GameStop BOUGHT Electronics Boutique/EBGames. That’s crazy shit. According the their last stock report, EB stock was around $30 and GS was about $18. That means GS had to come up with a hell of a lot of cash to buy them out. Of course, the “official” word isn’t that its a buy out or a take over, no, they’re calling it a merger. Yeah, like Cingular and AT&T “merged” but every AT&T store is now a Cingular store. Great merger boys. Anyway, all EB’s will now become GameStops. The line from GS corporate is that they want to compete “globally” with other game outlets…. like…. umm…. for example…. nope, couldn’t think of one. Awesome job guys, merge so you can crush your non-existant competition.
AND, as if that isn’t weird enough news for you, Adobe just bought Macromedia. Yikes!
Soon, all the flash, shockwave, dreamweaver, cold fusion stuff will be rolled into Adobes CS suite. Photoshop and Dreamweaver in one box. Go figure. Now, if only they could get a little fucking price control going on, cause damn, the new version of Photoshop (CS2) will be $300 FOR THE UPGRADE. Umm, guys, that’s a wee bit high. Especially since your competition is ALSO non-existant. And don’t feed me some BS line about production costs OR about piracy, cause thats horse shit. Hell, the operating system it runs on is a quarter of the price and even that is too much.
So, there you go, Adobe adds Flash to it’s monopoly on everything graphics related and GameStop ruins a perfectly good video game stop. Alright!
that’s why i refuse to buy games anymore. my downloading is a form of civil disobedience. Luckily I care nothing for noline gaming as I find most people odious. Well that and they only make first person shooters anymore. Except for Pshyconauts. I’m excited about that one. Anyway, the main reson for this post: do you know that the hell is going on with Penny Arcade? Are they trying to be haha funny or did some shit really go down?
Amen brother Jason. I too enjoy the many fruits the internet has to offer. And, in a similar note, my DVD burner was the best $60 I’ve spent in quite some time. Note to others without one.
I’m also against some forms of online gaming, mostly those involving extensive war strategy or magic bits and swords. I do enjoy the FPS online, but that’s only because I murder the unsuspecting without mercy.
I wouldn’t say Pshyconauts is the ONLY game I’m excited about. Pshyconauts is written and directed by the creator of Grim Fandango and a long time Lucas Arts producer. I’m quite excited about it myself. There are a few other gems to be found this summer though.
Battlefield 2 is (obviously) my big game of the summer. Civ 4 is coming out as well as Empire Earth 2. The new Splinter Cell looks promising. Pariah and Project Snowblind will fill the “mindless FPS” quota for this month. Call of Duty 2 and Dungeon Siege 2 will round out August.
At this point I’m still enjoying Pirates and Brothers in Arms. Both quality titles you should consider playing.
I’ll admit, the summer does look rather bland, but there’s a few games that should be good.
As for Penny-Arcade. Since Gabe is still drawing (this weeks comic) and Tycho is still writting (this weeks post), I wouldn’t be too concerned. I’m sure it’s “funny ha-ha”. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t have a post OR a comic for a few weeks and then we’d get a “we’re shutting down” post or something.
Perhaps you are right about PA. As gullible as I am I’ve alawys found it hard to participate in those kinds of jokes. oh well. But as to games: I played Pirates till my eyes and fingers bled. I saw the dancing in my sleep. I actually did buy the new splinter cell because I’m weak and I have all this “expendable” income. It’s allright. Nothing too new and exciting. I hadn’t heard about Civ 4…that’s exciting. I’ve been playing the “new” Freedom Force which is allright. And i’m mighty disappointed with Swat 4. Ever time Sierra lets me down it’s like I die a little inside, but I suppose it’s my own fault for still clinging to them.
That’s a shame about Freedom Force. I was expecting good things. The original was very fun.
Civ 4 is very hush-hush. All we have is Sid’s word and a release date. Screenshots still haven’t surfaced and it’s due out August/September.
I haven’t heard anything good about SWAT either, which is kind of to be expected. The last game let me down as well. I wasn’t hoping for much with this one. In the same vein though, I’ve heard that the new Close Combat: First to Fight is very SWAT-esque. A mix of FPS and strategy with modern combat. I haven’t played it, but it might be worth taking a look at.
http://www.firsttofight.com/
looks kinda “Full Spectrum Warrior”, which was quite fun.