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Your search for Case depart located the below Case depart Search Results. The Case depart Search Results are returned from stories QJ publishes stories covering Case depart news, Playstation news, Xbox news, PC news, Wii News, Nintendo DS News, Gaming News, Reviews, Downloads, Custom Apps, Homebrew and much more.

PoV: 5 Biggest Issues with The Tester

Posted Mar 22, 2012 at 2:00PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PoV, PS3 Tags: David Jaffe, egoraptor, gaming television, the tester, videogame shows

With the finalé in less than a week, here are five problems with the reality gamer series The Tester and how we can fix the show for the next season and hopefully get better results than some of the latest videogame movies that have come out recently.


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BioWare CEO Gives Up Some Mass Effect 3 Gameplay Details

Posted Feb 23, 2012 at 10:20AM EST by Brett Huffman Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: BioWare, mass effect 3, mass effect 3: space edition

They've refined the planet scanning mini-game for one thing. Oh, and those ME3: Space Editions are coming down tomorrow so keep an eye on the sky.


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Letter from Alleged THQ Staffer Calls Out Management, CEO

Posted Jan 25, 2012 at 3:30PM EST by Listed in: PS3 Tags: saints row the third, THQ

THQ hasn’t been doing great over the last few months, and this nasty letter from a former employee doesn’t make things look any better.

THQ, the company behind Saints Row: The Third, had a tough 2011. The company was in such dire straits that rumors floated around about it canceling its entire 2014 lineup, rumors the company vehemently denied. This morning we received word that THQ was shifting its strategies yet again, this time focusing more on its core franchises over third party licensing.

It’s hard to get a bead on exactly what’s happening with THQ. Rumors and sales indicate the company is in serious trouble despite the success of Saints Row, but the company refuses to admit that they have any sort of problem. Only one person seems to be willing to comment on the state of the company – an alleged former employee with an obvious bone to pick.

In a letter written to THQ’s Board of Directors, CEO Brian Farrell as well as the general public and a collection of gaming news sites, this “Formerly Mismanaged” employee rattles off a laundry lists of complaints about the company.

The letter essentially claims that THQ’s problems stem from mismanagement and a Board of Directors that has no clue how to strategically run a gaming company. It gives examples like acquiring game studios with no plan on how to utilize their talents (then later shutting them down), investing money into shrinking niche markets, the company’s refusal to dump a CEO that has tanked its stock price and high-paid executives making enormous mistakes that call their competency into question. The disastrous uDraw tablet also makes an appearance.

These allegations of management incompetency surface just a few days before THQ announces its current financial standing on February 2, and things certainly don’t look good. One analyst has gone on the record by stating that THQ, without some sort of financial windfall, with run out of cash near the middle of this year.

You can read the letter in its (extremely long) entirety below:

[JoyStiq]

"To:

THQ Board of Directors

Lawrence Burstein

James Whims, Gigex, Inc.

Henry DeNero, Arcturus Capital

Brian Dougherty, AirSet, Inc.

Jeffrey Griffiths , Lumber Liquidators

From:

Current and Ex-Employees, Shareholders, and The Public

Dear THQ Board,

I am an ex-employee at THQ. I saw the tweet-started headlines over the past week from an "industry expert." This expert is one who I and my friends and co-workers in the industry have never heard of after a long time in the field. I had been reading the various following articles and accounts and it generated sympathy for friends both recently laid off and currently still there. I thought it would be a good idea to send a note with their input. This note has honest facts and thoughts about THQ and the current problems there. Most of these facts are public knowledge and they have been confirmed by public records or can be confirmed by current and former THQ staff there both before and after my and their time.

I have long felt the need to explain to outsiders how this beaten-down company has wound up in this position. It is to the point where having it on your resume is not a point in your favor. And that shouldn't be the case. I'm/We're sending this note anonymously because some of us are still awaiting final checks and others know how little corporations like employees who air their dirty laundry. We feel the need to say something to combat the partial misinformation being written.

THQ had been known through the years for having a formula. They find a hot license, make a cheap game, barely advertise it, and make money. This formula worked during the Playstation and Xbox and Gameboy days and made the company a lot of cash. Unfortunately, THQ's old guard executives seem to be stuck trying to manage the company the same way they did back then and haven't realized the industry has changed.

The beginning of the end came years ago as Brian Farrell lead an executive team to acquire a large number of studios. A large amount of cash was used in the acquisition or setup of game developers with different degrees of talent. The problem was they were bought without strategic reasoning or specific plan on to use them. So after awhile another large amount of money was spent as those studios failed and were sold off and shut down. The executive team at the time were an entirely different group of people with one key exception in the CEO. The CEO/the then executive team wasted the cash that the company had built up with these massive investments and selloffs.

The studio purchase errors were not helped by the mistakes in the licensing deals that were signed by the same CEO. Millions and millions of dollars were wasted on acquiring licenses at the same time the kids, family, casual business was declining at a rapid rate. Instead of slowing those acquisitions he overpaid for more of them until again cash was wasted in paying for brands that didn't sell well anymore.

The mistakes in decisions and cash losses triggered wave after wave of layoffs. In the most recent wave, about 40 people lost their jobs this past December through no fault of their own. The reason why is the chronic and constant mismanagement of their company. The fact is that the CEO and executive committee were so focused on trying to hit an unrealistic financial goal that they bet everything on an extremely risky proposition in the uDraw tablet. When they lost, they further displayed their lack of management skills by not having a contingency plan. Three weeks after the game launched, an entire business unit was wiped out when it didn't meet its goal due to relying on that one product to hit an unrealistic target.

After the layoffs many ex-employees walked around shell-shocked and trying to figure out who was responsible. They came to the understanding that most of us do after leaving the company. The issue with THQ has never been one of lack of staff creativity, intellect or business intelligence. It all rests of the failure of its management team and you the Board of Directors.

This Board has allowed the Brian Farrell, the CEO, the ongoing ability to take a cash-rich profitable company and drive it from a $30 share price down to around $.70 without acting despite numerous mistakes that even for those lacking business training, could see were errors. Even without glaring mistakes how can the same CEO stay in charge after a 99% share price loss? Aside from the board, who is responsible for the current situation and who is accountable for the current and future job losses at the company? When you ask the recently departed who are a good source of information, you get the same answers. This uDraw failure is the largest and most recent one in a string of them that were hushed over and hidden. The answer aside from the Board is the current executive team that allowed this uDraw implosion to happen.

Brian Farrell, CEO with a 2011 salary of $1,289,558, for a lack of business intelligence or fiscal accountability. A vocal inside group pointed out the mistake of trying to launch a year-old product that received almost no software support in the last 12 months. Instead of listening and having a back-up plan, he went ahead and invested a ridiculous amount of money in the manufacturing and advertising of the product and failed miserably. It is passed time for him to go. We are wondering what is taking so long for you to act. We have been wondering this same question for a long time.

Martin Good, EVP and head of Kids, Family, Casual with a 2011 salary of $1,198,023, for bringing no strategic thought or business sense to the role. He was brought out from Australia sales to replace an outgoing head of the business unit and rapidly displayed a complete lack of leadership skills, vision, and any sort of analytical sense. Looking at his compensation package, he is an excellent negotiator as his salary is higher than anyone's except for the CEO. On the plus side he lost his job with the rest of those laid off. On the minus side, he will be floating down on a golden parachute while the rest of the former employees scramble to look for jobs in this challenging environment. Most of those jobs will be at studios in other parts of the country, so they will be forced to relocate their families in the middle of their childrens school years. It is incredible that he made this level of income while doing such a poor job, but it serves as a reflection of the lack of Brian Farrell's ability to staff well and manage.

Paul Pucino, CFO with a 2011 salary of $674,855, for not planning for this possibility and having a safety net or a plan to cover THQ just in case of failure. We have a line of credit that we likely used to buy the plastic that is not selling to customers. It is like taking a cash advance to buy THQ stock and just as worthless of an investment. Paul is known as an absentee executive who is missing when business situations gets complicated. While he was in the loop at the point of the risk, with the following failure he has been clearly unavailable. It is another example of Brian Farrell's inability to staff.

Ian Curran, EVP and head of global publishing with a 2011 salary of $1,037,047, for not flagging an unrealistic sales goal to the CEO or the Board when a big part of the corporation felt the numbers were unrealistic. He blindly held up an unachievable target and didn't act when multiple people told him he was aiming to high and out of step with the marketplace. If a sales executive's job is to anticipate the market, he has done a poor job of it. Another example of Brian Farrell not being able to find the right people for the right job.

Ed Kauffman, EVP of Legal and Business Affairs who clearly was signing bad deals on licensed products, not factoring in the changes in the business and being more critical with financial terms with partners. uDraw by itself cannot possibly explain the companies poor financial health. It is a combination of that product and a string of bad licensed deals that the company took on against better judgement. While Brain Farrell would logically be the final decisionmaker for deals, Kauffman is either unpersuasive in his arguments to not do them or supported them. Either situation equates to another example of poor staffing choices by the CEO.

uDraw was failure and the only people to blame are the people listed above. THQ and its current financial situation is also their responsibility. And they were paid around $4.5 million dollars for their poor decisions. If there is any doubt we would recommend talking to current and former staff to get the straight story. Don't read this note as bitterness on their part, but more as long overdue truth.

So, Board, it is time. Passed time for you to act and passed time for you to do something about the mismanagement that has gone on for too many years. We've watched the stock from the outside and read the comments and the reason why the company is valued so low despite its sales is because of this underqualified management team.

Board it is time for you to act before your names are added to the list above of things that must change.

Sincerely,

The Formerly Mismanaged"

THQ hasn’t been doing great over the last few months, and this nasty letter from a former employee doesn’t make things look any better.


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Game Group Denies Hack Reports

Posted Jan 16, 2012 at 1:28PM EST by Listed in: PS3 Tags: game group, game.co.uk, pastebin, softpedia

Reports of game.co.uk being compromised appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

Early this morning, Softpedia posted an update alerting gamers to the fact that the Game Group website, located at game.co.uk, appeared to have been compromised. The report stemmed from a Pastebin post, which purportedly contained the email addresses and passwords of over 200 Game Group users. Site visitors were warned to change their passwords to be safe.

Game Group has responded to the alleged security breach by claiming that the information in question didn’t come from their website, and that none of the posted email addresses are those of their users. They went on to say that they (duh) take security very seriously, and that after looking into the Pastebin post, they can confidently claim that no user information has been compromised.

The company assured customers that their personal and payment information was safe, and invited anyone with questions to contact their customer service department. So, it looks like your Game Group information may be secure after all. However, you may want to change your password just in case – this wouldn’t be the first time a company has denied a very real security breach.

Do you think the hack is fake, or is it more likely that the company is trying to cover its tracks?

[Edge]

Reports of game.co.uk being compromised appear to have been greatly exaggerated.


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Gamer spends $16000 on virtual sword on pre-release MMO

Posted Dec 29, 2011 at 6:00AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: MMORPG Tags: age of wulin, age of wulin mmo, loot, microtransaction, snail games

MMO Sword, ya know, for when you have $16000 just lying around.


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New BioShock Infinite Trailer Showcases Gameplay

Posted Dec 12, 2011 at 1:03PM EST by Brett Huffman Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: bioshock infinite, Irrational Games, VGA

The VGA trailer for BioShock Infinite is "made entirely from in-game footage" and is set to some eerily haunting music.


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XBox Walmart Pepper Sprayer may go free

Posted Dec 5, 2011 at 8:30AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: black friday pepper spray, LAPD, xbox 360 black friday

So she got a 360, got to pepper spray people and got to get off scot-free? Black Friday is the best excuse ever.


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PoV: Bethesda, Mojang going to court over Scrolls name

Posted Sep 27, 2011 at 7:15PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming, PoV Tags: Bethesda, mojang, notch, scrolls, the elder scrolls v: skyrim, ZeniMax

This just sounds like one company being overzealous.


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Square Enix NA teases new projects

Posted Jul 31, 2011 at 4:05AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: PSP, Wii, PS3, PC Gaming, Xbox 360 Tags: Square Enix

Looks like Square Enix has got a couple of sweet things in store for the North American crowd. Executive Producer Dave Hoffman dropped some hints over at Twitter.

Said Hoffman, "Working on two new things. Well, one is 'sort of' new. Announcements should be coming soon! Wish I could say more but can't."

His LinkedIn Profile gives a bit more details in case you want to do some elimination.

"Developed Business Development department resulting in IP acquisitions, studio purchases and three development agreements executed.

Constructed and approved milestones schedules, concept submission packages, testing plans, localization schedules for Supreme Commander 2, Supreme Commander 2 DLC and Dungeon Siege 3."

Could it be something for the 3DS? After all, the company was previously quoted as giving praise to the glasses-free 3D concept of the 3DS. We should know soon, probably at Gamescon in August. We'll be sure to let you know.

Via [NeoGAF]

Looks like Square Enix has got a couple of sweet things in store for the North American crowd.


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PoV: 2K Games' president sounds like a bit of an ass

Posted Jul 15, 2011 at 2:56PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PoV Tags: 2K Games, xcom

Imagine a Kanye West-like Ray Charles. That's his analogy for the new XCOM game.


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Nintendo considering Find Mii 2

Posted Jul 7, 2011 at 3:30PM EST by Carl B Listed in: Nintendo 3DS Tags: find mii, Nintendo, Satoru Iwata

Nintendo wants more people to use StreetPass, and there's no better way to do this than by making a sequel to mini-RPG Find Mii.


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PlayStation Store US Update - 06/03/11

Posted Jun 3, 2011 at 8:41PM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP, PS3 Tags: PlayStation Network, PlayStation Store, Sony

As promised, Sony has rolled out another round of PlayStation Store update to make up for the lost time because of the month-long PSN downtime.


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Sony seeking approval for Japan PSN restoration

Posted May 15, 2011 at 11:41AM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PSP, PS3 Tags: PlayStation Network, Sony

Sony has to do two things first before PSN operations can start again in Japan.


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Anonymous sends out latest letter of love to Sony

Posted May 8, 2011 at 9:32PM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: PS3 Tags: anonymous, Sony

The offensives and defenses are in no way done in relation to the ongoing PSN breach brouhaha.


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Courier-Like Functionality in New iPad App

Posted May 1, 2011 at 2:32AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, ios, tablet

There have been several cool products and innovations which have involved the iPad, and the application we bring you today could definitely be one of the best.


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iPad News: Whiny Dell Exec Disses the iPad

Posted Mar 30, 2011 at 12:43PM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, ios, tablet

It's understandable how executives of other makers of mobile devices are unhappy about getting their clock cleaned by Apple in the tablet computer department. What's less understandable is why they insist on making fools of themselves with statements like these.


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Mortal Kombat imports not allowed too

Posted Mar 15, 2011 at 6:18AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: Xbox 360, PS3 Tags: mortal kombat, warner bros.

Last weekend, we submitted the unfortunate news that the Australian Classification Board's decision on banning Mortal Kombat in the country is final. We suggested then that people who really want to get a copy of the game could just opt for importation. Unfortunately, that apparently can't be the case as well.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service told GameSpot AU that Mortal Kombat has now been added into their list of prohibited items. That means that if you purchase the game from abroad and plans on sneaking it into the country, as soon sa it hits the territory, it becomes a contraband.

"As Mortal Kombat has been refused classification in Australia it is considered objectionable material. It is therefore a prohibited good, and illegal to import to Australia," said the Customs representative.

"Customs and Border Protection works closely with Attorney General's Department to identify imported games that are banned in Australia. This includes games purchased over the Internet from foreign websites. Attorney General's Department regularly updates Customs and Border Protection about classification decisions on publications, films and computer games, including the reclassification of material, and about different versions of computer games (some of which may be refused classification), and how to identify those versions at the border. This information is then used to assist in identifying and seizing banned versions of games.

Any copies of the games detected at the border, including via international mail, will be seized."

If caught with a copy of Mortal Kombat - or any other RCed (Refused Classification) games, for that matter - you will have to pay a fine of up to three times the retail value of the product, or AU$ 110,000, whichever is greater.

Given all these restrictions, then I guess the only thing you can do to play the game is to just fly out of Australia in the meantime.

Ti's

To make matters worse for Australian gamers, not only is Mortal Kombat banned from the country, any importation of it is also banned too.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [21]	READ FULL STORY!

Alice: Madness Returns gameplay tailer from GDC 2011

Posted Mar 9, 2011 at 8:52AM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: alice: madness returns, Electronic Arts, spicy horse

See Alice slice, dice, and shoot her way across Wonderland in this GDC 2011 trailer.


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10 Amazing iPad Games: Part 1.

Posted Feb 24, 2011 at 1:39AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple

Every time a new gaming device comes along there is a lot of excitement among all sets of people. It was the same case with the iPad.


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Remedy loses co-founder to Angry Birds devs

Posted Feb 6, 2011 at 4:06AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: PSP, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: Remedy Entertainment, rovio media

Remedy Entertainment has lost one of its co-founders to a bunch of angry birds. That is, to say precisely, that Petri Järvilehto has left the company he helped create to move to the nest of Rovio Media.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

Vibrating DualShock Experience In The New iPad 2 Is Possible

Posted Feb 5, 2011 at 4:48AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, ios

With the launch of the new iPad 2 creeping up closer and closer, vast amounts of speculations have been going on about the specifications of the next generation iPad. Most of them being rumours, but it is still hard to ignore the excitement and euphoria building around its launch.


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Sony's game division gets very profitable

Posted Feb 3, 2011 at 10:38PM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: PSP, PS3 Tags: news, Sony

Sony had a lot going on for them the last few months of 2010. The PlayStation Move was launched, Gran Turismo 5 was finally released, and pretty much, everyone - especially Sony - was expecting that the company would be able to push a whole lot more console units. So, was it as good a time for Sony as people thought it would be?


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