The Game Boy turned 30 last month – to the shock of those of us realising we are therefore well over 30. Where did the past go? I think it went into a nook at the end of my bookshelf – at least that’s where I found my old DMG-01, the original Game Boy. Like many reading this, I’m sure, I took the occasion to hold it again and remember when a plastic brick felt like the future.
That grey hunk still thumps my heart like beating hoofs. But besides my pure and innocent love, I had an ulterior motive for the reunion: this Game Boy was going to make me filthy rich.
A Gift Horse
It was actually nostalgia that started the whole thing off. One twilight in spring, I strolled haplessly into the basement of a Tokyo department store at closing time. Just the day before it had been full of bicycles and luggage but, for today only, it was a “Retro Bazaar” of time-beaten consumer goods, none less than 20 years old. There were Walkmans, digital clocks, Famicom Disk Drives – the works. The bazaar had sprung from nowhere and, as closing time ticked closer, I knew it would be gone again in moments.
Something jumped out at me: an obscure 1993 Game Boy release, complete in box. But this was no game. On the front was a galloping horse; on the back an astonishing record of accurately predicting horse racing results. In the 1992 season, it had chosen the winner 48.4% of the time and returned winnings of 101%. What trip of fate had brought this to me? It was a relic of a youth I never really lived and a promise of a future I could make my own. I rushed the box to the clerk and buried it in my bag like a snared dream.
Studying the Form
Tekichuu Rush (something like “Correct Prediction Rush”) was released in 1993 by Japan Clary Business. Some digging around online suggests Clary released no other Game Boy software and its website petered out into the Wayback Machine in the early 2000s. Not exactly a video game company, their flagship product was the “Computator”, which appears to be a budget-priced machine for counting cable TV registration cards.
Tekichuu Rush’s simple proposition is that if you tell it the listed odds for a horse race, it will tell you the winner. Apart from showing off its uncanny accuracy as a race predictor, the box promises “basic controls using few buttons – even the inexperienced can use it!’ – a reminder that, in 1993, a computer with just two main buttons might have bewildered some users.
Basic control scheme aside, the instruction booklet does its best to confuse things. Every possible usage scenario is summarised in a single tortuous flow-chart labelled with tiny Japanese text. Ah, how hard can it be? Instructions are for losers: let’s bet on some horses!
After trudging through a bog of green data-entry screens I felt like it might have been easier to make my millions doing shiftwork in a 1970s stock exchange
The oracle first demanded to know the location of the race. I couldn’t type it in: I could only cycle options excruciatingly slowly with the A button. This was great news: if Clary had kept their promise of basic controls then they would also keep their promise of unlimited wealth acquired by supernatural means. Surely.
I cycled: Tokyo – Nakayama – Kyoto – Hanshin – Sapporo… I started to worry that Warwick was going to be right at the end! Hakodate – Fukushima – Niigata – Chukyo – Kokura – and Warwick! Wait, no. No Warwick?! I decided it must come under “Regional” and selected that.
I started copying out the odds. After trudging through a bog of green data-entry screens I felt like it might have been easier to make my millions doing shiftwork in a 1970s stock exchange. Finally, indignant at having had to work for it, I greedily snaffled the winning horse number and placed my bet.
All in all, it was a longwinded way to lose £5. How could Tekichuu Rush have got it wrong? The only reason I could think of was that maybe Warwick didn’t count as a regional Japanese racecourse. Time to find a Japanese race.
What are the Odds?
Kicking off, presumably, a long-running pattern of fantastic luck, the bookmaker happened to be offering betting on a single race in Nakayama that weekend.
After a grind that provided an irreproachable answer to the question “Why isn’t all text entered like this?” I had my predictions. I was given three possible one-two finishes: horse number 3 followed by horse 12; 4 followed by 12; or 7 followed by 12. Horse number 12, then, was clearly not going to win whatever happened, so I ignored that and placed my bets on 3, 4 and 7.
I could now be sure that Tekichuu Rush was essentially a Game Boy Printer that spooled out bank notes in place of stickers
You’re probably expecting that one of them one won – or perhaps that somehow all three of them won. Astonishingly, every bet went down. What had happened? I gazed over the results. In first was some nag named Saturnalia – number 12! The very horse we knew would lose! Next came Velox, Danon Kingly and Admire Mars – horses 7, 4 and 3! Our guaranteed winners!
Like you, I’m sure, I immediately suspected foul play. Tekichuu Rush was 25 years old, after all. Presumably, Big Racing had got its hands on it and twisted its power for underhand mega-corporate enrichment – instead of the good, honest personal enrichment that I deserved.
So in yet another gesture of earnest graft that would ultimately justify my making millions for free, I read the instructions. I’ll confess it now: I should have done that at the beginning. Turns out, the results guaranteed by Clary’s crystal ball were called “rensho”. In the UK, this is a “reverse forecast”, meaning that when Tekichuu Rush said horses 7 and 12, it actually meant those two would finish first and second in either order. Had I staked my £6 correctly, on reverse forecasts, I would now be rolling in £19.
But I felt no disappointment at all, because I could now be sure that Tekichuu Rush was essentially a Game Boy Printer that spooled out bank notes in place of stickers. Next time I turned on the Game Boy, the Nintendo® sound wasn’t ba-ding: it was ka-ching.
Back in the Saddle
However, there were a few more hiccups. It was always my fault, not the game’s, but the next few races also lost me money. I set up in the coffee shop opposite the bookies and studied the finer administrative points of Japanese horse racing. Then I scrunched real paper slips in the betting shop: I lost at Kochi because I entered the wrong number meeting. I lost at Hanshin because it was the fourth race-day when I had said second. And I lost at Fukushima because what I read as the first race of the schedule was actually the twelfth. But every mistake was a lesson: I could now read the Tekichuu tea leaves perfectly.
I felt the megalomaniacal thrill of a mad scientist who had calibrated a precariously functional time machine. But I had become obsessed. Spreadsheets and notepads and discarded slips were in a scatter around me. Ambition untempered will undo us all: what evil might this forbidden technology unleash?
But You Can’t Make It Drink
It was back to Fukushima for the “Flora Stakes”. My prophet tipped me three reverse forecasts, all based on bookies’ favourite Therepeia in number 10. The racecourse was right; the meeting was right; the day was right; the race number was right. I checked and double-checked the runners and odds. Despite the certainty of my win, I was somehow nervous.
Therepeia rocketed to a dominating start and my hands sweated into my shivering betting slip. They rounded the first and the pack thinned; rounded the second and it thinned some more. Therepeia was on the heels of number 9, Jodie, and shutting out number 17, Leone d’Oro, either of which was a winning combination.
Then, booming heroically down the final straight, Therepeiawas passed by one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve horses! Twelve!
The quiver of expectation; the pride of entitlement; and the humility of the emperor, naked all along
My fists slowly unclenched and floated down from the sky. My eyes glazed and my jaw slackened in untethered bewilderment. How? Why? A punter swung the door and a gust swept my betting slips away and ruffled my piles of notes. With a flick and a flutter, the Tekichuu Rush instruction manual flapped onto the bookie bench. What was that on the very first page? I twisted my brow at the Japanese: “This software is for…” Entertainment? Entertainment. “…entertainment purposes only. Japan Clary Business offers no guarantee of the accuracy of predicted results.”
Suddenly it all made sense: Clary, in their timeless wisdom, had enchanted Tekichuu Rush just so that it would lead me on, so that I would indulge to its edge my sateless longing for a perfect past and a gifted future. And in that unseemly engorgement I would experience the ultimate thrill of the race: the rush of every dream held in hand, then falling away. The quiver of expectation; the pride of entitlement; and the humility of the emperor, naked all along.
So that was the end of Tekichuu Rush. A quarter of a century after a small manufacturer of electro-mechanical clerical time-saving devices decided to venture onto the Game Boy, here its creation was, on the other side of the planet. Clary’s cutting-edge of ‘90s Tokyo was still ticking away in an ancient English county town in the 21st century. More impressive than predicting the future, I realise now, was that this game lived to see it.
I dismissed my losses and counted my blessings. Well, OK, I counted my losses: £23. A reasonable price for a captivating Game Boy game.
Call Of Duty Franchise Joins Pokemon In Reaching 300 Million Copies Sold
The Call of Duty franchise continues to soar. Activision announced today that the shooter series has now cleared 300 million copies sold since it debuted back in 2003.
The Call of Duty series premiered in 2003 with Infinity Ward's World War II shooter Call of Duty. No mainline Call of Duty game was released in 2004, but a new entry has launched every year since, with development shifting around between Activision-owned studios like Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games, with support from other owned studios like Raven Software and High Moon, among others.
Activision has not provided a breakdown of sales by individual title or brand, but the Black Ops and Modern Warfare brands are believed to be the most successful.
Feature: The Game Boy’s Biggest Rival Gets Revived By The Modding Community
In the early 1980s, portable gaming was mainly limited to LCD-based games. Companies such as Casio, Grandstand and Tiger Electronics would all release various watches and devices to keep us entertained on those tiresome journeys. Nintendo wasn’t really known here in the UK back then, but it stood out from the crowd with the excellent range of Game & Watch handhelds. The Japanese company showed just how skilful and creative it was when it came to creating great gameplay with limited hardware (a skill it arguably continues to exploit), releasing hits such as Mario Bros. and the multi-screen Donkey Kong.
Nintendo’s Game Boy had taken everyone by surprise and it would be Sega which played catch-up
In April 1989 – 30 years ago last month – Nintendo took portable gaming to a whole new level with the release of the Game Boy, a cartridge-based handheld with a dot-matrix monochrome screen that had similar controls to the famous Game & Watch range. The Game Boy was an instant success and rival companies would race to get out their own handheld devices onto the market – one of those companies being Sega.
One year earlier, Sega had taken Nintendo by surprise in the console market when it released the 16-bit Mega Drive and it would be two years before Nintendo responded with the Super Famicom/SNES. In the nascent world of handhelds, however, things were the other way around. Nintendo’s Game Boy had taken everyone by surprise and it would be Sega which played catch-up; on October 6th 1990 – 18 months after the Game Boy’s release – Sega released the Game Gear in Japan. With a backlit colour screen and hardware based on the 8-bit Master System, it was technically superior to the Game Boy and Sega hoped this would be enough to steal some of Nintendo’s rapidly-increasing market share.
As most people will be aware, this never happened and the Game Boy went on to sell over 100 million units, eclipsing the 10.6 million sales of the Game Gear. However, Sega’s handheld will always be remembered for being the main rival to the Game Boy (Atari’s 16-bit Lynx only managed around 3 million sales), as well as a system with a decent library of titles – some of which were exclusive to the platform.
However, looking back now, it’s clear to see why Sega’s gamble failed. The Game Gear’s biggest problem was battery life; the Game Boy could go for over 30 hours on four AA batteries, while the high spec of the Game Gear meant it consumed double-As like nobody’s business. In fuel economy terms, the Game Boy was a Volvo estate, while the Game Gear was a Ford Sierra Cosworth RS Turbo (yep, that one with the whale tail spoiler).
The Game Gear has not stood the test of time as well; you are more likely to bump into an honest politician than see an original Game Gear in full working order
Another problem with making a technically powerful device is that by default it also becomes more complex inside, and unlike the Game Boy, the Game Gear has not stood the test of time as well; you are more likely to bump into an honest politician than see an original Game Gear in full working order. Most units have faulty sound or weak displays as a result of faulty capacitors; these units weren’t made with a vision of people using them 20-plus years later. In order to fix these issues and ensure no further failures, most Game Gear consoles require a replacement of all the capacitors on the internal PCBs (commonly known as recapping) and in the rare event of a unit still fully working, it is just a matter of when (and not if) it will require the recapping treatment.
I bought a Game Gear that was sold as “fully working” with the intention of recapping it, and had it delivered to retro repair wizard Simon Lock, a man whose electrical expertise was detailed in a previous Nintendo Life article. Upon investigation, it turned out that my model had almost zero sound, a line missing from the display, took ages to power up and wasn’t reliable when reading carts – so not quite “fully working” as had been described. Simon sent me pictures of the issues and his findings, and after extensive testing, cleaning and recapping my Game Gear had sound and a decent display bar 2 lines – Simon informed me this was down to an IC failure from voltage damage caused by the previous owner using an incorrect PSU. The unit was returned to me and I was really happy to finally have a Game Gear, having never owned one back in the day.
As a kid in the 1990s, it was exciting just to have colour LCD screens and while they did a decent job, they pale in comparison to modern displays; original Game Gear screens need to be tilted to find an optimal viewing angle and suffer from terrible motion blurring. It’s something we tolerated back in the day as it was the best option available, but after witnessing a Game Gear with a brand new LCD screen fitted at a gaming market, it wasn’t long before I made the decision to get the famous ‘McWill’ screen mod. I got in touch with Retro Modzz, a UK-based company specialising in console and handheld modifications, and just a few days later I had a Game Gear with a brand new screen.
Playing the games with the McWill screen mod is a visual treat and breathes new life into the Game Gear
So how good is the screen? In a word, incredible. I would compare it to playing Silent Hill on a PS1 and then putting on Sonic Mania on the Switch; there is such a difference in colour, contrast and sharpness it is hard to imagine ever having tolerated the original display (you still have an option to add scanlines should you wish to emulate that older screen). Playing the games with the McWill screen mod is a visual treat and breathes new life into the Game Gear; the mod includes a full recap and a new screen protector so the machine arrives looking and sounding at its best. If you want to play Game Gear games on original hardware, this is an essential purchase and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
Retro Modzz also changed the DC input supply which allows the use of a USB power bank to quench the Game Gear’s thirst for power; extremely handy if you want it to remain portable. I decided to keep my model close to the factory standard but other mods can be added, such as a VGA socket to output the display to a monitor and the addition of a joystick port allowing you to attach a Master System control pad essentially turning the Game Gear into an 8-bit Mega Jet.
The Game Gear may have only sold a fraction of what the Game Boy managed, but it’s clear there’s still a lot of love for the console. It’s a shame that the hardware isn’t as robust as the Game Boy, but it’s great to know there are options out there which enable you to bring these machines back to life – and, in the case of the McWill mod, actually make them better than before.
Posted by: luxelefrance - 05-05-2019, 11:07 AM - Forum: Lounge
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En tant que nouveau venu dans la vente, j'ai parfois le sentiment de vivre au paradis et parfois de me sentir en enfer. Fang a également parlé avec enthousiasme au client précédent, mais le client suivant lui a refusé l'achat d'une replique montre suisse. Peu importe qui c'est, quand la visite est rejetée, le cœur doit être très fâché. Pour évacuer votre tristesse, il est parfois inévitable de vous mettre en colère, même de crier ou de frapper quelque chose. Les conséquences en sont souvent d'aggraver votre humeur et de parler un peu. Ce genre de tempérament fera que votre entreprise de vente se termine prématurément. Par conséquent, les nouveaux venus dans le secteur de la vente doivent apprendre à contrôler leurs émotions et à être patients. Pour le vendeur, si vous ne contrôlez pas votre humeur, cela ne rendra pas seulement la colère dans votre cœur difficile à résoudre, mais aggravera la situation. En même temps, les conflits mutuels, les suspicions et la méfiance vont se succéder. Invisible créera une atmosphère discordante. Une fois qu'une telle mauvaise atmosphère se généralisera, les avantages réels et potentiels des ventes deviendront de mauvaise humeur. Le look de la Replique IWC est noir mat. Le diamètre de 44 mm de l’atmosphère est conçu pour les poignets les plus épais. Le design noir silencieux vous donne un attrait masculin plus fort et une épaisseur de 16,8 mm.
Posted by: luxelefrance - 05-05-2019, 10:59 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Dans la vie, les gens se comparent toujours plus ou moins aux autres. En comparaison, les personnes trouveront le fossé entre elles et les autres, comprendront leurs propres faiblesses et avantages, stimuleront leur propre cœur, s'efforceront d'apprendre de bons exemples et s'amélioreront constamment. C'est un rôle plus positif. Mais si dans le processus de comparaison, les gens trouvent le mauvais objet et choisissent la mauvaise méthode, alors cela aura un effet néfaste. Par exemple, en comparant vos forces avec les faiblesses des autres ou en utilisant vos propres faiblesses pour les comparer aux avantages des autres, les résultats sont très différents. Par conséquent, dans la vie réelle et au travail, les gens devraient faire des comparaisons appropriées et rationnelles, plutôt que des comparaisons aveugles, provoquant des contusions et des coups énormes pour eux-mêmes. Vous connaître et vous évaluer correctement peut déterminer votre position et faire ce que vous devriez. Dans le travail de vente des replique montre de luxe, c’est un moyen courant d’évaluer le personnel de vente en comparant les performances. Les dirigeants continuent de travailler dur et ceux qui sont à la traîne tentent de rattraper leur retard. Tout le monde fait des efforts inlassables pour obtenir de meilleurs résultats. Cependant, certains vendeurs perdent confiance en leurs performances moyennes. Ces vendeurs se nient d'abord complètement dans leur cœur. Ils sentent qu'ils ne peuvent pas comparer avec les gens qui réussissent autour d'eux. Ils se sentent toujours inférieurs et pensent qu'ils ne veulent pas Quel est l'avenir. Avec ce genre de psychologie, je ne vais pas travailler dur pour me dépasser au travail et être prêt à être le dernier. Les Replique Porsche Design utilisent une couronne traditionnelle, soit un total de quatre modèles, en titane, en or rose et autres matériaux, équipées d'un mouvement automatique et d'une autonomie de stockage de 72 heures.
Posted by: luxelefrance - 05-05-2019, 10:54 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Les vendeurs doivent utiliser des techniques chaque jour pour améliorer leur capacité émotionnelle à infecter. Mais chaque jour, un environnement de travail monotone, un marché instable et un concurrent intelligent et capable. Ces facteurs répriment les vendeurs déjà nerveux. Comment pouvons-nous maintenir notre passion? La réponse est d'être le maître de leurs propres émotions. Lorsque le personnel des ventes des replique montre veut enflammer la passion des clients, il doit tout d'abord enflammer leur passion, car seuls les sentiments sincères peuvent contaminer les émotions des clients. Les émotions sont comme des pendules, combien d'énergie sont des émotions négatives et combien d'énergie sont des émotions positives, alors ne les supprimez pas lorsque vous rencontrez des émotions négatives, ou si vous les ignorez. Établir votre propre mécanisme de gestion des émotions peut être un bon moyen de mobiliser vos émotions et d’affecter ainsi les décisions d’achat de vos clients. En tant que vendeur, vous pouvez souvent vous demander: quel type de mentalité dois-je faire face au client? Quelle mentalité m'aide à atteindre les meilleurs résultats? Comment pouvons-nous saisir la bonne mentalité des ventes? Le dessus du boîtier de la Replique Vacheron Constantin est fabriqué par la technologie de la lithographie par électroformage afin de créer un deuxième nombre, lequel s'affiche toutes les cinq secondes, par exemple 5 secondes, 10 secondes, 15 secondes, etc. En raison de la construction extrêmement complexe du boîtier, le mouvement est intégré latéralement dans le boîtier.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-05-2019, 08:07 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Sonic Will Be Redesigned Ahead Of His Live-Action Movie's Release
After Paramount and Sega unveiled the first official trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie, fans of the blue blur took to the internet to complain about the film's design of the titular hero. In response, Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler announced Sonic will undergo a redesign ahead of the movie's release.
"Thank you for the support," Fowler tweeted. "And the criticism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design and you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount and Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be." Fowler did not clarify what this redesign would entail, nor if the effort to do so will push Sonic the Hedgehog past its scheduled November 19 release date.
Criticism for Sonic's design in the movie has been aimed at pretty much every part of the speedy blue hedgehog. Most of the dislike seems to stem from the movie version's legs, torso, teeth, and eyes. Most of the changes to Sonic's design in the coming movie currently make him appear uncannily human, which some fans have found unnerving. Most likely, the planned redesign will make Sonic look closer to his original cartoonish appearance.
Sonic the Hedgehog sees Sonic partner up with a state trooper to stop Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, a mad scientist and skilled roboticist working with the government to uncover the secrets of the blur blur. In the movie's trailer, we see the sassy Robotnik devise contraptions to capture Sonic, only for the mad scientist to become more deranged as the hedgehog continues to escape as a result of his super speed.
In the movie, Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz, a seasoned actor who's been seen on Parks and Recreation and House of Lies, and also voiced characters in the new Duck Tales Show and BoJack Horseman. Dr. Robotnik is played by Jim Carry, an actor well known for portraying that exact archetype in numerous films throughout his career. In an interview, Carry said, "I made sure that there are some winks and nods, and edgy things that are still acceptable to [all] age groups."
Detective Pikachu Director Comments On Sonic’s Movie Makeover
Not long after Jeff Fowler revealed Sonic would receive a movie makeover, Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman was asked by The Verge what he thought about the idea of a redesign. He admitted the Sonic director was probably in a tough position and it likely wouldn’t be easy to adjust the character months out from the film’s release.
Letterman fell back on his own creation, saying how it would have been “impossible” for his team to redesign anything in Detective Pikachu:
“We spent a year designing all the characters ahead of shooting so that we could get it all right. If we were off by an inch on Pikachu, [actor] Justice Smith’s performance would go right out the window. For us, it would have been impossible — but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes — they’re in a difficult spot.”
The Detective Pikachu director went on to explain how the design choices in the live-action Pokémon film were a result of two years studying animal behavior and closely collaborating with the Pokémon Company in Japan.
“We studied a lot of animals and how they behave and how they interact to ensure we got it right…Bulldogs, in particular, for Bulbasaur and how they act in packs or how they get you to pay attention.”
Based on Letterman’s comments, do you think Fowler can achieve the impossible before the Sonic movie’s November release? Tell us down in the comments.
Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 4th)
Yet another week has flown by, and it’s finally time for the weekend (with an added bank holiday in the UK – hooray!). This week we had the drama of an indie game being removed from the eShop for being a bit naughty, and a whole lot more drama with that Sonic trailer, but now it’s time to chat about what we’ll be playing over the next couple of days.
Members of team Nintendo Life have done just that below, and we’d love for you to join in via our comments and poll sections below. Enjoy!
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer
This weekend I’m going to be returning to one of my favourite open-worlds of the previous generation – Steelport from Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package. While it doesn’t quite possess the pedigree of GTA, I loved how unashamedly wacky this third instalment was. And now it’s on Switch! Look out for my full review next week on Nintendo Life. I’ll also be indulging in some illegal avarice in Thief Simulator and blasting away Nazis from afar in Sniper Elite V2 Remastered. You know, as you do…
I don’t think we’ve ever seen a console this well suited to family fun. Sure, the Wii was essentially marketed as the ‘Nintendo Video Gaming Fun For Everyone Including Your Grandma And Your Cat’ machine, but the quality of Switch’s games and its portability – even when taking the dock – put it ahead of that in my opinion. I secretly hope we play Mario Kart, because no one beats me at Mario Kart!
Gavin Lane, staff writer
While waiting impatiently for more news on how Streets of Rage 4 is coming along, I nabbed the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle on sale this week, so I intend to sit down and work my way through multiple Andre the Giants (sorry, Andore the Giants) in Final Fight, plus another game or two in the collection. The unlimited credits in these arcade ports on Switch can turn even tough games into relaxing Sunday afternoon blasts that go down very well with a nice frosty beverage – and that’s what I’m looking for this weekend. Have a good one everybody!
Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer
I’ll be taking a bittersweet return to Atlas thanks to the all-new Crimson Moon DLC out earlier this week, with the bitter part being that there will be no more toys manufactured for Starlink: Battle for Atlas. A real shame since the game remains such an incredible experience and thanks to all the newly added content more so than ever. When not turning Legion into scrap metal I shall do my part to remove Twintelle from the ARMS Party Crash Bash and do my finest to take Brutal Deluxe into the final franchise week at Super Blood Hockey.
My game of the week goes to Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut, an unexpected old PC friend that once again brings its hauntingly beautiful soundtrack and gorgeous Itano circus light shows to the humble Switch, the machine that can do it all!
Which games are you playing this weekend? (268 votes)
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-05-2019, 05:13 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Riot agrees to scrap mandatory arbitration, but only for new employees
Riot Games has pledged to let new employees opt-out of mandatory arbitration in the wake of staff protests.
Staffers reportedly threatened to stage a walkout last week over the company’s attempts to force two former workers with lawsuits against Riot into private arbitration, with the League of Legends developer keen to push those concerned into settling their harassment complaints and other legal issues outside of the courts.
Riot responded to that discontent by explaining there are “pros, cons, and nuances to the discussion of arbitration,” but after further consultations with staff has now decided to “pivot” its approach – but only after current litigation has been put to bed.
“As soon as current litigation is resolved, we will give all new Rioters the choice to opt-out of mandatory arbitration for individual sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. At that time, we will also commit to have a firm answer around expanding the scope and extending this opt-out to all Rioters,” wrote the company in a blog post.
“We know that this resolution will not satisfy all Rioters. We understand and respect Rioters who choose to protest this decision on Monday, and admire their conviction and willingness to stand up for their beliefs.”
The studio also outlined what arbitration currently means at Riot, and explained its current agreement allows plaintiffs to hire a lawyer of their choosing, and doesn’t require them to sign a confidentiality clause.
Riot added that it also covers all costs of the arbitrator, who must be agreed upon by both parties involved in the process, and that the agreement doesn’t limit damages.
Although the company has ultimately decided to tweak its approach, it re-iterated that the situation will remain “complicated,” and will undoubtedly leave some feeling shortchanged.
“We are facing a complicated situation with no perfect solution, so arriving at a decision has not been easy,” continued the company. “We are working diligently to resolve all ongoing litigation, so that we can quickly take steps toward a solution that more Rioters feel good about. This is where we are right now, but this is an ongoing process and there’s more to come.”
