Welcome Jean-Marcel Nicolai to the Cyber-Watch!
Inokatsu
All posts tagged Inokatsu
Here’s an OLD POST that somehow did NOT GET its day in the Sun, our appologies to ARCLIGHT, as he scoped out the ”even-bigger-than-SHOT Show 2011″ Cyber-Cubicles at the IWA 2011 Show in Germany, and guess what? They actually didn’t do any interviews with him, either.
OK, well, Cybergun’s “hired gun” and IPSC World Champion Eric Grauffel did…so, sue me. He talked to me, along with “Mr. Inokatsu” and a bunch of Cybergun and Softair USA (Hi John!) higher-ups in Vegas back in January… they were just really, really camera shy around Thumpy. Wonder why?
Mr. Inokatsu and a "close friend" at CyberGun/Softair USA's Massive Booth
I proved I’m a lovable little fuzzy bunch of BB Slingin’ warmth and personality. Even “they” admitted it. I just hate that I’m so far behind schedule that I don’t have Cyber-G’s SHOT Show video cut yet…and I have, like, 15 more to send you from the NAA Airsoft Expo…and they WILL GET DONE!
OK, just get crackin’, T-Man! Thanks again to Arc and the gang…check out all THEIR videos over HERE at the REDWOLF YouTube Channel, and at the REDWOLF CYBER-STORE!
THUMPY…OVER
Reuters Business and Boursarama/CercleFinance.com announce another major acquisition for Cybergun.
LINK TO STORY, VIA GOOGLE TRANSLATE, IS RIGHT HERE
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Short take is that CyberG is buying into a stake in a factory inside China…with a tie-in to trademarks rights they already hold and may have exercised with that plant….all subject to approval by Chinese authorities.
THUMPY…OVER
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Super nice find by our buds Vic, Optimus and Gungho Cowboy over at POPULAR AIRSOFT, as we have been waiting since our first reports earlier this year (LINKS HERE) , and especially since the E3 games show this week, to hear about the first Cyber-G entry into Airsoft-meets-Video games…and the first sightings of their tie-in to Blackwater Worldwide:
Screen Shot courtesy Popular Airsoft and Kotaku.com...click photo for their review
POPULAR AIRSOFT STORY LINK : CLICK HERE
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CLICK THE PIC BELOW for Another gallery of screen shots from KOTAKU.COM
Courtesy Kotaku.com...hey, notice how FRANCE is the center of the World on the map in the background? Hmmm, wonder if that came with the contract and the Euros!
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Another story about the game from WIRED.COM‘s E3 Coverage: LINK HERE
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Cinema Blend has short coverage: LINK HERE
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AND, Kotaku’s REVIEW and take on the game, after they got HANDS ON at E3: LINK HERE
APPARENTLY (SARCASM ALERT!) The cats’ at Cybergun are paying attention…as we got the following e-mail this morning….from Gael Ferec, who heads Cyber-G’s App effort, put together by an outside vendor:
Gael FEREC:…
Thumpy3D@gmail.com
date
Mon, May 23, 2011 at 3:42 AM
subject
Cybergun on Appstore
Hi Thumpy
I’m Gael, I’m in charge of this app.
I’ve check your review of our new app and you’re right, it’s a bad mistake from our developer, we asked him to put the app in +17. It’s will be changed soon.
English version will be realised soon also.
Have a nice day!
Bye
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Gaël FEREC
Purchase Department
Event Manager
THUMPY…Over
You knew it was on the way…and now, iPhone and iPad lovers, you have a chance to remote-control the “Death Star.” Released MAY 21st, 2011…the date is important, follow along….
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LINK HERE: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cybergun/id437810672?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2
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In out first-blush look at the Apps Store sales page, we gotta say that this is one nicely put-together app.
Graphics follow the CYBER-G/WWLILS branding, with product info for a FAMAS (how apropos!)…and, on the far right screenshot, looks to be some kind of FPS Calculator that swaps the gun’s bb loading into a Meters-per-second energy equivalent. Although frequent readers will spy that this will likely be incorrect, as Cyber-G’s energy ratings are often vastly overstated for the actual performance of the gun OOTB.
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The description of the App also opens some new windows into Cyber-G marketing “strategery”…
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OH GOODY…. “the news updated every DAYS”…Now Old Thumpy will HAVE to get an iPad or iPhone to keep you posted on their DAILY happenings and announcements.
But, what seems most troubling about their marketing approach is that the App Store age rating for the Cyber-G App is ”9+.” According to Apple’s own APPLICATION RATINGS, seen below…
Yea, click DONE, as in...stick a fork in it...CLICK ON "DONE" FOR HOT LINK HERE
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But, wait. Isn’t this is a SALES TOOL for a product that, by Cybergun’s own package labeling and website information, is only for sale to persons 18 years of age or older? So, why is this not rated as an app for the “17+” category?
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AND THE TIMING OF THIS APPS RELEASE IS MOST TROUBLING OF ALL!!! (We told you the date was important!) With the improper use of an airsoft gun creating a firestorm in California with the Senate Bill 798 debacle…WHY WOULD CYBERGUN DECIDE NOW, of all times, to release an app to someone aged 9-18 ? This is at best, in our opinion, a FAIL’ed attempt at pushing airsoft to a younger-and-younger market for which it is not intended…and could be ruinous as fodder for anti-gun activists who will latch on to this as an attempt to do just that. More reason to be wary. Very. Wary.
THUMPY…OVER
We have a BIG UPDATE on an earlier post involving an attempt to seek Tarriff Duty Suspensions for Airsoft imports.
RECAP: Thumpy’s original post: HERE IS THE LINK : Politics make Strange Bedfellows
WELL, with a little more on-line digging, and some additional t-crossing and i-dotting, we are able to point readers DIRECTLY to a U.S. International Trade Commission .gov electronic document that lay bare the companies both FOR and AGAINST Senator John Cornyn’s proposed bill….
VERSUS
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HERE IS THE LINK, to our original post, involving U.S. Senator (R-Texas) John Cornyn’s proposed 2009 Bill, seeking a break for Cybergun USA, based in the Senator’s “home state” of Texas, for imports of AEG’s:
INFORMATION WAS FOUND HERE, on http://www.govtrack.us :
Full Text of the Bill:
S 2462 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2462
To suspend temporarily the duty on electric pneumatic airsoft rifles.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 29, 2009
Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
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A BILL
To suspend temporarily the duty on electric pneumatic airsoft rifles.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ELECTRIC PNEUMATIC AIRSOFT RIFLES.
(a) In General- Subchapter II of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is amended by inserting in numerical sequence the following new heading:
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‘ 9902.01.00 Low energy air guns (ASTM F 2654) operated by pneumatic pressure created by an electrical air pump (provided for in subheading 9304.00.20) Free No change No change On or before 12/31/2011 ’.
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(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) applies to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Some CORNYN Factoids
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Republican Senator (Junior Senator) from the great AIRSOFT STATE of TEXAS
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He is rated “A” by the National Rifle Association…
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SENATOR CORNYN’s Background Information, via Wiki: LINK HERE
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NEW INFORMATION: From information below which we gathered after the original post, both the lobbyist working on behalf of Cyber-G and the Senator and his staff were “above board” in their filings of the proposed bill…and it was NOT the ONLY industry in the Senator’s home state that his office introduced similar tariff-suspension measures for in the same time frame.
However, the interesting information…and push back to the proposal came from a staff report by the US International Trade Commission, which contacted CROSMAN USA about their input on the proposal…and got one STRONG OPPOSITION VIEW from Crosman CEO Ken D’Arcy, in THE DOCUMENT LINK BELOW, which we’ll paraphrase here:
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Crosman Corporation is the largest importer of low energy air guns and is opposed to a temporary suspension of import duties applicable to low-energy air guns of the type proposed in S. 2462 because the duty suspension would discourage the establishment of manufacturing of such air guns in the United States.”
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THIS IS THE LINK to the PDF version of the USITC Staff Report on the bill, with Crosman’s opposition filing:
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About the USITC…What they do…is covered in their Info Link RIGHT HERE:
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And, to prove the “transparency” that’s now REQUIRED of all lobbyists in the USA…Here’s the required report from Cybergun/Softair USA’s lobbyist: LINK HERE
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And more on their lobbying efforts in 2009 LINK HERE AND in 2010 LINK HERE From OpenSecrets.org, a major on-line watchdog organization:
This was quite a find in the on-going Cyber-G Watch…and although the GOOGLE TRANSLATE from French to English is mighty poor, it does make for some interesting reading.
Does it say: That J.M. shirked military service? That airsoft guns are used to commit 50% of the armed robberies in France? That an action by Beretta led to the start of Cybergun? And, that Blackwater/Xe is actually PARTNERS in the long-rumored video game production by Cyber-G?
Read for Yourself! Here’s the TRANSLATE LINK to the piece by French business website www.capital.fr
Cybergun Announce approval of their plans….as reported HERE earlier….to bring in NEW videogame executive partner I2G. Approval was reported on several French Business websites following a shareholders meeting Friday, April First, 2011
AND, as suggested during Friday’s “NOT APRIL FOOLS DAY ” I2G announcement…YET ANOTHER new acquisition seeks to firm up distribution in the U.K., by adding Sportsmarketing SMK to the CyberG “Stable” of companies.
From information on SMK’s own WEBSITE (LINK HERE)…they have approximately 40 years expertise in importing, marketing and supplying ‘stockists with “high quality products”, reportedly a huge producer of custom air pistols, and marketing airsoft guns (mostly CyberG “Craptastic Plastic”) and accessories (including “SWISS ARMS-Licensed-via-Cyber G” sights and gear) in the United Kingdom, via SMK’s network of over 1,600 outlets.
This is much the same corporate strategy Cybergun has been following to build up marketing and distribution chains in Scandinavia and the USA/North America.
FROM TF1 News HERE:
“In 2010, Sportsmarketing achieved a turnover of around GBP 4 million (4.5 million), solely in English, 10% via Cybergun products in the catalog, and a higher operational arge m 10%. The development plan can consider doubling sales in four years, thanks to distribution under the brand name Swiss Arms (owned by Cybergun) Sportsmarketing product (ranges of break-barrel Custom Made in UK “) in the entire distribution network Cybergun.”
YOU CAN CHECK the latest coverage over at BOURSE.lci/fr….English translation via GOOGLE TRANSLATE HERE
THUMPY….OVER
You want a SIG 550/551/’2/’etc. with real trades???…looks like the world will soon be knocking at CYBERGUN’S door a little bit harder, as Cyber-G announces at the IWA Show in Nurnburg, Germany they are acquiring Swiss Arms in a major new Cyber-Deal.
Coverage again by several European financial services and sites (all duly attributed and linked below…Thumpy suggests opening in Google Translate or Chrome with translation features switched ON) show that the maker of SIG SG550-series carbines and rifles will have a much-more direct working relationship than their original marketing/licensing agreements that brought clear-plastic SIG guns to the Airsoft marketplace.
Foreshadowing their Swiss Arms announcement, we saw this poster at Cybergun's SHOT Show 2011 Display area
“Among the iconic models marketed by the company include the range SG550, SG551 and SG552 team that many armies around the world, as the French GIGN and the U.S. Navy SEALS.”
Background on Swiss Arms…via Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Arms
Some of the coverage, via financial sites in French, German and Italian media, or open with Google Translate for your favorite native tongue:
STARTING HERE, at Bourse.lci.ft: LINK
and HERE, from http://www.romandie.com: LINK
and, MORE HERE, from http://www.investir.fr: LINK
MORE AS IT COMES IN….CYBER-G WATCH CONTINUES!
Thumpy…OVER
Looks who is moving in on the “Home field advantage”…well, at least ONE DEALER’S Worth…ECHO ONE announces a connection to Cyber-G’s “Homeland”
Questions outbound to Echo 1 USA and Brian Holt et al……Details as they develop!
THUMPY…OVER!
NOW, TODAY FOR THE BIG NEWS….CYBERGUN ANNOUNCES THE TERMS OF A PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF I2G, INTERACTIVE GAMES GROUP….
CYBERGUN WATCH is back… with HUGE NEWS that Cyber-G is setting terms for their next major expansion, moving into the world of VIDEO GAMES, themed and tied to their portfolio of Airsoft Guns, gear and accessories.
At a press conference with business media members in Paris on 28 February 2011, (reported HERE and HERE) CYBERGUN announced terms of an on-going negotiation to purchase I2G, Interactive Games Group, described as an “executive” company headed by former Atari Interactive Chief Exective Officer Frederic Chesnais, and formed around a corporate strategy, much as CYBER-G was, of leverage of intellectual property rights in the convergence of real property (ie: CYBERGUN’s Product physical airsoft and other “lines”) and the digital world (Video games and entertainment products) “coordinated” by I2G….according to I2G’s Website, partners in game production include Atari (LINK), Interplay (LINK) producers of the “Fallout” games, Southpeak Games (LINK), 3-G Studios (LINK), Collision Studios (LINK), and others….
A DEAL VALUED AT 16.8 MILLION EUROS!
So, in today’s economy, What does 16.8 Million Euros get you?
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Well, apparently I2g has already negotiated rights with Gene “KISS” my “FAMILY JEWELS” Simmons (WEBSITE HERE) for video game-related projects….
AND, Add Jillian Michaels Athletics to the proposed CYBER-G Stable, too. (WEBSITE HERE) (And, while you are at it, insert your own “BIGGEST LOSER” punchline here, if you must….we’ll wait till you finish….OK.) And, you could even add on to the “Double D’s” jokes from Jillian’s “other” new partner, Go Daddy…which means she may even be tempted to wear a 6 “M-M” BB or two in future commercial endorsements, perhaps along with former MTV-babe Daisy Fuentes (LINK HERE, to her SEGA game title), also developing exercise/fitness related video products via I2G.
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THUMPY’S BACKGROUND: This was not an un-predicted move by Cybergun, as we heard directly from Cybergun representatives, up to and including CEO Jerome Marsac, who revealed at the SHOT Show 2011 that they would be producing/distributing a new line of BLACKWATER USA-trademarked Airsoft guns and gear, as seen in Thumpy’s photos from the Cybergun/Palco/Softair USA display hub.
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