Easy Allies Podcast #276 - July 23, 2021

I am finding myself lost. I didn’t watch EA Play and this podcast used to be a place i could go for news. Please start introducing things. This is the biggest issue with Bowman leaving. he always introduced conferences games etc, so i felt like i was part of the discussion rather than thinking the whole time, what is happening? what are they talking about? I have literally never skipped a moment of a single podcast and i really can’t justify wasting two hours.

VicRattler

No, the point is that once you have access to that revenue source you don't have to care that your actions might upset people here. A potential check on bad behavior is removed. Something that was made clear during the "tough Hearthstone eSports moment."

The Velvet Underground & Niko Bellic

"If you get into [the Chinese] market, America doesn't really matter. Our hand wringing, our moralizing doesn't matter. You'll make so much money that it doesn't matter." This statement was very confusing because it sounds like Activision Blizzard's sexism and sexual harassment is somehow a consequence of courting the Chinese market. I get the point is that the company values profits over "morals," but these lack of morals seem entirely homegrown.

Sid Raghunandan

Agreed. The media has to push back. Personally, I don’t see myself engaging in any activision/blizzard content (even if it is EZA).

RiggsRay

EZA: *Does 30 minutes on Blizzard probably doing awful scumbag nonsense, discusses how huge companies just wait these things out because they can afford to do so.* Also EZA: "I can't wait to give Blizzard money and positive coverage for Diablo 2" You gotta be kidding me

Drayton Williams

It really wouldn’t kill them to have virtual console on switch and have your GB, nes, snes, and N64 titles carry across your account. Hell, tie that service to Nintendo online.

Drayton Williams

So Microsoft is emulating an entire Xbox and Xbox 360 console (in the backend you even get a unique device ID) to achieve backwards compatibility there. It really comes down to them wanting to show good will and it just makes sense to not charge you twice for the same game. Nintendo really over appreciates their games, hence why they almost never go on sale and they charge so much for untouched rereleases of untouched games.

The Virtual Console thing drives me kinda nuts. Nintendo is bad at selling their older games sure but there are literally hundreds of old games released on Switch from nearly any console you can name. The branding of Virtual Console is dead but companies still release old games all the time.

Baircade

Kudos for not mincing words regarding what happens at Activision-Blizzard

Eric M

Yeah, this might be some of the darkest stuff they've covered on the podcast. I mean, props for them to address it but still...damn.

Sid Raghunandan

The blizzard portion of the podcast needs a content/trigger warning. Please make it visible and obvious for people to see.

Sid Raghunandan

As a fellow corporate stooge who works in high tech, I came here to type something along the same lines.

G the Finger

NOT A CORRECTION BUT A CLARIFICATION FROM A CORPORATE STOOGE: HR is not designed to protect employees, but the company. This doesn't mean that HR is heartless and won't help employees, but ultimately their allegiance lies with the wellbeing of the organization. Also, the phenomenon where employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent is called the Peter Principle.

Mikehook1

This is exactly what I needed right now. Perfect timing.