By Erick Schonfeld Sunday, September 14, 2008
If we can learn anything from the troubled launch of Spore, a videogame many people have been looking forward to for years, it is that binding products with digital rights management (DRM) restrictions hurts more than it helps. Spore, designed by Sims creator Will Wright, went on sale a week ago. It is expected to sell 2 million copies in September alone, and is currently the No. 3 best-selling game on Amazon. But it also has one of the worst ratings on Amazon (2,016 out of the 2,216 ratings are one star) because of a concerted campaign by fans protesting its DRM. It has also been downloaded an estimated 500,000 times on BitTorrent, and is well on its way to becoming the most illegally downloaded game ever. The DRM that comes with the official game only allows customers to use it on three machines (after that you have to call EA for permission to activate the game on additional machines). This is nothing more than an inconvenience.
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Monday, September 15, 2008
Microsoft fires quality assurance whistle-blower
Thou shalt not leak
By Nick Farrell: Monday, 15 September 2008
A VOLISH QA who exposed shonky production practices during the Red Ring of Death fiasco has been fired. Robert Delaware talked to Venturebeat on the Xbox 360 defects and might face litigation, presumably for violating a non-disclosure agreement. Venturebeat claims the Vole may well try to make an example of Delaware in order to intimidate the next guy from speaking up. Delware said that if the Vole does sue him he will fight it. Delaware went on record for the story about the many problems associated with the launch of the Xbox 360. He worked there from 2005 to autumn of 2007 before joining a start-up, Whrrl.
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By Nick Farrell: Monday, 15 September 2008
A VOLISH QA who exposed shonky production practices during the Red Ring of Death fiasco has been fired. Robert Delaware talked to Venturebeat on the Xbox 360 defects and might face litigation, presumably for violating a non-disclosure agreement. Venturebeat claims the Vole may well try to make an example of Delaware in order to intimidate the next guy from speaking up. Delware said that if the Vole does sue him he will fight it. Delaware went on record for the story about the many problems associated with the launch of the Xbox 360. He worked there from 2005 to autumn of 2007 before joining a start-up, Whrrl.
Read more here -->Link
June Vista crash numbers leak
Nvidia can't program a toaster, it seems
By Charlie Demerjian: Monday, 15 September 2008
A WHILE BACK, Microsoft released some crash data for the Broken OS and Nvidia was held responsible for about one in three Vista crashes. Since that time, Vista still is malware filled, but the proportions of the crashes have changed. The latest numbers we have seen are a graphics-related crash report from June, direct from Redmondia. Back in April, Nvidia was responsible for about 30 per cent of all Vista crashes, with Intel and ATI coming up with about nine per cent each in the early days. The crash report is on P47 of the PDF here, with the article it came from here. The numbers fo June concentrate on crashes caused by graphics chips. According to the Vista RTM OCA - IHV breakout, Nvidia is still responsible for 48 per cent of them, a sneeze away from half. Intel has regressed to 31 per cent, no shock considering its driver woes of the last few years, and ATI picks up the rear at 19 per cent. 'Other' is sitting at two per cent, they should feel proud of the job they are doing.
Read more here -->Link
By Charlie Demerjian: Monday, 15 September 2008
A WHILE BACK, Microsoft released some crash data for the Broken OS and Nvidia was held responsible for about one in three Vista crashes. Since that time, Vista still is malware filled, but the proportions of the crashes have changed. The latest numbers we have seen are a graphics-related crash report from June, direct from Redmondia. Back in April, Nvidia was responsible for about 30 per cent of all Vista crashes, with Intel and ATI coming up with about nine per cent each in the early days. The crash report is on P47 of the PDF here, with the article it came from here. The numbers fo June concentrate on crashes caused by graphics chips. According to the Vista RTM OCA - IHV breakout, Nvidia is still responsible for 48 per cent of them, a sneeze away from half. Intel has regressed to 31 per cent, no shock considering its driver woes of the last few years, and ATI picks up the rear at 19 per cent. 'Other' is sitting at two per cent, they should feel proud of the job they are doing.
Read more here -->Link
Ebay "deteriorating" - mass layoffs expected
Any offers?
By Sylvie Barak: Monday, 15 September 2008
EBAY WORKERS may be in for a shock they didn’t bargain for, with a report claiming the firm is floundering and preparing to lay off about 10 per cent of the company's 15,000 employees. According to an article in Barron's Weekly which cited a recent report by investment-boffins at Wedge Partners, the online auction giant’s business is " deteriorating". Current economic hardships - especially weakness in the consumer economy- added to the fact that quite a few Ebay sellers have been severely hacked off by recent changes in fee structures has put Ebay in a tight spot. "Seller discontent with eEbay is on the rise due to higher fees and other changes, and we believe Ebay has seen numerous sellers migrating away from the Ebay platform and creating their own selling sites," wrote Brian Blair and Ryan Hunter, two Wedge analysts.
Read more here -->Link
By Sylvie Barak: Monday, 15 September 2008
EBAY WORKERS may be in for a shock they didn’t bargain for, with a report claiming the firm is floundering and preparing to lay off about 10 per cent of the company's 15,000 employees. According to an article in Barron's Weekly which cited a recent report by investment-boffins at Wedge Partners, the online auction giant’s business is " deteriorating". Current economic hardships - especially weakness in the consumer economy- added to the fact that quite a few Ebay sellers have been severely hacked off by recent changes in fee structures has put Ebay in a tight spot. "Seller discontent with eEbay is on the rise due to higher fees and other changes, and we believe Ebay has seen numerous sellers migrating away from the Ebay platform and creating their own selling sites," wrote Brian Blair and Ryan Hunter, two Wedge analysts.
Read more here -->Link
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