...9-709-462 REV: JANUARY 15, 2010 JUAN ALCACER DAVID COLLIS MARY FUREY The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire? In November 2005, Robert Iger, the newly appointed CEO of the Walt Disney Company, eagerly awaited the box office results of Chicken Little, the company’s second computer-generated (CG) feature film. He knew that, for Disney as a whole to be successful, he had to get the animation business right, particularly the new CG technology that was rapidly supplanting hand-drawn animation.1 Yet the company had been reliant on a contract with animation studio Pixar, which had produced hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, for most of its recent animated film revenue. And the co-production agreement, brokered during the tenure of his predecessor, Michael Eisner, was set to expire in 2006 after the release of Cars, the fifth movie in the five-picture deal. Unfortunately, contract renewal negotiations between Steve Jobs, CEO of Pixar, and Eisner had broken down in 2004 amid reports of personal conflict. When he assumed his new role, Iger reopened the lines of communication between the companies. In fact, he had just struck a deal with Jobs to sell Disneyowned, ABC-produced television shows—such as “Desperate Housewives”—through Apple’s iTunes Music Store.2 Iger knew that a deal with Pixar was possible; it was just a question of what that deal would look like. Did it make the most sense for Disney to simply buy Pixar? Walt Disney Feature Animation ...
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...THE PLAYER Good game design is player-centric. That means that above all else, the player and her desires are truly considered. Rather than demanding that she do something via the rules, the gameplay itself should inherently motivate the player in the direction the designer wants her to go. Telling players they must travel around the board or advance to the next level is one thing. If they don’t have a reason and a desire to do it, then it becomes torture. In creating a game, designers take a step back and think from the player’s viewpoint: What’s this game about? How do I play? How do I win? Why do I want to play? What things do I need to do? MEANINGFUL DECISIONS Distilled down to its essence, game design is about creating opportunities for players to make meaningful decisions that affect the outcome of the game. Consider a game like a boxing match. So many decisions lead up to the ultimate victory. How long will I train? Will I block or will I swing? What is my opponent going to do? Where is his weakness? Jab left or right? Even those few, brief questions don’t come close to the myriad decisions a fighter must make as he progresses through a match. Games invite players into similar mental spaces. Games like Tetris and Chess keep our minds busy by forcing us to consider which one of several possible moves we want to take next. In taking these paths, we know that we may be prolonging or completely screwing up our entire game. The Sims games and those in...
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...T ABLE OF CONTENTS RANKINGS & PROJECTIONS REVISIONS.................................................................................... 3 OVERALL RANKINGS........................................................................................................... 5 RANKINGS BY POSITION..................................................................................................... 7 QUARTERBACK SEASON PROFILES......................................................................................... 9 RUNNING BACK SEASON PROFILES......................................................................................... 13 WIDE RECEIVER SEASON PROFILES........................................................................................ 18 TIGHT END SEASON PROFILES............................................................................................... 26 KICKER SEASON PROFILES................................................................................................... 29 TEAM DEFENSE SEASON PROFILES......................................................................................... 33 IDP LINEBACKER & D-LINE SEASON PROFILES............................................................................ 37 IDP DEFENSIVE BACK SEASON PROFILES.................................................................................. 39 SLEEPERS & UNDERVALUED PLAYERS..................................................................................... 41 BUSTS & OVERVALUED...
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