O.J. Simpson has been ordered by a California judge to pay to the Goldman’s estate any licensing fees, royalties or other compensation earned from lending his name and likeness to 2K Sports’ All-Pro Football 2K8. The Goldman’s won a settlement Simpson has yet to pay in the wrongful death suit brought against Simpson over the 1994 stabbing deaths of Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

Ironically, Simpson’s likeness is being used in an All-Pro Football 2K8 game trailer, “Slashing the Defense Gameplay”, as a member of the fictional Assassins football team which features a hooded, knife-wielding mascot. Although 2K Sports has issued a statement claiming the mascot is “not specifically associated with O.J. Simpson, and the game does not promote any such connection”, I’m sure there’s an inside joke somewhere.

via Reuters

To some game companies, Take-Two’s delay wasn’t so much a silver lining as it was a sunny day. Although, Sony might still have an umbrella in mind.

The effects for Take-Two were immediate: its stocks went down. But according to Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, other stocks have gone up. The shift in focus for the end of the year might have been just what other publishers were looking for.

“GTA was set to be another major blockbuster coming out right after Halo 3,” the WSJ article reads. “In short, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), THQ Interactive (NASDAQ:THQI), and Activsion (NASDAQ:ATVI) may have just gotten one monkey off their backs.”

Read the full article »

You won’t be seeing Grand Theft Auto IV in time for the holidays, unfortunately. The game was slated to be released on October 16, but according to Take Two Interactive’s recent press release, it’s not coming until their second fiscal quarter of 2008, which loosely means anywhere from January to March of next year.

“Take-Two is reducing its fiscal 2007 guidance primarily to reflect the movement of the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360â„¢ video game and entertainment system from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008, due to additional development time required to complete [GTA IV],” the press release states. “The title is now planned for release in the Company’s second quarter of fiscal 2008.”

Too bad for both fans of the game and for the PlayStation 3, as the titles which are going to be released for the console will inevitably drive their sales. But maybe it will just mean Sony’s Christmas will come a little later than they planned.

Video games as art for adults? Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive Chariman, had some compelling words for readers in a recent interview with The Mercury News. But I think he’s noting a misconception that we gamers have known needs to change, that false notion that adults don’t play video games.

“We are not making these games for kids. These games are not intended to be sold to children,” he said in the interview. “I have a strong philosophy about interactive entertainment having spent my whole career in entertainment. We are not just in the business of making entertainment. We are in the business of making art.”

And WOW, video games as art! That is quite a bold statement, but one that this author agrees with wholeheartedly. I think the misconception of video games as being for kids is not only putting caps on what game developers can make, but it’s also keeping the medium from being fully realized as an art form.

Comic books didn’t quite make the jump. There are many who have successfully embraced them, but I think that a lot of people still laugh behind those rather awkward individuals whose comic book collections take up large sections of warehouse space. Regardless, I think video games are successfully merging into the adult markets, albeit slowly.

“Our average consumer is age 33. Just by demographics, the video game business is becoming a broad based entertainment business. The growth reflects that. We’re a company that spends a lot of time appealing to that mature audience,” he said.

Hopefully that growth and broad entertainment base of which he speaks will keep expanding. I’d really love to see what happens when game creators with full artistic license and unlimited funding get behind abstract ideas which could become amazing, groundbreaking games.

via Mercury News

Over at PlayStation.blog, Michael Shorrock, the Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA announced that a new franchise from Rockstar Games would be a PS3 exclusive. Mr. Shorrock stated that: “Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that. This is really a win-win situation for both companies.”

This information was previously announced on the Spike TV program GameHead with Geoff Keighley. Mr. Shorrock also quenched any rumors that it may be LA Noire, but instead something new entirely. Rockstar and Take Two Interactive refuse to disclose anything at present, but stay tuned and we will give you more information as it becomes available.

Time to show old and grumpy who we really are. I think we all know “old and grumpy”. He’s your boss, your neighbor, that creepy guy over there. “Old and Grumpy” (or “OG” from henceforth) looks down his nose at video games, youth, and everything you represent. OG thinks your generation is full of slackers, dopers, and morons. We are far too idiotic to understand something like the stock exchange, let alone how to invest properly. Time to pwn OG like only a gamer can.

If you are reading this, and I’m assuming you are, you have a vast knowledge of the gaming industry that very few possess. I’m not sure if you have ever realized this, but that knowledge can sometimes be directly related to flows in the stock market. We knew before anyone else that the Nintendo Wii would sell extremely well, and low and behold, the Nintendo stock went through the roof. Is your Xbox 360 getting the “Red Ring of Death”? Sure enough, that has direct impacts on the nature of Microsoft stock. With our extreme amount of gaming product insight, we are perfectly suited to predict swings in gaming industry stock.

Here is a listing of some of the most representative gaming stocks on the market today:

You might notice a certain downward trend. (except for Nintendo, of course) Could this mid-year downward turn be leading the way for one of the biggest holiday seasons ever? I’m guessing you probably know the answer. We are approaching one of the most anticipated holiday seasons of all-time, and the gaming industry is poised to feel the effect. It’s not really that hard, beyond the numbers and charts. If you think Grand Theft Auto 4 will be the biggest launch this year, then put your money in that direction. Saddle up gamers, it’s going to be an exciting holiday season.

What was probably meant as the biggest excitement for the Take Two press conference turned out instead to be a worrying disappointment. Grand Theft Auto IV got its moment of glory at the show but looked months away from being ready to hit retail. After watching the same trailer Sony and Microsoft have been pushing all week we finally got to see the game in action.

What action? Well the demonstration content included having the main character walk up the street, get in a car and drive to a bridge that resembled the George Washington bridge in New York. Notable was the lack of criminal activity as the demonstrator drove slowly and conscientiously down the street carefully passing other traffic on the left. The goal of the demonstration obviously was to show off the well detailed textures of Liberty City. Rockstar told us that the game was raw and a work in progress at this point and not to judge what we saw too harshly as they were changing things every day and much of the sound and music was a placeholder. Microsoft and Sony continue touting the game as a cornerstone of both manufacturers Fall lineups and it looks like the folks at Rockstar still have a lot of work to do.

Madden is not the only game in town this year as competition returns to the Football simulation arena with All Pro 2k8. The game brings unfiltered football to games for the first time. Without the official “league sanctioned” teams and gameplay you’ll experience details like player smacktalk, relaxed penalty calls and  the ability to simulate late hits and the down and dirty gridiron experience.

All Pro 2k8 allows you to build your own custom teams, custom uniforms, the ability to choose your own host city and build a custom stadium. These are not all new to the market but its likely the first time a game was built to allow a realistically generated fantasy team. The game also includes a number of past greats of the NFL – over 240 in total so you can build your custom team from legends like Johnny Unitas and Joe Montanna.

Multiplayer should be a bit different than other games since the real world statistics that lead players to all pick The Patriots in Madden won’t exist as every team is custom built for every player.

Civilization: Revolution was introduced during the Take 2 press event this morning by series creator Sid Meier. He led off the conference with a good bit of exuberance regarding the upcoming console version of the Civilization franchise. Initially the title will arrive for the 360, PS3 and DS but he promises the game will hit the Wii later. Meier crystallized his thoughts on bringing the game to the console market by saying “This is the game I’ve always wanted to make.” reiterating the quote shown in the games announcement trailer.

Meier introduced the Map of the Week plan that will allow gamers to download a map, play and compete for ranking on the Civilization Revolution Ladder Boards. The concept means the map will hit the multiple versions and players will be rated on their performance.

One of the key points that was mentioned was the adviser system. This feature is meant to get the players out of the rulebook and into the game as quickly and easily as possible. Like the old Civ Encyclopedia these advisers will pop up and guide you. Unlike the older menu these advisors will appear when needed to offer advice and support to ypur leader character.

According to Areagames.de translated from German to English via Babel Fish, the German version of 2K Games’ Darkness had to undergo some revisions before it was approved for distribution. One of the major changes was the elimination of the Swastikas symbols which are unconstitutional and German citizens may not own or possess.The following changes differentiate the German versions from the Uncut:

• Are from the 24 Darklingen and/or kinds of killing 4 were removed. ie… Four Darkling kill methods were removed.
• The Rausreissen of the heart, which is represented with the Tentakeln (film sequence not playing), is replaced by absorbing the soul (yellowish green fog) ie…  The ripping out and eating of the heart is replaced by the consuming of the soul.
• The symbols (Swastikas) were removed.
• Blood and everything is important which, is further contained and not shortened!  ie… Blood and Gore animations are unchanged

Players will have to wait a little longer for the PS3 version to get up to spec. I can understand the concern of the German government, not to mention the negative history associated with the Nazi party and the rest of the world.