🎮 OG multiplayer game

Walmart video. Universal sell-off. Magic Leapt.

I didn’t like Super Mario Odyssey.

Yeah I said it. I mean, it was cool and all, but I figured that after coming down from a 100+ hour high playing Zelda it didn’t really compare.

And so I dutifully played it through once, gathered a few more moons, and uninstalled it. (Yes, I buy most of my Switch titles digitally but that means unfortunately that I have to make choices about what stays and what’s stored.)

But then it was Time.

After holding out for almost a full year since I got my Switch, I finally broke down and decided to share it with my kid. After a sleepover he came home with 1,000 questions about the ‘other Mario game’. Naturally we had been playing Super Mario Run on his iPad, but he had seen something on TV and wanted me to find it so we could play it together.

Any parent will attest to the fact that once the brood makes a demand, there is no stopping it. And so I relented, reinstalled the game, and handed him the Switch. And then I remembered. Suddenly a bunch of distant memories came rushing to the front and I realized that, perhaps in spending so much time around games professionally, I had lost track of a few things.

First, I have been taking excellent game design for granted. Nintendo excels at this, obviously, but as a seasoned player I had forgotten that accessibility and fun are an integral part of any game that aspires to delight a large audience. Even at 5-years old the kid still managed to pick up the game’s basics right away.

Second, Nintendo’s marketing machine is brilliant. I had allowed myself a brief snicker at the dance performance held at the flagship store a block from my office. But I had not realized how adding elements from Odyssey into Run had slowly seeped into my kid’s subconscious, allowing him to instantly recognize Cappy. I know this, of course, but seeing it play out in his little brain was eye-opening.

Third, I am a complete bore. In talking about Nintendo, it is my responsibility to also actually play their games. And so I had. However, instead of taking a moment to smell the roses, I had pretty much taken a straight line from start to finish. My kid, on the other hand, had no concern for goal-oriented playing. He was too busy exploring the world, stomping around as a dinosaur, and driving his scooter through New Donk City.

And so now we sit on the couch for a bit every day and take turns: he plays the levels and I navigate past the bosses whenever he gets stuck. It’s the original multiplayer setup and we have the best time.

Thank you, Max, for reminding me.

On to this week’s update.

NEWS

Walmart is getting into video streaming, maybe

They must’ve thought that if Amazon can do it, so can they. As for audience and programming, Walmart is said to be targeting Middle America and “consumers who live outside of large cities.” Walmart already owns Vudu, an iTunes-like online movie streaming service which it acquired in 2010. Certainly Walmart’s deep pockets and scale would allow either services to persist in the same way that there’s hundreds of religious radio and broadcast TV channels out there but I’m not expecting the next Game of Thrones to roll out of this one soon. Link

Exec removal opens path to Viacom/CBS merger

Following allegations of sexual misconduct from no fewer than six women, CBS’s CEO Les Moonves is under fire. If he’s removed that may very well open the door for Shari Redstone (president of controlling shareholder National Amusements) to finally merge the two firms, something she’s been trying to do for a while. Moonves and a crew of execs have been blocking this attempt, and even suggested that the sexual misconduct allegations were part of Redstone’s tactics to push the merger through. It’s like a real-life upscale soap series over there. Life imitating art. Link

Vivendi looking to sell off half of Universal Music

Now that the music business is improving with the success of digital subscription services, Vivendi is looking to make some money. Previously it had kicked around the idea of taking the division public (too complex), but now it is outright looking for buyers. Link

Magic Leap releases first product

There is no arguing that developing the next big thing will cost a bunch of money. And few efforts have been both so well-funded and secretive as Magic Leap. But at long last the firm has to show us something, anything, or risk losing credibility. And so here we are with the release of Magic Leap One Creator Edition, a stand-alone AR headset that will cost you $2,295. Hardly a mainstream product, to be sure, and available only in six cities throughout the US. Yes, it’s progress, but hardly a leap forward. Link

MONEY, MONEY, NUMBERS

Activision Blizzard (ATVI): Despite $1.39bn in earnings, results were mixed across its three pillars. Activision came in +7% at $338MM, Blizzard was down -14% which some analysts attributed to the competition from Fortnite to its free-to-play offerings, and King was up +5% although that could have been better if it hadn’t been for issues with Facebook Connect. ATVI’s current effort behind Overwatch League contributed $52MM (incl. amortization of league franchise fees and Twitch contract).

Glu Mobile (GLUU): Total bookings were $99.4MM for the quarter, up +20% y/y when it was $83MM. Biggest contributors were Design Home (with a 38% share of total revenue), Tap Sports Baseball (25%), and Covet Fashion (13%). Glu is reducing its reliance on licensed IP—Kim Kardashian Hollywood now accounts for 8% of total.

Nintendo (TYO: 7974): Revenues were $1.51bn, up +9% from $1.38bn y/y. The firm shipped 1.9MM Switches and 17.96MM software units, and it reaffirmed its expectation to sell 20MM Switch units this fiscal year. Analysts were skeptical on the company’s ability to make this number without a price cut.

Sony (SNE): Posted a record operating profit, with revenues totaling $17.5bn. Its PlayStation division come out on top with $750MM in operating profit, driving largely by hit games and higher-than-expected hardware sales. Overall earnings benefitted from the firm’s ownership stake in Spotify.

Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO): With $288MM in revenues, Take-Two again surprised investors with the evergreen performance of both NBA 2K and GTA V. Pretty much everyone is holding their breath in anticipation of RDR2 and how it will hold up compared to the GTA V.

Zynga (ZNGA): Total bookings came in at $233.9MM. Following the acquisition of Gram Games, Zynga’s overall performance suffered a bit due to a login issue with Facebook Connect. It also sunset several titles that were no longer material to its bottom line. Notably, advertising revenue was upon +17% compared to the same quarter last year and now account for 23% of the company’s revenue ($53MM).

RIGHT QUICK TIDBITS

• Sony sold 40.6MM software units and 3.2MM PS4s (total now at 82.2MM)

• Tencent and ATVI are working on a mobile version of Call of Duty for China

• There are two new teams for the Overwatch League: Altanta and Guangzhou

• BioWare is still working on the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises

• Valve is releasing Artifact on November 28th