| Sega to Cut 300 Jobs, Will Focus on Mobile and Online PC Games Posted: 30 Jan 2015 04:36 PM PST  Staff offered voluntary retirement
Despite successes such as Alien: Isolation, which sold over 1 million copies, and Football Manager 2015, Sega will be making some unfortunate changes. Sega announced that 300 employees will be solicited for voluntary retirement while the company focuses on mobile and PC gaming as part of a restructuring and downsizing process. "Voluntary retirement will be solicited in the aforementioned businesses to be withdrawn or consolidated and downsized, while at the same time personnel will be repositioned in Digital Games and growth areas of Group mainly as development personnel, in order to establish a structure which can constantly generate profits," the company informed employees. "The purpose of these measures is to improve the business efficiency of the Group." Sega of America will feel the brunt of this process with its business being moved from San Francisco to Southern California. In the meantime, 120 jobs will potentially be lost between February 9 and the end of March though the company will offer incentives to employees who voluntarily retire. "We are confident that by relocating to Southern California we will be able to thrive, grow, and become a stronger company because of it," said Sega of America president John Cheng. Cheng added, "We are sad to say goodbye to some of the best people in the business and are indebted to them for their hard work and dedication through the years." Despite the restructuring and layoffs, Sega announced that upcoming game releases will not be affected while developers Creative Assembly and Sports Interactive will be relatively unscathed during the process. Upcoming games include Total War Battles: Kingdoms, Total War: Arena, Total War: Attila, another installment of Football Manager, and a western release of Yakuza 5. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Google to Change Privacy Policy Following Investigation by UK Data Watchdogs Posted: 30 Jan 2015 01:25 PM PST  UK regulator will not fine Google
Google has been dealing with government regulators from 28 different countries since the company changed its privacy policy back in 2012. In the wake of being fined by Spain and France, Google has agreed to change its privacy policy after Britain's data protection regulator stated that the privacy policy was too vague. On Friday, the Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement that Google would be required to sign a "formal undertaking" that it would make changes to its policy by June 30 while taking further steps within the next two years. As a result of this agreement, the UK will not fine Google, unlike France and Spain where regulators fined the company in addition to asking for changes. "We're pleased that the ICO has decided to close its investigation," a spokesman from Google said. Back in 2012, Google had consolidated over 60 of its existing privacy policies into one and began to pool the data it collected on individual users across its various services such as YouTube, Google+, and Gmail without providing users a way to opt out. Shortly after implementing these changes, data protection regulators from 28 European countries gave Google a deadline, after asking the company to delay the changes to its policies, after discovering that the new approach didn't comply with EU rules. Prior to the UK's agreement with Google, Spain fined the company 900,000 euros ($1.02 million) while France leveled a 150,000 euros fine at the company. The fines may be a drop in the bucket for Google, which reported an annual revenue of $66 billion in 2014, but other countries are still considering their approach to the situation. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Adobe Files Lawsuit Against Forever 21 for Pirating Software Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:31 AM PST  Autodesk and Corel join lawsuit
It comes as no surprise that businesses will cut corners to reduce costs by any means necessary. Such measures might result in removing free items or services for consumers, but for fashion retail chain Forever 21, cutting corners also includes pirating software. A decision that has resulted in Adobe, along with Autodesk and Corel, filing a lawsuit against Forever 21 that claims the retail chain pirated their software. According to the complaint, Forever 21 pirated 63 different instances of Adobe software that includes copies of Illustrator, Acrobat, and Photoshop while Autodesk and Corel included copyright infringement claims concerning AutoCAD, WinZip, PaintShop Pro, and other programs. The complaint goes on to say that the retail chain "continued their infringing activities even after being contacted by Adobe regarding the infringement." As a result of Forever 21's "willful, intentional, and malicious copyright infringement" the companies are asking that the court issue an injunction and be compensated an unspecified amount for the lost revenue, court costs, and additional damages. What means Adobe used to discover that Forever 21 was pirating and using its software was not disclosed though Adobe, on its website, encourages employees to turn in their employers stating, "If your employer is not responsive or you choose not to inform your employer of the violation, you should report the violation to the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) or the Business Software Alliance (BSA)." However, Adobe is no stranger to people pirating its software. But back in 2013, the company moved to a cloud-based subscription model for Photoshop and other software. The move was met with some resistance and resulted in many people searching for pirated versions of the software. So now we have to ask, will this lawsuit cause Forever 21 to lose its shirt? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Graphics Porn (January 2015): Other Places Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:12 AM PST  Showcasing the sexiest, most photogenic game screenshots this side of the Internet
Andy Kelly's Other Places is an homage to the beauty of video games. In fact, the PC Gamer writer calls the project: "A series celebrating beautiful video game worlds." We're inclined to agree and we've decided to showcase some of his greatest works in this month's Graphics Porn. They're not exactly screenshots, but Andy's videos capture these places in a way that photographs cannot. The videos range from compilations to well-edited footage of specific locations like Far Cry 4's Kyrat. Whether you've been using Steam's nifty screenshots feature or simply print screening some beautiful wallpaper-worthy game moments, we want to be able to share your captured works of art with the world. If you think you can do as well as (or better than) the pictures submitted below, please email your screenshots to mpcgraphicsporn@gmail.com so we can show them off. Make sure to include the name of the game, a title for the screenshot, and a description of what's happening on-screen. |
| Cyanogen Wants to Take Google Away From Android, Microsoft Could Help Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:45 AM PST  An unusual plot in mobile
Famed Android modder Cyanogen and his self-titled startup could end up with an ally in Microsoft. How so? Word around the web is that Microsoft is a minority investor in a $70 million round of equity financing, which would value the company at around $500 million. However, that's only part of the story. The other part of the emerging storyline has to do with a bold statement recently made by Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster. "I'm the CEO of Cyanogen. We're attempting to take Android away from Google," McMaster said while introducing himself and his company at a "Next Phase of Android" event. According to Gizmodo, his comment drew some laughs from the crowd, though a day later The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft was investing in Cyanogen. Suddenly McMaster's statement seems a little less funny and a lot less wild, especially if you're Google. Here's the thing about Android -- it's an open-source operating system that doesn't cost hardware makers a dime, though there are certain strings attached. If a device maker wants to access Google's search engine, YouTube, or even the Play Store, then the device must include other Google apps and make Google search the default. According to Ars Technica, there's also an "anti-fragmentation clause" that prohibits OEMs from selling Android devices without Google Play. Cyanogen's ROMs don't come with any such clauses or restrictions. Where does Microsoft fit into all this? We're not sure, though it would be interesting if it managed to get Bing featured as the default search in future Cyanogen ROMs. And depending on how much skin Microsoft wants to have in the game, it could help Cyanogen negotiate deals with hardware makers -- as it stands, Cyanogen recently inked a deal with Micromax, a smartphone maker in India, to ship handsets with Cyanogen installed. It's an odd arrangement given that Microsoft wants to grow its own Windows platform on mobile. At the same time, it also makes sense to gamble on Cyanogen, considering how large the market is for Android devices. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| AMD Takes a Chip Shot at Nvidia's GTX 970 Controversy, Cuts Radeon R9 290X Pricing Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:49 AM PST  Did anybody not see this coming?
What do you do when you see your enemy twisting in the wind? You strike, of course, and that's exactly what AMD predictably decided to do as rival Nvidia goes into damage control concerning the memory controversy on its GeForce GTX 970 graphics card. AMD and its partners have lowered the price of their Radeon R9 290X graphics cards to as low as $280 after rebate, or $300 without. Credit AMD for waiting until precisely the right time to drop pricing. Had AMD done this when news first broke that there were performance issues on the GTX 970 when accessing onboard memory above 3.5GB, it would have been jumping the gun. From a strategic standpoint, it's brilliant to roll out the price cuts immediately after an Nvidia employee said he would help GTX 970 customers obtain a refund on their card, if they in fact decide to return it and are unable to get a refund on their own. AMD's price cut could end up being the deciding factor for anyone who was on the fence about keeping their GTX 970 card. In reality, Nvidia's card is still a fantastic GPU for the money, at least for most users, and Nvidia originally said it's working on a driver update that should improve memory performance. That bit has since been edited out of the original post, though we suspect Nvidia will still try to fine tune things. Nevertheless, picking up a competitive card for as much as $50 less than the GTX 970 will be tough for some gamers to ignore, especially those who have yet to upgrade. And to make sure the point is driven home, AMD's technical communications lead, Robert Hallock, took a jab at Nvidia on Twitter by posting a picture of the Radeon R9 290 with the caption, "4GB means 4GB." Speaking of which, the Radeon R9 290 can be found on Newegg for as little as $250 after rebate, or $270 without. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Google Banks Billions on Search, So Why are Investors Concerned? Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:23 AM PST  Search is still Google's primary cash cow
Let's get one thing straight -- most businesses would happily switch places with Google based on the financial figures alone. The sultan of search pulled in $66 billion in revenue for all of 2014, up 19 percent year-on-year. That's thanks in part to a strong finish, with Google reporting consolidated revenues of $18.10 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, a jump of 15 percent compared to the same quarter a year prior. Google's profit in the fourth quarter alone came to $4.76 billion, up from $3.38 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, so why are some investors nervous? There are a few reasons. As The New York Times points out, Google's net revenue growth in the last three months of 2014 slowed to 10 percent when compared to the same quarter a year ago. That's still not bad from a purely numbers perspective, though behind the curve when compared to recently reported results by two other tech giants, Facebook and Apple. If continuing to nitpick, there are some other red flags, one of them being that the cost-per-click dropped 3 percent sequentially. This is the amount Google can charge advertisers for placing ads on its network, and according to a BBC report, the takeaway for investors is that Google is having a tough time raising the price it charges for mobile ads. That's concerning, since consumers are increasingly turning to mobile to access the Internet. The other cause for some concern (from investors) is the lack of a safety net if Google's search business should take a turn for the worse for whatever reason. Revenue from Google's own sites makes up more than two-thirds of its overall business. And though Google has its hands in multiple different areas, like self-driving cars, none of them are big money makers. Google's stock has taken a hit as a result -- it's lost 8.1 percent in the past three months, now trading at around $531. And if you go back to February of last year, it was trending around $609. Much ado about nothing? That might be going too far in the other extreme, though as is often the case when it comes to investors, it might be much ado about little. I've seen these same complaints for years when it comes to dissecting Google (as well as other large tech firms). But the bottom line is Google is still coming out ahead each quarter, and by billions of dollars. You can catch the rest of Google's financial report here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit, MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming, and More! Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:32 AM PST |
