Earlier this month, we learned that both Activision and Vivendi had left the Entertainment Software Association. Shortly after that, we learned that several other developers wouldn’t be attending the ESA-sponsored E3, although they would remain members of the ESA. Now GamePolitics suspects that LucasArts might be the next company to leave the company.
Dennis over at GP noticed that the company is no longer listed on the ESA’s website. However, there’s been no confirmation from either side, with an ESA rep saying he would “look into that.”
Odds are, though, that this isn’t a coincidence and LucasArts will be added to the list of ex-ESA members. If that’s the case, one has to wonder what the future holds for the ESA and how much more it’s going to take for them to try and fix the situation.
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The second expansion pack for World of Warcraft is due out in the second half of 2008, according to Vivendi. In financial details released today, Vivendi stated not once, but twice that Wrath of the Lich King will arrive during the second half of 2008.
Still no exact “yes or no” coming from the Blizzard camp on this though, so just sit tight until we get an exact release date.
Two other things were also revealed today, one was that as of March 31, 2008, the WoW subscriber base had grown to 10.7 million since January’s report of just a paltry 10 million.
The other thing that was announced, according to this, was that a Blizzard staffer hinted around that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion will include polar bear mounts. Nice.
Blizzard’s parent company Vivendi is suing MDY, Inc. the creator of the Glider bot program for the World of Warcraft. For those of you that are new to Glider, the program allows users to load their copy of the WoW client software into RAM making gameplay automated.
I agree with Vivendi that using Glider is “cheating” and bad for the WoW players and economy. However, fining Glider users $750 every time they load it is excessive. It’s the old punish the kids and the dealers can’t sell drugs argument really.
What really irks me is that Blizzard is arguing that WoW players using the program are violating copyright rather than the EULA. Translation, the users don’t own their copies of the WoW client they purchased. No, you don’t own that copy of WoW you bought on CD; you’re merely renting the license for it.
For a detailed explaination of how this is magically supposed to work, check out the article on MDY vs. Blizzard explaining why cheating at WoW may be rotten but it’s not copyright infringement on Public Knowledge.
Activision has published results for the company’s 2008 financial year and the numbers are pretty impressive. Raking in over $2.9 billion in net earnings gave them a 92% increase in monetary gains over last year’s figures. Activision’s net income stands at $344.9 million, up from $85.8 million last year and kudos goes out to Guitar Hero III and CoD4 helping them out by bringing in one billion dollars each in sales.
Head honcho Robert Kotick stated during a conference call following the published figures:
“During the fiscal year, we were the number one US console and handheld publisher in dollars for the first time ever, according to The NPD Group, and we grew our worldwide share of the console, handheld and PC markets year over year.”
Also mentioned during the conference call was the confirmation of a fifth Call of Duty game, the reinvention of the Tony Hawk series, the announcement of a new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance title and discussions relating to Guitar Hero 4 and its holiday release date.
This means that Activison will be another contender for number one publisher next year, especially considering that they have merged with Blizzard. Just think of the money they will earn when Wrath of the Lich Kingis unleashed upon the world.
Sierra has announced the development of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, a video game based the third installment of the “Mummy” movies from Universal Pictures. The game, which will mirror the events depicted in the film, is being developed by Eurocom Studios for the PS2 and the Wii; and in development for the DS from A2M.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperorgame was created through a licensing agreement with Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group. In this third-person action-adventure game, players will take on the roles of Rick O’Connell and his son, Alex (played by Brendan Fraser and Luke Ford, respectively, in the film). Gamers will follow the lead characters on their journey - across locations from ancient Chinese catacombs to the Himalayan peaks - to defeat the revived servants of the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will allow players to switch between gunplay and hand-to-hand melee attacks, and also features an arsenal of weaponry that can be used to vanquish the many enemies players will face during their journey. Players will also be able to utilize combat, puzzle-solving and hieroglyphic decoding gameplay elements to fight their way through the game.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is expected to be available on July 22nd, while the movie is expected to be released in theaters on August 1st.
You know, as horrid as The Scorpion King was combined with the asinine antics and plotline of the The Mummy Returns, I am surprised that they are even making ANOTHER one. I mean, even Rachel Weisz is smart enough not to be a part of this one - her character is being played by Maria Bello this time around - who isn’t even British so how in the world can she still be considered Jonathan’s sister? Plus, with the “son” as a side-kick in the movie, that just guarantees that it will both suck and blow. Plus, with Luke Ford playing Brenden Fraser’s son, his character would have been 13 when Alex was born which is absurd - of course, now I am just nit-picking so I will shut up.
Looks like I’ll have to amend my exhibitor list again. Kotaku is reporting that six more publishers have dropped out of E3 this year. Who are the missing half-dozen?
Well, to Vivendi and Activision you can add the following: Codemasters, NCSoft, Her Entertainment, and id Software. The new four have confirmed that they are not attending this year’s show, but they are remaining members of the ESA.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has been quoted as placing at least part of the blame at the feet of ESA President, Mike Gallagher.
“Lowenstein was a very savvy industry veteran who paid attention to the goings-on in the industry and cared what the community had to say. The new person… whose name completely escapes me because I’ve never met him or heard from him, is far less knowledgeable and sophisticated about this industry than Doug was and is going to make some rookie mistakes.
Doug used to be a very visible spokesperson in congress… when you’d get these [things like] Barack Obama saying videogames are corrupting our youth or MADD saying that Take-Two should pull GTA off the shelves, you would hear Lowenstein immediately shoot back. I would guess that Activision doesn’t perceive the same value from the ESA as they did under Doug’s leadership. I criticize [Gallagher’s] lack of drive to learn about the industry.”
Thus far, the ESA and Gallagher have had no comment, but it seems to me that common sense would say that if your largest members are leaving and/or not supporting your signature event, you may have a problem on your hands.
To be fair, NCSoft has publicly stated that their decision not to attend is based soley on their game development cycles, and has nothing ot do with the ESA or its leadership. However, the rest of us are left wondering what may come from all the other companies in the coming week, especially with the news that Activision will be holding an event on the first day of E3, just not in the convention center as part of E3.
Is this the beginning of the end for E3? We’ve speculated on it for quite some time, literally every year since the format was changed. Could it finally be upon us?
If, like me, you were wondering why Activision, Blizzard and the rest of Vivendi weren’t on the list of exhibitors at E3 2008, the answer is in.
According to Kotaku, the Entertainment Software Association has confirmed to them that both Vivendi and Activision are no longer a part of the trade organization. In a statement, Senior Vice President of Communications and Research Rich Taylor said
“While the Entertainment Software Association remains the preeminent voice for U.S. computer and video game publishers, we can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership. The ESA remains dedicated to advancing our industry’s objectives such as protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights, and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire industry. Our high level of service and value to members and the larger industry remains unchanged.”
This departure is a big surprise, at least to me. I think we’d all grown used to Blizzard holding their big announcements for Blizzcon, but to see an E3 without them will be more than just odd, it’ll be downright bizarre. One has to wonder what effect this split will have on the ESA and E3. After all, it’s not just Blizzard, but Activision and Sierra as well.
If you continue to wonder why Matt Damon didn’t lend his voice and likeness to The Bourne Conspiracy, there’s no longer a need — developer High Moon Studios’ Meelad Sadat revealed to MTV Multiplayer that Damon had problems with the game’s level of violence.
Apparently, Damon was already in negotiations to reprise his Bourne role within the game when development was first starting. But one of the many targets of Team America: World Police felt that the violence was too extreme and with drew from negotiations. It’s not particularly surprising, given the stance Damon’s mother has on violent games, but it’s really a shame that he felt like he would somehow help protect children by not being involved. I guess he’s never heard of ESRB ratings.
I’ve written numerous times about how big a fan of the Bourne movies I am, and not having Damon in Conspiracy might end up making it something I don’t purchase. The developers aren’t too upset, though, as they’ve been able to create their own Bourne for players to become invested in.
Submitted for your approval are six new Ghostbusters screens from the forthcoming game in development at Sierra. These new screens depict Winston trying to fight off the slime with his proton gun, fighting a spectral force in a library (or archives), and one of them pretty much shows him destroying the environment around him.
These screens, along with yesterday’s news that the original soundtrack would be included in the game, just makes this another “must have”. Hopefully Vivendi will announce and exact release date soon, but until then keep checking back for more updates.
When the new Ghostbusters video game was first announced, I didn’t even consider whether they would include the classic Ray Parker Jr. theme song; I just thought it was a given for the franchise. But developers usually try to explore every option they can think of, so Terminal Reality at one time was very, very briefly considering putting in a remixed theme song in place of the original. Executive producer, Brendan Goss, explains how that idea went over with fans:
“When we were doing the focus group testing, we asked people how they’d feel about a remix done by a current band. We got booed out of the place,” Goss said. “People were really against it, going, ‘You can’t do that, there’s only one song for Ghostbusters!’ It was incredible. So we were like, okay, we won’t mess with the Ray Parker Jr. song then.”
It just goes to show, never mess with a truly memorable theme song (I’m looking in your direction, 21st century Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon). As an added bonus though, Terminal Reality has also revealed that the game’s soundtrack will include over 75 minutes of music that was cut from the original film. So basically, we’re going to get some “new” music that should fit the tone of the game perfectly, as well as the classic tunes. Awesome.
Its a shame to see a promising game begin to falter. Last week’s announcement regarding server consolidation for the recently launched Pirates of the Burning Sea MMORPG might not be the best sign that the game is doing well. Regardless it sparked a discussion between Ron and I about why MMORPGs fail today and thus this week’s Podcast was born. Then the topic moves to my recent trip to Chicago to meet with Wizards of the Coast about the future of Dungeons & Dragons. If you’re interested in more info on D&D 4E be sure to check out The Analog Gamer.
The rant and rave section of the podcast features a rant at a very special audience and Ron implores Sony to fix the horrible problems with the Playstation Store and its downloads.
This weeks show is available by direct download here.
As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.
File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.
Industry analyst Janco predicted it back in August and now an interview with Activison CEO Bobby Lotick over on Conde Nast Portfolio, confirms that new additions to the Guitar Hero franchise will indeed include additional instruments.
“It’s not just about guitars. We’ll include a lot of other instruments, vocals.”
Kotick also commented that the merger with Vivendi will benefit the GH franchise by it having access to the Universal Music Group’s library thus broadening the game’s appeal. Cool, maybe this means we will finally see some Godsmack in the near future - say what you will about them, it would be fun to play “Keep Away” and “Alive”. Just think, if vocals were added you could try and mimic Sully’s trademark scream.
According to Kotick:
“The artist’s relevance and importance to 17-year olds change in a way that you could never get in any other medium. Forty per cent of [Guitar Hero] users are women. The age appeal is something we’ve never seen before: 7 year-olds who have no idea who Aerosmith is are playing the band’s music on Guitar Hero. So are 45-year olds who spent a good portion of their lives following the band around.”
I can actually agree with those numbers because the majority of my female friends, which are not gamers at all, love to play Guitar Hero. Heck, my Mom even likes to play the game and she is lucky to be able to surf the internet and check her email. Sorry Mom.
Another step towards the formation of Activision Blizzard was made this week when the European Commission gave its permission for the merger to move ahead with the nearly $10 billion deal. Vivendi would have a 52% stake in the new company, which would have annual revenue of $3.8 billion. Be scared, EA.
The Commission determined that the new company wouldn’t have a monopoly on the industry. They said ” the combined firm would continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft,” according to Reuters.
It doesn’t look like there’s much left in the way of this deal going through, so get ready for that Activision Blizzard logo to start appearing everywhere.
I just wish they could have picked a slightly less craptacular name for the company.
Hey, any game company can put together a trailer; but not many can promote their game by rolling out a piece of movie history. That’s exactly what Vivendi decided to do though when they had the Ghostbusters’ famous Ecto-1 roadster make an appearance at a Best Buy in Minnesota. The event was held to promote the upcoming game that will continue the story following the second film. The car is being referred to as a “Restoration Project,” so I’m not sure if that’s the actual car from the films or an exquisite replica. But I think one thing’s for sure: we all missed out on one kick ass photo op.
Vivendi has confirmed that a demo for the upcoming title, The Bourne Conspiracy, will be unveiled next month. They don’t have specific dates yet, but the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN releases are simply “awaiting confirmation” now. The upcoming game will be based on the Robert Ludlum novels, but will borrow some elements from the movies as well. The developers seem to have focused a fair amount of the action on some brutal hand-to-hand combat dynamics. Guess we’ll get to see if that’s all coming together well within a few weeks.
Forget Ang Lee’s vision of The Incredible Hulk. Marvel is putting out a new interpretation of Bruce Banner’s incredible transformation to the Hulk and Sega is developing a game to go with it.
Sega’s The Incredible Hulk video game looks like an updated version of Ultimate Destruction; only with more enraged roaring. I hope that the game delivers at least as well as Vivendi’s Hulk tribute. That open world for the Hulk to run around and smash things in has never been replicated, except maybe in crack down. It’s hard to tell from the teaser, but it appears the game features a fully destructible environment.
According to an interview with Tim Bennison of Radical Entertainment, Prototype has had multiplayer removed from the game.
From its inception Prototype was planned first and foremost as a single player open-world/action game. Naturally, with Alex’s genetically mutated shape-shifting abilities, we started to explore what would happen if he were to sub-divide into two Prototypes and what kind of multiplayer gameplay we could create around that concept. We’ve been looking at this potential multiplayer idea much more closely as Prototype’s development has been progressing, and while it’s a great concept and gameplay bonus, our conclusion is that we won’t be able to pull it off with the same level of quality and polish that we’re aiming for with the original single player story.
So there ya have it folks. No multiplayer for Prototype. Is that so bad really? Not all games HAVE to have a multiplayer aspect to them, and sometimes - especially here of late - the single player campaign can suffer for it. On the other side of the spectrum though, you can’t just throw in half-baked multiplayer modes just to appeal to the multiplayer crowd or it in turn suffers as well - *cough Condemned 2 cough*.
I have a problem. It’s not a serious addiction, in fact its much the opposite of an addiction. I can’t commit.
If the subject of my problem were a woman I’d be the very picture of a man who wouldn’t commit – frequent hot dates with a possibility of long term relationships are tossed to the side in search of the next shiny object or attractive game setting. I dawdle between games like a child with free run of a candy store and no oversight. I just can’t seem to find that special game to break me of my wanderlust.
Now you might not think this a serious problem, I mean after all, who doesn’t play multiple games? But my issue goes beyond rotating pastimes to keep from losing interest. I have a staple game I play – Guild Wars – mostly because its free and doesn’t require a huge commitment of time or energy to hop into any of its settings and grind out a few missions or quests. Guild Wars is like the partner who dislikes your wandering habits but lets you come home whenever you feel like it because it knows it’ll always get what it can while you’re around. Read the full article
In this fictional follow-up story to 50 Cent: Bulletproof , players will be able to play as the hip-hop star in an all-out battle to protect Fiddy’s assets and to collect payment from a crooked overlord.
Sorry, I am having a hard time typing this without dying from uncontrollable laughter.
In 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, gamers can participate in multiplayer drop-in and drop-out co-op, interactive counter-kills, driving, and aerial combat. The game will also feature exclusive unreleased music from 50 Cent and G-Unit.
For more information, check out the FileFront page for 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and our previous posts here and here.
Via: Press Release (which is posted after the jump)
I considered all sorts of 52 cent jokes, but they all sucked.
Unfortunately, the rumor has proven to be true as MTV News (where else?) has revealed the first details on the newest game to bear 50’s name. Blood on the Sand, as it’s called, won’t be a direct sequel to the horrendous Bulletproof and isn’t being developed by the same studio.
“Once we get the game out there … I think people will realize right away where our focus for the sequel is,” Vivendi Games producer Aaron Blean told MTV News. “We’ve emphasized the gameplay quality [more] than anything this time around. We can’t wait to show the game around.”
Word is mum on just what the “Blood on the Sand” title refers to or what the game is really about. What we do know is that 50 himself played a big part in developing the story – so you know it’ll be good.
The game is being built on Unreal Engine 3 and will feature a co-op style experience (which MTV refers to as being Gears of War-esque, although Army of Two sounds more accurate) where one player will control 50 Cent, and either the computer or a friend online will take control of the second character.
If you’re actually interested in the rest of the details, I both simultaneously pity you and direct you to MTV.com.
Earlier this month, we learned that both Activision and Vivendi had left the Entertainment Software Association. Shortly after that, we learned that several other developers wouldn’t be attending the ESA-sponsored E3, although they would remain members of the ESA. Now GamePolitics suspects that LucasArts might be the next company to leave the company.
Looks like I’ll have to amend my 
When the new Ghostbusters video game was first announced, I didn’t even consider whether they would include the classic Ray Parker Jr. theme song; I just thought it was a given for the franchise. But developers usually try to explore every option they can think of, so Terminal Reality at one time was very, very briefly considering putting in a remixed theme song in place of the original. Executive producer, Brendan Goss, explains how that idea went over with fans:
Another step towards the formation of 
I have a problem. It’s not a serious addiction, in fact its much the opposite of an addiction. I can’t commit.
I considered all sorts of 52 cent jokes, but they all sucked.
