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Nokia closing German plant, slashing up to 2,300 jobs
Despite some encouraging financials out of Espoo as of late, Nokia is looking to cut costs and slim down in its effort to keep its paws firmly around the coveted title of number one cellphone manufacturer in the world. Its Bochum, Germany plant bears the brunt of this round of belt tightening, which will be closed by mid-2008; all told, a total of 2,300 jobs may be cut in the process. Nokia is smack in the middle of migrating some of its production capabilities to cheaper countries, with a Romanian plant -- which costs one-tenth to operate what a German plant does, apparently -- taking on much of the load. For what it's worth, Germany is apparently an extraordinarily pricey place to shut down a plant and lay off workers, so with any luck, the send-off will be a prosperous one for these ex-Nokians.
Digeo lays off half of its employees, replaces CEO
Merely days ago, Digeo trumpeted a number of Moxi-related partnerships and simultaneously failed to give us any additional details as to when we could expect either of its standalone HD DVRs. Now, we could have a reason why. According to a breaking report from The Wall Street Journal, the firm is axing 50-percent of its staff (leaving 80 employees) and Mike Fidler, CEO, is handing over his position to Greg Gudorf, the company's current president and chief operating officer. As if that weren't enough, the report also claims that Digeo will "not release two digital media recorders that had been planned," and rather, it will "focus on a [single] next-generation consumer model." Notably, we aren't told whether or not said model is the HD DMR that's already out in beta testers' hands, but we suppose only time will tell. [Warning: read link requires subscription]Update: We've now learned that the oft delayed Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR and the Moxi Home Cinema Edition DMR will not be released. Additionally, we're told that details about the firm's upcoming consumer DMR (which will be released) will be "announced later in the year." Full release posted after the jump.
Fired for a screenshot
Reader Marc sent us this story of why he got fired-- just by reading it you can tell that there were probably other things going on the workplace, and the good news is that he sounds like he's better off looking for another job, but basically there was a misunderstanding at work, and as a result he was sent home for a half day. And to show his (sarcastic) thanks, he emailed back the screenshot above of his Tauren hanging around a node in AB, complete with MS Paint-ed gratitude to his co-workers and boss.Of course, as you might expect, the next time he showed up at work, they asked him to pack his things and go (apparently, even though one of his managers was impressed with his HP, they considered the screenshot sending the last nail in the coffin).We can't exactly advise anyone to quit their job to play WoW, but in this case, Marc sounds like he was on his way out the door anyway. Here's hoping you land on your feet and find a job where they appreciate you, bud.
Blizzard's next-gen MMO(s) might appear on consoles
Blizzard has said time and again that World of Warcraft will probably not be released on consoles. But as we learned this year, World of Warcraft is not the only MMO on Blizzard's plate. They've been occasionally tossing up job adverts for people with various skills to work on "Next-Gen MMO" stuff. The folks at Blizzard have never fully embraced consoles and successful console MMOs are rare, so even though we knew Blizzard had some kind of console title in the works, there was no evidence that the next-gen MMO project(s) would be for anything other than the PC (and maybe Mac).Well, the latest of the MMO job adverts (this time for a physics programmer) requires would-be applicants to have "programming experience on both console and PC titles." This leads us to believe that Blizzard is either making an MMO that will be released for both the PC and one or more consoles, or that it's producing multiple MMO titles with the same physics engine and that the PC and consoles will get different games ... or both.Either way, it's a tantalizing hint at what's to come.
Sierra Online looking for Wii Ware game producer
Ever since it was officially announced, we've been impatiently waiting for Wii Ware to come along. As it turns out, many of you lovely readers seem to be excited too.If you're a hands-on person, as opposed to froth-at-the-mouth people like ourselves, then why not consider getting into the Wii Ware production business? Now would be an ideal time considering that Sierra Online, a division of Vivendi Games, is looking for someone to produce the company's downloadable Wii titles. We wonder if this means that Sierra is bringing some adventure game goodness to our favorite console? The job will also include producing downloadable games for the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.Unfortunately, being excited about Wii Ware won't be enough to get you this job. First off, you have to live in the Los Angeles area. Then there's the little, itty bitty matter of having experience with this sort of thing. We suppose that those of us without any qualifications for this job will just have to bide our time and wait for Wii Ware to hit our consoles at home. We only hope that it won't be long before we can kill viruses, build countries, and pop bubbles.
Gary Forsee out as Sprint's CEO
According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint is currently looking for Gary Forsee's successor. Apparently, the firm's board began "quietly looking for a new leader in August," suggesting that key members had lost faith in current management. A new chief executive could be named by early December, and it's looking like the replacement will indeed be hired from outside of the company. Notably, the future of Sprint's substantial investment in WiMAX remains foggy, as certain analysts have questioned the sensibility of such a large commitment to a technology "that is so far unproven commercially." Regardless, it looks like a change in strategy will be the number one priority moving forward. [Warning: read link required subscription]UPDATE: Gary Forsee has indeed stepped down. The firm's CFO, Paul Saleh, was named acting CEO, while James Hance, Jr. will serve as acting chairman.[Via BloggingStocks, thanks Matt H. for the update]
Sony still looking for Home producers
Those that have been following the development of Home should not find it surprising that the ambitious online program was delayed to next year. Troubling signs from the beta suggested that the project simply wasn't moving as quickly as it should. Even more telling, a quick look through Gamasutra reveals that there's still a crucial job opening specifically for Home has still been unfilled.The Home Content Producer will be responsible for: Developing content strategies for Home to achieve Home business objectives. Coordinate development efforts of Home content. Act as a liaison between first and third party game publishers/advertisers and external developers of Home content. It appears that this is a serious position that is crucial to the development of Home. It's interesting to note that not only is Sony concerned about getting the service out to the masses, but is focused on getting third party content (including advertising) into the platform. Qualified individuals can apply for the job here.
A training game we could all use
A developer called Success probably knows a thing or two about achieving it. Luckily, they're planning on sharing some of those tips with you* via the newly announced Mensetsu no Tatsujin: Tenshoku-Hen, aka Interview Master. The training title is designed to help improve interview skills to assist in those looking for a job or attempting to switch careers. After you select your field of choice, a myriad of practice questions are offered up to give you go-getters a chance to hone your skills. Most job-seekers have experienced at least one less-than-good interview in their work careers. We've had a few, uh, memorable experiences ourselves. This is definitely a training title we could have used over the years. On the fun scale, however, bartender training sounds a little more interesting.*Unfortunately, as with many training games, "you" is probably limited to those who can speak and read Japanese. Cue fist-shaking!
AMD's chief sales and marketing officer resigns
According to an article recently put out by The Wall Street Journal, Advanced Micro Devices' chief sales and marketing officer Henri Richard is stepping down. Reportedly, AMD's top sales exec "decided to leave AMD because of another job opportunity," although we aren't told where exactly he'll be heading. The firm is supposedly planning to "formally announce Mr. Richard's resignation" soon, but attempts to contact the chip maker for comment were apparently in vain.[Via Hexus, thanks Arneh]
Becoming a blue
You've thought about it, come on, I know you have: slipping onto the other side of things and working for Blizzard. I know I have, and have honestly applied to half a dozen jobs at the company over the last two years. My friends that have worked in the industry maintain that if you spend all day working at something you love, you will lose that love. I'm not so sure. Just because I worked a summer at Walt Disney World doesn't mean I'm jaded against the park; I still love the Tower of Terror just as much.But again, I know I have applied multiple times to positions that my resume screams competency for and gotten not even so much as a sneeze from the Blizzard HR. So I guess my question is this: Have any of you out there applied to a Blizzard job and received a reply, perhaps even an interview? What exactly is the secret to getting your resume seen in that mountainous email pile of theirs, even when you follow all their submission suggestions to the letter?
Palm axes some jobs
In the wake of Palm's sale of a quarter stake to Elevation Partners, the company is axing an unspecified number of jobs in an effort to flatten its "organizational hierarchy." Though it wouldn't specify how many jobs were getting cut, they're apparently in the development group (from a casual observer's perspective, development seems like the wrong place to cut jobs when your best-selling products are mildly tweaked versions of years-old designs, but we're just bloggers -- what do we know?). For what it's worth, Palm points out that the cuts are just the final stages of a reorganization that's been in the works for some time now and predates the Elevation deal. No faith that you're gonna need engineers around for a Foleo 2, guys?[Via the::unwired]
Motorola cuts another 4,000 jobs
Recognizing that its first round of 3,500 job cuts wasn't enough to bring it back into the black, Moto has announced -- as expected -- a second round of layoffs to the tune of 4,000 axed positions. Ultimately, the company expects to save $600 million from the new cuts after they've been bunched in with "prioritization of investments, continuing discretionary-spending controls, general and administrative expenses and site rationalization" (whether any of that verbage actually means anything, we don't know, but it certainly sounds frugal). For the record, the first 3,500 cuts are apparently on track to be completed by June 30, but with newly-announced "restructuring charges" totalling $300 million, it's anybody's guess whether these moves are ultimately going to make America's only top five manufacturer profitable again.
Red Steel 2 online 'confirmed'
Ubisoft posted a job announcement looking for an online programmer for Wii projects. The listing states that the job is in their "Production Studio in Paris, where Red Steel and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games have been developed."It seems kind of likely that this involves Red Steel 2, which was itself basically announced via job listing, but let's not get out our Jump to Conclusions Mats. Yes, slicing your friends up online would be pretty great. But Ubisoft works on a lot of games other than Red Steel, and there are a lot of things you can do online that aren't playing games, as Nintendo has ably demonstrated with every Wii channel.[Via NeoGAF]
Genetic discrimination ban edges closer to reality
By a fairly wide 420-3 margin, the House of Representatives gave a nearly unanimous thumbs-up to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which would "prohibit employers from using genetic information or test results when making employment and health benefits decisions" if it gets a similar nod of approval from the Senate. Fortunately for supporters, the Senate has been known to look fondly upon similar legislation in the past, and if the bill becomes law, health insurers couldn't use "genetic information to set premiums," nor could they require customers to submit genetic tests. Essentially, this could ensure that any future human mutation hacks you inflict on yourself, or more frightening, any robotic humanoid whose genes would find it out, will be safe from scrutiny come interview time. It's about time to order up that oh-so-keen intelligent carpet, right, hiring managers?[Via Wired]
Blue Notes: Shaman dispel poison and a web designer opening
A long-standing bug regarding Shaman having difficulty curing Rogue poisons will finally be squashed, though not until 2.1.0. From Ommra:Ok, so I had the wrong information on when this bug was fixed. Apparently it didn't get fixed in the last patch (as you noticed), but will get fixed in 2.1.0 instead. The change will be that the difficulty of dispelling the rogue's poison is based on the level of the player instead of the level of the weapon the poison is applied to. That makes sense, but I have trouble seeing how weapon level is ever going to be higher than player level, making this almost look like a nerf on the face of things. I'm sure it's not, though -- anyone want to explain?In other news, perhaps Blizz took my jab at their web design on Sunday a little too seriously -- they're now on the lookout for a new web designer:Blizzard Entertainment has an immediate opening for a Web Designer. The ideal candidate is well versed in HTML, JavaScript, and Photoshop and experienced in all manner of web-design elements, such as the design and layout of buttons, links, menus, and text. The Web Designer's primary duties will be to help design and implement the HTML pages for our growing websites. A lot of focus will be spent on supporting existing and future Blizzard titles. The Web Designer will also be responsible for daily web updates and maintenance of existing Blizzard sites. The ideal candidate will also have a strong working knowledge of Blizzard games. For more information on this position, please view the job description at: http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/web-designer.shtml
PS3 Fanboy wants you
Think you got what it takes to write for PS3 Fanboy? Prove it.See: PS3 Fanboy calls for help! Applicants appear!
PS3 Fanboy calls for help! Applicants appear!
Mmm, Dragon Quest references. Well, you guys have noticed it for just as long as we have: PS3 Fanboy is understaffed and we need to get our ratio of writers to popularity in order! Let's start the briefing, brave soldiers. Keep in mind, if you read this post and honestly can say that the designations don't apply to you (on all four counts -- we're all guilty of one or two), you might be qualified to join the fight ... for our right ... to write.Okay, time for a list, along with bold questions. Well, the font is bold ... the questions are fairly typical:
SXSW: The Inside Scoop - how to get a job in the game industry
For the most part, the "Inside Scoop" about getting a job in the gaming industry sounded like getting a job in pretty much any industry, except maybe trading decommissioned nuclear weapons on the black market. They hit the main points several times, which were as follows: Have a professional looking resume. Wear clean, washed (!) clothes to any meeting or interview. Be on time. Network. Network. Network. Like any industry you hope to break into, it's often not what you know, but who you know. Although panelist Bryan Stratton did add that he had a friend who he helped get a job in the field, and he ended up making a lot less money than he should have because of his lack of a higher education. So put down the controllers from time to time and read a book, ftw ... er, paycheck.Of particular note, one panelist mentioned that the two most important applications you can learn to help get a job in the industry are ... Microsoft Excel and email. Most of the time you are going to be coordinating assets and communicating with other people, so it's highly important that you know your way around a spreadsheet, and can organize your inbox and send/receive files and then know where they are.So if you can pwn in Excel as well as you do in Gears of War, then you're well on your way.
THQ, EA, others recruiting at GDC
The second floor of Moscone West, one of the three buildings housing GDC, holds many publishers and developers looking for doe-eyed talent. Armed with just a dream and a résumé, students try to launch their careers, and industry vets try to find the next opportunity. We checked in with a few of the companies to discuss their outlook and objectives at the show.An EA recruiter told us that the company is hiring developers for 11 different studios in nearly every position, including character animators, environmental artists, and software engineers. EA has a university relations department to entice students, but the company also helps schools develop programs to train future industry workers.Heidi Lese, Manager of Recruitment for THQ, discussed her company's role at the show. THQ is looking for both developers and publishers to fit into its 17 studios. With the addition of publishing roles, THQ is seeking nearly all kinds of talent. If a walk-in candidate fits an open position, THQ holds an immediate interview. Otherwise, THQ evaluates and contacts candidates over the next few months.Lese was more tentative about game schools, saying that some are great and can lead to roles at THQ, while some are still too young to offer a useful program. She didn't specify any school recommendations but said that students should attend one with a high placement rate in the industry. She also advised students get an internship -- whether interested in publishing or development.
Calling all bloggers, part three: the deadline
We put out the call ... and now it's about time to close the gates. If you're waiting to send in your application to write for Wii Fanboy and DS Fanboy, send it in soon, because we're not going to take any further apps after Wednesday, December 27th. Anything received after 11:59 pm EST that night is heading toward that virtual trashcan in the sky. So get those apps in -- this is your last chance!Tragic blogger shirt found here. We couldn't resist using it.
