Blade206, DCI, and WorseCase come together once again with another banger episode of Step Ya Game Up. On today’s episode, we talk about the following:
- Microsoft E3 Press Conference
- Halo 4
- Splinter Cell : Black list
- Usher Concert for Dance Central 3
- Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 Big bang fail
- Sony’s E3 Press Conference
- Beyond Impressions
- God of War 3 Impressions
- Last Of Us Impressions
- Nintendo E3 Press Conference
- Three Mario Games Announced
- Nintendo Land
- Wii U Details
- As always we have a step ya game up and much more
TNS: Based on its most recent ESG data, Nintendo boasts a remarkably low staff turnover rate of just 1.9%, with virtually no reported layoffs.
Well it doesn’t surprise me. As much money as they make and how they value their employees. It’s a great company in that regard.
There are no good guys. Nintendo has patented gameplay mechanics and have even taking a company to court for using said mechanic. This action is not good for the industry.
Well, when your games remain full price many years after release.
And you make profit off of outdated hardware.
I would be shocked if they couldn't afford to retain their staff.
I didn't want to say anything but drivxr is right.
Nintendo always sells at a profit because they purposely use tech that's always 5 or more years behind. And it's also true their games hardly ever get price decreases.
Don't get me wrong, it's great they kept most of their workforce, but making a point to have your tech specs behind everyone else affords that luxury.
I don’t think it’s their purpose to use old tech. It’s their purpose to make value of software and know their value. Nobody makes games like them that’s for sure. I just don’t appreciate their customer unfriendly policy.
It’s not impossible to take their status. Companies need to have a selection of 8-bit and 16-bit. Now imagine a split screen for 8 player game for SNES Mario kart and selling at $9.99. The problem is that it doesn’t make profit. So many companies won’t invest in “old” technology. Everyone guns for triple AAA modern technology software but honestly we can enjoy modernized 16-bit creative ideas that allows 8-player mayhem. It’s a pipe dream, possible but impossible.
If they ended up kicking people out after all of that stated above, it would be truly shameful.
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla and Meta are all trillion dollar companies yet they are laying people off in large numbers.
I believe the reason Nintendo layoffs off less workers may be a result of their culture. It seems Japanese companies believe in giving their workers long term or life long employment opportunities and will exhaust all options before laying off workers. This is something we don't see much of in the west unfortunately.
What the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with how profitable they are. Its completely cultural, MS and Sony make stacks of cash and still lay folks off. Nintendo chose not to lay off staff for the same reason their execs took pay cuts to increase staff pay instead; because they value their staff and view them as colleagues, and respect them as such.
If Sony weren't so US centric I fancy they'd fare better too, they should get shot of US and European leadership and go back to when Japanese execs were running the show if you ask me!
Even as the company sets out to overhaul the very definition of Xbox, cuts at its studios risk creating a negative image reminiscent of EA's worst era
I appreciate the article but this guy must be living in a delayed universe, The reputation was ruined 10+ years ago and hasn't recovered since. As such people have voted with their wallets and stopped buying Xbox products in large amounts.
Their reputation was lost way before that. From the moment Microsoft said they entering the console business, we all knew it would be a downgrade.
That's not true at all the OG Xbox had drive and they had hunger and they wanted to accomplish something. It was a great console.
they didn't quite reach their goals and they gave up prematurely because they couldn't win. It was halfway through the Xbox 360 when kinect released and that was when they lost their way and we're a rudderless ship ever since
In all fairness, Xbox had some great games with online play, Xbox 360 even better. Xbox consoles started to die with the Xbox One. Ditch consoles for the PC and PS.
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Rumors of Turn 10 being either shut down or hit with massive lay offs is on the horizon.
The issue is MS will do something right only to do something very, very wrong. And they do this what seems calculative at this point. Doesn't matter what they do the Investors and leadership want more and more money an endless bottomless pit of purr insatiable greed. A company that acts like it's broke or hurting is what really, really infuriates me. They've surpassed apple again well over 3 trillion who acts like they're a million dollar company is fk stupid. Pivots and changes for no reason and can't do things for more than a year with out a pivot or changing their metrics.
That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest.
Isn't the point that it's irrelevant how profitable MS is, the suits have decided it's time that the Xbox division started making them money. Hence the layoffs, the pivots.
That wouldn't surprise me, as motorsport has been heading down hill since the great number 4. Where as playground have consistently put out better games. I think the two studios will be merged under playground games banner.
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The cuts are expected to be announced next week.
Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses
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MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.
I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.
Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao
F* them both!
Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.
@Blacktiger
Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.
He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired
"just like Sony"
Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.
I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:
Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.
Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.
Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.
And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?
Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.
@Ganif
Nintendo:
https://gamerant.com/ninten...
Sony:
https://gamerant.com/playst...
https://techxplore.com/news...
I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.
Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.
Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.
From your article:
"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.
Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."
Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.
In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...
Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...
Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...
And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500
Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.
Take the L, Crimson.
People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.
It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.
Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time
What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?
Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.
I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.
We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated
Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.
Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation
" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "
Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.
Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.
Nice! Been a long time since the last SYGU
Honestly, Ubisoft had the best overall conference. The Last of Us stole the show but as an overall factor Ubisoft had the best showcasing in my opinion.
Not Nintendo or Micrsosoft, that's for damned sure. And Sony's wasnt very interesting either, but that's probably because they opened their big mouths and revealed those games months before E3. Had they surprised instead at E3, it wouldve had a bigger impact. Either, at the end of it all, Sony has the best 1st party games at E3--even if none of them were surprising.
Best Technology, however, would go to Microsoft's "SmartGlass" app. being able to use ANY smart phone or Tablet for games is a genius idea, yet isnt forced on anyone who'd prefer to not use touch controls.
Best 3rd party was definately Ubisoft.
Yes! The worlds #1 most entertaining podcast is back!
However, The worlds #1 worst informed podcast is back!
You guys must deliver a weekly or biweekly podcast. We need to laugh & be misinformed by you guys on a regular basis. And most of all, you guys dont ban posters that debate against you.
Looking forward to listening to the show.