230°

EU hits game distributor Valve, 5 others with 7.8 million euro fine

U.S. distributor Valve Corp, owner of the world's largest video game distribution platform Steam, and 5 video game publishers received a 7.8-million-euro ($9.45 million) EU antitrust fine on Wednesday for blocking cross-border sales in Europe.

Vits1221d ago (Edited 1221d ago )

I get that it's illegal to geo-block as the European block functions as one market. But for the average user from the few countries that benefits from regional pricing in the block. This decision will likely lead to a increase in game prices.

1221d ago
60°

Nordic Game has just revealed the winners of Nordic Game Awards 2024

"Nordic Game has revealed the winners of this year’s Nordic Game Awards, which took place on Thursday, May 23, during NG24 Spring and streamed live from Slagthuset in Malmö, Sweden." - Nordic Game.

70°

Limited Run Games reveal physical console editions of Clock Tower: Rewind

Love survival horror? Love physical editions of games? Limited Run Games have got your back as they reveal a physical collection for Clock Tower: Rewind on Xbox, Switch, PlayStation and PC.

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thexboxhub.com
Hugodastrevas1d 19h ago

Still waiting for the physical release of Tomba!

150°

10 Biggest Xbox Mistakes of All Time (So Far)

The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.

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culturedvultures.com
piroh1d 20h ago (Edited 1d 20h ago )

Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)

ChasterMies14h ago

By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.

OtterX1d 2h ago

You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.

RNTody1d 2h ago

Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.

S2Killinit13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.

MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.

For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.

They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.

FinalFantasyFanatic6h ago

I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.

Cacabunga1d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke

Reaper22_21h ago

He still has his job. Something you can't say about Jim Ryan.

Cacabunga20h ago

Both bad execs. One is on job and one thankfully retired.

FinalFantasyFanatic6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.

bunt-custardly16h ago

Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).

Cacabunga15h ago

Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..

S2Killinit13h ago

I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.

FinalFantasyFanatic6h ago

The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.

MaximusPrime_1d ago

Really good video.

I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.

Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.

Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue

shinoff218321h ago(Edited 21h ago)

2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming

ChasterMies17h ago

I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?

Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.

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