100°

Which gaming hardware manufacturers may have funded human rights abuses in 2018?

Apple and Facebook still best gaming companies for ethical sourcing; Sony continues to lag; Valve says nothing.

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gamesindustry.biz
Barneyco1781d ago

Facebook and ethics are two words that don't belong in the same sentence.

Cobra9511781d ago

Not a single flaming one of them. To fund something is an intentional act, not accidental fallout from the world economy.

rainslacker1781d ago

It's an indirect thing which somehow nowadays implies condoning the things which are happening around the world, and saying that any product from those areas is considered conflict, even if they aren't procured through the things that make them conflict....as if these areas have nothing but warlords or terrorists who mine this stuff.

I'm not suggesting that companies shouldn't be socially responsible, or even keep track of where their stuff is coming from because it may be from people they may have ethical or moral objections too, but the whole SEC filing thing is mostly pointless. it doesn't affect share prices, and at best, is just used for articles like this. If there are egregious acts of negligence or looking the other way, then it'll be known regardless.

This article in particular says Sony is among the worst, but it's "worst" is more from a perspective of the actions they take against those who don't comply with the requests to have sourcing information sent to them. That doesn't mean that the products actually do come from conflict areas, just that some of these sources may not comply. It also kind of ignores the fact that Sony has significantly more suppliers than all the other companies mentioned here, because they have their hand in many markets which have the minerals in question that are required to make those products. Hell, Sony probably makes some of the parts in both the Switch and Xbox.

I'd maybe care about this issue more if they were cutting checks, or providing things directly to conflict areas to help the situation be the way it is so they can directly profit off it. What's being analyzed here is more akin to me unknowingly donating money, or buying products that eventually make their way back to conflict zones.

Phoenix761781d ago (Edited 1781d ago )

Wow. They are really stretching out to find an article to publish for the day.
My opinion on it is that we are all guilty of unknowingly funding human rights abuses. We buy from the manufacturer, they buy from a supplier, who goes goods go through various companies and methods of transport to the manufacturer, who then sells us the end product. Somewhere along that line there probably is human rights abuses being committed. Are the manufacturers to be blamed solely for it though? No.

rainslacker1781d ago

They aren't prohibited from sourcing these products which may come from conflict zones, just they have to know about it, and report it due to SEC requirements. The doing something about it is more for public relations thing. Only some products are now allowed for import into some countries because of them being conflict items, and to my knowledge none of those are used in electronics.

120°

Ubisoft to Focus on "Return to Leadership" in Open World Genre, Expand Live Service Experiences

Ubisoft says they are focusing on two "core verticals," and that's to return as a leader in the open world genre, and live service games.

enkiduxiv14h ago

Calling Ubisoft a leader in open world gaming at any point in time would be like calling Dollar General a leader in retail.

excaliburps2h ago

Well, to be fair, they did pump out good open world games before. It was used as a template so much that people now know what it means when you say it's like an Ubi open world collectahon.

shinoff218312m ago

What though? I can't think of one game they had where I liked anything about it. Atleast since the ps3/360 Gen

isarai13h ago

You were never the leader bro 🤣

shinoff218311h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I don't think they were ever the leader tbh. I've never really cared for any of their open world games. I do wanna try watch dogs 2 because it looks like it's set in San Fran. Looked interesting

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70°

How EA & Xbox Are Defining Gaming's Bleak Future

Xbox and EA have recently made baffling moves that define how bleak the future of the gaming industry is with major companies at the helm. Ryan Bates from "Last Word on Gaming" posits in this op-ed that maybe it's not ineptitude, but intention.

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lastwordongaming.com
Profchaos1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Name someone that isn't trying to look us these days maybe cdpr.

Take two, ubi and yes even PlayStation are pushing us to own nothing and be happy with our live service ad injected games on a sub so they can raise prices at will and take access away when they see fit.

If it keeps up I'll be a full time retro gamer and this industry will be crashing hard

As rediculas as it sounds we need government reforms to defend consumer rights

360°

Microsoft's quest for short-term $$$ is doing long-term damage to Windows, Surface, Xbox, and beyond

Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's plans to increase every department's margins.

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windowscentral.com
Brazz21h ago

"The plan to move Xbox games to other platforms is codenamed "Latitude" internally, and I know there's debate and unease at Microsoft about whether or not this is a good idea. More upcoming Microsoft-owned games slated for PlayStation are already being developed. At least for now, they're potentially obvious games you'd most likely expect. And yes, while it's true Microsoft is a prolific publisher on PlayStation already, it has typically revolved around specific franchises like Minecraft. From what I've heard, Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's mandate to increase every department's margins. "

Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware.

Xeofate19h ago

"Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware."

It's for the best.

Quit stringing along xbox fans and screwing over PlayStation owners.

crazyCoconuts14h ago

Take good care of those Xboxes if you have 'em ...

outsider162414h ago

An Xbox game on a Playstation. Never in my years of gaming did i ever thought this was gonna happen.

jznrpg10h ago

It is dying anyway so doesn’t make much of a difference

VersusDMC9h ago

No way can they get rid of the hardware as probably 90% of game pass subscribers are hardware users.

Highly doubtful those users will move to PC or Cloud to subscribe there and the competition (Sony and Nin) will never have gamepass on their system.

If they want to keep the current subscribers, they need to keep releasing new hardware.

PSPSA1h ago

I'm not convinced, why then announce that they're actually working on the next-generation Xbox with “the largest technical leap”, and also looking into handhelds now?

Rols16m ago

Not like MS don’t drop things a hot potato if it is not performing. Look at MS history to see products or platforms discontinued. Xbox is not a charity for MS, it needs to make money and the ABK was the last roll of the dice for Xbox.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 16m ago
gold_drake21h ago

i think it will kill off the xbox brand. windows will be fine.

but there is and would be a chance that xbox might be killed off in the future. if they fail to make the money they put in. imo.

S2Killinit18h ago

They wont kill it, but they will go fully PC while keeping xbox as a brand, and go multiplatform for the most part. They will also work tirelessly to diminish console gaming’s importance.

PRIMORDUS15h ago

It would be best if Xbox goes the way of Sega, just make and publish games. I know I myself will not support them at all with buying games from them, you all can. 🙃

ChasterMies13h ago

The Xbox brand will live for the games. I don’t expect Microsoft to entirely drop out of gaming hardware. They make Surface tablets and laptops. They’ll make Xbox branded hardware for those that want it.

shadowT20h ago

"Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation"

Forza and Starfield next?

Skuletor18h ago

Starfield would be no surprise and there's the rumor that it will come to Playstation after the Shattered Space DLC, Forza (along with Halo and Gears of War) I find less likely but I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually end up on PlayStation too, especially if Xbox give up on hardware and go the Sega route.

shinoff218318h ago

Not to worried about forza. I'd rather see others like what inxile and obsidian are working on. Starfield sounds like it needs more time in the oven so let it cook first imo. If starfield and it's a small if does release on ps it'll be in the fall around the time for dlc or right at the dlc and come packaged with it.

-Foxtrot19h ago

In the words of Phil Spencer when he was talking about Nintendo last year

“It's just taking a long time for Microsoft to see that their future exists off of their own hardware"

S2Killinit18h ago

Yup. MS are a cancer to console gaming.

Aloymetal17h ago

100%!!
I wonder what happened to that dude that was always here posting those court articles with cartoons about MS spending all those billions in studios. He suddenly disappeared, I guess he doesn't like bad news when the green brand is in trouble. No new articles from him as of late...

PRIMORDUS15h ago

Yup, and it's only going to keep spreading.

Outside_ofthe_Box15h ago

Phil Spencer's words always comes back to bite him lol

19h agoReplies(7)
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