870°

The 7 Worst Gifts You Can Give A Gamer For The Holidays

Giving gifts can be a nerve-racking experience, especially for a non-gamer giving a gift to a recipient who is an avid gamer. However, as long as you never give a gamer any of the following gifts everything will turn out fine.

Read Full Story >>
wikigameguides.com
potedude4533d ago

How about getting an expansion pack rather than the game? I remember getting a golf game, was so excited about it and then realised it was an expansion pack.

The shop wouldn't take it back because it had been opened. It still cuts deep... (this was in the 90's)

MaxXAttaxX4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

AA Batteries aren't that bad of a gift, actually.
360 and Wii controllers still use them.... which means I need them -_-

Bleucrunch4533d ago

dam bro I would have been extremely dissapointed as well....Might I suggest some gaming therapy?

Ares84HU4533d ago

How about being a blu-ray collector and getting something you realy wanted but on DVD. This just happened to me yesterday because I had my birthday. Star Wars the Clone Wars Season 3....got in on DVD even though I have Season 1 and 2 on blu-ray and I can't stand DVD and sold all DVD's I had back in 2006 and haven't been buying DVD ever since.

HappyGaming4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

A wii or a 360 with kinect :P
I kid I kid!!!

WhittO4533d ago

^^ DVDs aren't that bad, most older stuff that wasn't made for HD looks just as good upscaled DVD as it does on Blu-ray!
Sometimes Bluray can actually make things look worse, because you see things you were never meant to see..
Plus you still get full surround sound with a DVD! Only not HD surround sound.
But ye, I only buy Bluray now too lol.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4533d ago
Andronix4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

They went from cutting edge games that were getting great reviews and sales, to producing shitty avatars and bundled Kinect sports games for the 360.

Back in the 60s a dumb US businessman was tricked into 'buying' London Bridge by an expert con-man. In 2002 the charismatic head of Nintendo sold Rare to Microsoft. However these two sales are not the same.

When Nintendo sold Rare it was a great company, but it was the business decisions Microsoft made that changed it. With so much money I would prefer it if Microsoft invested in their own studios instead of spending on getting DLC first.

ChrisW4533d ago

The Santa Facepalm is more likely because this list of "Don'ts" is on a gaming site and those who will buy such Don'ts will never visit the site, let alone even know how to use the Internet.

dski10804533d ago

Ya who would ever buy a strategy guide

NukaCola4533d ago

I like Fallout/ElderScrolls Strategy guides. I used to but them last gen and previous. But not so much anymore.

snakebite364533d ago

I love strategy guides. I only get strategy guides for games I really love. They are like a collectors item to me. Plus sometimes they have extra artwork or posters inside them. They also look good in a bookshelf next to my game collection.

Max Power4533d ago

Someone I know from high school help write the Madden 12 Prima book thingy. I personally use the internet if I am stuck on something and need assistance, but that is usually a last resort.

gamingdroid4533d ago

Kinect Sports is a well received game. The first one sold over 3 million copies.

I don't know why Rare is on the list....

SilentNegotiator4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

Because some people play games, not buy stocks in them.

The best seller isn't always the best thing. Or good. Look around at all of the McDonald logos, Transformers movie posters, and listen to the number one hits on the radio.

gamingdroid4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

In case you didn't notice, to the people that paid for it and enjoyed it, it indeed was "good"! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if people voted with their wallet, they considered it better than the alternative and at least 3 million people did so.

On the flip side, some people just like to hate on popular things... you know like an "anti-trend" kind of person. In some circles this person is also known as a hater and egocentric who thinks "whatever I don't enjoy" means it must suck for everyone else!

For your information, I do enjoy McDonalds on rare occassions and did watch the Transformer movie, but I'm sure that would be below your dignity. You would rather play video games....

bozebo4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

"if people voted with their wallet, they considered it better"

They played it before buying it? All 3 million?

SilentNegotiator4533d ago

They went from making Banjo-Tooie, Perfect Dark 64, Goldeneye 007, Conker's Bad Fur day.......to Kameo, Viva Pinata, Perfect Dark Zero, Banjo-Kazooie:NaB and Kinect sports.

They went from making awesome games to a bunch of meh that mostly catered to LIVE or Kinect.

I really hope that the assertion that "all of the best talent left Rare before the sale" is true. I really do.

hadriker4533d ago

Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero weren't bad games. Even their meta critic scores aren't terrible. Lets just continue to promote the fallacy that any game that scores under a 90 is a disaster.

gamingdroid4533d ago

Well some people only play games that get a 90+ on metacritic, because the critics dictate what is "enjoyable" to them.

Sad, but true!

bozebo4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

"Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero weren't bad games"

This is true ^

I liked Kameo. PDZ was bad compared to the original though, because few of the people who worked on it worked on the original (say hello to Timesplitters). It's like getting IW to make a CoD game... oh wait (at least AV stole the source to re-use).

Metacritic scores mean little. Loads of games above 70 could easily have a score above 90 and it wouldn't really skew the truth. I would say there are more bad games above 90 than between 80 and 90 because most reviewers are BS and give stuff 9~10/10 because either: they only started gaming in the past few years, they are a fanboy, they are bribed, or they know that they must review highly or they won't get any more reviewer copies from them again.

SuperNerd4532d ago

Dude those were the days playing perfect dark and golden eye. and then me and my brother getiing in a fist fight over screen cheating

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4532d ago
WhiteLightning4533d ago

Oh come on Grabbed by the Ghoulies wasn't that bad....even Kameo was pretty good

I liked how in Grabbed by the Ghoulies you could pick up most items to use as weapons

Wow I must be the only one who would want a sequel....

ZippyZapper4533d ago

Perfect Dark Zero was also good, had 32 player MP.

SweatyFlorida4533d ago

I actually loved the game xD A sequel would be welcomed, maybe at $15-25 though as a PSN/LIVE download :p

Bob5704533d ago

The third party controller thing is so true!

dski10804533d ago

You don't talk about my Mad Catz that way.

Bob5704533d ago

You're trolling, right?

snakebite364533d ago

I regret selling my ps2 fan cooled controller. It was so nice using it and having cool, not sweaty hands.

gamingdroid4533d ago

MadCatz did make one good controller. Well they branded it....

The high end Street Fighter sticks were awesome!

... that said I avoid anything Mad Catz like the plague.

What happened to quality 3rd party products? Why do they have to be inferior to 1st party? I don't get it!

bozebo4533d ago (Edited 4533d ago )

"What happened to quality 3rd party products? Why do they have to be inferior to 1st party? I don't get it!"

Yeah, it's like they make them bad on purpose. It's always some obvious stupid design flaw every time or a generally idiotic shape :P

Maybe they have to use cheaper plastics so to keep the shape and strength up to par they have to make the casing thicker and then try to mask it with stylization. That would be my guess. I think Sony/MS/Nint make less of a profit margin on first party controllers, their business model aims at game sales to make profits from. (or hardware profits for handheld sales)

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4533d ago
Show all comments (104)
90°

Game.com: The Handheld That Ruined Your Favorite Games

The Game.com saw just 20 games released over a miserable three-year lifespan of poor sales and bad reviews. It also did really poorly by some classic IPs.

Read Full Story >>
culturedvultures.com
TheColbertinator52d ago

That piece of junk had online connectivity which I was surprised at so many years later.

Awful games and it had the most insultingly bad version of Duke Nukem by far.

Tiger's design team was on drugs in the design

melons52d ago

I cannot believe it came out in 1997 and not 1987

ocelot0752d ago

I remember finding one of these in a local second hand market. Didn't know what the hell it was but there was a copy of resident evil 2 inserted into it. Bought it for £10. It worked but my god what they did to resident evil 2 was unlawful.

mastershredder51d ago (Edited 51d ago )

Yeah um, no. BS. Everyone knew this was a stinker and pulled out and away real early or did not invest more than a smile. Those few licenses they got, were about the equivalent of licensing an IP for a Hallmark card.It was not even considered as a handheld as much as it was a novelty item that could let you interact with display screens images using tech that was 20 years old.

Ruined? it has it’s own “ports” that borrowed the name and shared a few screens that looked the part Those actually helped sales, as low as they were. Hardly ruined any franchises there yo. No one allocated crack teams to this hot garbage. Get real. Just make some shit up while your at it there culture vultures.

Game.com ruined itself by missing the mark of actually being more advanced than an original game boy. It could hardly outperform an original Gamewatch.

This was an captain obvious cash grab / grift back then. It’s also why you saw them liquidate their shi7 when they should have not sold it to a consumer market they would never support. Not to mention the service features.

If you were a non-technical consumer doofus, you’d likely buy this and be extremely disappointed (while your parents were disappointed in you) and THAT is why this was dropped.

TheEnigma31351d ago

I actually wanted one of these. They were too expensive at the time though.

250°

Microsoft Fires Back at FTC's Accusation on Layoffs in Activision Blizzard Legal Battle

Microsoft's legal counsel has responded to the accusations leveled yesterday by the FTC within the legal battle for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
80d ago Replies(1)
XiNatsuDragnel80d ago

Microsoft thinks they did right thing did they? Imo you could've merge Activision into other sectors.

Jin_Sakai80d ago

When a mega corporation is more powerful than the federal agency. Who do we have left to fight against these practices?

Eonjay80d ago

Microsoft isn't more powerful than the government and that's why you see them giving so much money to politicians. It cliche, but it's up to us to select representation that won't cave to corporate donors.

But yeah Microsoft doesn't have any defense against layoffs. No one made them do it and the went ahead with the merger knowing quite clearly that it would impact employees.

jznrpg80d ago

@Eonjsy if they weren’t more powerful the money wouldn’t work.

Inverno80d ago

Apparently the layoffs were going to happen either way, and I'm inclined to believe it because Activision is beyond scummy. I'm instead wondering why Acti hired so many people in the first place.

theindiearmy80d ago (Edited 80d ago )

Same reason a lot of tech hired a lot during covid. People were staying home, consuming a lot of personal media (buying more games, watching more shows, etc.) Companies thought investing the increased revenue in more talent would reap benefits long term. Turns out, that wasn't the case. It just led to the companies being bloated. But in a lot of cases, they were bloated even before the covid hiring sprees. Activision had 13,000 employees this time last year. Nintendo has 7,000. Keep in mind this doesn't include contract or outsourced work, which I guarantee you Activision does a lot more of than Nintendo. Makes you wonder what the hell Activision needs so many people for. They don't even make a console like Nintendo does. It sucks that people are losing their jobs, but in my opinion, a lot of these companies are still bloated even after the layoffs.

Killa7880d ago

Of course it was always going to happen... This deal was such a joke.

gold_drake80d ago (Edited 80d ago )

i dont believe that for a second.
activision had their hands full with upcoming cod titles and current ones before the merger.

and mobile games ha

Abriael80d ago

Yeah totally. In a year in which everyone's firing developers left and right, Activision *of all companies* was gonna avoid that.

My god.

gold_drake80d ago

what are u talking about ?
the merger proceedings went on for more than a year before it was actually over.

before that, there were no major layoffs. and activision was busy making games. not just one mind you.

maybe try and think for second before u comment something.

Abriael80d ago

Imagine thinking that a company like Activision would not partake in this layoff fest. Do you miss Bobby Kotick perchance? 🙄

The only one who's not thinking is you. All the big companies doing layoffs are "busy making games." That doesn't mean they're not laying off people. Take-two announced today that they're gonna have a big cost reduction plan coming (IE: many more layoffs) and they have 52 games in development.

You really can't see past your console wars, can you? 🤨

gold_drake80d ago

its ok, you dont quite seem to understand.

bless ya.

Hofstaderman79d ago

@Abriael come next week there will be no more console wars.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 79d ago
Show all comments (19)
370°

That day when Activision fired Jason and Vince

“Jason and Vince just got fired!” A lead artist shouted, as he rode in on one of the many small kick-push scooters that would typically lay around the studio. He quickly scooted away to some other part of the office space to spread that shocking message.

Read Full Story >>
linkedin.com
DaniMacYo81d ago

Activision would say that to all their victims. Here’s money now get over it.

RhinoGamer8881d ago

A friend worked there in production and was miserable due to working with IW and with ATVI. When he complained to his VP about it, he was told...be glad you have a job and are making games.

mastershredder81d ago

Sounds about right, but is also sounds like something Infinity Ward would say. They made their own bed and cashed in hard to do it. F em.

franwex81d ago

That sucks, but that’s corporate America. I mean, they could’ve turned down the money and leave to Respawn too. At least they got something, my corporation would’ve probably expected everyone to go back to normal.

gold_drake81d ago (Edited 81d ago )

daaaym

"oh we're running ur life? pff get over it, like honestly"

scum

theindiearmy81d ago

I mean, if my company wants to give me a bonus and raise my salary by 50%, I'd get over whatever the hell they wanted me to. 🤷‍♂️

Show all comments (16)