. Star Citizen's dogfighting module was also delayed in order to bring the level of polish up higher and integrate the combat with the existing hangar module.
League of Legends released its annual Snowdown update alongside a coincidentally named Showdown game mode that offers short 1v1 and 2v2 matches. Dota 2 officially removed its Steam activation queue and opened its doors to the public, and Valve put out a call for 3-D modelers to make new items themed on the Chinese New Year. Heroes of Newerth's patch 3.3 went live, introducing a new tactical item that can copy runes without consuming them. And SMITE revealed new Mayan god Chaac, a rain god with a lightning axe that's bigger than he is.
Diablo III officially opened pre-orders for its Reaper of Souls expansion; fansite Diablofans collected together another 50 legendary item screenshots from players on the public test realm. Path of Exile's patch 1.0.4 is due to launch today, adding the channeled Flameblast spell and support for private PvP duels. And Firefall developer Red 5 Studios sacked its CEO and founder Mark Kern this week, prompting several anonymous employees to reportedly come forward with stories of poor management behind the scenes.
Last week'sChoose My Adventure polls sent Massively's Mike Foster on a path toward the dark side, putting him in the role of an Empire-loyal Arisen in the world of Allods Online. Join Mike as he takes his first community-chosen steps in the shoes of his new character and learns the ins and outs of this strange sci-fantasy universe. The adventure begins at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Game:Allods Online Host: Mike Foster Date: Monday, December 23rd, 2013 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
The Aurin aren't the same as their allies in WildStar. The humans are still fighting a long, lonely war against the Dominion for slights that were so long ago the Dominion has likely forgotten about them. The Granok persist in their fight out of a dogged need to make their exile from the homeworld seem palatable. And the Mordesh have a long history of loathing to go along with being undead monstrosities, for which they (somewhat unfairly) blame the Dominion.
But the Aurin? They aren't fighting for anything. They were dragged into this war by humans, propelled by a promise that grows ever more unlikely in its potential fulfillment. All that the Aurin wished to do was help people in obvious need, and their thanks -- and ultimate reward -- seems to trap them in an endless cycle of violence in which they're not naturally inclined to participate. In some ways, they're the most victimized race of the Exiles because they're limited by not just the Dominion but their fellow faction-mates.
Wargaming.net today announced the launch of World of Tanks update 8.10. North American and European World of Tanks players can now access the brand-new Japanese tech tree, which includes 14 tanks spread across the game's several tank-types and tiers. The Soviet tech tree has also seen two additions in the form of the Object 430 and Object 430 Variant II medium tanks.
A Japanese-themed map has been added as well, complete with cherry blossoms. Check out the 8.10 launch trailer after the break.
We're coming up on 2014 and staring Star Trek Online's fourth anniversary right in the face. It's an anniversary that many naysayers said would never come. Next week I plan on taking a look back at the past year in Star Trek Online, so this week I thought it would be fun to prognosticate on what we might see in the year to come.
A few days ago, STO Community Manager Brandon Felczer wrote a blog post on the game's site, and buried within that post was the announcement that Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment have slated another expansion for the game in 2014. The news was actually a bit surprising, and although there were no additional facts about what the expansion might entail, there has been a lot of speculation by the players. I am no exception to the speculation frenzy, so here's my own personal wish list for what I'd like to see in the upcoming expansion and other releases in 2014.
Neverwinter fans may want to pop over to the game's official site and read lead producer Andy Velasquez's state of the game post, which outlines challenges faced by the dev team, successes it has seen this year, and hopes it has for the future of the game. Velasquez noted the Shadowmantle expansion as a high point for the game, praising his team for being able to "get it done so quickly while maintaining a high-quality product."
Velasquez also explained that it is Cryptic's goal to get future expansions live on the test server earlier in the development process, thus allowing for deeper testing and the collection of more player feedback. According to Velasquez, player feedback is invaluable in helping the Neverwinter team understand which changes to implement.
Other small successes were celebrated; Neverwinter has launched a Russian shard and the team is hard at work on the next content update.
RuneScape Companion is a versatile web app that can be accessed by just about any mobile device, tablet, or PC via the companion web page. The app currently functions as a chat interface between you and your friends, clan, or private conversation partners. Jagex is looking to expand the app's functionality in the coming year.
While the companion app works great on many devices, there are a few that have yet to be invited into the club, such as the iPad Air and all Windows phones.
The other day I posted a Daily Grind here on the site that asked about NPC factions that are, in effect, a total joke. I used the example of the Orochi from The Secret World, which got one commenter's ire up. He said it was "insulting" that I was singling this out this organization, and I assume that I'm no longer on his Christmas card mailing list.
Defensiveness aside, I think I have a pretty good case here that the Orochi are, well, almost laughable. Just about everywhere you go in the game, you encounter their corpses, burning vans, busted camps, crashed planes, and botched excavations. As a friend put it, they're like well-funded kids who go into a military zone with professionals and end up like you'd expect. I've been mocking them for months now, and I am far from alone. After a certain point, their grisly tableaus become a running joke that makes it really hard to take them seriously.
But that's the question I want to grapple with today. If the upcoming Tokyo zones will be featuring the Orochi on their home turf, are they too far gone in terms of respectability in the eyes of players to change the narrative? We've seen them kicked up and down across the world, so I'm wondering if it's too late for the Orochi to put on big boy pants and be invited to the adult table.
Nothing brings out the retrospective spirit in us all like the end of another year, and ArenaNet has indulged in a visual remembrance of 2013 with a new Guild Wars 2 video that thanks players for a wonderful year. Reminisce with the devs about defeating the Molten Alliance, electing Captain Ellen Kiel, and destroying the Tower of Nightmares in the clip that includes footage from various fan-attended events. If you were present at any of those events, you might even find yourself in the video below! So take a quick jaunt down memory lane and share with us your favorite GW2 moments over the last year.
What will Elder Scrolls Online's PVP be all about? How do you create a tropical landscape in EverQuest Next Landmark? And What WoW developer needs your help now more than ever? Watch on to find out. This is MMORPG's Merry MMOrning Report, and this is what you need to know for December 24th, 2013.
World of WarPlanes is Wargaming's latest entry into the aerial combat genre. We've taken to the skies to check out WoWP and offer our official review. See if World of WarPlanes soars or crashes and then leave your own thoughts in the comments.
Ron Nakada, WoW software engineer, has had quite a year. Starting with getting married and ending with a cancer diagnosis, one could say it's been unforgettable. Ron, however, needs our help. Diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, the insurance coverage between short- and long-term coverage contains a gap that could cause his family to fall immeasurably behind in medical bills. Ron's friends are trying to help.
Amazing World is billed as a great starter MMO for kids. We've put the game through its paces to see how it stacks up for the younger gamer. See what we discovered before heading to the comments.
MMORPG.com has teamed up with City-State Entertainment to bring our readers a brand new developer blog that gives insight into the design process behind one of Camelot Unchained's iconic heroes, Nuadha Airgetlám. Read the second installment of the series to find out more and let us know what you think in the comments. Then head to the Camelot Unchained site to read the lore.
Last week, Aion developers announced the Steel Cavalry content expansion that would include a brand new class among other things. We caught up with the team to chat about the update and much more. See what they had to say and then leave your reactions in the comments.
Celebrate the holidays with Arena of Heroes! Just in time for Christmas and New Year's Day, get a gift code to unlock a Lumberjack Doombeard skin the action-packed iPad MOBA!
Continuing the PvP theme started by the discussion of keeps, the Elder Scrolls Online team has taken a bevy of fan questions related to the topic and answered them in the latest "Ask Us Anything" series.
Cryptic's Andy Velasquez has posted the final 2013 State of the Game letter for Neverwinter. In it, the game's accomplishments since launch are highlighted and Velasquez gives a few hints about things to come in 2014.
ArenaNet has posted a great new video thanking players for an amazing Guild Wars 2 2013. In addition, the video recaps some of the game's highlights for the year. Give it a watch and let us know what you think.
Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest Next: Landmark team has a spiffy new video series for would-be builders with "Building Blocks". In this episode, the team shows off how a tropical environment can be built using the provided tools. Check it out!
As the end of 2013 rolls around, MMOs crack out winter / holiday events for players. In our newest Social Hub, we take a look at why we believe those events and celebrations are important for the community. Check out our thoughts and then add your own in the comments.
ArenaNet has been hard at work to bring significant alterations to the Guild Wars 2 World vs World system. Recently, they announced some rewards changes that caught our eye. Check out our thoughts before heading to the comments to add your own.
TSMC veteran joins Acer
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's 
