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The last week in Britain saw the announcement of this year’s Budget from the Conservative Party Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne in which such things such as tax, benefit and other economical announcements for the next few years are revealed to the parliament and the public of Britain.
One of the lesser known parts of this year’s budget was the announcement that from 2015, Britain is going to start adding VAT (Value Added Tax) to the price of digital media, increasing the prices consumers will have to pay to receive digital content such as television programs, music and much more. With VAT currently set at 20% in Britain, that’s not something that could be considered a small change, this will make a difference.
Personally, while I can see reasons to implement VAT upon digital media it does feel as if those with less money once again lose out. Pushing up the prices of digital media will only discourage people from buying it, especially in today’s economy when more people than ever have to watch their spending. The argument could be made that digital media is not a necessity, but I have always been of the mind that entertainment is the only thing that stops people from going insane. With a television licence costing £150 for a year and many people not being a fan of everything that is broadcast in your typical television schedule, more and more people are looking online for their entertainment and are perfectly willing to pay a little bit of money for their content so that the people who make the media they enjoy can afford to keep making it (as long as the pricing is fair for both sides).
There’s a very real chance that the addition of 20% extra fee to the price of digital media could lead to an increase in piracy, hurting the people who make the digital media in the first place.
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement about Disney buying Maker, comes another announcement about a big company acquiring a smaller, very popular company. Facebook have just issued a press release stating their intention to buy VR innovators Oculus.
More information will become available soon, but for now take a look at the press release that was issued:
“MENLO PARK, CALIF. – March 25, 2014 – Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR, Inc., the leader in immersive virtual reality technology, for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones.
Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company’s virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus’ existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas. Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform.
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world,” said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. “We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”
Oculus will maintain its headquarters in Irvine, CA, and will continue development of the Oculus Rift, its ground-breaking virtual reality platform.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.”
It will be interesting to find out what Facebook could possibly have in store for Oculus when more information becomes available. Facebook’s creator has given us some idea though in a post which talks about using the VR technology of the Rift to extend beyond gaming and into places such as seats at a game and more. Either way, it does sound rather exciting but I can’t help but feel that the Rift is a long way off yet from taking us to the theatre from the comfort of our own sofas.
So, you may have heard the news. Disney has bought Maker Studios, the YouTube powerhouse that hosts stars such as PewDiePie, TotalBiscuit, The Yogscast, iJustine and many more under its subnetworks. Maker Studios generates an average of 5.5 billion views per month, and Disney is reportedly shelling out at least $500 million to acquire the network. Those are the hard numbers. But what does it actually mean?
[Full disclosure: The author of this piece is also affiliated with YouTube network Fullscreen]
As a creator and network member myself, this is an interesting turn of events. Yes, Disney is a mammoth company. And yes, Maker Studios is without a doubt the largest network on YouTube and has some of the biggest celebrities to be found on the site. But the pairing of the two is a bit concerning in my mind. Disney is primarily known as a family company, though they do own EPSN, A&E and ABC. This potentially raises a conflict, as much of the content created by members of Maker Studios is decidedly NOT family friendly. The main issue I see is whether or not Disney will allow Maker to continue operating more or less independently. If they do, it is unlikely much will change.
However, if Disney does decide to get actively involved in the operations of Maker Studios, then might we see a push towards more family friendly content on those YouTube channels? Perhaps a PewDiePie/Disney Family crossover? The crux of the matter is this: A company with little to no experience and certainly no success in the online video arena has just bought the the largest network in the single largest player for that space. Yes, YouTube is a great way to get views. But as any creator or network executive will tell you, it is NOT a stable way to grow a business money. Maker itself is rumored to have been steadily losing money recently. The big picture here is relatively easy to lay out. Disney attracts kids and teens. YouTube attracts kids and teens. The problem here is that most people go to YouTube for content that is not easily found on television. One possible way for Disney to handle this acquisition is to make Maker a distribution hub for Disney media. But really, do we need to go to a Disney/Maker channel to get our Frozen fix? Of course not. Simply typing “Frozen” in to site’s search bar yields pages upon pages of results. Will Disney set Maker up as a way for YouTube stars to make a go of it in “real media”? Again, possible. But would people like PewDiePie or TotalBiscuit even be interested? Yes, Justin Bieber got popular on YouTube. Then he got REALLY popular elsewhere. Then he went crazy. The fact is, most YouTube stars have done better when they remained on YouTube.
And Disney certainly doesn’t need to shoehorn it’s own properties into the YouTube universe. The Avengers? Thats a big risk to take with a property by cramming it into a YouTube video. If Disney keeps Maker at arm’s length and lets them run the show on their own, then things will probably be fine. I just don’t think Disney is capable of doing that. It may be that I am wrong. Or it may be that Disney has just set in motion the slow and inexorable death of YouTube as a medium where anyone can put a video out there and potentially make it big. We could be looking at a future of monster corporations deciding what gets views and what doesn’t. And wouldn’t that be a shame? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go publish my latest funny cat montage on my channel….
Last year, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that Game Boy Advance games are on the way to Wii U’s Virtual Console – and now the Japanese gaming giant is making good on the promise.
Nintendo UK took to Twitter and Facebook to announce that hand-held classic Advance Wars is on the way to the Wii U’s Virtual Console on April 3, marking the first GBA title to hit the Wii U Virtual Console. The game will be playable on your TV or through the Gamepad’s own screen like most Virtual Console classics, so you can either recreate the hand-held experience it was made for; or beam it up to the big screen.
Advance Wars is the first of what will likely be a wave of GBA titles which will gradually hit the console over the coming weeks and months – Satoru Iwata already confirmed in last month’s Nintendo Direct that Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Super Mario Advance: Yoshi’s Island are also planned releases. However, none of these have yet been given an English launch date. With the precedent now in place, however, it’s likely we won’t have much longer to wait – watch this space!
