170°

Swanni skeptical of alleged Fox and Warner payoff.

Syndicated columnist Don Lindich is reporting that Sony, the leader backer of Blu-ray, recently paid Fox and Warner Bros. to support the high-def format. Lindich says Fox was ready to jump ship and support HD DVD until Sony kicked in with the money. At that point, Warner decided to take a payoff as well.

Lindich quotes "sources" for his report without naming them or even characterizing them from coming from a specific unit.

I will not challenge his report -- it may even be true. But I have to point out that Lindich, a longtime HD DVD booster, also reported less than two weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show that Warner Bros. would attend HD DVD's big media event at the Las Vegas conference.

The columnist said HD DVD's attendance was evidence that Warner would not shed its neutrality in the race and support Blu-ray. (This reporter, and a few others, predicted that Warner would endorse Blu-ray.)

As we now know, Warner not only did not attend the HD DVD event -- but the event was cancelled 48 hours prior because Warner announced it had...decided to endorse Blu-ray.

Lindich was wrong about the HD DVD event. Spectacularly wrong.

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tvpredictions.com
bootsielon5962d ago

He is a spectacular idiot. "Sources", lol

"Lindich quotes "sources" for his report without naming them or even characterizing them from coming from a specific unit."

"I will not challenge his report -- it may even be true. "

Well, you just did! And very well done indeed.

marinelife95962d ago

I didn't know this Lindich guy was the source of all the speculation. I just found it amazing that it kept going on even after Fox said they support Blu-Ray because of BD +.

The Warner exec insisted to everyone that they didn't receive any money. It's not like he would lie about it when everyone would know when their financials came out at the end of the quarter.

BrianC62345962d ago

What's scary is Lindich has an advice column and advises readers on what to do regarding their entertainment systems. I can't believe anyone would pay that hack to give advice.

nicholascage245962d ago

Warners owns 50% of the movie revenues in 2007 and thats worth around 17 billion dollars.

Geez these lame article spring up every now and then.

You can see the Blu Ray uptake patterns in Japan and europe. Why would someone stick to a losing format?

The Blu Ray gave DVD a real scare in 2007 Japan even at a very high price range.

can you even imagine what happens in 2008?

BrianC62345962d ago

I think you're confused. The article is about other "journalists" who made a claim about Warner being paid to switch to just Blu-ray. That isn't a lame article. Or are you talking about the articles he talked about in his article?

duarteq5962d ago

Who gives a fuk about this right now. Wasn't Paramount paid for the same reasons to HD-DVD?

Go outside and start getting a life...

whoelse5962d ago

warner got no money, they couldn't lie about śomething about that

Boffin5962d ago

Lindich is the only member of the media who wasn't payed off by Sony in the whole hd formt war, and the only one speaking the truth. They paid millions to Warner to drop hddvd, and even still they are going to produce movies for the format for months to come. With the lower prices of the stand alone players it's a matter of time until they try to get out of this deal.

bosels115962d ago

its not Lindich, its LinDICK! Warner going back will never happen. This wasnt even a war, it was a slaughter from the beginning. And yes Paramounted and Universal will both be making Blu Rays by the end of the year, maybe by Summer - Paramount will by Summer for sure. Dont believe me? Just watch. From here on out they will lose tons of money until they switch.

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70°

How EA & Xbox Are Defining Gaming's Bleak Future

Xbox and EA have recently made baffling moves that define how bleak the future of the gaming industry is with major companies at the helm. Ryan Bates from "Last Word on Gaming" posits in this op-ed that maybe it's not ineptitude, but intention.

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lastwordongaming.com
Profchaos2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Name someone that isn't trying to look us these days maybe cdpr.

Take two, ubi and yes even PlayStation are pushing us to own nothing and be happy with our live service ad injected games on a sub so they can raise prices at will and take access away when they see fit.

If it keeps up I'll be a full time retro gamer and this industry will be crashing hard

As rediculas as it sounds we need government reforms to defend consumer rights

60°

XCOM's Jake Solomon Q&A - Building a Narrative-Driven Life Sim Game at Midsummer Studios

XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon has founded a new studio to make a life sim game. Here's a new interview with him.

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wccftech.com
380°

Microsoft's quest for short-term $$$ is doing long-term damage to Windows, Surface, Xbox, and beyond

Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's plans to increase every department's margins.

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windowscentral.com
Brazz3d ago

"The plan to move Xbox games to other platforms is codenamed "Latitude" internally, and I know there's debate and unease at Microsoft about whether or not this is a good idea. More upcoming Microsoft-owned games slated for PlayStation are already being developed. At least for now, they're potentially obvious games you'd most likely expect. And yes, while it's true Microsoft is a prolific publisher on PlayStation already, it has typically revolved around specific franchises like Minecraft. From what I've heard, Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's mandate to increase every department's margins. "

Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware.

Xeofate3d ago

"Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware."

It's for the best.

Quit stringing along xbox fans and screwing over PlayStation owners.

crazyCoconuts3d ago

Take good care of those Xboxes if you have 'em ...

outsider16243d ago

An Xbox game on a Playstation. Never in my years of gaming did i ever thought this was gonna happen.

jznrpg3d ago

It is dying anyway so doesn’t make much of a difference

VersusDMC3d ago

No way can they get rid of the hardware as probably 90% of game pass subscribers are hardware users.

Highly doubtful those users will move to PC or Cloud to subscribe there and the competition (Sony and Nin) will never have gamepass on their system.

If they want to keep the current subscribers, they need to keep releasing new hardware.

PSPSA2d ago

I'm not convinced, why then announce that they're actually working on the next-generation Xbox with “the largest technical leap”, and also looking into handhelds now?

Rols2d ago

Not like MS don’t drop things a hot potato if it is not performing. Look at MS history to see products or platforms discontinued. Xbox is not a charity for MS, it needs to make money and the ABK was the last roll of the dice for Xbox.

purple1012d ago

Xbox hardware team members have been incorporated into surface team

This perhaps shows they are not expecting big things from Xbox as a separate entity

Abear212d ago

Seems like they are planning to win next gen. All the acquisitions were this generation and nobody except Xbox fans expect games from the acquisitions any time soon.

I’m sure Microsoft can afford to lose money on the short term, pretty sure they do risk assessment when acquiring many companies and spending billions, they’ll be fine lol.

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gold_drake3d ago

i think it will kill off the xbox brand. windows will be fine.

but there is and would be a chance that xbox might be killed off in the future. if they fail to make the money they put in. imo.

S2Killinit3d ago

They wont kill it, but they will go fully PC while keeping xbox as a brand, and go multiplatform for the most part. They will also work tirelessly to diminish console gaming’s importance.

PRIMORDUS3d ago

It would be best if Xbox goes the way of Sega, just make and publish games. I know I myself will not support them at all with buying games from them, you all can. 🙃

ChasterMies3d ago

The Xbox brand will live for the games. I don’t expect Microsoft to entirely drop out of gaming hardware. They make Surface tablets and laptops. They’ll make Xbox branded hardware for those that want it.

shadowT3d ago

"Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation"

Forza and Starfield next?

Skuletor3d ago

Starfield would be no surprise and there's the rumor that it will come to Playstation after the Shattered Space DLC, Forza (along with Halo and Gears of War) I find less likely but I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually end up on PlayStation too, especially if Xbox give up on hardware and go the Sega route.

shinoff21833d ago

Not to worried about forza. I'd rather see others like what inxile and obsidian are working on. Starfield sounds like it needs more time in the oven so let it cook first imo. If starfield and it's a small if does release on ps it'll be in the fall around the time for dlc or right at the dlc and come packaged with it.

-Foxtrot3d ago

In the words of Phil Spencer when he was talking about Nintendo last year

“It's just taking a long time for Microsoft to see that their future exists off of their own hardware"

S2Killinit3d ago

Yup. MS are a cancer to console gaming.

Aloymetal3d ago

100%!!
I wonder what happened to that dude that was always here posting those court articles with cartoons about MS spending all those billions in studios. He suddenly disappeared, I guess he doesn't like bad news when the green brand is in trouble. No new articles from him as of late...

PRIMORDUS3d ago

Yup, and it's only going to keep spreading.

Outside_ofthe_Box3d ago

Phil Spencer's words always comes back to bite him lol

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