Archive for February 2nd, 2008
February 2, 2008
Buzz has gone to the movies and a junior jungle party, and now the popular quiz game will be coming to the PlayStation Portable as well.
The new game, Buzz! for PSP, will have eight question categories for quiz fiends: Music, TV, Science, Celebrities, Nature, Sport, Movies, and General Knowledge. There will be 5,000 questions in total, along with more than 1,000 pictures and videos.
Buzz! for PSP will have a single-player mode, along with three different multiplayer modes. The first, pass around, uses just one PSP, which gets passed around the group so everyone gets a chance to answer questions. The second, game sharing, allows up to four people to use one copy of the game and four PSPs to play, each buzzing in from their own machine. The final mode, quiz host, sees one player from a group of up to six running the whole game and controlling the number of points awarded for correct answers.
Single-player mode will have 15 different challenges in which players can earn medals and trophies for things like answering multiple questions in a row correctly or having a lighting-quick reaction time.
There will be six new round types for the PSP, too, including Quickfire Challenge, Picture This, and Virus Challenge.
Buzz! for PSP will be coming to Europe, exclusively for the PSP, sometime this spring.
February 2, 2008
The past few months have been tumultuous for publishing giant Electronic Arts, and the company’s third-quarter financial report released today bears evidence of that fact.
EA posted a record $1.5 billion in revenue for the quarter ended December 31–a number nearly equivalent to Vivendi Games’ full-year tally reported yesterday. According to EA CEO John Riccitiello, EA’s third quarter haul, which was up 17 percent from 2006’s $1.28 billion revenues, was “the single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry.”
EA also laid claim to the top market share for calendar year 2007, with an 18 percent share in North America and 19 percent share in Europe. According to Activision chairman and CEO Robert Kotick in December, Activision’s market share through November stood at 16.8 percent in the US. Though third-party publishers have struggled to find footing on Nintendo’s Wii, EA said it had managed 12 percent share, up from 3 percent from the year before.
But while revenues were up, profits were not. The publisher’s take for the quarter stood at $721 million, an 11 percent slide from the $811 million it brought in the year before. That figure represents a $33 million net loss for Q3 2007, compared to a $160 million net gain compared to the same period last year. Profitability has been a subject of much interest for EA in recent months, especially following the closing of Fight Night and Def Jam studio EA Chicago and the reportedly routine company-wide layoffs the company experienced in late 2007.
EA’s numbers may have looked better had it not deferred an additional $234 million in sequential net revenue to unspecified “future periods” due to accounting changes related to some online-enabled games, as well as $78 million restructuring charge due to the aforementioned studio closures.
Top titles for the publisher during the quarter were Need for Speed ProStreet, FIFA 08, Rock Band, The Simpsons Game, Madden NFL 08, The Sims 2 Castaway, and NBA Live 08. FIFA Soccer 08 continued to be the top title in EA’s catalog, with an additional 4.5 million units sold during the quarter. Need for Speed ProStreet did surprisingly well in the international market, selling 5.5 million copies globally, 65 percent of which were sold abroad. EA also noted that Rock Band, which has thus far played second fiddle to Activision’s Guitar Hero III, sold 1.5 million units for the quarter, while the Simpsons Game moved 4 million units.
EA also took the opportunity to officially bump two of its high-profile action games to fiscal year 2009, which begins April 1, 2008. Lending credence to the retail radar’s rumblings last week, Mercenaries 2 will go on extended shore leave until EA’s next fiscal year. Pandemic’s hyperdestructive action game was originally slated to arrive during the 2007 holiday deluge of games before being pushed back to the first quarter of 2008 for further tuning. Joining Mercenaries in fiscal 2009 will be Battlefield: Bad Company, the next console installment in DICE’s realistic first-person shooter war game.
Following the windfall of third-quarter revenue, EA has narrowed its guidance for full year revenue projections. The publisher is now expecting revenues of $3.46 billion to $3.58 billion for the year ended March 31, from previous guidance of $3.35 billion to $3.65 billion. For its final quarter of fiscal 2008, the publisher is expecting $925 million to $1.05 billion in revenue.
[UPDATE] In a ranging post-earnings conference call following EA’s third-quarter 2008 reporting, the publisher delved further into its performance for the quarter. Though EA stalwart Madden NFL 08 has sold more than 7 million units since taking to the gridiron in August, its tally is 13 percent off year over year. However, dwindling interest in Madden’s annualized football was compensated by the debut of Skate, which EA claims is outselling Activision published rival Tony Hawk by nearly two to one.
EA also said that it 23 of the 37 games released for the year have attained platinum status, up from five million-sellers a year ago. Games that achieved platinum status during the third quarter include Need for Speed ProStreet, Rock Band, The Simpsons Game, The Orange Box, The Sims 2 Castaway, NBA live ‘08, and Crysis. Of these titles, EA called out Rock Band and The Simpsons Game as both beating significantly beating sales expectations.
Addressing Rock Band, EA noted that a European launch is now slated to arrive during its fiscal first quarter, which runs from the beginning of April through June. The publisher also tackled issues of broken or malfunctioning equipment for Harmonix’s rhythm game, with EA CEO John Riccitiello saying, “We’ve had single digit complaints around the guitars and other parts of the package, and single digit percentage of consumers that have acquired them.” Following those statements, Riccitiello confirmed speculation that a Wii version of Harmonix’s rhythm rocker would join editions already available on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2, though he revealed no other details on the matter.
Riccitiello also revisited the ongoing debate concerning development difficulties on the PS3. “Games where we essentially led development on the PS3 platform like Burnout, which is doing well in the market today, we had no issue at all,” he said. “But in circumstances where we either led with the Xbox 360 or we ran parallel to partly cloudy production, for the most part, we’re still experiencing some delay on the PS3. It is a little bit more challenging a development environment for us.”
February 2, 2008
Interview
Eidos producer Bill Beacham explains more about the development of Tomb Raider Underworld.
Watch | Download
She’s hardly had a rest between her well-received reboot in Tomb Raider: Legend and the reflective Tomb Raider: Anniversary… but not one to rest on her laurels, Lara’s back in action.
We recently caught up with Eidos to take a tour through a short section of the game. We were shown a prealpha build, but it already appears to be a promising addition to the Tomb Raider franchise. Having proven its talent with Legend, Crystal Dynamics has again taken the helm for this one. The developer has slowly been increasing the team working on Underworld since Legend was released in early 2006, and a full contingent was gathered following Tomb Raider: Anniversary’s release last year.
Lara’s back in another stunning location.
The demonstration we saw was roughly halfway through the fourth stage, set in a Mayan ruin located in Mexico. The major part of the action revolved around Lara trying to gain access to the Mayan underworld by opening a set of gates located in the ruins–more on that later. Before you do all this, you’ll need to take care of an immediate danger. Well, make that two: poachers and panthers.
Revamped artificial intelligence in Underworld results in new enemy behaviour and thus different outcomes depending on how they, and you, act. Panthers might slink away, attack you directly, or simply wait for you to attack. And, unlike in prior instalments, some enemies, such as those frisky felines, can follow you to hard-to-reach places, which makes it harder to find a vantage point and take potshots leisurely from afar.
While the poachers and panthers battled it out, our demonstrator jumped into the action with guns blazing and quickly disposed of those pesky problems with dual pistols. Eidos pointed out that you can dual target, pick up objects, and use new weapons that include sticky grenades. Dead bodies will remain in the game to the extent that, even if you backtrack through levels at a later time, they’ll still be where you left them.
After the enemies were dispensed of properly, we were led to a large, open area of the temple where Eidos showed off some of Lara’s contextual animations. She’ll grimace when using a weapon, and smile with satisfaction once done. She’ll get muddy when rolling around on the ground, but standing in the rain for a few moments will wash the mud away. Eidos has used a new model for her, complete with new facial expressions and body animations. Lara’s movements are based on an Olympic gymnast that Eidos has motion-captured.
Someone really should do something about that roof…
You will need to rely on objects to get some of the jobs done in Underworld. Our demonstrator illustrated this by picking up a pole that one of the poachers had left behind. Although you can use some objects in combat–and run and shoot while holding them–on this occasion the pole has another, more important use: to advance on to the next area. Studying a nearby column reveals a socket in which the pole can be placed. Once done, you can use this to swing up to the next ledge. Eidos used this part to highlight new balancing mechanics. Lara will respond to the physics of a beam she’s crossing, and in this instance she’s more likely to slip off because of the wet, rainy conditions.
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February 2, 2008
Lara Croft is back in action and doing what she does best with official confirmation of the long-hinted Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Eidos-owned developer Crystal Dynamics has once again taken the helm, after handling the franchise reboot in Tomb Raider: Legend, as well as Tomb Raider: Anniversary, the latter being a remake of the original Tomb Raider to celebrate its 10th birthday.
According to the London-based publisher, Underworld will see new improvements including artificial intelligence, weapons, motion-captured animation, mechanics, and lighting. The latest episode in the series will take heroine Lara to Mexico, where she will be exploring the Mayan underworld.
Although a firm release date has yet to be announced, Tomb Raider: Underworld is expected later this year on the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s Wii and DS.
For more details, read If Its Games’s recent Tomb Raider: Underworld preview.
February 2, 2008
PC World - Plus: Wii fitness, the checked-luggage battery ban, and more.
February 2, 2008
During a third quarter conference call today, the CEO of Electronic Arts that a Wii version of Rock Band is on the way. He mentioned there is no release date given but referred to the \”coming launch\” of the Wii version of the game.
February 2, 2008
Electronic Arts has said that they currently have no plans to release UEFA Euro 2008 on Wii and DS. The game was announced earlier today for PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, PC and mobile.
February 2, 2008
Despite rumors of a limited supply, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has sold over 500,000 copies in one day in Japan. Pictures from yesterday shown large numbers in Japan queue up to purchase the next hot product from Nintendo.
February 2, 2008
Nintendo has issued a statement about reported disc read errors for Smash Bros. Brawl discs in Japan. Japanese gamers have complained that the Wii is unable to read their newly bought disc, or of videos chopping up during playback. Nintendo have said that the problem has to do with dust and tobacco building up on Wii laser units. This is effecting Smash Bros. in particular because it uses a dual layer DVD, which is more sensitive to a dirty lens. Nintendo has said it will clean Wii units that are sent to them, free of charge.
February 2, 2008
Reports indicate that Nekokabu has released a working Dual Layer Wii disc ripper. As you\’d expect, this tool promises to allow you to backup Wii DL discs, which will be music to modders and fans of Super Smash Bros. Read more here.
February 2, 2008
The best-selling video game system in the world is adding a cool new color scheme to its wardrobe on Feb. 10. Like a black T-shirt with a splash of color, the new Cobalt/Black version of the portable Nintendo DS grabs your attention. It looks good whether it’s toted in your school backpack, pulled from your purse or riding with you on a family trip.
February 2, 2008
ELSPA has said that a recent story that claimed 90% DS owners in North America were playing pirate games with the R4 contains false quotes. ELSPA manager John Hillier was quoted as saying \”In America, it\’s thought 90 per cent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s.\” However ELSPA have said they would never comment on issues outside of the UK and that the quotes originate from a website in Singapore. They also stated that Nintendo have said the facts are completely spurious.
February 2, 2008
When Jim Ward took over the reins at LucasArts as its president in 2004, he inherited a company that had been struggling to shed its dependence on the iconic Star Wars franchise. Seeing that efforts such as Gladius, Armed and Dangerous, RTX: Red Rock, and Wrath Unleashed failed to establish any brand capable of ringing up sales like George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away, Ward embraced the profitable side of the Force.
LucasArts’ Jim Ward.
However, Ward’s tenure at LucasArts is coming to an end. As reported by Kotaku, the executive has resigned from his post with the publisher, citing personal reasons, and is expected to finish up his tenure in a couple of weeks. A LucasArts representative confirmed the news for If Its Games and said that Ward informed his company on Monday.
Ward will be replaced on an interim basis by Howard Roffman, a 25-year veteran of the LucasFilm organization. Roffman has most recently been serving as the company’s head of licensing and legal, where he has spent years working with the gaming division. According to the representative, a search for Ward’s permanent replacement has already begun.
Under Ward’s direction, LucasArts enjoyed some success publishing original games such as the first Mercenaries game and the Thrillville series, but it has thrived by sticking to the old standards. By LucasArts’ own assessment, Star Wars: Battlefront II is the most successful game in the franchise’s history, and Ward’s tenure has also produced hits such as Knights of the Old Republic II, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, and the PlayStation Portable exclusive Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.
The coming years could be brighter still for the publisher, with a slate of anticipated projects including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Indiana Jones games (both standard and Lego-flavored), a possible new franchise in Fracture, and a mystery massively multiplayer online game being developed by original Knights of the Old Republic studio BioWare.
Ward is also stepping down as the executive vice president of LucasFilm, where he oversaw much of the marketing effort for the theatrical and DVD releases of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In addition, he sits on the Entertainment Software Association’s board of directors.
As of press time, an ESA representative had not responded to If Its Games’s request for comment on Ward’s status with the organization.
February 2, 2008
A Japanese source (ameblo.jp/sinobi/) indicates that the PS3 had the majority of first day sales of Devil May Cry 4. The PS3 version outsold the Xbox 360 by nearly 5/1, selling 140,000 units in comparison to the Xbox 360\’s 30,000. However, things are expected to be a lot different in North America/Europe where there is bigger installed base and the game will retail for cheaper than the PS3 version.
February 2, 2008
Latest pictures have been posted of the new improved Playstation Home. Feedback from users who were testing the Playstation Home beta has led to key changes. It is currently on track for a spring 2008 launch.
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