why isn't he pleading for Facebook and Square Enix to come back?
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Boston mayor formally asks Sony to reconsider pulling out of PAX East gaming showcase
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why isn't he pleading for Facebook and Square Enix to come back?
Square only scaled back their plans rather than a full pullout, and Facebook only pulled out of GDC.
Sony's also a much bigger company in the public eye than Square, as well as more important to the profitability of PAX as an event.
Facebook only cancelled their GDC appearance and Square-Enix is still attending PAX East. They cancelled some FFXIV events, but are still doing a full demo and blowout on FF7 Remake.
I don't know where to begin, but let's start with the notion that the major is doing this out of any concern for gaming as opposed to revenue and go from there.
The risk isn't just the thousands of people their employees will be exposed to at the event, but the tens of thousands possible interactions each employee would have just traveling there and back.
This is just a promotional event, not mandatory to conduct business. It's absolutely not worth the risk, especially when it can take 2 weeks to show any symptoms meaning your company may be fucked and not know it so easily.
This is just a promotional event, not mandatory to conduct business. It's absolutely not worth the risk, especially when it can take 2 weeks to show any symptoms meaning your company may be fucked and not know it so easily.
Ah got it, thanks. I misread the post
The fact is that Sony are also people who are human and have human fears. It's also true that the volume of people in an enclosed space has historically been a transmission vector for conference bugs. The traditional joke being that you get sick as shit after attending here is something they don't want to risk after crossing paths with thousands of people there and back again.
their business won't live and die on not attending, and there will be another PAX next year. This is a marketing event ffs noting more.
It'a ridiculous that people still can't (or refuse) to see the issue from this perspective.
Nothing to do with big gaming conventions and more to be seen as a place where business can be conducted. They don't want Boston to have the stink of coronavirus affecting any kind of public gathering regardless of whether the risk is low or not.
if this were a big pharmaceutical company pulling out of DrugCon in Boston you can be sure they'd be saying the same message. It's about the dollar.
I understand Sony's reasoning behind this, but at the same time I don't. Aren't there thousands of people flying into boston all the time, don't the airports have screening programs now, aren't there travel restrictions in place as well?
It's too bad sony wont be there, I still think the show will be good.
It's too bad sony wont be there, I still think the show will be good.
The mayor actually has some interesting points that should be considered especially when it comes to anti-asian sentiments and general fear-mongering, other companies might follow too (which is already happening). I doubt they'll change their mind though since it seems to be a whole company policy
Chinatown revenue is down by a lot and literally in the last week they made an outward showing of support to patronize Boston Chinatown businesses. That statement ties into that.
Let's not act like this wasn't already the case before the Coronavirus. Xenophobia and racism has run rampant through Boston for decades. This is the Boston mayor worried about revenue lost.
Apologies. I thought you were saying that the revenue going down tied into Sony pulling out.
Judging by ticket availability ticket sales seem down, but I think in part it has to do with PAX implementing and promoting official ticket reselling. People don't need to necessarily buy a 4-day pass because Saturday tickets are sold out.
I mean we are seeing it now in Italy and other places that it spreads super fast, so I don't fault any large organization from avoiding being the catalyst for something like this. Can you imagine if some company's global meetings gets associated with the spread of the virus? The cruises are taking a beating already.
Oh of course, I totally understand why any company thinks it's prudent to not attend big events with people from all around the world at the moment.
I was just making a dumb joke about the mayor's motivation :p
OP
OP
This isn't exclusive to Sony. I work at a major international company, not in the gaming industry but even we have received travel bans in and out of APAC until the end of March and Italy until the second week of March.
People need to realize that this is a big deal outside of their control.
People need to realize that this is a big deal outside of their control.
Yes, but the numbers for Asian businesses across the country are rough after this outbreak. A couple weeks back, some paper in NYC ran a headline about Covid hitting the city but their evidence in that particular report amounted to "an Asian-looking guy sneezed on the subway."
I think it's good to clamp down on this. People are acting like this shit is The Stand or something, and the anti-Asian sentiment brewing in places is gonna get someone beaten up for coughing if places keep up the sensationalism. Sony skipping a big event isn't the cause of that, but at this point, basically every presser about the coronavirus should start with a calm rundown of the facts, followed by calls for rational civility.
That's definitely overstating it quite a bit. The overwhelming majority will be local residents. I can't imagine more than 2-3% of attendees would be traveling abroad (and most would be from Canada if anything).
Obviously only 1 person is necessary to spread something though and any international travelers could pose a risk but the chances are very slim.
I don't even think it's about being in Boston necessarily. Their employees will need to take a bunch of international flights no?
Also Betamax, it's backwards compatible after all! ;)
To answer your question, not sure myself. It was either that pic or this one I was going to use:
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eh it's better to be safe than sorry, people will forget about this next week and no gaming/consumer event is that important.
Nobody ever argued or stated that they are cancelling their attendances because "the virus is in this city".
Maybe there is also a slight difference between you traveling alone and an expo with thousands of people coming together from all over the globe, passing through hundreds of different airports on their way and getting exposed to millions of people. But maybe it's also the same. Who knows.
Idk, it just seems like people are being pointlessly fearmongery over a virus that is only marginally more deadly than seasonal flu in healthy adults. I guess I'm just frustrated because this is the city I live in and Sony not being here for our biggest gaming event of the year sucks.
Then don't send their East Asian employees. Sony's PAX Australia booth was run mostly by local event personnel, and a few key local Sony staff who had obtained code to run the games. I can understand a scale-back if they were showing early code from Japanese titles or had special international guest panels and they were hesitant about flying people over; but cancelling wholesale seems like a bit much when they have so much local talent. Even if they said they were withdrawing all new content and just did a Greatest/Current Hits display of Death Stranding/Medievil/Concrete Genie etc giving itcompletely to the local Boston Sony reps to run, that seems more reasonable than a 100% exodus.
Hell, set up some tables and just have Patapon 2 running all weekend.
The Boston mayor says he's concerned about racism against Asians in the wake of the corona virus outbreak... and yet he wants a Sony to send their Asian staff over here?
Haven't we been hearing about the persecution of Asians in the US over unwarranted corona virus fears?
If I was the mayor, I'd be concerned in the current climate that bringing over a large crowd of non-English speaking Asians could lead to an international incident when a Sony staffer might walk into a restaurant for some of Boston's famous local cuisine only to face violence from some idiot Bostoninan "Errr mah Gawd! Ee's speakin Chinese! This guys got the beer virus! Let's get im!"
Haven't we been hearing about the persecution of Asians in the US over unwarranted corona virus fears?
If I was the mayor, I'd be concerned in the current climate that bringing over a large crowd of non-English speaking Asians could lead to an international incident when a Sony staffer might walk into a restaurant for some of Boston's famous local cuisine only to face violence from some idiot Bostoninan "Errr mah Gawd! Ee's speakin Chinese! This guys got the beer virus! Let's get im!"
which would be dumb since... if you thought someone had the virus, why would you want to get close enough to harass them and possibly contract it yourself?