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Microsoft mercifully puts an end to April Fools' Day gags
Do you hate tech companies' forced attempts at humor on April Fools' Day? So does Microsoft. The Verge has learned that company marketing chief Chris Capossela told employees not to indulge in any public April Fools' Day gags through a company memo. Data suggested that these pranks not only have "limited positive impact" but can result in "unwanted news cycles," Capossela said -- to put it another way, they can frequently backfire.
An app about Nothing
Seinfeld may have been a show about nothing, but now there's an app with nothing... at least, that's the claim. In fact, some people complain that the app does indeed have "something" in the form of a button and some quotes about nothing. That's too much for those expecting a powerful existential statement, I guess. Nothing [iTunes link] goes from free to $.99 pretty frequently, so if you're looking for a cheap gag, you'll be in luck either way. Does the app overdeliver in the worst way? Perhaps. Or perhaps the field of nothing apps is only getting started.
Why do crap apps still exist? They sell.
The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog takes a look at "crap apps" -- those pieces of junk on the App Store that do one thing and do it pointlessly, whether that thing be farting or belching or making the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard (yes, really) or what have you. And they come up with a very intriguing, albeit obvious, reason that the App Store seems so filled with completely terrible and silly apps. Why? Because they sell.Yes, even "legitimate" iPhone developers -- those people working hard to create an innovative touchscreen interface, or bring some crucial functionality to the iPhone -- are finding that of all the apps they release, the crudest and most stupid are the ones that sell. They profile a guy whose serious movie apps aren't selling, but whose cobbled-together-in-five-minutes gimmick apps are making a mint. In short, the reason our App Store is full of way more fart apps than apps like Twitterific 2.0 is because people are paying for the fart ones. The message we're sending with our wallets is that if you want to make a million dollars on the App Store, don't toil away to polish your groundbreaking award-winning puzzle game. Just give us a gag we can show to our friends.Is it right? I'd say no, but then again, even I have been pulled in to a gimmick app or two: I bought Cat Piano (in my defense, I've gotten enough entertainment out of it to find an easter egg: shake your iPhone while playing). But next time your finger is poised over the "Get App" button on that 99-cent belching app that you just know the friend you're seeing later will get a total kick out of, think to yourself: is that two-second gag worth an App Store full of crappy apps?
Mythic prank hints at Orc Choppa career coming to WAR next week
The folks at Mythic Entertainment recently gave a pretty big hint about a new Warhammer Online career to be introduced, through a creative gag. They sent hair dye and a trimmer to WAR bloggers Keen and Graev, a nod to the upcoming Dwarf Slayer career. Lightning has struck twice now though, with what The Greenskin posted yesterday. Mythic Entertainment sent The Greenskin a DVD of Predator, with instructions to go to the meme Schwarzenegger shouts at 1:16:06... "Get to da choppa!" With this hint, it seems a given that the Orc Choppa career is coming to Warhammer Online. The DVD also came with the hint that there would be "more to come" on January 29th. [Thanks Brooke] WAR has gone 1.1! Check out our full coverage of the 1.1a patch, along with our interviews exploring upcoming content and the open RvR changes. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Will of the Forsaken nerf is a reason for quitting
Reader Dave M. sent this little gag to us from Blizzard's "Account Cancel" page. He was leaving the game (and frankly, we're sorry to see him go), and he noticed that if you choose "other" as the reason for leaving your account behind, you get another list of more wacky options. And among them (right between "All of my friends quit playing" and "Offline play not available") is that constant point of QQ: "Will of the Forsaken nerf."Pretty funny that in terms of game mechanics, that's really the only listed reason for quitting ("it takes too long to move between regions" is in there as well, though it seems like a strange complaint that the game is too big). You'd think that the Ret Pally nerfs or Shaman QQ would at least be listed in there somewhere. But no, apparently for all the players that are saying "That's it, I quit" in response to nerfs, only the ones angry about the WotF nerf are actually doing it.
Tecmo hits Itagaki with gag order
Man, things are crazy at Tecmo. Itagaki leaves (and sues), then Tecmo responds (and stocks plummet), then just about everyone at Tecmo sues their employer. Now, Tecmo has dropped a suppression order on Tomonobu, which would prohibit him from making any other public statements about what's going down.The thing was filed on June 10th and seeks to prohibit Itagaki from: Talking about, destroying or leaking any Tecmo secrets concerning software, development or marketing Making false or misleading statements regarding Tecmo's business practices or other games Saying anything to defame Tecmo Making public statements about Tecmo in any way, as well as accepting media invitations to discuss Tecmo while still employed (July 1st) [Via Joystiq]
