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Cuba edges toward a more connected future as the world watches
It's been less than four months since President Barack Obama renewed diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba, and the slow invasion of American companies is already underway. Netflix swooped in and started offering its catalog of streaming content for $8 USD per month to the country's financially fortunate. Then there's Airbnb -- the home-sharing startup that's apparently valued at $20 billion -- which just opened up more than a thousand of Cuba's casas particulares (private homestays) to would-be American tourists. More US tech companies will start reaching for the country now that relations have defrosted, but let's not forget the seeds needed for a homegrown Cuban tech scene have started to take root too... albeit very slowly. The one big thing holding that fledgling economy down? Infrastructure.
The Soapbox: The horror of embargoes
We're right on the cusp of one big holiday or another. Festivus, I think? I don't really pay attention to the calendar. So we're going to take this opportunity to talk about something near and dear to our hearts that a lot of you don't even know exists because you aren't working here. It's the magical miracle known as the press embargo. Embargoes work something like this. Let's say that Bungie is hard at work developing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Online, and the company wants to reveal a new piece of information on August 9th. The company sends a lot of different press outlets a release with all of the information on August 2nd, mentioning exactly when the embargo lifts. So on August 9th, everyone can cover it at the same time! It sounds like a great way to ensure that the press knows things in advance and that every big revelation is nicely coordinated across all media. In practice, though, it's something less than beneficial due to failures to communicate and the very nature of the beast. Giving more time between the information and release just means more space for things to go wrong.
Warner Bros. to ditch 28-day release delay for rental stores?
Warner Bros. may have doubled its 28-day embargo on new releases for kiosk operators (even if they side-step it), but endangered bricks-and-mortar rental stores could be treated to the exact opposite. A rumor coming from Home Media Magazine's unnamed sources suggests the WB is going to ditch the embargo for these locations altogether, starting on October 30th. We have no idea why this break would be offered to the relic stores, although we doubt they care if it gets a few more bodies through the door. Warner Bros. has a recent habit of quiet implementation, but just to be sure, we've reached out for confirmation and will update you if-and-when we hear more.
Cisco reportedly drops sales pact with ZTE after claims of roundabout Iran dealings
ZTE might already be feeling heat from Congressional suspicions, but the company could soon take a more direct hit to the pocketbook. Cisco has reportedly dropped an already rocky seven-year deal with ZTE after it learned that the Chinese firm had been selling Cisco's networking gear to the Telecommunication Company of Iran as recently as July of last year. Being implicated in an end-run around US trade sanctions isn't great for business, as you'd imagine. While Cisco CEO John Chambers wouldn't directly confirm the severed link in a chat with Reuters, he noted that we would "not see that [sort of deal] happen again" -- an indication that his company at least isn't happy with the current state of affairs. ZTE isn't waiting for any public acknowledgment to voice its frustration and says it's "highly concerned," although it's not helped by allegations from its own US general counsel that there was an attempt to cover up the Iranian link. Nothing is definite until the investigations go public, but the Iran connection could make it that much harder for ZTE to keep US customers regardless of its distance from the Chinese government.
Gold Capped: Breaking the glyph wall
Every week, Gold Capped brings you tips on how to make money on the auction house. This article from inscription specialist Steve Zamboni has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Almost all auction house tactics revolve around the undercut. It may be a single copper, a few silver or a few gold, or a freefall drop down to the price of materials. Regardless of the amount or the frequency, most undercuts share a common misconception: that you're controlling the market with your undercuts. You're not. Your competitor has the control. By undercutting, you've just let your competitor decide your price. You've let your competitor set a cap on your profits -- and more, you've agreed to accept even less with your undercut. The inscription market sees more than its fair share of this, sometimes on a large scale. The low deposits encourage large number of postings, followed by even larger numbers of cancellations and repostings. Prices fall as each new poster accepts and trumps the previous poster's prices, until the market falls to the cost of materials and the walls go up. The final wall signals a complete loss of market control. Once it's up, it no longer matters who built the wall. If it's your wall, you can't raise prices until the competition perched above you goes away. If it's not your wall, you can't raise prices on your auctions until someone breaks the wall. Stalemate, and out come the piña coladas.
All Points Bulletin interview on the approaching release
The time leading up to launch for All Points Bulletin has been a bit rocky here and there, with hot spots of controversy regarding the game's pricing model and the review embargo set for a surprisingly late date. But still, with about a week left before the game goes live, there's plenty to be excited about. (We'd link you to our own first impressions, but you'll have to travel into the future to be allowed to read it.) Our sister site Joystiq had a chance to talk with producer Jesse Knapp about the game's state just prior to launch. There are several interesting tidbits in the interview, such as discussion about how the game allows for criminals to fight amongst themselves on the premise that the designers expected an imbalance in that faction. There's also talk about the decision to avoid a microtransaction model in favor of the currently variable spread of subscription options for players. While the developers are still a bit up in the air about the game's status as an MMO, we're sure we have more than a few readers who are anticipating All Points Bulletin and who will find some interesting tidbits in the interview.
The Daily Grind: Truth or Consequences
Today's The Daily Grind is a bit of a personal pet peeve of mine, as I've been seeing this happen more frequently in the world of gaming journalism. I'm speaking of the growing practice of breaking NDAs. Not only is this something practiced by beta testers more and more frequently, as Johnny Blogger decides it's okay to brag about this shiny new beta he's in, but "professional" game journalism sites are joining in the fun more frequently by revealing embargoed information the day before the embargo actually lifts.Where this really chaps my hide is when there are no consequences for it. The larger gaming sites can get away with this, and the game studios will continue to give them the exclusive information because of traffic numbers. No consequence equals repeated NDA breaks. So my question to you, Massively readers, is if this bothers you as well. Sure, it's great to get the info a bit earlier than you were meant to, but it's a question of integrity here. Should there be harsh consequences for those sites or blogs that break their beta NDA? Oh, and don't even get me started on those large-name gaming sites that don't even play the games they discuss. Seriously, don't.
Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture
No PlayStation, No Nintendo, No Sega. In a sprawling metropolis on the brink of a technological revolution what place would eschew console gaming? It was South Korea, and for the longest time there was an embargo against Japanese made imports. In the embargo's wake an unstoppable PC gaming utopia and a molding of an anomalous social culture evolved. With the government push for broadband access and the proliferation of PC Baangs, online PC-game rooms, a remarkable 70% of South Korean internet users have played some kind of MMOG. The Korean MMOG invasion on the western market has spurned resentment but some MMOs like Nexon's Maple Story found a successful niche. What is fascinating, are not the endless failed imports or the lucky few that do succeed in the US but the radical differences in our gaming cultures. Joystiq's Geoffrey Brooks is residing in Seoul, South Korea for the summer. Indulging his senses in this part of the world Brook posits about South Korea's PC Baangs and the masterful technological wired revolution and contrasts it to the lagging-behind United States. It's a must read, especially if you know nothing of the PC gaming culture in South Korea other than asking "isn't Starcraft big there?"
Embargoed Azeroth
Until I saw this article, I hadn't realized that any country with which the US had a trade embargo was prohibited from adventuring throughout Azeroth according to World of Warcraft's terms of service. Even formerly embargoed countries, such as Iraq and Iran, remain specifically banned from playing WoW. This doesn't mean that there are no players in embargoed countries - only that they may be permanently banned whenever Blizzard takes the time to enforce these rules. It's an interesting look at the barricades between some players and the virtual world most of us take for granted.
God of War 2 GDC video leaked online
No one was supposed to be recording at the time, but it appears that the trailer for God of War 2 (from Phil Harrison's keynote at GDC) has managed to find its way onto the intarwebs and into our hearts.There you can observe good ol' Kratos jabbin' and choppin' and doin' his thing with his mythological Greek friends. Of course, if you haven't played (or finished) the first God of War game, be aware that a minor spoiler is revealed early on by the trailer's narrator. (Didn't see that one coming, didja?)But, yeah... who do we have to thank for breaking Sony's embargo on this footage? Apparently some guy named "Element" who helps out at playsyde.com. Will Sony act against YouTube for hosting such a video? We'll have to see now, won't we? Whatever the case, an official direct-feed version would certainly be appreciated if it can be managed.[Thanks, David; via digg]See also: Playsyde cam-footage post thanking "the great Element" for this clip Sony confirms God of War 2 worldwide Q1 2007 Unreal Engine 3 and other PS3 tech demos from GDC floor [no GoW?] GDC: The PS3 keynote blow by blow [a few GoW 2 details]
