monopoly
Latest
AT&T asks court to dismiss lawsuits filed by Sprint and C Spire Wireless
Well, look at Ma Bell now, wishing it'd all just go away. Tied up in lawsuits, the company has filed motions to dismiss the two complaints brought by Sprint and C Spire Wireless (formerly Cellular South), which seek to block AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile. In the filings, it's argued that the two providers represent their own interests, rather than that of the public. AT&T further reveals that C Spire had pursued private negotiations prior to the lawsuit, where the regional provider agreed to support the merger "if AT&T would agree not to engage in facilities-based competition in Mississippi." Ma Bell goes on to state, "This inappropriate proposal confirms that what Cellular South fears is competition, not lack of competition." Given the latest maneuver (which smacks heavily of PR spin), there's no doubt that lawyers for Sprint and C Spire will have a bit of homework for the weekend.
Cellular South files antitrust lawsuit against AT&T over proposed T-Mobile takeover
Sprint and Uncle Sam aren't the only ones taking issue with AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, because Cellular South has a bone to pick, as well. Yesterday, the provider filed a lawsuit against AT&T in a DC federal court, charging that its $39 billion merger with T-Mobile would violate US antitrust laws. "The merger of AT&T and T-Mobile is anti-competitive, and will result in consumers facing higher prices, less innovation, fewer choices and reduced competition," Cellular South said in a complaint. The company went on to argue that legal evaluation of the merger must incorporate the perspectives of smaller, regional carriers who, like Cellular South, will "find it harder to secure both wireless devices at competitive prices and times and nationwide roaming." An AT&T spokesman declined to comment on the case, but you can find more details about it at the source link below, or in the full press release, after the break.
Fallout Monopoly is something we wish we could buy
Guys, if you're wondering if your significant other is The One, there's only one question you need to ask yourself: Would he or she go through the painstaking process to create something as awesome as this Fallout-themed Monopoly board just for little old you? If so, put a ring on it! This was created by deviantART user PinkAxolotl, who swapped out classic Monopoly stops such as Baltic Ave and Park Place for locations from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The Go space has been changed to G.O.A.T. and the Free Parking space has been changed to the "Please Stand By" screen. The only similarity between this version of Monopoly and the classic? Your cousin Brian is still guaranteed to throw a hissyfit when you eventually trade all your railroads for a ham sandwich.
FTC to put Google under a microscope, try to uncover anti-competitive ways?
Google's drawn the ire of the Federal Trade Commission before for failing to follow its own privacy policies. Now, however, the Mountain View crew is apparently facing a formal inquiry from the FTC as it seeks information about Google's search and advertising business. The civil investigative demands are set to be sent out within the next five days, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the commission will be looking into whether Google's search engine illegally routs all those internet eyeballs scanning its site to its own services instead of those offered by competitors. Sound familiar? It should, because Google's under investigation for similar anticompetitive accusations made in Europe -- somewhere Steve Ballmer is smiling.
Microsoft lodges antitrust complaint against Google with European Commission, ignores irony
So Microsoft doesn't like anticompetitive behavior, huh? Since when? Brad Smith, General Counsel for the Redmond rabblerousers, has posted a lengthy blog post outlining Microsoft's concerns with "a pattern of actions that Google has taken to entrench its dominance" in online search and ads, which he claims is detrimental to European consumers. Funnily enough, half the post is about Google's legal issues in the US, but we'll set that aside for now. What this boils down to is that Microsoft is finally taking the gloves off -- Google accused it of pushing other companies to do its dirty work -- and is now adding its name to the list of objectors to Mountain View's stranglehold on search in Europe. The European Commission is already taking a regulatory looksee at Google's tactics, so this isn't sparking off a new investigation, but it does add the glamor of two big names locking legal horns yet again. Hit the source link for Brad's exposition of Google's villainous wrongdoings.
Gold Capped: Monopolizing the market
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house. Email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail! I got an email that got me thinking about monopolies. I play on a medium to small pop server that is decidedly near the bottom of progression, and there is one individual on our server who has a monopoly on epics. He seems to play all day, regularly buying up underpriced epics from clueless people in trade, as well as the reasonable and even overpriced epics from the AH. He then jacks the prices up 10-15K. Based on what I can tell from popular WoW economy websites, our server's epic prices are consistently 10-20K gold more than the average. Kudos to this guy, but it's annoying me in some way I can't quite put my finger on. It doesn't effect me personally: I don't buy much BoE gear and I'm fine with my AH income. It's the idea of the monopoly that bothers me. I feel like it's hurting the server in some way. My question is: there must be a few economic theory type solutions to busting a monopoly of this nature, but what are they?
Gold Capped: The first player to have a new trade skill
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house. Email Basil with your questions, hate mail, or guild applications! Everyone is going wild about the new meta gems and bracer enchants. They're all clearly better than what people are currently using, and logically, since the demand for these will be high, the recipes (which are completely random world drops) should be very valuable. The question is how valuable.
Monopoly Live adds a nagging, money counting computer to the Hasbro classic
Once again, technology might have just sucked the fun out of a beloved (or at least tolerated) past-time. Hasbro's refresh of Monopoly -- Monopoly Live -- includes a ten-inch tower that sits in the center of the board, keeping an eye on it via IR technology. This bad boy rolls the dice, counts the money, and makes sure you don't nudge your thimble someplace it shouldn't be. Of course, the game's basics remain intact: domination of your friends and loved ones with skill and greed -- although we fail to see how kids are to properly learn about capitalism when they no longer have the ability to cheat. Coming soon for $50.
Four apps to keep the kids busy over holiday vacation
Winter Break is in full force for us here in Denver, with weeks of "How do I entertain my own child without taxpayer supported public schools to do that for me?" looming ahead. If you, like I, believe each child deserves two proper parents (namely public school and television), here are a few suggestions for items you can pick up in the App Store. Apps to play with during the holiday vacation are a great investment. They are cheaper than actual human babysitters, and help develop your child's most meaningful relationships -- i.e. with technology and gaming systems. (Ed: She's kidding here -- we think. But after the link below, you can find four solid family app recommendations to play with the kids over the holiday break.)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Monopoly and Snood on iPad
EA has passed word that three of its games are now ready for the iPad: Monopoly, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Snood can all be downloaded from the App Store right now. These three games have been optimized for the iPad with near high-def graphics and interface tweaks made specifically for the platform. Both Monopoly and Hot Pursuit will set you back $9.99, while Snood is a bit more modestly priced at $4.99. %Gallery-110308%
Windows Phone 7 review: Monopoly
I'll be honest -- I wasn't expecting Monopoly to be any good. The demo, touting some lackluster graphics, and a sluggish interface, didn't sell me over at all. But, after playing a few full games, I have to say that my appreciation (and more importantly, understanding) of how the board game works has definitely improved. The full release doesn't get rid of the ugly UI issues. But, you are at least able to change your background to something a bit more palpable. The game won't fully explain the rules of the game, but the various tips and tricks that the game tosses in will make you realize some of the (cheap) strategies you can use to win the game. In fact, before this mobile version of Monopoly, I had no idea what the official rules of the game were -- now I do! You can also easily modify your game to accommodate custom rules, like getting money when you land on Free Parking. You can even change how many houses it takes to build a hotel, how much money you collect when passing Go, and how intelligent your AI opponents are. It would be nice if there were some other faster game modes, as a single game can take quite a long time from beginning to end. Also, some preset modifications would've been great to entertain. However, the biggest shortcoming of Monopoly is the lack of any real Xbox Live functionality. Yes, there are some ridiculously easy Achievements (you can get all 200G in one sitting, if you're good/lucky enough!). But, where's online multiplayer? Although Xbox Live (currently) doesn't allow for simultaneous multiplayer, it's sad to see EA didn't figure out a clever asynchronous way of playing against others. There is, at the very least, pass-the-system multiplayer. Monopoly is far from one of the best games on Windows Phone right now, but it's certainly far from the worst. While this is a very faithful recreation of the board game, it's equally disheartening to see EA tackle it so unimaginatively. See also: Windows Phone 7 launch games reviews hub This review is based on a retail Samsung Focus provided by Microsoft and AT&T.
EA announces Windows Phone 7 launch titles
It looks like Electronic Arts is breaking out its biggest guns for its Windows Phone 7 launch lineup -- well, it's biggest guns that can be adequately turned into smaller guns for use on a mobile platform, anyways. The publisher has named four games that will hit the WP7 storefront soon after the platform goes live on November 8: Need For Speed: Undercover, The Sims 3, Monopoly and some obscure indie puzzle game called ... Tetris? Now sure, all those games are already available on other mobile platforms, but you're forgetting why you're going to feel compelled to purchase them again on the Windows Phone 7: Sweet, sweet 'Cheevos. Hell, Monopoly's like 85 years old. You've probably bought it a dozen times already -- but now you're going to buy it a baker's dozen times, because, admit it, you've got to be boosting that Gamerscore.
Windows Phone 7 launch day app roundup
With thousands of developers churning out thousands of apps, we've no doubt exploring the Marketplace is going to be a full-time job for at least a day or two after you nab your Windows Phone 7 device this fall -- but with all the hullabaloo today, we thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight a few that Microsoft and its partners have been talking about recently. Dig in!
Intel and FTC settle charges of anticompetitive conduct
It's been quite a stretch since the Federal Trade Commission first investigated and then ultimately sued Intel for alleged anticompetitive conduct, but the saga has now come to a close -- the two parties today announced a settlement of the charges. While that's no doubt better than some of the alternatives for Intel, it's hardly getting off easy -- the settlement prohibits Intel from paying computer makers to buy its chips exclusively or to refuse to buy chips from others, and bans it from retaliating against other computer makers if they do business with non-Intel suppliers. What's more, the settlement also requires Intel to modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, NVIDIA, and VIA to give those companies "more freedom to consider mergers or joint ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement," and it requires that Intel maintain the PCI Express Bus interface "in a way that will not limit the performance of graphics processing chips" for at least six years, among some other stipulations. For Intel's part, it notes that it hasn't admitted to any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, and says that the move allows it "to put an end to the expense and distraction of the FTC litigation." Head on past the break for the full FTC press release.
See the sites in EA's Monopoly Streets
When you're locked in one of those days-long Monopoly games that just won't end (in other words, pretty much every Monopoly game ever), wouldn't it be more thrilling to spend that time in a 3D Monopoly board-world? We'll find out with the release of EA's Monopoly Streets for Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall. Monopoly Streets reimagines the classic board game as a dynamic gameworld encountered from street level. As players buy and build up properties, they'll see actual buildings erected, styled in accordance with the neighborhoods' economic status. That's right -- you'll be able to see the Water Works for yourself! Each player will also have a headquarters that grows and crumbles with the player's fortunes. And if none of this sounds at all like the Monoppoly you know and love, "classic game board" modes will also be playable. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will also feature online play and DLC. In addition to Streets, EA will release a more traditional Monopoly game for DS this fall. As if that's not enough unilateral control of the virtual board game market, the company has also revealed the browser-based Monopoly City, currently in development for release on EA's Pogo portal.
Apple under preliminary antitrust investigation over iPhone, triggered by complaint from Adobe
We'd heard a somewhat sketchy report from the New York Post yesterday that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission were considering launching an antitrust inquiry into Apple and its various iPhone-related practices, and now it's being confirmed by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, who say the inquiry was triggered by complaints from Apple's competitors and app developers -- specifically Adobe, according to Bloomberg. The DOJ and FTC are currently deciding which agency will take the lead in any inquiry, but if and when it gets underway there are a few issues at play: the first is obviously Apple's decision to block Flash and other middleware from app development, and the second is Apple's new iAd platform, which comes with its own changes to the iPhone developer agreement that could potentially lock out third-party ad and analytics services like AdMob -- itself under regulatory scrutiny due to the Google acquisition -- and Flurry. We'd also imagine regulators will take a close look at Apple's App Store policies in general, but from a distance looks like the focus is on mobile advertising: both Apple and Google have made aggressive moves into the space in recent months, and both have come under regulatory scrutiny. We'll just have to wait and see how this one plays out -- there's still no official word from either agency on what's happening, and the timeline of any potential investigation and lawsuit will be measured in months and years.
Apple to face antitrust inquiry over iPhone coding restrictions?
Apple's decision to block third-party toolkits and middleware -- particularly Flash -- from being used to develop iPhone and iPad apps has certainly prompted a fair amount of debate around the web, and now it sounds like Steve and the gang might face some even harsher scrutiny: a single-sourced piece in the New York Post reports that the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are currently tussling over which agency should be tasked with a potential antitrust inquiry into the matter. That would certainly make some noise in the industry, but it doesn't mean much for those of us here in reality quite yet: assuming the report is true, an inquiry would still just be the very first step -- whichever agency is ultimately put in charge would then have to launch a formal investigation and then finally file and win a lawsuit for any changes to occur. That's a timeframe measured in months, if not years. All that said, we can see why the feds are interested: Apple's slowly moving into an ever-more dominant position in the mobile market, and forcing developers to make a hard choice about which platforms to target certainly puts the squeeze on competitors. We'll be following this one closely -- stay tuned.
Eleven ways to stifle boredom in the iPad line
One of most excruciatingly boring experiences of my life was waiting in line on June 29, 2007 for my first-generation iPhone. The day was clear and hot, and although I had my laptop with me, it quickly ran out of juice as we waited for the official opening of the store for iPhone sales at 5 PM. Some people appear to have infinite patience, but TUAW reader Cody is like me -- he gets bored easily. In an email, Cody said "I will be standing in the Best Buy line for well over 5 hours. Do you have any suggestions on ways to help time go by? I think it would be helpful if you compiled a list and posted it on TUAW!" Well, we're at your service, Cody! And hopefully, these ideas will keep hundreds of thousands of iPad owners-to-be from suffering from terminal boredom in the early morning hours in line. Please note that several of these suggestions require that the person standing in line own an iPhone, so if you don't own one already, get thee to an Apple Store now! Do live streaming video the entire time you're in line. TUAW bloggers will be giving you live coverage of iPad Saturday at a number of locations across the country, but there's just not going to be enough local coverage everywhere. Grab yourself a copy of Qik (US$0.99) or Ustream Broadcaster (free), maybe buy yourself a Sima LED Video Light to strap to your head to brighten things up at 2 AM, and bring a lot of fully charged Monoprice battery packs. After all, we don't want to miss one thrilling moment of your time interviewing each and every person in the line at least twice.
Medal of Honor, APB dated for Summer 2010
According to EA's list of upcoming titles in its latest earnings report, a couple of high-profile games are going to be released this summer between July 1 and September 30: Realtime Worlds' crime-themed MMO APB (which is likely to be the "major MMO" to whose spring release John Riccitiello referred to previously), and ... a "TBA" Medal of Honor title -- possibly the one with the beard. EA did say that game would be out before March 2011! The summer release is listed for consoles, PC and handhelds. Also due out in the quarter: the expected spate of annual sports franchises (Madden, FIFA, FIFA Online, NHL), a Monopoly game for consoles and handhelds, and a new MySims title -- we're guessing MySims Sky Heroes.
MyTown's uncanny success
I posted a few things last year about Booyah, an app that promised a lot, but turned out to be not much more than your standard social networking/check-in app. And despite a little hype around its introduction, Booyah had some trouble finding an audience. But the developers (former Blizzard folks still supported by some execs there) came right back with MyTown [iTunes link], and this time, they appear to have hit gold -- despite the app's low profile, it already boasts more users than the well-known Foursquare and Gowalla apps. That's probably because it's more of an actual game; rather than just checking-in, the app has a currency to it, where you can "buy" places you check-in from, and then charge money to the next person that stops by. Imagine Foursquare mixed up with Monopoly -- instead of meaninglessly becoming the mayor of some place you visit, you can actually own and make money off of other people showing up there. It's an interesting idea, and it seems to be working. MyTown has just reached version 2.0, increasing the number of levels you can earn and items you can buy with the virtual cash. It's still a free app, and originally, we heard that Booyah was going to earn money by teaming up with retail and business partners -- Taco Bell would pay them, and then they'd attach some promotion to checking in from a Taco Bell. But they haven't moved on to that point yet, apparently; right now it's just about building up a userbase and setting up a solid formula. And so far, while the original Booyah app may not have been able to do that, MyTown seems to be rolling right along.
