Duke Nukem Forever, Green Lantern's shine will be a matter of how bright, oil fades, and I'm just gonna serve up the news . . .
Geek Law:
MPAA has threatened Google over copyright infringement a lot lately. Laughable case – threatening Google with disconnection from the internet in some legal boilerplate. More amusing than anything else, but it makes me speculate if Google gets involved further in sharing issues what they might – and could – do.
Comics:
An excellent analysis on why Green Lantern will probably be a decent-to-great film. No direct mention of underpants, but close. In all seriousness there's some good points here.
Green Tech:
The Wikileaks leak suggests Saudi Arabia's oil reserves aren't what they said giving more evidence the petrostate is peaking in oil production. If true we're going to be hitting peak oil a bit quicker, so get on that cleantech people (and for that matter, I wonder what cleantech and high oil mean for air travel . . .).
Media:
Mahalo's CEO wants to end the 'Content Farm Arms' race. Obviously the guy behind the 'human search engine' is going to have some insights and opinions, and they're ones I actually agree with. It's pretty easy to spam content to the web that's low-value but designed to get eyeballs – the issue is now finding high-value work. I think in one way App-based information delivery can become popular as it avoids this problem.
Now Fox may drop some stations in a dispute over fees.
Mobile:
It's no secret I've not be excited about Nokia or their recent involvement in the lawsuit frenzy. Well the CEO sent out an internal email that's brutally honest and shaking things up. You may have heard of this yesterday, and now it appears to be real. It notes that they have issues, they're losing on all sides, and plays up the role of Ecosystems in technology. This gives me some hope for Nokia, and if nothing else CEO Elop sounds like he's ready to kick ass, take names – AND chew bubblegum if needed.
So what's their strategy going to be? Let's find out – but the rumor they may seek a Silicon Valley presence is intriguing, and would fit a need for more innovation and contacts. Their actions will affect the mobile market, so pay attention.
Publishing:
Dorchester is putting some magazines up for sale – after already nixing the print editions. Hey, AOL, you got any spare cash . . .
Social Media:
Facebook opens a Hong Kong ad sales office. Awful mobile lately aren't they? Are they coming to a town near you?
Technology:
Unexpected ouch. Real Networks has cut 10% of it's staff, 130 jobs. Lots of reorging here, so I'd take them off of your work-for list now. It sounds like they've got a new initiative, but it's obviously not helping yet. Possible sale/buyout candidate?
The Gawker Media redesign Did not go over well and seems to spoil some of the advantages of the simpler design. Frankly I agree, any advantage of visiting the sites are pretty much gone, the design is annoying, there's no gain. What there was at the sites was a weird attempt to drive reading methodologies – that's not going to work.
Internet Kill Switch in the US? Not technically feasible at this time.
Wow. Visa acquires PlaySpan the online payment firm. That's an interesting move for Visa (and a potential look at where they may go in a credit-wary future).
Video Games:
Two new Video Game Career Books are out from the guy behind Game Prodigy, Brice Morrison! Go for it!
Nintendo of America's President thinks cheap mobile games are a danger to the industry. He notes that some games that are good and cheap set unrealistic expectations – a good point. However at the same time it's obvious that Nintendo and others are facing a mobile threat.
To the surprise of no one, Bulletstorm is getting negative attention, which got a response from EA's VP of Public Relations. It's a game where you can wrap a bola grenade around someone's head, set them on fire, and kick them into their friends. It's meant to be controversial, and this is going to help it sell. The fact that at least in the demo it's pretty solid means this is a double win for EA.
Bulletstorm potential rival (and partial inspiration?) Duke Nukem is starting to get some "preview reviews." They reviews at Escapist and Kotaku make it sound like it's tight, simple, and rather fun and over-the-top, if not a true knockout punch.
Industry vets found an MMO company in Virginia. Nice pedigree here. Get the resumes out people!
Consider when naming Video Games titles can really have different meanings.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: So will we see a battle of content farming – or will saner heads prevail?
– Steven Savage