Asked by brad-t
I, of course, realize this. But I don’t view the situations as all that similar. Apple fell because it was mismanaged over several years. Nintendo has fallen because the world has simply changed around them very rapidly. (Remember how insanely popular the Wii was just a few years ago?) And it’s not going back.
They need to become the Pixar of the gaming world — another company which focused on hardware once upon a time.
Germain Lussier for /Film:
The studio that helped pioneer 2D, hand drawn, theatrical animation is currently at a crossroads with the process. At Wednesday’s Walt Disney Company shareholder’s meeting, CEO Bob Iger revealed none of Disney’s animation companies, which includes Disney Animation, Pixar and Disney Toons, are currently developing, or have plans to develop, any 2D, hand drawn animation for the big screen. He’s not ruling it out, but the current slate - which probably stretches 3-4 years – has none of it.
The end of an era. Just imagine if Disney had not bought Pixar — and that would not have happened if Michael Eisner remained as CEO instead of getting replace by Bob Iger. Disney could have been in a lot of trouble right now…
Sometimes acquisitions don’t work. Sometimes they’re the only thing that works.
Justine Sharrock for BuzzFeed on Matt Jones (best known for his work with Pixar) working with Facebook on a new class of emoticons:
Right now, Jones is experimenting with colors beyond the default yellow used in most other emoticons. He tried “Facebook blue,” thinking it might have become familiar enough to users, but said the emoticons just looked like they had hypothermia. He’s experimenting with multiple colors: red for anger, green for envy. “But you don’t want to offend anyone,” he explains. “Colors will be a racial issue.”
I was never a big emoticon user until about a year ago when I enabled them on my iPhone. Now I’m addicted. You can convey so much without typing.
(I also love that BuzzFeed has adopted the to-the-top button found on Tumblr.)
Claude Brodesser-Akner:
Informed sources tell Vulture that Star Wars: Episode VII has found a leading candidate to write the film’s screenplay: Michael Arndt, the Pixar favorite who was nominated for an Oscar for Toy Story 3, won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, and wrote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is currently shooting. Insiders confirm that Arndt has written a 40- to 50-page treatment for the film and is likely to be at least one of the writers when the Disney/Lucasfilm project begins shooting in 2014.
Great news. Hopefully this is the beginning of an expansive Pixar/Star Wars talent share.
[via @panzer]
