The Gaming News Thread

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

ESRB Adds Game Summaries to Ratings

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I guess that "mild violence, suggestive themes, and use of alcohol" isn't good enough any more? If parents didn't pay attention to the ratings and those descriptors, I don't see them reading lengthy descriptions either....

Not gaming related, but amusing none-the-less for us gamers:

Turkish inmate escapes via cardboard box. The La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo are not amused.

Stardock Talks Star Control, Master of Orion Sequels.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Brad Wardell of Stardock tells Gamasutra that his company would be interested in making follow-ups to Master of Orion and Star Control:

"I actually pitched Atari on a whole idea for a true successor to Star Control," CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra, noting that the game would follow original series developer Toys for Bob's Star Control II rather than the Legend Entertainment-developed Star Control 3 ("We just pretend that never happened," the CEO says of that release).

The exploration-driven space strategy game is said to have influenced Stardock's Galactic Civilizations series as well as Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire, also published by Stardock.

Novato, California-based Toys for Bob has actually floated the idea of making its own Star Control II sequel, with co-creator Paul Reiche III indicating he has tossed potential design ideas around, but with the company now owned by publisher Activision the proposal seems to be stuck in limbo.

Wardell also mentioned Simtex's Master of Orion as a franchise he would like to see Stardock continue. Like Star Control, its third entry was developed by a different studio -- in this case, Quicksilver Software -- and was not as well-regarded as the original games.

"We'd like to do a Master of Orion 4," said Wardell, noting that those rights are owned by Atari as well. "It would be an updated Master of Orion 2. There would be more to it, but that would be the basis of it."

I'm not sure it qualifies as news per se, but it's certainly intriguing....

Surprise!

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I was able to forge this deal with the [Pro Football Hall of Fame] that provides them with 400K per year (which is significantly below market rate) in exchange for the HOF player rights. EA owes me a huge favor because of that threat was enough to persuade Take Two to back off its plans, leaving EA as the only professional football videogame manufacturer out there.



...The per player price for most of these guys was tens of thousands of dollars less than what they were guaranteed by Take Two Interactive so it’s a real coup that we were able to pull this off so cheaply. You have to remember that EA’s total cost is only $200,000 per year. We know that Take Two offered six figure deals to several former NFL players so the total cost is millions below market prices...

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http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/11/...adden-monopoly

Muahaha, EA is THE baller in this industry!

YAY EA IS DIEING!!! LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE LEMUR!!

DNF still alive? One might hope


So reading through the most recent issue of game informer, I saw that DNF(Duke Nukem Forever) might still be alive. When you complete all the achievements and challenges for Duke 3D you unlock two new screens for DNF

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Originally Posted by Martok

Stardock Talks Star Control, Master of Orion Sequels.

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It turns out that wasn't the whole article, by the way. My bad. :oops:


Brad actually had quite a few interesting things to say:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Stardock's recently-announced Elemental: War of Magic is the developer's own internal creation -- but it's no secret that the Michigan-based company originally intended to secure the sequel rights to Microprose's 1995 game Master of Magic.

As it turns out, that's not the only lapsed property the Stardock team dreams of getting its hands on -- and not the only one currently owned by Atari, for that matter.

"I actually pitched Atari on a whole idea for a true successor to Star Control," CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra, noting that the game would follow original series developer Toys for Bob's Star Control II rather than the Legend Entertainment-developed Star Control 3 ("We just pretend that never happened," the CEO says of that release).

The exploration-driven space strategy game is said to have influenced Stardock's Galactic Civilizations series as well as Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire, also published by Stardock.

Novato, California-based Toys for Bob has actually floated the idea of making its own Star Control II sequel, with co-creator Paul Reiche III indicating he has tossed potential design ideas around, but with the company now owned by publisher Activision the proposal seems to be stuck in limbo.

Wardell also mentioned Simtex's Master of Orion as a franchise he would like to see Stardock continue. Like Star Control, its third entry was developed by a different studio -- in this case, Quicksilver Software -- and was not as well-regarded as the original games.

"We'd like to do a Master of Orion 4," said Wardell, noting that those rights are owned by Atari as well. "It would be an updated Master of Orion 2. There would be more to it, but that would be the basis of it."

He took the opportunity to deliver some stern words to those entrusted with a series they did not create: "If you're making a game that ends with '3,' or Something: The Sequel, it should be similar to the original game," he claimed.

Wardell noted: "Don't go off and say, 'I have my own artistic vision.' Okay, good -- so call it something else. Don't ride the coattails of the people who came before you to launch your own artistic vision."

And Elemental, influenced by Master of Magic but not officially based on it, is not the first time Stardock has developed its own property inspired by a best-case hypothetical scenario.

"I would never have done those Galactic Civilizations games in the first place if someone had made a Civilization-in-space game," Wardell laughed. "If [Sid Meier's] Alpha Centauri had been in space [rather than on another] planet, I never would have made it."

The CEO told Gamasutra that Stardock is building up a second full internal development team, and is tossing around various project ideas. "We'd like to do a roleplaying game too," he said, pointing to BioWare classics like Baldur's Gate II and Knights of the Old Republic as examples of the route he would like to take.

It would be "the same style of isometric gameplay -- not first person -- where I have a party that I'm interacting with," he explained, even calling out a specific Baldur's Gate II character.

"I think there are a lot of people who want that. They want to have a party again. They want to have a Minsc-type character in there. You can't have that interesting banter if it's just one guy running around."

"Someone's going to have to do it," he said, tossing out the idea of Demigod collaborator Gas Powered Games as a theoretical example. "If it's not another studio, it's got to be Stardock."

I love the part highlighted in bold. Take that, Quicksilver and Legend Entertainment! :whip:

Or Bethesda, for that matter.

I really liked the open-source version of Star Control 2. Stardock seems to be a good choice to make a sequel.

National Geographic Charts Game Division

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Media company follows up Namco Bandai Panda game partnership with full-fledged publishing and development label.

Considering the amount of horse, monkey, and kitten games flooding the handheld market, it wasn't all that surprising when Namco Bandai announced in April that it would be developing a Nintendogs-esque Nintendo DS title devoted to pandas. What was surprising, however, was that the venerable anthropological media company National Geographic Society would be funding the game.

As Namco Bandai's Panda game lumbers onto retails shelves this month, National Geographic Ventures is ready to make game development a full-time gig. The entertainment arm of the National Geographic Society announced today the formation of National Geographic Games, a division created to develop and publish games on all gaming consoles and handhelds, as well as online and mobile platforms.

Current NGV senior vice president Paul Levine will head up the company's game label. National Geographic has tapped former Take-Two and Bethesda Softworks exec Chris Mate to serve as the label's general manager, overseeing the daily operations at the studio.

In its first order of business, NGG said today that it has partnered with Namco Bandai and Sony Computer Entertainment to publish and distribute games for the Wii, DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, PC, and mobile devices. The Namco Bandai partnership presumably entails the aforementioned National Geographic: Panda. NGG's Sony collaboration will begin with National Geographic: Africa, due out for unspecified platforms this month.

NGG also announced Herod's Lost Tomb, a cross-promotional title that ties in to the December 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine as well as a feature broadcast on the National Geographic Channel. The game will be available this month for the PC, Mac, and iPhone. A free Flash version can be had through the media company's Web site.

As the last order of business, NGG also provided a brief look at its upcoming slate. The gamemaker expects to publish Sudoku Traveler: China in December, with Rainforests, Green City, and From the Bottom Up all expected to arrive sometime in 2009 for unspecified platforms.

Not too excited about any games that may come out of them.....If your company isn't based off partially in gaming and you don't have a ton of money to invest in it, please don't try and save some face...

Lich King Claims 2.8M souls in 24 hours

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Second World of Warcraft expansion officially fastest-selling PC title of all time following beyond-brisk day-one sales.

As only the second expansion to an 11 million-player massively multiplayer game, there was little doubt that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King would sell well. Today, developer-publisher Blizzard Entertainment told the world exactly how well, announcing the add-on had sold a staggering 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours on the market. GameStop reported that the expansion is already their top-selling PC title of 2008.

Wrath of the Lich King's launch was heralded by 15,000 midnight launch events worldwide. Whether they were in the US, UK, or Australia, all events were mobbed by fans whipped into a frenzy by a steady drumbeat of hype. The fact that it has been nearly two years since the first WOW expansion, The Burning Crusade, also played a large part. That game, too, shattered records when it sold 2.4 million copies in the 24 hours after its launch on January 17, 2007, back when WOW only had 8 million subscribers.

Surprise surprise......WOW expansion beats other WOW expansion for #1 selling PC title....

Grand Theft Auto IV DLC Due Feb 17

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Rockstar delays, dates, and details 360-exclusive "Lost and Damned" add-on to crime-action blockbuster, which will follow all-new biker-gang protagonist.

The bad news: Rockstar Games has officially confirmed that the Grand Theft Auto IV expansion will not arrive in 2008. The downloadable add-on, which will be exclusive to the Xbox 360, is now set to launch on Xbox Live worldwide on February 17, the same day as Street Fighter IV in the US. No price has been set, but the expansion will require the original game to play and will presumably share the same hard M for Mature rating.

Now, the good news. The expansion won't be a smallish bit of DLC, like Mass Effect's single-mission Bring Down the Sky. Titled "The Lost and Damned," the add-on will leave Niko Bellic behind in the Manhattan doppelganger of Algonquin and focus on an all-new protagonist. According to USA Today, Liberty City's newest antihero will be Johnny Klebitz, member of the biker gang known as The Lost. Based in the New Jersey clone of Alderney, the Sons of Anarchy-esque motorcycle club had some run-ins with Bellic--who will make a cameo appearance--in the middle section of GTAIV.

"Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background," Rockstar vice president of creative development Dan Houser told USA Today. "I can't go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City."

In addition to the new storyline, The Lost and Damned will also sport new weapons, vehicles, and multiplayer modes that have yet to be detailed. In an official press release, Rockstar said the add-on will also feature a whole new soundtrack, with new types of music being added to GTAIV's myriad radio stations.

Last but not least, the expansion will be the first of two 360-exclusive episodes Rockstar North is making for GTAIV. "Making these episodes has enabled us to expand the narrative and the experience of interacting with a game world in really innovative ways," said Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser, brother of Dan, in a statement. "We hope fans of the game enjoy the new way of experiencing life in Liberty City contained in this first episode." No details on the second episode have been announced.

I hope that this content will at least get to the PC sooner or later...

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

I hope that this content will at least get to the PC sooner or later...

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If this will ever happen, then it makes me wonder for what did Microsoft paid 50 millions...

Maybe so we PS3 players don't get it, apart from that: Link or it didn't happen. :inquisitive:

Midway served NYSE delisting notice

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Besieged publisher threatened with stock exchange removal after failing to meet minimum $1 per share average for 30 consecutive trading days.

Wall Street has always been known as a fickle mistress, and game companies across the board are grappling with keeping on its good side. Some, of course, aren't doing as well as others.

Midway said today that it has received a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange due to its failure to reach a minimum average closing price of $1.00 per share for the last 30 trading days. Midway has six months to raise its stock price--which is up 16 percent to $0.29 as of press time--before the NYSE takes further delisting action. For its part, the publisher said that it "plans to notify the NYSE that it will seek to cure the deficiency."

Earlier this month, Midway continued its extended period of decline, posting a $76 million loss on revenues of $36.7 million for its July-September quarter. Shortly before Midway reported its quarterly results, Shari Redstone, daughter of medial mogul Sumner Redstone, resigned her position as chairperson of the publisher's board. She was appointed to the position in 2004, after her father's company, National Amusements, bought a controlling stake in the publisher.

For the current holiday quarter, Midway hopes to shore up some of its losses, projecting a per-share deficit of $0.20 on revenues of $105 million. Key releases during the period include Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Blitz: The League II, and the publisher also expects to see continued sales of recent releases such as TNA iMPACT!, Mortal Kombat Kollection, and the Xbox 360 edition of Unreal Tournament 3.{/SPOIL]

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$76 million loss on revenues of $36.7 million

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Okay......that is simply crazyily bad there. I don't see how Midway is going to be able to stay on the NYSE, a 300%+ investment is pretty hard in this economy

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Originally Posted by Husar

Maybe so we PS3 players don't get it, apart from that: Link or it didn't happen. :inquisitive:

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What, are you seriously asking this?

Alright then...

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Take 2 has refused to clarify comments from chief financial officer Laine Goldstein that suggest the publisher received USD 50 million (EUR 37.3m / GBP 25.2m) from Microsoft for exclusive GTA IV episodic content.

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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...on-gta-iv-deal

Well, in a way it's nice that Microsoft invests 50 million so it's customers get some nice extras, I'm sure Sony has paid some people as well to support their products a bit more. The only problem is when you're the wrong kind of customer as in don't want to buy everything twice... :sweatdrop:

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Originally Posted by Husar

Well, in a way it's nice that Microsoft invests 50 million so it's customers get some nice extras, I'm sure Sony has paid some people as well to support their products a bit more. The only problem is when you're the wrong kind of customer as in don't want to buy everything twice... :sweatdrop:

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Actually, Microsoft has been pushing the release of that new content. Seems like they want to rush no matter how finished and polished the content will be. This must be some kind of first law in Microsoft's bible or something like that, code of conduct.

I think that it has been revealed that there will be exclusive content for each platform GTA IV is released on. Content you will not see on other platform, I guess. Now this still leaves the question not being answer. If all platforms will get something on the same level, what for Microsoft paid them?

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Defective Rock Band Kick Pedal

Tabula Rasa shutting down Feb. 28

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Following Garriott departure, NCsoft's troubled MMORPG will join Auto Assault on sci-fi scrap heap in three months.

This century, NCsoft is 0-for-2 with sci-fi massively multiplayer online role-playing games. (Unless you count City of Heroes/Villains.) More than a year after Auto Assault headed for the scrap yard, the Korean publisher announced its latest foray into the future, Tabula Rasa, is also being decommissioned. In a post on the game's official Web site, the developers behind the project today announced its imminent end.

"Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO," the post read. "In many ways, we think we've achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn't performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for."

As of January 10, 2009, Tabula Rasa will be free to play to its remaining subscriber base, much like the soon-to-be-shuttered Hellgate: London. However, as of February 28, the game's servers will be switched off forever. "We can assure you that through the next couple of months we'll be doing some really fun things in Tabula Rasa, and we plan to make staying on a little longer worth your while," the post concluded.

Though saddening to its subscribers, Tabula Rasa's demise wasn't completely unexpected. After going online last October one day before Hellgate's Halloween launch, the game struggled with a variety of technical issues and lukewarm reviews. Despite over six years in development--and several delays--the game never caught fire in the World of Warcraft-dominated MMORPG market, selling just over 61,000 copies in the US. In its most recent earnings report, NCsoft said the game--which cost a hefty sum to developer--accounted for just 2 percent, or $1.3 million, of its overall annual revenue.

Tabula Rasa's chief designer, Richard Garriott, went so far as to promote the game during his recent $30 million jaunt to the International Space Station. However, the writing appeared to be on the wall when Garriott abruptly resigned last week to pursue "new interests." In his departure message, the Ultima creator conceded the MMORPG's sailing had not always been smooth, saying, "I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch."

It must really be awful for Garriot seeing all of this happen. He really invested a lot of time/energy into this game only to see it die off

Meh; he'll get no sympathy from me. That's what he gets for being a pretentious blowhard IMO. The only people I feel sorry for are the TR players themselves.

I was a tr player and Im suprised it died, There was never a shortage of players and it was imho by far the superior to WoW in just content and fun for the low levels I never got high enough before they announced shutdown

Eidos tried to prevent sub-80% reviews for Tomb Raider Underworld from being released until today.

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Eidos UK PR firm Barrington Harvey has confirmed that British sites are being asked not to post Tomb Raider: Underworld reviews with scores lower than 80 percent until Monday.

The game releases today for 360 and PS3.

Gamespot UK journalist Guy Cocker revealed the tactic in a Twitter post on Wednesday that said: “call from Eidos–if you’re planning on reviewing Tomb Raider Underworld at less than an 8.0, we need you to hold your review till Monday.”

Said a Barrington Harvey rep on the phone this afternoon: “That’s right. We’re trying to manage the review scores at the request of Eidos.”

When asked why, the spokesperson said: “Just that we’re trying to get the Metacritic rating to be high, and the brand manager in the US that’s handling all of Tomb Raider has asked that we just manage the scores before the game is out, really, just to ensure that we don’t put people off buying the game, basically.”

British site Eurogamer has already gone live with a 7/10 score, an act the rep said had caused “problems”.

OXM UK has also posted a 7.0 score.

The news is unlikely to go down well. Eidos’s efforts at controlling review scores are still fresh in the mind: it was a row over Gamespot’s 6/10 review of Kane & Lynch that cost popular US journalist Jeff Gerstmann his job.

Tomb Raider: Underworld’s Metacritic average stands at 78 percent.

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What's bizarre is that, when questioned on the matter, they pretty much admitted it straight out. Yes, there's something to be said for honesty, but still.... :inquisitive:

http://www.destructoid.com/g-e-c-k-c...d-112650.phtml

Release of the Fallout 3 modding tools and first 3 DLCs have been announced:

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There will be three downloadable packs (detailed below) available for both Xbox 360 and PC, release across the first three months of 2009. There's no word on pricing.

* Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. An action-packed battle scheduled for release in January.
* The Pitt. Journey to the industrial raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. Choose your side. Scheduled for release in February.
* Broken Steel. Join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and rid the Capital Wasteland of the Enclave remnants once and for all. Continues the adventure past the main quest. Scheduled for release in March.

The official modding tools for Fallout 3 have been revealed as well. Cleverly called G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation) kit, the tools will allow players to modify the game in almost any way they desire by creating modifying, or editing any data for use in the game.

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Originally Posted by Martok

What's bizarre is that, when questioned on the matter, they pretty much admitted it straight out. Yes, there's something to be said for honesty, but still.... :inquisitive:

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That's right, this is the same Kane & Lynch drama all over again. Surprise, by same publisher.

I thought about Kane & Lynch "thing", that's just unprofessional. Now this, this is just plain stupid.

I'm throwing this publisher in to a garbage can, good night.

Is the video gaming industry recession proof?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It would be tempting for those in the video game business to take some recent news -- for instance, that October sales were through the roof, or that the latest World of Warcraft expansion broke the all-time record for single-day PC game sales -- as proof that their industry may be immune from the deep despair confronting the global economy.

And indeed, that seems to be exactly what many people in the industry are choosing to believe: that in rough times, people always spend money on entertainment, and that as entertainment goes, video game software and hardware offer much higher value than other options. In other words, the theory goes, the video game industry is recession-proof.

But people holding to that notion may yet want to consider getting their resumes ready or holding off on buying that Porsche, since all optimism aside, the future may not be so bright. It's true that sales may be up in the short term, and look good for the holidays, but Wall Street doesn't appear to be impressed.

Still, many in the industry contacted for this article say they think the sector could in fact turn out to be one of the few winners as general economic conditions get darker and darker.

"Nobody's got a crystal ball, but we remain cautiously optimistic" about the future, said David Dennis, Microsoft's corporate Xbox 360 Group PR manager. "All the signs we see point to continued strength for the industry and for the Xbox."

For example, Dennis explained, a recent survey conducted by the National Research Center indicated that 46 percent of consumers expect to purchase a video game system of some kind on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. At the same time, he said that NPD Group, a leading retail analyst firm, reported that video games came in at the bottom of a list of what kinds of products they expect to cut back on in the coming months.

NPD has other data as well showing signs of strength in the business. In its report for October, the firm revealed that for the video game industry as a whole, sales were up 18 percent for the month, to $1.31 billion from $1.12 billion a year earlier. Software was up 35 percent in October, from $514.5 million in 2007 to $696.8 million in 2008, while hardware had a more modest 5 percent rise in the same period, from $470.5 million to $494.8 million.

And on November 13, its first day on the market, Blizzard Entertainment's Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion to the mega-hit, World of Warcraft, broke the all-time record for one-day sales for a PC game, moving 2.8 million units of the $40 upgrade and surpassing the record of 2.4 million units set in 2007 by The Burning Crusade, the first WoW expansion.

The rationale for projected growth, even in the face of a looming and deep recession, is simple.

"There are a couple of reasons," said Ron Meiners, director of community for the Hollywood Interactive Group. "One is the traditional value of entertainment during tough economic times. Like the great fantastic musicals in the 30s. Movies did great, because they took people's mind off of the troubles they were facing. (And) video games have great value as entertainment. The number of hours of solid entertainment that comes from a video game purchase is much greater than a movie, for example, for very comparable cost."

At the same time, Meiners added, video games today offer consumers a much higher degree of interactivity and engagement.

"They're not just passive," he said. "It's a much more involving activity, which helps make them more valuable."

The industry is also blessed with a steady flow of blockbuster game franchises that seem primed to deliver huge paydays: Fable, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Grand Theft Auto and many others.

Trouble on Wall Street
But the publishers of those games, and even a leading retailer, have seen their stock prices hammered in recent weeks, beyond even what has happened in the general market crash.

While the Dow's value dropped 28.16 percent from September 2 through November 17, and Nasdaq dropped 36.91 percent in the same time frame, six game industry companies (Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Take Two, THQ, Gamestop and Nintendo) saw their share prices fall an average of 52.53 percent.

And EA, the world's largest publisher of video games, was not on the better-performing side of that group. Its stock fell 60.1 percent, from $48.97 to $19.30 in that time period.

EA did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but in its most recent quarterly earnings release, in which it reported a net loss of $310 million--compared with a net loss of $195 million during the same quarter a year earlier--CEO John Riccitiello did his best to sound optimistic.

"Considering the slowdown at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term," Riccitiello said. Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular. The industry is growing double-digits on the strength of three new game consoles and increases in the number of homes with broadband Internet connections."

For its part, Nintendo, which saw its stock drop 36.77 percent between September 2 and November 17--almost exactly the same drop as the Nasdaq--also is making the point of putting on a brave face even as the phrase "the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression" becomes a cliche.

"We do believe that the continued popularity of our products, even during these tough economic times," said Denise Kaigler, the vice president of corporate affairs for Nintendo America, "are evidence that consumers are judging us as a good value and a great way to engage in social interaction."

In October, according to NPD, Nintendo sold 803,000 Wiis, up from 617,000 in September and 453,000 in August, and the company has said it plans to increase supply of the console by 50 percent over last year in order to ensure that consumers have an easier time getting a hold of one.

This would suggest, of course, that Nintendo isn't being disingenuous when it says that it has a strong value proposition that is likely to attract consumers this holiday season and perhaps beyond.

Microsoft, too, looks like it has some evidence to back up its reasoning for, as Dennis put it, being "cautiously optimistic."

In October, Microsoft sold 371,000 Xbox 360s, up from 347,000 in September and 195,000 in August.

But these sales numbers all come from before the economic crisis really kicked in. Now, job losses are mounting daily, the stock market is plunging--though it has risen considerably since Friday--and the government is faced with a more difficult job of pulling us back from collapse.

The pricing game
And for those who think that the video game industry can keep up record sales numbers even in the face of such a bleak atmosphere, some have sobering news.

"Video gaming is not immune," said Gartner analyst Van Baker. "It's certainly been robust over the last couple of years, and it's gotten much more popular, and a much broader install base of users, but they're certainly not immune, especially if it's a deep recession."

Baker acknowledged that video game hardware and software is likely to perform better than, say, plasma TVs, but still, he said, in an environment where jobs are scarce and people are losing their homes, "$50 (for a game) is $50."

And while Baker suggested that Nintendo and Microsoft may be able to continue moving the Wii and the Xbox, respectively due to those consoles' low prices ($249 for the Wii and $199 for the lowest-priced Xbox), he said Sony might have a harder time.

"Sony is the one that stands to get hurt the most," Baker said, "because they've got the most expensive" console. The lowest-priced PlayStation 3 costs $399.

The front lines of the video game wars, of course, are at retail, and that is one place to look for clues as to what lies ahead.

According to Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, leading retailer Gamestop could represent a sign that, indeed, the video game industry can weather the coming economic storm, despite its stock dropping 49.87 percent between September 2 and November 17.

In an alert Sebastian sent out last week by email, he recommended buying Gamestop's stock, citing not only strong October sales, but also sales growth of 20.5 percent during the first two weeks of November compared to last year.

Driving that growth, Sebastian wrote, was quick sales of games like Wrath of the Lich King, Gears of War 2, from Epic Games and the latest edition of Call of Duty, from Activision.

But Sebastian's optimism about bellweathers like Gamestop aside, there are those who see deep structural flaws in the mainstream video game industry's business model, flaws that could wreak havoc down the line, even if things stay solid in the short term.

To Corey Bridges, a co-founder of the virtual world platform developer The Multiverse Network, the problems facing the industry have more to do with how its biggest publishers design and distribute their games.

"I do think that the video game industry is going to do reasonably well in this time of recession because video games are a pretty damned efficient use of time," said Bridges. "That said, the...industry has some other problems that it has been ignoring for awhile and that are creeping up on it."

Essentially, Bridges explained, he thinks that the dominance of giant publishers like EA and their general reliance on physical, in-the-box, units, can't hold up. Instead, he said, new tools, ubiquitous broadband and hungry independent developers are going to all combine to eat away at the continued supremacy of the $60 big-name title. And that could spell big trouble for the industry.

Still, he said, that kind of shake-out could take a few more years.

"I think the global macroeconomic climate will adjust itself before the video game industry hits the upcoming chaos," Bridges said.

In the short term, then, there is ample evidence that the video game business may well prove to be stronger than most others. No one is going to do better than companies producing cheap liquor, of course, but in the technology world, it may be tough to identify a sector that could better persevere than video games.

Even Baker, who said it's unlikely the industry will avoid getting hit by the recession, thinks there's room for optimism.

"We'll have to wait and see how consumers respond," Bake said, "but I don't think it's unreasonable to see some growth (though) it's certainly not going to be double-digit."

I've found this article to be quite interesting

Resident Evil Create won't play RE5

Midway Sold for $100,000

Quote:

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Reuters is reporting that media mogul Sumner Redstone of Redstone's National Amusements Inc has sold his controlling stake of Midway Games Inc to private investor Mark Thomas for roughly $100,000, or $0.0012 per share. Thomas will assume $70 million of senior secured and unsecured debt.

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Wow.....that is crazy.....Midway's future looks shaky at best....

Dungeon Keeper MMO coming:

Quote:

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NetDragon Websoft Inc., a leading game developer and operator in the People's Republic of China announced a new licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. on the development of the Group's first 3D massively multi-player online role playing game based on Electronic Arts' "Dungeon Keeper" line of games - including themes, characters and other game content. As part of this agreement, NetDragon will develop the game and obtains the exclusive license to operate and distribute Dungeon Keeper Online throughout the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

"We are delighted to enter into an agreement with EA in the development of our first 3D MMORPG. Our partnership with this internationally renowned game developer is proof of our capabilities in game operations and development as well as a reflection of our market reputation," said Mr. Liu Dejian, Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon. "Capitalizing our strength to create a strong gaming experience, powerful operating platform and unmatched expertise within China's online game market, we are confident that Dungeon Keeper Online will not only become successful in the Greater China region but also achieve remarkable results overseas."

Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Pacific said, "The partnership marks a significant milestone for EA as it will enhance our intellectual property and extend our product reach throughout the Greater China region. It will also further enhance our intellectual property with differentiated, high-quality games, particularly in the field of MMORPGs."

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Hmm. Not sure what I think about this.

*facepalm*
I would rather see DK3 than ANOTHER MMO saturate the market.

That's more or less my thinking as well. I'll concede that a DK MMO could possibly succeed -- there's not many that focus on the "bad guys", after all -- but overall I too would prefer to see another strategy incarnation.

Not going to play just because EA is involved

EA Acquires Developer J2M

DAMN YOU EA!!!.... ohh well. Now we know they are monopolistic(monopolistic is probably spelled wrong[guess what.... it wasn't]) hounds

Activision Blizzard Confirms Big Sequel Slate for 2009

Irony, thy name is Valve.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Valve is a wonderfully open company—in many cases, direct questions sent to the publisher will be answered by a member of the creative team within hours. One gamer recently e-mailed Valve and asked why he saw EA's logo on a commercial for Left 4 Dead: he bought the game via Steam but didn't want to support EA after the Spore DRM debacle. He got a reply from a managing director at the company, Gabe Newell, that was to the point: EA only handles distribution for the physical product, and Valve thinks most DRM is "just dumb."

"Left 4 Dead is developed entirely by Valve. Steam revenue for our games is not shared with third parties. Around the world we have a number of distribution partners to handle retail distribution of our games (i.e. make discs and boxes). EA is one of those partners," Newell wrote. In other words, if you buy Left 4 Dead through Steam, EA doesn't see any of your money. This should be good news for gamers who want to slaughter some zombies but don't want to break their EA boycott.

Newell doesn't have kind words for the use of digital rights managements. "As far as DRM goes, most DRM strategies are just dumb. The goal should be to create greater value for customers through service value (make it easy for me to play my games whenever and wherever I want to), not by decreasing the value of a product (maybe I'll be able to play my game and maybe I won't)," he wrote. "We really really discourage other developers and publishers from using the broken DRM offerings, and in general there is a groundswell to abandon those approaches."

Buying Left 4 Dead on Steam supports Valve, not EA

It's easy for him to say; Steam is its own form of DRM, one that makes programs like SecuROM redundant. "You'd have to ask Valve for specific numbers," PC Gaming Alliance President Randy Stude told Ars, "but I believe piracy on Steam is very low." You can add games you obtained at retail to the Steam service to take advantage of its social networking features, but you need your CD key to do it; cracked games are out of luck. Don't assume that buying a game via Steam means escaping SecuROM however, as EA has included the program on some its own games that it has released via Steam, such as Crysis: Warhead.

If we don't kick you in the gut, can we punch you in the face?

Newell's take attracted the attention of others in the gaming industry. "I think the problem with DRM is not so much the particular method used, but the attitude behind it. It makes us feel like we're all being punished for the sins of the few," Microsoft's Games for Windows Community Manager Ryan Miller wrote on his blog. "It is also pretty clear that most DRM is not a problem for the pirates, just for the legitimate consumers. These two factors combine to make a ton of bad feelings on the consumer side."

This is an arguable sentiment: gamers do care about the method of DRM that is used. Programs such as SecuROM (which don't uninstall along with the game) and limits on the number of installations allowed anger PC gamers. When we reported on the use of SecuROM in Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC, many of our readers pledged not to buy the game on principle.

Miller addresses that controversy directly. "Rockstar has put an interesting twist on the much-maligned software by removing the install limits that have plagued other games, though the software still installs components that can be very difficult to remove should you want them off your hard drive," he wrote. "It seems like a reasonable compromise to me, but what do you think? Is the lack of install limits enough to overlook the installation of code you can't remove?"

This is the sort of question that may sound reasonable from Miller's point of view, but will enrage PC gamers. SecuROM serves no purpose other than to annoy legitimate customers, and a version of the game that lacks the program (and is superior for that) will be available to pirates as soon as the game is released, if not before. The fact that Rockstar won't limit installations, a new twist on DRM that has drawn bile from gamers and seemingly given pirates the high ground, doesn't excuse the use of SecuROM in the game.

While Steam is a step in the right direction, giving gamers the ability to play games on multiple systems without having to worry about losing discs or CD keys, some gamers have reported issues getting their games to work in offline mode, and worry about Valve shutting down the servers at some point in the future. Piracy is a complex issue with no easy answer, but what's clear is that gamers are less and less willing to put up with intrusive DRM technology in their games, but there doesn't seem to be much of a movement to lessen its use among game publishers.

What the industry has to understand is that gamers have the upper hand, as they can simply go to the torrents for a free version of each game that includes no DRM. Until publishers do more to welcome their legitimate customers as friends instead of treating them as potential pirates, piracy will continue to eat at profits and morale.

Atari planning sequels for both Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.


Given that A.) Bioware isn't around to develop them anymore, and B.) the folks at Atari don't seem to know how to make decent PC/video games to save their lives, I'm not optimistic.

GTAIV PC Problems Spark Game Outcry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Complaints of experience-ruining frame rates, small draw distances, crashes, and more plague Rockstar's port of top-rated action adventure.

When it launched in April, Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was greeted with a chorus of approval from gamers and critics alike. With the PC edition of the game arriving in stores earlier this week, the reaction has been notably different.

"Maybe after the patch... things will be different."

Forum threads on GameSpot, Steam, and elsewhere online are lighting up with complaints from gamers about a host of performance issues. Poor frame rates even on powerful rigs, short draw distances, crashes, and missing textures are among a slew of stated issues gamers have with the title.

Not content to vent on forums, disgruntled GTAIV PC gamers have taken to Amazon.com and panned the port with negative user reviews. In addition to complaining about the game's performance, the Amazon reviewers have taken exception to its use of SecuROM DRM technology. Of the 56 reviews on the retail site as of this writing, 46 of them have issued a 1-star-out-of-5 rating, with the customer average now sitting at 1.5 stars.

The technical support section of Rockstar's official site acknowledges a host of known issues. For instance, Rockstar tells gamers with Nvidia 7900 series cards that a driver issue is causing the game to not render anything in the distance, leading to functionally unplayable performance. According to Rockstar, "NVidia is working on releasing a new driver as soon as possible."

The Rockstar tech support site also suggests that missing texture issues could be caused by driver tuning programs, and includes a list of dozens of possible error codes players may have encountered. Additionally, ATI card owners are advised to set the game's "MipMap Detail Level" slider to "quality" or they will see blacked-out textures, while the ATI 1900 series specifically has problems with flickering shadows. A patch for the shadow issue is underway, according to the developer.

As for performance issues on high-end rigs, Rockstar's tech support documentation contained the following explanation: "Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available."

Hmmm.....more 1 star Amazon review here....Its ridiculous how many driver incompatabilities there are here. When you make a game or port it, you should optimize the game to the drivers, not release it first and then wait for the GPU manufactures to optimize their drivers for the game

Edit: Another Interesting Thing:

Nvidia Desktop & Mobile GPUs Renaming

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It appears Nvidia is carrying out the rebranding of their GPUs on both desktop and mobile front as VR-Zone has learned from the recent releases of the Forceware drivers. On the desktop front, there are GeForce GTS 150 based on G92, GeForce GT 130 based on G94, GeForce GT 120 based on G96 and GeForce G100 based on G98. On the mobile front, there are GeForce GTX 180M and GTX 170M based on G92, GeForce GTS 160M based on G94, GeForce GT 130M and G 110M based on G96 and GeForce G 105M based on G98.

Great......even more confusion here.

Basically, the average buyer will just get fooled into thinking that they're getting all new videocards when they mights just get stuck with a crappy 9200M or something like that....

Seriously, its bad enough that the Geforce9 series is just basically Geforce8 series card that are overclocked or have a smaller manufacturing die, but this will just make things worse....

The problem is a lack of standardisation. It has pros and cons and among the cons is that it's much harder and more expensive than developing for a console which is completely standardised and thus easier to develop for. The obvious conclusion for R* is to stop developing for non-standardised systems because obviously they aren't good at that, focus on the core competences of your company. ~;)

Ubisoft plans to make a game adaptation of the movie Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Which is an adaptation of the game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. :inquisitive: Linky

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Try to wrap your head around this: Ubisoft is planning a game adaptation of the film adaptation of the game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

It's not enough that we're getting a brand spanking new cel-shaded next-gen Prince of Persia and even spinoff titles for the Wii and DS.


Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed that next year's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time -- that's the Bruckheimer-produced, Jake Gyllenhaal-starring film adaption set for release in 2009 -- will get its own game adaptation.


The film itself features a script by the original game's creator Jordan Mechner. We still know very little about the game adaption of the film, but it's interesting to note that the movie is itself based on the plot of one of the games.


Even a week after their Ubidays media event, Ubisoft is still all over the news. The latest covers the studio's expansion into other media productions, including word of a new animated series.



Furthermore, Guillemot has also revealed that the company is sitting on a $1.2 billion war chest, to be used in potential acquisitions.


It's probably a good time to be a Ubisoft share-holder right now, although Prince of Persia fans are probably confused as all hell."

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:dizzy2:

My head hurts.

NCsoft exits ESA

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Korean MMOG publisher opts out of membership, taking wait-and-see approach to industry body's newly rejiggered E3.

In a sense, this year's E3 Media & Business Summit was defined not so much by those who were at the Entertainment Software Association's annual trade show, but by those who weren't. Leading up to the one-time premier US industry event, game makers such as Activision Blizzard, LucasArts, id Software, and Crave opted out of their memberships with the ESA. Others, such as NCsoft and Foundation 9, said that though they planned to remain in the industry body, they'd be skipping this year's show.

Today, both NCsoft and the ESA have confirmed for GameSpot that, for the time being at least, the game maker will not renew its membership in 2009.

"While we appreciate what the ESA does for our industry, we can confirm that NCsoft has elected not to keep membership with the ESA for 2009," said an NCsoft representative. "There have been many changes in the gaming industry over the past couple of years and, like other developers and publishers, we have decided to wait to see how related industry events and organizations further develop before rejoining. We will be reviewing our membership status on an annual basis."

"We can confirm that NCsoft decided not to renew its ESA membership," said ESA senior VP of communications and research Rich Taylor. "We respect their decision and remain committed to serving the public-affairs needs of the computer and video game industry."

E3 has begun to face mounting competition from a variety of industry events in recent years. In addition to overseas trade shows such as the Leipzig Games Convention and Tokyo Game Show, E3 has seen domestic challengers from the likes of the Penny Arcade Expo as well as dedicated events put on by individual publishers.

Furthermore, E3 itself has been on the ropes since 2006, when the ESA said that it would be drastically downsizing the event and moving it out of the Los Angeles Convention Center to a more intimate Santa Monica venue. As a result, crowds were cut from their 2006 high of roughly 60,000 to an invite-only crowd of 5,000 by 2007. The new format was not to the liking of a number of top-line publishers--namely EA and Ubisoft--and the ESA has continued to tinker with the format in the subsequent years, moving the show back to the LACC in 2008 and rescaling the event upward for 2009.

For NCsoft's part, the South Korean publisher has fallen on hard times of late. In the face of dismal profits, NCsoft said last month that it would be parting ways with celebrity game designer Richard Garriott as well as shutting down his commercial flop Tabula Rasa at the end of February.

So...Activision-Blizzard, LucasArts, id Software, and now NCsoft have left. The only big players left that do some major PC games are EA, Ubisoft, and Eidos...

300 New Exhibitors Featured Among 2700 at the 2009 International CES

Atari Gets Cryptic

Analysts leery of EA, Guitar Hero

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Colin Sebastian believes poor showing of Mirror's Edge could lead to more layoffs and cancellations; EEDAR's Jesse Divnich thinks Activision's rhythm game has "peaked."

With November 2008 US sales figures from industry-research firm the NPD Group expected later this week, the top game-industry analysts have released their own estimates for the month. The consensus is that the traditionally frantic holiday season was subdued somewhat by the surging recession, with game sales enjoying only a modest year-over-year increase. Though he believes all three consoles sold in record numbers, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter thinks that overall, domestic game revenue was $1.4 billion, up just 7 percent from $1.31 billion in 2007.

While cautiously optimistic about the industry as a whole, analysts gave unusually downbeat assessments of two pillars of the game industry. First, Pachter estimates that Electronic Arts will see a 16 percent year-over-year decline in revenue, thanks to poor showings of the new property Mirror's Edge (300,000 units for the month) and Need for Speed Undercover (350,000 units). Though it enjoyed better reviews, Rock Band 2 also sold a disappointing 350,000 units during the month on two platforms--the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. (PlayStation 2 and Wii versions are due out next week.)

Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Group, the firm helping Midway stave off bankruptcy, went one step further. He thinks the underperformance of Mirror's Edge, Rock Band 2, and Need for Speed Undercover might lead to more layoffs and Tiberium-esque cancellations. "We believe EA is continuing to review its cost structure and franchise base, and it is possible that management will announce further cuts in headcount and the development pipeline (including existing franchises) over the coming quarters," he summarized.


While EA's woes are likely pure schadenfreude to Activision Blizzard executives' ears, this week also saw Pachter predict its sales would slip 14 percent year on year. This slide is in large part due to one of the megapublisher's top franchises hitting market saturation. "Probably the most talked about issue this month is the lack of sales for Guitar Hero: World Tour," declared Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR). "Currently, we expect unit sales to decline by more than 50 percent series-over-series for November. This is coming off the October month where series-over-series units declined by more than 60 percent."

Divnich also pointed out that, rather than command a premium like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero World Tour is beginning to sell under its suggested retail price on the eBay auction service. "It is pretty clear that the series has already reached its peak among the mass-market audience," he explained with the following caveat. "Of course, we are not suggesting that the Guitar Hero (or Rock Band) franchise will be disappearing anytime soon."

I suppose the anti-EA people are pretty happy about this.....

You hit the nail on the head.

Disney to Buy EA?

EA Abandons Vancouver Studio Plans

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Canada's Globe and Mail says beleaguered publisher halts aims to build out 20,000-square-foot facility; cuts at Black Box, EA Canada already under way.

Like so many other companies, Electronic Arts continues to face the cold, hard realities of an economic recession. The Globe and Mail reports this week that the publisher has decided not to proceed with plans to expand its operations in government-subsidy-rich Vancouver, Canada, due to sagging holiday sales in North America and Europe and overarching global economic instability.

EA reportedly entered planning stages for the 20,000-square-foot facility about a year ago, though the studio's purpose was not revealed. EA currently maintains two development outfits in the Vancouver area: EA Black Box, which develops the publisher's Need for Speed and Skate franchises, and EA Canada, home to top sellers such as the FIFA and NCAA sports simulations.

"These are challenging times, they're uncertain times for our industry and across the board," EA spokesman Colin Macrae told The Globe and Mail. "We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver." Macrae also confirmed that EA's Vancouver-based studios would see some staff reductions, though he declined to go into further detail.

On the back of a greater-than-expected $310 million loss during its second fiscal quarter, EA said in October that it would eliminate 6 percent of its workforce--or approximately 600 positions. Earlier this week, the publisher said that the current hostile market conditions will force its hand in executing another round of layoffs, as well as consolidating facilities and scaling back its SKU count next year.

Meh, more bad news for EA

NPD: Wii sales top 2M during $2.9B a month

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[UPDATE] Nintendo's console reigns supreme in hardware, more than doubling Xbox 360; Gears 2, COD: World at War top software; top-20 games.

Recession may be on the tip of everyone's tongues, but consumers' appetite for the interactive medium continues largely unabated. Industry stat-tracking firm The NPD Group today released its assessment for US gaming retail sales in November. Industry sales were up 10 percent year-over-year. Domestic sales of hardware, software, and accessories reached $2.91 billion for the month, pushing 2008's total just over the $16 billion threshold.

2,040,000 units in one month.

November 2008's 10 percent sales growth is especially impressive, considering that last month's tally contained seven fewer post-Thanksgiving shopping days compared to a year ago. One huge reason for the surge was the Wii. With an analyst-noted surge in supply, Nintendo's console more than doubled its 2007 numbers, selling more than 2.04 million units. The Nintendo DS also proved staggeringly popular, shifting 1.57 million units on the month.

While lodged firmly in third place in hardware sales for November, Microsoft made huge gains over rival Sony last month. Xbox 360 sales more than doubled those of the PlayStation 3, with Microsoft's console outselling Sony's system 836,000 units to 378,000. Sony's depth bolstered the company's performance, however, with PSP sales hitting 421,000 units and the aging PlayStation 2 managing 206,000 systems.

On the software side, Microsoft and Epic Games' sci-fi third-person shooter Gears of War 2 took the gold, reaching sales of 1.56 million units in November. That figure represents just over half of the title's global haul, which Microsoft pegged at 3 million earlier this week. Activision's Call of Duty: World at War, which also debuted last month, fell just shy of Gears 2's tally on a platform-by-platform basis, with the Xbox 360 edition seeing sales of 1.41 million units and the PS3 game selling an additional 597,000 copies.

Nintendo's Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii had another commendable month at retail, snagging the third, fourth, and fifth slots in November's chart with a respective 796,000, 697,000, and 637,000 units. While the rhythm genre was decidedly underrepresented in October, Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour for the Wii and Wii Music both surged in November, logging respective sales of 475,000 units and 297,000 copies.

Other strong performers for the month include the Xbox 360 edition of Valve's Left 4 Dead (410,000 units) and Insomniac Games' flagship PS3-exclusive shooter Resistance 2 (385,000 units).

Though the NPD Group does not include PC titles in its monthly report, Frazier also noted that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King enjoyed stellar sales for the month. "We would be remiss not to point out the strength of PC game sales this month as lead by the release of the latest World of Warcraft expansion pack," said Frazier. "Wrath of the Lich King sold over 1.4 million units in the US during its debut month at retail." Worldwide, the game sold more than 2.8 million copies in just 24 hours.

[UPDATE] On Friday, NPD expanded its list of the top console and handheld software sold in November to include the 20 best-selling games. Of note, October's top title--the Xbox 360-exclusive Fable II--saw a substantial drop in sales, falling to 19 on the chart. Another big drop came by way of Bethesda's Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360, which fell nine spots to 12.

US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - NOVEMBER 2008
Software: $1.45B (+11%)
Hardware: $1.21B (+10%)
Accessories: $255M (+7%)
Total Games: $2.91B (10%)

TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - NOVEMBER 2008
Wii--2.04 million
Nintendo DS--1.57 million
Xbox 360--836,000
PlayStation Portable--421,000
PlayStation 3--378,000
PlayStation 2--206,000

TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - NOVEMBER 2008
Title / Publisher / Units*
1) Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) / Microsoft / 1,560,000
2) Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360) / Activision Blizzard / 1,410,000
3) Wii Play w/ Remote (WII) / Nintendo / 796,000
4) Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (WII) / Nintendo / 697,000
5) Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (WII) / Nintendo / 637,000
6) Call of Duty: World at War (PS3) / Activision Blizzard / 597,000
7) Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii) / Activision Blizzard / 475,000
8) Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) / Electronic Arts / 410,000
9) Resistance 2 (PS3) / Sony / 385,000
10) Wii Music / Nintendo / 297,000
11) Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii) / Nintendo
12) Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) / Bethesda Softworks
13) Rock Band (Wii) / MTV Games
14) Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS) / Nintendo
15) Guitar Hero World Tour (Xbox 360) / Activision Blizzard
16) Mario Kart (DS) / Nintendo
17) Guitar Hero World Tour (PS2) / Activision Blizzard
18) WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009 (PS2) / THQ
19) Fable II (Xbox 360) / Microsoft
20) Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360) / Electronic Arts

* Figures include Collector's Editions and non-hardware bundles.

That is simply insane.......and I thought Nintendo would never be strong in the console industry again after Gamecube.....

PlayStation Home Beta Opens

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[UPDATE] Public trial for the PS3's avatar-based social-networking service has gone live in the EU and US.

[UPDATE] Via its PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Home director Jack Buser has announced that the PlayStation Home beta is now live. Newcomers can now access the virtual world via a PlayStation Home button in the PlayStation 3's borderline dyslexic XrossMediaBar. Yesterday's original story of the beta launch announcement is below. [END UPDATE]

Since being announced back at GDC 2007 by Phil Harrison, PlayStation Home has been the subject of a lot of expectation. Originally planned for a 2007 release, Home has had several delays and setbacks pushing it back to late 2008.

Earlier this week, The Times suggested that the release was coming "within the next 10 days." As it turns out, gamers won't have to wait even that long, because Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and America today jointly announced that the Home beta will be open to all on December 11.

Dog, string vest, and shotgun not included.

PlayStation Home will let users interact and communicate via unique avatars in real time using text or voice. Within Home there will be a variety of minigames, videos, and clubs--areas where users can come together and share similar interests. Each aspect of Home will be customisable, and players will be able to buy new clothes, furnishings, and even whole new apartments direct from the PlayStation store. Clubhouses will also be available for those wishing to create clubs, though for a price--how much was unclear. Sony simply stated that "to be a Clubhouse owner, user will need to buy the entitlement to run the club."

There will also be regional game-related content. Users accessing PlayStation Home in the SCEE regions will have a Far Cry 2 space to explore at launch, with spaces for MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, and SOCOM promised soon in the region. SCEE and SCEA also confirmed that they are working with EA and Ubisoft, among others, with a view to creating more such spaces. The Far Cry 2 space will also be available to those in SCEA territories, and Resistance and Guitar Hero spaces are promised for the region.

Companies will, as expected, also get the opportunity to use Home as a marketing space. Sony has detailed plans involving both Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, which will involve "dedicated spaces, sponsorship of in-world events, virtual items and exclusive media viewings in the PlayStation Home Theatre."

The first such event was confirmed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and will be centred around the upcoming movie of acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen. It will feature a selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise as well as a chance for some to virtually meet members of the film's cast and crew in a Watchmen-themed environment in 2009.

Ligne Roset joins Diesel among Home's earliest retailers.

The Watchmen promo accompanies two previously announced sponsorships with fashion label Diesel and energy drink Red Bull. The latter will offer the opportunity to take part in a virtual version of the Red Bull Air Race, a stunt-flying championship around Red Bull Island. Ligne Roset will provide contemporary furniture, and users will be able to customise items before they buy them.

PlayStation Home will be available as a free download starting December 11. It should install automatically after rebooting the PS3 once the update becomes available, after which a PlayStation Home icon will simply appear in the XrossMediaBar (XMB).

Has anyone tried this out yet???

Tried to start Home last night but couldn't login, whether it was just too busy I don't know. Think I'll give it a go now.

Edit:Two hours of trying and couldn't get on, kept telling me connection with server was lost.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

PlayStation Home Beta Opens

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[UPDATE] Public trial for the PS3's avatar-based social-networking service has gone live in the EU and US.

[UPDATE] Via its PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Home director Jack Buser has announced that the PlayStation Home beta is now live. Newcomers can now access the virtual world via a PlayStation Home button in the PlayStation 3's borderline dyslexic XrossMediaBar. Yesterday's original story of the beta launch announcement is below. [END UPDATE]

Since being announced back at GDC 2007 by Phil Harrison, PlayStation Home has been the subject of a lot of expectation. Originally planned for a 2007 release, Home has had several delays and setbacks pushing it back to late 2008.

Earlier this week, The Times suggested that the release was coming "within the next 10 days." As it turns out, gamers won't have to wait even that long, because Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and America today jointly announced that the Home beta will be open to all on December 11.

Dog, string vest, and shotgun not included.

PlayStation Home will let users interact and communicate via unique avatars in real time using text or voice. Within Home there will be a variety of minigames, videos, and clubs--areas where users can come together and share similar interests. Each aspect of Home will be customisable, and players will be able to buy new clothes, furnishings, and even whole new apartments direct from the PlayStation store. Clubhouses will also be available for those wishing to create clubs, though for a price--how much was unclear. Sony simply stated that "to be a Clubhouse owner, user will need to buy the entitlement to run the club."

There will also be regional game-related content. Users accessing PlayStation Home in the SCEE regions will have a Far Cry 2 space to explore at launch, with spaces for MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, and SOCOM promised soon in the region. SCEE and SCEA also confirmed that they are working with EA and Ubisoft, among others, with a view to creating more such spaces. The Far Cry 2 space will also be available to those in SCEA territories, and Resistance and Guitar Hero spaces are promised for the region.

Companies will, as expected, also get the opportunity to use Home as a marketing space. Sony has detailed plans involving both Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, which will involve "dedicated spaces, sponsorship of in-world events, virtual items and exclusive media viewings in the PlayStation Home Theatre."

The first such event was confirmed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and will be centred around the upcoming movie of acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen. It will feature a selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise as well as a chance for some to virtually meet members of the film's cast and crew in a Watchmen-themed environment in 2009.

Ligne Roset joins Diesel among Home's earliest retailers.

The Watchmen promo accompanies two previously announced sponsorships with fashion label Diesel and energy drink Red Bull. The latter will offer the opportunity to take part in a virtual version of the Red Bull Air Race, a stunt-flying championship around Red Bull Island. Ligne Roset will provide contemporary furniture, and users will be able to customise items before they buy them.

PlayStation Home will be available as a free download starting December 11. It should install automatically after rebooting the PS3 once the update becomes available, after which a PlayStation Home icon will simply appear in the XrossMediaBar (XMB).

Has anyone tried this out yet???

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Well the guys at Penny Arcade are definitely not impressed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnhughthom

Tried to start Home last night but couldn't login, whether it was just too busy I don't know. Think I'll give it a go now.

Edit:Two hours of trying and couldn't get on, kept telling me connection with server was lost.

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Same here yesterday, but I got in early today when most of Europe and America was probably asleep. ~D
It's...well, didn't do a whole lot, just created a char and ran around for 10mins before I had to go to work. But I can say it offered me one sofa, one chair, no lamps and not much else to put in my appartement, either you have to buy everything else or they didn't include a lot in the beta for that aspect. And here I was hoping I could let my inner architect out but I guess I will have to use LBP for that. :sweatdrop:

Pennsylvania Task Force Says NO to Video Game Legislation

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There is good news out of Pennsylvania today, as the commonwealth will apparently not pursue video game legislation.

A working group assigned by the Pennsylvania legislature to study the video game violence issue has strongly recommended that no laws regarding video game content should be enacted.

The Task Force on Violent Interactive Video Games began meeting in November, 2007 and has just released its findings. The group emphatically recommends that the Pennsylvania General Assembly not pursue video game content legislation. Indeed, the language used by Task Force leaves no room for doubt as to its view:

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The General Assembly must avoid enacting restrictive legislation similar to those that have been invalidated by the Federal courts.

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The Task Force also called for more research into the effects of games on young people and suggested that legislators fund a program to educate consumers about video game issues.

Among those who testified before the Task Force are some familiar names:
Patricia Vance, ESRB
Cheryl Olson and Lawrence Kutner, authors of Grand Theft Childhood
Dr. Patrick Markey, Villanova University

Task force members included Markey, as well as a pair of well-known First Amendment lawyers, Clay Calvert and Robert Richards. Representatives from the ESA, MPAA and RIAA also participated. Asked about his impressions of the task force and its work, Markey told GamePolitics:

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The task force members had extremely different backgrounds -- experts on First Amendment issues, social science, clinical psychology and members of the game industry, law enforcement, and parents. I was the only member who was a social scientist. My main job was to discuss violent video game research (pros and cons).

Although there were disagreements at times, I think the members of the task force worked together extremely well and came to a fairly "common sense" conclusion.

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So it took them a year to figure out what everyone knew already????

Rumor: EA Sending Need for Speed to Junkyard

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The Electric Playground's show on Friday reported that Electronic Arts has cancelled development of new titles in its Need for Speed franchise. An EA spokesman gave a generic response that did not dispel the rumor.

Electronic Playground did not name its source. Reached for comment, EA said: "We're working through a process on people, products, and facilities at EA and don't have any announcements today." That's no defense for a franchise that goes back to 1994, so, it sounds like something's up.

Need for Speed: Undercover released to very unenthusiastic reviews, to put it charitably. It was one of the titles named by analysts in this week's news that holiday sales would be sharply lower than expected, news that sent the publisher's stock into a dive. EA CEO John Riccitello said the company would cut titles from its "bottom levels of profitability," which exempts EA's sports catalogue.

EA-owned Black Box Studios is the home of NFS. But it also develops FIFA, NBA Live, NHL and others for EA. Correction, that is EA Canada. EA Black Box makes Need for Speed and Skate. Killing NFS would be a serious blow.

Okay, I actually like the NFS series regardless of its dubious quality after Most Wanted. Sigh.....another reason to hate EA I guess

Time Warner to Acquire Eidos?

Is it just me or are media corp's taking over the gaming world? I mean Disney for EA and Time Warner for Eidos.

The media companies have realized that people are spending more time gaming than watching their crap movies, so now they want a piece of the action. Movies from video game IP and vice versa are just the start. Soon, we can look forward to the same quality in video games as we are getting in the theaters. Yeah! ~:rolleyes:

Midway Announces Layoffs

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Originally Posted by drone

The media companies have realized that people are spending more time gaming than watching their crap movies, so now they want a piece of the action. Movies from video game IP and vice versa are just the start. Soon, we can look forward to the same quality in video games as we are getting in the theaters. Yeah! ~:rolleyes:

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Woo hoo.... Aren't we just the lucky ones... You know what, stardock should buy out (edit)EA.

EA/Maxis releases de-authorization tool for Spore.


Wow. That's smarter than I'd have given them credit for. It still doesn't change the fact that they went with the restrictive SecuROM in the first place, but at least this could potentially alleviate its effect(s).

I'm pleasantly surprised. Although from the short description, it looks like you are stuck if you suffer a drive crash or OS reinstall without deauthing first. Did they (Take2, I guess) ever release one for Bioshock?

Wow, even more bad news for EA. I guess the EA hater crowd is having a blast this fall

EA layoffs hits 1,000, Black Box "consolidated"

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[UPDATE 2] Publisher widens staff reductions to 10 percent, will reap $120 million annual savings; Need for Speed Undercover studio moving in with EA Canada, label will remain intact.

The day before Halloween, Electronic Arts spooked its staff by announcing it was laying off 6 percent of its workforce. Last week, it alarmed analysts by announcing--without revealing any specifics--that its annual earnings would fall below expectations. As a result, it was expanding its layoffs and canceling future projects.

Today, the company announced an expanded restructuring that will see EA increase layoffs to include 10 percent of its worldwide workforce. The 1,000 pink slips will be sent out by March 31, 2009, and will encompass the "consolidation or closure of at least nine studio and publishing locations," according to EA.

The restructuring will both cost and save money. After incurring charges of $55 million to $65 million as a result of severance packages and other reorganization-related expenses, EA anticipates an annual savings of $120 million.

Analysts blamed EA's troubles on the underperformance of several games, such as Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, and Need for Speed Undercover. Little surprise, then, that one affected location is Undercover developer EA Black Box, which will be closing its office facilities. (In an ironic footnote, Black Box's official site still bears the tag line "Growth...and lots of it!") The staff of the Vancouver-based shop, which is currently working on Skate 2, will be relocated to EA Canada's offices in the nearby suburb of Burnaby. However, an EA representative told GameSpot that the studio name will remain.

"This does not mean that the Black Box studio is closing," said the rep. "The studio is moving to our Burnaby campus to share the facility with EAC and other EA teams that operate out of our state-of-the-art facility. We will operate two distinct studios, each with their own distinct culture and teams, out of our Burnaby facility."

EA said that Black Box's expected move date is June 2009. The rep also said that the studio's games would follow as well, but declined to comment if any were being considered for cancellation. "[We've made] no announcements regarding franchises," stated the rep.

In the initial news release, EA also issued the following blanket statement outlining how it will examine each of its series' viability: "EA is implementing a plan to narrow its product portfolio to focus on hit games with higher margin opportunities. The company remains committed to taking creative risks, investing in new games, leading the industry in the growing mobile and online businesses, and delivering high-quality games to consumers."

Its a shame that Dead Space or Mirrors Edge didn't sell well. They actually seemed like decent games

I think EA might be a nesesary evil, if they were to shut down, there would be a huge void in the game industry, not to menttion several titles going into the wind if other publishers don't pick them up.

TevashSzat - I think part of the problem was the saturation of "decent games" at the time of their release...

As usual, Penny Arcade explains the situation well. (Link is rated G, somewhat of a rarity for PA :P).

EA is going to strip starforce DRM from some of its games and release them on steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2116/

So only Steam DRM for Mass Effect now -
http://forums.bioware.com/forums/vie...orum=22&sp=128

CR

I think they had SecuROM, but it's a nice move anyway.

Worlds.com Files Suit Against NCsoft - Every Other MMO Company To Follow?

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90's virtual world developers Worlds.com has fired the first shot in what could be a game company-spanning battle as they file suit against NCsoft for infringing on their patent for multiplayer virtual environments.

The patent at question is 7,181,690, "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space", which was file in August of 2000 and finally issued in February of last year. Reading over the patent, it basically covers the client/server-based system every single MMO on the market uses to allow multiple players to view and interact with each other in a virtual world. The suit, filed on Christmas Eve, claims that NCsoft has infringed on this patent across all of its MMO titles, from City of Heroes to Guild Wars to Dungeon Runners. After reading over the patent, it looks like they've actually got a pretty solid case on their hands.

Worlds seeks damages from NCsoft, as well as assurances that the MMO publisher will not infringe on their second patent, 6,219,045 - "Scalable Virtual World Chat Client-Server System".

Mark my words here - NCsoft is just the beginning. Their patent pretty much covers every instance where users with avatars interact in a virtual space. From Second Life to World of Warcraft, PlayStation Home to Anarchy Online; everything massively online and multiplayer falls under this patent. This should be interesting, folks.

Okay......this is bad, very bad.

I know nothing about patent law but it might be a good time to find a job with Worlds.com because if all those MMO companies have to pay royalties, Worlds.com will have more money than they will know what to do with.

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

Worlds.com Files Suit Against NCsoft - Every Other MMO Company To Follow?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

90's virtual world developers Worlds.com has fired the first shot in what could be a game company-spanning battle as they file suit against NCsoft for infringing on their patent for multiplayer virtual environments.

The patent at question is 7,181,690, "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space", which was file in August of 2000 and finally issued in February of last year. Reading over the patent, it basically covers the client/server-based system every single MMO on the market uses to allow multiple players to view and interact with each other in a virtual world. The suit, filed on Christmas Eve, claims that NCsoft has infringed on this patent across all of its MMO titles, from City of Heroes to Guild Wars to Dungeon Runners. After reading over the patent, it looks like they've actually got a pretty solid case on their hands.

Worlds seeks damages from NCsoft, as well as assurances that the MMO publisher will not infringe on their second patent, 6,219,045 - "Scalable Virtual World Chat Client-Server System".

Mark my words here - NCsoft is just the beginning. Their patent pretty much covers every instance where users with avatars interact in a virtual space. From Second Life to World of Warcraft, PlayStation Home to Anarchy Online; everything massively online and multiplayer falls under this patent. This should be interesting, folks.

Okay......this is bad, very bad.

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I think its BS - or at least it should turn out that way. They patented a architecture of 3d MMORPGs (see here for indepth patent info), filing the patent in 2000 - after some 3D MMORPGS had already been released, of course.

Basically, they've patented a game's structure (when a player enters a room, load various things from the server) not a actually end product. We'd need an expert in software patent law, but this seems stupid - worlds.com [which has basically done ****-all since filing that patent] is suing because NCSoft had a game where info on objects and players are loaded from servers. Now if NCsoft was stupid enough to copy actual code (of which there is relatively little in the patent) that'd be one thing. But this looks like some parasite company trying to make bank on a shady patent.

CR

I recently patented breathing. Does that mean I can now sue every living being on this planet?

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

I recently patented breathing. Does that mean I can now sue every living being on this planet?

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Unfortunately, yes. :shame:

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

I recently patented breathing. Does that mean I can now sue every living being on this planet?

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No, because I patented patenting. Therefore, you will be the sued one.

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Originally Posted by Jolt

No, because I patented patenting. Therefore, you will be the sued one.

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Fine, but I patented suing and the judicial system. :tongueg:

I patened forums. Now get off till I get my royalties. :whip:

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Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

I recently patented breathing. Does that mean I can now sue every living being on this planet?

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Prior Art, you lose. ~;)

If Worlds.com goes after Blizzard, I expect their stock ticker symbol (currently WDDD) will be changed to FAIL.

Penny Arcade's take on the patent thing:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/1/2/

[NOTE: SWEARING!]

CR

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Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

Penny Arcade's take on the patent thing:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/1/2/

[NOTE: SWEARING!]

CR

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PA never seems to lose its flair. :tongueg:

Gone, baby, gone: 1up sold, EGM killed, staff promptly fired

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It's been no secret that Ziff Davis has been looking to sell 1up.com and its associated video game publications for quite some time. Rumors that the magazine publisher was shopping its video game publications around have been circulating for approximately two years; at one time it was even reported that Dell would be acquiring 1up.com. While that turned out to be false, Ziff Davis finally succeeded in unloading 1up to Hearst-owned UGO Network, whereupon things took a definite turn for worse.

The sale, it was announced, would bring 1UP.com, Mycheats.com, Gametab.com, and GameVideos.com under UGO's control. In the official announcement, UGO CEO J Moses made it sound like his company wouldn't actually be changing too much about 1up: "The acquisition of 1UP, with its authentic voice, tenured editorial personalities and bustling user community, allows us to expand our base of quality content and represents a major step forward in UGO's mission to become the leader in the games space." The announcement also stated that 1up would, "stand beside UGO as a flagship brand." A few hours later, though, it was revealed that this was far from the truth, as Ziff Davis seemed intent on thoroughly gutting its online publications before it changed hands.

Even though Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young claimed—via an internal e-mail sent to his employees shortly after the sale was announced—that, "many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team," it seems that this was not to be. Gamasutra received some inside information that, at roughly the same time, a large percentage of Ziff Davis' Game Group suddenly found itself unemployed. According to various reports, 30 members of the editorial, podcast, and video production staff was promptly told that it was fired. The detailed list of those who are now jobless is rather staggering: this is well beyond a corporate bloodbath, it's a scorched-earth policy with only a few survivors.

Adding another nail to the coffin was the simultaneous announcement that Ziff Davis would be shutting down production on its popular Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, which has been in production for nearly twenty years: this month's issue will be its last. "With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers," Young said in his email, "and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer."

When asked about the massive layoffs, 1up site director Sam Kennedy told MTV Multiplayer the answers lay with his former bosses. "Honestly, questions like that have to go to Ziff Davis at this point," said Kennedy. "All I can say to that is UGO held onto as many people as they could to run the business going forward and [kept] a lot of all-star key players."

To say this news is staggering is to put it lightly. 1up has been one of the major players in the industry of video game journalism since it was launched in 2003, and it managed to survive for quite some time in spite of the deaths of several excellent sibling magazines like GMR, Official U.S. Playstation Magazine, and Computer Gaming World. Meanwhile, the fact that Ziff Davis is resorting to cost-cutting measures like these implies that things may be far worse at the magazine publisher than has been let known: while no one expected things to be pretty after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it seems safe to say that no one saw this coming, either.

EGM RIP. Yet another gaming magazine dies off.

I can't believe Ziff Davis would do something like this....

FTC to hold town meeting on DRM woes

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2008 may become known as the year of digital rights management, thanks in no small part to EA's bringing the issue front and center with Spore and the ensuing backlash. These days gamers want to know what kind of DRM a game employs before they make a purchase, and for many people the inclusion of SecuROM means a lost sale. All of the sound and fury surrounding the issue has gotten the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, and the government agency is planning on holding a town hall meeting devoted to the subject of DRM on March 25.

The official page describes the meeting and its aim. "Digital rights management (DRM) refers to technologies typically used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, and copyright holders to attempt to control how consumers access and use media and entertainment content," the FTC explains. "Among other issues, the workshop will address the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations."

The agenda includes demonstrations of DRM-related technology, panel discussions about how these technologies affect consumers, legal issues surrounding DRM, and discussions on the potential need for government involvement to protect consumers.

You can get involved, as well. "The Commission invites interested parties to submit requests to be panelists and to recommend other topics for discussion. The requests should be submitted electronically to drmtownhall@ftc.gov by January 30, 2009....The Commission will select panelists based on their expertise and on the need to represent a range of views." If you would simply like to have your voice heard you can submit comments or original research as well. This is an excellent opportunity to make your voice heard on this matter, and to explain your feelings on the state of DRM in the gaming industry.

Is this a matter that deserves government attention? Absolutely. Having standards for disclosure of what exactly you're installing with your software, along with easily available tools to remove those programs, would go a long way toward keeping publishers honest about what is shipping with our games.

A recent class-action lawsuit filed against EA is indicative of the problem: "Consumers are given no notices whatsoever that the FREE trial version of [Spore] includes Digital Rights Management technology... Consumers are given no control, rights, or options over SecuROM," the suit alleges. "The program cannot be completely uninstalled." The suit lists some of the potential side-effects of having the program installed on a system, including disruption of fire walls and "complete operating system failure."

Too often, customers have no clear picture of what else they may be installing onto their computer when they buy a game, or how those programs could affect the day-to-day use of that computer. There is no disclosure, no accountability, and very little education going on around the issue of DRM and its related technologies.

It's likely the discussion will be lively, with both publishers and consumer rights associations weighing in. The core issue is a simple one, however: consumers deserve to know what they're installing, and exactly what it does. It's looking increasingly likely that consumers may need the FTC's help to make sure what happens during software installations becomes as transparent and open as possible.

The town hall meeting will take place at the University of Washington School of Law, and will be free and open to the public, no registration required.

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Haven't been much news recently, but anyways heres some

Looking at "The MMO Crash of 2008"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hellforge posits that 2008 was the worst year on record for MMOs. But the "collapse" had nothing to do with the genre's viability, and everything to do with hubris and poor decisions by game-makers.

The wreckage includes three titles whose names are either punchlines by now or dangerously close: Hellgate: London, Age of Conan, and the dumpstered Tabula Rasa, joined by the patched-too-late Pirates of the Burning Sea, as examples of how not to run an MMO railroad.

Hellgate cratered thanks to bad management, bad decisions and their reversals, and its bastard sibling Tabula Rasa was so awful Lord British decided to leave Earth rather than deal with the mess. Pirates of the Burning Sea patched its problems, but way too late to save itself. Age of Conan, as discussed before, stopped trying after you got past level 20. Bottom line, Hellgate and Tabula Rasa's servers are shutting down entirely (or already have) and the other two have merged or closed many of theirs too.

The lessons? Listen to beta testers; get the launch right, because patches won't save your asses, and if you're innovating some new gameplay mechanic, do it like you mean it. A successful MMO depends on a huge investment of a gamer's time. The investment on the development/publishing end should be total, too.

And the huge behemoth that is WoW keeps on rolling through everyone....

Neversoft off Tony Hawk Series

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Studio president Joel Jewett tells hometown newspaper that "it's time for someone else to add fresh ideas" to skating franchise; Chicago-based Robomodo top suspect.

Following months of speculation, Neversoft Entertainment co-founder and president Joel Jewett has confirmed his studio is no longer developing Tony Hawk games. Speaking with his hometown newspaper the Great Falls Tribune, the Montana native confirmed the studio has bid farewell to the series that put it on the map.

"It's probably best for the franchise … it's time for someone else to add fresh ideas to it," Jewett told the Tribune. Located in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, Neversoft is now squarely focused on the Guitar Hero franchise, which it took over after original developer--and current Rock Band studio--Harmonix was bought by MTV games in 2006.

A of press time, Activision reps had not officially confirmed that Tony Hawk and Neversoft have parted ways. However, the separation had been long rumored. Last year, refugees from the EA Chicago and Studio Gigante closures formed an all-new studio, Robomodo, to work on "a high-profile extreme sports title for Activision Blizzard."

The aforementioned game was long suspected to be Tony Hawk Adrenaline, a name first heard last June via an infamous mega-leak by the market-research firm Intellisponse. The unauthorized info dump, which preemptively revealed Xbox Live Avatars and Guitar Hero World Tour's neckslide, said the new game would urge PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC owners to "put down the controller, step on the board, and feel the sensation of going big. ... Shift your weight to turn and balance grinds, kick back on the tail of the board to ollie, and lean into airs to pull off huge spins."

Though Activision remained conspicuously silent about the Intellisponse leak, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith announced last May that the forthcoming game "won't be your father's Tony Hawk. … We're very bullish on the kind of innovation this will bring." Last month, an Activision presentation confirmed players would not use their hands to play the next Tony Hawk title. Finally, Hawk himself dropped a major hint, telling GameSpot sister site CNET that the next console games to bear his name would incorporate accelerometer technology sometime later this year

Meh, never liked the series anyways

Tomb Raider sales tank, Eidos shares plummet

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Underworld's 1.5 million units sold worldwide fails to meet publisher's expectations; stock price drops 30 percent in response.

Eidos' troubles continued today, as the publisher formerly known as SCi announced that sales of Tomb Raider: Underworld have failed to meet its forecasts, selling only 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Eidos said difficulties in the North American market were to blame, with "retailers restricting inventory levels and triple-A products being price discounted above expectation." Due to the drop in demand and worries of ongoing price discounting in the US, Eidos has lowered its full-year revenue forecast by £20 million ($30.39 million).

The news caused shares in the company to plunge 5.25p ($.08) to 12p ($.18) in early trading this morning. Shares in the group skyrocketed at the tail end of 2005, reaching highs of 500p ($7.59), but have been in steady decline since; the company has lost 74 percent of its value in the past year.

The games industry, generally expected to weather the recession better than many sectors, has seen a multitude of job losses and bailouts, despite strong sales at retail. EA announced the layoffs of more than 500 staff back in October of last year (later doubling that figure), while Midway is still trying to settle its $150 million debt. More diversified companies, such as Sony and Microsoft, have also felt the pinch, embarking on vast restructuring plans, though the effect of these changes on these firms' gaming businesses is not yet clear.

Despite the gloom, Eidos remained positive about 2009 with the launch of the forthcoming game Batman: Arkham Asylum, stating, "We are working closely with DC Comics and Warner Bros. and through our strategic partnership we are benefitting from cross-promotional opportunities including the first video trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum featured on all DVDs of the movie The Dark Knight this Christmas."

Okay, now this is wierd. For a PC Game, 1.5 million copies is nothing to laugh at. How high were their expectations?

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

Okay, now this is wierd. For a PC Game, 1.5 million copies is nothing to laugh at. How high were their expectations?

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It's on every platform known to mankind. 1.5 million is the combined sales of all platforms; that's still more units than most multiplatform games shift in their total lifespan. It seems the expectation was 3 million, an unreasonably high figure for a series which is no longer ultra-high profile and which was released during one of the busiest Christmas periods gaming has seen.

Guitar Hero III Becomes Highest-Grossing Game Ever

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Guitar Hero's big business. Multiple versions, multiple consoles, it's a big hit. But are you prepared for just how big a hit it is, or for how important it is to publishers Activision?

Well, according to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith, Guitar Hero III has become the first single game in the history of the world to top $1 billion in sales.

That's $1,000,000,000. Spend just on Guitar Hero III.

Sure, it's more expensive than your average game, but do you think that's going to stop the high-fiving and cork-popping going right now in the deepest, darkest depths of Castle Activision?

Nope.

Wow, and I thought the Sims franchise made a ton of money. The amount of money that WoW makes probably even pales in comparision to a billion dollars

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Originally Posted by TevashSzat

Okay, now this is wierd. For a PC Game, 1.5 million copies is nothing to laugh at. How high were their expectations?

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The production costs of most A-list games are very high these days. These aren't being made by 10-20 people living on ramen. They're made by 100-200 people (though still living on ramen) and have massive tech requirements, voice acting, etc. This adds up to much, much higher costs, which requires a much higher return on income to be successful. Hence the increasing adoption of multi-platform releases.

So there was someone within Sega that had common sense AND a conscience? No wonder he got the boot.
http://www.tssznews.com/2009/01/05/t...t-you-to-read/

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As it turned out, according to Mr. Andac, after Sega had restructured itself to re-integrate external development houses like Smilebit and AM2 back in to the main Sega offices, Sonic Team was kept external strictly as a sweatshop to milk the Sonic cashcow, assembly-line style. Sega of Japan had intended NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams as a brief rest from the never-ending onslaught of Sonic game after Sonic game. In Ben’s own words: “There’s no doubt that Sonic Team have lost their quality touch. They are worse than talentless: they are without passion. Bored, weary, closed-minded and out of touch with any sense of what makes games good anymore.” Quite simply put, after making so many of them, Sonic Team is tired of Sonic games - something Ben cites as a reason for Yuji Naka’s resignation in 2006.

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