It’s that time of week again when we take a fond look back at the top five news stories from the week. A lot was announced at GamesCom, so we had to add a few more stories to our “Honorable Mentions” section. Welcome to the Weekly Wrap-Up. Below you’ll find a brief summary of the stories, but for the full articles, click on the hyperlink. Feel free to let us know if you agree or disagree with our choices; if you have suggestions for future entries, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com.
Enjoy!
Number 5
Sony: “…feel like we’ve got the gamer on our side”
Recently speaking to Bloomberg, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton confirmed that he was backstage during E3 2013 rehearsals when he learnt that his competitors console, the Xbox One, would retail for $500. It is fair to say that this obviously put a spring in his step when he realised that Sony’s console, the PS4, would retail $100 below that at $400.
Continuing to make comments on his competitors, Jack Tretton said to Bloomberg:
“I think ultimately, the gamer looks at ten-year product life cycles; they look at the software offerings; they look at the value proposition. And the lowest priced system isn’t always the most successful, but being cheaper than your competition is never a bad thing. I feel like we’ve got the gamer on our side; I feel like we’ve got the development community on our side; and now we’ve got execute.”
Number 4
Ubisoft is Bringing The Division to the PC as Well
Sounds like there was a massive amount of people asking for Ubisoft to bring Tom Clancy’s The Division to the PC after it was revealed at E3 2013. Well, Ubisoft listened to all that and came to the decision to do just that. Huzzah!
“Since E3 we have been carefully listening to what has been said on the internet,” said Executive Producer Fredrik Rundqvist. “I can’t stress enough how important it has been for us to feel your support, interest and commitment to the game. Your opinions matter to us.”
“With that in mind, I’m very pleased to announce that the game will be available on PC. Massive Entertainment has its roots in PC development with titles like Ground Control and World in Conflict. You can be certain that we will provide you with a first-rate PC experience.”
Number 3
GameStop Predicting “Largest Console Launch In History”
GameStop’s CEO Paul Raines has revealed during the companies post-earnings financial call that the company is expecting this holiday season to be the “largest console launch in history”.
Not sharing who he, personally, thinks will sell the most unit and win the first round of the next generation war this holiday season he revealed that he has high expectations for both systems to sell well as players eagerly awaited the release of both the Xbox One and PS4.
Number 2
PlayStation 4 Release Date Revealed
At the end of Sony’s Gamescom conference today, Andrew House, president and Group CEO at Sony Computer Entertainment, confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will be launching on November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe for $399/399 euros/349 pounds.
House also confirmed that the system will be available in 32 countries and has received over a million pre-orders.
Number 1
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Announces Retirement
Microsoft’s current CEO Steve Ballmer will be retiring within the year, the company has announced. Between now and the time his successor is chosen, however, he will continue working as the CEO.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”
A new CEO will be chosen by a special committee created by the Board of Directors. This committee currently includes the board’s lead independent director John Thompson, Chairman of the Board Bill Gates, Chairman of the Audit Committee Chuck Noski and Chairman of the Compensation Committee Steve Luczo. Internal and External candidates will both be considered for the position.
Honorable Mentions
This week had a lot of big news and the news staff and I found it hard to narrow it down to the usual five stories:
- Xbox One Launch Titles Confirmed
- PS4 Launch Titles Revealed
- 1500 Pokemon Trainers Cheated In This Years Global Showdown
- GameStop Surprised With Disney Infinity Sales
- Here Are All the Indie Games Coming to PS4 and PS Vita
If you missed out on the big news items this week, you can check out our weekly podcast and get an audio update of this week’s madness from our podcasting team. Listen to us as we talk about some things seriously and a few other things not so much. We guarantee this episode will make you shake your fist at times and nod your head at others.