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Winterblink: asset control and consolidation in EVE Online
Warp Drive Active podcaster Winterblink is a man who's got everything, apparently. And too much of it, scattered throughout his hangars in New Eden. It's a common problem in EVE Online, particularly for players who roam a lot throughout the galaxy. Mission runners, ratters, and adherents of most any trade or livelihood in the game accumulate a lot of random assets, individually of low worth but which can hold substantial value when seen as a whole. Unfortunately, what Winterblink describes in his blog gets even worse when a player uses containers to organize their possessions by category across multiple stations. The contents of those containers cannot be viewed remotely; one has to be docked in that particular station to see what's inside. Winterblink decided he couldn't handle the clutter anymore and shared the most efficient way he's found to deal with it all, step-by-step. He also had a good idea about having a container that only has the modules for his preferred ship fittings. Slowboating all over New Eden to consolidate his assets worked out for Winterblink. But this writer found that the negligible value of his junk and the time lost consolidating it wouldn't be worth the effort, and opted to ruthlessly destroy a fair amount of it, rather than collect and reprocess or resell the odds and ends. The slash-and-burn approach works for Tech I modules, but once ships and Tech II of anything enter into the picture, Winterblink's way is best. Especially in that he opted to reprocess the materials rather than trying to sell them all on the market.
Jack Thompson offers to help EA with Take-Two takeover
Last week, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello revealed an offer put forward to Take-Two Interactive executive chairman Strauss Zelnick to buyout T2 for nearly $2 billion. Zelnick expediently and publicly shot down the offer, though this battle of the peculiar last names was far from over -- since then we've heard that other companies took interest in T2 after EA was shot down, though certain industry analysts believe EA will eventually win out. Yesterday brought news of a new player on the field that could tip the battle in EA's favor -- Enter: Jack Thompson!Yes, everyone's favorite Floridian moralist (and T2 shareholder) recently threw his support behind Electronic Arts in an impassioned letter, saying he would help "evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two's corporate walls". We think that EA and J.T. would be strange bedfellows, given Thompson's denunciation of Sims 2 a few years back -- though his uncustomary defense of Mass Effect might have rebuilt that once-burnt bridge. How about it, EA? Is your raid on Take-Two LFM?
Take-Two: More companies want to buy us
Like that hot catholic school girl with a penchant for acting tough, everyone seems to want a piece of Take-Two these days. The Associated Press is reporting on a recent SEC filing in which the company reveals its been approached with a few "informal indications of interest in a business combination" since EA's unsolicited buyout offer earlier this week. It makes sense ... after all, when if the most popular guy in school (read: EA) gets turned down by a relatively popular girl (read: Take-Two), then everyone else suddenly thinks they have a chance with her.Like that goth girl with the spiked choker and way too much black mascara, though, Take-Two is acting like it doesn't want the attention. The filing goes on to say that the company "has not engaged in any substantive discussions with any party (including EA) with respect to a business combination." At least they're being direct about their lack of interest. Everyone knows the best way to ruin a business rep is by being a merger tease.
TTWO shares drop on earnings warning, stock option investigation
Take Two just warned Wall Street analysts that their estimates for Take Two earnings in upcoming quarters are "too high," and disclosed new subpoenas from the NYC district attorney's office for documents related to stock options grants. Company shares dropped over 8% to $11.20 in after-hours trading. Some gamers might be tempted to shrug off all this bad news and what it's done to Take Two's shares, figuring that what happens on Wall Street doesn't matter so long as Take Two delivers the goods next October with Grand Theft Auto IV. But Take Two's financial woes do matter because the company uses its stock as compensation. When the company's shares drop, employees take a de facto pay cut, making it more difficult for the company to motivate and retain the brains that create hit titles. In the software and creative industries, it's said that 100% of company value walks out of the door every evening. If this keeps up, Take Two's going to have a harder time convincing employees to return the next morning. [Disclosure: I own way too many shares of Take Two. My wife reminds me of this almost daily.]
Cowon's iAudio T2
It might have been a little more appropriate if their T2 came fashioned in Liquidmetal (sorry, had to), but Cowon's latest iAudio player comes in 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB sizes, and features MP3, OGG, WMA (sorry, doesn't look to be PlaysForSure), FLAC, WAV, and ASF, and your usual OLED color display, 12 hour battery, FM receiver / recorder, and voice recorder; all in a diminutive 0.5-inch thick shell that smacks more of an old school Walkman than an anti-iPod, if you ask us.[Via iAudiophile]
