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N'Gai Croal

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The Man Behind the Royal 'We' Says 'So Long'

11:00 AM, March 4, 2009 | Comments (12)
knockknock.biz luggage tags. Photo courtesy of justinph . I guess it's finally time for me to level up. It was the summer of '99 when I convinced my then editor to send me on a tour of the U.S. videogame industry. When I finally returned three weeks later,...

A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part IV

9:00 AM, December 29, 2008 | Comments (3)

A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part III

2:11 PM, December 22, 2008 | Comments (3)

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  • Loot: The Larry Probst Interview, Part III

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 30, 2006 12:28 AM
    In Part I and Part II of our three-part interview with Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst, he addressed the hardware difficulties facing Sony and Microsoft, and the company's ambitions for the Wii. Here in the closing segment, he stands up for EA's microtransactions... More
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  • Loot: The Larry Probst Interview, Part II

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 29, 2006 10:50 PM
    In Part I of our three-part interview with Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst, he discussed the supply challenges facing Sony, the Xbox 360's soft sales, and why EA will be more aggressive in its support of the Wii. Here in Part II, Probst talks about why... More
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  • Loot: The Larry Probst Interview, Part I

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 29, 2006 10:27 PM
    In our December 2003 profile of Lawrence F. Probst III, we wrote that his "reserved curmudgeonliness recalls Gimli, the gruff dwarf from Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings.'" What a difference two years makes. From the moment we sat down to breakfast... More
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  • Inbox: Razzing the PS3 And the Wii

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 29, 2006 11:30 AM
    With headlines like " Kansas Outlaws Practice Of Evolution ," The Onion is always good for a laugh or three. In its current issue, the merry satirists aim their wit at the recent launches of the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. Click here so that hilarity can... More
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  • Geek Out: PS3 Goes To the Dogs

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 27, 2006 05:46 PM
    While tooling through the Playstation 3's Xross Media Bar interface, those of you fortunate enough to score one may have noticed the "Install Other OS" option under "Settings"--->"System Settings." That's because Sony Computer Entertainment designed... More
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  • Double Life: J Allard's Big Bet

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 27, 2006 10:41 AM
    "You can sell 500,000 units of anything!" It was November 2003, and we were conducting a phone interview with James "J" Allard (gamertag: HiroProtagonist ), the chief hardware architect for Xbox and current BusinessWeek cover boy --see Allard's Blue Steel... More
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  • Double Life: Brother, Can You Spare A PS3?

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 24, 2006 02:43 PM
    Despite his many accomplishments--chief among them, a scoring average that has risen every year he's been in the NBA--the Washington Wizards' quirky point guard Gilbert Arenas should be used to being snubbed by now. After all, his jersey number is zero,... More
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  • Player Two: Gears of War Redux

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 21, 2006 12:07 PM
    At Newsweek HQ, most of our colleagues are either boomers in name or boomers in spirit, which means there aren't many serious gamers among our ranks. One of the few and the proud is Rolf Ebeling, the art director for Newsweek.com, whose office is right... More
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  • Hype: Employees of the Month

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 17, 2006 03:41 AM
    This post won't go live until later today, but as we write this, we've just gotten back from the PlayStation 3 midnight launch at the Sony Style store on New York City's Madison Avenue. We went to a similar event for the PlayStation Portable in March... More
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  • Loot: Dispatches From the Console Wars, Part III

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 16, 2006 07:20 PM
    As the battle is joined, Microsoft execs are smart enough to understand that they've got some weaknesses to shore up in their Xbox business. And they've been working overtime to do so, primarily by securing as many exclusive third-party games or exclusive... More
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  • Loot: Dispatches From the Console Wars, Part II

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 16, 2006 07:01 PM
    Many industry observers are puzzled as to why Xbox 360 hardware sales haven't kept pace with the strong software sales of games like Call of Duty 2 (Activision); Fight Night Round 3 and Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts); Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter... More
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  • Loot: Dispatches From the Console Wars, Part I

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 16, 2006 06:30 PM
    Now that Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are both on the market, publishers , developers, analysts and gamers are trying to figure out one thing: which of these two powerhouses is going to come out on top? (We'll address the Wii separately.) Microsoft has... More
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  • Loot: Supercomputer Performance, Entry-Level PC Price?

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 16, 2006 11:24 AM
    We all know by now how much the PlayStation 3 will cost us: $499 (20 gigabyte model) and $599 (60 gigabyte model with built-in Wi-Fi.) But how much is it costing Sony? Understandably, the company is keeping that information close to the vest. But the... More
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  • Hype: Weapons of Mass Seduction, Part II

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 15, 2006 11:20 PM
    In Part I of our interview with Sony Computer Entertainment America senior vice president of marketing Peter Dille, he explained the thought process behind the ad campaign for PlayStation 3. Here in Part II, Dille tackles Microsoft's two-tiered strategy... More
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  • Hype: Weapons of Mass Seduction, Part I

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 15, 2006 05:27 PM
    From the dulcet tones of Lance Henriksen 's voice to the disturbing images of a weeping baby doll, Peter Dille's second tour of duty at Sony Computer Entertainment is already having an impact. Currently SCEA's senior vice president of marketing, he also... More
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  • Loot: Taking Sides In the Format War

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 14, 2006 01:07 PM
    As if the console war between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo isn't enough, the videogame market is also playing an important role in the format battle between two competing high-definition disc formats: Blu-ray and HD-DVD . Blu-ray would seem to have the... More
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  • Double Life: What Does Your Game Face Look Like?

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 14, 2006 12:16 PM
    We've always thought that an excellent concept for a Madden NFL television ad would be one filmed from the point of view of the television set. It would focus squarely on the reactions of actual gamers as they play from their couches, dispassionately... More
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  • Player Two: The Gears of War Grind Exceedingly Awesome

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 14, 2006 04:24 AM
    At Newsweek HQ, most of our colleagues are either boomers in name or boomers in spirit, which means there aren't many serious gamers among our ranks. One of the few and the proud is Rolf Ebeling, the art director for Newsweek.com , whose office is right... More
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  • Hype: The Screenshot's Long Goodbye

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 13, 2006 12:51 PM
    A picture is worth a thousand words, the cliché goes. But what if a picture actually tells a thousand lies about the quality of your videogame? As developers, publishers and publicists try to build buzz for their PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles, they're... More
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  • Geek Out: I Wanna Feel You From the Inside

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 13, 2006 06:29 AM
    When the PlayStation 2 debuted in March of 2000, Japanese consumers snatched up close to one million units during its first 48 hours on sale. But thanks to the well-documented shortages of key components for the PlayStation 3, only 100,000 units were... More
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  • Hype: A New Web Site For A New Console

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 13, 2006 05:43 AM
    Anyone who's into videogames knows that Sony Computer Entertainment America is launching the PlayStation 3 on November 17. In preparation, the company is also redesigning its Web site to better inform gamers and to take advantage of the PS3's widescreen... More
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  • Hype: Gears of War Ad Mashups

    N'Gai Croal | Nov 2, 2006 10:46 AM
    As we've stated in a previous Level Up post, videogame ads are rarely a fount of ingenuity. So kudos to Microsoft for avoiding the aggro rock songs, generic electronica tracks or orchestral Carl Orff ripoffs that permeate much of the genre. The score--Michael... More
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