Ubisoft Battling To Resist Hostile Takeover From Media Giant Vivendi

It's only funny because now the nerd bully company is scared of demise.

Here's hoping Ubisoft get purchased!

This isn't good. Being bought out would likely mean Ubisoft would start releasing unfinished games, with cookie cutter yearly sequels and lots of microtransact-

-Oh wait, that's what they do already.

They can have Gameloft. I like Ubisoft, they did support the Wii U longer then any other 3rd party company. Now let's see what happens on the NX. I'm also sure some people here wouldn't mind a take over!

Not a fan of Ubisoft, but Vivendi's way of doing bussiness is even more evil.

Just when Ubisoft was getting their -ish together.

Well...that sucks. If Ubisoft gets bought out, I'd assume that Vivendi would focus strictly on mobile and barebones PC releases...

If that does turn out to be the case, then Nintendo would lose out on yet another major third-party developer and - as so many people are keen on repeating - would pre-emptively "kill" the NX.

So it looks like a good amount of the commenters here are kids. My love of Ubisoft has quickly dwindled over the past few years, but this is nothing anyone should be cheering for.

Is Vivdendi pro Virtual Console? Add some damn Ubisoft N64 games to the WiiU already.

Any company that goes public is at risk of this kind of thing. It just comes with the territory.

@Damo Gotta ask, why break this here and not PushSquare? Seems like Sony would be affected more than Nintendo, no?

Hard to know what to expect from the buyout. I'm still mad from what EA did to Popcap (I really liked Peggle and PvZ) but Activision didn't seem to affect Blizzard much.

Ubi is Ubi. Rayman delay, W_D delay, no more AC games on Wii U, how much worse could it get for Ntinedo consoles w/ Vivendi as an owner?

Oh no. Although Ubisoft isn't looked up to in the video game world and isn't the best of companies, I do hope they pull through this.

Viviendi had a stranglehold on Activision but Activision was able to shake them off. I just hope that Ubisoft is bought up by this horrible company that has only run game companies into the ground when it is able to.

@rjejr Because Ubisoft is a big 3rd party publisher and it is a big part of the gaming industry. And they are still technically supporting the Wii U. Just Dance 2016 released last holiday.

Also if vivendi universal buys Ubisoft, that'll spell the end of their The Division game on ps4 Xbox one and PC. And that hasn't even launched yet. I know this has nothing to do with Nintendo but at this point I think it is a valid point.

Though I own both AC's on Wii U, and Watch (underscore) Dogs. I gotta say...I don't care. Not like they can release games that are more broken than they have done in the past, and still do today

Vivendi a company worse than Ubisoft. Hope they pull through this.

I could see this happening with Nintendo.

Takeovers are not always a bad thing, but sometimes they are.

@Zool At least Western companies can't touch Nintendo as that would be against Japanese law. The takeover would be ruled null and void + the offending company's owner and CEO would get some serious jail time in the Japanese prison system.

Japanese companies on the other hand...

Oh, look, an even bigger shark showed up!

I like how terrifying and robotic corporate talk can sound.

How long before these corporate suits reveal themselves to be giant metal monsters trying to assimilate everyone and everything?

Never heard of this Vivendi company, but if people are saying it's worse than Ubisoft and actually feel real sympathy for them, then the Vivendi company must be downright demonic.

@Detective_TeeJay
Actually Vivendi isn't a bad company, they are just known for making stupid decisions like merging Activision and Blizzard together and then letting the company buy itself from Vivendi.

If anything Vivendi would make Ubisoft better, though Ubisoft would no longer be family owned.

Vivendi grew Blizzard into the name we all know including it's IPs such as WoW and Diablo.

@Detective_TeeJay Never seen this logo pop up in any of your games? https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/82/VivendiUniversalGamesLogo.png They used to be called Vivendi Universal, but since 2006 they have dropped the "Universal" to become Vivendi Games, and in 2007 they merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard, but their majority stake in the company was bought back in 2013, so now Activision is on its own again.
Here's a somewhat dated list of Vivendi-published games, just to give you an idea of how big they are:
http://www.ign.com/companies/vivendi-games
And besides games they own phone and cable companies, so they're quite a big player in interactive media:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi
They're VERY big and the danger for Ubisoft is quite real. They currently own Sierra games, Sierra Online, Fox Interactive and they have their own label Vivendi Games Mobile. The list of games they have published is big and most titles are well known franchises.

I think everybody here has heard of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, to name but a few.

Really don't like or care about Ubisoft. But I don't think you should legally be allowed to achieve something like this. So someone sort that out.

@Dezzy Its actually not as bad as it sounds; though it can be, depending on which end of it your on.

@MrGawain muy bien mi amigo!

I remember when Vivendi and Activison ate Sierra. Sierra is just now coming back from it. They made a lot of games I liked as a kid. One i wish would get a sequel is Metal Arms.

I don't feel that the Ubisoft content will drastically suffer because it's been somewhat grim lately, but a lot of people will probably lose their jobs if this happens, so, hopefully, it won't.

@Neko_Ichigofan Japanese companies on the other hand do not want Nintendo........they want the characters.

Much the same as Microsoft acquiring Nokia mobiles and within a short time got rid if the Nokia brand.

@DarthNocturnal Vivendi owned a big piece of Activision Blizzard at the time. I figure that's how Swingin' Ape was brought in to help with StarCraft. Since Vivendi published Metal Arms.

@Zetro Yeah, I mean, I'm not a fan of their games, but I gotta hand it to them, they're one of the few companies that ''tried'' to support the Wii U. Take overs like this never end well.

@DarthNocturnal Starcraft 2 was good

@rjejr

"Ubi is Ubi. Rayman delay, W_D delay, no more AC games on Wii U, how much worse could it get for Ntinedo consoles w/ Vivendi as an owner?"

Well let's see

Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed IV
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Rayman Legends
Watch Dogs
Child of Light

That's nearly 50% of the Wii U's AAA catalogue. How much worse could it get? They could bring ZERO games.

For all the complaints against Ubisoft, they supported Nintendo in their time of need longer and more thoroughly than any other AAA developer or publisher. Let's give credit where credit is due here.

Ya they delayed some games, but at least they brought said games. And every game on that list is a good game, several are fantastic.

***EDIT***
And can anyone really blame them for pulling support? Splinter Cell sells 10,000 copies. Rayman Legends, even now, is only at 500,000. And you don't even want to know Watch Dogs sales numbers.

I don't care how loyal a company is, only a madman would continue flushing tens of millions of dollars down the crapper after already losing tens of millions of dollars supporting Wii U in vein.

@JaxonH

Just because we got some "average" games from them. With a loose handful being fantastic. This doesn't mean that Vivendi wouldn't support the next Nintendo console, being that, if the rumors are true, will be using similar hardware to that of Sony and M$.

And of the AAA games you mentioned I can only think of two that weren't glitch laden, Child of Light and Rayman Legends

@DarthNocturnal Hard to blame Blizzards DLC on Activision. Have you noticed the long list of Nitnedo's SSB DLC? From the company that used to mock DLC, and free-to-start, and said no DLC was in development for SSB? Games w/o DLC or season passes are almost more rare than those with.

And TBH I thought the 3 part SCII plan was in effect before the Activison buyout, but you are probably right. I am pretty sure the $15 monthly WOW subscription price pre-dates Activisions involvement though. Blizzard was never opposed to making money.

@Parkour_LMan But they are supporting PS4 a lot more. Watch Dogs 2 was recently announced.

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/02/watch_dogs_2_will_don_its_iconic_cap_by_april_2017_on_ps4

From the lack of mention of W_D2 on NL I'm guessing no Wii U port. And since he's the editorial director on both sites I was curious why he decided to post the news here and not there.

@JaxonH But what does Ubi have planned for Wii U now that Vivendi would drop?

Is Watch Dogs 2 in production for Wii U?

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/02/watch_dogs_2_will_don_its_iconic_cap_by_april_2017_on_ps4

Any new AC games? Wii U didn't even get AC:Rogues on PS3 adn Xbox360.

Vivendi ownership can't change what they've done in the past, I'm only looking at what they've done over the past year and what they have planned going forward. Which isn't much on the Wii U.

And until Nintnedo announces NX so other companies can tell us what games they are making for it - maybe WD2, maybe the next AC - I can only comment on what I know, and Ubi's Wii U support is drying up, so I'm not overly concerned about a Vivendi takeover.

OH, and ZombiU exclusive. Add that to the list as well.

@Nin10doh
I played Splinter Cell Blacklist and encountered 2 glitches the entire playthrough. And ACIV and Watch Dogs had no more glitches than the other versions. And ZombiU was excellent. Exclusive even.

Trust me I've played glitch-ridden games before, and these are not that. That's not to say they were perfect but, I own a PS4 and X1. I buy every single AAA game besides sports and racing SIM's. And when dealing with games of such intricate magnitude, youre going to have some technical mishaps. That's just AAA gaming in general.

And if you want to cheer for a Vivendi takeover go right ahead, but do your homework first. Vivendi would push to avoid Nintendo like the plague.

@rjejr

Nobody has AAA games in development for Wii U right now. It's a nearly dead console. That doesn't mean Ubisoft won't AT LEAST do for NX what they did for Wii U- invest half a dozen games, and then if the system is a Virtual Boy 2 pull support, if not continue that support throughout the generation.

The only thing Vivendi will do is ensure those half dozen games and evaluation never happen. They, like everyone else BUT Ubisoft, will take a "prove your install base first, THEN we'll consider it" approach

@JaxonH I haven't cheered for one company over the other. Frankly I could care less. The only thing I cheer for are quality games.

Anyone can tell from a quick look around the internet Ubisoft has broken/glitchy games that only rivals the likes of EA, I'm actually pleased that you haven't experienced the majority of them. Whereas Vivendi's only good games seem to be those that were already in the pipeline from the company they acquired at the time.

Though you didn't mention it initially I agree its very well done. I did/still do enjoy ZombiU.

@JaxonH AC:Rogues was a year ago. All the rest is purely conjecture. You don't know if Vivendi would drop NX support, you don't know if Ubi would support NX after all the money they lost (you said 10s of millions) on Wii U. From the facts currently at our disposable I don't see why your guess is any more valid than mine.

Now maybe if Ntinod would announce NX already, and Ubi would announce WD2 for NX, then ok, you could argue Vivendi would drop a game that Ubi had in development. But WD2 has been announced for 2017, no Ntineod console was mentioned as being supported. As of right now, outside of the likely Just Dance game, I dont' know of any major title in development by Ubi for Wii U, NX, or 3DS. That's zero games in development. And I don't see how Vivendi can go any lower than zero support. And if JD did get canceled, well it had a nice run.

@Nin10doh
Oh I've definite experienced some of them (AC Unity I'm looking at you) but by and large their games are totally playable. Their Wii U games were fine for the most part and Far Cry 4 and Primal are fine as well.

"I haven't cheered for one company over the other. Frankly I could care less. The only thing I cheer for are quality games."

Cheers to that

@rjejr
Well of course it's speculation, but it's speculation based on actual facts and statistical likelihoods. One of which is that 9 out of 10 AAA devs bailed or never even supported Wii U, while Ubisoft released over a half dozen AAA titles all the way in to fall 2014- a full year and a half after the last AAA game from any other developer. And this despite the fact every single one of their games on Wii U was a sales catastrophe. They STILL supported it for 2 years.

So the likelihood that Vivendi would go against the grain of those 9/10 other developers is slim to none. Ubisoft may or may not support NX but I know one thing- there's a better chance of them supporting it than anyone else, including Vivendi.

@Spoony_Tech warner bros?

@JaxonH So our chances are slim w/ Ubi and none w/ Vivendi? Wonderful. Sounds like my dating life back in college.

And for the record - from my original comment:

"Hard to know what to expect from the buyout."
"how much worse could it get for Ntinedo consoles w/ Vivendi as an owner?"

I never said it would be better under Vivendi, I simply questioned how much worse it could get. And from your analysis, slightly worse, but really not much worse.

The sheer irony of the once humble company, now just as greedy as other giants in the industry, shaking in fear when a bigger corporation wants to buy it out. I'd even say there's some poetry in this.

I would care, but the way they have been treating the Wii U...

@AlexSora89

My thoughts exactly when reading this.

I actually really enjoyed some of the latest games in the respective franchises like Splinter Cell Blacklist so anything that could result in a change of their development plans gets a big thumbs down from me. I won't jump to conclusions and assume the worst from Vivendi but if they do end up acquiring Ubisoft I will definitely be watching their releases extra carefully before deciding if I want to purchase them. Despite all the hate Ubisoft gets most of their games are quite good.

I bought Assassin's Creed III, AC4, Rayman Legends, ZombiU, Child of Light, and Cloudberry Kingdom. They're all wellmade games. Ubisoft is a good company and they seem to respect Nintendo. Uplay is supported on Wii U and they even developed the free online Rayman Challenges App as a sorry for the Rayman delay. I have 10+ Ubisoft and 6 Gameloft games on Wii too.
But Vivendi, not a great track record. Nothing for Wii U, and just 5 Wii games... and the only one I wanted (and have) is Scarface uncut a friend from the UK picked up for me (Germany has no chainsaw.)

@Zetro Right. Those employee's. Hasn't Canada been courting game development & praising Ubisoft. It'll be interesting seeing where everyone lands.

@Spoony_Tech They supported Wii U? PFFFFF Zombie U and 1 AC game...lololol

@zool Japan laws are different. Nintendo can't be bought out.

@rjejr #51#50 Allow me to give you an idea from a business point of view: businesses are like animals - they aren't prejudiced and they don't hold grudges. (to be clear: I'm talking about the bigger businesses here. Some smaller ones like indies have already shown their lack of professionalism recently) Especially if there is money to be made or potential for new business.

You are probably familiar with the phrase "build it and they shall come". Like the animals in that phrase, businesses will flock around Nintendo if what they have created with the NX is a truly interesting and alluring proposition, and even more so if they can see it as profitable.

Hence also the renewed interest of EA, and for Ubisoft it will be no different. Profit is key, and if the opportunity is there, then companies will renew partnerships and all old "grievances" will be swept under the rug. I have accentuated grievances because there won't be any, we (or rather: some of us) just think or feel that there would be.

As individuals and as humans, we tend to attach emotions (and on occasion very heavy ones) to certain things that happen to us, but companies can't afford to do that because it wouldn't be in their best interest and it wouldn't be very professional either. They can't afford to be butt-hurt, insulted or vindictive. Some individuals in a company might be, but if they are professionals, they will quickly get over these feelings because at the end of the day they need to assist in keeping the company profitable and if there is yet another viable platform to publish your games on... well, you get the idea...

So yes, I fully expect Ubisoft to once again start to make games for Nintendo, and they might also very well be one of the bigger companies that already has one of the physical dev kits in their possession, hence them being in such short supply. There are only so many big third parties that you could expect to have these, and I'm guessing Ubisoft would definitely have a big chance of being on that list.

If only for the fact that they have been one of the longest (and definitely more serious) supporters of the Wii U and have really tried to give us some good games, albeit not all flawless. In any case their efforts have been better than the other parties' games, so the simple fact that EA is VERY interested and wants a piece of the NX pie should tell us more than enough. 1 + 1 still makes 2 in my book...

@Spoony_Tech
While you didn't directly go out and say bad things about companies not supporting Wii U, your comment references the scenario so it felt like a good time to say this:

I've been a Nintendo fan since 1987 (I was 4) and have a loyalty to the customer as strong as anyone else's, but I'm the kind of person that tries to evaluate everything honestly, so I bash Nintendo if I feel it's warranted, as well.

And in the same way it gets my blood boiling to see people leave this website negative comments and accuse them of being "Nintendo haters" and "against Nintendo" when they say anything negative, I hate that Nintendo fans have this mentality of "Bad, BAD companies not supporting my Nintendo!"

Sorry, friend, but if ONE company didn't support them, it's like "What the heck, guys?" Maybe 5. Maybe 10. When nearly every single company doesn't support them, do you see who becomes the common denominator in each situation? This is a business. And, frankly, from what we know about the company (granted, from an outsider's perspective) they are pretty bad business partners. From being extremely rough to 3rd parties releasing games on NES and SNES, going so far as to consider them solely competition(look it up), all the way to making consoles that are not only difficult to develop for but underpowered, why do they get to be the good guys?

So, Nintendo is in the right and the literally thousands of companies that won't work with them but will work with Sony and Microsoft are in the wrong? Every company but Nintendo is at fault? Or, is it that maybe Nintendo is at fault, and the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast, vast, vasty majority are acting accordingly?

Again, sorry to respond to YOU, since you didn't actually say anything negative, but you alluded to a situation that I've seen reference countless times on here, and it was just the straw that broke the camels back type of thing, lol.

any word from vivendi yet? maybe the guy just wants to up his share prices in the absence of a new main line assassin's creed game this year.

Vivendi did is a poorly managed company. Activision had to buy back a majority of their shares so Vivendi wouldn't pillage the cash Activision had made. The last thing anyone should want is Vivendi to buy a AAA game company. It's like the kiss of death. They are bad for business.

@zool Well as long as we still get all the great Nokia characters like Snake and... Snake, it's fine.

Doesn't EA own a chunk of Ubisoft? I remember this guy claiming EA was trying to do the same thing years ago.

@fortius54 Ubisoft hasn't been "AAA" in years.

@Nin-Stream Not AAA in quality. AAA in size. They are still a large publisher. Under the right management, they have the IP to be great. However, great management and Vivendi are antonyms.

First off, let me give Damien a high-five for that uncommon Star Wars reference; good to see someone using some of the equally great but lesser-used lines.

Returning to the topic, I'm not to mussed by this overall. In my opinion, Ubisoft is extremely hit-and-miss with their games as it is, so the worst that could happen is they miss a little bit more. I've never been an AC fan, Far Cry 4 is the only entry on that series I've really enjoyed (including Primal), Rayman is a fun enough platformer that I basically never play, etc. They just don't produce games that I care very much about, and many of their games are too buggy at launch for me to avoid mentioning. I won't shed any tears at their acquisition, for better or for worse.

It's worrying what they would do. I mean, they did merge two gaming giants with really different ideas about gaming before.

Quite simply: If you don't want to get taken over, don't let it happen! So stop whining and tell Vivendi its not gonna happen!

Personally I won't care much if they get bought. Ubisoft was once the little company that could, but now they just churn out Ass Creed after Ass Creed. They have become HYPER commercial!!

@kensredemption Pfft. Ubisoft is hardly the most important third party asset for Nintendo to rely upon.
Especially after debacles like Watch Dogs.

"There's always a bigger fish".
Nintendo can find others to supplement whatever they'd lose in yearly tower-climbing simulators from Ubisoft.XD

Imagining the market could soon be ruled by a giant like ActiBli-Ubisoft is terrifying me

I honestly don't want to see them get taken over by Vivendi. Sure, their support on Wii U has been less than adequate, but their game studios have made some of my favorite games ever. I'm not saying a potential takeover would change how their games are made, but I'd prefer to keep things as they are just in case. I love their Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell games. Even Rayman and Assassin's Creed are pretty darn good.

@MrGawain True, but they've also turned out some absolute gems like the last two Rayman games and "Child of Light," and they have been one of Nintendo's better 3rd party supporters in recent years. I'd hate for Ubisoft to decline even further.

I really hate Ubisoft the last game from then that I liked was FarCry 3, or A. Creed II, but I'm not even a fan of these games, so if they die...I don't really care. That said Vivendi killed Sierra and man I loved Sierra back in the time when's SWAT 3 was a big deal. So screw Vivendi!

Ubisoft definitely have their flaws and do their fair share of mistakes, but Vivendi would be 10x worse. So I just hope they can avoid that hostile takeover!

@TheRealThanos #51 wasn't me, that was Jax addressing someone else. (Though you probably menat #50 )
I think #54 is all anybody really knows or can know at this point.

I don't feel sorry for them in the least. They're being rewarded as a traitor deserves.

@rjejr Yes, you're right: I meant #50. And I do agree with your comment #54. But I do like my business essay at #63 and that will certainly be proven right somewhere in the near future. (provided the NX is going to be a success, obviously)

Alot of people seem to be missing the point.
When Iwata passed away, it was international news. It became more than just a 'Nintendo thing'.
This is a story that transcends genres, systems and gaming and will effect thousands of people.
A Vivendi takeover would undoubtedly mean layoffs.
Look at what happened to Disney Interactive after Disney bought out Lucas Arts.
Slamming Ubisoft for making crappy games is one thing, but understand that people will lose their jpbs over this. Willingly asking that on anyone is just inexcusable. So before anyone asks for this to happen because of their own personal vendetta, stop and consider what losing your job suddenly would do to you.

@KryptoKrunch
Everyone's thoughts, I'd say!

@Spoony_Tech That's not saying much. I loved Ubisoft during their Wii days. Things like Red Steel Series and even ZombiU on WiiU was excellent. But what have they really done for the Nintendo platforms lately?

@TheRealThanos Essay was an A+. It's obvious you didn't go to Trump University. (I just can't help myself.)

@rjejr If you keep this up, there's going to be a whole bunch of people that will be glad when the elections are finally over...

@TheRealThanos I'm trying to get that whole bunch of people to rise up and demand Nintendo release NX info to shut me up.

You think Pokemon Sun and Moon has any bearing at all on NX? This guy at Forbes seems to think so, but he sounds like an semi-informed hater to me. Even if NX is a handheld this holiday that's 2 or 3 mil hardware, w/ over 50m 3DS out there. No brainer where I release my game. And I still think Home first this holiday, 3DS lasts 5 years, so next holiday for the handheld.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/02/26/why-pokemon-sun-and-moon-make-me-question-nintendos-nx-plans/#5fcb33e33bbe

@rjejr that would be quite a bombshell if they turn around and say that the two new Pokémon games will also be released for the new NX handheld, which, for now I'm going to dub the Game Boy Fusion handheld.

And obviously, on the new Game Boy the games will look a lot better, because the cartridges will detect if they are inserted into a 3DS or a Game Boy Fusion...

As for the Forbes story: I think that guy hasn't got a clue whatsoever, jumping from one assumption to another. Mark my words: the NX platform WILL eventually replace both Wii U and 3DS and WILL comprise both a handheld and home console part. Nintendo has been trying to blow smoke by once again bringing up the third pillar BS, but that has never held any water before, so I don't expect it to do so this time around.

The only positive thing, depending on your outlook, that I got from visiting that Forbes link, is the quote of the day:

"I wouldn't mind if I failed because I tried something worthwhile."

Siggi Hilmarsson

Sorry if I come across a bit annoyed: booze and the anti-climactic ending of the Sci-fi series Continuum did that to me...

Go get 'em Viviendi. I have no respect for Ubisoft after the pitiful way they treated Nintendo and their artificial problems.

As much as I felt betrayed by Ubisoft when they stopped supporting the Wii U,...

... as someone who owns a business, I feel more angry that some company wants to take control of another company that's owned by the founders themselves (and as much as I hate Gameloft, they're also owned by their founders, so I'm not keen on applauding that move, either.

Unfortunately, since both are publicly-trading companies, this will ALWAYS be a possibility (and this is one of the main reasons why I think all tech companies should leave the stock market (some of them may be "greedy" and "evil", but hey will never be capable to be more evil than the greedy whiny stock holders of Wall Street)).

"We want to increase the number of Canadian shareholders in Ubisoft to have better control over the capital. We feel it's a good defence."

If I start a kickstarter to buy enough ubistock to initiate a hostile take over would you guys kick in? I promise to shut down the uplay pc client.

@TheRealThanos Everybody is always annoyed communicating w/ me, I don't really notice. And I'm glad you didn't like that guy, hard for me to bad mouth people writing for Forbes while I'm unemployed, but I'll take TW over that guy any day.

Sorry your show didn't end well and you wasted booze on it. I was all set to marathon the 6 episodes of X-Files when I read there was a cliff-hanger ending, and I'm not a big fan of those. And I'm not even joking or being sarcastic, I'm seriously not watching it, and I was really looking forward to it.

Going to go watch Pokemon Hoopa movie w/ my kids, paid $1 for it on Google store. Almost sort of on topic for the 20th anniversary day.

@rjejr I feel the need to clarify: I don't perceive you as annoying and never did. I felt I came across as such in my previous comment, because of not being sober and seeing my Friday night being ruined by a really bad ending of one of my favorite sci fi shows.

Sorry to hear you're unemployed. I hope better times are going to come your way soon. From what I experienced here, you're a pretty stand up guy, so I wish you all the best. I know being of a certain age doesn't make it any easier getting through any job application process, which is in part also why I decided to start my own business, but I also did that because for way too many years I've seen money going towards the wrong people: I'd be doing all the trouble and all the talking and the company I worked for got the bonus instead of me. As of last month I'm my own boss and now I get all the money myself.

By the way: what's TW?

@rjejr By the way: I have recorded all the episodes of the new X-Files but haven't seen any of them yet. Going by what you said I'm almost afraid to go and watch them because right now, I'm not really in the mood for another anti-climax...

f*** Vivendi, hope Trudeau actually does something

So what actually happens if they just pull off the stock market?

@MasterWario Doubt they have the capital to buy back their shares

@TheRealThanos You don't owe me any apologies or explanations, your one of the most stand-up guys on here. Being your own businessman probably helps that out a lot. And sometimes I get a bit carried away w/ the self-deprecating humour scthick. And don't worry yourself about my unemployed status, taking care of the kids is it's own reward (god I can't believe I just typed that old cliche'), and I'll be back to work soon. Probably.

TW is Thomas Whitehead, he of the long winded but highly educated editorials. He somehow manages to write all the negativity I feel about Ntinedo over the past 2 years but make it sound like a college course essay rather than an internet rant.

Let me know how X-Files goes. If I break down and watch it I'll let you know. I think I have it free "On Demand" until the end of March, so I have until then to decide.

@rjejr Well, the whole businessman thing has only just started. Preparations and investments did take me the last 6 months, but the actual business practice is starting as of this coming Monday, so we will have to see how that goes. Will be strange to sometimes have to kick myself in the behind, since there's no employer anymore to do it for me...

Kids are great imho, so no wonder cliché's roll off the tongue when we talk about them. I love their candor and their near unlimited imagination; something most adults have less and less of the older they get. Peter Pan effect et all...

Agreed on Thomas Whitehead. Quite a realistic guy, albeit leaning somewhat more towards glass half empty sometimes...

As for The X-Files: I will probably start watching this week or the next. I only just read (last Friday) that it was a mini series, while I initially thought they were simply going to continue the show for a number of seasons. So, in essence it's probably more like tying up some final loose ends and they mix that up with some new stuff. Oh well, we'll see, I guess.

@TheRealThanos " albeit leaning somewhat more towards glass half empty sometimes..."

Can't blame him, not like he hired a hit on Iwata and delayed everything thing Ntineod has done the past 2 years. That's what he has to work with. At least he makes his glass half full of wine, mine is usually half full of curdled milk. Not this year though, I'm starting w/ a new clean glass and am planning on filling it up.

@rjejr I'm more of a beer or Cuba Libre kind of guy. And sometimes with a dinner party a good glass of red wine...

@TheRealThanos

@rjejr Well, at least it's a good enough meme to emphasize losing your head if you drink too much...

@rjejr Okay, my friend. Put away your Donald Trump paraphernalia, don your tin foil hat and grab your crystal ball, because it's rumor mill time again.

Do take care to read the introduction carefully; apparently this guy has been on the money quite a few times before, so although obviously this article will have to be taken with a few grains of salt, there may be a kernel of truth in it, and in my humble opinion it would even be a smart move from Nintendo to make the hardware as accessible as is described here.

Potentially exciting times ahead indeed...

http://dualpixels.com/2016/02/27/rumor-new-information-on-next-gen-nintendo-nx-console/

So when he's threatened by a legal buy-out of his publicly traded company, THEN the jobs matter? After exporting work from France to Canada for a decade?

I don't much like the prospect of Vivendi taking over, Guillemot and his family are the founders after all, but it's been a while since their way of doing business has been anything to be proud of.

@TheRealThanos Remember just last week when I commented about what happens when I only respond to emails 17 hours later?

It's like deja vu allover again.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/02/rumour_buster_lets_clarify_some_issues_with_those_recent_nintendo_nx_predictions

@rjejr I wouldn't dwell on it, and it doesn't bother me (well, a little bit, but I understand people actually have lives, so they won't be answering every reaction I post immediately) but I am really interested in your take on the article I linked to you.

I do like the message about Nintendo's employees that is in there; the part where they motivate each other by saying "For Iwata!" because it was the last console he's had a hand in. And as far as I can tell from my own experience having dealt with Asian people, it genuinely sounds like a thing they would do. And connected with that comes a whole truckload of "being honor-bound" so I expect good things to come from this whole NX thing, regardless if this article is just a rumor or not.

rjejr Belay that order: it has already been debunked:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=197068172&postcount=1090

@TheRealThanos "Belay that order"

You want me to tie the order into a knot?

Oh, but I did respond to the leak in the other thread. Guess I should have mentioned that last part, eh?

#26 and #37. But you also responded to me over there so now I'm just confused.

Oh, BTW, I had a new message therapist at the chiropractor today, young woman who asked me what I did on the computer all day since I didn't have a job "play games?" she said snarkily. I told her Donald Trump stuff, b/c explaining commenting on NL threads seemed too pathetic.

@rjejr Yeah, I saw all that. Was getting a bit confused myself, in between all the rumor articles and the Zelda in Unreal 4 makes me nauseous video...

Message therapist? I'm used to you typing Nitnedo by now, but MESSAGE therapist... ???

@TheRealThanos Yeah, I may have screwed that one up trying to be PC and not type how incredibly hot she was.

@rjejr Happy ending massage...
Don't tell the missus...

@TheRealThanos When I was leaving I asked the receptionist what the little brown envelopes were for on the front desk in the business card holder. She said they were to leave tips for the special 40 minute massage. Had I known...

@rjejr what the hell kind of chiropractor are you visiting? Get me one of those. I'm single so I'm more suited to be subject to such extras...
Aw, man get rid of that avatar picture. My eyes, my eyes... (and a German one as well. What's up with that?)

@TheRealThanos Had to go with the German cover, the headline says "Madness" (Which you probably already knew, living overseas and all). That was a big catch phrase of ours in the days of my drinking youth.

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by/ madness, starving hysterical naked,/ dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn/ looking for an angry fix,”

I tried to get the animated MP4 as my avatar but couldn't get it to work. Don't worry it's going away soon, I'm working on a suitable replacement, the holiday one was too seasonal.
And yeah, being married - 18 years of monogamy - no happiness for me. If I ever break that vow it's all or nothing, and I ain't paying for it.

@rjejr You can only use gif's for animated avatars most of the time, so you could try that. Just not with the Donald one...

Marriage really treating you that bad? Can't imagine. (or were you taking a jab?) And kids too, and sharing your hobby gaming with them must be nice.

I'd happily trade with you being single for 5 years and next to no time to date, especially what with being busy with setting up my own business and all that. And now all the money is in the business so I have to start generating some to be able to wine and dine some lucky lady again...

@TheRealThanos My life, and wife, are better than I could have expected. Grew up poor white trash on food stamps - parents made it thru 8th and 11th grade - they didn't let unmarried pregnant women in the 12 grade back then - and I'm very fortunate they choose the shotgun over the clothes hangar. My wife grew up on the right side of the tracks in one of the better neighborhoods. So yeah, it's all just married jab nonsense. (Though I am convinced mans biological imperative is to impregnate as many females as possible, and marriage is kind of a self applied civilized yoke on that biological imperative, so those feelings will always be there, it's not acting on them that makes us human, not not having them.) So don't worry about me. Heck compared to TW's constant knocks about his age recently - turning 31 seems to have hit him particularity hard, like maybe he should see a shrink hard - I'm a barrel of sunshine, joy, butterflies and rainbows. I've accepted 50 and have moved on.

Is it hard to date being an American overseas? Trump can't be making it any easier, guys giving us a bad name, like we needed any help after George and the neo-cons bombed everything in site and Obama just keeps drawing one line in the sand after another w/o doing anything about it. Parties need to go, we need some sane middle ground people, whoever and where ever they are? All of that can't be making life easy for you.

@rjejr Good to hear things are okay. I wouldn't know if dating is hard, since I haven't done it for so long, so I'll have to wait and see how that's going to go once I'm swimming in cash again...

I don't think it has anything to do with being American; and I've lived here (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) for so long that I speak fluent Dutch, since I went to school here since I was ten. Got a Dutch passport too, because I got naturalized long ago, so I've been a Dutch American ever since.

Agreed on the self applied civilized yoke: mankind wasn't made to be monogamous. It goes against all of nature's rules that pertain to survival of the species. But if it clicks with someone, it clicks and there's no reason for that to be a bad thing. Any relation, be that a wife, a friend, a colleague or a relative can be a blessing in disguise. If only to be able to have someone to go over your day with when you get home from work...

As for the rest of my story: most of my family and our Dutch relatives also live here, so I don't miss out on much, but sometimes one does wonder what live would have been like staying in California and going to college there and so on. But that ship has passed...

When I started working here I did experience some prejudice once people found out I was of American origin, often being confronted with sentences starting with "you Americans" or "being an American" and of course being addressed for having such an idiot as a president in the Bush jr. era (and let's not forget all the conspiracy theories through all the years, on which the Europeans certainly have their own opinions) but now I'm fully integrated.

I still have an older aunt and uncle living in Cali, they used to come over about once every two, three years, but they're too old to travel now, so I haven't seen them in quite a few years.

Their kids even have kids that I have never seen before and I only ever saw the parents once for a brief period, so we don't really know each other.

Other than that, and being alone with most of my money invested in my brand new mini-company (still not being sure if it is going to be profitable, even though I have already secured some really good customers) I'm doing just fine.

Once I have some cash reserves, I plan on taking the old man on a trip to the US, because it is still his dream to go and visit there and see some stuff like a regular tourist...

@TheRealThanos I've visited Cali several times, had a long distance girlfriend out there in some prestigious international foreign affairs college in Montery and did the x-country road trip thing NY to Tijuana, and I liked it, but I have to say, as well grounded as you appear, I honestly think you were best served where you are. (Oh great, now I'll have homeland security after me.) I know you guys are known for being the Vegas of Europe - I had my grad school trip busing it thru Europe, did the hash bar thing in whatever tourist place was most famous at the time, may still have the coaster I kept as a souvenir, skipped the red light window district though, but it seemed really nice. And I like bicycles. (I may have to harrass you w/ some photos at some point. Soon if we don't get some #@#$%# NX news.)

And good luck w/ the business.

@rjejr Ah, yes, the coffee shops that actually don't serve any coffee...
As for comparing Amsterdam to Vegas: may actually come pretty close safe for the fact that it's obviously not in the Desert and you won't be able to have a drive-thru wedding here. (or a wedding done by Elvis)
And me grounded? I chose the avatar of a mad, megalomaniacal titan that is in love with death and destruction. Something must have gone wrong in my youth...

By the way, I'm curious to know why you think I was better off here. Wasn't all that bad in the US in the eighties and nineties or what?
And nowadays we all have the same problems all around the Western world: after-effects of the credit crunch, terrorism and global warming so doesn't really matter all that much exactly where you are.

I've had quite a few bad years here as well, both financially and personally speaking, so a different location would probably also not have mattered there either. But I guess I'll never know for sure.

But things are starting to look up now, so no more looking backward. A piece of advice I can give just about everyone...

Have to take care not to look up too much though:

Think I'm gonna stick to this one instead:

@TheRealThanos OK found it.

"By the way, I'm curious to know why you think I was better off here. "

To answer that question simply - despite all my negativity on this site you have never once typed -

"You mad bruh?"

And you'ld be typing a lot worse than that had you grown up in Cali.

Oh, as for that pic I mentioned, here's my trip to Amsterdam in '92.

When I posted it on FB many years ago (man I've been on FB a long time) I wrote this:

"Why drugs are legal in Amsterdam - so they can stomach the tourists."

And now it's time for this old man to go to the chiropractor before they close up shop for lunch.

@rjejr Oh God, Nike Jesus...
Other than that, nothing all that wrong with the picture. You actually look kind of normal; not at all what I expected...
(nah, just kidding)

So "you mad bruh" would have been my signature slogan, then? I don't know about that, though. Even my parents always said I'm not normal, in the sense that I'm not Joe average, so I hardly ever fit in any box that people would like to fit me in.

Having said that, I still don't quite understand what the bad thing about living in California (or the States for that matter) would have been (or is). Grass is always greener and stuff like that. Like I said, Europe had it's own share of sh** hitting the fan...

Anyway, I still wish I had experienced at least some of these years there, if only to know what that would have been like: going to college, prom night and so on..
They don't have an "end of study celebration" like that over here, and they also don't live on the college grounds.

Ha! Irene Hoeve, the famous cheese farm all the tourists go to. Man, that's about as default a trip as you can get. (but it was '92, so I'll cut you some slack) Then again, even though the Dutch don't really like it that entire populations of tourists still think they all walk on wooden shoes, live in windmills and eat cheese and grow tulips, they aren't really doing too much to change that perception because of the money that all this tourism makes them...

@TheRealThanos "famous cheese farm"

If you lived in Cali, you would NOT be able to say those 3 words with a straight face.

I hit all the spots, it was a 3 week tour w/ a group called Club Europa. Though it would have been better had I gone myself. They kept taking us to famous cities on Mondays when the big museums were closed, or Wednesdays when the big museums were closed, and our tour guide was a loser. And of the 30 people on the bus 15 were Vietnamese and didn't speak any english so we never got that partying vibe going. We kept running in other tour group buses and they were like great drunken orgies compared to our Tibetan Monk bus.

And don't go looking for any sympathy for me. I never went to a prom, despite being invited to 3, and I've regretted that all my life. And I went to a good 4 year college but I lived at home. Even took the same city bus as I did to my high school. I didn't even get my driver's license until after I graduated from college. I did grow up in NYC, so that was great, but I've never done that normal stuff. Then I graduated from college, bought a van, and drove to Cali, a copy of "On the Road" in hand.

@rjejr Well, if being able to safely say "famous cheese farm" with a straight face is what made me be better off in Amsterdam than anywhere in California, then I must say that I can't quite picture that, so I'm still a bit puzzled as to the why of being better off here.
(sorry to keep nagging about that, but I am honestly curious as to why you think so)

In California it probably would have been a raisin farm, but other than that...

And even though the company you had in the bus wasn't all that, it does sound kind of entertaining, or maybe that would only be the case if they had made a comedy out of it...

"On the Road" - I suppose the book? Since the movie wasn't released until 2012, if we're talking about the same story there.

Too bad I can't pick your brain on prom nights and college life. All we have here as reference material is the various college/screw ball movies, so that's hardly representative of actual info. Oh well, I guess that ship has long sailed past for both of us then. Maybe we should drink to that some day...

@TheRealThanos My local public library one-uped the cheese farm photo on it's Facebook page this past Wednesday.

Guess which one is me.

https://www.facebook.com/LindenhurstLibrary/videos/1121977167826790/

Here's a hint, I'm not the bunny. Though I wish I had been.

You guys might as well get to play along too, you have to put up w/ all my other nonsense.

@JaxonH @sinalefa @Captain_Gonru @aaronsullivan

@rjejr I'm gonna go with burgundy sweater guy. After all: it wouldn't be all that strange to expect you to be the one chasing the bunny...

P.S. Expert side-tracking move. I'm still waiting for the answer to my question...

@rjejr

Since I had already seen a pic of you I feel like I am cheating if I answer.

@Captain_Gonru Back when I made that Mii oh so many years ago it was a really good likeness. And what's funny is my wife's Mii and mine had the same hair so at a quick glance it was hard to tell us apart in games like Sluggers when we were batting. I really wish they would have made a Sluggers sequel, it was the one game where we used all of the family Miis, aunts', uncles, grandparents, everybody, it was cool playing virtual baseball with them.

Compare this game to Mario Tennis Ultra Smash

http://www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Super_Sluggers

Nintendo is losing it I tell ya. Maybe Vivendi should buy them.

@sinalefa There's a pic of me 5 posts above the vid so everyone can see it. The trick is it's from 1992 so I'm half the age I am now.

@TheRealThanos Which question? The last question you asked was "I suppose the book?" but you already answered that one.

And I already answered the other question w/ "You mad bruh". Maybe you thought I was joking, but I wasn't.

Water's boiling, gotta go.

@rjejr I meant the why I'm better off here question, that is still not clear to me. The book and "you mad bruh" questions were just things added later...
(or maybe I'm missing something, I don't know)

@rjejr Well, I guess your quiz hasn't quite garnered the attention of all those invited... Too bad, really.

Then again: you're probably gearing up for another super Tuesday... Jay, Rubio!!

@TheRealThanos Super Tuesday #2 - #3 if you count Super Saturday - and I'm all focused on this one b/c I don't know when #3/4 is, so it's all or nothing tonight. At this point I'm kind of hoping for a brokered Republican convention b/c I want to see if the Trump supporters will literally burn Cleveland to the ground during my birthday week.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/archival-video-protests-turn-violent-1968-democratic-national-37639406