Following the merger between Activision and Vivendi to form Activision Blizzard, it was announced that a number of games — including high profile titles like Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend — were being dropped. Disappointing as it was, it was a mind-boggling decision to many gamers, given that Activision decided to retain the rights to other Vivendi franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. We’ve theorized that this was simply a matter of being able to milk those franchises more than you could the new Riddick, and sure enough, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick admitted as much during yesterday’s Activision Blizzard earnings call.

According to MTV Multiplayer, while answering a question on why some of Vivendi’s games were dropped, Kotick laid out the reality of the matter — albeit without referring to any specific games:

“[Those games] don’t have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we’ll be working on them 10 years from now.”

It’s a fair point given that Activision is, after all, a business, but it’s easy to be upset with that sort of strategy. Luckily, Kotick did say original properties are important, but they need to be careful with which properties they pursue. Of the 15 properties Activision Blizzard is planning to release next year, “three, maybe four” of those will be “exciting new intellectual properties.”Too bad none of them will be Ghostbusters or Brutal Legend.

When companies merge, or in this – when giants collide, several changes always take place. Some of them are great changes, some of them are… well this is a family friendly site so I will let you fill in the blank.

Case in point: The Activision Blizzard (Vivendi) merger. Its great that there is a huge company out there ready, willing and able to go after EA with broadsword, but that little blessing is also a bit bittersweet. Some games have been cut, not canned, but cut from the new publishing giant’s list and will be offered up to other publishers for distribution, or sale if you will.

The majority of these cuts come from Sierra, which means that the only games that they have been working on that made this cut are: Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age, Spyro, and unannounced game and Prototype which means that these games will be the only wholly owned properties that Activision Blizzard will keep. Ghostbusters, World in Conflict, and Brutal Legend, however, did not make it.

Vivendi Games Mobile, and Sierra Online might also go up on the auction block, and the realigning of staff for Radical Entertainment and High Moon Studios is also in the works. Massive Entertainment, which is working on Prototype at the moment (which made the merger) and Swordfish Studios are also being considered for liquidation. High Moon as you may recall, were the folks behind the Bourne game, and Massive was working on World in Conflict.

However, don’t get upset over Ghostbusters and the other two as of yet. They are still being worked on as we speak. According to a source, who wished to remain anonymous, Ghostbusters, especially, is still coming just possibly not from Activision Blizzard.

As told to VG247:

“It’s basically being put out to tender. Considering where it is in development, hopefully someone else will pick it. I guess that if there are Sierra games that are not mentioned in the Activision press release, then they’re part and parcel of the stuff that’s going out to tender, but I don’t know for sure. But I would not used the word ‘canned’ if I were you [talking about Ghostbusters]. “

So until more on this develops, keep your fingers crossed that Ghostbusters, Brutal Legend, and World in Conflict and any other game that Sierra and the others were working on, that you happen to have been looking forward to, will be picked up by someone else.

What really baffles me though is that they actually think that a game like The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (yes I know it is already out) is considered a hot commodity but Ghostbusters is not. Very strange thinking there, very strange indeed.

You can read the full Activision press release after the jump.

Thanks: VG247
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The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, is the third chapter in the trilogy and will be released this autumn for the DS, PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. This time around, Spyro can fly at any time and players can drop-in/drop-out with the new co-operative feature. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, giving them more freedom to explore Spyro’s world in completely new ways.

For more on The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, check out our previous posts.

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload has barely been an Xbox Original for a day now and Xbox 360 Fanboy has tracked down a listing for an Xbox Live Arcade game simply titled “Guilty Gear.” The listing comes from PEGI’s website and lists Sega Europe’s name with the game title, leaving us to guess at whether this is a port of the PS one game or an original Guilty Gear title.

Clearly, though, you might be angry if you bought X2 #Reload today for 15 smackers. If the game has already been rated by PEGI, then surely the game can’t be too, too far from release. And not too many games on XBLA reach the 1200 Microsoft points price point, so yeah — I personally won’t be picking up X2 #Reload in light of this unofficial reveal of Guilty Gear XBLA.

As promised last week, two new Xbox games have been added to the Xbox Originals catalog: Guilty Gear X2 #Reload and The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Both games are now available or 1200 Microsoft points, or $15, each, and the only catch (aside from the outrageously high prices) is that “you may see some minor irregularities with audio/video for brief periods.” They should just attach that note to every game that comes out so that we’re warned in advance that they couldn’t work all the kinks out.

Check out the previous post for most information on both games.

Microsoft will be bolstering the Xbox Originals library this coming Monday with the addition of Guilty Gear X2 #Reload and The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. As is always the case, each game will be overpriced at 1200 Microsoft points ($15), which is actually how much a used copy of Spyro would cost, according to GameStop.com, although Guilty Gear is a fraction of the cost at $6. Of course, the main benefit of Xbox Originals is having a digital copy of the game, which I’m a big fan of.

From the respective Xbox.com pages:

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload:

In Guilty Gear X2 #Reload, a newly discovered form of energy has been used to create devastating bio-weapons from fused human and animal DNA. Known as the Gears, they are now intelligent, self-aware creatures set loose upon the populace and threaten human control of the planet.

• Game variety: The exciting game modes include Medal of Millionaire (a brutal one-fall, medal competition), Versus (two-player battles to settle scores), Survival (1,000 levels of endurance), Story (multiple endings to learn the truth behind the Gears), Mission (take on opponents with certain rules and specific conditions), and Training (training mode lets you to fine-tune your skills).
• Multiple characters: Choose from regular 20 characters plus hidden characters and EX characters.
• Moves and combos: In addition to Signature Instant Kill moves for each character, use thousands of moves and combos, including Psych Bursts and Overdrive Attacks.
• Rock and roll: Battle your enemies to the beat of the intense metal and rock soundtrack.

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning:

Explore the origins of the one and only powerful purple dragon in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Uncover Spyro’s secret history as you embark on a dangerous quest to face off against the ultimate creation of the Dark Master, Cynder.

• Destroy!: Unleash Spyro’s true power, using his fiery breath and devastating combos to destroy menacing enemies and bone-chilling bosses.
• Power-up!: Develop greater firepower as you upgrade Spyro’s breath into a more powerful weapon.
• Gasp!: Experience Spyro’s adventures through stunning cinematics and through voices provided by some of Hollywood’s finest talent.

Guilty Gear received fairly good reviews when it was released back in 2004, but the same can’t really be said for Spyro. I was a big fan of the original Spyro games on PlayStation, but ever since then the quality of the series has dropped off dramatically. That being said, this is far from the worst Spyro game, but $15 might be asking a bit much for a game that’s not much better than “average.”

Sierra is bombarding us with screenshots for the latest bit of adventures for Sypro, but that is a good thing because these are some pretty nice screens.

In Dawn of the Dragon, the final chapter of the trilogy, players find Sypro teaming up with an unlikely ally – Cynder, his former enemy, to face his most challenging mission to date. As the Dark Master’s (voiced by Mark Hamill) evil envelopes the world like a plague, Spyro must fulfil his destiny and unlock the true power of the purple dragon within him to stop the Dark Master in his tracks.

Expect the game to hit shelves this fall for everything but the PC and PSP.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, is the third chapter in the trilogy and will be released this autumn for the DS, PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. This time around, Spyro can fly at any time and players can drop-in/drop-out with the new co-operative feature. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, giving them more freedom to explore Spyro’s world in completely new ways.

For more on The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, check out our previous posts.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, is the third chapter in the popular Legend of Spyro trilogy. Currently in development by Etranges Libellules (translated as Strange Dragonflies), the game will be released this autumn for the DS, PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Reprising their roles as the characters of Spyro and his mentor Ignitus, are Hollywood leading men, Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman (woo hoo!) along with newcomers to the series Christina Ricci, Blair Underwood, Mark Hamill and Wayne Brady (Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?).

In the final chapter of the trilogy, players find Sypro teaming up with an unlikely ally – Cynder, his former enemy, to face his most challenging mission to date. As the Dark Master’s (voiced by Mark Hamill) evil envelopes the world like a plague, Spyro must fulfil his destiny and unlock the true power of the purple dragon within him to stop the Dark Master in his tracks.

The game will also introduce two never before seen elements into the Spyro universe: Spyro can now fly at any time and players can drop-in/drop-out with the new co-operative feature. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, giving them more freedom to explore Spyro’s world in completely new ways.

Sierra has managed to engaged additional Hollywood talent for the latest Legend of Spyro game.

Elijah Wood is returning as the voice of the fire breathing, sheep chasing dragon in Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. Gary Oldman is also back as the voice of Ignitus.

New additions to the cast are Christina Ricci who will voice the reformed Cynder and Mark Hamill doing his villainous best as the Dark Master. Comedian Wayne Brady will give Sparx, Spyro’s dragonfly brother, his personality. Blair Underwood rounds out the cast as the voice of Hunter.

Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon will be out this fall for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.

Having Hollywood talent doing voice acting for video games is not always a sure thing. However, I hope to be pleasantly surprised. I’m a big fan of Mark Hamill’s work as the Joker for the Batman: The Animated Series and several other related productions.

via Eurogamer