Game musings and news

[Thad]

Kotick remains in charge until the sale is complete, at least. Hopefully a quick departure will follow.

I think smart money is that MS will dump him after the acquisition, call it a layoff because of the merger and pay him whatever severance is specified in his contract, not mention his harassment at all in public but, internally, try to convince Activision employees that this means they're cleaning house and changing the company culture.

Candy Crush is their money maker, but acquiring Call of Duty seems like the bigger deal in terms of the Microsoft/Sony competition.

We've got a more merger-skeptical FTC than we've had in ages. I bet they don't block the merger but I wouldn't be surprised if they imposed some kind of restrictions. Like maybe no Xbox exclusives for 5 years or something.

Then again, while MS has a monopoly on PC gaming, I'm sure their argument to the FCC will be that they're a distant third place in console gaming and more exclusives will increase their competitiveness with Sony.

[Grath]

Kotick's contract includes a $250M golden parachute if he gets terminated after a buyout, but hopefully they can "layoffs" the rest of the rotten apples more easily.

[Thad]

Kotick's contract includes a $250M golden parachute if he gets terminated after a buyout

MS has the lawyers and the money to say they're firing him for cause and make it stick in court, which would be delightful to watch but I don't really see it happening. Easier to just give him the money and get rid of him.

[Thad]

It appears that Kotick's contract expires on March 31, 2023. Not sure what that means WRT terminating him after a buyout -- on the one hand, it certainly sounds like the buyout is closing after his contract is up anyway; on the other, I have to assume his lawyers are aware of how long buyouts take and wouldn't negotiate a buyout deal for him that would expire in less time than a buyout would take.

[Mongrel]

Some outlets are already reporting that Kotick is supposed to be out as soon as the deal closes. Not sure if that's confirmed or just something they're getting from "sources", but it seems to be the message that's shaping up.

[Brantly B.]

I dislike this constant assertion that Kotick is anything more than a slightly bigger rat in the king.

[Thad]

Getting rid of Kotick won't fix the problem, but you can't fix the problem without getting rid of him.

[Thad]

And now Sony's buying Bungie.

[Mongrel]

Mr. Maim - a game where you finger-gun down the clowns who are trying to colour you in.

[Niku]

choo choo charles is an upcoming game about a fun train friend who joins you on a cross country journey

[KingRoyal]

Chrono Cross getting remaster to be released on Switch, Steam, PS4 and XBone on April 7

[Büge]

That... doesn't look remastered at all. It looks upscaled, yes, but it's got the same jittery PS1 animation and blocky sprites.

[Mongrel]

What are the odds on the goofball dialect-ese going untouched?

[Thad]

What are the odds on the goofball dialect-ese going untouched?

The odds of Square releasing a "remaster" that has an absolute bare minimum of effort put into it?

I'ma go with pretty goddamn high.

[Thad]

(And that was Roy Kent in the Xenoblade 3 trailer, right?)

[KingRoyal]

That... doesn't look remastered at all. It looks upscaled, yes, but it's got the same jittery PS1 animation and blocky sprites.

It's tradition that Square put in the absolute minimum for a Chrono re-release

[Newbie]

I'm so glad this game (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim) is getting more support by coming out on the Switch. Once I (finally) played through it myself, practically the only thing I did on YouTube for the next six months was watch other peoples' Let's Plays. It's that kind of game.

[Niku]

Hooray, waiting it out was the right call. I really wanted to hop in on the PS4 version but it seemed ideal for something you can pick up and absorb a little bit whenever's convenient, so Switch sounds perfect.

[Metal Slime]

It's a little over a year off but Nintendo is shutting down the WiiU and 3DS stores March 2023 so you got a year to get anything you wanna get legit.

[Thad]

John Romero has a new level out for Doom 2, One Humanity. €5, all proceeds go to the Ukrainian Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

Ars Technica has a writeup.