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[Solidus_T]

What "problems"?

Most rational consumers purchase the best product that fits their needs within the budget they have avialble at the time.

So yes, purchasing products soley due to nationalism, even if it means you end up with a subpar product is jingoism. The only person you're hurting in that scenario is yourself.

To add more to this, the jingoism is even further exposed by the fact that the parts made for both consoles are made from the same international supply chain and production processes. People who support companies based on their nationalism are just choosing to make some person in their country richer instead of choosing a product based on their needs.

 

[Ozriel]

But a ten year deal means whatever games they are getting they can make alternatives am rite ?

Yes.

Activison games are also on Nintendo? It'll be fine .

No regulator around the world cared a whit about Activision's other titles. COD took center stage. Not to mention Microsoft already signaled their intention to bring COD to Nintendo hardware even well before regulators started taking a look.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

To be fair, I used to work at an EB Games back when 360 launched. My manager and several store regulars were Xbox fanboys. They literally said one of the reasons they buy Xbox is to support an American company. Those people actually do exist. I've met them and worked under one. It's not the whole fanbase, of course.

I don't see anything wrong with wanting to support a company that is based in the country you live in. Though I do hope that was not their only reasoning.

 

[wolffy71]

What "problems"?

Most rational consumers purchase the best product that fits their needs within the budget they have avialble at the time.

So yes, purchasing products soley due to nationalism, even if it means you end up with a subpar product is jingoism. The only person you're hurting in that

If two things are even or close too, which consoles certainly are, it's not jingoism to support an American company. Jingoism is fanatical or extreme support of something and ur stretching the term pretty far.

 

[Varteras]

Bungie is pretty much as big as they can go. Buying a company with a similar valuation as Activision is simply a fever dream for Sony.

Not really. Sony has the ability to shoot for a $10 billion or even $20 billion deal. But the question is will they stomach the risk? Square Enix is easily within their financial means. But if anyone thinks Sony is going to aim for EA, get that out of your head. They're not even likely to go after Take Two. The far more likely scenario is that Sony goes ham on smaller acquisitions.

I don't see anything wrong with wanting to support a company that is based in the country you live in. Though I do hope that was not their only reasoning.

Well my manager was a fanboy with a capital F. Like, worse than most on this forum. Absolutely the Twitter-warrior type. Told me his dream was Xbox being the only brand left.

 

[GHG]

I'm sure there was a small subset of "fans" that stated things like this but people actually DO enjoy Xbox games for what they are and don't consider them "inferior"

There were enough of them, hence this discussion.

As for the bold, I purchased an Xbox one for one game. One game. But I have always had a capable PC and I already had a ps4 at the time. That is not the average consumer who chooses one platform. At the time it was objectively the worst platform available, not even up for debate.

If two things are even or close too, which consoles certainly are, it's not jingoism to support an American company. Jingoism is fanatical or extreme support of something and ur stretching the term pretty far.

Deliberately selecting and handing over your hard earned cash for an inferior product which will result in inferior experiences all because you think you are being nationalistically charitable is extreme.

 

[Mr Moose]

If two things are even or close too, which consoles certainly are, it's not jingoism to support an American company. Jingoism is fanatical or extreme support of something and ur stretching the term pretty far.

<Made in China>

 

[RoboFu]

Only reason we saw Sony's for that one deal, is that it was revealed during the Epic vs Apple court case. MS's weren't. Just because they are not revealed, doesn't correlate into "obviously not as bad."

duudee... come on... I mean this is literally the first 3 rows of a quick google search... "exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""play it first"

 

[Topher]

Chances are games they pay for market rights also contain such language. It would be sound business logic.

And it needs repeating that these marketing deals are done to maximize sales. ABK said sales were why their games were not on Game Pass.

 

[DeepEnigma]

duudee... come on... I mean this is literally the first 3 rows of a quick google search... "exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""play it first"

I don't think you understand the argument. Too emotionally invested in this war, me thinks.

 

[Dick Jones]

That's because PS block games from coming to gamepass, we haven't seen Microsoft pay a third party to not put a game on PS+

Stalker 2 on PS the same day?

 

[RoboFu]

I don't think you understand the argument. Too emotionally invested in this war, me thinks.

nah I cant think of a single activision game I have bought in a long time. but yoou keep posting 7 times a page.

 

[Solidus_T]

nah I cant think of a single activision game I have bought in a long time. but yoou keep posting 7 times a page.

Did you play Sekiro? It won game of the year.

 

[Dick Jones]

nah I cant think of a single activision game I have bought in a long time. but yoou keep posting 7 times a page.

You didn't buy Sexual Assualt Simulator 2023 in VR. Critics are saying its so lifelike.
Edge Magazine said "It's like Bobby Kotick is right in the room touching your balls"

 

[Nubulax]

Why would it be blocked? Take 2 is a fraction of the size of Activision, and Microsoft now just got a lot bigger by acquiring them.

This is total nonsense lol

Especially if you look up all the IP MS has just outright bought up over the years instead of making them. Compare to the IPS sony has actually acquired and taken away with their acquisitions and its a complete and total joke.

RARE- Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie and others
Mojang- Minecraft
Zenimax- Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Wolfenstein, QUAKE, and others
ABK- Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Diablo, Overwatch, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and others

Not to mention MS ALREADY had close to the same studios and devs as PS before this acquisition. The most recent figure I saw was that ABK had 13000 employees... 13k!!!!

 

[RoboFu]

Did you play Sekiro? It won game of the year.

Hey I did! but that was just published. From still owns the ip.

 

[DeepEnigma]

nah I cant think of a single activision game I have bought in a long time. but yoou keep posting 7 times a page.

You and I now literally have the same amount of posts on this page.

Edit: Nope, you have one more.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Does it sell as much as COD franchise? No

Does it sell absolute gangbusters? Yes. 175 million for GTAV so far.

I'm sure it's just your anger today that's made you make the ludicrous claim that an IP like this wouldn't receive regulator scrutiny.

the CMA concluded that MS has no incentive to keep COD exclusive post purchase. What do you think they'd conclude if they did the same research about Sony for a largely single player franchise like GTA? Especially given Sony's history.

Even worse when you throw in RDR

Sony can offer a 10-year deal to Microsoft for GTA. I'm sure Microsoft can come up with a GTA competitor in 10 years

 

[GHG]

Japanese people buy Japanese products.
It's how people behave. They prefer their country products over others.

And yet plenty of international companies who are willing to culturally adapt their products and marketing have seen success there and in plenty of other regions/countries that are typically seen as "difficult".

And even if that's the perception, what kind of nonsense is it to say you'll gladly give yourself a worse experience just because you think a group of people behave a certain way on the other side of the globe? Globalisation is a thing, use it to your advantage or be miserable. Your choice.

 

[Punished Miku]

Sony can offer a 10-year deal to Microsoft for GTA. I'm sure Microsoft can come up with a GTA competitor in 10 years

That would be a genius move on Sony's part. At Rockstar's current development rate they wouldn't even get any games. Checkmate Phil.

 

[IFireflyl]

Can someone elaborate on the CMA findings. Have they fully reversed course and now support the acquisition? Or are they still concerned, but not necessarily on the Call of Duty foreclosure issue? I've had a long day of school work, and I can't bother to read through that document right now.

Please and thanks.

 

[Little Chicken]

Looks like the deal will be going through, hopefully in time for Diablo IV to hit Game Pass.

 

[Heisenberg007]

That would be a genius move on Sony's part. At Rockstar's current development rate they wouldn't even get any games. Checkmate Phil.

 

[Topher]

duudee... come on... I mean this is literally the first 3 rows of a quick google search... "exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""exclusive content""exclusive content""play it first""play it first"

Yeah, no shit. Problem is you are the only one here talking about "exclusive content", my dude. The entire point of the conversation is "blocking games from Game Pass".

 

[DryvBy]

I will still stick to not liking it.

Same. Why would anyone want a company that's not going under to be bought up? EA isn't a console company and I hated them doing this in the 90s. We lost many of good devs over it.

 

[SportsFan581]

Deliberately selecting and handing over your hard earned cash for an inferior product which will result in inferior experiences all because you think you are being nationalistically charitable is extreme.

LOL, and I suppose that it is you that decides what is an inferior experience. Millions bought X1 as their primary gaming device, they played mostly the same games and had the same experiences but in the ecosystem they were used to. Many of them probably preferred Halo/Gears/Forza over the competition as well. I'd like to see this logic applied to the OG Xbox vs. PS2. Looking at frame to frame comparisons isn't real life, being the most powerful or the weakest has never been a determinate thing in the console space and likely never will.

 

[Astray]

Nobody is going to take Kotick with all his baggage and make him an EVP at Microsoft.

If you can find the moral fortitude to give him hundreds of millions then you can surely find a way to keep on a guy who is the best performing CEO in the gaming biz.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

ABK did not set any precedent. It was a situation where a $2T market cap company tried to acquire a $70B company to the objection of its biggest competitor which is only $40B larger than the company they are trying to acquire.

Sony is not in that sort of position, as a much smaller company than Microsoft (1/20th the Market Cap), buying a much smaller company with Take 2 (vs Activision).

Except not a single regulator question price or market caps of the company. It was never in any SLC or reason for opposition of the deal. Nobody cared about the price tag.

Cloud market was the main topic and now buying publishers will lead to questions regarding cloud market influence. And maybe PC but it was not important.

Nvidia can easily come out with the same arguments as with ABK. And Sony has a history of buying nascent cloud providers - OnLive and Gaikai - and almost running them into the ground.
Sony also has a history of not releasing games day 1 on PC, which can also be used against them. Sony's practices won't do them any favors. And then we have a case regarding market influence, which also creates a problem for Sony, because - for example - in certain european countries that have 60-80% marketshare too.

Microsoft can buy another publisher and go with the same pattern - we will support BYOG services and we also support PC. And that's it.

 

[GHG]

I'd like to see this logic applied to the OG Xbox vs. PS2.

It can't be, and I'm not trying to, hence I said exactly what I said.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Except not a single regulator question price or market caps of the company.

It's reflected in their discussions of profitability, revenue, etc. That gets baked into the valuation. A company with a higher valuation is much more influential to the industry. It's why bigger deals are less likely to go through.

 

[Kilau]

Looks like the deal will be going through, hopefully in time for Diablo IV to hit Game Pass.

Probably won't but I can wait since the game will probably be in a sad state at launch.

 

[SportsFan581]

It can't be, and I'm not trying to, hence I said exactly what I said.

I'm sure all 10 of the X1 owners that bought it because it was "American" are really touched. They are such patriots.

Delusional thinking all the way around.

If anything this logic would apply in much greater numbers on the Nintendo/Sony side where Japanese buyers seem to be much more nationalistic in general. It just isn't that big of a thing in the US, it likely should be more so as that would be healthier for the American workplace, but it doesn't really move the needle here (not since the 50s or 60s at least).

 

[NonPhixion]

Whoa this is big. It looks likely that MS will now be able to compete after 20 years of Xbox.

 

[Ozriel]

Sony can offer a 10-year deal to Microsoft for GTA. I'm sure Microsoft can come up with a GTA competitor in 10 years

Eh, maybe they'll simply do a trade. GTA for COD. All will be well with the world.

There's always a solution and leverage out there especially if you've got 10 years to plan

 

[Nubulax]

ABK did not set any precedent. It was a situation where a $2T market cap company tried to acquire a $70B company to the objection of its biggest competitor which is only $40B larger than the company they are trying to acquire.

Sony is not in that sort of position, as a much smaller company than Microsoft (1/20th the Market Cap), buying a much smaller company with Take 2 (vs Activision).

The bolded always seems to escape some people when discussing this deal. ABK is massive, and correct me if im wrong, larger than Nintendo and somewhat close to Sony itself...not just PS.. but SONY

 

[Bernardougf]

New Phil interviews when?

Come on Phil, the world is waiting. We know you want to.

Wait.. two days after the aquisition pass.. you will have your interview

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

If their wild push for live service games fail, they are fucked.

Well they bought Bungie for a reason. Sony realized that they have a problem with lack of recurring revenue streams and they are trying to fix them. They relied a lot on their market share and third party deals for GaaS. GTA, COD, FIFA, Fortnite etc. But that is a dependency on third party - if they were a single competitor in the "high end console market" (lol) that would not be a problem, but they are not and especially not when Microsoft is willing to throw big money around.

Arguably, how many GaaS games of Sony was successful? They played around with Factions and I believe Ghost of Tsushima? But it went nowhere.

The difference is that PS fans don't start crying when a game doesn't come to PS+.

Well, if you haven't experienced a good treatment - you are fine without it.

 

[Elios83]

Can someone elaborate on the CMA findings. Have they fully reversed course and now support the acquisition? Or are they still concerned, but not necessarily on the Call of Duty foreclosure issue? I've had a long day of school work, and I can't bother to read through that document right now.

Please and thanks.

They alligned with what was speculated was already happening with the EU.
They basically stated their model was flawed and that if Microsoft doesn't release COD on Playstation the losses would be so huge they would outweight any benefits for them.
As such they're focusing their concerns just on the cloud market where atm there are no changes.
It's a 180 that throws eggs on their faces tbh but I find more interesting what could happen next.
The concerns about the cloud market are still valid but Sony now has limited options.
They could try a final push at a counter argument with the CMA telling them that they can't prove that for a company as big as Microsoft incurring in big losses if it means seriously damaging a competitor can't be considered a normal investement.
If that doesn't work and have zero faith in FTC they need to secure the best deal for them which means trying to settle with Microsoft and get a clear contract for the next decade.

 

[Kilau]

Bungie is pretty much as big as they can go. Buying a company with a similar valuation as Activision is simply a fever dream for Sony.

Nobody else is even close to Activision so that isn't an issue.

 

[Sanepar]

Guys only things on sony ballpark is cdpr, remedy, io, larian, from or at max capcom or square.

They don't have money for t2 or ea.

Best move Sony could make would be CDPR and Capcom(they can get both for less than 10bn). But they can be stupid to go by Square(dead zombie) and remedy.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The bolded always seems to escape some people when discussing this deal. ABK is massive, and correct me if im wrong, larger than Nintendo and somewhat close to Sony itself...not just PS.. but SONY

Yep.

Nintendo - $44.85 Billion
Activision - $62.63 Billion
Sony - $103.96 Billion

 

[RoboFu]

Bungie is pretty much as big as they can go. Buying a company with a similar valuation as Activision is simply a fever dream for Sony.

I still think Bungie was great buy for Sony. Destiny is ok but Sony really needs a big FPS / FPS MP and killzone didn't quite cut it. I am betting something big for Bungie's next game.

 

[adamsapple]

Probably won't but I can wait since the game will probably be in a sad state at launch.

Is the beta that bad ? I thought about downloading it but 78GB for something that ends Sunday, especially with RE4 out right now is a nah from me.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Is the beta that bad ? I thought about downloading it but 78GB for something that ends Sunday, especially with RE4 out right now is a nah from me.

Gear is all messed up (scaling). Your starter gear scales so well you never need to change it through the whole game, and in most instances, it's better than top loot.

 

[GHG]

I'm sure all 10 of the X1 owners that bought it because it was "American" are really touched. They are such patriots.

Delusional thinking all the way around.

If anything this logic would apply in much greater numbers on the Nintendo/Sony side where Japanese buyers seem to be much more nationalistic in general. It just isn't that big of a thing in the US, it likely should be more so as that would be healthier for the American workplace, but it doesn't really move the needle here (not since the 50s or 60s at least).

Ah yes, the American mobile phone owning, mcdonald's eating Japanese consumer.

https://www.counterpointresearch.com/top-5-smartphone-model-share-8-countries/

Such nationalists.

Don't mistake Xbox's failures in that country for being indicative of the sentiment and habits in the country as a whole. Maybe talk to Xbox's marketing and product design teams, you might get your answer.

And travel more.

 

[Topher]

You and I now literally have the same amount of posts on this page.

Edit: Nope, you have one more.

Posts per page is a gotcha argument now? Come on, RoboFu . You gotta do better.

 

[C2brixx]

Guys only things on sony ballpark is cdpr, remedy, io, larian, from or at max capcom or square.

They don't have money for t2 or ea.

Best move Sony could make would be CDPR and Capcom(they can get both for less than 10bn). But they can be stupid to go by Square(dead zombie) and remedy.

I'm trying to understand what does Sony gain by spending billion on developers/publishers that were already going to support them? They are the market leader so they will always get 3rd party support. Seems like a waste of money to me.

 

[feynoob]

And yet plenty of international companies who are willing to culturally adapt their products and marketing have seen success there and in plenty of other regions/countries that are typically seen as "difficult".

And even if that's the perception, what kind of nonsense is it to say you'll gladly give yourself a worse experience just because you think a group of people behave a certain way on the other side of the globe? Globalisation is a thing, use it to your advantage or be miserable. Your choice.

tribilasm. "My country product is better than your country" and so on.
Its one of those things that just dont make sense.

didnt knew Iphone was Japanese.

That is for rich people.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I'm at a point in my life where if I need a product with a wide array of choice, such as a circular saw, or gun safe I'll spend a little more money for a quality American-made product over the cheap Chinese crap.

On specific items where I want / need a particular use out of I'll buy whatever I please. I've yet to see a Kalashnikov manufactured in this country that meets the standards of one of the few things the Commies managed to not fuck up, for example.

Buy a console for the software available to it, cause they're all put together in China anyway. I'd actually prefer to go back to Sony and Nintendo manufacturing in Japan, with MS working with Mexico.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Posts per page is a gotcha argument now? Come on, RoboFu . You gotta do better.