Microsoft to buy US gaming giant Activision-Blizzard for $69 billion

Microsoft announced Tuesday a landmark $69 billion deal to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, grabbing the sex harassment scandal-hit firm as the tech colossus seeks to boost its power in video games.

Merging with troubled Activision will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, it said, a major shift in the booming world of games.

"This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse," Microsoft said in a statement.

Activision, the California-based maker of "Candy Crush" has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment against women. 

Over the past seven months the company has received about 700 reports of employee concerns over sexual assault or harassment or other misconduct, in some cases separate reports about the same incident, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Nearly 20 percent of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees have signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign.

"Acquiring Activision will help jump start Microsoft's broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion," Wedbush analysts said after the news broke.

- Troubled Activision -

"With Activision's stock under heavy pressure (CEO related issues/overhang) over the last few months, Microsoft viewed this as the window of opportunity to acquire a unique asset that can propel its consumer strategy forward," Wedbush added.

Microsoft has just marked 20 years of the "Halo" video game franchise that turned its Xbox console into a hit.

Microsoft launched a host of initiatives to mark two decades of both Halo and the Xbox, including a virtual museum exploring key moments in the console's history.

Xbox remains a key player in a video game industry now thought to be larger than the movie sector, with market research firm Mordor Intelligence valuing it at $173.7 billion in 2020.

Troubles, meanwhile, have stacked up for Activision over its sex harassment and discrimination scandal.

In July, California state regulators accused the company of condoning a culture of harassment, a toxic work environment, and inequality.

In September the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a probe into the company over "disclosures regarding employment matters and related issues."

And two months later the Journal reported that Kotick, accused of mishandling the harassment complaints, had signaled he would consider stepping down if he failed to quickly fix the company culture. He has led the company for more than three decades.

Late last year chief operating officer Daniel Alegre pledged a 50 percent increase in female and non-binary staff over the next five years so that they will account for more than a third of Activision's workers.

Agence France-Presse

Video game releases for Nov. 14, 2017: Lego Marvel 2, Star Wars Battlefront II, The Sims 4, Skyrim

Ensemble adventure and multi-movie tie-in “Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2”, sci-fi fan fantasy “Star Wars Battlefront II”, life simulation “The Sims 4” on console and two new editions of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” beckon the week of Nov. 14, 2017, as well as Nintendo Switch versions of “Rocket League”, “Rime” and “Ittle Dew 2”.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
From Nov. 14
For PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC
A direct sequel to 2013’s “Lego Marvel Super Heroes” (though not forgetting the subsequent “Lego Marvel Avengers”), this features a new city composite, a timeline-warping storyline, and characters from a clutch of recent Marvel movies and TV shows.

Star Wars Battlefront II
From Nov. 17
For PS4, XBO, WinPC
Return to the Star Wars universe for a new prequel storyline featuring elite Empire squad commander Iden Verso, cameos from iconic characters, and a multiplayer mode that promises an even more engrossing blend of action and teamwork.

The Sims 4
From Nov. 17
For PS4, XBO
The latest in a well-established line of life simulation, people-management games arrives on consoles, including its Sim creation suite and home building mode, with the Life of the Party and Up All Night add-ons included in a Deluxe Party Edition.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/The Elder Scrolls Skyrim VR
From Nov. 17
For Switch/PS4
Both Nintendo and PlayStation have new editions of 2011’s expansive and exemplary role-playing adventure, with the Switch promising portability and the PS VR version going for motion-tracking, field-of-view immersion.

Rocket League, Rime, and Ittle Dew 2+
From Nov. 14
For Switch
A trio of re-releases from console and PC, encompassing compulsive RC car and soccer crossover “Rocket League” which promises multiplayer compatibility with Xbox One and Windows versions, and two well-received island adventures inspired in part by Nintendo’s own “Zelda” series, “Rime” and and enhanced edition of “Ittle Dew 2”. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Lindsay Lohan loses lawsuit versus ‘Grand Theft Auto’ makers

NEW YORK — A New York state appeals court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by actress Lindsay Lohan that says the producers of “Grand Theft Auto” used a likeness of her in one of their video games.

A panel of judges in the Manhattan Appellate Division ruled that Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. didn’t use her actual “name, portrait or picture” and therefore didn’t violate her right to privacy.

In the lawsuit, Lohan accused the producers of modeling her physical features, including clothing, shoulder-length blonde hair and voice in “Grand Theft Auto V,” a video game that takes place in the fictional city “Los Santos” where players act as car-stealing criminals.

The court said the depictions deserved First Amendment protection.

“This video game’s unique story, characters, dialogue, and environment, combined with the player’s ability to choose how to proceed in the game, render it a work of fiction and satire,” the judges wrote.

Similar claims against Take-Two by “Mob Wives” television star Karen Gravano also were dismissed in the combined ruling.

A message left with Lohan’s lawyer wasn’t returned. Gravano’s lawyer said they’re exploring their options.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Nintendo to start making mobile games

Finally, Nintendo is venturing into the world of smartphones and tablets, after entering a venture with Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA, a tech site reported.

The venture will see the two companies making smartphone games featuring Nintendo characters, according to a report on The Verge.

Also, Nintendo and DeNA will develop a cross-platform service bridging smartphones, tablets, PCs, and Nintendo's devices.

Such a platform is to launch this fall, the report said.

But those expecting Super Mario Bros. classic or Donkey Kong to be ported straight to the smartphone are out of luck, at least for now.

Only "new original games optimized for smart device functionality" will be made, The Verge quoted DeNA as saying.

It said DeNA wants to "ensure the quality of game experience that consumers expect from this alliance of Nintendo and DeNA."

Also, The Verge report said Nintendo will take a 10-percent stake in DeNA, while DeNA may take 1.24 percent of Nintendo.

This is not Nintendo's only foray into mobile gaming, however. It is to release with GungHo a Mario-themed version of smash hit Puzzle & Dragons for 3DS in April. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Exercise video games may add to kids’ activity: study

NEW YORK - Giving children active video games to play while they follow a weight management program boosts their moderate and vigorous activity levels, according to a new study.

Kids who played the active video games also lost more weight than children who only followed the weight management program.

Traditionally, studies have examined what harms may come from children spending long hours sitting and playing video games.

"We thought - if you received active games - maybe we can turn this lemon into lemonade," Dr. Deneen Vojta told Reuters Health.

She is the study's senior author from the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization at the UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

"Wouldn't it be great if instead of beating on kids about screen time we turned screen time into a positive?" she said.

For the new study, the researchers built upon an existing weight loss program for children and their parents that had been found to work.

They recruited 75 overweight and obese Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Texas children who were randomized to one of two groups for a 16-week study period.

Both groups took part in the weight management program at local YMCAs and schools, but one group also received an Xbox game console and two active games.

The Xbox Kinect device captures the child's body movements to operate the game. The games given to the kids in the active gaming group were Kinect Adventures! and Kinect Sports. (Children in the weight-loss program-only group received the same equipment and games at the end of the study).

All the children's activity were recorded using an accelerometer, which measures movement, during the day.

At the start of the study, the children were between the ages of 8 and 12 years old and weighed between 123 and 132 pounds (lbs). About 67 percent of the kids had a body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height, that put them in the overweight category for their age groups. The rest of the children were in the obese category.

The researchers found that children in the group that received the active games added about seven minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and about three minutes of vigorous activity to their daily routines over the 16 weeks.

Meanwhile children in the group that only took part in the weight loss program didn't experience a significant change in their activity levels or duration.

Although the difference between groups appears to be small, the researchers write in JAMA Pediatrics, the added activity among the game-users group is equivalent to about 4 lbs of fat lost over a year.

They also found a greater percentage of children in the active-gaming group were no longer in the overweight category by the end of the study. The percentage overweight had dropped a little over 9 percent in the active gaming group versus just under 4 percent in the comparison group.

"Sure enough, the outcomes were very, very good," Vojta said.

The authors note in the paper, however, that they cannot be sure the children sustained their weight loss and increased activity beyond the 16 weeks.

The findings are in keeping with results from a 2012 study that found about one-quarter of 1,200 Canadian high school students played active games. That translated to about an hour of exercise two days a week.

Still, other studies have suggested that active games don't help kids meet the daily recommended dose of physical activity. (see Reuters Health story of February 27, 2012 here: reut.rs/1fAOAMj)

Vojta said they are currently working on incorporating the weight management program into a home-based program, for instance, one that would be administered through the game console.

"In many ways, these home-based active gaming solutions solve two problems," she said.

The games give children and adults the ability to build up a tolerance to exercise in their own homes, she said, and they give people who live in rough or high-crime areas an opportunity to exercise safely. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Naughty Dog reveals: Ellie returns in The Last of Us DLC, new Uncharted game for PS4

Naughty Dog has just revealed some exciting news regarding the much-anticipated downloadable content (DLC) for "The Last of Us,” and the long-awaited sequel to the mega-popular Uncharted franchise.

The announcements were made during the PlayStation 4 launch event on Spike TV, according to Arcade Sushi and Computer and Video Games.


Ellie returns in 'The Last of Us: Left Behind'

Those who fell in love with Ellie from The Last of Us will be happy to know that the indomitable Cordyceps apocalypse survivor is making a comeback in the new story DLC for the game, titled "Left Behind.”




“Ashley Johnson reprises her role as Ellie in The Last of Us: Left Behind single-player DLC,” stated Naughty Dog on the PlayStation blog. “Left Behind takes place while Ellie is attending a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone, prior to meeting Joel and the events in the main campaign of The Last of Us.”

Aside from Ellie herself, the video—shown during the launch event—also reveals her best friend Riley Abel, who was only briefly mentioned in the original game.

“Joining Ellie on this new adventure is Riley, her best friend and also a mentor of sorts at the military boarding school. Just as 'The Last of Us' focused on the bond between Ellie and Joel, 'Left Behind' explores the bond between Ellie and Riley through a series of events that will forever change both of their lives,” said the original game’s creative director and writer, Neil Druckmann.

Riley Abel also appeared in the comic book miniseries, “The Last of Us: American Dreams,” written by Druckmann himself, and published by Dark Horse Comics. The comics show how Ellie and Riley meet and become friends, and so serves as a canonical prequel to the events that will happen in Left Behind. Left Behind, in turn, is a prequel to The Last of Us.

Though both Ellie and Riley will play central roles in the DLC, it has yet to be announced whether only one or both of them will be playable in the game.

Druckmann also dropped some hints about a possible sequel for The Last of Us. “We’re playing with some ideas, but no direction has been set yet for the next game,” he said.

Though Sony has not yet announced an official release date, Left Behind is expected for release in early 2014.

New Uncharted game exclusive for the PS4

Fans of Naughty Dog’s other flagship title also have something to look forward to. Also revealed during the event was a teaser trailer for Sony’s seminal franchise, Uncharted.



“We have great news for all our Uncharted fans,” said Naughty Dog on the PlayStation blog. “Amy (Hennig), Justin (Richmond), and the team are hard at work on an amazing new installment of the Uncharted series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 system. Our goal is to continue what we’ve done in previous console generations and once again deliver the best in storytelling, performance capture, technical innovation and graphics on the PS4.”

It is unclear from the video if Nathan Drake is coming back for the sequel, leaving some fans understandably worried that that the game will have a new protagonist. In fact the teaser shows very little about the actual game; only a voiceover and a map serve as clues as to what it will be about.

More news regarding both titles are expected to surface in the coming week. — VC, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com