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[DenchDeckard]

Take those few days off. You've been very emotional and whiny these last few days. Your usually reasonable but your act has been slipping recently.

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

When ya read ridiculous posts, look at the username, post histories and visible behaviour and just use it to have a laugh.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

You can choose which threads to engage in. In gaming business related threads a lot of Xbox fans react with persecution complex, but the business is the business.

Choose the threads where the business side of gaming doesn't matter.

 

[DarkMage619]

Oh and by the way, FTC has a 100% win record in its adjudicative court process where MS is preparing now. CMA decision will likely stop this deal, but if it sees the court in the US it will effectively be halted there too.

In the FTC administrative court the FTC can overrule any negative rulings. It is a tool used to frustrate and delay in hopes companies simply quit vs. fighting in federal courts where the FTC has racked up a lengthy loss record. They just lost against Meta. Amazing what happens when you can't simply overrule the negative outcome and have to support accusations with real legal reasonings.

 

[Topher]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

There is no "we". What threads you decide to participate in is entirely up to you. And looking at your post history, it is clear the last few days you've had plenty of interest in "corporation war" and little to no interest in your favorite game "in years".

 

[HoofHearted]

New report from MLex:

- Microsoft will make the case for the acquisition in Europe at a closed-door hearing in Brussels next week.
- The hearing will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
- Company executives and lawyers will face off with the commission's case team at the hearing, which also attended by a broader audience of commission officials and representatives from the bloc's national competition watchdogs.
- Customers and rivals can also ask to attend; Sony is expected to be there.
- The hearing allows companies to reinforce the points they will have made in their written responses. The EC and other market players will also express their views.

From Idas at Era.

Penciled in my calendar - I'm ready..

 

[TheGodfather07]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

dont attach emotions to it. im loving my series x. im enjoying the cost saving from gamepass and loving the BC and emulation options. that doesnt mean that i cant see the glaring issues that plague the brand though. very real and valid issues. sure, fanboys use it as ammo to shit all over microsoft but that doesnt mean the issues aint valid and real. the lack of steady software is a problem. being down yoy at only its 3rd year on the market is a problem. look at it objectively and dont get attached to any brands. emotions and personal feelings dont need to be involved at all.

 

[MasterCornholio]

What I dont get is how on the same forum do we have people championing that Microsoft are failing and that Sony is dominating them, then you have people sharing that the Split between Sony and MS (in the second largest market) is 60 / 40 split...... with MS not releasing any games in 2022 but game pass and Xbox are failing.

....I'm struggling with this place this week lol Think I need a few days off Gaf and play the Wizard game.

Look what's happening here is that your letting your true feelings build up inside you. At some point it's going to be too much to bear and you will just end up cracking up.

What you should do is find a place where you can let all your feelings go. Don't hold back and allow everything to flow out of you. Don't do that here because it will most likely get you in trouble. But feel free to let everything out somewhere else. You will feel better afterwards.

 

[KungFucius]

Lessons from Three Antitrust Agency Losses in Three Merger Trials

September 2022 was unkind to the antitrust agencies, which lost three litigated merger challenges in the month. On September 1, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) administrative law judge found that the FTC failed to demonstrate that the vertical merger between Illumina, Inc. and Grail...

www.akingump.com

There was actually a fourth loss for the FTC since this was written.

Also they aren't going to lose hundreds of billions... not sure where you came up with that number.

some people have very deep anal cavities from which they can extract bullshit from.

 

[Pelta88]

This is significant...

Activision ticks higher amid speculation it hired bank for activism defense

Activision (ATVI) ticked up 0.3% amid speculation that the company may have hired Morgan Stanley for activism defense.Morgan Stanley went restricted on Activision (ATVI) last week and...

seekingalpha.com

Usually this signals a change in structure, divestiture, or a decoupling (Microsoft) from a previous agreement. I don't think Activision looses COD under any circumstance. Things are about to get spicy regardless.

 

[FBeeEye]

This deal needs to get done. They need it, not to compete with Sony but to position themselves against the company that will eventually buy Sony or the PlayStation business. The more I think about it. Apple makes the most sense. I expect to see this within the next 10 years.

 

[MasterCornholio]

This deal needs to get done. They need it, not to compete with Sony but to position themselves against the company that will eventually buy Sony or the PlayStation business. The more I think about it. Apple makes the most sense. I expect to see this within the next 10 years.

Why would Sony sell playstation?

 

[Pelta88]

Why would Sony sell playstation?

They've been failing in the console business since the PS1.

 

[NickFire]

Why would Sony sell playstation?

Isn't it obvious? Sony is sick and tired of selling COD year after year after year. With the deal about to be blocked they just can't get away. So like every rationale business, they are going to sell their bread and butter. Or trade it for 3 bushels of Apples straight up. Economics 404.

 

[GHG]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

Based on the way you've been posting in the last few days I genuinely think you're more invested in Microsoft/Xbox doing well than you are with the hobby at large.

We are in a period where there's a barrage of new game releases, many of which look very promising, you claim to have a 4090 and all consoles, so what's the problem exactly?

Microsoft fumbling the bag like they currently are shouldn't affect you like this. Something doesn't add up. Like someone else alluded to, the veil is slipping and what's underneath isn't so pretty.

 

[Thirty7ven]

This deal needs to get done. They need it, not to compete with Sony but to position themselves against the company that will eventually buy Sony or the PlayStation business. The more I think about it. Apple makes the most sense. I expect to see this within the next 10 years.

Nobody is buying Sony mate. Sony might buy a big Japanese company or smaller studios.

 

[MasterCornholio]

They've been failing in the console business since the PS1.

Isn't it obvious? Sony is sick and tired of selling COD year after year after year. With the deal about to be blocked they just can't get away. So like every rationale business, they are going to sell their bread and butter. Or trade it for 3 bushels of Apples straight up. Economics 404.

Just to see someone suggest it when Playstation is extremely successful for Sony. I guess FBeeEye is expecting Playstation to fail so badly at some point that Sony will sell it. Not sure how that will happen with how things are going for Sonys Playstation division. I'm honestly not seeing it.

 

[Fess]

dont attach emotions to it. im loving my series x. im enjoying the cost saving from gamepass and loving the BC and emulation options. that doesnt mean that i cant see the glaring issues that plague the brand though. very real and valid issues. sure, fanboys use it as ammo to shit all over microsoft but that doesnt mean the issues aint valid and real. the lack of steady software is a problem. being down yoy at only its 3rd year on the market is a problem. look at it objectively and dont get attached to any brands. emotions and personal feelings dont need to be involved at all.

Yup everybody should see the problem at this point. I could show playtime stats to show how bad it is for me but tbh it's too embarrassing. Except for Hi-Fi Rush the last game I actually played for real was FH5. And the sad thing is that Starfield won't change much since I'll play that through Steam for mods. Next big release for me on Xbox will probably be Forza, I don't have the triple screen PC setup anymore so it'll be a console game for me.

 

[reksveks]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-im...-regulation-rule-violation-antitrust-339f115d

FTC now is 3 Dems 0 Republicans ( not a bad thing necessarily)

Not going to be making a difference really to anything except for the politics.

 

[Topher]

This deal needs to get done. They need it, not to compete with Sony but to position themselves against the company that will eventually buy Sony or the PlayStation business. The more I think about it. Apple makes the most sense. I expect to see this within the next 10 years.

That's a pipedream.

 

[Topher]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-im...-regulation-rule-violation-antitrust-339f115d

FTC now is 3 Dems 0 Republicans ( not a bad thing necessarily)

Not going to be making a difference really to anything except for the politics.

Doesn't really matter at this point, but Christine Wilson was the lone vote not wanting to block Microsoft's acquisition of ABK.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Star Wars and Marvel come out in theaters and physical media. They no longer do day 1 either do they?

Negative. They found out they lose money if they do.

 

[reksveks]

Doesn't really matter at this point, but Christine Wilson was the lone vote not wanting to block Microsoft's acquisition of ABK.

Yeah, the only extremely tortured fallout is what does the Supreme Court think of an regulator with no Republicans on it and does it make any impact on their decision re the Axon case. Very much doubt it.

Wilson is as impactful as the Democratically appointed justices on SC. Not alot.

 

[M1chl]

I am totally uneducated on acquisitions, what happened with that 90 bilions, if/when it is not going to be approved, do they lost it or it will be given to them back or are they yet to pay for it?

 

[knocksky]

I am totally uneducated on acquisitions, what happened with that 90 bilions, if/when it is not going to be approved, do they lost it or it will be given to them back or are they yet to pay for it?

They haven't paid for anything yet

 

[Topher]

Yeah, the only extremely tortured fallout is what does the Supreme Court think of an regulator with no Republicans on it and does it make any impact on their decision re the Axon case. Very much doubt it.

Wilson is as impactful as the Democratically appointed justices on SC. Not alot.

The SC is supposed to be above party politics. Of course, that's not reality, but I certainly do not think a commission party alignment is going to impact any decision they make.

When you say "Wilson is as impactful as the Democratically appointed justices on SC", not sure what you mean.

 

[ToadMan]

In the FTC administrative court the FTC can overrule any negative rulings. It is a tool used to frustrate and delay in hopes companies simply quit vs. fighting in federal courts where the FTC has racked up a lengthy loss record. They just lost against Meta. Amazing what happens when you can't simply overrule the negative outcome and have to support accusations with real legal reasonings.

Yep the FTC internal court is sure a way to frustrate corps.

Meta - the injunction was denied and the FTC chose not to appeal.

With MS the injunction is already in place. And from there, FTC has a 100% record over 25 years. Place your bet…

 

[drganon]

This deal needs to get done. They need it, not to compete with Sony but to position themselves against the company that will eventually buy Sony or the PlayStation business. The more I think about it. Apple makes the most sense. I expect to see this within the next 10 years.

 

[M1chl]

They haven't paid for anything yet

Thanks

 

[reksveks]

The SC is supposed to be above party politics. Of course, that's not reality, but I certainly do not think a commission party alignment is going to impact any decision they make.

I don't think it matters as well, don't think they are particularly interested in the ftc except for the superficial level of 'big government bad'

When you say "Wilson is as impactful as the Democratically appointed justices on SC", not sure what you mean.

Her (Wilson) only ability in the last year was to effectively dissent but not really have any direct impact on the FTC's decision. Very much like the KBJ and the other two Democratic justices.

Obviously the dissenting voices in the SC do have more political impact given the importance of the SC. Was talking relatively.

 

[Bonsaibäumchen]

Thanks

Although there are a few rules attached to the merger where MS might have to pay Activision some billions if ot takes longer then expected or the merger gets rejected/fails.

I think worst case is MS will have to pay Activision 3 billion.
And of course all of the expanses that went into working this thing out with the regulators.

 

[Aguero9320]

Please don't say an act. It isn't. I try to be reasonable but you are right. The constant barrage of piling on and doom and gloom has frustrated me when Microsoft just released an incredible game and one of my favourites in years.

We don't do games here, we do corperation war.

All the best mate.

This thread is too much - I just dip in and check the last page every few days to see if anything has happened. If you get sucked into the endless round and round in here you'd be suicidal in days I have no idea how people have so much time to put into it - I'm a little jealous...

Just avoid the thread, play some games or something. The only certainty right now is that nothing anyone says in this thread is going to affect any tiny fraction of the outcome in any way - once you accept it's a totally pointless time sink you can make a decision whether any of these thoughts are useful (hint: they are not).

 

[Topher]

I don't think it matters as well, don't think they are particularly interested in the ftc except for the superficial level of 'big government bad'



Her (Wilson) only ability in the last year was to effectively dissent but not really have any direct impact on the FTC's decision. Very much like the KBJ and the other two Democratic justices.

Obviously the dissenting voices in the SC do have more political impact given the importance of the SC. Was talking relatively.

Ah...yes, I follow. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I am totally uneducated on acquisitions, what happened with that 90 bilions, if/when it is not going to be approved, do they lost it or it will be given to them back or are they yet to pay for it?

It's not $90 billion.

It is

 

[bender]

There is no "we".

 

[Astray]

This is significant...

Activision ticks higher amid speculation it hired bank for activism defense

Activision (ATVI) ticked up 0.3% amid speculation that the company may have hired Morgan Stanley for activism defense.Morgan Stanley went restricted on Activision (ATVI) last week and...

seekingalpha.com

Usually this signals a change in structure, divestiture, or a decoupling (Microsoft) from a previous agreement. I don't think Activision looses COD under any circumstance. Things are about to get spicy regardless.

Activision ticks higher amid speculation it hired bank for activism defense

Spoiler: Full Article

Feb. 14, 2023 10:27 AM ETActivision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI), MSFTSONYBy: Joshua Fineman, SA News Editor

Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) ticked up 0.3% amid speculation that the company may have hired Morgan Stanley for activism defense.

Morgan Stanley went restricted on Activision (ATVI) last week and it's unclear why it did so. Traders were talking about the MS restriction yesterday as well as a meeting that the Activision chief financial officer had in Boston with investors, likely contributing to ATVI's 1.5% gain on Monday.

There's some speculation that potentially the bank was hired for activism defense, CNBC's David Faber said on the business network on Tuesday. He said activist Elliott has been mentioned as a possible name. Faber explained that an activist could be involved to push the videogame behemoth to use their cash if the deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is blocked by regulators.

The Activision (ATVI) CFO told investors on Monday that the company could use its cash for a dividend, buybacks or even mergers & acquisitions, according to CNBC's Faber.

Faber also said there remains a "glimmer" of hope that Activision/Microsoft could potentially allay the UK antitrust regulator's concerns by agreeing to sell a division or possibly reaching a deal with Sony (SONY), though he said both scenarios appear unlikely.

Earlier PaRR reported that the European antitrust regulator is set to hold a hearing next week as part of its in-depth review of Microsoft's (MSFT) planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI).

 

[Thirty7ven]

Faber also said there remains a "glimmer" of hope that Activision/Microsoft could potentially allay the UK antitrust regulator's concerns by agreeing to sell a division or possibly reaching a deal with Sony (SONY), though he said both scenarios appear unlikely.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Faber explained that an activist could be involved to push the videogame behemoth to use their cash if the deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is blocked by regulators.

The Activision (ATVI) CFO told investors on Monday that the company could use its cash for a dividend, buybacks or even mergers & acquisitions, according to CNBC's Faber.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Activision will buy UbiSoft if this should fail.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Based on the way you've been posting in the last few days I genuinely think you're more invested in Microsoft/Xbox doing well than you are with the hobby at large.

We are in a period where there's a barrage of new game releases, many of which look very promising, you claim to have a 4090 and all consoles, so what's the problem exactly?

Microsoft fumbling the bag like they currently are shouldn't affect you like this. Something doesn't add up. Like someone else alluded to, the veil is slipping and what's underneath isn't so pretty.

I do have everything lol its all good. I also like xbox a lot. I am invested in the brand as I have years of memory's of playing online, co op with the buds and I think they do a lot of stuff right. Like absolutely on the button right. The hardware is the best imo, the services are second to none and they have the best controllers support of hardware and new tech such as vrr.

It frustrates me when Sony are treated like some gods by their rabid fanbase and purposely enjoy constantly putting down any form of competition. It does rile me up but I should do as others have responded to me and said. OK that's GHG or any of the other list of Sony leaning fans and laugh at the posts etc. Just allowed myself to get frustrated but I think it's more to do with work being intense at the minute and needing to vent.

I'm all good now though. With the help of peeps on here and seeing who is posting the lol emojis/empathy etc on my posts I can just laugh about it.

So all good.

Back to hogwarts and the new apex modes on my 4090

 

[Astray]

An Activist investor (like Elliott Management or Pershing Square for example) might start buying into Activision and demand the board do things like stock buybacks or selling assets etc, they are hiring Morgan Stanley to consult on how to defend against that.

 

[Heisenberg007]

An Activist investor (like Elliott Management or Pershing Square for example) might start buying into Activision and demand the board do things like stock buybacks or selling assets etc, they are hiring Morgan Stanley to consult on how to defend against that.

Oh okay. But why would the investors do that? Are they expecting a price increase? Because that's not what the immediate future looks like.

Or are they banking on the $3 billion cash injunction from Microsoft if the acquisition fails?

 

[GHG]

If the Microsoft deal fails there's two ways this plays out:

• Activist investors group together, buy as much stock as they can in order to buy a seat at the table and tell Kotick what to do.
• Or activist investors group together, short stock, stock price goes down, low price make Kotick cry, activist investors tell Kotick do what I say or price stay low.

Morgan Stanley are being hired in this scenario to act as protection/deterrent for both possible scenarios.

 

[64gigabyteram]

I do have everything lol its all good. I also like xbox a lot. I am invested in the brand as I have years of memory's of playing online, co op with the buds and I think they do a lot of stuff right. Like absolutely on the button right. The hardware is the best imo, the services are second to none and they have the best controllers support of hardware and new tech such as vrr.

It frustrates me when Sony are treated like some gods by their rabid fanbase and purposely enjoy constantly putting down any form of competition. It does rile me up but I should do as others have responded to me and said. OK that's GHG or any of the other list of Sony leaning fans and laugh at the posts etc. Just allowed myself to get frustrated but I think it's more to do with work being intense at the minute and needing to vent.

I'm all good now though. With the help of peeps on here and seeing who is posting the lol emojis/empathy etc on my posts I can just laugh about it.

So all good.

Back to hogwarts and the new apex modes on my 4090

buddy just so you know this site has:

other threads besides Microsoft vs sony console warring
an ignore function
a log out function (ive been using this one quite a bit for the past few weeks)

youre not forced to look at a stream of anti xbox propoganda or some shit bro. most people here don't even hate xbox as much as they want them to just do better. U out here acting like people are asking that you throw away your Xbox or some shit. remember that it's the internet and there's a 0.01% chance you will ever see any of these people IRL in your entire life

just saying this so that i don't see a suicide thread made by you when i wake up tommorrow

 

[Heisenberg007]

If the Microsoft deal fails there's two ways this plays out:

• Activist investors group together, buy as much stock as they can in order to buy a seat at the table and tell Kotick what to do.
• Or activist investors group together, short stock, stock price goes down, low price make Kotick cry, activist investors tell Kotick do what I say or price stay low.

Morgan Stanley are being hired in this scenario to act as protection/deterrent for both possible scenarios.

This makes sense.

But they might also be banking on the acquisition to pass so they all get a nice gain per share? Is that a possibility? (though after CMA's PF, I'm not sure how realistic would that outcome/bet be for them)

 

[GHG]

Back to hogwarts and the new apex modes on my 4090

Let me give you a tip. Hook that PC of yours directly up to your LG C2, get a comfy loveseat/armchair and plonk it in front of it.

I promise you you'll never cry about xbox again.

This makes sense.

But they might also be banking on the acquisition to pass so they all get a nice gain per share? Is that a possibility? (though after CMA's PF, I'm not sure how realistic would that outcome/bet be for them)

What you're referring to are whats called arbitrage investors, that's something different entirely. Activist investors have a longer term view and seek to make the company in question change in some way that they deem as beneficial to their long term holdings and/or some external reason (environmental, employee welfare, etc).

 

[DenchDeckard]

buddy just so you know this site has:

other threads besides Microsoft vs sony console warring
an ignore function
a log out function (ive been using this one quite a bit for the past few weeks)

youre not forced to look at a stream of anti xbox propoganda or some shit bro. most people here don't even hate xbox as much as they want them to just do better. U out here acting like people are asking that you throw away your Xbox or some shit

Yeah, you're right bro. It's all good. Just been a constant barrage of xbox are doomed etc and you are right. I'll use the ignore more. Just not really any threads apart from xbox bashing ones on front page.

I'll start using the ignore thread/user buttons more.

 

[Heisenberg007]

but I think it's more to do with work being intense at the minute and needing to vent.

Hope everything is fine with you, mate. And if not, stay strong. You got this!

 

[The Alien]

Interesting that if MS get blocked from completing this deal because they, as the FCC has said, they can leverage their power from other segments (cloud, etc)....than what other companies could buy activision for that money? Google, FB, Apple, Amazon should all be eliminated for similar reasons.

Regardless, still keeping my money down that MS will still close the deal. Its a question of what concessions they'll make. If it gets too much, they could still win in courts with their case.

 

[Astray]

Oh okay. But why would the investors do that? Are they expecting a price increase? Because that's not what the immediate future looks like.

Or are they banking on the $3 billion cash injunction from Microsoft if the acquisition fails?

Typically, activist investors buy up a large position in a firm, get board seats and start demanding changes in order to raise the stock price and create profit. No activist investor joins a company because they think it's on the right path, what all this tells me is that sharks are smelling blood in Activision's waters and want to pounce, and Kotick is taking measures to pre-emptively guard against them.