EU Wants To Know If Microsoft Will Block Rivals After Activision Deal

Crowds gathered at the Rogers Centre on Sunday to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Boston Red Sox, and Pkv poker while fans expected a great game, what they didn't expect was to see a marriage proposal go south. 
The questionnaire, with about 100 questions, asked which of the rivals such as Nvidia's GeForce Now, Sony's Playstation, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna and Facebook Gaming could be considered the most attractive following the deal.

The PlayStation Stars program will launch later this year, though an exact time frame hasn't been provided yet. CNET reached out to PlayStation, but the gaming giant didn't immediately respond for comment.

It's-a here! The first trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped during a Nintendo Direct presentation on Thursday. The trailer had its simultaneous premiere at New York Comic Con, which runs Thursday to Sunday.

Regulators also wanted to know if there would be sufficient alternative suppliers in the market following the deal and also in the event Microsoft decides to make Activision's games exclusively available on its Xbox, its Games Pass and its cloud game streaming services.

Games developers, publishers and distributors were asked whether the deal would affect their bargaining power regarding the terms for selling console and PC games via Microsoft's Xbox and its cloud game streaming service Game Pass.
Alexander's girlfriend was wearing a bikini top from the brand  in the clip, which Alexander is the CEO of and who is the original poster of the viral video - leaving some to question if the moment was real or faked.

Campaigns will include PlayStation's "Monthly Check-In" campaign, where you can earn points just for playing any game on your console. Other activities will require you to win tournaments or unlock trophies to earn points -- or even be the first player in your local time zone to make it to platinum for a blockbuster title (which indicates that a player has achieved 100% completion in that game).

Digital collectibles are also on their way to the PS5 via the Stars program. Collectibles could be figurines of iconic characters -- think Solid Snake or Ratchet & Clank -- or they could be representations of famous Sony devices throughout history. 

They asked if such exclusivity clauses would reinforce Microsoft's Windows operating system versus rivals, and whether the addition of Activision to its PC operating system, cloud computing services and game-related software tools gives it an advantage in the video gaming industry.

BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are asking games developers whether Microsoft will be incentivised to block rivals' access to "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard's best-selling games, according to an EU document seen by Reuters.

Fans were eager to hear Pratt's Mario voice, especially because co-producer Chris Meledandri said he won't use the exaggerated Italian accent made famous by video game voice actor Charles Martinet. We won't ruin it for you. Watch the trailer.

"Of course, right now, I would much rather have run the ball and then kicked the field goal to take more time off, but in that situation, I thought it was a good play call. It was my decision to do that and (we) just need to execute better."

The EU competition enforcer also asked if Activision's trove of user data would give the U.S. software giant a competitive advantage in the development, publishing and distribution of computer and console games, the EU document shows.

Sony on Thursday introduced its PlayStation Stars loyalty program for PS5 and PS4 gamers. It'll be free to join, and players will be able to earn loyalty points by completing a variety of campaigns and activities. Players can choose from a catalog of options to redeem points, including PlayStation Network wallet funds and select PlayStation Store products.

Black also made a surprise in-person appearance at the New York Comic Con panel on Thursday, where he threw a cool spiky shell backpack to a lucky member of the crowd. He recalled playing the original 1981 Donkey Kong at the Mini Mart in Culver City, California, and called Bowser one of the greatest video game villains of all time.

Aside from Pratt, the all-star cast includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. Martinet will also have a surprise role.

"I think it's a combination of everybody getting used to each other down in that region. You can never practice that region enough and we have to execute better, we have to coach better, we have to come up with better plays and we have to run the ball more.

In that situation," Hackett said of the fourth-down call, "I wanted to have a very good protection, wanted to get a first down to finish the game and not just a field goal. The defense had been playing great and wanted to finish it off for them. I wanted to be somewhat aggressive, but not too aggressive and in the end, we have to execute the play better.