Monthly Archives: July 2016

FTC Gives Warner Bros a Slap on the Wrist for Shadow of Mordor Promotional Videos

middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-bannerThere was a fair bit of controversy over Warner Bros’ promotion of the then-upcoming Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor. WBIE was very selective about who they gave early access of the game to and who would be able to post video about it before release. This was part of a promotional effort with YouTube influencers to promote the game in the run up to launch.

The US Federal Trade Commission doesn’t have a problem with paid promotional videos for video games. They do have a problem when those videos try to hide or not disclose that they were paid advertisements as was the case with the Shadow of Mordor videos. The FTC and WB reached a settlement over the matter and WB got off fairly lightly.

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Nintendo Shares Soar on Pokemon Go Popularity

pokemon-go-bannerIt might not be out worldwide yet and revenue totals haven’t been tallied but Pokemon Go is already a smash hit for Nintendo. In the two business days since Nintendo’s latest mobile game was launched, their stock has climbed over 30% and added $7.5 billion to the value of Nintendo.

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Battlefield Hardline Review: SWAT and Robbers

battlefield-hardline-headerBattlefield Hardline came out only 15 months ago and yet I was able to buy a copy from EA’s own Origin store for only $5 just a few weeks ago. It’s amazing that a spin-off of one of EA’s flagship franchise could be discounted to basically free in just over a year from its release. It’s as if EA admitted that they missed the mark with their take on cops & robbers. The question is if the deserves its apparent lack commercial support is because gamers are burnt out in Battlefield or if Battlefield just doesn’t make for a good law enforcement game.

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Steam Summer Sale Sees 50% Revenue Increase

steam-summer-sale-2016-headerWhile many gamers say that they don’t like the new format of Steam’s regular sales which has seen the end of daily and flash deals, the result of the sale says something completely different. According to Steam Spy, the year-to-year sales of the Steam Summer Sale suggests that gamers will more than happily take a discount with revenue increasing by almost 50% from the 2015 sale.

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E3 2016: Legend of Zelda and PlayStation Clean Up in Best of E3 Awards

e3-2016-games-critics-awards-2016-bannerThis year’s edition of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo certainly had some games that people were interested in but one title stood above the rest in the eyes of the critics. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might have had an underwhelming response from fans because of how Nintendo presented it but it took home the most awards of any game at E3 with three Best of E3 awards, including the coveted Best Of Show. Sony took home the most awards for its hardware and exclusives with four awards.

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